Year 1 – Ash and Elm
Ash Class – Miss Foster
Elm Class – Mr Perks
Welcome to Year One!
We understand that whilst the jump from Reception to Key Stage One is an exciting move, it can feel somewhat daunting too, as some of the routines are different to Reception. Our Learning Support Assistants in Year One are Miss Hamlet and Mrs Jones.
Learning in Year One
We have worked closely with the Reception team to ensure a smooth transition from the Foundation Stage Curriculum to the Key Stage One Curriculum. This has included a detailed transition meeting between previous teachers and new teachers detailing where the children currently are in their learning, what their next steps are, along with friendship groups, likes, dislikes and interests.
In September, you will notice that the Year One classrooms and timetable will very much reflect their previous classroom in Reception. The children will have many opportunities to learn through play, be creative, explore and work in small focus groups with teachers. We will only move towards more ‘formal’ learning when the children are ready.
Topics and Themes
We have an exciting year ahead of us and we can’t wait to teach you a variety of topics and themes! Below are the following topics and themes that we will be covering in Year One:
English – Pathways to Write Scheme
Autumn 1: Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar by Grammarsaurus.
Autumn 2: Toy Man by Grammarsaurus.
Spring 1: The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright and Jim Field.
Spring 2: The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth by Ellie Hattie and Karl James Mountford.
Summer 1: Toys in Space by Mini Grey.
Summer 2: Goldilocks and just the one Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson.
We practice Handwriting three times per week alongside the Letter Join Scheme.
Mathematics – My Mastery – Ark Curriculum Scheme
Here are the Units that we work through throughout the year:
Autumn Term: Numbers to 10, Addition and Subtraction within10, Shape and Patterns, Numbers to 20, Addition and Subtraction within 20.
Spring Term: Time, Exploring calculation strategies within 20, Numbers to 50, Fractions, Measures: Length and Mass.
Summer Term: Numbers 50 to 100 and beyond, Addition and Subtraction, Money, Multiplication and Division, Measures: Capacity and Volume.
We also include basic arithmetic.
Science
Autumn Term: Animals Including Humans and Seasonal Changes (Autumn and Winter – winter is mainly covered in our Forest School sessions.)
Spring Term: Everyday Materials and Seasonal Changes (Spring.)
Summer Term: Plants and Seasonal Changes (Summer.)
Reading – VIPERS and Little Wandle Scheme
We read (as part of our Guided Reading lessons) a whole class text four times per week focussing on key reading skills. (VIPERS.) For example, The Gruffalo, We’re going on a Bear Hunt, My Friend Bear etc. We also enjoy reading for pleasure in our book corner in the classroom and at the library. We love reading our Little Wandle books to adults in school and we love taking books home from our book corner or the library, and changing them each week. Our Little Wandle reading groups take place on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We change our Little Wandle books and our books for pleasure every Wednesday unless otherwise notified. Please ensure all books are in school each day so that we can also read 1:1 with your child when we have staff available.
Phonics/Spelling – Little Wandle Scheme
We follow the Little Wandle scheme where we review Phase 3 and 4 words before moving on to Phase 5. This includes alternative graphemes for common phonemes. Please see our page on Phonics for more information. We also look at and practice Year 1 statutory words and tricky words.
History and Geography
Autumn Term: Where am I? (Local area – Priorslee.)
Spring Term: Around the world in 80 days.
Summer Term: The Great Fire of London and recapping of previous learning.
Art
Autumn Term: Water and Lakes (Artist: Van Gough.)
Spring Term: Landscapes and Nature (Artist: Georgia O’Keefe and William Morris.)
Summer Term: Flames (Artist: Stephanie Peters.)
Design and Technology
Autumn Term: Mechanisms (sliders and levers.)
Spring Term: Food (preparing fruits and vegetables.)
Summer Term: Structures (freestanding structures.)
Computing – Purple Mash Scheme
Online Safety and Exploring Purple Mash, Grouping and Sorting, Pictograms, Lego Builders, Maze Explorers, Animated Story Books, Coding and Technology Outside School.
PE – Primary PE Planning Scheme
Our PE lessons are on a Tuesday and Wednesday. Please ensure your child comes to school in full PE kit on both of those days. We cover Athletics, Ball games/skills, Dance, Dodgeball (social focus), Fitness, Fundamentals, Kwik Cricket, Gymnastics, Multi skills, Football, Rugby, Tennis and Yoga.
RSHE
Autumn Term: Healthy Me, Road Safety, Care and Commitment and Antibullying Week.
Spring Term: Internet Safety and NSPCC (underwear rule.)
Summer Term: Changing me – expect respect, choice and challenges, friends, secrets and people who can help us.
Religious Education
Autumn Term: Creation and Thanksgiving.
Spring Term: Questions that puzzles us (I Wonder…)
Summer Term: Christians’ churches, and Sikhs’ Gurdwara.
Music – Charanga Scheme
Autumn 1: My Musical Heartbeat.
Autumn 2: Dance, Sing and Play. (Includes practicing Christmas play Songs.)
Spring 1: Exploring Sounds.
Spring 2: Learning to Listen.
Summer 1: Having Fun with Improvisation.
Summer 2: Let’s Perform Together.
Forest School
Our Forest School session is on a Thursday afternoon. Please ensure your child comes to school in appropriate Forest School clothing (dark colours) on that day. Wellies and all-in-one rain suits are advised.
Mostly, our Forest School sessions reflect our Science learning and we usually link our learning in Science to our activities in Forest School. We also enjoy linking our Forest School activities to our ‘book of the week’ that we look at during our Guided Reading lessons.
We love to allow time for child-initiated exploration and play during our Forest School sessions, and we enjoy watching the children develop their confidence in exploring the world around them in our Forest School area.
Statutory Assessments
Phonics Screening Test – June 2025
For more information, please see our Phonics information page.
Homework Expectations
All children in Year one have been provided with a Numbots log in. Numbots is an online platform that has been designed to support children’s maths. This is an opportunity for the children to practice their basic maths skills at home. E.G. number bonds and addition and subtraction.
Each Wednesday, weekly spellings are sent home in the children’s reading diaries that includes sounds and tricky words we have learnt in Phonics that week and words we have looked at. These can also be used as extra Phonics practice.
Finally, we encourage lots of reading at home (and recording in reading diaries) to allow the children to become more fluent as well as handwriting practice.
How you can help your child at home
Each week, the children will be provided with a Little Wandle fluency reading book which correlates to their level in Phonics as well as a reading for pleasure book. Please read as much as possible as this will help your child with their reading and writing.
At Priorslee, we deliver Maths in a mastery approach. Please see our calculation policy which will show how we deliver the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). Calculation Policy
For Phonics, it is important that the children are taught the same way as we teach in school, this includes the way a sound is pronounced. Please follow the following link which will provide you with information and videos on how the sound is taught.
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
It is also important that your child can begin to spell the Year 1 Common Exception Words, please practice these at home.
As we have the statutory Phonics Screening Check in June, we encourage you to practice past papers with your child at home. These can be found on the Government Website.Useful Links
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
https://www.purplemash.com/sch/priorslee#/ –
https://numbots.com/ – This will assist with children’s counting, subitising as well as number bonds.
