During our time in Year 1 we will be learning many new skills and recalling those from our previous year at Christ Church. This will help us to build on and further develop our knowledge of different subjects and topics.
Welcome to Year 1
Our class teachers are
Mrs Currey and Mrs Dawson
Learning in Year 1
Lots of learning taking place is done through our Big Question curriculum. Our Big Questions allow the children to take more ownership of their learning; gaining a purposeful and well-structured bank of knowledge and skills along the way.
The links below provides you with more detail about what we are learning about during each Big Question.
Big Question 6
Summer Term
Are all seeds magic?
Our current Big Question is:
Where in the world is Paddington?
Reading in Year 1
In Year 1, we all aspire to be readers; reading fluently and with understanding. We love to share what we read by recommending texts to each other and listening to what other children and staff members recommend too. We celebrate and reward reading daily, weekly and half termly.
Our daily reading reward: Crack the Code
At the end of each Guided Reading or Phonics lesson each class teacher chooses one child who has impressed them to go and ‘crack the code’. This child then gets to go to our entrance hall and tries to crack the code on the lockbox – they have just one go! If they are successful and open the box they will receive the mystery book inside along with a £10 Amazon voucher. They will also be given a sticker to show that they have tried to crack the code.
Our weekly reading reward 1: Golden Ticket
Each Friday, one child from each year group is chosen to receive a Golden Ticket which they can exchange for a book from our book vending machine in the entrance hall. Golden Ticket winners are chosen by class teachers based on how well they have worked in their Reading or phonics lessons over the week. When the winning child goes to the vending machine, they are asked to explain why they have been chosen so that Mrs Pilmore and Miss Stonier can celebrate this achievement. We also celebrate the achievement by putting a photo of the child with the chosen book on our Twitter feed.
Our weekly reading reward 2: Reading record of the week
Our class teachers choose one child per class to award the Reading Record of the Week to. This is someone that has engaged in reading at home and records what they have read in their Reading Record. The class teacher will put a sticker into the winning Reading Record and the child will receive 5 merits too.
Our half termly reading reward: Book Club
Children have the opportunity to attend Book Club each half term. The club is led by Mrs Cartwright. During Book Club, the children can talk about their favourite books whilst enjoying hot chocolate or an ice lolly (depending on the weather). If a child would like to go to Book Club, they have to fill in a Book Club request slip with their name and recommended read, and pop it in a special box in the entrance hall.
Writing in Year 1
We love to write in Year 1. Each of our writing lessons link to the text that we are using in our English lessons. Sometimes this text is linked to our Big Question too.
Writer of the Week
Each week the teachers in Year 1 choose one piece of writing that they have been blown away by. This person then has their writing displayed in school and on Twitter. In addition, each time someone is chosen for Writer of the Week, they get to choose a Smiggle stationery prize and receive a certificate in worship.
Maths
Our teachers help us to develop into confident, quick and competent mathematical thinkers. We also learn to apply our Maths skills through reasoning and problem solving.
Basic Skills
Each day in Year 1, our Maths lessons begin with a short Basic Skills session. During this time, we revisit and recall skills from previous weeks, terms and years.
Maths Wristbands
In Year 1, we get the opportunity to earn our maths wristbands. This is done through a weekly quiz where we focus on answering questions about our number bonds, doubles and multiplication calculations. We can earn our bronze, silver, gold and diamond wrist bands over the year
Behaviour
All of the adults at Christ Church have high expectations of our behaviour. We are encouraged and rewarded for positive behaviour choices in lots of different ways. These include:
Value Tokens
We are given Value Tokens when we show our school and Christian values. We then put these into our year group tube in the entrance hall. These are then counted at different points in the school year and the winning year groups in KS1 and KS2 receive a treat.
Merits
We can earn merits for both our work and positive behaviour choices. We receive certificates in Worship when we achieve 25, 50, 75 and 100 merits.
Good To Be Green Certificate
Each week, our teachers choose someone from our class to receive a Good To Be Green certificate in Worship. You are chosen for showing one or more of our school values.
Learning Stars
Teaching Assistants who work with us, choose a different person from our year group each half term to receive a Learning Star certificate. The person chosen has their work and photo displayed in the entrance hall.
Governor Awards
Our school Governors choose one person from each year group every half term to receive a certificate in the Good To Be Green Worship. You are chosen for showing one or more of our school values. A copy of the certificates handed out, are displayed in the entrance hall.
Lunchtime Awards
Each week, two children are chosen from KS1 and KS2 because of their positive behaviour choices at lunchtime. Mrs Burbridge and her team choose these children. This means that you can go into lunch first with a friend.
Privileges
At the beginning of the year, we choose 5 privileges in Year 1. This year, our privilege choices are:
- Bring a small teddy into school
- Bring in a book from home to share with the class
- Come to school in my pyjamas
- Have 10 minutes on the class iPad
- Go into lunch first with a friend
We are given a privilege by our class teachers on a Friday. Each week 5 children are chosen to receive a privilege. These children will have made positive behaviour choices during the week. We then get to choose our privilege and use this during the next week. Our silver privilege card is displayed in the Good To Be Green chart in the classroom.
We can also receive a privilege when we get 5 Good To Be Green stickers in our work.
Contacting a member of staff
If, as a parent/carer, you need to speak to a member of staff, you will be asked to first of all contact your child’s class teacher. You can do this by speaking to them on the door in the morning or after school or can contact them by calling or emailing the school office to arrange a phone call or meeting.
Useful Information
Knowledge Organisers
Subject leaders have developed knowledge organisers to support planning and to inform parents/carers of the learning across school. We ensure that every aspect of the curriculum is carefully planned, and where appropriate children’s learning is scaffolded so as to ensure that every child within our school can reach their full potential.
A knowledge organiser is a document for a specific area of learning: each one identifies the key knowledge that children will learn. It also acts as a tool to support children in recalling and retaining information for life-long learning.
