Willow Class (Year 1)

Welcome to Willow Class

Willow class is currently made up of year one children and the class teacher is Mrs Milner. The children are supported by Mrs Lapworth and Mrs Marsden.

Expectations

In year 1 we begin learning in distinct subjects but we usually have an overarching theme or topic per half term: Our topics this year are: Into the Woods, On our travels, Helping Hands,Protect our planet, Fee Fi Fo Fum, Monster or the Seaside.

In year one we move from the free play of reception to more structured learning interspersed with play-based provision. The children are expected to be building their independence and taking responsibility for their own learning in the classroom.

Our Week

Our PE days are Mondays and Fridays. We bring our clean fresh kits in every few weeks, keep them in school and get changed in school for PE.

Homework: In year one, reading practise is crucial to our progression in language skills. We read at home every day and have a reward chart in class to motivate us. We have some spellings to learn too. We learn around five per week and these are often the high frequency words (or ‘tricky’ words) that we need alongside our phonics work.

Curriculum

Maths we follow the White Rose Maths Scheme. We begin with place value to 10, additional and subtraction within 10, we learn about 2D shapes and patterns. In the Spring term we focus on numbers up to 20, addition and subtraction to 20, and then how numbers are grouped and partitioned up to 50. We explore 3D shapes and patterns. In the summer the children are introduced to multiplication and division, fractions, position and direction, money and time.

In English we focus on reading, writing and phonics. We have a daily phonics session and weekly spellings focuses. In our writing lessons we cover story writing, instructions, letters, menus and descriptions. We learn about and write poetry and explore non-fiction texts. All our learning is linked to our topics. We aim to build the children’s phonics knowledge, reading ability, spelling and technical sentence writing ability, while exploring and fostering a love and understanding of different text types.

History and Geography are either alternated or combined depending on the term’s topics. For Geography we cover the following skills and knowledge: map reading, a sense of place and where we live and geographical skills and fieldwork.

In History we look at famous people in history.

For Religious Education we follow the ‘Questful RE’ curriculum which we use on a 2 year rolling program. The children will explore aspects of the Christian calendar, the Christian teachings of the Bible, and the beliefs and traditions of world faiths.

We follow the ‘Access Art’ curriculum where the children will have explore simple printmaking, watercolour painting and art inspired by flora and fauna. We learn Art in alternate half terms to Design & Technology. In DT throughout year 1 we look at mechanisms, structures and food technology.

French: In KS1 we do not follow a specific curriculum but we aim to explore some basics of French and begin a love of language learning. We sometimes combine the children’s topic

work or work in other subjects with this. The children also take part in the annual Languages Day in February where we share our home languages and also hold a French café where the children can converse and order in French.

In Science the children learn about materials and their properties, forces, seasons, plants and animals and habitats.

In PE we explore each of the fundamental movement skills and how they can be applied in games, gymnastics and dance.

For Personal Social and Health Education, this year, we are having half termly PSHE days. They follow age-appropriate exploration of the topics of: Me & My Relationships, Keeping Myself Safe, Rights and Responsibilities, Valuing differences, Growing and Changing, and Being My Best.

In Computing, there is a thread throughout the learning of age-appropriate online safety. We look at Grouping and Sorting, Pictograms, animated storybooks, lego builders, maze explorers, spreadsheets, coding and technology outside school.

Class Assembly

Each week we have morning worships and a Friday afternoon celebration worship where the children’s achievements, in and out of school, are celebrated. Each class have a class assembly every year. This year Willow’s will be in June.