Year One
A warm and smiley welcome to Year 1!
We have two year one classes who love to learn through exploring, play and challenge. Mrs Gill teaches in Station Class and Mrs Charlesworth in Manor Class. Our year group teaching assistants are Mrs Baker and Mrs Sharpe.
Year 1 is a transition year, as the children move from Foundation 2 and the Early Years Curriculum into Key stage 1 where the National Curriculum is taught. A variety of approaches to learning are used in Year 1 to deliver the curriculum and the children experience a combination of play based learning experiences as well as more structured lessons as they build up their stamina for learning.
First hand experiences are important in Year 1 and wherever possible the children are provided with practical experiences that support their learning and development and opportunities to talk about and explain their thinking. Whether that is during maths lessons, using equipment to show their understanding, singing rhymes that help recall or through drama and role play.
In Year 1, the children will experience Phonics, English and Maths sessions every morning. Afternoons provide opportunities to learn subjects such as Science, Geography, History, Design Technology, Art and Music. The children take part in 2 PE lessons each week and PSHE is taught through the My Happy Mind Programme.
Below is our Long Term Plan that sets out the themes for each area of learning.
Reading
At Travis we help children develop their reading by using the Read Write Inc. reading scheme which is a phonics based reading scheme and features the character Fred the Frog. Fred can only say the sounds in words and needs to children's help to read them. Fred says the sounds ch-i-p and the children say the word back. This is referred to as 'Fred Talk'.
Read Write Inc teaches children the sounds and letters that represent them and how to form them. Success comes because children are reading books that contain only the letters that they have been taught. Regular assessment take place 1 to 1 with the Read Write Inc lead teacher each half term and children move groups accordingly. The children bring home reading books on a weekly basis to read at home. These are closely matched to their reading level. Adults in school hear children read each week so it is important that there reading book is in school on a daily basis. We ask that you listen to your child read at least 3 times each week and record this in their reading diary. Children are rewarded for regular reading at home.
To encourage a love of books the children also bring home a library book each week which they can select from our school library
Spellings
During Year one we focus particularly on reading and spelling the common exception words for Year 1 set out in the curriculum. These can be found below. Children are assessed on spelling these words termly and we encourage you to practise spelling them at home once children can read them.
Spellings are best worked on little and often: 5 or 10 minutes every day is more beneficial than one long session. It is also very helpful if you can encourage your child to apply the spellings in context by writing sentences using these words and, of course, using new or unfamiliar words in conversation.
Home Learning
Children bring home a variety of home learning tasks that are linked to the lessons we teach in school usually on a Friday to be returned to school by the following Wednesday. Practising reading is always a priority in Year 1. The following websites can be accessed to help support your child with their phonics knowledge and reading development.
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/read-write-inc-phonics-guide/
http://www.phonicplay.co.uk (phonic games)
www.topmarks.co.uk (games)
Useful Links
Take a look below at all the songs the children love - they help us to learn :)