Year 1

A warm welcome to Year 1

At Redhill, we aim to build on the knowledge and skills that children have developed in the Early Years Foundations Stage. We understand the importance of a good transition into year 1. We continue to nurture children's love of learning by providing opportunities to explore language rich books, try a range of practical activities and experience outdoor learning.

Reading is a focus in Year 1. During the year, we support child's reading and phonics development using our systematic phonics programme Read Write Inc. We also play phonics games and spend time reading with children in small groups and individually. We continue to develop a love of reading by listening to and exploring stories as a class. At the end of the year, children's phonics skills are assessed when they take part in a phonics screening assessment.

Supporting your child

Children are introduced to grammar and spelling rules. They are taught to use a larger range of punctuation. Children learn to apply this Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG) knowledge in their own reading and writing. They explore a range of different text genres including poetry, recounts, and non-chronological reports.

Reading

To support your child's reading development, they will have regular opportunities to read to an adult in school. We will provide reading books to take home, which are matched to your child's reading level. It is expected that children spend at least 10 minutes each day reading to an adult at home.

PhonicsPlay

Your child can continue to build their phonics knowledge at home. Children can access fun and engaging phonics games, using the online learning site, Phonics Play. Children are encouraged to spend 10 minutes each day, reviewing their phonics skills. The games available, help children to identify sounds, enabling them to decode with more speed and accuracy.

Phonicsplay

Maths

In year 1, children explore numbers to 100. We build on our knowledge of counting and place value. Children begin using practical and pictorial methods such as tens frames, part part whole models and bar models to solve a range of calculations.

We use the 1 Minute Maths app in class which is free to use at home. It helps children build greater number confidence and fluency. It’s all about targeted practice in engaging, one-minute chunks!

1 minute maths app

History - Cycle A

Our history journey begins in Key Stage 1 with a trip through the history of the local area. The children will be amazed once they discover what Redhill used to look like many years ago. A study which allows the children to talk to family members about their experiences they may have had at Redhill, it is a great way to start our history journey. The children will explore the building itself, looking at the old and new building and comparing how things have changed. They will be able to learn all about school life and how that has changed at Redhill within recent times. A study which will have the children looking through photos and bringing memories back to those who used to attend Redhill.

Have you ever wondered about what life was like for some significant people within history? Well, if so this is the study for you! Learn about the greats such as Helen Sharman a female astronaut who has a backstory that the children will love or the often overlooked Ibn Battuta, one of the most interesting explorers of years gone by. This study is one full of research and it also allows the children to find out what life was like across a range of eras. By the end they will have a detailed picture of significant individuals which I am sure they will share with their families at home!

Have you ever sat and looked up to the sky and wondered … How did we come to have planes in the sky? Well, this study is the answer to those kinds of questions! The children will learn about the Wright Brothers and their incredible invention and the story of the first flight. Full of yet more fascinating facts the children will be able to ask away at how, when and why they decided to create that first plane and the importance that it has had on travel ever since. We also explore the impact flight has had on female figures such as Amelie Earhart! A real fascinating way to end the year for our KS1 historians!

History - Cycle B

We all love toys! As children we all had or have our favourite toys and that memory of them lives with us throughout our lives. This study is all about those memories and the past toys that have been created and built upon throughout the years. Children will be amazed at the toys that they discover. Some may seem familiar and some may spark conversations at home with generations sharing their toy collections with the children. Exploring in detail the decades of the 70s and 90s we will teach the children all about how technology, types of toys and the materials have changed. There will also be first-hand experiences available throughout this study with examples of toys from both school and home! A real winner in terms of studies this year!

This study is a fascinating one as again it investigates the local links that we have as a school. The work that the children complete will be learning about local individuals who have had an impact on the area. One of those who will be studied will be Josiah Wedgewood who is well known for his work in the pottery industry. The children will explore the significance of Brunel learning about the importance of his achievements and how we have learnt from these significant individuals. A study full of interesting achievements and information that will have the children brimming with pride about what was achieved in their area.

Have you ever sat and looked up to the sky and wondered … How did we come to have planes in the sky? Well, this study is the answer to those kinds of questions! The children will learn about the Wright Brothers and their incredible invention and the story of the first flight. Full of yet more fascinating facts the children will be able to ask away at how, when and why they decided to create that first plane and the importance that it has had on travel ever since. A real fascinating way to end the year for our KS1 historians!

Geography- Cycle A

Have you ever delved deeper into what Cannock is like as an area? Well, this study investigates exactly that! The children explore where Cannock is within the United Kingdom and then looks at the different features of the area. They will explore the town centre; looking at what buildings there are, how they have differed over time and how they are different or similar to the local area of Chadsmoor. The final part of the study will look at map reading, with an introduction to maps and a chance to get their hands dirty with some messy map making. A fun, interactive and interesting start to the year for our budding geographers!

After the small scale view of Cannock the children expand their horizons with a study of the United Kingdom. Starting by learning the countries within the U.K the children then explore what seas surround them and what the key capital cities are. We see the children build on their map reading skills, by identifying where they are within the U.K and where they are in relation to the different capital cities. Children further explore then the different physical and human features of these capital cities and other important landmarks. A real interesting study and one that allows the children to start building a picture of the world around them.

Adding some more miles to our geographers now with this final geographical study of the year. The children enter a comparison study between life for them in the United Kingdom and life for those who live in Kandy a city within Sri Lanka. This study further builds on the children’s map reading skills, identifying where Sri Lanka is and then allows them to compare what life is like there with their life living in Cannock. Exploring aspects such as buildings, food that they export and transport across lessons. This study is a great start to expanding into the world and will leave the children with a new breadth of knowledge but also a better understanding of how places so far away are both different and similar to us.

Geography- Cycle B

Within Cycle B of our Geography learning the children get to start with a study all about the weather that we experience in the United Kingdom and further afield. We all love to talk about the day to day weather we experience but so often we don’t explore why it all happens and how. This study starts by exploring how weather changes, from day to day but also from season to season. It will explore the seasons in detail, matching where they happen, why they happen and what impact it has on our weather. Stretching further afield the children then get to learn about what the weather is like around the world, looking at hot and cold parts of the world. Within this they will begin to understand the importance of the equator and how it effects the weather we see around the world.

Ever wondered where our food comes from? This study will investigate how it manages to find its way to our plates! The children will be fascinated to learn about what food we have locally and will be able to visit different places to find the source of many of our foods. Then they will have the task of looking further afield and seeing where in the world our most popular foods come from. Something that always has the wow factor when children realise where their bananas or apples come from! Finally, there is a link to the previous study and they will learn all about how the seasons effect our foods, learning about which foods are seasonal and why. A study filled with delicious learning!

The geography study of the year is a huge one and full of wonderful learning. Literally this study looks at the wonders of the world! The children will be captivated to learn about the modern wonders of the world. What they look like, how they came to be there, and the geographical features that they can see there. It will involve many of the geographical skills that they have learnt so far with map reading, physical and human feature spotting and a great deal of questioning to gain a deeper understanding of these incredible sites. A real journey of wonder.

Science

Animals vary in many ways having different structures e.g. wings, tails, ears etc. They also have different skin coverings e.g. scales, feathers, hair. These key features can be used to identify them. Animals eat certain things - some eat other animals, some eat plants, some eat both plants and animals. Humans have key parts in common, but these vary from person to person. Humans (and other animals) find out about the world using their senses. Humans have five senses – sight, touch, taste, hearing and smelling. These senses are linked to particular parts of the body.

Physical Education

Our first look at team games comes in the Spring term and the children work together to start exploring different types of games. Not just focusing on traditional sports, the children use their key skills and develop them further as part of a team. Children are taught the basics of how to avoid the opposition and ways of passing or playing to their team mates. A key start to their progression through team games.

Religious Education

In Year 1 we focus on Christianity and Judaism to delve a little deeper into these two religions. We begin to look at how the moral teaching of the religions shape beliefs and opinions of Christians and Jewish people.

As a result, the children are beginning to understand these religious views and respectfully discuss them. We explore how the Christian religion have helped shape some of the British traditions such as Christmas and Easter.