Welcome to our class page!

                                                                                    June 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back after the holidays.  Our last half term in year 1 is packed with lots of fun and exciting things! Our topic of ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’ will be continued throughout this term. Please see the attached topic web for a breakdown of what we will be focusing on in each subject.

Science targets

This term we will be continuing with our science unit ‘humans and animals’. During the unit these are the targets we will be trying to achieve:

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Phonics

As many of you know the phonics screening check has been cancelled for this year and children will do it next year. We have continued to work on this and I did send home the latest mock screening check at the end of last half term. If children achieved 32 or above (Which is normally the pass rate) then we will not test them again in year 1, although we will continue to work on alien words and the sounds that children are struggling with. It would be greatly appreciated if support with this could also be continued at home especially through the summer holidays.

Genre

This half term we will be going back to looking at a specific genre. Our genre this half term is traditional tales. We will be linking our literacy work to this genre and be adapting and writing our own traditional tales.

P.E

P.E will continue to take place on a Monday and Thursdays. Please remember that pierced ears need to be taped up or earrings taken out on these days. This is a health and safety requirement.

Passport statements

This half term children will be working on any statements they have not yet achieved on their current passport.

As this is the last newsletter of this year I would just like to take the time to thank you for your support throughout the year, and if you would like to discuss anything or have any further questions, then I am available before and after school on most days.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

 Children made their own playdough in English this half term and then wrote instructions to tell others to how to make it. 

 In science children tested their different senses. The lemon juice was very interesting!

                                                                                                April 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back after the holidays.  I hope you have had a lovely Easter break! Our new topic is ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’ which is a long topic and will run up until the summer holidays. Please see the attached topic web for a breakdown of what we will be focusing on in each subject.

Science targets

These targets will run right through to the summer holidays.

Spellings

Thank you for continuing to work with your child to learn their spellings. It really does reinforce the different sounds that we have been covering in letters and sounds during the week and will help towards the phonics screening check.

Genre

This half term we will be going back to looking at a specific author. Our authors this half term is Ronda and David Armitage, authors of the famous ‘light house keepers….’ series. 

P.E.

P.E. will continue to take place on a Monday and Thursday.  A reminder that long hair should be tied up and earrings taken out or taped up.

Passport statements

This half term I will be looking for:

• To show care towards animals.

Children will be taking their phonics screening test during the summer term; any help and practise that you can do with your child at home will be beneficial to them. If you would like any further information or support regarding the test please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

                                                                                    February 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back after the holidays! I just wanted to start off by staying what a fantastic job you all did with home schooling last half term, it was excellent to see the quality of work that was sent in.  It seems like this is going to be a strange half term with half of it at home and half in school depending on if anything changes. Our new topic is ‘King of the castle’ where we will look at the history of castles and what castle life would have been like. Please see the attached topic web for a breakdown of what we will be focusing on in each subject.

Genre

This half term we will again be looking at a specific genre rather than an author. We will start with report writing but then move on to fairy tales. We will look at a range of different fairy tales and using these to pick out features, adapt and write our own.

P.E

P.E will continue to take place on a Monday and Thursday. If children have pierced ears and are unable to remove earrings by themselves please can you ensure that children have plasters/tape to cover them, this is for their own safety. Long hair should also be tied up.

Passport statements (These will be dependent on if children are in school.)

This half term I will be looking for:

• Understanding how to stay safe outside of school
• Asking to join in other children’s games.

We have a parents evening this half term so I look forward to meeting with you. If you have any further questions or concerns then please feel free to contact me.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

 We have made some winter cars that will safely transport a penguin egg! Children designed, made and decorated their own truck. Afterward they evaluated it. 

 Children have been using instruments and working on their composing skills. 

                                                                        January 2021

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope that you have all had a fantastic Christmas break. As we return back to school our new topic is ‘Winter Wonderland’ which will fit with the world around us at this time. Please see the attached topic web for a breakdown of what we will be focusing on in each subject.

Science Targets

Our Science topic this half term is ‘Seasonal changes - Winter.’ These are the targets that children will be working on.

Spellings

Thank you to everyone that has supported their child with spellings last half term. Spellings will continue as normal this half term, spellings can be found on teams. Children will also continue to get bonus words linked to specific phonic assessment.

Genre

This half term we will be looking at a specific genre rather than an author. The genre for this half term will be poetry. We will look at a range of different poets and styles of poetry and will use what we learn in our own writing.

We are also continuing to work on joined handwriting. If you would like any information or advice on how to assist your child at home please do feel free to come and see me.

Homework

P.E

P.E will continue to take place on a Monday and Thursday. Hair needs to be tied up and earrings took out or taped up. Thank you to everyone for keeping up with this.

Passport statements

Statements I will be looking at this half term are:

• Understand what is right and wrong
• Always try my best

If you have any further questions or concerns before this please feel free to catch me before or after school.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

 For anti-bullying week children learnt our STOP and START mottos whilst coming to school in odd socks! Throughout the week children did a lot of work about what bullying is, who to tell and ways to be kind to each other. The children made the wonderful display of their promises to ensure Barlborough is a bulling free school. 

For children in need we came to school in our pajamas and joined in with Joe Wicks’ 24 hour keep fit session. Children also donated £1 to the charity.

                                                                                                November 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

This is always a fantastic time of year in school with the run up to Christmas! This half term we will be doing some festive activities as well as our main topic ‘light explosions!’ I have created a topic web so that you can see what this topic will be covering.

Science

This half term our target is linked to ‘Materials’

Writing

If you do want to help with your child’s writing at home we are really focusing on joining our handwriting this half term. Our writing policy suggests that children should be joining their handwriting by Christmas in year 1.  Please feel free to ask if you need further support or advice.

Spellings

Thank you to everyone that has supported their child with spellings last half term. It really does make a difference in writing and gives children a huge boost when they get them all correct! This half term spellings will be linked to a phonics sound that they have been working on. I will occasionally start to throw in some bonus words during the test this half term, these will be for assessment purposes and will be covered in phonics.

Spellings this half term will be on teams, no paper copies will be sent to minimise the things sent between school and home.

Author

The author that we will be focusing on this half term is David McKee; he has written many popular books such as Mr Ben and the Elmer series. We will be building on our own story telling skills.

Homework

Thank you for supporting your child with their homework. This terms homework is as follows;

  Passport statements

• To solve a problem without arguing.
• To not sulk or become angry when they don’t like something.
• To always follow class rules.

P.E

P.E will continue to take place on a Monday and Thursday. A reminder that long hair should be tied up and earrings should either be taken out on PE days or taped up for health and safety reasons.

Microsoft teams

This half term a lot of things will be moving onto Microsoft Teams including weekly overviews and isolation work. We will also be scheduling some live sessions so that children and parents can become more familiar with this to prepare in case of a national or local lockdown.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

 Children came in a colour linked to an emotion, learnt about mental wellbeing and donated money to Young Minds charity. 

 Today we have been following recipes in our English instructions unit and have made some delicious cornflake cakes. We also included some of our ICT video recording skills by becoming TV chefs!

We took part in Stand up Derbyshire day! Children did exercise between each spelling during the test. We also did an active math's session outside and during science we played a seasons weather game where children had to do moves to go with each season 

We have been busy following instructions to make our own slime as part of our English instructions unit. We will now text map and rehearse our instructions ready to write our own instructions for someone else to make some.  

 A few pictures from our outdoor adventure unit this half term. Children are using maps of the school to go on treasure hunts and trails. 

                                                                                                September 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back to a new school year and to year 1, I hope you have all had a fantastic summer break! Our topic this term is ‘Barnaby Bear’s Highland Adventure!’ and as many lessons as possible will be linked to this topic. I have created a topic web so that you can see what this topic will be covering.

Science Targets

English

If you want to help with your child’s writing at home we are focusing on using finger spaces, capital letters and full stops correctly this half term. We will then move onto using ‘and’ to join ideas and a huge focus will be on joined handwriting. Every child is also placed in a phonics group to suit their ability in order for them to progress at their level. They will be learning new sounds and spelling patterns each week, ask them to share these with you, but please feel free to ask if you need further support or advice.

Spellings

Children will get 5 spellings a week; if they correctly spell all 5 then they will be rewarded with a team point. The spellings they receive will initially be the year 1 words and then will be linked to the phonics sound that they have been working on and they will be tested on a Friday. Any help you can give your children at home is greatly appreciated and makes a big difference in their writing. Occasionally children will receive bonus words linked to spelling patterns looked at in class and will be used towards their assessment.

Homework

Children will have the first few weeks to settle into their new surroundings before homework is given. Homework will be given out on a Friday and a photo is to be put in the correct portfolio file on Dojo by Wednesday. If this is a piece of homework that requires answers e.g. Maths then the answers will be posted after the deadline and children can either mark their own work or parents can sit with them to mark it. Your child may need support reading the task but as the year progresses they should become more confident at having ago by themselves. You are welcome to work with them and let them know if an answer is incorrect, supporting them to correct it.

P.E

P.E will take place on a Monday and a Thursday. Children will need to come to school in their PE kit on these days. As it gets colder children may need gloves and a hat for outdoor PE.

Reading/ book bags

Book bags should be brought in on a Monday and left in school until Friday. Children will be sent 2 paper books home during the first week and will need to return 1 of those books in their book bag on the following Monday. They will then have one book at home during the week and a new one sent out each Friday. (The previous week’s book will then be returned on the Monday) I will also be setting online reading books.

Passport statements

The PSHE areas that we are working on from our passports are:

• Always follow class rules
• Always try my best.

A few further bits of information:

• Just a reminder that children with pierced ears should have their earrings removed or taped up before school on PE days.
• Please avoid booking to go away during June as this is usually when the phonics screening check that we have to do in year 1 takes place. I will speak to you more about this during the first parents evening.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to catch me before or after school.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher