Class page
Welcome to Year 1!
We have an exciting year planned for the children in Year 1.
READING IN YEAR ONE
All children are listened to every week, but it is essential children read at home every day and are also read to. Your child’s Reading Record book an important part of the home-school partnership. Please keep reading books and records in Blue Book Bags and support your child by:
i) helping them to decode tricky words in their reading book,
ii) asking them questions about the text to check their understanding,
iii) commenting on these two points in the Reading Records and,
iv) exposing them to higher level texts which they cannot yet access independently, by reading to
them regularly
READING BOOKS
Each week we send your child home with a teacher chosen RWI Bookbag Book for your child to read (and re-read) to you. In the record book please write the title of the book, whether your child has read and finished the book and a short comment if you can. We need you to sign the Reading Record so that we can issue new books each week. If the Book Bag book is not returned/lost then unfortunately we ask for £5 to buy a new book.
Remember, reading is not a race! It is very important that you keep the reading bag in your child’s blue bag every day, so that we are able to read with your child at school on any day.
GRAPPLE BOOKS
Your children will also be able to choose their own reading book in addition to the teacher chosen books mentioned above. These can be returned and changed daily, or whenever your child has finished enjoying the book. Free choice books should be kept in your child’s reading bag and be brought to school every day. They should not be recorded in the Reading Record. Enjoyment for reading has flourished since children have been able to choose their own reading book.
LIBRARY BOOKS We plan to allow children to choose a library book every 2nd week. Please make sure that your child’s Library Bag containing your child’s book is in their Blue Bag on this day. We are lucky to have such fun books and we hope that you and your child enjoy reading them together. As well as reading the text, ask your child to talk about the pictures, the characters, what might happen next, why something happened the way it did, what the main problem is in the story and how it gets resolved. If your child has a non-fiction book, discuss the structure of the book; the contents page; index; glossary and how these books are factual.
SPELLINGS AND HANDWRITING:
Spelling list will be sent out every Friday in a purple book and will be checked in an informal ‘quiz’ towards the end of the following week. Please help your child to learn these words in a fun and stress-free way. You may want to look on the school website for ideas of games to play. In Year 1 we build on the handwriting skills developed throughout Reception and focus on letter formation, direction and ascenders and descenders. We do not expect the children to join their letters at this stage. Please make sure the purple spelling book is returned every week so we can pop in the new spellings.
MATHS
We are using a mastery approach to maths teaching, so there will be lots of opportunities to use practical resources. Children will continue to use Numicon and will begin to use Base Ten equipment, Place-Value grids and Part-Whole models to ensure they have a thorough understanding of mathematical concepts.
HOMEWORK
Homework will be put in the homework folder and sent home on a Friday. Please return the folder and completed homework by the following Thursday, so that new homework can be put in. If the folder isn’t returned, then the homework will be sent on a loose sheet. A copy of the spellings for the half term are in the folder and a copy of the medium term plan overview is in there too.
NAMING YOUR CHILD’S CLOTHES
Please name all items that belong to your child. This should be your child’s first name and family name. Please regularly check items to make sure that they are still clearly named. Items that should be named include:
Shirts/Jumpers/Skirts/ trousers
Coats, Shoes, Socks, Gloves, Hats
PE bag (on the outside) PE kits (tops and shorts)
Lunch boxes
Please be sure to check the weather forecast each morning and if necessary send your child to school with a named coat. Children will be expected to go out in light rain.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
PE lessons and Yoga sessions happen weekly. Our days are Wednesday and Thursday
Please make sure that your child’s named PE kit is in the school. This kit should include: P.E. Bag (named on the outside!) White t-shirt (named!) Blue shorts (named!) Velcro trainers (named!)
In Year One we expect children to dress and undress themselves for PE lessons. If necessary, please practise at home.
Please make a note of the two days your child has PE and send them in wearing appropriate kit.
If there are any questions about any of the above, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Mrs Paisley (Teacher)
Mrs Keith (Learning Support Assistant)