Hello and Welcome to Darwin Class!  

We hope that you have had a lovely summer and managed to relax and spend time doing the things that you love. We are very excited to welcome you all into Year 1 and our wonderful Key Stage 1 setting. This term we are thrilled to be joined full time by Ms Cambrey who is very excited to be working with the children again this year.  

In Year 1 our aim is to build upon and extend the experiences that the children have had in Reception. Learning through play will continue to be an important part of the school day in Darwin class and whilst children will not have as much independent play as they did in Reception they will have lots of planned practical challenges and fun games to work through which we know they will enjoy.  

 

Curriculum focus 

This term our topics are ‘My holiday’ and ‘Autumn/Harvest.’ As part of the ‘My holiday’ topic children will be thinking about different holidays and days out they have had in various locations. They will explore human and physical features in various places and will use key vocabulary to discuss different locations.   

Towards the end of the term, we will take part in the school harvest celebration and will explore this special time of the year studying the changing weather, changes to the environment and special animals that can be seen. We will also take part in Black History month and will learn about inspirational people who fought for fairness and equal rights such as Rosa Park. 

Please take a look at our long-term plan (see below) to see what we will be learning about in each subject area in more detail. 

 

English 

Our class reading books this term will be based around characters and their feelings and will include The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros and The Story Blanket by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz. We will also study non-fictional texts related to Autumn and Harvest.  

 The most important thing children in Year 1 can do at home is read and be read to.  The expectation is that children in Key Stage 1 read at least four times a week for 15 minutes.  Alongside reading their school reading books children should be listening to reading material they are unable to read independently to expose them to the rich language and ideas we find in such books.  

 

Maths                                                                                                               

Children should be spending short bursts of time on Numbots weekly, little and often is the best approach here.  There will also be maths homework to support the learning that has happened in class that week on Google Classroom that will be set every Friday.  This can be uploaded onto Google Classroom when complete or brought into school. 

 

Homework                                                                                                        

Homework will be set and handed in each Friday through the School Google Classroom site and will consist of a practical Maths task and an English/Phonics game or worksheet to complete. We would also love to see anything that children do at home related to our topic such as paintings, model making or research. 

 

Forest School                                                                                                       

Forest School will take place on a Monday afternoon.  Children need to bring old clothes to change into for Forest School on this day.  We go out in all weathers, so please ensure clothing is appropriate for the weather, including sun cream, sun hats and water bottles for the warmer weather, and waterproof clothes, hats, gloves and wellington boots for wet/cold weather. 

 

PE                                                                                                                        

PE will take place every Wednesday and Friday this term.  We ask that children come to school in their PE kit on this day. PE kit should include a t-shirt to match the colour of the house they are in, jogging bottoms or shorts and trainers. Children will also take part in team games on a Friday afternoon but are not required to wear PE kit on this day. However, children may bring in comfortable footwear such as pumps or trainers on this day to change into for this games session if they wish to do so. 

We hope that this year will be exciting for everyone in Darwin Class, and we are looking forward to seeing the amazing progress that we know the children will make. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or queries.  

 

Many thanks                                                                                                                                                                                

Mrs Arneil, Mrs Lawrence and Ms Cambrey 

Darwin Class staff