Welcome to Year 1B

St Francis Class - Miss Bannister

Spring 2024

Miss Bannister would like to welcome you back to our class page! 

Welcome back Year 1, I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas holiday with your families and are excited for this new term back in school. 

Important Information:

Key Dates:

PE                              Monday (Outdoor)    Friday (Indoor)

Home Learning and Book Bags

Book bags will be sent home with a new reading book and a reading for pleasure book every Wednesday. The Reading for Pleasure book is a book to share with the family and discuss together. It is a great opportunity to build a love of reading together. Please ensure book bags are brought in by the following Wednesday. Home learning projects will be set each half-term linked to pupils class learning. These should be completed throughout the half-term in learning log books. Home learning will be shared in class in the final week of the half-term, where the children will be able to celebrate their learning.

Water bottles

Water bottles should be brought into class on a Monday, these will be refill each morning. Pupils will have access to these throughout the day, they will be sent home a Friday for a wash and clean at home. 

Reading, Phonics and Spellings

Reading Eggs -  It is vital that your child reads regularly each night and has an opportunity to practice their comprehension skills in order to support their progress in reading. Children should be aiming to complete a step on their own reading map each week, this is identified by the lesson quiz and the end. Children may also use this platform to access an electronic library of books. There is a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction material for them to read for pleasure.

PE Days

Our PE days will be on a Monday and Friday.  Children should come into school wearing their PE kits on these days. 

Please ensure your child's name is in all items of clothing including their basic school uniform.

If your child's name is not on their items of clothing this makes it very difficult to locate lost items. 

If you are unsure of what your child needs for their PE kit please see our School uniform policy.

Curriculum Focus 

Religion

This term we will be learning about Special People and Meals. We will learn that we all play an important role in our school and parish community. We will learn about the special jobs that must be done in the Church and during Mass and the importance of sharing meals with our families. Following this, we will then explore the Changes that take place in the run up to Easter. During this time we will think about our Lenten promises and how we can change and grow during this time.  

Literacy 

In Literacy, we will continue to focus on letter formation, handwriting and sentence structure.  We will have lots of opportunities to practice using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops with independence. The children will practise these skills through a range of genres including retells, instructions and group work. We will be using texts to support our developing writing. These will include traditional tales and stories with predictable phrases.  

Maths 

This term, we will continue to practice our counting to 50 and beyond! We will challenge ourselves with addition and subtraction within 20 and place value within 50. We will then move on to exploring length and height and weight and volume.  

Please continue to help your child by practicing counting beyond 50 and writing numbers as a way of practicing number formation. 

Science 

In Science, we will be learning all about Season. During our learning we will be learning the months that are in each season, the weather and changes that occur during the seasons. We will be recording the weather using and making weather apparatus to help us.  

Topic 

In Geography, we will be exploring the topic 'Oceans and Seas'. We will be learning and exploring the geography of our world, focusing on the oceans and seas. We will also be learning a song about the seas, why not ask us to perform it for you, it's very catchy!

Home Learning 

Learning logs will be sent home on a Wednesday each week and must be returned to school by the following Wednesday. The children will then get the opportunity to share the work they have done with their peers and celebrate their home learning in class at the end of each half term. Weekly phonics learning will be sent home in books bag including sounds we have focused on this week and tricky words for children to practise at home. 

Reading 

Reading is an integral part of our school day. As well as a daily designated class reading time the children will access a wide range of texts throughout the day. They will have opportunities to read texts during shared teaching, as part of a small group and individually. Your child will read with an adult in school at least three times a week during a guided reading session.   

It is important that your child brings their reading book into school on Wednesdays so their books can be changed. Please encourage your child to read every day at home and make it a special time together.  

Please can you sign the reading record when you have read and discussed the book with your child. Children also need to complete the reading activities in the log book. The reading books will be changed every week. Remember little and often is the best way to develop a love for reading! 

Phonics 

We will be teaching phonics daily. The children will be learning new sounds and practising their blending and segmenting skills, which will support in their reading and writing. Towards the end of the second half term, the children will be given different spellings related to what the focus is in their group that week. The spellings will be sent home as part of their weekly homework and there will be a spelling test of these words the following week.  

For supporting any home learning relating to Phonics, Phonics Play is a fantastic website with lots of free games/resources.  

https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm 

Reading Eggs 

www.reading eggs.co.uk 

Logins for Reading Eggs have been sent via ParentMail but there will be a slip of paper with your child's details for this website in their book bags too.  

PSHE

Throughout the Spring term we will be working through our module 'Created to love others'. Created to Love Others explores the individual’s relationship with others. Building on the understanding that we have been created out of love and for love, this module explores how we take this calling into our family, friendships and relationships, and teaches strategies for developing healthy relationships and keeping safe both online and in our daily lives.