Welcome to Year 1

Year 1 Team:

Miss Southarn - Class Teacher

Mrs Illingworth - Class Teacher

Mrs Stothard- Learning Support Assistant

Autumn Term 2026

We are very excited to welcome our new Year 1 class and start our learning journey!  Please find a summary of the Year 1 Curriculum for the Autumn Term:

English

In Year 1, we explore a variety of fiction texts, non-fiction texts and poetry.  We will incorporate drama to immerse children in story-telling and role-play to enable them to become familiar with the characters and story plots.  Children will orally retell stories and share descriptions verbally to prepare them for writing. They will record their ideas using their phonics knowledge to identify sounds to write words and formulate captions and sentences.  They will start to include capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.   Please find a summary of the Year 1 English curriculum:

Reading

Children read three times a week in small guided reading groups taught by an adult within school.  Children are regularly assessed and given a reading book that supports the phonics phase they are currently working at. Children must return their books on a Thursday.  Children will bring home their new phonics reading book every Friday.  We encourage children to read with a grown up at least three times a week and we ask that children's online journals are signed each time they have been heard read. The online journals will be checked weekly by a member of staff. For every twenty reads, the children receive a certificate, a gold coin, and a prize. Below are some useful references for questions to ask children as they read. 

Children will also bring home a shared reading book each week chosen from the school library.  This book  should be read with your child as it may contain some words that your child is unable to decode and read independently.   

Reminder: All books need to be back in school on a Thursday to be changed.

Phonics

We follow the Little Wandle Phonics Scheme and children have daily phonics lessons.  Phonics is an extremely important part of a child's learning as it enables them to develop and become fluent, independent readers as they move through school.  In the Summer Term, Children in Year 1 will undertake the Phonics Screening Check.  This is a short statutory assessment that assesses a child's ability to decode and read real and nonsense words.  

Maths

In Maths, children will be building on their skills learnt in Reception.  We start the term by consolidating and building on the composition of numbers up to 10.  We encourage children to deepen their understanding through practical maths problems using manipulatives. Below is a breakdown of the Year 1 Maths topics for each term: ​

Science

Our Science topic this term is Materials.   Children will be working scientifically to identify and name a variety of different materials.  They will be using key scientific language to describe and group them based on their physical properties. We will consider similarities and differences between different materials and work scientifically to investigate and produce tables and graphs to represent our findings.  Below is the Year 1 Science overview:

History and Geography

 

Our topic this term is My School, My Town.

In Geography, we will name and locate the four countries of the United Kingdom and their capital cities.  We will be learning about our local area and going on a walk to identify human geographical features.  We will be exploring maps and creating our own map of the classroom.

In History, we will be learning about our school in the past and comparing it to how it is now.

RE

This term, children will be focusing on worldwide views across different religions and, in particular, how they share and celebrate their beliefs.  We will be discussing the similarities and differences between religions and how they celebrate their beliefs in different ways. Below is the Year 1 RE curriculum.

PSHE

​This term, children will be focusing on 'Being Me in My World'.  Children will be exploring their own role in school life and how they can contribute to a safe learning space for themselves and others.  They will be thinking about how they can care for the feelings of others and how they can make the school community a better place.  Finally, they will be thinking about everyone's right to learn and that all views are valued, linking the learning to the school's golden rules.  

 

PE and Forest School

PE shall be taught on a Wednesday afternoon - children should  come into school in their PE Kit wearing suitable trainers.  Please see the school uniform policy for acceptable PE clothes.  There will be no forest school this term.