Hi, I am Mrs Bradshaw, and I am very excited to be your teacher in Year 1.

I have been lucky enough to be a teacher at St John’s for three years. I love walking, swimming and reading to relax.

 

Other staff working in our class are: 

Mrs Chick - Teacher on Monday and Tuesday

Mrs Buckett - Teacher on Wednesday afternoons

Mr Graves - Teaching Assistant

 

Welcome to our Year 1 class page! We are excited to share our learning journey with you this year. Here you will find updates, photos, and news about all the exciting things happening in our classroom. We can’t wait to show you how we learn, explore, and grow together!

 

Weekly Timetable in Woodpecker Class:

Term 1

In English, Year 1 we will follow the programme Read Write Inc. The children will learn new phonic sounds each day, practise reading with a partner and then write sentences using sounds they have learnt.                                  

 

Reading – Children are expected to read every night for at least 10 minutes.  Reading records should be signed by an adult and brought back into school each day to be checked by a member of staff. Your child will take home their phonics book each day which will be changed every Friday.

Your child's Spelling Shed login is stuck at the front of their reading record. Assignments are set once a week, so please keep practising as it really makes a difference to your child's progress! Thank you! 

Phonics – The children will continue to learn their sounds in set 1, 2 & 3 and use the sounds they know to help with their writing.

How can I support my child to learn Set 1 sounds and to blend?

• Use pure sounds, not letter names. Watch the ‘how to say the sounds’ parent film on http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/.
• Watch the ‘Reading the stretchy sounds with your child’, ‘Reading the bouncy sounds with your child’ and ‘Reading the digraphs with your child’ parent films on http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/ to see how to teach Set 1 sounds.

We teach children to read and spell using Fred. He is a toy frog who can say the sounds in words, but not the whole word. Children have to help him.

To help children learn to blend, we say the sounds as Fred and then children repeat the sounds and say the whole word.

Here are two ways you can use Fred Talk at home:

1. play Fred Games together – see Fred Games document on http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/
2. speak like Fred throughout the day e.g. time for l-u-n-ch! Let’s p-l-ay!
3. Watch the ‘Sound-blending’ parent film on http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/

 

How can I support my child to learn Set 2 or 3 sounds?

Watch the ‘Set 2/3 tutoring’ film on http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/.

 

Please see some useful websites below, to support your children's phonics at home. YouTube is great for Read, Write, Inc (RWI) phonics videos and Miss Phonics has some great lessons to watch.  https://www.youtube.com/@MissPhonics/videos 

Games: https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ 

 

In Maths, Year 1 will be developing our understanding of numbers and place value through practical activities.  We will practise counting and recognising and representing numbers, finding one more and one less, comparing and ordering numbers and using number lines.  We will also develop our problem-solving and reasoning skills.

    

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Your child's Numbot login details are stuck in the front of their Reading Record book.

 

In RE this term, year 1, we will explore the story of the Lost Son and learn about Christian beliefs in God's love, forgiveness and saying sorry.  We will share our ideas and think about how these beliefs can be put into practice. 

      

In Science, we will be learning about the human body, identifying and naming different body parts and exploring our five senses.  We will use practical activities to help us understand how our bodies work.

           

                     

This term in Geography, we will learn about the weather and the four seasons, making observations and exploring how seasonal changes affect people, animals and the environment.  We will also learn about different types of weather and use practical outdoor activities to investigate our surroundings.

 

                                        

 Outdoor learning is every alternate Thursday afternoon, and you will receive a text beforehand so that appropriate clothing can be brought in.

PE is every Wednesday afternoon. Please come to school in your PE Kit.

 

Be ready for learning! In Woodpecker class, your child will need to have these items in school: 

Key Stage One (Years 1 and 2) 

• Book bag (no rucksacks please) 

• PE kit (to be worn on PE day) 

• Water bottle (no squash or juice) 

• Lunchbox (if not having school meal) 

• Wellington boots (to leave school) 

• Coat (weather appropriate) 

Please don’t bring other items into school, as we do not have space to store them, and it can cause upset if things are lost or damaged. 

 

School Uniform Checklist:

Please label ALL items of clothing and shoes clearly with your child’s name. This helps even our younger children to take responsibility for and look after their uniform. 

 

Reminders

In the morning, please drop your children off at the gates and leave any important messages with staff on the playground. We start our day's learning as soon as the children arrive, so teachers are not available to speak with parents and carers at the start of the day; after school is best.

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!