Our Day

Our school day starts with our motto, ‘Be in line at five to nine’, with registration at 9:00am. There are two classes in Year 1, both following a similar structure throughout the day. During the morning the children have a play time followed by snack which consists of milk, water, biscuits and fruit. 

Reading

We start each day with guided reading. Every child reads daily and will work with an adult on their reading at least twice a week. We follow a banded book scheme in order for us to monitor progression successfully. Both classes spend time visiting our school library, where they have a chance to explore, engage and immerse in a world of books. 

Phonics

To support children's reading, we have daily phonics lessons. Our Year 1 classes are split into four groups for phonics sessions in order to differentiate teaching and learning to best fit the children’s needs. These are short, discrete and active sessions where children are encouraged to practise and apply their phonics skills in both reading and writing. 

English

Children participate in a broad and balanced English curriculum, focussing on narrative, non-fiction and poetry. Our school has a bespoke Chatterbox and Traditional Tales programme which encourages ‘Talk for Writing’. Here children immerse themselves in books by dressing up as characters and taking part in lots of drama and role-play activities to support our writing process.

Maths

We follow White Rose maths which promotes fluency, reasoning and problem-solving across all our maths topics. In maths, we focus on the following topics; number, shape, measure and data handling. Through each topic children are taught the necessary skills in order to solve real life problems. We use a variety of practical and interactive resources to give our children hands-on experience. 

Science

Science is taught weekly and covers the following units:

• Animals including humans
• Seasonal changes
• Plants
• Everyday materials

Foundation Subjects

Our foundation subjects in the afternoon are taught in ‘blocks of learning’ to ensure continuity and clear progression of knowledge, skills and vocabulary within a particular subject. P4C is an integral part of our foundation subjects and where there are natural topics of debate or discussion, P4C cycles of enquires and activities will be explored. We also enjoy learning about healthy foods and how to cook them as part of our weekly cooking lessons.

Forest School

Children in Year 1 will have 10 forest school sessions split over two seasons, 5 in Autumn and 5 in Summer. Forest school offers opportunities for children to learn differently in an outdoor environment.  It promotes children becoming creative, independent learners.