WELCOME TO YEAR 1! Bridge and Patrixbourne CEP School

Building on previous knowledge and becoming independent learners. Key Skills Reasoning Skills Information Processing Skills Enquiry Skills Evaluation Skills Problem solving Skills Creative Thinking Skills Communication Skills Transition from Foundation Stage to Year 1

The New Curriculum Details of the topic for the term and the areas of learning. Term 1 – My Local Area Term 2 – Dinosaurs Term 3 – Then and now Term 4 – Space Term 5 – Castles Term 6 – The Seaside Curriculum Maps

Dover Castle Bridge Church Astrodome The Seaside - Broadstairs Planned Visits

Carpet Maths Write Dance Activities Letters and Sounds - phonics Guided Reading Maths and English Foundation Subjects Home learning Ready Steady Challenge Learning in Year 1

The maths work your child is doing at school may look very different to the kind of ‘sums’ you remember. This is because children are encouraged to work mentally, where possible, using personal jottings to help support their thinking. The curriculum maps detail the areas of maths we will be covering each term. Supporting your child with maths It doesn’t have to be by doing pages of sums or text books – there are lots of fun activities and games you can play together. When solving a maths problem ask your child to explain their thinking to you. Try to involve your child in as many problem-solving activities as possible. The more ‘real’ a problem is, the more motivated they will be when trying. For example working out change when you go shopping. Maths

Supporting your child with English Become a member of your local library where your child can choose from a wide range of interesting books ( both fiction and non-fiction). Listen to your child read as much as you can and encourage them to talk about what they have read. Discuss the characters, the setting and predict what might happen. Let your child see you reading and talk about what you like and don’t like reading. Writing should be fun and for a purpose – children can write letters to family members, write about something special they have done, label their bedrooms, write stories. REMEMBER - Every piece of writing should have… Non- Negotiable criteria Capital letters, full stops, finger spaces, correct orientation of letters English

Daily Phonics will develop speaking and listening, reading and writing skills. What a phonic lesson looks like in the classroom… Revisit and review - The children will play a quickfire game to practise something they have learned before and help build their confidence. Teach - The children will be taught a new phoneme/grapheme or a new skill - this will be taught in a fun multisensory way and may well involve: songs, actions, pictures, puppets, writing giant letters in the air. Practise - The children play fast, fun games to practise the new skill they have just learned. Apply - The children will have a go at reading or writing sentences that involve the new skill they have just learned. Is this the only way that children are taught to read? Absolutely not! Phonics is the first step in helping children to crack the code of reading and writing. Your child will participate with daily Guided Reading sessions and literacy sessions which will allow them to transfer and consolidate their new skills. Phonics

Stars of the day – children are chosen everyday to take register and help with different classroom tasks. Marble jar – marbles rewarded and placed in class jar by child. When the jar is full we have a party to celebrate our achievements! Behaviour Book Classroom Rewards

Uniform Winter Uniform for Girls and Boys grey trousers or skirt White polo shirt/ white shirt with collar School sweatshirt * (£11.00) Grey or white socks Black school shoes – not trainers PE kit * (£10.00) – items can be purchased individually PE Bag * (£2) Shorts *(£4) T shirt with school logo *(£4) * Available from the school office We expect children to be smart for school. There is an expectation that all children wear the correct school uniform. Children are not allowed to wear make up – e.g. nail varnish and jewellery ( apart from stud earrings which will need to be removed for PE). They will be asked to remove this if they do so.

Before and After School School starts at 8.50 am and both playgrounds are supervised from 8.40 am. Please can you make sure that your child is not left unsupervised before then. School ends at 3.15 and your child will be walked round by a teacher from the class. If you arrive before and have young children, please do not allow them to make a large amount of noise outside the classrooms as this can disrupt the children’s concentration, especially in Year 6. The playground is not supervised after school and so therefore you are responsible for your children on the equipment. Thank you for your cooperation.

What do I do if I need to speak to someone ? Communication is really essential. If there is important information which the class teacher needs to know please can you let one of the ladies in the office know or write a note. You can always speak to a member of staff from the class at the end of the day. If there is something urgent which you need to talk about, the ladies in the school office will always try to find someone who can help you if the class teacher is teaching. If what you need to speak about needs a discussion with the class teacher, please contact the school office to make a mutually convenient time with the teacher. If you would like to talk to someone in confidence about a safeguarding issue or family circumstances, please speak to Miss Chinnadurai who is our Safeguarding Officer. In her absence please speak to Mrs Long or Mrs Byrne.

Punctuality Being on time is important – it is a vital life skill. Children have early work whilst the register is being taken; lateness disrupts not only the latecomer’s learning, but that of the other children. It can also be embarrassing for the child. School starts at 8.50 am.Your child will receive a late mark if they are not in school when the registers are taken. If this is persistent then Miss Chinnadurai will write to you and there may be a referral made as our registers are checked by outside agencies. At the end of the day children who are persistently collected late may also be referred.

Good attendance is vital for good learning and success at school Our attendance is monitored regularly and you will be informed by letter if your child’s attendance level falls below 95%. If your child’s attendance falls below 90% a meeting will be arranged with Miss Chinnadurai to discuss how we can work together to improve it. If levels of attendance do not improve then there will be Education Welfare Officer involvement. Absence requests are not automatically authorised and if you are requesting an absence this must be put in writing. This may lead to a meeting with the headteacher.

Home Learning Every child will have a Home Learning book which will be sent home on a regular basis. This will usually be on a Friday and will need to be returned to school by the following Wednesday at the latest. Your child’s targets for reading, writing, maths and science will be in their home learning book for your information. A list of ‘non-negotiables’ which indicate the quality of work and presentation expected will also be included. A Home Learning task sheet will be added each term from which children may choose activities to complete in their Home Learning book. Teachers will discuss these with the children and offer suggestions on how they could be completed. We are more than happy for parents to support their children in researching and presenting these tasks in different ways.