English      

Our focus texts will be Rapunzel by Bethan Woollvin and The Princess and The Wizard by Julia Donaldson. Through these texts we will draft and write by composing and rehearsing sentences orally and sequence sentences to form short narratives. In our narrative work, we will create settings, characters and plots. We will write for different purposes, including fictional personal experiences and fictional narratives. We will also re-read our own writing to check if it makes sense.

When reading, we will begin to increase familiarity with a range of books, explain and discuss understanding and discuss the sequence of events in them. We continue to develop our prosody, and we will answer and ask questions about what has been read.

In phonics sessions we will revise graphemes, tricky and high frequency words from Phase 5 and look at alternative pronunciations of graphemes.

Maths       

We will be using the NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths) framework to support our mathematical learning. We will be counting in twos, fives and tens whilst also introducing the basics of time and money. We will also be learning about position and direction.

In number, we will reinforce some concepts previously taught, in addition to increasing the complexity of number comparisons and number patterns. We will begin by counting in tens and ones, followed by using number bonds to partition numbers.

Science       

We will be studying two science topics this term. In Plants, we will be looking closely at what different plants look like. We will observe how a plant grows from a seed, learn about where seeds come from and find out what they need to be able to grow. We will also be looking at different types of trees and leaves. We will continue to learn about the different seasons and observe the changes that happen in the Spring and Summer.

History

We will be looking at how explorers have changed the world in History. We will describe and explain how an explorer is significant and how they have impacted people’s lives.

Art & Design                

We will be developing a landscape piece of artwork thinking about composition, textures, colours and collage design.

Music      

In Music this term, Year 1 will look at a traditional story and create a musical accompaniment while focusing on the pitch element. The children will follow a conductor and change tempo and pitch to match sections of the story. After half-term, the children will focus on duration and reading notation.  Rhythm and singing games will help them learn to recognise minims, crotchets, and quavers symbols. They will learn to move and change tempo in relation to symbols and then progress to using classroom percussion, mat drumming, and body percussion to play notated rhythms and dynamics.        

Computing

Programming A - We will explore moving a floor robot using individual commands. We will identify what each floor robot command does and use that knowledge to start predicting the outcome of programs. We will also be introduced to the early stages of program design through the introduction of algorithms.

Programming B – We will be introduced to on-screen programming through ScratchJr. We will use programming blocks to use, modify, and create programs. We will also be introduced to the early stages of program design through the introduction of algorithms.

Design Technology (DT)            

We will design, decorate and make and join a puppet based on fairy tales.

Religious Education (RE)          

In the first half-term, we will be exploring ‘what is God’s job?’ where we will be investigating the roles of God through stories and sacred texts. The children will look at the things God does and what this means to different people. Then in the second half-term, we will be exploring ‘how do we know that new babies are special’ where we will be finding out about different ceremonies to welcome home a new baby and exploring some of the symbolism in these ceremonies.

Physical Education (PE)     

This term we will be focusing on ‘invasion games’ where we will develop our understanding of attacking and defending and what being 'in possession' means. Then we will move on to Athletics as we prepare for Sport Day.

Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) / Relationships & Sex Education (RSE)

Physical health and mental wellbeing – we will learn about what it means to be healthy, about different types of play and people who can help us to stay healthy.

Growing and changing – We will recognise what makes us special and unique, how to manage and whom to tell when we are finding things difficult and how to recognise feelings in ourselves and others.

Keeping safe – We will learn about how to keep safe online, why some things have age restrictions and who to tell if we see something that makes us feel unhappy, worried or scared.

• Your child should read for 10 minutes every day. It is also important that an adult reads to your child every day. Please talk to your child about the book and check their understanding by asking questions about events and the characters’ actions. Please also explain new or unfamiliar vocabulary and encourage your child to read with expression, to bring the story to life. Their bookbag should come into school every day. 
• Your child will have PE on Tuesday. Their PE kit should stay in school in a named draw-string bag.
• Your child needs to bring a water bottle every day.
• Please ensure all items of clothing are clearly named.
• As the weather gets warmer over the next few weeks, the children will need to have sun cream applied before school and bring a hat.
• We are a Healthy School. Please do not put sweets or chocolate bars in your child’s packed lunch. Please do not send in sweets or other treats when it is your child’s birthday. If you want to celebrate your child’s birthday with their classmates, you could buy the class a book, send in a healthy snack such as boxes of raisins or buy stationery such as a pencil, but due to the impact on the environment, we ask you not to send in plastic toys.
• If your child is absent from school, please contact the school office: 020 8850 5486 and leave a message detailing why your child is absent. Please try to book medical appointments outside the school day and note that family holidays will not be authorised.
• Weekly information is posted on Google Classrooms on a Friday, but please check regularly for updates.
• If you have any questions or wish to raise a concern, please contact the class teacher in the first instance. Please use the email addresses above.

Please note the following events and add them to your diary:

• Friday 26th April - Cake Sale and Pre-Loved Uniform Sale
• Monday 29th April - Class photographs
• Thursday 2nd May - Local elections (Sports Hall) – school open as usual
• Monday 6th May - Bank Holiday – school closed
• 20th to 24th May - Walk to School Week
• Friday 24th May - Krakow Class assembly (9:10am / 2:45pm - Middle Hall)
• 27th to 31st May - Half-term break
• Monday 3rd June - Inset Day – school closed
• Tuesday 4th June - Children return to school
• Friday 7th June - Vienna Class assembly (9:10am / 2:45pm - Middle Hall)
• Thursday 13th June - Sports Day for Years 1 & 2 (morning)
• 17th to 21st June - Dance workshops for all year groups
• Wednesday 26th June - Year 2 trip to the Maritime Museum
• 9th to 11th July - Gordon Exhibition 
• Friday 19th July - 120th Anniversary Party 
• Wednesday 24th July - last day of term - school closes at 1:30pm