Welcome to Year 1 - Murphy Class
This page is where you can find out about our learning in Year 1, our projects and what we will be learning, as well as any useful websites to help you at home.
In year 1, we have decided to build upon our high quality early years principles and practice and continue to provide children with elements of independent, play-based learning. Our school experience and research tells us that young children learn best through play, exploration and hands on learning´
‘Play is absolutely essential to learning because it IS learning.’ Bottrill (2020)
Below is a link to our PowerPoint we shared at our Parent information session to find out more about our pedagogy and approach to learning in Year 1.
Autumn term 2023!
Our driver project this term is 'Childhood'.
In the Childhood project, as Historians, your child will learn words and phrases related to the passage of time. They will explore artefacts to help them to understand childhood in the past and how childhood has changed over time. They will explore the six stages of life and explore timelines and family trees. Everyday life in the 1950s will be explored, including shopping, transport, family life and childhood. They will also learn about the significance of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 by studying photographs and online sources. The children will use maps to explore how places have changed over time and highlight any similarities or differences between childhood today and childhood in the 1950s.
In addition to the main project topic the children will also be ...
Scientists! Learning about Everyday Materials, they will identify a range of everyday materials and their sources and investigate the properties of materials and begin to recognise that a material's properties define its use.
As Geographers, we explore 'Our Wonderful World' and learn about physical and human features, maps, cardinal compass points, and positional and directional language. We also learn about the equator, hemispheres and continents and children are introduced to the countries, capital cities and settlements of the United Kingdom. We will carry out simple fieldwork to find out about local physical and human features.
As Designers, we will explore the purpose of 'Shade and Shelter' and their materials. We will name and describe shelters and design and make shelter prototypes. We will then design and build a play den as a group and evaluate our completed product.
As Artists, we learn about basic colour theory by studying the colour wheel and colour mixing as we enjoy 'Mix it!'. We will explore primary and secondary colours and how artists use colour in their artwork.
In PE - We will explore the fundamental skills of balancing, running, changing direction, jumping, hopping and skipping. We will explore these skills in isolation as well as in combination. Children will be given opportunities to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement. Children will work collaboratively with others, taking turns and sharing ideas. We will also be developing our ball skills. We will develop our fundamental ball skills such as throwing and catching, rolling and dribbling with both hands and feet, performing these skills with increasing control and accuracy using co-ordination and balance.
During PE lessons, we get to work with Stevenage Borough Football Club!
In RE - Christianity, Islam and Hinduism will be explored through learning about, and celebrating, Harvest, Divali and Milad un Nabi.
As musicians, we follow Charanga, the children will learn how to: listen and appreciate music, sing in groups and play along with known songs. They will have the opportunity to improvise using a range of instruments as well.
Our Literacy learning will begin with a text called 'The Naughty Bus'. As well creating their own story, the children will have the opportunity to write two simple pieces of information writing, one based on buses and another on toys. We will share information about buses and find out what we already know about buses to create a shared simple piece of information writing. There will be some drama in the classroom ... watch this space!!!. After reading all of the book, the children will invent the sequel for his adventures. The children will also look at toys and bring their own in. They will have the opportunity to sort and categorise the toys and then create a piece of shared information writing as well as their own, before writing their own naughty toy adventure.
In Maths we will be developing our understanding of place value and addition and subtraction and learning how to access the Numbots app.
Reminders:
If there is anything you need to ask or find out more about, please contact the school to arrange a time to chat with a member of the team.
We look forward to working with you all!
Miss Haley and the Year 1 team
Useful information to support your child during our first project 'Our Wonderful World'
Below are two PDF documents.
- The first is a topic information sheet showing you the main areas of learning.
- The second is list of vocabulary that will be taught during this unit.
The web links and documents below may be useful for home learning.
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
https://play.numbots.com/
https://whiteroseeducation.com/parent-pupil-resources/maths/home-learning?year=year-1-new&term=autumn