Bees Knees (Year 1)

Spring 1 Newsletter 

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope that you have all had a fantastic Christmas break! As we return back to school our new topic is ‘Fire, Fire’ which will be based around the Great Fire of London. 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.

English

We are 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. We will carry on working towards our Phonics screening test that will take place in the summer.

Author

This half term we will be focussing on the poet, Michael Rosen. We will look at a range of his poems as well as different styles of poetry and will use what we learn to create our own poems.

Reading

In order to meet the expected standard for a Y1 reader, your child would need to be fluently reading and understanding the book colours stated below by the end of each term.

Memory games

We have noticed a link between children’s memories and being able to follow instructions and retain things that have been taught. To try and help your child’s working memory you may want to try this game.

• Find 10 everyday items i.e. key, spoon. Encourage the child to remember as many of the items as they can. Remove one item without the child looking. Child to identify the missing object. Try to increase the number of objects removed.

 P.E

P.E will continue to take place on a Monday and a Friday this half term. Thank you to everyone for taking earrings out or taping up ears for PE, it is really important for health and safety. Please remember children will need a jumper/ coat/ gloves/ hat for outdoor PE.

Online safety

This half term we will be working on online relationships and online reputation. We will cover that whatever is put online can be on there for a long time, what things should not be shared online without asking a trusted adult first and how we can use technology for communication.

Passport statements

As part of PSHE this half term we will be working on:

• Understand what is right and wrong
• Always try their best.

Homework time table

Thank you so much to everyone getting homework in on time.

Vocabulary Triangle

 Please see below the vocabulary that we will be using in class this half term.

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

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

Curriculum Web Autumn 2

Please take a look at the wonderful things we will be learning about this half term.

Autumn 2 Newsletter

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 lots of festive activities as well as our main topic ‘London Adventure’ I have created a topic web so that you can see what this topic will be covering.

Science Targets

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

 English

If you do want to help with your child’s writing at home, we are 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!

 Genre

The Genre that we will be focusing on this half term is Traditional tales. We will be looking at a selection of traditional tales and will be building on our own story telling skills.

 Memory games

The suggested memory activity this half term is clapping rhythms. Make up a pattern of claps and children are to repeat that rhythm. Continue to add to this to make longer patterns to remember. Children could also make their own rhythms and build up to longer rhythms.

 Online safety

This half term we will focus on online bullying and how to report it, this will link in to anti-bullying week and our PSHE unit.

 Homework

Thank you for supporting your child with their homework.

This half terms homework timetable:

 Passport statements

This half term we will be working on:

• Solving problems without arguing.
• Saying sorry when we have done something wrong
• Always doing as the teacher asks.

Vocabulary Triangle

 Please see below the vocabulary that we will be using in class this half term.

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

 Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

Curriculum Web Autumn 2

Please take a look at the wonderful things we will be learning about this half term.

Autumn 1 Gallery

Here are a selection of what we have been up to in year 1 during the first half term. Children have been working on instructions and as part of this made Gruffalo crumble, it was delicious! Our Author this half term was Julia Donaldson so we have done a lit of work around her books. In history we were finding out about the history of the local area, children went to the heritage centre for a talk and a hunt around the village. We have done lots of fun experiments in science while exploring the different seasons including extracting leaf colours, making snow and using UV beads so see where the sun is at it's strongest on our playground. In ICT we went to the hub to practice using passwords to log in and improving our mouse skills, we them moved on to make ebooks. In PE we have been practicing our throwing skills and having competitions as well as map work to solve treasure hunts. 

Autumn 1 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back to a new school year, I hope you have all had a fantastic Summer break! Our topic this term is ‘Brilliant Barlborough!’ 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

Our first unit will be seasonal changes and we will be working on these targets.

English

If you do 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 will also be starting Level 5 phonics. 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 be linked phonics sound that they have been working on that week and they will be tested on a Friday. There will also be spelling homework to hand in each week that should also help the children learn their spellings. Any help you can give your children at home is greatly appreciated and makes a big difference in their writing. Later in the year children will also get bonus words which will be random words linked to spelling patterns we have done in class. The last week of each half term will be a recap test.  

 Reading books/ Bookbags

We have recently changed reading schemes to perfectly match our new Twinkl phonics scheme which we will be fully rolling out this year. Children will receive a new book each Friday (Providing the previous book has come back into school- lost books do have a charge of £3.40 to repurchase a new book) Children will take their bookbags home and return them to school each day as they will read the same reading book in school so they are fully immersed in that book. Children will only be sent 1 book home each week as it is expected that children re-read books multiple times to improve fluency and comprehension. There will be a box of extra books that I will put outside on a Monday and Wednesday morning that parents can pick out any extra books to take home if you would like any. These will be on a trust basis and will be changed throughout the year.

Author

Each half term we will focus on a chosen author or genre. Our first author that we are going to be focusing on this half term is Julia Donaldson; she is a very famous children’s author that is loved by adults too!

Memory

We have noticed a link between children’s memories and being able to follow instructions and retain things that have been taught. To try and help your child’s working memory you may want to try this game.

Magic cup game –

Place three identical, plastic cups in a line on the table, rim down. Place a pom pom or small rubber ball under one cup, allowing your child to see which cup the pom pom/ball is under. Shuffle the cups around by sliding them across the table, switching their positions quickly back and forth and all around. Once you have stopped moving the cups ask your child to identify which cup the ball is now under.

Internet safety

This half term we will be looking at privacy and security both online and when using an electronic device. This will include why it is important to have a strong password and keeping it safe. We will also look at self-image and identity linked to filming in ICT. You may wish to discuss different situations as they arise in real life, that we may need to ask someone’s permission before taking a photo/ video of them.

 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 is to be returned by the following Wednesday. It is the children’s responsibility to hand it in as we are starting to build up independence and there will be a basket for them to put it in. 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.

  Homework timetable

 P.E

P.E will take place on a Monday and Friday. Children can continue to come to school on these days dressed in their PE kits. Please ensure that they are appropriately dressed for the weather, it does start to turn cold during out door PE at the end of the term.

 
Passport statements

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

• Always say please and thank you.
• Share a favourite toy.
• Help tidy the classroom.

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.
• We will be testing children on number facts this year such as number bonds to 10 and 20 and also times tables later on in the year.
• 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.

Vocabulary Triangle 

 Please see below the vocabulary that we will be using in class this half term.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to catch me before or after school or message me on dojo. I look forward to working with you all. 

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

Curriculum Web Autumn 1

Please take a look at the wonderful things we will be learning about this half term.