Welcome back! It has been wonderful to see the children return to school happy and full of enthusiasm ready for the year ahead. We are writing to share some information about life in Year 1.
Our two classes are Wrens with Miss Hedgecock and Robins with Mrs Drew (Tues-Thurs) and Mrs Maher (Mon/Fri). Our teaching assistants are Mrs Downs (Wrens) and Mrs Evans (Robins).
To support a smooth transition we will be keeping the Early Years ethos going throughout the first term where the children will have time to lead their learning in different areas of the classroom. Please continue to discuss with them the importance of washing their hands throughout the day and to try not to touch each other unnecessarily. We will be supporting the children in a positive way to help them keep safe at school.
Curriculum
We are so excited to start our year with our BIG question, ‘Who Should Look After Our World?’ We begin the term thinking firstly about who Christians believe created the world. We will discuss the story of creation and link this closely to the Harvest festival. This will support our children’s understanding of the concepts and skills of RE. We will then move into thinking about ways we can help our world using the book, “10 Things I Can Do To Help My World’ by Melanie Walsh. This will help give the children ideas of simple changes they can make to help make our world cleaner and healthier. After this we will look at recycling and the impact our waste has on the world. Finally we will look at how the weather can be used to create sustainable energy through the use of wind turbines and solar panels. Finally we will be looking at our local environment, encouraging the children to extend their knowledge of the world around them.
Throughout this project we will be developing the use of our reading, writing and maths skills and be developing skills and knowledge in DT and Geography.
As this project centres around the world we hope to be spending lots of time outside, so please could all children bring in a pair of named wellies to be left in school and always bring a named waterproof coat each day even when the sun is shining.
Forest School
Forest School sessions will begin soon. Each class will be split into 2 halves with one group doing forest school for the first 6 weeks whilst the others continue with PE and then they will swap. Robins’ forest school will be in the new year. Wrens families will receive more information about this next week.
Homework and Reading at home
We encourage the children to read as often as possible and ask that you record each read in the diary, whether it’s a whole book, a few pages of a book or another read of a familiar book. The children can change their books as often they like and will be reminded to do this at the beginning of each day. Please let us know if your child needs support with this.
Please remember how important reading at home is. We recommend the equivalent of 10 minutes a day but this could be phonics games and activities that are based on reading skills. Please fill in their Reading Record each time you read at home, filling in the title and page numbers. If you would like to write a brief comment about how your child got on that is always helpful. The children will again be taking part in the reading challenge where they will be earning certificates for reading 20, 50, 100 times and beyond and these will be awarded to the children at school.
Whilst we are getting used to new routines, the children will be asked to just concentrate on their reading at home. From next half term, the children will start receiving homework. Further details about this will follow.
PE
This term, Wrens will be doing PE on a Monday and Thursday (if not at Forest School) and Robins will be doing PE on a Thursday and Friday. Please can children come into school wearing their PE kits on these days. If there is any reason why your child cannot participate in a PE session, please let the class teacher know via the year group email address. PE is only cancelled in the event of heavy rain, icy or extremely cold conditions. Therefore, a pair of jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt (ideally navy) are useful. If your child does not have an alternative sweatshirt, they will have the option of wearing their school one. Children with pierced ears must be able to remove their own earrings or cover these with tape provided from home. Long hair should also be tied back.
Water bottles and Snacks
Please remember to bring in a named water bottle every day. Children will be provided with fruit snack for playtimes however if they would like to bring in an additional healthy snack for break time they can (e.g. fresh fruit, dry crackers or breadsticks, a bagel, raisins). Please ensure any snacks are both nut and egg free.
Uniform
Please ensure your child has a waterproof coat in school every day as children will only stay inside at playtimes if it is raining heavily. All clothing, including PE kit, should be clearly labelled with your child’s name. In addition to this your child only needs their water bottle and Bookbag. We are trying to reduce the cross contamination of things travelling from home to school and back again so we ask please can backpacks be left at home wherever possible.
We are really looking forward to a great Autumn term. If at any point you need to speak to either of us about any queries or concerns, please contact us through the year group email: year1@stwilfrids-hh.school and we will reply or respond by phone as soon as we can.
Best Wishes
