Welcome to Year 1!

2025-26

In Year 1, our teachers are Miss Ferguson (Class 4), Miss Norman (Class 5) and Mrs McLaren and Miss Cameron (Class 6). We are also supported by our dedicated Learning Support Assistants (LSAs): Miss Purdy, Mrs Stanton and Mrs Clarkson.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with your child's teacher. If they are not around at pick-up, you can speak to them by phoning the school office and requesting an appointment.

Keep referring back to this page for regular updates about the children's learning. 

Curriculum Newsletters

Year 1 Spring 1 - Curriculum Newsletter

Year 1 Autumn 2 - Curriculum Newsletter

Year 1 Autumn 1 - Curriculum Newsletter

Update – Thursday 29th January 2026

This week in English, the children completed their final pieces for "The Midnight Fair." They created some amazing sentences for the story using colourful semantics to help structure them. Check out some of their amazing creations!

During DT, the children had a go at making a moving vehicle. They used cardboard boxes as the chassis, small wooden sticks as the axles and round cardboard cutouts as the wheels. The children had to work in teams to put everything together to successfully make their vehicle.

Update – Friday 23rd January 2026

Year 1 has been looking at human and physical features in geography this week. We recapped our prior learning and thought about the human and physical features we had talked about and seen previously. We were then challenged to complete a sorting activity. 

In English, we’ve been learning how to correctly structure a sentence. We learnt that it needs a ‘who, is doing, describe’ and ‘a what’. We used this knowledge and pictures to create different sentences for our book ‘The Midnight Fair’. 

Our new science topic is ‘Seasonal Changes’. We discussed what seasons were and what we experience in each one. We looked at pictures and discussed what was similar and different about each. To check understanding, we completed a sorting activity for each season.

 

Update - Friday 16th January 2026

This week in science, Year 1 have been investigating why we have two eyes. They had to cover one eye and try touch the tips of each other’s rulers. They were then challenged to drop a cube into a pot whilst covering one eye, and finally, our teachers challenged us to write our name on a piece of paper with one eye closed. We discovered that although we could do these things, using both of our eyes made things much easier! The important thing we took away from the lesson was that two eyes help keep us safe by showing us more of our surroundings, whilst also helping us to judge when things are close or far away.

 

In computing, we have been developing our programming skills and creating algorithms. To help us with this understanding, we have been using virtual bee bots. We were given a letter by our partner, and we had to create the algorithm for the bee bot to follow to reach that letter. If we didn't make it, we learnt that this meant we had a bug, we had to do some debugging to fix the problem. 

  

At the end of a busy week, we were very lucky to enjoy a pantomime in the junior hall! We got to watch Aladdin. It was the best way to end the week!

 

Update - Friday 9th January 2026

In English we were introduced to our brand new book 'The Midnight Fair'. The teacher's turned our classrooms into a fun fair! We got to look at key vocabulary and pictures linked to the story and even played some games that can be seen in the book too! We were given pretend tickets to enter and got to play ring toss, tin can alley, hook a duck and more! We learnt some of our key vocabulary involved ferris wheel, dodgems, tickets, merry-go-round and tea cups. 

      

In a later English lesson, we got to see images from the story close up. We were challenged to do some inference by looking at what we could see and try to unpick what was happening. To help us, we used the phrases "I think... I know... and I wonder...". We had a scavenger hunt to find the images, and we weren't allowed to tick anything off until we talked to our partner about the picture. 

   

This week, we began our new geography unit - Bright Lights, Big City. We recapped our prior learning on human and physical features, settlements and maps before discussing the purpose of human features and landmarks. We looked at our new vocabulary - Memorials, Entertainment venues, Royal buildings, Places of worship and physical features. We looked at some famous landmarks, discussed what they were and where they were, before deciding which group they belonged to. 

   

Update - Friday 19th December 2025

Year 1 have had a brilliant final week!

The children completed their Christmas play performance and did absolutely amazing! They spoke, danced and sang their hearts out. Thank you to every parent/guardian/carer that helped! 

The children completed their Christmas poems in English and can’t wait to take them home to show off to all their friends and family! 

As part of a Christmas treat, the teachers got some wooden baubles and let the children express their creativity through paint and glitter! The children loved being able to design these and were so excited to take them home. 

      

Finally, the year 1 team hope you all have an amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year. We can’t wait to welcome you all back for Spring 1! 

Update – Friday 12th December 2025

This week, year 1 has been in full practice mode! We spent time in the hall practising our lines, songs and actions ready for our dress rehearsal in front of Year R and Year 2 on Friday. Their hard work paid off, and they did amazingly! They are definitely ready for their performance in front of their grown-ups on the 17th.

  

In our RE lesson this week, the children were recapping the journeys of the characters in the Christian birth narratives. They thought about the shepherds, angels and the Magi. To help them understand their journey's end, the children got into groups and acted out their journeys.

   

Still keeping with the Christmas theme in English, the children have been learning how to construct their own poem. Using our story 'Dear Santa' book, the children picked out key lines and objects and put them together to create the first few sentences of their own Christmas poem. 

   

Update - Friday 5th December 2025

In English this week, we have begun our new unit - Christmas Poetry! We started the week by reminding ourselves of the alphabet and putting the letters in the correct order. We then began to look at some poems all about Christmas. We read through some different ones together before reading a story ‘Dear Santa’. We will be using this story to help create our own poem at the end of the unit!

Throughout this week, we have been very busy practising for our Christmas play. We have been learning our songs, actions and reading through our lines! It has been very busy but very fun. 

Update – Friday 28th November 2025

Year 1 has been working hard to consolidate their understanding of fact families! We spent one day looking at addition facts and another day looking at subtraction facts before putting them both together to get the eight facts! The children used counters, part-whole models, and number-sentence frames to support their learning. 

      

During art, the children have been looking at portraits in our unit 'funny faces'. The children had an opportunity to create a funny portrait using collage techniques. They created some amazing portraits, and at the end, we walked around to see everyone's creations.

    

Update – Friday 21st November 2025

During maths this week, we have been looking at patterns with 2D and 3D shapes. We completed some practical work, making our own patterns with shapes, and even challenged our partners to finish the pattern. 

In our DT lesson this week, we were using recyclable materials to make our own mini pet shelters. We had to use our cutting, joining and sticking skills to put different materials and objects together. We worked very hard and were very pleased with our results! 

      

Update - Friday 14th November 2025

This week has been Anti-Bullying Week, so the children had a special assembly to help understand the importance of this. They were given '25 acts of kindness' bingo to complete to help share kindness, and they absolutely smashed it! In class during their PSHE lesson, they discussed what bullying was. They learnt what to do if they saw someone being bullied or if they were being bullied. We discussed who they could talk to both inside and outside of school. 

   

On Wednesday, we had a very immersive lesson to help learn and understand all about Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, which occurred on 2nd June 1953. In class, we learnt the meaning of monarch, coronation and what things occurred during this significant event. We created a collage of facts and pictures that we had just learnt about and shared these with our peers. Afterwards, we went into the hall together to watch the Queen's coronation and celebrated with our mini street party.

       

We ended the week helping to raise money for Children in Need! We all had to come in our own clothes, and we had to wear something spotty! It was a fun way to raise money for charity, and each class learnt what Children in Need is and what the charity does to help. 

Update - Friday 7th November 2025

Year 1 has had a wonderful first week back!

In English, the children were greeted with lots of tiger pictures around the classroom. This was part of our hook lesson for our brand new book - 'Mr Tiger Goes Wild'. The children were challenged to create a mind map to share all they know about tigers. We then watched a fact video to learn some more. 

Throughout the week, we read our new story, sequenced pictures to ensure we know the order of our new story and used our inference skills to determine how different characters felt.

      

Our new science topic is all about 'Human Senses'. The children were challenged to name as many different body parts as possible in 3 minutes. We then came back together to discuss what we had written down. Afterwards, the children were given an outline of a body and had to work in teams to place the body parts in the correct positions. 

         

Our geography lesson this week was all about settlements. We learnt that a settlement was somewhere people lived and they include cities, villages and towns. We explored these different settlements through books, videos and information sheets. Once we were confident with the meaning of settlements and the various types, we had to recreate one of our own!

      

Update - Friday 24th October 2025

Our final week of Autumn 1! How quickly has this first half term gone?!

Year 1 has been busy bees with our brand-new English topic, which is focused on Black History Month. The children have been learning all about Floella Benjamin and what makes her so significant. We have read her book and learnt lots of amazing facts. The children have been creating sentences based on events that Floella told us about in her book, Coming to England. 

      

In computing, we continued our new algorithm learning. This week, we recapped what an algorithm was and learnt how important it is to give clear instructions, in the correct order. We worked in pairs to test this learning! We had to draw whatever our partner told us on the computer, and if it didn't work out, we needed to think about what needed to be changed with the 'algorithm'.

      

Our geography lesson this week focused on the United Kingdom. We learnt which four countries make up the UK. Once we were confident with this, we looked at the names of each country's capital cities and discussed why each was a capital city. At the end of the lesson, we were challenged with labelling a large map of the UK with each country and its capital city. 

         

Update - Friday 17th October 2025

This week in Year 1, we have had an exciting week! In maths, Year 1 have been continuing with our unit addition and subtraction within 10 using practical resources to find a part. In English, we have finished our topic on the book Beegu, where we have written in the form of a letter using the suffixes -ing and -ed. We made sure to remember to include capital letters at the start of our sentences and full stops at the end! In our science lessons, we have been testing a variety of materials and comparing their properties. In computing, we have started to look at what an algorithm is. This means following instructions and doing them in a certain order. We began by sharing our morning routine with our peers to see what order we got ready for school. In history, we were introduced to what a decade was. Then we looked closely at the decade, the 1950s, and had a go at trying out some toys from this time! We then compared these toys to the types of toys we have today and looked at everyday life in the 1950s. In PSHE, we reflected on everything we have learnt this half term. We discussed with our peers how our feelings have changed over time and compared how we were feeling on the first day of Year 1 to how we are feeling today. 

Update – Friday 10th October 2025

This week in English, Year 1 were introduced to their brand new book – Beegu. We were greeted with a huge mess that the main character had left us! This hook really got us interested in finding out who made the mess and why they invaded our shared area! Throughout this week, we learnt the story and tried to understand how the main character was feeling and why. 

 

 

 

      

During computing, we reflected on our new mouse skills and put them to the test by recreating scenes from 'The Three Little Pigs'. We had a lot of fun exploring the different drawing options and learning how to change the background colour. Next week will be our final mouse skills lessons!

      

In RE, we recapped what Harvest was and why Christians celebrated it. We remembered that Harvest was a time when Christians said thank you for all the food they have and for all the people in our world who help to grow our food. We thought about some different reasons why Christians might celebrate this festival and discussed whether we agreed or disagreed with them.

   

Update - Friday 3rd October 2025

Throughout the week, year 1, I have been keeping busy!

In English, we completed our Three Little Pigs unit by writing our final piece. Our teachers challenged us to retell the second half of the story using pictures to help us.

         

During our maths lessons, we were introduced to the part-whole model. We needed to understand that when two parts are put together, they make a whole. Later, we then learnt that we can use these numbers to create different number sentences. We practised these on our whiteboards before completing the tasks in our books. 

   

Geography this week was all about the 7 continents! We listened to a very fun song to help us learn what the continents were and why they were important. Once we were confident with knowing their names, we then had to learn where they were on a map. In pairs we worked together to label a map with each continent. We were very interested to learn that we were part of the continent Europe.

      

Update – Thursday 25th September 2025

What a fun-filled and busy week Year 1 has had!

In English, we completed our first-ever apprentice piece! We were challenged to rewrite the first half of 'The Three Little Pigs' story. After showing off our amazing writing skills, it was time to learn the second half of the story, as we will need to rewrite it next week in our final piece. We reordered the story that our teacher muddled up, and then had a go at retelling it to each other with actions. 

         

During our art lesson this week, we were introduced to the colour wheel. We were given a template and had to recreate the colour wheel that our teacher showed us on the board. We had to be very careful to stay inside the lines whilst painting!

       

We had our first computing lesson this week! We were shown how to log in and out again using our special cards. Once we were confident in logging in, our teacher introduced us to the tracker pad! We learnt that this was used to control the mouse, and if we press on something, it is 'clicked'. We opened up a sketchpad and had a go at drawing different pictures with our partners using the click and drag skill.

       

Update – Friday 19th September 2025

Year 1 have been practising using finger spaces in between their words this week. We used lollipop sticks to help us see where the spaces needed to go. We practised on our small whiteboards before showing off our new skill in our English books!

         

During a maths lesson this week, we looked at greater than, less than and equal to. We found it quite tricky to start with, but after some practice with our practical resources, it got much easier! We will continue this learning next week, too!

         

In our geography lesson this week, we were learning all about maps! We learnt about the importance of maps and how they can help us. We watched a short video that explained how maps come in different forms and sizes! As a class, we were then given some time to explore pretend maps as well as real maps in our class atlases. Afterwards, we were challenged to draw our own small maps!

      

   

Update – Friday 12th September 2025

Year 1 has had a fantastic first full week back!

In English, we continued with our three little pigs story. We began to learn the story off by heart through reading, listening and adding actions to important parts of the story. To check our understanding, we used cut-out characters from the story to retell it to each other.

    

In history, we have been talking about how it means learning about the past, and that we all go through stages. We talked about the human life cycle and how each of these stages represents different important aspects of our lives. We then had a go at cutting and sticking a human lifecycle on a timeline. 

   

During our science lessons, we have been learning about materials and that every object is made out of a different material. We had some time exploring different objects on the tables and had to use scientific thinking to determine what we thought each object was made from. 

    

Update – Friday 5th September 2025

What an amazing first 3 days Year 1 has had!

All the children have settled in so quickly and have really shown the teachers how ready they are for this new venture. 

The children have been working hard to understand the new routines and lesson types that we have in Year 1. They have made all of us teachers very proud.

In maths, the children demonstrated their impressive counting skills using counters and tens frames. The children picked a number card and had to make that number using their resources.

      

In English, we introduced our new story – The Three Little Pigs. The children were given a picture, and the teachers challenged them to create 3 sentences about what they could see.

      

We ended the week with some colour mixing in art, and the children even earned some treat time playing outside!