Our class authors are Jill Tomlinson and Julia Donaldson. Our classes are named after these influential writers, because they have an excellent and high-quality range of Children's Literature. 

At the start of the day, the gates are open at 8.45am. Children and their adults are to line up by the Year 1 paddock gate. A member of Year 1 staff will be at the gate to welcome the children into school. Any messages can be passed onto the member of staff who will relay this back to your child's class teacher. 

The bell at the end of the school day is 3.20pm. The school gates will be open at 3.15 for parents to begin to line up outside the Year 1 paddock gate. Children will be released through the gate at 3.20pm. 

During release, it is vital that safeguarding is maintained and children are collected promptly and safely. If for any reason, you have to send an alternative adult to collect your child, please ensure you inform the school office. They will ensure this information is passed onto the Year 1 team. 

These are extracts from our Positive Interactions Policy

Protective behaviours 

We have a Protective Behaviours culture and children regularly identify and update their Network Hand. This ensures that children know which adults they can approach if they are worried, however ‘awful or small’.

Proactive social media reminders

We send regular and proactive reminders to parents regarding social media and always request you check pupil's devices regularly and have full access to all their devices and accounts. By working together in this way, we work towards keeping pupils safe.

Learning 4 Life 

Our Learning for Life lessons allow us to be proactive with teaching children how to keep themselves safe, learn about relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education.

Throughout Year 1, children are exposed to a balanced and varied curriculum, which has been carefully curated to meet the needs of the children.

Across the Autumn term, the children are carefully transitioned from the Early Years curriculum through appropriately planned child-initiated activity sessions. This allows children to move onto a more formal curriculum. However, play-based activities are incorporated where appropriate to support the children and their holistic learning throughout the year. 

Every day, the children receive:

• X3 Phonics/Spelling sessions, 1x Maths and 1x English lesson.

• 3x a week, children will receive a Reading lesson per day.

• 1x a week, children will do P.E, Science, R.E, Geography/History (rotated half termly), Art/D.T. (rotated half termly) and Learning for Life.

At the end of Year 1, normally the second week of June, children will sit the Phonics Screening Test. This seeks to test whether children have learnt to decode words using phonics to the required level. Children are expected to sound out and blend graphemes to read simple words. Throughout the year, we will be sitting various practise tests to help prepare the children and every day children will be taught two phonic sessions. Below you will find some phonic assessment materials that may support you at home to help your child.

Towards the end of the academic year, there are transition days allocated where the children will have the chance to meet their new Year 2 Teacher and get to know them. 

There will also be a "Meet the Teacher" evening where you have the chance to listen to the teacher discussing the changes/transition to the new year group and allow parents to ask questions. 

As a school we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds revised scheme. Your child will read to us once a week and a member of staff will write a comment in their reading record. Children's books will be changed weekly. 

Your child will bring home a library book and reading practice book that has been carefully matched to your child's current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don't worry that it's too easy-your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading. 

Listen to them read the book each night. Remember to give them lots of praise-celebrate their success. If they cannot read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together and write a comment in their reading record daily. 

Book bags and reading records need to be in school daily. 

In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together. Please remember that you shouldn't expect your child to read this alone. Read it to or with them. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun.

Children will also receive a piece of Phonics and Maths home learning each week which will be set on a Friday. Children need to return their home learning the following Friday and this will be marked. Please remove any marked home learning from their folder each week. 

Useful links

Please find some links to support your child with home learning

Maths:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=Year%201

https://www.youtube.com/user/JackHartmann (Really useful songs to learn numbers/shapes ect)

https://www.hamilton-trust.org.uk/blog/learning-home-packs/

English:

https://www.hamilton-trust.org.uk/blog/learning-home-packs/

https://www.spellzone.com/word_lists/games-5454.htm

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar

Phonics:

https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/

https://phonicsplaycomics.co.uk/

https://www.phonicsbloom.com/

Children must bring a water bottle every day with water. As we are a healthy school, we encourage all children to only bring pure water and not bring in squash or flavoured water. 

Children also receive a morning break wherein we encourage adults to send in a healthy snack e.g. fruit. There is free fruit available to children every day too. 

If you have any questions, please come and ask. 

Our Year 1 PE day is Monday, so please make sure your PE kit is brought to school on the first day back and stays in school until the end of the half-term. This is then sent home over the holidays to be washed and must be sent back in on the first day back to school. 

Kit includes:

- A plain white polo top/plain white T-shirt (you can purchase a top with the TM logo)

- Shorts/Joggers (weather dependent)

- A pair of pumps

- A black hoody with a zip is ideal for the colder weather. 

P.E. normally takes place in the dance studio, but there will be occasions where the outdoor playground/field may be used.

Throughout the year we host a variety of parent Phonic parent workshops. These will take place at different points in the year and staff will make parents aware of these through a letter. 

If there is any support that parents need with anything, staff are always available for a chat at the end of the day. Any messages can be passed onto other members of staff if your child's teacher is not on the gate in the morning.

As a school we follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised Scheme. For handwriting, we use the Little Wandle letter formation rhymes to help support our children with letter formation. Please see the guidance below for support.