Year 1 Class Blog: 

13th October 2025

As you know from the children's Reading Logs, we are learning the Extended Code in our Year One Sounds Write lessons. The children have a whole hour of Phonics every morning, straight after Collective Worship school assembly. These lessons are very focused on the systematic learning of sound spelling correspondences and the varied lessons involve the children in "Saying the sounds to read/write the word."

The children follow the decodable texts with their 'reading finger' and work hard to learn the new code knowledge and skills, in addition to reviewing previously taught sound spelling correspondences. Further information on reading in Year One can be found in the introductory letter in the Reading Logs.

We hear the children read aloud during our phonics and whole class reading lessons. We thank you for supporting the children to read and re-read the aligned phonics books sent home each week to help develop accuracy, pace and fluency. We appreciate all your comments which let us know how the children are getting on with their reading at home, so that we can work in partnership.

We hope that you enjoy sharing the book that the children choose from our School Library each week.

Happy Reading, Year One!

6th October 2025

In our Year One Science lessons, the children have been learning all about the Human Body, with a particular emphasis on the five senses. We have been on sound walks around the school, discussed pleasant and unpleasant smells and how our sense of smell can also alert us to danger. We have learned the importance of using our eyes and ears to cross the road safely and thought about those tastes we like and dislike. The children have enjoyed using their hands to find out how different materials feel.

The children have also learned about the extraordinary life of Helen Keller, who was both deaf and blind. They have understood how blind people use braille to help them read and they made their own form of braille out of playdough. In this, they made the shape of each braille representation of letters to make words. This was quite challenging, but the children did not give up! They showed resilience in their attention to detail and were inspired by Helen and her determination to succeed. Well done, Year One!

Thank you for ensuring that the children have their wellies in school. These are essential for them to be able to enjoy playing in the space offered by the field when it is their turn at lunchtime.

29th September 2025

It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers in church last week for our school Harvest Festival! The children were so excited to share their Harvest songs and actions with you. It was so lovely to see how the Year One children in our class helped the Reception children to sing in church for the first time. They showed such kindness and  empathy towards their Reception friends. We were very proud of you all, Year One!

The children are really enjoying exploring the 'Colour' unit in our Art lessons this term. They absolutely love their painting activities, and this week they completed their interpretations of Mondrian's painting, with his use of rectangle shapes and the primary colours. The children decided on their own number and size of rectangles, the orientation of their painting, and which primary colour to use where. They made their decisions with thought and care and were very proud of their final paintings.

Each half-term we will display some of the children's art work in the hall, alongside that of other classes. Every child will have their art work on display in celebration of their knowledge and skills in this subject, both in the classroom and in the hall.

On to Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' next week!

22nd September 2025

In Geography lessons the children in Year One have been learning more about maps and plans. They have understood that an 'aerial view' is a view from above and they were able to identify pictures of different things from their aerial views. The children then had great fun making their own aerial views from above of our school, including the buildings, playground and field. They worked co-operatively in their groups to design and build. Well done, Year One!

We have been thinking internet safety and keeping safe online. The children have watched 'Jessie and Friends' to collect certificates for their learning in this area. They have shared their understanding through respectful discussion, listening carefully to the experiences and opinions of their friends. They know to 'Tell a Grown Up' (TAG) if there is anything of which they are unsure. They were able to bring their first certificate home this week. Great learning, Year One!

We are busy learning our Harvest song to sing with the new Reception children in church next week. We look forward to seeing you there on Thursday afternoon to celebrate our Elm Harvest Festival!

15th September 2025

This week the children have continued to settle really well into our Year One learning and classroom routines. Our mornings have been busily full of phonics, reading, writing and maths learning each day. The children are all reading aloud daily in their reading lessons and

we thank you for sharing the phonics books at home as much as possible, to help develop accuracy, pace and fluency. The children really enjoy exploring the wider subjects of the curriculum in the afternoons.

Each Thursday the children are enjoying Dance in the hall and on Friday they are developing their throwing and catching ball skills outside on the playground. Thank you for ensuring that the children are in their PE kits on these days and that jewelry is removed for these lessons, to ensure safety.

Please see the subject tabs above to find out more about our Year One curriculum learning this term, where the subjects each have a 'knowledge organiser'. The children are fully engaged in their learning activities and are hopefully keen to tell you about these! The knowledge organiser should be helpful to you in sharing in their exciting learning. We hope that you found the maths place value unit information useful,  that we sent home recently. The children are enjoying learning maths with the help of the characters shown here!

Thank you for all your support for your child's learning.

8th September 2025

Welcome to Year One!

It was lovely to see the children ready to begin their Year One learning journey last week, and for us to meet parents and carers. Our first three days for the children in Year One were very much about settling into their new classroom and Year One routines. We have of course been busy getting to know the children much better, building on from

their transition activities during the summer term.

This week has been our first full week back in school and the children have already made us very proud with their enthusiasm to learn and their good behaviour for learning. What a great start!

In our Sounds Write Phonics lessons we have been revising the Initial Code, with a particular focus on the /sh/, /th/, /ch/, /ng/, /ck/, and /wh/ sound-spelling correspondences. We hope that you have found the 'Reading in Year One' information in the Reading Log useful. Thank you for all your support for reading at home. We have appreciated your feedback comments in your child's Reading Log, to support the home-school partnership.

In our English lessons we have enjoyed the story of 'The Gruffalo' and we have been writing some simple sentences together. In Maths, we have been counting together as a class and counting objects to at least 20. Our particular focus has been numbers 11-20 in terms of counting, reading and writing these, building on the children's learning around numbers 0-10 in Reception. When we count as a class we go all the way to 100 and the children love counting really high together! Please look out for the place value knowledge organiser which we will send home next week, which outlines our first unit's maths learning in more detail.

We really look forward to working together this year, to continue your child's learning journey at Elm.

Mrs Foster and Mrs Hall

Year One Team

Curriculum visits and enrichment activities: