Welcome

A huge, warm welcome to year 1! 

The adults in year 1 are:

Holly Class: Mrs Upson (class teacher) and Mrs Whittle (teaching assistant)

Alder Class: Miss Fox (class teacher) and Mrs Laundon (teaching assistant)

Homework

Spellings will be sent home on a Friday and should be practised throughout the week (at least 3 times a week), ready for a spelling test the following Friday - your child's current test will be stapled to their new spellings, so you have a comprehensive understanding of which words need further practise.

Reading - please ensure to read with your child at least 3 times a week.

This half term, we are focusing on our 2x and 10x tables - please practise these times-table at home with your child. Here are some times-tables games you may wish to play (just select 'x' and then 2x or 10x tables):

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/times-tables/coconut-multiples

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train

Children will have a times table test on a Friday and this result will again, be stapled to their new spelling sheet.

Below, are some optional homework challenges you may wish to complete with your children.

Reminders

All children need a named water bottle in school.

Children in Year 1 are offered fruit every day, if you would like your child to bring in a snack for playtime please can it be healthy- fruit, cereal bar, crackers etc. No sweets, chocolate or nuts.

If you would like your child to have milk, please contact the school office.

Please also help us by naming all of your child's belongings to help us encourage your child to be independent. 

Main reading books are now sent home via our Big Cat e-platform, Children will be able to take home a 'Reading for Pleasure' book whenever they choose. Please ensure that those books come back to school and we would encourage them to change these regularly. Guided reading will happen 3 times a week and reading diaries are no longer being sent home in year 1.

PE days: (Please send you child to school dressed in full, school, PE kit)

Holly: Monday and Tuesday

Alder: Monday and Tuesday

Finally, we would also like your child to have a pair of wellies to keep in school, particularly as it gets muddier outside! 

This Term's Learning

London's Burning!

In Spring 1, our topic is 'London's Burning!'. This topic is focussed around the history of London and in particular the Great Fire of London that happened in 1666. Children will also be making comparisons between London now and then and how London is different (and similar!) to St Neots.

This is our topic web for this half term:

Last week's learning (9.1.23)

Last week in English we started to look at the story of 'The Queen's Hat'.  Children immersed themselves in the text, really got to grips with the sequence of the story and further built on their sentence writing skills.

In maths last week, children learnt about place value and understanding numbers up to 50.

In phonics last week we focussed on these phonemes:

This week's learning (16.1.23)

This week in English, we are continuing to look at the story of 'The Queen's Hat'. This week we will be looking at the features of postcards and children will be planning and writing their own postcard, pretending that they have been on a visit to London and seen the Queen's hat!

In maths this week, children are going to be continuing their learning about place value and understanding numbers up to 50. We will also be looking at greater than and less than.

In phonics this week we will be continuing to learn new phase 5 phonemes:

How to help at home

If you would like to support your child's learning at home this week, we would encourage you to practise writing full sentences - starting with a capital letter, finishing with a full stop, correct letter formation and writing sitting on the lines (If you have no lined paper, please speak to a teacher and we can help you with this!) Have a look at examples of postcards and recognise how these are written in the past tense and quite often contain questions for the reader to answer!

In maths, you could practise counting to and from 50 (remember to start at 0 not 1) and number recognition to 50. Number formation to 50. 

These online games are a great way of getting children exposed to this and they enjoy it too!

Place Value Basketball - Dienes Game for 5 to 8 Year Olds (topmarks.co.uk) 

Bead Numbers (topmarks.co.uk) 

Shark Numbers || To know what each digit in a 3-digit number represents - mobile friendly (ictgames.com) 

If your child does enjoy any of this learning at home, please do let us know! We love to hear about anything they have been up to!

Reading Book - Big Cat

We have worked out how to unassign all old reading books. So each Friday, the previous week's book, will disappear and your child's new reading book should be the only book that is available. If you have any questions about this, please speak to your class teacher.

A typical day in Year 1

In our busy learning actives we teach in a play-based style where children access a range of activities which support the Early Years and Year 1 curriculum.