Autumn 2017

Welcome to Year 1!

We hope you had a wonderful summer break and a great start to the year in your new Year 1 class!

How do the children learn in Year 1?

In Key Stage 1, (Years 1 and 2) the curriculum is planned using Cornerstones.

The Cornerstones philosophy is based on the Four Cornerstones of Learning, which brings the curriculum to life. Each stage of learning has its own unique characteristics, which help children learn and remain motivated throughout each Imaginative Learning Project (ILP).

This simple sounding philosophy is very powerful and condenses the learning process down to its fundamental parts.

As teachers across the globe know, you need to engage the people in front of you before you can develop their skills or knowledge. Then, for them to retain this new knowledge, they have to be able to use and apply it in an innovative way that is meaningful to them. Finally, they need to reflect on the learning and express their knowledge and understanding meaningfully, so as to cement that knowledge and contextualise it.

This philosophy focuses on pedagogy, it develops teachers' skills in planning child negotiated and enquiry led learning and provides opportunities for teachers to develop their range of pedagogic skills. Above all, our philosophy is based around fun and challenge, as we believe these are the building blocks of good learning.

EngageAt the ‘Engage’ stage, children

gain memorable first-hand experiences, such as going on a visit or inviting a special visitor into school

enjoy ‘WOW’ experiences get an exciting introduction to a topic or theme

begin researching and setting enquiry questions get lots of opportunities to make observations develop spoken language skills take part in sensory activities have lots of fun to fully 'engage' with their new topic.

DevelopAt the ‘Develop’ stage, children

improve their knowledge and understanding of the topic develop and practise their new skills compose, make, do, build, investigate, explore, write for different purposes and

read across the curriculum research their own questions and those set by others follow new pathways of enquiry based on their interests complete learning at home activities that support their learning.

InnovateAt the ‘Innovate’ stage, children

apply skills, knowledge and understanding in real-life contexts solve real or imagined problems using everything they’ve learnt get inspired by imaginative and creative opportunities revisit anything not fully grasped at the ‘Develop’ stage.

ExpressAt the ‘Express’ stage, children

become the performers, experts and informers share their achievements with parents, classmates and the community evaluate finished products and processes link what they have learnt to where they started celebrate their achievements!

The children learn both inside and outside. Throughout the week the children will spend time learning both in their own classroom but also across the whole Year 1 learning environment. This will include learning in the other two Year 1 classrooms, outside and in the Year 1 Role-play, ICT, Reading and Writing areas. This enables them to become confident, learning together with other children and adults across the year group.

During the week the children will also complete a range of core and foundation subject based learning as part of an adult focus group. This will enable the children to experience several guided group sessions during the week in English, Maths and other curriculum areas. These sessions provide instant feedback on their learning, which can easily be tailored to the individual child’s current level of understanding and need. Through discussion with the child, the adult is able to assess his/her understanding and move him/her on to the next step, which is an important part of the provision, allowing children to think for themselves and to take responsibility.

The independent activities are set up across the year group and are carefully planned each week providing tasks and challenges from across the curriculum. These supervised independent learning activities enable the children to practise or apply skills learned during adult focus activities the previous week or to develop a deeper understanding of a learning objective for that week. They also provide the opportunity for children to develop basic skills such as fine or gross motor skills, spelling, phonics, art, construction and understanding of numbers.Each learning activity will have a task card, which explains what the children need to do to be successful at this task. These activities offer an extension to enable the

children to further develop their skills independently and cater for the different needs of children with a range of learning styles.

Completion of the independent learning tasks develops key skills such as problem solving, resilience and co-operation as well as their ability to learn without direct interaction from an adult, therefore developing as an independent learner.

For outside learning, if you haven’t done so already, please provide your child with a sunhat, wellington boots as well as a clear, named water bottle.

Each week you will receive further update on planned learning objectives in the core subjects as well as the foundation topics covered that week. The weekly updates, titled Catch-up, will also include information and reminders of important upcoming dates, news and details about trips, visits and achievements. The Catch-up will reach you by e-mail via the school office each week and will also be available on our brand new website shortly. The Year 1 topic for this half term is:

Paws, Claws and Whiskers

Each topic teaches the children the basic skills and broader curriculum through a project which is relevant to them.

This project has a science focus and teaches children about different animals and what they need to stay alive and be well. At the heart of this project, children learn how to write labels, captions and information texts as well as developing their recounting skills.

The children learn facts about animals and how they have similarities and differences

both with each other and humans. They co-operate as a year group to develop our Jungle Project in the Role Play area.

The children will express their knowledge from this topic to their link class at the end of this half term, and to their family and friends on open evening.

In this project the children learn: about the characteristics of a variety of animals ways of classifying animals about the habitats of wild animals about similarities and differences between animals

including humans why animals are important to us and how we care for

them about organisations and people who look after animals how to make a simple map or plan

how to use the Internet safely and books to find information how to create their own information book about an animal

The following is a brief outline of the learning in the next two weeks.

Weeks 1 & 2 – Engage stage - Science and DT FocusThe children play a variety of games to help them get to know the other children and adults in their new year group. They became familiar with their new environment and how to find the resources they need to help them learn.As a class, we discuss how we can learn well together and look after the learning environment, agreeing how we can all make and keep our school a happy place. The children will use a circle map to share the knowledge that they already have about animals. They consider the information they would like to find out this term and formulate this into their own questions. We will explore how to classify animals into the classes of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians. The children participate in planning and designing a Jungle Project in the Role Play area where they will be making masks and props to help them take on different roles.English: The children continue to have daily Phonics sessions and practise reading and writing new words while creating word banks, labels and captions. The children listen to stories by Judith Kerr, starting with ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’.The concepts covered in Maths are as follows:

Mental Maths – Counting forwards and backwards to at least 20. Recognising the number one more or less than a given number to at least 20. Numbers – Reinforcing and reviewing accurate and effective counting using a variety of resources such as number lines and

hundred squares. Computing: The children learn their new class user name and how to load the programmes they need to support their learning. They will use 2Publish and 2Type to develop mouse control to create pictures related to their learning. They will continue to develop familiarity with the keyboard to enter text.Physical Education: Co-ordination – Exploring different ways to move on the floor whilst maintaining good balance. The children will look at floor movement patterns and practise and apply their skills through games and songs. Each class will also have a weekly session in the Dance/Drama Studio for choreographed dance and yoga sessions.Religious Education: Christianity – Consider places which are special to us. Learn about a church as a Christian place of worship.Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE): Exploring the theme of new beginnings. Getting to know each other, the routines and the learning environment. Thinking about how we can learn together.Music: Investigating the sounds that can be made by our bodies and percussion instruments.

Details for consequent weeks will follow in the weekly Catch-up.

Learning at Home

Regular reading at home is vital to sustain progression and liaising with staff through the Home-School Diary is invaluable to your child.

Please help your child to complete the weekly Learning at Home activities. Please remember the folder is sent home on Friday and needs to be returned by the following Wednesday.

Your child may enjoy the following activities relating to our current topic:

Make a scrapbook about an animal you have seen or a pet belonging to you or someone you know. Add photographs and information about interesting things they do or things they need to stay healthy.

Find out about animals using non-fiction books and the web when accompanied by an adult. Download a photograph of the most interesting animal and write their name. What does it eat? How should it be cared for?

Visit your local library to find stories, poems and non-fiction books. Choose your favourite book and draw a picture to show what it's about. Can you write some sentences about why you like this book?

Follow instructions to make a bird feeder for your garden. Then watch out every day for bird visitors!

Choose an endangered animal to draw or paint. Find out where it lives and why it is endangered. Bring your painting to school and tell your friends about your animal.

Make an animal using junk materials and bring it to school to share!

Write out your favourite animal nursery rhyme or poem in your best handwriting. Illustrate it then practise reading it aloud with lots of expression. Perform it for your family and friends at home before your big performance at school!

Explain to your family what it means if an animal is a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore. Find pictures of animals that belong in each group.

Draw or paint the camouflage markings of a range of animals such as leopards, giraffes or zebras.

We much look forward to a very exciting academic year with you and your child. Please do not hesitate to ask

any questions you may have at collection time.

Thank you for your support.

The Year 1 Team