Year 1
Welcome to Year One!
As we embark on an exciting journey into Year One, I am thrilled to be guiding your child through this journey together. I really believe in fostering a love of learning and I am dedicated to creating memorable experiences that will shape your child's’ educational paths. Year One is a pivotal stage in a child’s development, and at Castlefort Academy, we are committed to nurturing this growth through engaging and interactive learning opportunities.
This year, students will dive into a variety of amazing topics designed to spark curiosity and encourage exploration. From roleplay activities that bring stories to life to hands-on experiments that ignite scientific inquiry, each experience is crafted to build a strong foundation for future learning. We believe that learning should be fun and meaningful, and I am so grateful I get to guide these students through this transformative year.
We really value your support and the role you play in your child’s education, so if you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to come in and see any of us.
I am delighted to be the lucky teacher who gets to see your child through arguably one of their most transformative years of their school life. I cannot wait to share the progress your child makes in year one and be supporting them every step of the way!
Our Year 1 Team
Miss Aldridge
Class Teacher
Mrs Brady
Teaching Assistant
We enjoy our Creative Curriculum topics each half term.
Our topics are:
| Autumn 1 | Dinosaur Planet |
| Autumn 2 | Where do I live? |
| Spring 1 | Big Lights, Big City |
| Spring 2 | Weather Experts and Habitats |
| Summer 1 | Memory Box |
| Summer 2 | Oceans and Seas |
Dinosaur Planet is our first topic in Year one. What will Year one be learning?
-
When and where did dinosaurs live?
-
Map work- to locate where dinosaurs (fossils) have been found.
-
How the world’s landscape has changed since the dinosaurs.
-
How and why the dinosaurs became extinct.
-
What dinosaurs looked like and their diets.
-
Why are fossils linked to Mary Anning?
Where do I live? This is our second topic in Year one. What will Year one be learning?
- Map work - Can I locate the UK on a world map?
- Can I name some UK cities and towns as well as local places I may know?
- Can I name and locate the four countries of the UK, their capital cities and the surrounding seas?
- Can I recall famous UK landmarks?
Big lights, Big city- London is our third topic in Year 1. We will enjoy learning about...
- The difference between a town and a city.
- Who is in the Royal family?
- Investigating the Great Fire of London.
- Discovering who was behind the Gun Powder Plot...
- Creating our own fire engines!
Weather Experts and Habitats is our fourth topic in Year 1. We will....
- Create artwork based on The Great Wave by Hokusai.
- Create rain gauges and measure rainfall over a period of time.
- Explore extreme weather, such as floods and tornadoes.
- Learn the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
- Learn about hot and cold countries and the animals who live there.
- Writing facts about the weather.
Memory Box is our fifth topic in Year 1. Here are some of the things we do!
- To retell traditional tales and read lots of fairy tales! These include Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Billy Goats Gruff, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and The Gingerbread Man.
- Making our own sandwiches in Design and Technology.
- Recreating wallpaper relief artwork inspired by William Morris.
- Learn about all things old and new including: toys, household items and technology.
- Explore our own past through family photographs.
Oceans and Seas is our sixth topic in Year 1. We will be discovering...
- Why we must not to drop litter.
- The different marine habitats!
- Exploring the Barrier Reef!
- Who was Charles Darwin?
- How to use globes and atlases.
- Treasure maps and how to read compass points!
Our Science Topics:
Everyday Materials
Looking at Animals
Using our Senses
Animal Antics
Planting, Growing, Eating Fruit and Vegetables
Plant Detectives
Our Key Authors:
Beatrix Potter
Michael Rosen
Lynley Dodd
Jill Murphy
Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg
Sue Hedra
Julia Donaldson
Learning at home
In Year 1, we would like your child to learn at home, see below tasks and websites:
- Reading 4 times a week in return of some Castle Coins or receiving our Star Reader Award!
- Using numbots to build upon basic maths skills.
- Practising their phonics sounds daily. Alphablocks is a fun educational programme to support this!
- Spellings are set every Wednesday and tested every Monday. Please send in your child's spelling book every Monday to ensure their spellings are changed.
- Times tables - please practice the 2s, 5s and 10s times tables.
- Time - Please practice telling the time using 'o'clock' and 'half past' the hour.
- Letter formation (We use the RWI phonics rhymes).
- Number bonds to 10, 20 and 100!
Websites
| Phonics Play |
Contains a range of phonics games to help them retain their sounds. www.phonicsplay.co.uk |
| BBC SuperMovers |
Maths and English based videos - The number bonds one is great for Year 1! www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/ks1-collection/zbr4scw |
| Hit The Button |
Hit The Button has lot's of fun and interactive Maths games to support your child learn their number bonds to 10. Also, if your child would like a challenge they can play number bond games to 20. www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx?cat=8 |
Here is some useful information related to Year One!
/docs/Start_of_term_letter.docx