Welcome to Year 1
Year 1 at Ebbsfleet Green is called Elder Tree Class, and we are taught by Miss. Franklyn.
We learn phonics using Little Wandle (S.S.P.). We learn to apply our phonic knowledge in reading and writing throughout the day.
Our learning is interconnected, if appropriate, meaning each term we interconnect some subjects to support reading, writing and wider curriculum. By learning in this way, we deepen our understanding, become critical thinkers, and develop both knowledge and skills in key areas. Learning is subject specific. If interconnections are not appropriate, subjects are taught discretely.
Our curriculum builds upon our learning from the Early Years by helping us to recall what we already know as well as learning new things.
Learning in Year 1 includes:
- Who Am I?
- In The City
- Under The Sea
- Tremendous Tudors
- Out Of Africa
- Chocolate!
All our interconnected subjects give us the opportunity to acquire new knowledge, develop our skill-sets, apply our Ebbsfleet Green Values and develop our 6Cs: Character, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking and Citizenship. Our learning in school is built around these areas. We use a class read to develop our love of reading. We love sharing what we have learnt in school, although learning also happens outside the classroom; our home learning and wider reading opportunities are one way this happens. It is important to us that we are always learners whether we are in school, at home, or out and about in the world. Events we look forward to are our Big Outcomes where we welcome parents and visitors into school to share in our learning with us; this is one of the times you will see our 6Cs in action!
Who Am I?
Our first half term in Year 1 is ‘Who Am I?’ which is a brilliant way to start the year as we get to think about ourselves - what makes us unique as well as, what makes us similar to our friends. All learning is interwoven around the concepts of the individual belonging to large groups, such as in R.E. where we learn about belonging to a wider community. In science, we learn all about the human body and investigate our senses. We practise drawing in art and link this to science by drawing self-portraits as well as continuing to explore sound in music. In history, we look at the childhoods of the past generation through first- hand experience and guided discovery focusing on toys, which is appropriate for our children to relate to, as well as linking back to science with what the body can do at different stages of baby and child hood. As part of our history learning, we make rag dolls in D.T.
We continue to learn through a fully phonics approach immediately we return to Year 1.
In The City
History drives our learning this half term, with a focus on following lines of enquiry linked to transport over time. Our writing provides opportunities for fantasy stories, recounts and letters which interconnect. We constantly practise applying the phonemes we have been taught. We will recall and build upon our pre-existing knowledge about where we live while reading the story, ‘Katie in London’ and use this story while learning about roads and local amenities we recognise. We will learn about the artist Lowry who is known for his portrayal of the movement of people; he also painted steam trains and red buses, which interconnects with our history focus. We will use computing to collect data linked to the learning already mentioned. Our learning in science will focus on materials and prepares us for future learning later in the year. In R.E., we will learn about the beginnings of Sikhism through stories.
Under the Sea
Science continues to lead our learning this half term alongside geography. We focus on comparisons between The Arctic, Antarctic and The U.K. with a particular focus on animals living under the sea. We will use critical thinking to consider clothing choices linked to the weather, which links to insulation, waterproofing and absorbency in science. We will also have many opportunities for investigations and comparisons. In computing, we will be producing reports and including art in our work. We will also be linking our music to the sea. We will be enjoying stories such as ‘Commotion in the Ocean’ and ‘Snail and a Whale’ and using these to help us with telling stories with patterned language and poetry. Of course, we will be focussing on Phase 5 Phonics, using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds, and applying them in our writing.
Tremendous Tudors
History continues to be our driver this half term as we learn all about the Tudors in art and geography as well as in our writing as we build upon our skills in instructional writing, letter writing and information texts. By now, we are half way through Phase 5 and are using our phonics well in all our writing. We will also be reading about Henry VIII. Eltham has a rich Tudor heritage (including the incredible Eltham Palace) which we can explore in our geography learning as we develop our map reading skills and understanding. In music, we will learn about Tudor instruments and compositions as well as linking this to aspects of our P.E learning. Although science will be mostly discrete learning, about plants, we know that Elizabeth I had associations with oak trees so this will feature in our learning.
Out of Africa
'Handa’s Surprise’ is a wonderful story and will also help us to write our own traditional stories. Geography comes to the forefront as we compare a hot location to the UK and we will be able to use our learning to help write information texts and reports about differing localities. We will build upon our prior learning about the Equator and temperature in relation to the Sun. African art is going to be wonderful to learn about and we will be using our knowledge of light to make shadow puppets to perform our traditional stories which will have a link to our interconnected subjects. We are also looking forward to expressing ourselves in P.E. and learning about African music and instruments. Our discrete R.E. topic of Hindu worship will allow us to broaden our awareness of different world religions and where these religions are followed.
Chocolate!
Our class read of ‘Candy’s Chocolate Kingdom,’ will help us to write our own stories and we are looking forward to learning all about cocoa plants and other foods in science. We learn about Sir. Christopher Columbus and why we remember him in history. As part of our learning about the history of chocolate, we will be looking at art, making our own chocolate bar wrappers and finding out about where chocolate comes from. We are looking forward to being creative with poetic jingles for chocolate and instructional writing for making our own chocolate. In R.E., we will be learning about the Jewish Shabbat; in P.E., we will continue to build upon the skills we have developed all year.
We will have finished Phase 5 by now and will be applying phonics fully within our writing.
