We will do most of our writing through our topics.

The children will be writing in a variety of genres. There is a strong expectation that all children will use a capital letter to start and then finish their ‘sensible’ sentence with a full stop. Each sentence should have clear finger spaces to denote each individual word.

We are now moving forward to creating more complex sentences, where the children will be extending the content by using a conjunction – ‘and’, ‘because’ and ‘so’.

We will introduce the use question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences.

We will continue  discussing and using adjectives to add interest to our writing.

Talk about our topics. Any additional research will make them knowledgeable, confident and better writers!

When writing at home, encourage your child to use the Monkfrith script remembering to write on the line and that most of the letters always sit on the line. To improve their handwriting further, please remind your child the importance of neat presentation and to write letters with ascenders and descenders correctly and with a consistent height.

Continue to support your child in reading back what they have written to you to ensure it makes sense and includes a capital letter and full stop. Encourage your child to use adjectives to make their writing more exciting.

Encourage children to bring in and share their home learning with the teacher and the class to continue to build confidence.

End of Year 1 Writing Targets

Your child will participate in a ‘guided reading’ session each week with the class teacher.  They will be heard reading individually and in a group by the class teacher and by another adult.  

Discuss vocabulary – even if your child has read it fluently, they do not necessarily understand what it means and remember to ask them questions using the bookmarks we sent home at the start of the year.

Reading for at least 5 – 10 minutes each day makes a huge difference! Reading material can take the form of packets, magazines, signs and of course fiction, non-fiction and poetry books. READ pictures too!

Remember to keep reading to your child, as it should be an enjoyable experience – get cosy with a nice blanket!

Talk about new and interesting vocabulary that they come across and make sure they understand the meaning.

We follow the Supersonic Phonic Friends phonics scheme.

There will be daily phonics lessons with the inclusion of handwriting.

Find sounds that we have learnt in words in books, praise when they see sounds in menus and in signs.

Encourage your child to point use their robot arms or sound buttons when thinking about words.

When spelling – always encourage your child to break down words and listen out for the sounds in the words – especially the end sounds.

There is a spelling list of words that your child should be familiar with by the end of year 1 on the school website.  It is located under ‘parent zone’-> ‘home learning’.

This term we will be revising all of the sounds and tricky words that have taught.
There will be Phonics Screening check in June in which the children are asked to read many read and alien/nonsense words.

Here is a link to the sounds taught

Basics 2 and 3 Alliteration and Actions

Basics 3 – Spelling-Alliteration-and-Rhymes

The-Higher-Levels-5-Spelling-Alliteration-and-Rhymes-1.pdf

In Summer 1 our topic is called Paws, Claws and Whiskers in which we will be learning all about animals and how to look after them.

We will be using various art strategies to create pictures of some of the animals.

We will be investigating how animals use camouflage and designing and making our very own creative exciting animal.

We will be using maps to look at continents, oceans and where some animals live around the world.

Please talk about the topics and encourage your child to do additional research to help improve their knowledge and contribute more in class or share read stories and fact books from home. Please make sure any books shared at school are named.

In Summer 2 our topic will be Enchanted Woodland.  We will be learning about British wildlife and woodland habitats that are in our surroundings.

The children will have an opportunity to observe and identify plants and animals and appreciate the wonder of the woodland.

From clay we will be making our very own Tree Boggart.

Take a walk to Oakhill park and /or other parks and explore the surroundings. What did your spot that is different / never noticed before, then come and tell the class about it, this will set the class a challenge to see if they can spot it too next time they are at the same park.

If you have any other books/stories that focus on the woodlands, please send them in so your child can read it or share with another child or the whole class.

Encourage your child to read the door numbers on your walk home – can they identify odd and even?

Go to the park. Collect and groups and count natural items in 2’s, 5’s and 10s. Talk about any 2D and 3D shapes you may see. Ask the children how many vertices and sides/faces the shape have.

Expose your child to real money – create a ‘coin jar’ at home and allow your child to count the amount – Can they count the coins in 1’s or 2’s accurately? Extend their learning by creating a 5p and 10p jar.

Create models with junk modelling discussing the 3D shapes they’ve chosen using the language faces, vertices and edges.

Some helpful & fun websites you can use:

http://www.topmarks.co.uk

End of Year 1 Maths Targets.

We follow the Barnet Syllabus for Religious Education (RE).

Our topic this term is Symbols. Within this we will be exploring symbols in everyday life and symbols within religions.

The children will be participating in weekly PE lessons in the hall.

Daily movement activities in the form of yoga, gross motor and movement breaks will continue where possible.

Please make sure that all kits are in school every day and that each item is clearly labelled. 

PE kits will be sent home at half term and at the end of term for washing.

Please check labels are clearly marked before returning to school.

Please check plimsoles still fit.