Welcome to Year One!

Autumn 2

This half-term, we will be exploring writing firework poems and reading The Polar Express. We will be continuing with addition and subtraction within Maths and moving onto shape at the end of the term. We will be learning about why Christmas matters to Christians and will take part in the nativity play in December – look out for dates and tickets nearer the time! In Art, we will be looking at Kandinsky and in Science and Geography, we will be learning about the different seasons and weather in the UK.

P.E will continue to be on a Wednesday and Thursday, so please have P.E kits in school. Please make sure your child has an apron in school as we will be painting during some of our art lessons this half-term. We do have a few spares, but not enough for the whole class.

We will continue to give out the Little Wandle books on a Friday and will collect them on a Monday unless you let us know that you want them for longer. We will also have a slow start to homework this half-term. Below is a list of things to work on with your children. It is up to you whether you choose to focus on one idea each week or choose a few to focus on in depth.

Things to work on at home for Autumn 2:

• Number bonds to 10

10 + 0, 9 + 1, 8 + 2, 7 + 3, 6 + 4, 5 + 5 and these the other way round. Revise these with your child so that they know them off by heart. It could be that you call a number and they have to give you the matching number bond, you could play snap with pieces of paper with numbers on and whenever you have make 10 it is ‘snap’, use counters/cubes to support you etc.

• Simple addition sentences within 10

Simple calculations with numbers under 10. If your child is confident with this, you could move it up to numbers within 15. You could put them into word problems – If Emma has 4 pens and Katie has 3 pens, how many do they have altogether? You could use your fingers, bead strings, cubes, counters, number lines, number squares or objects to support this learning.

• Number Formation

Practise writing each number and ensure your child is starting and ending in the correct place. Help them to keep their numbers the correct way round. If this is something they are struggling with, draw dots to create the number and get them to draw over it. You could have a go at writing a few the wrong way round and some the right way round and ask your child to play ‘teacher’ and tick the ones you have got the correct way.

• Handwriting

This is always extremely important, especially in Year One. Make sure they sitting properly and holding the pencil in the correct way (tripod grip). If they are struggling with this, they can have a pencil grip to support them – we are handing these out to use in class for those children who need reminding. You could have a go at letters which sit on the line, letters which hang beneath the line (descenders) and those that reach up tall (ascenders).

• Sharing the ‘sharing books’ with each other

Some children might be able to have a go at reading a page or a sentence within their sharing book. If it is too tricky for them, you can read it to them and have discussions about the book together. Who is their favourite character? Why? Where is the story set? What is happening in the story? How would you feel if you were that character? How do you think they are feeling? What do you think might happen next?

• Phonics

Below are the sounds and tricky words that your child should be aware of from Autumn 1 and Reception. Have a go and see if there are any that your child is struggling to remember. You could then make flashcards of those particular ones to support their learning. If you are unsure of any, feel free to message on Tapestry.

- ai, igh, oa, ur, oo, er, or, ear, ow, ee, ck, ar, air, oi, ay, ou, ea, oy 

- was, are, like, there, one, you, sure, some, little, what, they, said, love, when, says, all, have, were, come, here 

Any questions, please message! Thank you for all your support! 😊

 

Autumn 1 

I hope you had a wonderful summer break and are looking forward to starting back in Year One.

Drop off and collection will be at the Year One outside door that leads onto the front playground. I usually welcome the children in, so I will be at the door on Wednesday if you have any questions.

We will have a brief whole class teacher-parent meeting in the first few weeks, so lots of things about Year One will be explained to you then.

This half-term, we will be focusing on place value and addition/subtraction in Maths. We will be reading ‘The Sea Saw’ by Tom Percival in English and will be looking at poems. We will be learning about the history of toys, which is always quite enjoyable, and will be visiting the Bridewell Museum later in the half-term to support this. As well as this, we will be cooking our own cookies, exploring human senses and having a go at using the laptops.

We will continue to follow the Little Wandle Phonics scheme and will have our Phonics lessons daily. We will continue with the reading groups 3 times a week and will send the Little Wandle book home on a Friday. We encourage children to read it over the weekend if possible, so they can be handed back in at the beginning of the week. Sharing books are available throughout the week. We will show the children where they are but we do encourage children to be independent and swap their books when they are finished so they always have a new sharing book to take home.

P.E will be with Mr Stocker on a Wednesday and Thursday. Please make sure children have their kit in school, especially on these days. It is also helpful if children can have an art apron at school. It looks to continue being sunny for a little while, but wellies are encouraged at lunch time when the weather starts to get a little colder/wetter.

We have decided to continue with Tapestry this year to make it easier for you to communicate with us. This will be my first year using Tapestry so I will try my best to get to grips with it quickly!

If you have any questions or worries, please don’t hesitate in getting in touch.

I look forward to meeting you all properly on Wednesday!

Best wishes,

Mrs Coates 😊