Hi, my name is Miss Eccles, and I am the Year 1 Teacher for Hummingbirds. I am thrilled to be teaching at St John's CE Primary School and to be part of the Year 1's journey of learning.

I have a passion for fostering a love of learning in young minds, with a background in Early Childhood Education and a dedication to helping children reach their full potential.

In Hummingbirds, I look forward to a year full of growth, fun and memorable learning experiences. I love teaching maths and I have a huge passion for story telling. I enjoy nothing more than ending the day with a story and becoming lost in the world of books. Outside of teaching, I enjoy reading, cooking, hiking, spending time with family and friends. 

Other staff supporting Hummingbirds:

Mrs Myer is our teaching assistant. Hummingbirds will have computing with Ms Alcock and PE with our sports coach every Wednesday afternoon.

 

Year 1 Timetable

 

Term 1 

Welcome to Year 1! We are so excited for a wonderful year of learning, growing and having fun together.

Our classroom is a place where everyone is encouraged to be kind, curious, brave and proud of their learning. We will explore new ideas, make new friends and enjoy lots of exciting activities along the way.

We can’t wait to see all the amazing things we achieve together this year!

 

    English and Phonics   

This term, our theme is ‘All Things Great and Small’, where we will explore all the wonderful things around us through stories and adventures. We will enjoy books such as Meet the Weather and Elmer’s Weather; linking to our geography learning, discovering different types of weather and the world around us.

In Year 1, we will be following the Read Write Inc Phonics programme to develop children’s confidence in reading and spelling. Each day, children will practise their sounds, blend sounds together to read words, learn ‘special friends’ and red words, and develop their fluency through carefully matched books. 

                         

Reading - Your child will be bringing home a reading book every day, so please bring their book bag daily to keep the books safe. Please try to spend 10 minutes each day listening to your child read as it really does have a positive impact on their progress. Remember to sign your child’s reading record book when they have read to you. These need to be brought into school each day to be checked. The children will be able to change their reading book every Friday. This will give your child the chance to become more confident by re-reading the same book several times.

 

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/ 

 

 

 

Maths

In Maths, we will be learning all about numbers and place value within 10. We will use lots of fun resources, like cubes and counters, to help us build, count and compare numbers. This will help us understand how numbers work and get us ready for adding and subtracting.

 

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

RE 

In RE, we will be introduced to Christianity by exploring the key question: ‘What do Christians believe God is like?’ Through stories, discussions, and activities, we will develop our understanding of Christian beliefs about God, focusing particularly on themes of love, care, and forgiveness.

 

 

Science

In Science, we are learning all about the human body. We will find out about our different body parts and how our five senses help us to see, hear, smell, taste and touch the world around us.

 

Geography 

In Geography, we are learning about the weather. We will look at the different types of weather we see in each season through observations and discussions about how the weather can change. We will also start to find out about the weather in the UK and other parts of the world.

 

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

Please do not hesitate to talk to us if you have any concerns so that any problems can be sorted quickly.  

 

Be ready for learning! In Hummingbirds, 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 in school) 

• Coat (weather appropriate) 

We encourage children to not 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. 

 

Learning at home for Hummingbirds Class: 

Children are expected to read every night for at least 10 minutes.  Reading records should be signed by an adult and brought back to school each day to be checked by a member of staff. Your child will take home 2 books each day – a banded book, and a phonics book.  These will be changed on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Spelling Shed and Numbots can be accessed from home using the logins provided on the inside of your child's reading record. 

 

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.

 

 

 

Highlights