WHAT WE ARE LEARNING THIS TERM

ENGLISH

 This half-term we will be diving into the fabulous world of poetry. We will explore ‘The
Puffin Book of Fantastic Poems’ in order to familiarise ourselves with rhyme and rhythm. By
the end of this unit, we will have responded to, read, written and performed our own poems.

“The Lonely Beast” by Chris Judge is a heartwarming and beautifully illustrated children’s book that follows the adventures of a friendly and affable monster named The Lonely Beast. This lovable creature embarks on a quest to find friends and discovers a vibrant world filled with different animals, each unique in its own way. Through its journey, The Lonely Beast teaches children important lessons about acceptance, diversity, and the value of friendship. This unit will facilitate opportunities for creative writing; where the children will create their own imaginative stories featuring unique characters and settings. The book also allows children to practice descriptive writing and the opportunity to engage in character analysis by examining the way in which the beast changes throughout the story.

Phonics

This term, the children will revisit and consolidate Phases 2 and 3 of the ELS Scheme. We will then work on introducing Phase 4 to the children, along with learning to write and spell any common exception words. The children will be encouraged to independently write words and sentences using the phonic sounds they have been taught. It will be beneficial if this can be encouraged at home too.

READING

The children will have guided reading sessions every day. They will all have the opportunity to participate in 1:1 reading sessions once a week. The children will also be provided with a reading book each week, please read with them daily and leave a comment in their reading journals. Ensure your child brings their reading book and reading journal into school every day. Please make use of BugClub at home; this is an excellent tool the children can use in order to develop their phonic knowledge and reading fluency.

MATHS

In Maths Year 1 will be familiarising themselves with numbers 1-10. They will be taught how to write numbers, order them, compare numbers and work on our knowledge of number bonds within 10. Year 1 will then be introduced to the concept of addition. We will look at various addition strategies, such as counting on and adding using a numberline. The children will work to complete number sentences, solve picture problems and create addition stories.

SCIENCE

In Science this half term, Year 1 will be learning about ‘Changing Seasons’. We will become familiar with their scientific names of the four seasons and the type of weather associated with each
season. We will explore the impact of weather and temperature on seasonal change.

Geography

In Geography, we will be enhancing our knowledge of the UK. We will learn about the 4
countries (Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales) which make up the UK, and
identify and locate them on a map. We will also be exploring UK cities and their capitals.

ART

This half term, Year 1 will be exploring colours. They will learn about the primary colours, secondary colours and colour mixing. The children will have the opportunity to experiment with shade and tone. they will also explore the artists Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandisky and create artwork in the style of Mondrian and Kandinsky.