Year 1 – Welcome to Term 6!

This term, our topic is Bright Lights, Big City, which will see us learning about the physical and human characteristics of the United Kingdom. We will be finding out about the different countries which make up the United Kingdom and what makes them unique, as well as taking part in a detailed exploration of the characteristics and features of the capital city, London.

We will have the opportunity to take part in map work, using compasses and positional and directional language to plan routes around the city, and we will research and explore the cause and impact of the Great Fire of London. Our learning will culminate in an exciting trip to the London Eye and a Thames River Cruise which will give us both aerial and riverside views of all the important London landmarks!

Thank you to all those of you who have sent your trip permission slips and payments to the school office – if you haven’t yet done so, please be advised that the final date that we will be able to accept permission slips and payments will be Monday 19^th June as we have to finalise our booking with Merlin Entertainment. If your child’s permission slip and payment is not received by this date, they will unfortunately be unable to attend.

Our English text this term is the beautifully illustrated ‘Leaf’ by Sandra Dieckmann and we will be complementing our exploration of this delightful book with our Science topic of Animals including Humans, in which we will be learning about humans and other animals, the similarities and differences between them and their senses, bodies, habitats and diets. We will also be thinking about life cycles and changes in our PSHE lessons.

What do you know about polar bears? Can you do some research at home and bring your findings in to share with your class?

PE Day

Merlins and Sparrows will continue to have their PE day on a Wednesday. Children are expected to wear a plain white round neck t-shirt, plain black shorts or joggers and black trainers or plimsolls. No large or obvious logos or prints please. Jewellery must not be worn for safety reasons. Please kindly remove your child’s earrings before sending them to school on PE days. This year, KS1 Sports Day will be held on Wednesday 28^th June.

Year 1 Expectations

We will be continuing to expect children to read their Collins Big Cat book every day at home and fill in their reading record during Term 6. We will also send home a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ book that adults can read to the children.

Spellings which are linked to the Little Wandle phonics scheme that we follow in the school will go out every Friday as usual. We expect children to practise these daily at home in preparation for a spelling test the following Friday. All of these books (Big Cat books, reading record, ‘Reading for Pleasure’ book and spelling book) are due in and collected on a Thursday then new homework and books are given out on a Friday.

Maths homework will be set once a week on the Freckle online learning platform. Phonics homework will be sent home every Friday and needs to be completed and returned the following week.

PHONICS, PHONICS, PHONICS!!!

Your child will be sitting the Phonics Screening Test in the second week of this term (week beginning 12^th June) and it is imperative that all children are consistently practising their Phase 3, 4 and 5 sounds, as well as their segmenting and blending of real and alien words – every last practise counts!

Your child will be sitting their test in the company of a known adult and is already very familiar with the test format which we have been steadily building into lessons for the past few terms. We wish your child the best of luck for their test! Parents will be informed of the Phonics Screening Test results in a letter that will accompany your child’s End of Year Report in July.