year1@allsaints-harwich.essex.sch.uk

Welcome to our Year 1 page

Here is a summary of the exciting learning that our class will be completing in the Summer Term:

In Maths we will be focusing on multiplication and division, fractions, position and direction, place value, money and time.

In English, we will be writing traditional tales and information texts. After half term, we will write narratives and poetry.

We have lots of exciting questions to answer in our other lessons too!

Our curriculum is question led to allow pupils to use their inquisitive minds when exploring each new topic. Our questions this term are:

What does it mean to belong to a Muslim community?

What do Christians say God is like? 

What properties do materials have in common?

How have explorers changed the world? 

How is life different in China?

We will also embark on lots of exciting projects this term!

In DT we will design a fruit and vegetable smoothie.

In art we will investigate mixing colours and then recreate our own designs of Clarice Cliffs 'Circle Tree' plate.

In computing we will plan a miniature adventure story and capture it using photography skills. 

In PSHE we will discuss different types of families and how we can be good friends to others. We will then look at different life cycles and identify how they have changed since being a baby. 

In PE we will focus on athletics and scatterball.

In music we will explore the song 'Your Imagination' to help us find beats and make our own compositions.

In Spanish we will learn how to say different shapes.

PE kit

Can pupils please wear their full PE kit on Thursdays. This is a white top and school burgundy shorts with trainers. When the weather gets cold, pupils may wear a plain tracksuit over the top.

On a Thursday, Year 1 also complete Forest schools so should have wellies or appropriate footwear in school.

Phonics Screening Check 

This term, your child will also take part in the Phonics Screening Check. 

What is phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully. They are taught how to:

• recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes;
• identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make - such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’; and
• blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word.

Children can then use this knowledge to ‘de-code’ new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.

What is the phonics screening check?

The phonics screening check is a quick and easy check of your child’s phonics knowledge. It helps your school confirm whether your child has made the expected progress. This year, the check will take place during the week commencing Monday 12 June.

How does the check work? 

• Your child will sit with a teacher he or she knows and be asked to read 40 words aloud.
• Your child may have read some of the words before, while others will be completely new.
• The check normally takes just a few minutes to complete and there is no time limit. If your child is struggling, the teacher will stop the check. The check is carefully designed not to be stressful for your child.

What are ‘non-words’?

The check will contain a mix of real words and ‘non-words’ (or ‘nonsense words’). Your child will be told before the check that there will be non-words that he or she will not have seen before. Many children will be familiar with this because many schools already use ‘non-words’ when they teach phonics.

Non-words are important to include because words such as ‘vap’ or ‘jound’ are new to all children. Children cannot read the non-words by using their memory or vocabulary; they have to use their decoding skills. This is a fair way to assess their ability to decode.