1. Amazing Animals
Topic Overview
This term we will use the book ‘North’ by Nick Dowson as a focus for a study of animals. We will explore their similarities and differences and the amazing journeys some make to different parts of the world. We will enjoy songs, poems and stories about animals and study their characteristics and features through our literacy, science and art work.
Class 1 Year 1 Autumn Term 2015
Mrs Drysdale
Science
Through our exploration of animals we will investigate their similarities and differences, life cycles and the different ‘families’ of animals, including amphibians, invertebrates and mammals.
Geography
We will explore the different parts of the world that animals live and migrate to at the different times of the year as well as starting to recognise and locate continents and oceans.
P.H.S.E.
We will continue to follow important 'Golden Rules' in class and consider what makes a good friend. Through stories and circle time we will explore the importance of friendship and how we can be a good friend to others.
R.E.
With the coming of Autumn, we will explore how Christians around the world celebrate Harvest. We will celebrate our own Harvest festival in our local church. We will also find out about the Islamic faith and how this is practised both in our country and around the world

2. Communication, Language & Literacy
We will continue to develop our phonics knowledge to ensure progress with our reading and spelling. Handwriting will focus on formation and consistent orientation.
We will read, recite and compare animal poems, songs and stories and look at the patterns of language.
We will consider what makes a good sentence and how we can improve our writing, using out targets to help us.
Mathematics
Over the next term, maths will include learning about;
Place Value, Counting & Partitioning
Securing number facts and understanding shape
Solving simple number problems
Developing mental calculation strategies
The children will continue to use Numicon shapes (pictured below) to help with place value, counting and calculation.
Computing
We will learn about how we can keep ourselves safe when going online, both at school and at home.
We will use technology to create and present our own picture collages showing different aspects of our school lives.
Helping at Home
Reading regularly, ideally daily. Please indicate reading with a brief comment in reading record.
Support to practise writing and reading new tricky words introduced and words containing new sounds.
Ensure that any writing practise and homework is completed using a sharp pencil, rather than pen or Biro. Opportunities to practise weekly spellings.
Counting in jumps of 2,5,10. Rapid recall of number doubles to 10 (eg. 4+4=)
Through everyday interactions challenging them to identify increasingly large numbers in the environment. Mental addition and subtraction through questioning eg.
‘What is one more/ less?’
‘What is two more/ less?’
Art
The children will explore a variety of medias including collage, sculpture and using paint for different effects, such as marbling.
Music
We will enjoy learning songs and exploring different instruments to make our own music. We will listen and explore duration and how sounds can be made and altered using a variety of stimuli.
Physical Education
Invasion games
Daily Activate movement sessions
Forest School