Welcome to Year 1! 

Year 1 is a very exciting year where the children transition from the Foundation Stage into Key Stage 1. We begin the year with lots of play-based learning, giving the children opportunities to choose the activities which interest them, building upon and extending the experiences the children have had in their early education. As we move through the year, the children begin to complete more formal, directed activities to prepare them for their later learning. 

So many basic skills are secured in Year 1, it really is a year where we see amazing progress from the children! Many of them will start the year recording strings of letters to represent their sentences and will leave having mastered capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. We also spend time supporting the children in their vocabulary choices to ensure they are writing interesting sentences which make sense. Through the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme, we also see tremendous progress in reading and spelling in Year 1. Home reading books complement the books which are taught in school and allow parents to support learning at home, building up the bank of sounds recognised and used by the children. The children will also use their phonic knowledge when they take the National Phonics Screening Check. In maths, we consolidate and deepen the children’s knowledge of counting and place value with numbers to 100 and explore different strategies for addition and subtraction. Our focus is very much on practical exploration and developing understanding through collaboration and discussion with others. 

Our topics for the year are Fierce Fires, Sensational Seasons, Adventurous Animals, Tremendous Toys, Perfect Plants and Location, Location, Location. In each topic, we cover a range of subject areas, allowing children to apply their learning, revisit key skills and develop their understanding of, and curiosity about, the world around them.