YEAR 1 (ELM )
Teacher: Mrs Stephenson
Welcome to Year 1 Elm Class!
We love exploring and learning in our classroom and outdoor environment. As a class, we have been working hard on our Phonics to help us to read and write. We have also been practising our maths skills to be able to add and subtract.
We hope you like looking at our photos.
We love exploring and learning in our classroom and outdoor environment. As a class, we have been working hard on our Phonics to help us to read and write. We have also been practising our maths skills to be able to add and subtract.
We hope you like looking at our photos.
PARENT/CARER INFORMATION HANDBOOK
We have put together an overview of the curriculum for your child this year and also some general information and reminders that we hope you will find useful.
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This information can also be downloaded:
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Year One Update
On Tuesday 21st May, Year 1 were plant explorers. They investigated all the different plants that they could find growing in the school grounds - making plant catchers. They then helped Mrs Woollon in the allotment, clearing around the trees, planting seeds and harvesting (and tasting) radishes. In the afternoon they were environmental artists, creating work inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.
Year 1 have had fun planting beans and sunflowers in their outside area.
A police officer explained to the children in assembly how she had chosen her job and trained for it. She explained what her job involved and the different equipment she needed to carry out her work and keep her safe. She then visited Year One and the children had an opportunity to try on some of the police uniform and look more closely at some of her equipment such as the handcuffs and truncheon.
Rev Maxine visited Year 1 and explained about what happens when a baby is baptised. She showed us special items that she gives to parents when their babies are baptised.
On Friday 2 February, Year 1 were lucky enough to have a visit from Cas at Hitchin Museum, who led a workshop on The Great Fire Of London. The children imagined that they were the houses close together in 1666 and acted out how the fire spread. The children had a go dressing up as a firefighter and they passed buckets down a line to show what hard work fighting fires was in the seventeenth century. Finally they made broadsheets of the event.
Parent/Carer Information Handbook
OUGHTON LIFE:
Learning, Inclusion, Friendship, Enjoyment…. for everyone.
Everyone – children, staff and families.
Year 1 Parent Handbook September 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
We hope that you had a lovely Summer. There are lots of exciting activities planned this year. Within this booklet we have put together an overview of the curriculum for your child this year and also some general information and reminders that we hope you will find useful. The booklets are specific to each year group so if you have more than one child please do read each booklet. Copies of these are also available on the school website and through the school office.
Welcome to Year 1
Year 1 Elm Class:
Mrs Stephenson (Teacher)
Mrs Nunn (Teaching Assistant)
Mrs Lacy (Teaching Assistant) Thursday/Friday
Mrs Jennings-Dawes (Teaching Assistant) – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from November.
Key Stage Leader – Miss Hurley (Reception Teacher)
Working Together
Your support is important to enable your child to do as well as they can and we value a close working relationship with all Parents and Carers. We aim for children to leave our school having achieved their best, by developing their skills and talents through a range of learning activities and experiences. The school teaches a broad and balanced curriculum based on the National Curriculum, which is enriched through additional events and activities. We expect children to fully participate in events and educational visits. If there is a concern or difficulty in your child participating, please speak to your child’s Class Teacher or the Key Stage Leader in confidence.
Your child will be given home learning activities. Please support your child in completing these. It is important that home learning is completed as it supplements learning at school and gives children the opportunity to practise their skills and extend their learning further.
Your child’s Teacher will be the key point of contact for you and it is most helpful if you let the Teacher know about any matters that may affect your child, so that we can support them in school. You may sometimes have questions or concerns and your child’s Teacher will be happy to discuss these with you. Brief updates, for example about end of day collection, can be easily exchanged at the classroom door as your child arrives for school. However, it is best to arrange a meeting if you wish to have a more detailed conversation. Feel free to ring the School Office 01462 450716 to leave a message for the Teacher who will then ring you back at a convenient time and/or arrange a meeting. Please be aware, discussions at the end of the school day must occur after all children have been dismissed to their Parents/Carers.
Most matters will be appropriately discussed and resolved with the Teacher. However, you may feel a matter is more appropriately discussed with a more senior member of staff, in which case you may wish to arrange a conversation with either your child’s Phase Leader or one of our Assistant Headteachers – Mrs Phillipson or Mrs Smith. In some cases, you may wish to speak to Mrs Clayton our Headteacher. Any conversations or meetings can be arranged either directly with the Class Teacher or via the School Office 01462 450716.
If you feel that your child or your family require some Pastoral Support, please pop in the School Office or ring to contact Mrs Woollon, our Pastoral Support Manager. Mrs Phillipson is our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator if you have a query about Special Needs. If you have a concern about the safety of any child, within our school or out of school, please contact one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads for Child Protection – Mrs Clayton, Mrs Phillipson or Mrs Woollon.
Timetable and School day
Just to remind you, we open the classroom door at 8:45am and our learning starts at this time. Please ensure that your child is on time for school to enable a good start to the school day. Staff are working with children at this time so be aware, it can be difficult to talk to Parents at the door with children in the classroom.
We teach Phonics, Maths and English each day, this includes Guided Reading. In the afternoons, we teach the Foundation subjects and other Core subjects such as Science, Computing, Geography, History, RE, PE, Art, Design and Technology (DT), Music and Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE). These subjects build up our curriculum and ensure that we teach a rich, broad and varied curriculum to every child.
Attendance
It is vital that every child attends school regularly. There is a strong link between children’s good progress in school and their good attendance. We are a Local Authority school and governed by both the LA and Government policies. Holidays and days out of school will not be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances deemed by the Headteacher. Any requests will be considered and authorised at the Headteacher’s discretion in accordance with the Local Authority and National guidelines.
Please be aware that we issue penalty fines and lates are also included within this. It is essential that children do not miss learning through being late for school. This disrupts their start to the school day and also impacts on the teaching of the class. Please read our Attendance Policy, which is on the website for more information. Please also read our Attendance Newsletter – Attendance Matters.
In Year 1, we aim to win the Attendance Award each week! As a school, we aim for every child to attend 96% or above. When a child is absent from school, it is difficult for them to catch up. Please help us to be the best class in the school for attendance! We give rewards for attendance – certificates as well as a prize draw!
Curriculum and how you can help your child
Maths
The National Curriculum is designed to ensure all pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of Maths, solve problems and reason mathematically. Fluency in Maths is related to children being able to learn and remember key mathematical facts e.g. Number Bonds to 10 , these are numbers that go together to make 10. Problem Solving is the ability to apply Maths to a variety of problems e.g. word problems, investigations. Reasoning is to use what is known about Maths to tackle a problem and make connections between their learning e.g. Are all multiples of 5 even? No!
Our School Calculation policy is available to view on the school website.
By the end of Year 1 the children will be working with numbers to 100, counting forward and backwards, reading and writing the numbers 1-20 in words. They will be working on one more and one less, counting in multiples of 2, 5 and 10s, adding and subtracting one digit and two digit numbers to 20 and understanding the mathematical symbols. They will also be solving numerical problems, working with simple fractions e.g. halving and quartering, money, measure, shape, time and direction.
Counting and understanding of number is extremely important, please support your child to count at home. This could be counting ingredients for dinner, pennies in a money box and how many cars you see on the way to school. This can also be linked to addition and subtraction. Any opportunity to teach maths practically at home will deepen your child understanding, whether that be telling the time, fractions, shape or money.
English
The National Curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils become fluent and confident speakers, readers and writers. In Year 1, we use the Little Wandle Phonics programme to help our children develop early reading and writing skills. During our daily lessons, we recap and learn new phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letter or group of letters representing the sound), segment and blend words, read and write sentences. This is in conjunction with daily Guided Reading. Language is a key priority at Oughton Primary and we know that language and vocabulary is the key to success in life so this is a focus throughout all our lessons.
Reading is vital as it helps us learn in all other subjects. Please listen to your child read each day and sign their Reading Record Book. We expect the children to read to an adult at home at least three times a week, with an aim of 5 times a week, as part of their weekly home learning. Please discuss books with your child as well as listening to them read to help them improve their comprehension and deeper understanding of a text.
Please read the information in the Reading Record Book. Children will be rewarded for reading at home as they move around the World! Reading Around the World offers challenges and rewards throughout.
Linked to our Phonics scheme, we will be sending home weekly phonics based home learning to support your children to read and write. This will give them a chance to practice the phonemes and tricky words that they have learnt in school as well as writing a sentence with these in. There are lots of great phonics based websites that will also support your children to learn these all important skills. www.phonicsplay.co.uk is one of these.
Also, you could share a book with your child and read to them; we are never too old to listen to stories! It is important that we build up vocabulary and listening and discussing stories helps this.
To help your child practise their spelling, here are the spelling words that children are expected to know by the end of Year 1:
The, a, do, to, today, of, said, says, are, were, was, is, his, has, I, you, your, they, be, he, me, she, we, no, go, so, by, my, here, there, where, love, come, some, one, once, ask, friend, school, put, push, pull, full, house, our.
Our Curriculum Overview for Year 1 will be sent to you and is also on our website. This enables you to see the topics / key learning areas taught across the year in all of the subjects.
Science
Our topics are Animals Including Humans, Materials, Plants and Seasons. To help your child build up their knowledge, you could do some research around these topics and find out language associated with these areas.
RE
This year, we will be learning about Thanking God for Nature, Light and Christmas, Belonging, Easter and Holy Books in RE. If you are celebrating a specific religious festival / celebration at home, we would love to hear about it and share this with the rest of our class.
Computing
In Computing, we will be learning about basic Computer Skills, programming using Scratch Junior and computer art using Paint. We will also be teaching the children how to keep themselves safe when using computers. Please reinforce this at home.
History
Our History topics this year are Lives of Significant People including Queen Elizabeth II and Guy Fawkes, Great Fire of London and Holidays. Research around these topics will help your child to understand more.
Geography
The Geography topics we will be learning are: What is the Geography of Where I Live? How Does the Weather Affect our Lives? Why Do We Love the Seaside? Talk to your child about places in the world to extend their knowledge even further.
Music
In Music, we will learn different songs, explore rhythms and instruments. Your child will enjoy singing songs and rhymes with you. They could even make their own musical instruments using objects from recycling or those, such as pots and pans, which are found around the home.
Art
Art starts with Henry Moore and clay sculpture, learning about colour mixing and finally beach printing. The children could make their own sculptures using playdough or natural resources. They could also talk about colours, shapes and patterns that they see around them to enhance their knowledge further.
DT
Design and Technology (DT) looks at sliders and levers, freestanding structures and healthy cooking and snacks. To encourage your child’s understanding of how DT is seen in everyday life, you could involve your child with making the dinner and cooking, plan and talk about models they make or talk about how everyday objects work.
PE
In PE, we will be focusing on Striking and Fielding, Dance, Fundamentals, Gymnastics, Ball Skills, Sending and Receiving, Yoga, Invasion Games, Net and Wall Games and Athletics. We also complete the ‘Daily Dash’ to enhance fitness skills. Please encourage your child to be active.
PHSE
In PSHE, we will be following our Jigsaw topics of Being Me, Celebrating Differences, Goals and Dreams, Healthy Me, Relationships and Changing Me. In November, we will be focusing on anti-bullying and learning about what this means. It is important that we talk about our emotions and feelings so further work at home would be beneficial.
Useful websites to help your child:
www.phonicsplay.co.uk
www.mathletics.com
Your child will be given a log in for Mathletics and we will be setting this after half term, once they have settled into Year 1.
Trips, Events and Key Dates
Year 1 Parental Meeting is being held on Thursday 14th September at 2:45pm to discuss the curriculum in Year 1 and ways in which you can help your child further with their learning.
Year 1 are required to have a Phonics Check in June 2024. We will hold a Parent workshop about this on 25th January at 9am to explain more and we will discuss ways that you can help your child.
There will also be some ‘Wow’ Days and events across the year focusing on the Artist Henry Moore on Tuesday 17th October, DT Playground Wow Day on Thursday 21st March and a Science Wow Day on Tuesday 21st May studying plants. We are also planning other events to enhance History and RE further. We aim to visit the Seaside linked to our History and Geography topics in the Summer Term.
On Tuesday 30th April at 2:45pm, you are invited into school to watch your child’s Let’s Celebrate Assembly. This is an opportunity for the children to tell you about their learning.
Other whole school dates:
Monday 18th September Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Friday 29th September Parents / Carers Macmillan Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime
Tuesday 10th October 3:15pm Scarecrow Festival, celebrating Harvest
Monday 16th October Individual school photos
Wednesday 18th October 4-6pm Parents / Carers Open Evening
Thursday 19th October 6-8pm Parents / Carers Open Evening
Half term Week beginning 23rd October 2023
Tuesday 31st October Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Week beginning 13th November - Anti-bullying Week
Friday 1st December Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Thursday 7th December – Choir visit to Cheshire Home
Tuesday 12th December – Trip to the Pantomime at Stevenage Year 4, 5 and 6
Tuesday 12th December – EYFS Nativity (Reception and Nursery)
Wednesday 13th December – Trip to the Pantomime at Stevenage Year 1, 2 and 3
Thursday 14th December – Key Stage 1 Performance afternoon (Year 1 and 2)
Friday 15th December – Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Dinner (whole school)
Monday 18th December – Key Stage 2 Carol Concert afternoon (Year 3, 4, 5 and 6) Christmas Tree Festival afterschool
Tuesday 19th December – last day of term
Wednesday 20th December – Occasional Day – no children in school
Thursday 4th January – children back to school
Thursday 1st February – Choir – Young Voices
Week beginning 12th February – Feel Good Week
Friday 16th February – Inset Day – No children in school
Half term week beginning 19th February.
Wednesday 28th February 4-6pm Parents / Carers Open Evening
Thursday 29th February 6-8pm Parents / Carers Open Evening
Friday 1st March Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Wednesday 6th March – KS 1 and 2 Theatre Production of the Little Princess
Thursday 7th March – World Book Day – details to follow nearer the time
Thursday 28th March – last day of the Spring term
Monday 15th April – children back to school
Tuesday 23rd April Class Photos
Tuesday 23rd April Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Monday 6th May – Bank holiday – no children in school
Fortnight beginning Monday 20th May – Celebrating the Arts
Friday 24th May – Inset Day – no children in school
Half term week beginning 27th May
Thursday 6th June – Art Exhibition after school
Thursday 20th June – Sports Afternoon - Reception, Year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (Reserve Thurs 27th June)
Friday 28th June Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Thursday 11th July – Transition Day
Tuesday 23rd July - last day of term
We are also hoping to arrange a Parental Workshop on Emotional Regulation led by our Mental Health Support Team.
Please see our website for dates regarding holidays and Inset days. There will be extra dates and events throughout the year so please make sure that you read all correspondence via Arbor and all newsletters. Please note, dates may change if necessary.
Online Safety
Throughout all of the units in Computing lessons, children will be taught how to keep safe when using any computer, tablet or website. This will include the safe use of photographs, usernames and email. Children are encouraged to use tablets and computers in the presence of their Parents at home. We will follow up any concerns regarding children’s use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp etc. Social Media sites are not considered appropriate for children of Primary school age. Please follow the Government guidance and age guidance for games, apps and media sites.
Home Learning
We expect every child to complete their home learning tasks. We will continue to use Microsoft Teams to set work and give messages. Every child has a log in and this should only be used by your child with Parental guidance.
We expect every child to read regularly as already stated. We will be sending Reading books and also links to online Little Wandle books. In Year 1, to develop our Phonics, each child will be given Phonics homework and after half term we will be starting to set Mathletics home learning too.
Some children may be set extra Reading work using Lexia, later on in the academic year.
General Information
School Book bags can be bought from the School Office. Children are expected to bring their reading book in each day.
Snacks: As a school, we know how important healthy eating is. The Government provides fruit or vegetable snack for Early Years and Key Stage 1 children and we as a school have decided to provide this to Key Stage 2 children as well. We provide milk for children to drink at lunchtimes if they wish.
Dinners: Herts Catering Ltd provide our school dinners and offer a hot meal each day which is either meat or vegetarian as well as jacket potato option. They also offer a cold packed lunch option. Children pick their lunches in class, each day. We offer milk at lunchtime for KS 1 and 2.
If you provide a home packed lunch for your child, please remember, we are a nut free school. Nuts must not be brought into school and this includes chocolate spreads which often contain nuts. (Be aware of almonds in sun scream lotion too.) Home packed lunches need to be healthy and balanced – no chocolate bars or fizzy / high sugar drinks.
Every child needs their own named water bottle to ensure they get enough fluids during the school day. We encourage children to drink water in the school day and do not allow any other drinks (unless they are part of their packed lunch).
PE and PE kit
Our PE days are: Tuesday and Friday
Please ensure that your child brings their PE kit in – white t-shirt, black shorts and trainers and this remains in school. It will be sent home at half term to be washed.
Fitness is a key focus in Oughton and children in KS 1 and 2 will be running our ‘Daily Dash’ circuit each day. Please ensure that your child has their trainers in school every day.
Clubs
As a school we offer a range of sport and subject based clubs which will be delivered by staff throughout the year. Messages will be sent about clubs via Arbor.
Breakfast Club
Premier Education provide a Breakfast Club within school for Reception to Year 6 children. Please book your child in – there is a link from our website. The room which this is held in is Lime, access is via Moss Way Red gate and through the green gate, first classroom is Lime.
After School Club
We provide an after-school provision from 3:15pm-6pm which includes a healthy snack. If you require a place for your child, please book and pay via Arbor. The room which this is held in is Lime, access is via Moss Way Red gate and through the green gate, first classroom is Lime.
Rewards / Houses
We will continue to use House Points and awards such as ‘The Golden Book’ and ‘Super Star’, ‘Positive Play’ and attendance treats. Your child will be in either Sapphire (Blue), Topaz (Yellow), Emerald (Green) or Ruby (Red) and will be able to earn house points. Certificates will be given for house points. Great effort, good home learning effort, completing Mathletics challenges, extra work at home, as well as regular reading will help your child to earn lots of house points throughout the year.
Finally…..
The Year 1 team are really looking forward to this year. Remember, if you have any concern, ring the Office and we will get back to you. The most successful educational year is built on one which shows a close relationship with school and home. Our priority, is your child. It is vital that they are happy in order to flourish and develop to their full potential, ready for the next stage of their education.
Mrs Stephenson
Class Teacher
Learning, Inclusion, Friendship, Enjoyment…. for everyone.
Everyone – children, staff and families.
Year 1 Parent Handbook September 2023
Dear Parents and Carers,
We hope that you had a lovely Summer. There are lots of exciting activities planned this year. Within this booklet we have put together an overview of the curriculum for your child this year and also some general information and reminders that we hope you will find useful. The booklets are specific to each year group so if you have more than one child please do read each booklet. Copies of these are also available on the school website and through the school office.
Welcome to Year 1
Year 1 Elm Class:
Mrs Stephenson (Teacher)
Mrs Nunn (Teaching Assistant)
Mrs Lacy (Teaching Assistant) Thursday/Friday
Mrs Jennings-Dawes (Teaching Assistant) – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from November.
Key Stage Leader – Miss Hurley (Reception Teacher)
Working Together
Your support is important to enable your child to do as well as they can and we value a close working relationship with all Parents and Carers. We aim for children to leave our school having achieved their best, by developing their skills and talents through a range of learning activities and experiences. The school teaches a broad and balanced curriculum based on the National Curriculum, which is enriched through additional events and activities. We expect children to fully participate in events and educational visits. If there is a concern or difficulty in your child participating, please speak to your child’s Class Teacher or the Key Stage Leader in confidence.
Your child will be given home learning activities. Please support your child in completing these. It is important that home learning is completed as it supplements learning at school and gives children the opportunity to practise their skills and extend their learning further.
Your child’s Teacher will be the key point of contact for you and it is most helpful if you let the Teacher know about any matters that may affect your child, so that we can support them in school. You may sometimes have questions or concerns and your child’s Teacher will be happy to discuss these with you. Brief updates, for example about end of day collection, can be easily exchanged at the classroom door as your child arrives for school. However, it is best to arrange a meeting if you wish to have a more detailed conversation. Feel free to ring the School Office 01462 450716 to leave a message for the Teacher who will then ring you back at a convenient time and/or arrange a meeting. Please be aware, discussions at the end of the school day must occur after all children have been dismissed to their Parents/Carers.
Most matters will be appropriately discussed and resolved with the Teacher. However, you may feel a matter is more appropriately discussed with a more senior member of staff, in which case you may wish to arrange a conversation with either your child’s Phase Leader or one of our Assistant Headteachers – Mrs Phillipson or Mrs Smith. In some cases, you may wish to speak to Mrs Clayton our Headteacher. Any conversations or meetings can be arranged either directly with the Class Teacher or via the School Office 01462 450716.
If you feel that your child or your family require some Pastoral Support, please pop in the School Office or ring to contact Mrs Woollon, our Pastoral Support Manager. Mrs Phillipson is our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator if you have a query about Special Needs. If you have a concern about the safety of any child, within our school or out of school, please contact one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads for Child Protection – Mrs Clayton, Mrs Phillipson or Mrs Woollon.
Timetable and School day
Just to remind you, we open the classroom door at 8:45am and our learning starts at this time. Please ensure that your child is on time for school to enable a good start to the school day. Staff are working with children at this time so be aware, it can be difficult to talk to Parents at the door with children in the classroom.
We teach Phonics, Maths and English each day, this includes Guided Reading. In the afternoons, we teach the Foundation subjects and other Core subjects such as Science, Computing, Geography, History, RE, PE, Art, Design and Technology (DT), Music and Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE). These subjects build up our curriculum and ensure that we teach a rich, broad and varied curriculum to every child.
Attendance
It is vital that every child attends school regularly. There is a strong link between children’s good progress in school and their good attendance. We are a Local Authority school and governed by both the LA and Government policies. Holidays and days out of school will not be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances deemed by the Headteacher. Any requests will be considered and authorised at the Headteacher’s discretion in accordance with the Local Authority and National guidelines.
Please be aware that we issue penalty fines and lates are also included within this. It is essential that children do not miss learning through being late for school. This disrupts their start to the school day and also impacts on the teaching of the class. Please read our Attendance Policy, which is on the website for more information. Please also read our Attendance Newsletter – Attendance Matters.
In Year 1, we aim to win the Attendance Award each week! As a school, we aim for every child to attend 96% or above. When a child is absent from school, it is difficult for them to catch up. Please help us to be the best class in the school for attendance! We give rewards for attendance – certificates as well as a prize draw!
Curriculum and how you can help your child
Maths
The National Curriculum is designed to ensure all pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of Maths, solve problems and reason mathematically. Fluency in Maths is related to children being able to learn and remember key mathematical facts e.g. Number Bonds to 10 , these are numbers that go together to make 10. Problem Solving is the ability to apply Maths to a variety of problems e.g. word problems, investigations. Reasoning is to use what is known about Maths to tackle a problem and make connections between their learning e.g. Are all multiples of 5 even? No!
Our School Calculation policy is available to view on the school website.
By the end of Year 1 the children will be working with numbers to 100, counting forward and backwards, reading and writing the numbers 1-20 in words. They will be working on one more and one less, counting in multiples of 2, 5 and 10s, adding and subtracting one digit and two digit numbers to 20 and understanding the mathematical symbols. They will also be solving numerical problems, working with simple fractions e.g. halving and quartering, money, measure, shape, time and direction.
Counting and understanding of number is extremely important, please support your child to count at home. This could be counting ingredients for dinner, pennies in a money box and how many cars you see on the way to school. This can also be linked to addition and subtraction. Any opportunity to teach maths practically at home will deepen your child understanding, whether that be telling the time, fractions, shape or money.
English
The National Curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils become fluent and confident speakers, readers and writers. In Year 1, we use the Little Wandle Phonics programme to help our children develop early reading and writing skills. During our daily lessons, we recap and learn new phonemes (sounds) and graphemes (letter or group of letters representing the sound), segment and blend words, read and write sentences. This is in conjunction with daily Guided Reading. Language is a key priority at Oughton Primary and we know that language and vocabulary is the key to success in life so this is a focus throughout all our lessons.
Reading is vital as it helps us learn in all other subjects. Please listen to your child read each day and sign their Reading Record Book. We expect the children to read to an adult at home at least three times a week, with an aim of 5 times a week, as part of their weekly home learning. Please discuss books with your child as well as listening to them read to help them improve their comprehension and deeper understanding of a text.
Please read the information in the Reading Record Book. Children will be rewarded for reading at home as they move around the World! Reading Around the World offers challenges and rewards throughout.
Linked to our Phonics scheme, we will be sending home weekly phonics based home learning to support your children to read and write. This will give them a chance to practice the phonemes and tricky words that they have learnt in school as well as writing a sentence with these in. There are lots of great phonics based websites that will also support your children to learn these all important skills. www.phonicsplay.co.uk is one of these.
Also, you could share a book with your child and read to them; we are never too old to listen to stories! It is important that we build up vocabulary and listening and discussing stories helps this.
To help your child practise their spelling, here are the spelling words that children are expected to know by the end of Year 1:
The, a, do, to, today, of, said, says, are, were, was, is, his, has, I, you, your, they, be, he, me, she, we, no, go, so, by, my, here, there, where, love, come, some, one, once, ask, friend, school, put, push, pull, full, house, our.
Our Curriculum Overview for Year 1 will be sent to you and is also on our website. This enables you to see the topics / key learning areas taught across the year in all of the subjects.
Science
Our topics are Animals Including Humans, Materials, Plants and Seasons. To help your child build up their knowledge, you could do some research around these topics and find out language associated with these areas.
RE
This year, we will be learning about Thanking God for Nature, Light and Christmas, Belonging, Easter and Holy Books in RE. If you are celebrating a specific religious festival / celebration at home, we would love to hear about it and share this with the rest of our class.
Computing
In Computing, we will be learning about basic Computer Skills, programming using Scratch Junior and computer art using Paint. We will also be teaching the children how to keep themselves safe when using computers. Please reinforce this at home.
History
Our History topics this year are Lives of Significant People including Queen Elizabeth II and Guy Fawkes, Great Fire of London and Holidays. Research around these topics will help your child to understand more.
Geography
The Geography topics we will be learning are: What is the Geography of Where I Live? How Does the Weather Affect our Lives? Why Do We Love the Seaside? Talk to your child about places in the world to extend their knowledge even further.
Music
In Music, we will learn different songs, explore rhythms and instruments. Your child will enjoy singing songs and rhymes with you. They could even make their own musical instruments using objects from recycling or those, such as pots and pans, which are found around the home.
Art
Art starts with Henry Moore and clay sculpture, learning about colour mixing and finally beach printing. The children could make their own sculptures using playdough or natural resources. They could also talk about colours, shapes and patterns that they see around them to enhance their knowledge further.
DT
Design and Technology (DT) looks at sliders and levers, freestanding structures and healthy cooking and snacks. To encourage your child’s understanding of how DT is seen in everyday life, you could involve your child with making the dinner and cooking, plan and talk about models they make or talk about how everyday objects work.
PE
In PE, we will be focusing on Striking and Fielding, Dance, Fundamentals, Gymnastics, Ball Skills, Sending and Receiving, Yoga, Invasion Games, Net and Wall Games and Athletics. We also complete the ‘Daily Dash’ to enhance fitness skills. Please encourage your child to be active.
PHSE
In PSHE, we will be following our Jigsaw topics of Being Me, Celebrating Differences, Goals and Dreams, Healthy Me, Relationships and Changing Me. In November, we will be focusing on anti-bullying and learning about what this means. It is important that we talk about our emotions and feelings so further work at home would be beneficial.
Useful websites to help your child:
www.phonicsplay.co.uk
www.mathletics.com
Your child will be given a log in for Mathletics and we will be setting this after half term, once they have settled into Year 1.
Trips, Events and Key Dates
Year 1 Parental Meeting is being held on Thursday 14th September at 2:45pm to discuss the curriculum in Year 1 and ways in which you can help your child further with their learning.
Year 1 are required to have a Phonics Check in June 2024. We will hold a Parent workshop about this on 25th January at 9am to explain more and we will discuss ways that you can help your child.
There will also be some ‘Wow’ Days and events across the year focusing on the Artist Henry Moore on Tuesday 17th October, DT Playground Wow Day on Thursday 21st March and a Science Wow Day on Tuesday 21st May studying plants. We are also planning other events to enhance History and RE further. We aim to visit the Seaside linked to our History and Geography topics in the Summer Term.
On Tuesday 30th April at 2:45pm, you are invited into school to watch your child’s Let’s Celebrate Assembly. This is an opportunity for the children to tell you about their learning.
Other whole school dates:
Monday 18th September Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Friday 29th September Parents / Carers Macmillan Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime
Tuesday 10th October 3:15pm Scarecrow Festival, celebrating Harvest
Monday 16th October Individual school photos
Wednesday 18th October 4-6pm Parents / Carers Open Evening
Thursday 19th October 6-8pm Parents / Carers Open Evening
Half term Week beginning 23rd October 2023
Tuesday 31st October Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Week beginning 13th November - Anti-bullying Week
Friday 1st December Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Thursday 7th December – Choir visit to Cheshire Home
Tuesday 12th December – Trip to the Pantomime at Stevenage Year 4, 5 and 6
Tuesday 12th December – EYFS Nativity (Reception and Nursery)
Wednesday 13th December – Trip to the Pantomime at Stevenage Year 1, 2 and 3
Thursday 14th December – Key Stage 1 Performance afternoon (Year 1 and 2)
Friday 15th December – Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Dinner (whole school)
Monday 18th December – Key Stage 2 Carol Concert afternoon (Year 3, 4, 5 and 6) Christmas Tree Festival afterschool
Tuesday 19th December – last day of term
Wednesday 20th December – Occasional Day – no children in school
Thursday 4th January – children back to school
Thursday 1st February – Choir – Young Voices
Week beginning 12th February – Feel Good Week
Friday 16th February – Inset Day – No children in school
Half term week beginning 19th February.
Wednesday 28th February 4-6pm Parents / Carers Open Evening
Thursday 29th February 6-8pm Parents / Carers Open Evening
Friday 1st March Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Wednesday 6th March – KS 1 and 2 Theatre Production of the Little Princess
Thursday 7th March – World Book Day – details to follow nearer the time
Thursday 28th March – last day of the Spring term
Monday 15th April – children back to school
Tuesday 23rd April Class Photos
Tuesday 23rd April Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Monday 6th May – Bank holiday – no children in school
Fortnight beginning Monday 20th May – Celebrating the Arts
Friday 24th May – Inset Day – no children in school
Half term week beginning 27th May
Thursday 6th June – Art Exhibition after school
Thursday 20th June – Sports Afternoon - Reception, Year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (Reserve Thurs 27th June)
Friday 28th June Parents / Carers Coffee Morning at drop off – in Lime (Breakfast Club room)
Thursday 11th July – Transition Day
Tuesday 23rd July - last day of term
We are also hoping to arrange a Parental Workshop on Emotional Regulation led by our Mental Health Support Team.
Please see our website for dates regarding holidays and Inset days. There will be extra dates and events throughout the year so please make sure that you read all correspondence via Arbor and all newsletters. Please note, dates may change if necessary.
Online Safety
Throughout all of the units in Computing lessons, children will be taught how to keep safe when using any computer, tablet or website. This will include the safe use of photographs, usernames and email. Children are encouraged to use tablets and computers in the presence of their Parents at home. We will follow up any concerns regarding children’s use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp etc. Social Media sites are not considered appropriate for children of Primary school age. Please follow the Government guidance and age guidance for games, apps and media sites.
Home Learning
We expect every child to complete their home learning tasks. We will continue to use Microsoft Teams to set work and give messages. Every child has a log in and this should only be used by your child with Parental guidance.
We expect every child to read regularly as already stated. We will be sending Reading books and also links to online Little Wandle books. In Year 1, to develop our Phonics, each child will be given Phonics homework and after half term we will be starting to set Mathletics home learning too.
Some children may be set extra Reading work using Lexia, later on in the academic year.
General Information
School Book bags can be bought from the School Office. Children are expected to bring their reading book in each day.
Snacks: As a school, we know how important healthy eating is. The Government provides fruit or vegetable snack for Early Years and Key Stage 1 children and we as a school have decided to provide this to Key Stage 2 children as well. We provide milk for children to drink at lunchtimes if they wish.
Dinners: Herts Catering Ltd provide our school dinners and offer a hot meal each day which is either meat or vegetarian as well as jacket potato option. They also offer a cold packed lunch option. Children pick their lunches in class, each day. We offer milk at lunchtime for KS 1 and 2.
If you provide a home packed lunch for your child, please remember, we are a nut free school. Nuts must not be brought into school and this includes chocolate spreads which often contain nuts. (Be aware of almonds in sun scream lotion too.) Home packed lunches need to be healthy and balanced – no chocolate bars or fizzy / high sugar drinks.
Every child needs their own named water bottle to ensure they get enough fluids during the school day. We encourage children to drink water in the school day and do not allow any other drinks (unless they are part of their packed lunch).
PE and PE kit
Our PE days are: Tuesday and Friday
Please ensure that your child brings their PE kit in – white t-shirt, black shorts and trainers and this remains in school. It will be sent home at half term to be washed.
Fitness is a key focus in Oughton and children in KS 1 and 2 will be running our ‘Daily Dash’ circuit each day. Please ensure that your child has their trainers in school every day.
Clubs
As a school we offer a range of sport and subject based clubs which will be delivered by staff throughout the year. Messages will be sent about clubs via Arbor.
Breakfast Club
Premier Education provide a Breakfast Club within school for Reception to Year 6 children. Please book your child in – there is a link from our website. The room which this is held in is Lime, access is via Moss Way Red gate and through the green gate, first classroom is Lime.
After School Club
We provide an after-school provision from 3:15pm-6pm which includes a healthy snack. If you require a place for your child, please book and pay via Arbor. The room which this is held in is Lime, access is via Moss Way Red gate and through the green gate, first classroom is Lime.
Rewards / Houses
We will continue to use House Points and awards such as ‘The Golden Book’ and ‘Super Star’, ‘Positive Play’ and attendance treats. Your child will be in either Sapphire (Blue), Topaz (Yellow), Emerald (Green) or Ruby (Red) and will be able to earn house points. Certificates will be given for house points. Great effort, good home learning effort, completing Mathletics challenges, extra work at home, as well as regular reading will help your child to earn lots of house points throughout the year.
Finally…..
The Year 1 team are really looking forward to this year. Remember, if you have any concern, ring the Office and we will get back to you. The most successful educational year is built on one which shows a close relationship with school and home. Our priority, is your child. It is vital that they are happy in order to flourish and develop to their full potential, ready for the next stage of their education.
Mrs Stephenson
Class Teacher
LETTERS
| Year 1 Curriculum Letter Summer Term 2022 |
| Year 1 Curriculum Letter Spring Term 2022 |
| Year 1 Curriculum Letter Autumn Term 2021 |
GALLERY
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Our English Work
The KS1 Climbing Frame
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Our writing
Maths
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Our Classroom
Our Outdoor CHIL Area
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The children made some wonderful art during Art Week which was displayed at our Art Exhibition in June.
Art WOW Day
To celebrate their learning about Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, Year One held an Art Wow day in November. Dressed as artists, they spent the day sketching ideas, creating clay sculptures, and working as a team to build an abstract sculpture out of cardboard boxes. They thoroughly enjoyed their day as artists and, who knows, one day in the future we may see one of them exhibiting their own work in a famous art gallery!
REV JANE VISIT
In January, Reverend Jane Robson visited Year One to share what it is like to belong to the Christian religion. She also shared how the Christian Church welcome new people into their faith through baptism.
HOMEWORK
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For further information about supporting your child with their homework, please see the Home Learning section of the Parents Area. Information about the Phonics programme used at Oughton can also be found here.
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CURRICULUM
The Curriculum Overview Plan for Year 1 can be found in the Curriculum section within this website.