Dear Parents, Guardians and Children,

Welcome to Elstar Class, I am very excited to kick off the year getting to know you all and starting our learning journey together in year 1.

Outlined below is what we will be learning in the autumn term.

English

We are going to start off our English topic recounting all the wonderful things we have gotten up to in the summer holidays. We will be focussing on sentence structure, capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. Followed on from this we will be exploring ‘Not a stick’ by Antoinette Portis and ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ by Michael Rosen.

Maths

In maths this term, our focus is on numbers between 1-10. We will start by looking at place value then move on to addition and subtraction before finishing off with Shape.

Phonics

Phonics is the most effective way of teaching children to learn to read.  By providing them with the skills to tackle new words they can become fluent readers. We will be doing daily phonics for 40 minutes every day. Children are assessed and grouped every half term.

Reading

Children should be reading at home every day for at least 10 minutes and ensure they get their reading record signed. Children should bring their reading records into school every day so an adult is able to listen to them read. Books will be changed every Friday.

History- Childhood

In the Childhood project, your child will learn words and phrases related to the passage of time. They will explore artefacts to help them to understand childhood in the past and how childhood has changed over time. They will explore the six stages of life and explore timelines. Everyday life in the 1950s will be explored, including shopping, transport, family life and childhood. They will also learn about the significance of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 by studying photographs and online sources. The children will use maps to explore how places have changed over time and highlight any similarities or differences between childhood today and childhood in the 1950s.

Science

This autumn term we will start our science topic focussing on everyday materials and then human senses.

In the Everyday Materials project, your child will learn that materials are what objects are made from. They will observe and identify objects made from different materials in places familiar to them, such as their home and school. Learning that natural materials come from the world around us, including the ground, plants and animals. They will name and use their senses to explore a range of objects made from human-made materials, learning that they are new materials made by people from natural materials. They will compare a range of objects made from different materials, putting them into groups according to their similarities and differences and explaining their groups. They will identify the properties of a range of materials, learning that materials can be described by their properties and that a property is a quality a material has that makes it suitable for a particular use. They will follow instructions and conduct various tests to determine different materials' properties.

PE

Children will be having 2 PE sessions each week on Monday and Thursday.

 On PE days the children are expected to come to school in the following NOT UNIFORM:

• Bottle green shorts
• Red Pippins t-shirt
• Trainers
• Socks (if children wear tights regularly) 
• Black/Grey/Navy jogging bottoms
• Sweat band (if needed to cover a religious bracelet)

Please make sure that children are not wearing any jewellery on PE days apart from for religious reasons.

Homework

The children will be receiving their homework on a Friday and will be expected back in the following Wednesday.

As always, if you have any problems or questions, please send me an email at znasir@pippins.slough.sch.uk  

Miss Nasir