Year 1: A Year of Exploration and Growth

English

Phonics is a vital part of our Year 1 English curriculum, the importance of understanding different letters and sounds helps develop both reading and writing skills. Students begin to use the Talk4Writing approach in Year 1. The approach, developed by Pie Corbett, incorporates different skills such as imitation, storytelling, innovation and collaborative writing. The model texts we use throughout the year are engaging and serve as a template for the early stages of the writing process. Students can then use their imagination to create adapted versions of the stories by changing characters, settings and events. We also have the opportunity to write pen pal letters to sister Orbital schools in both Qatar and Ecuador, making new friends while improving our writing skills is always a highlight of the Year 1 English curriculum.

Topic

Geography and History are an important part of our Key Stage 1 curriculum, learning about different aspects of human geography, physical geography alongside world and British history. A major highlight in our Geography curriculum is looking at our school and local area, where the children create ‘messy maps’ of our classroom and other areas of the school. In History, we discover the wonderful explorations of many different explorers and discuss their lives and importance to the modern world. We also look at the events of the Great Fire of London and (safely) recreate the events of the fire – to help the children understand the importance of fire safety. This unit also ends with a trip to the local fire station where they can explore different areas of a fire station, while enabling them to interact with the local firemen in our area.

Mathematics

The Year 1 Maths curriculum is full of engaging activities that enable the children to explore many aspects of the mathematical world. From 3D shapes to multiplication and division, the children can delve into mathematical fluency. Students are often challenged and stretched with real-world related problems and open-ended questions. Currently Year 1 students are about to begin looking at lengths and weights which will include using different tools to help us measure how tall or long specific items are and conduct hands-on activities involving scales.

Science

The first year of Primary is a great opportunity to develop a love of science and spend time outdoors conducting experiments. The students use natural items found in our outdoor learning space to create artistic diagrams of plants and test their own made weather instruments. Our weather unit ends with a trip to the nearby Ice Park to explore the weather of the frozen parts of our planet.

Science

The first year of Primary is a great opportunity to develop a love of science and spend time outdoors conducting experiments. The students use natural items found in our outdoor learning space to create artistic diagrams of plants and test their own made weather instruments. Our weather unit ends with a trip to the nearby Ice Park to explore the weather of the frozen parts of our planet.