Our first topic in Year 1 is all about kings, queens and castles. We will be

investigating the question:

Where did Kings and Queens live through time?

We are very excited to be exploring this history-based topic; learning all about our past monarchs and the different places they lived.

In History, Year 1 will be learning about the different sources we use in order to research the past.  We will be finding out why monarchs build castles and delve into the different features of castles and their uses. We will be looking at the kings and queens of the past with a focus on Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and King William I. Children will exploring where our different kings and queens lived through time.  

In our English work, we are really excited to be reading the story ‘Grandpa’s Gift’ and ‘Beegu’. We will start by bringing our own special objects into school and use our discussion skills to say why they are special to us. We will be learning new skills and applying them into our sentence work. We will be using capital letters, finger spaces, new vocabulary and full stops to combine words together and write a sentence grammatically correct.

We will also be investigating how to use a question mark and exclamation mark and apply them to our writing. We will also be practicing how to add prefixes and suffixes to our words to change their meaning. Based on these texts, we will be writing a story about a character who finds magic in everyday things and their own version of the story with a new lost character.

In our Maths work, we will be focusing on place value within 20. We will become sufficient in using the number line and continue to order and compare larger numbers. We will be working hard on our addition and subtraction work; using doubles and near doubles to support us, counting back and finding the difference.

We will be applying our skills of addition and subtraction to solve word problems and explore other related number facts. In our work on length and height, we will be comparing and measuring using non-standardised units and centimetres. In our work on mass and volume, we will be measuring and comparing volume, mass and capacity using the key vocabulary: heavier, lighter, empty and full.  

In Science, we will be finding ways to group materials and explore the question: can the same object be made from different materials? We will be exploring the properties of different materials focusing on whether they can bend or stretch.

In work on seasonal changes, we will be exploring whether all flowers are the same and spend time in our school garden making bird feeders and observing which birds visit our school.

In RSHE, we will be exploring who the special people in our lives are; how they care for us and keep us safe. We will understand how we can be similar yet different to one another and the importance of celebrating this. We will know how to report bullying behaviours online and the importance of telling a trusted adult.

In our art lessons, we will be investigating famous self-portraits. We will be using collage to create a self-portrait and investigate the use of different kinds of sketching pencils and paints. We will create our own self portrait on paper and use the medium of clay.

In our computing lessons, we will be looking at programming animations. We will learn how to choose a command for a given purpose and understand how they can be joined together. We will understand what algorithms are, write simple algorithms and sequence them to create a program and move different sprites on Scratch Junior.

In RE, we will be understanding how we are apart of different groups including a family and a community. We will be identifying the value o kindness and care within religious stories. We will be looking at the stories: healing the 10 lepers and the feeding of the 5000 and see how this has impacted on Christians beliefs. We will also be understanding who celebrates Easter and why.  

In PE this term, Turtle class will be focusing on games and dance.

In dance, we will be copying and repeating actions and put them together to create a sequence of movements. We will be performing actions at varying speeds using a range of body parts and learnt skills. We will have the opportunities to improvise independently to create a simple dance and evaluate our performances saying what we like and how we could improve.

In games, we will be working as a team and individually to practice attacking and defensive skills. We will be investigating different throws, movements with the ball, different ways to move and perform skills with control.