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Our Ethos

'Perseverance'
'Concentration'
'Curiosity'
'Co-operation'
'Respect'
'Enthusiasm'

Key Stage 1

 On Thursday afternoons, Mr Will Welsford (Music teacher) and Mr Harry Marchington (PE teacher) will also teach the children.
  • All children will be taught with their class for English and foundation subjects and with their year group for mathematics and science. In the same way as the last academic year, the children are taught phonics and reading skills in smaller groups. Alongside classroom lessons, the children will also be able to access further activities and provision to develop fine motor skills, writing skills, mathematical fluency and social skills.
  • Reading – Books for the children to read at home will be changed once a week, usually on a Friday. However, we hope that the children will have access to other books at home, for example, from the local library/mobile library which parks outside the school. Reading in school takes the form of whole class shared texts, individual reading, guided reading and during Read Write Inc/Phonics sessions. Initially, all children will take part in RWI phonics and read daily in their sessions. We anticipate that most Year 2 children will move away from this before Christmas and will take part in guided reading sessions instead. These children will read to an adult at least twice a week during guided reading sessions. As the year progresses, we will be introducing the children to the acronym VIPERS, to represent different reading skills and we will refer to these in our reading sessions. For children to make good progress, it is vital that they are supported in this at home and therefore we expect the children to read with you as regularly as possible, preferably daily. Please record any home reading in your child’s reading record. Please make sure book bags (including your child’s reading folder) are in school every day.
  • Phonics Screening Check -  Year 1 children are required to undertake a Phonics Screening Check in the week beginning Monday 12th June 2023. Children in Year 2 that did not pass the check whilst in Year 1 will also undertake this. The check consists of 40 words (real and pseudo-words), and delivered by us in school. Regular reading will aid in this and we will also send some short games and activities home as homework tasks to practise and apply phonic knowledge.
  • Mathematics – We promote learning for mastery and encouraging a deep understanding of concepts in maths. Children in Years 1 and 2 will continue to use Numicon, Base 10, ten frames and other manipulatives and representations to support learning in mathematics, alongside pictorial and written methods. As part of the curriculum, Year 1 children are expected to be able to count up to and beyond 100 (forwards and backwards) and in multiples of two, five and ten. Children in Year 2 are expected to learn their 2, 5 and 10 times tables and able to count in steps of 2, 3, 5 and 10 in Year 2. Further practise and consolidation of mathematical foundations is also taught in short Mastering Number sessions too.
  • Sumdog is available at home via the school website to develop fluency in Mathematics. Your child also has a log-in for Spelling Shed. We will share your child’s log-in details in the coming weeks as these are confirmed. Times Tables Rockstars will be introduced to the Year 2 children when they complete the multiplication and division unit in mathematics.
  • Home activities – Any paper-based homework activities will be included in your child’s reading folder, distributed on Wednesday (please make sure they come in on this day). These activities are most beneficial for your child if they carry them out with you and you encourage them to take pride in their work. We will share a short handwriting activity each week alongside an English or mathematics activity. Spellings are best learnt using the Look, Say, Cover, Write and Check method, for a few minutes each day, although we hope to use Spelling Shed in the coming weeks too. To help you support your child’s learning we will include information on things we are working on via our weekly updates on Tapestry.
  • End of Key Stage 1 assessments - Teacher assessments will be given at the end of the year in English, Mathematics and Science for children in Year 2. The children will undertake tasks and more formal tests to inform our teacher assessments in May 2022. These tests currently include a two reading tests and two maths tests -one on arithmetic and one on reasoning. Teacher assessments are made in writing and science from work within school, not tests.
  • PSHE and RSE – Both Years 1 and 2 have weekly PSHE lessons. During the Summer term, the children learn about ‘Growing and Changing’, which includes physical changes and anatomy, as well as social and emotional changes. Please see the PowerPoint slides for the objectives and some of the vocabulary used.
  • This year there will be two parents’ evenings – one in October and another during the spring term. We hope that these will both be in-person. Here we will be able to inform you of your child’s progress and any areas that you could support your child in.
  • PE – PE sessions will be taught on Thursday and Friday. We thank you for your cooperation in sending your child to school dressed in their school PE kit. Please ensure that earrings/jewellery are removed on PE days. See the school uniform policy for further guidance.
  • Forest School – All children in Key Stage 1 will access Forest School sessions with Mrs Noble and Miss Sykes this year. This will take place on a Friday afternoon and the classes will swap on a half termly basis. This half term, it will be Miss Logue’s class. Children will need old clothes, a waterproof coat and wellies/boots for Forest School sessions.
  • Our topics for the year are:

Autumn

Our School

Light and Colour

Spring

Busy Bodies

All Creatures Great and

Small

Summer

Up in the Air

Water

  • Water – Please ensure that your child has a named bottle of water for in school everyday, for drinking in the classroom.
  • We are available before school when the children arrive for quick conversations or we can arrange to give you a quick phone call if required. Please do not hesitate to come and see us - we value your interest and support!
  • At the end of the day, we will dismiss the children to a recognised adult and the children will remain with the member of staff if the adult picking them up is not there. If you are delayed and are not going to be there to meet them or they are going home with another friend or family member, then please contact the school office.

Thank you!

Sophie Turner and Charlotte Logue