Welcome to Year 1 Miss Farrow and Miss Pace

Staff in Year 1 Miss Farrow and Miss Pace Ms Sims, Mrs Bolton, Ms Crown Mrs Cervini, Mrs Skinner Other staff when necessary

Continuing the learning journey from Foundation to Key Stage 1 Our children will move from the Foundation Curriculum to the Key Stage 1 curriculum as they become ready in their development. We aim for them all to have made this transition by the end of the term as they each continue to build on their foundation stage learning.

National Curriculum Daily English, Maths and Phonics lessons (set). P.E- 2 lessons per week (Wednesdays and Fridays) Science, Computing, R.E, Geography, History Design & Technology, Art, Music, PSHE & Citizenship. We adopt a theme based approach to make the learning creative, fun and easier for the children to make links in their learning.

Continuing to learn through play Children will continue to learn through practical, first hand experiences. Exploring and applying their learning. We will also be using our outdoor classroom.

Reading We need parent helpers to hear readers! 5 - 10 minutes, every night Ask questions about the story, for example, “Why do you think he did that?” Please date and sign your child's reading diary ,along with the title of the book every time you hear them read. Please feel free to write a positive comment and record any other books your child is reading at home in their reading diary We will be sending home tricky words for the children to learn to read. We will aim to change books Mon & Thurs (we can only change books twice a week due to stock levels) If you would like the level of books changed please write a note in the diary. We need parent helpers to hear readers!

Letters & Sounds Spellings Children will bring home phonics homework, generally relating to the sounds we have covered that week. The homework is meant to be consolidation. At the end of the year, all Year One children take part in a national phonics screening check (please don’t worry about this – we cover everything the children need to know in class!)

Homework Regular reading to an adult at home. Letters & Sounds will be given on Fridays to be handed in by the following Thursday to their phonics teacher. Maths homework will be set half termly to focus on key recall facts.

Tricky Words There are some words that we refer to as ‘tricky words’ that cannot be easily sounded out. The children need to learn these by sight. We have produced 3 tricky word booklets. You will be given booklet 1 this week. This is for you to use at home with your child. Please work on one page at a time and do not move onto the next page until your child is completely secure. Once you have moved on, do not forget to recap the words on the previous pages to remind them. When your child is secure with the entire booklet, send the tricky word book into school and let us know you would like this to be checked. We will test your child on the whole book and will move them on as necessary.

Things your child will need. To start bringing in own letters and messages, becoming more independent. If your child is going home with someone other than you please let us know in writing. Book bag every day with reading books and reading diary. Please name all clothes. Please ensure the PE kit is at school every day – please tie long hair up and make sure that earrings have either been taken out at home or that your child can take them out themselves. Plimsolls that fit- please check at regular intervals! Suitable clothes for outdoor learning: coat, gloves, sunhat, named sun cream, overs.

Rewards and Sanctions Traffic light system Star of the day House points for those children going above and beyond the Heathlands behaviour code.

Additional Info Please encourage children to leave their own toys at home. If they do bring a toy for the playground they will need to be responsible for it and it needs to be able to fit in their hand. eSafety talk- 27th September 7-9pm

Making contact Note in the book bag and encourage the child to hand it to the teacher. If you need to see the class teacher, please make an appointment at the office and we will try to see you as soon as possible.

Home Learning Support and National Expectations The banding sheet went home as part of the report at the end of Early Years. This outlines the national expectations for the new national curriculum for English, Maths and Reading. We will be working on these objectives throughout the year.

SeeSaw Seesaw is a website/ app where you can look at your children’s learning which will update when appropriate. You will be able to make comments on the posts that involve your child. You will be able to access this from your computer, tablet or smart phone.

Visible Learning This year Heathlands will be continuing ‘visible learning’. The concept is that children become much more aware of their learning and teachers see learning through the eyes of the children. There will be assemblies and classroom discussions to teach the children about the concept of visible learning. To celebrate there will be visible learning awards.

The most important thing is your child continues to feel happy, valued and secure and able to build on their current learning. If you ever have any questions or concerns please come and see us.