Class 1 Curriculum & Information Letter

September 2025

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are very excited to welcome your child back to school and are pleased to report that they have settled in brilliantly already! This year I (Miss White) will be teaching your child, with Miss Daniel teaching Forest School sessions on a Wednesday afternoon each week. Across the week in Autumn term, we are supported by the following adults: Mrs Game, Mrs Westcott, Mrs Hatch, and Mrs Saville.

Our topic for this term is ‘Grand Designs’. Through this topic, we will learn skills in most subject areas including English and most foundation subjects. We learn Maths, PE, RE, PSHE, and Phonics through stand apart curriculums, woven into our topics carefully to enable children to apply their learning to wider contexts. This term, children will approach foundation subjects through enhanced provision in the afternoons, with subject input-linked challenge tasks to complete in their “Discovery Time” (think ‘busy time’)!

In English, we will be learning what makes a sentence, and begin to explore the use of capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. In Year 1 we approach English through oral recitations, building towards sentence writing, describing characters, writing lists, captions, and instructions, as well as constructing and inventing short narratives. We will also be learning to recite poems from memory. We will be learning the story of the Three Little Pigs through recital and performance, with story sequencing and short burst writing tasks for the first few weeks. Our phonics learning will continue through Read, Write Inc and the children will be encouraged to apply their phonics knowledge to their reading and writing across the curriculum.

In Maths, the children will begin by revisiting numbers within 20, moving towards working within 30 once confident. This unit is designed to consolidate their understanding of counting, number, and place value. Later in the term, Class 1 will be moving on to explore addition and subtraction. We will also be learning more about both 2D and 3D shapes later this term.

Through our topic, the children will have the opportunity to be scientists, historians, geographers and artists. The children will be learning about what an engineer is and does as well as conducting experiments to develop their understanding of materials and their properties. In history, the children will be comparing events and artefacts from then and now, looking specifically at toys from the past (from the 1950s-1960s). In geography, the children will be exploring our local area and developing their ability to read and record simple maps. We will be exploring the value of ‘Respect’ through RE and PSHE sessions.

Class 1 Routines

 PE will take place on Monday and Wednesday, weekly. This term the children will be learning all about ball skills and developing their core strength and balance through Fitness & Coordination games. Please ensure that named PE kits are in school on these days.

We will take our learning outside no matter the weather, so please could children have a named coat and  wellies in school everyday, all year round. Forest School kit is needed on a Wednesday (see forest school letter).

Expectations & Rewards

In Class 1, we ask for children to read at home at least four times a week, recorded in their reading record (yellow diary). Read Write Inc book bag books please to be read 3x before the child can tell us (we ask daily) when they would like their book changed, as all families and children read at an individual pace. Reading daily has been proven to support children with their whole educational trajectory, and all reading is worth recording!

When children have earned the required number of housepoints, they may collect the various housepoint badges for being ‘Ready, Respectful, and Safe’ at school. For smaller celebrations, children might earn stickers.

Homework will be introduced after the first half term to allow children and families to settle back into school routines. It will be sent out on a Friday will be due back the following Wednesday. Until Spring Term, homework will be set to creative or sharing-based tasks, to support children with the transition into Key Stage 1. Children earn a housepoint for submitting their homework on the correct day (Wednesdays).

Reading

To make the best possible progress in reading, we ask that children read to adults at home at least four times a week. 

Children will continue to progress through the Read Write Inc. phonics programme in Year 1.

We are very excited to be a part of your child’s next step in their learning journey. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact either of us.

Yours Sincerely,

Miss White and the Class 1 Team