Year 1

Welcome to Year 1! We are looking forward to working together with you to help your child shine their light, be the best that they can be and instil in them the school values of love, respect, trust, hope and thankfulness.

We make the transition into Year 1 a positive experience for your child and we focus on making learning fun!

In the Summer Term of Year 1, your child will do the national Phonics Screening Check. We will hold a meeting in the Spring Term to tell you everything you need to know about the Phonics Screening Check so please don’t worry, we will answer all your questions then! You will be provided with lots of fun resources to access at home nearer the time and we do lots of phonics in school.

Adults in Y1

Mrs Woodhouse is the class teacher and Mrs Guy is the Teaching Assistant every morning. Mrs Park will teach Art and Music on a Wednesday afternoon and Mrs Cowling will be the Teaching Assistant. Miss Rushton will teach P.E. and computing on a Thursday afternoon and again will be supported by Mrs Cowling. Please feel free to speak to any of these adults about your child if there is something we need to know. You can also contact me via your child’s Tapestry Journal (this is direct and private) or leave a message at the office and I will get back to you.

The Shine Curriculum

Children begin learning at 8:55am every day so please ensure your child arrives promptly to school. All children are given a broad and varied curriculum across the year. We appreciate that children learn and develop at different rates, and we ensure that provision is put into place to ensure that all children are given support and intervention where needed. If you have any concerns about your child and their progress, please come and speak to me.

In Year 1 we have the groups Amazing, Brilliant, Fantastic, Marvellous and Terrific. We encourage a positive mindset and encourage children to develop a belief in their own abilities.

Home learning

Phonics and reading is a focus in Year 1 and we ask that you read your child’s reading books with them as often as possible. Little and often is fine if you find your child is tired at the end of a school day. Please sign your child’s reading record book and comment in the box provided. This only needs to be done once, unless there is something that you feel we need to know. There will be sounds and words for your child to focus on at the bottom of the page. Read Write Inc links will be sent home regularly for you to access with your child. It is also important that your child has books and stories read to them. They will bring home a ‘Read for Pleasure’ book that we aim to change on a weekly basis. Please share these books with your child (they are not a ‘reading book’ for your child) and encourage them to discuss the story with you. This book does not need recording in your child’s reading record book.

Your child has a Purple Mash login and I will sometimes set ‘2Dos’ for your child to complete at home. She will email you when these have been set.

There may be times when we send home a short project for your child to complete such a model making or research.

Classroom practices

We ask that children to bring in a water bottle every day. We would kindly ask that it is one with a sports cap to prevent spillages in class.

The children should also bring their reading books and reading records into school every day. Could we remind you not to put snacks and water bottles in book bags please.

Please ensure that all PE kits, coats, jumpers etc are named – especially jumpers and coats which they might remove throughout the day.