Year 1
Autumn 2, 2025
Welcome back! We hope you had a lovely half term break! We have lots of exciting learning planned for the next half term and we can't wait to get started.
Start time – 8:40am Pick-up time- 3:15pm
A fruit snack is provided every day for our Year 1 children. Alternatively, children may bring their own fruit (no bananas). Please ensure that your child brings a named water bottle to school each day and that sun cream is applied before coming to school. Also, please ensure all items of uniform are clearly labelled.
If you have any questions, concerns or worries, please contact me at year1@cpa.dsat.education and I will do my best to respond as soon as I can.
Please follow the link below to view information from the Year 1 Beginning of Year Welcome Meeting.
We will deliver a program to all year groups at school called myHappymind. myHappymind is all based around helping children to understand how their brain works and to support them in developing positive skills and habits to be their very best selves!
Please click on the link below to access an overview of what the program entails.
myHappymind Parent information
At the end of every myHappy mind session, we finish with our Let Your Light Shine prayer, which you can find below.
Here is what we will be learning this half term:
Curriculum focus: Geography - Where do we go to school?
Our theme this half term will focus on developing our geographical knowledge, skills, and vocabulary. Through our study, we will learn to:
- use simple compass directions (North, South, East and West) and locational and directional language to describe the location of features and routes on a map
- use aerial photographs and plan perspectives to recognise landmarks and basic human and physical features; devise a simple map; and use and construct basic symbols in a key
- use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of our school and its grounds, and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
English – Reading
As a school we follow the Read, Write, Inc programme to deliver our phonics teaching.
Please access the links below to learn how and why we teach phonics in our school.
What is Read, Write Inc Phonics?
We also have lots of information on our school's phonics page, which you can access here.
English – Get Writing
Our writing this half term will be based on further developing sentence structure and how to build a successful sentence. We will focus on the use of capital letters, finger spaces, and full stops, as well as ensuring sentences make sense to our reader.
Core Texts:
Our 2 stories to focus on for this half term are 'The Squirrels Who Squabbled' and 'The Scarecrows Wedding'. We will be learning new vocabulary within both of these stories.
Spelling
We use our Read Write Inc. phonics knowledge to help us to spell when we are writing. Some words do not follow our spelling rules and we just have to learn them. The link below shows the words which appear frequently in our reading and writing. Year 1 are working towards being able to read and write these words by the end of the year 1.
Maths
This half term we will be developing our knowledge of numbers within 20 and addition and subtraction within 20.
We will focus on knowing and remembering our Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs). More information about our school KIRFs can be found here Our Maths Page.
Please click on the link below for Year 1 KIRFs (Key Instant Recall Facts), we are currently working on Autumn 2. By the end of this half term, children should know number bonds for each number up to 6.
If you have any questions about these areas of Maths, please do not hesitate to come and speak to us.
Please click the link below for a 'One more, One less' resource to support children with their instant recall facts.
R.E. – Christmas - What does Christmas matter to Christians?
In RE, we will study Christianity and explore the question 'Why does Christmas matter to Christians?' We will learn to retell the Christmas story and explore ways in which Christians use the story of the nativity to guide their beliefs and actions at Christmas. We will also think about things we have to be thankful for at Christmas time.
Science – Naming and describing materials
In our learning, we will learn to:
- identify what material is
- experiment with different paper and fabric to find out if it is all the same groups objects made of different materials
Seasonal Changes
In our lessons, we will learn to:
- Identify which animals share our space in autumn
- Identify trees that shed their leaves in early winter and trees that do not shed their leaves in early winter
D&T– Textiles - Puppets
In our lessons, our learning will focus on templates and joining techniques. We will first design a Christmas puppet using a template before making our masterpiece. We will then join fabrics together using pins, staples or glue. Finally, we will decorate our puppet to match our original design.
Computing
Online Safety
In our computing lessons this half term, we will learn about online safety, including useful tips to stay safe when online. We will learn to give examples of when we should ask for permission to do something online and explain why this is important.
We will learn to use the internet with adult support to communicate with people we know, explain why it is important to be considerate and kind to people online, and to respect their choices and explain why things one person finds funny or sad online may not always be seen in the same way by others.
Data Explorers
In our computing lessons this half term, we will learn how to use software tools to group and sort recognisable objects. We will develop our understanding of how this relates to organising and interpreting data. By the end of the unit, we will have the opportunity to collect simple data and present it in a pictogram.
P.E. – Fitness
In PE, we will develop our understanding of the benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle on our physical body, mood and overall health. We will work independently, in pairs and small groups to complete challenges which will sometimes need perseverance to achieve our personal best.
Our PE days are Monday and Thursday. Please ensure that your child brings their correct (named) P.E. kit to school on that day to change into after lunch. For health and safety reasons, please can children remove jewellery on PE day or provide plasters to cover earrings if this is not possible and ensure long hair is tied back away from the face.
P.S.H.E. - Living in the wider world - Our Communities
In our learning, we will focus on the theme of Living in the Wider World. We will develop our understanding of what makes our school a happy place to be. We will learn why we have rules and how they help us learn and be happy; how to behave appropriately and how to contribute to school life; to appreciate how important school is to us; and identify our special people in school.
Music - Christmas Production Music
Our music theme is 'Christmas Production' music. We will learn songs to perform in our Christmas nativity and think about their pulse and rhythm.
NUMBOTs – Every day 10 minutes
NumBots is an on-line programme to boost addition and subtraction skills. It is available on a range of devices, you can play online at Numbots Game or download the Numbots app. Playing little and often will significantly improve your child’s recall and understanding of number bonds and addition and subtraction facts. These are critical foundations in maths so we are excited by the impact Numbots will have. In order to get the best out of NumBots children should regularly play for short bursts of time over the week. Children will receive a golden ticket for accessing their Numbots for 15minutes or more each week.
If you have misplaced your log in details or are having trouble accessing the website, please email me to let me know.
READING – Every day 10 minutes
Please continue to enjoy your reading each day. Reading is fun and a great way to spend time together with your family, as well as developing our imaginations. Encourage your child to talk about what they have read and ask them a question or two about the book. This will help consolidate their comprehension work in school. Adults, please remember to record what your child reads at home in their reading record. We will count all entries in the reading diaries and award golden tickets to those who have read 20 times or more in a month.
Please send your child's reading book and reading record to school each day. We love to hear the children read in school and this will support us to promote reading throughout the day.
Our book change day is Thursday.
OXFORD OWL – One book a week
Oxford Owl is an e-book library to boost reading skills. Once your book has been read, there is a short, fun quiz to complete afterwards. Children will receive a golden ticket for every book they complete. Click on the link below to access Oxford Owl.
Oxford Owl for School and Home.
If you have misplaced your login details or are having trouble accessing the website, please email me to let me know.
As always, thank you for your continued support with your child’s learning.
Mrs Slack - Teacher
Mrs Jones and Mrs Westwood - LSA's