Year 1

Spring Term 

Dear Parents, Carers and Pupils, 

Please find below all of the useful information regarding days/things to remember and some aspects of our curriculum.

Things to remember 

Reading: Children will be given a set day to change their reading book, this will either be a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and this will be the same day all year wherever possible. It is really important that children are reading regularly at home (daily if possible), for approximately 10- 15 minutes. It would also be very beneficial to your child if when reading, you could ask them some questions about their book, to see if they have understood what they have just read. Please sign your child’s home –school diary when you listen to your children read and when they have completed their book. It would be really helpful if you can make sure your child's reading folder is in school every day. All children will complete guided reading in a small group with a teacher each week and where possible will read with a parent helper. 

Spelling: Spellings will be given out on a Tuesday and the children will then complete a spelling quiz the following Tuesday in which they will be tested on their High Frequency Words (HFW). These are the most commonly used words when writing therefore it is key that the children can spell these correctly from an early age. Spellings will be sent home on a ‘Spring 1 Spelling Grid’ and can be practised using the ‘Look, cover, write, check’ method. Please encourage correct letter formation and high quality work from your child when you are practising with them.

Homework: During Spring Term there is no homework. We would like to put emphasis on reading with your child as much a possible. This 1:1 reading time is the biggest priority and will hugely help with their learning at this stage. So, please do this as much as you can alongside some practise of the weekly spellings. Homework will be set in Summer term to help transition the children into year 2. 

P.E:  Year 1's PE days during the Autumn term will be Wednesday and Thursday. Children should come to school with their PE Kit in a PE bag as they will be getting changed into their PE kits in school. The indoor PE kit should consist of green shorts, a white tshirt and a pair of black pumps and the outdoor PE kit should be a pair of black plain bottoms or leggings with a white t-shirt and the new Whirley zip-up jacket (if you have purchased this.) We ask that all of the t-shirts/shorts/leggings/bottoms are to be plain and not have logos or branding on please. 

Water bottles:  The children are encouraged to bring a water bottle each day. Please only fill the bottle with water. Children will be asked to put drinks other than water back in their school bag to drink with their lunch as they have access to the water fountain during the day.

ANCHOR TEXTS

Our current English work is inspired by 'Beegu' by Alexis Deacon. 

AUTHOR OF THE TERM

Our author of the term is Oliver Jeffers who is renowned for writing so many wonderful children's books. As well as reading as many of these books as possible this Spring term, the children are also encouraged to see if they can find any books written by our author of the term at home or while out and about.

If you ever have any questions, worries or concerns please don't hesitate to come and speak with me or email me and I will be more than happy to help!

h.pasquill@whirley.org.uk