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Year 1 Teacher: Miss Anderson 
Teaching Assistants: Mrs Rushton-Hall, Miss Tariq

This is going to be an amazing year of investigating, exploring, learning and having fun together!

It feels like a big step moving up to Year 1 from Reception but we ensure a smooth transition with many opportunities to play in the provision areas and learn through practical, 'hands on' activities.

Our classroom includes a variety of continuous provision areas, such as a construction, small world, role play, maths, writing, creative and investigation. In Year 1, the provision is enhanced with challenges and their interests, providing opportunities to consolidate learning, secure knowledge as well as building your child’s understanding further. Our lessons are structured so that children will spend half of the time working on an adult-led activity and the other half in provision.

All adults working in Year 1 support the children (and the parents!) as they move into their next step of learning. Throughout the year the children are encouraged to try their best, develop and show greater independence and resilience. Children are nurtured to grow in confidence and self-esteem so they believe they can contribute to all aspects of their learning.

As Year 1s, this is will be the first year of the National Curriculum and like all year groups, Year 1 has government statutory schemes of learning to follow. Morning sessions concentrate on building English, Maths, Reading and Phonics. Afternoons sessions cover the remaining of the curriculum subjects (Science, History, Geography, ICT, RE, PSHE, P.E, Music, Art and DT) and are generally taught through a topic such as Toys and Amazing Me.

In Year 1, Phonics has a large part to play. Reading and Phonics are embedded into all areas of our learning. There is a daily 30 minute fun, pacy lesson which involves lots of exciting tasks and games. In these sessions they revisit previously taught phonemes as well as learning other phonemes and graphemes needed to sound out and blend, assisting them with their reading and writing. They learn ‘special words’ that can’t always be sounded out and spelling rules. In June, your child will take part in the Year 1 Phonics Screening Test. This test identifies if your child is secure in the knowledge and skills they have learnt in Reception and Year 1. It also detects if they can read phonically decodable words. Don’t be worried about the test as your child will have had a lot of phonics sessions before then and we make it feel relaxed and even fun! 

Our aim is to provide a secure, happy environment so your child will blossom and grow! We look forward to working together with you to ensure your child has a positive experience as they progress through Year 1.

We can’t wait to meet you!