Welcome to Year One Life in Year One at Harpur Hill Primary School

Meet the Team Miss Marsh - Year 1 Teacher Bridget – Year 1 TA Miss Samadran - Year 1 Teacher Mrs Crews - Year 1 TA Miss Carver – Key Stage 1 Leader Year 2 Teacher Lisa – 1:1 TA Support in Year 1 Teacher Mrs Doxey – TA: Individual Support across Year 1

The Year One Classrooms  There are two classrooms and a provision room (The Sunshine Room) in Year One.  Each teacher has their own classroom and in the autumn term the larger classroom will be open for continuous provision in the afternoons to mirror the learning which the children have been use to in the Reception classrooms.  The Sunshine Room provides further opportunities for us to enhance the children’s learning experiences. It is used for smaller group work in Literacy, Numeracy, Guided Reading and Phonics and for 1:1 sessions.  We will also be making greater use our fantastic outdoor space as much as we can!

The Daily Routine  In the morning we open the Key Stage 1 door at 8.50am and kindly ask you to walk your child in, help them hang their belongings on their peg and say bye here. This is to encourage independence from the start. (For the first week we are happy for you to come into the classroom with them if they are unsettled).  Once we have established the morning routines and SODA sessions with the children, we will then have one morning a week where you will be welcome to ‘stay and support’ the children for a SODA task. This might be a phonics activity, reading task, numeracy game…

The Daily Routine  Toilets. Whilst we encourage children to remember to go at playtimes, children are able to use the toilets throughout the day.  Snack time. As in Reception, a healthy snack is provided at morning playtime. Children bring their own for afternoon break. Please limit their snack from home to 1 per day.  If you would like your child to have milk, then please speak to the school office.

A typical morning in Year One  am – SODA task (Start of day activity) and readers.  9.15 – Classroom routines – (sharing SODA task, looking at how many people are absent, calendar/weather, timetable for the day, star of the day).  9.25 – Numeracy.  – Phonics.  – – Playtime and school ‘healthy’ snack.  – Literacy.  – Mile a day.  – Guided Reading/Phonics Games.  – 1.15pm – Lunch.

A typical afternoon in Year One  1.15pm – Register and handwriting/spellings/phonics skills.  1.35pm – Topic (Continuous provision opportunities in first term)  2.15pm – Snack break.  2.30pm – Topic.  3.00/3.10pm – Tidy, story, prepare for home.  3.30pm – Home-time. Meet on the Key Stage 1 playground – we will need to see a familiar adult before we let them out.

Reading and Homework Expectations  In Year One children will share a book once a week with a member of staff through Guided Reading to encourage discussion and comprehension around the text.  We use our SODA sessions to hear children read individually to a member of staff.  We also have parent helpers who will listen to children read individually on a regular basis. If this is something you would be interested in…  We encourage regular (ideally daily) reading with your child at home. We suggest minutes - children reading to you and sometimes you reading to them!

Reading and Homework Expectations  Books are changed on a Monday and Thursday. But they can be changed when you feel your child is confident and secure with the text. (Children are not to race through the scheme – they need to be secure with their understanding too).  As the children progress through the reading stages, they will be given a reading comprehension sheet to check their understanding of the book they are reading.  This is a 1 page task and needs to be done with some support. We expect the children to write on these and to use their phonics to aid them. We’re not looking for perfect spellings, we’re looking for the child’s understanding of the text and independence with their writing.

Homework Expectations  Children will have homework each week – this will (usually) be sent on a Thursday and expected to be returned the following Tuesday (Wednesday at the latest) to allow us time to mark it and prepare the next piece.  They will have weekly spellings sent home which link to their phonics.  Children will also have a numeracy task (this might be an online activity or a sheet) or a literacy/topic/phonics piece.  The numeracy and literacy tasks will be sent alternate weeks.

Communication  Children will be given a book bag with their name on at the start of Year 1.  These can be replaced at a cost of £1 from the school office.  We endeavour to communicate with you on a regular basis, but we also ask you to play your part too.  We expect you to check book bags on a regular basis as we will put letters in them.  Please check the Year 1 window as letters and reminders will be placed on there.  We will send a text message for reminders too.  Please pass information on to each other too.  If you need to speak to us, then the end of the day is the best time after we have safely seen all the children out. If it is urgent then please ring the office and we will call you back as soon as we can.

Transition Visits  The children will be visiting their new classrooms on Monday afternoon, all day Wednesday (dress-up day!) and Friday afternoon.  As a class they will spend time getting to know their teacher and the rules and expectations for Year 1.  They will create work for a display.  They will also be given some Summer Homework to get them ready for ‘Year 1’ in September.  Our topic for the first half term is Superheroes and each half term we send you information about what we will be learning.

Phonics screening – this is a government requirement for all Year 1 children. At the start of October we will be running a phonics session to support you in supporting your child at home.

We look forward to inviting you in during the first half term to share in your child’s learning experience in Year One. If you feel you have any strengths, talents, skills that we could use in school, then please let us know as we are always looking for volunteers!

We are so excited, and really looking forward to teaching your children and working with you all in September!

Thank you for attending. We will now take a look around the Year 1 classrooms. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have.