Year 1
Stewards of the Earth, Guardians of God’s Gifts
Our exciting whole school theme of the year is ‘Stewards of the Earth, Guardians of God’s Gifts.’ This years theme will help us to think carefully about God’s world, our responsibility to look after it and how we should treasure all of the wonderful gifts around us. Eco themes will run through our school year as we learn more about how we can be Stewards of Our Earth.
RE is always at the heart of our learning. This term our RE topics are the following:
- Special People We will recognise that we are surrounded by people who love and care for us. We will learn that there people who have special roles within our parish. We will also learn why Jesus is a very special person in all of our families.
- Meals We will explore how the parish family gathers for the Eucharistic Feast. We will retell the story of the Last Supper and learn about importance of Holy Communion during the Mass.
- Change During Lent we will learn that during this time we reflect on life and change. We will retell the story of Palm Sunday and find out why we celebrate this special day in church.
This term we will be going on an exciting journey of discovery. Our over arching theme continues to be ‘Steward’s of the Earth, Guardian’s of God’s Gifts.’ Our wider topics this term will link into this as we learn more about how we can look after God’s world.
Year 1 will start their learning journey by observing the changing weather as we prepare for the changing seasons of winter into spring. The children will observe weather conditions and begin to find out about climate change.
In science we will learn to name and identify a variety of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. We will discover what animals like to eat and compare them. The children will also name human body parts and begin to investigate their senses.
We will then continue our learning about animals by designing and making our own animal puppets as part of our D&T learning. We will learn how to stitch pieces of fabric together and add other materials in a variety of ways.
The children will use their historical enquiry skills to find out why Mary Seacole is a special person from the past. We will learn about her greatest achievements and why she is remembered today.
We will create our own sculptures of people who are special to us during our art lessons. We will look at the work of Augusta Savage for inspiration and discover why she is a famous artist remembered today.
Our PE lessons are very exciting this term. We will be taking part in gymnastics, yoga and invasion games outside.
On Thursdays we will enjoy taking part in music lessons where we will learn about beats, pulse, rhythm and dynamics. We will experiment with a range of musical instruments throughout the term.
Year 1 children will continue to use Talk for Writing strategies to retell our own versions of Jeanne Willis’ ‘Tadpole’s Promise’ and Sarah Roberts’ Someone Swallowed Stanley.’ We will learn about the environmental impact of not taking care of our rubbish and waste.
The children will continue to develop their mathematical knowledge through topics on addition and subtraction, place value to 50 and measuring. They will complete regular problem solving challenges and use their reasoning skills when explaining their thinking.
This term is going to be a very busy but very exciting one. We can’t wait to get started!
How To Help At Home
Reading: Please ensure that your child always has their reading book and diary in school. Listen to your child read each day and leave a comment in your reading diary. Your child will take part in 2 guided reading sessions per week. Read stories to your child to encourage a love of books and visit the library to borrow a wide range of stories.
PE: Always have the correct PE kit in school. This term all children will need an indoor kit (white t shirt and black shorts) and an outdoor kit (warm joggers/leggings, sweatshirt or hoodie, trainers).
Homework: Complete weekly homework challenges. This will normally include a maths task, reading and spellings. Spelling tests will take place every Tuesday. New homework sheets will also be sent out on Tuesday.
Uniform – Please ensure that every item of clothing is clearly labelled with your child’s name. This makes returning belongings so much easier.
Useful Websites:
https://www.teachyourmonster.org/
Phonics and reading activities in a fun and interactive way.
A fun website to develop mathematical recall and fluency in addition and subtraction. regular homework will be set using this website.
Mathletics United Kingdom | Empowering Maths Learning Online
A fun website to help consolidate the learning done in school. Weekly homework will be set on this website.
Finally, if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to speak to me either before or after the school day. Alternatively please phone or email the office to arrange an appointment at a convenient time.
I am looking forward to getting to know the children and can’t wait to start this busy and exciting term ahead!
Mrs Cook
