Birch Class

Year 1

Miss Brown

2026-2027

Autumn Term

Welcome to Year 1 and our class page! Hopefully you will find our class page useful. On our class page we have details of our topics for this term as well as other useful information about Year 1 and websites that we use to help our learning. We love to share what we learn in school every week via Facebook, so please head over to our school Facebook to see what we have been up to. Here's to a great half term!

Miss Brown

What will we be learning about this term?

English

Autumn 1- For our first half term we will be laying the foundations within our English work, we will be focussing on stories in familiar settings, labels, lists, signs & posters and stories involving fantasy.

Our text stimulus includes:

Avocado Baby by John Burningham, Beegu by Alexis Deacon and Little Red by Lynn Roberts.

Autumn 2- We will be looking at songs and repetitive poems  and letters.

Our text stimulus includes:

A variety of repetitive poems and chants, Rainbow Bear by Michael Morpurgo, The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Dewalt and The Bear and the piano by David Litchfield.

Maths Y1

Autumn 1& 2- Place Value (within 10), Addition and subtraction (within 10) and Shape.

Autumn 1- Creation Big question: Who do Christians say made the world? Autumn 2- Incarnation Big question- Why does Christmas matter to Christians?

Science

Autumn 1- We will be learning how to identify and name parts of the human body, explore our five senses and use the correct scientific vocabulary when talking about them.

Autumn 2- We will be learning how to identify and describe everyday materials, explore their properties and use the correct scientific vocabulary when talking about them.

History

Autumn 1- We are focusing on changes within living memory, exploring our own personal histories and how we have changed since we were babies.

Geography

Autumn 2- We will be exploring where we live, including our local area, the four countries of the United Kingdom and their capital cities.

Art

Autumn 1- Within Art, we will be exploring self-portraits, looking at the work of different artists and developing our own drawing, painting and creation skills.

Autumn 2- Within DT, we will be exploring wheels and axles, investigating how they work before designing, making and evaluating our own moving vehicle.

Autumn 1:

- Play (Playing through games)

- Locomotion

Autumn 2:

- Dance

- Ball skills

PSHE/RSE

Autumn 1- Being me in my world

Autumn 2- Celebrating differences

Computing

Autumn 1- Introduction to purple mash and creative computing

Autumn 2- Data explorers

Music

Charanga

Signing to music with Mrs White

Key information

Arrival and collection

Our arrival time each morning is 8.45am and we leave at 3.15pm.

What to bring to school

Children should bring a bag to school each day. The children should bring in a water bottle which they will take home each day as well as their packed lunch (if they do not receive a school lunch). They can also bring in their own hand gel if they wish. They do not need any other equipment such as pencil cases, stationary etc as they will have everything they need at their own desk.

PE days

Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday

We will also have Forest School on a Friday

On these days, the children should come into school wearing their PE kit. They do not need to bring in their normal school uniform to get changed into, they will just stay in their PE kit all day. As the vast majority of our PE needs to take place outdoors, they should wear their normal PE t-shirt and a tracksuit/appropriate sports clothing that is suitable for all weather.

Homework

Reading

Supporting your child with reading:

Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home.
There are two types of reading book that your child may bring home:
A reading practice book. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently and will have already read this with an adult at school. This will be available via the online system and changed weekly.
A sharing book. Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together.

Spelling/Phonics

Your child will learn and practise their spellings within their phonics sessions. Any additional work will be sent home to help your child to practice their phonetical skills.

Your child will take part in spelling practice 5x per week as part of their daily phonics sessions. Alongside phonics, they will also learn and practice the year 1 common exception words.

The websites below are a great way to practise common exception words at home in a fun way.

www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/spookySpellings/index.html

www.ictgames.com/littleBirdSpelling

PhonicsPlay

Maths

Number Bonds and Times tables (2x,5x,10x) practice 3x per week. Suggested websites and apps to help to practise times tables include:

www.timestables.co.uk

www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button