Owl Class
Welcome to the Owl Class web page for 2023-2024!
A very warm welcome to Owl class’s home page!
What a successful start to the academic year we have had in Year 1. We cannot wait to see what Term 2 has in store for us, full of Christmas cheer and festivities and all things Nativity!
This page will be updated throughout the year with information regarding our topics and learning for the term ahead. You can find all relevant information regarding our latest term below.
Owl Classroom
Our learning
As a school, we follow the Cornerstones Curriculum. Each ‘long’ term (so 3 times a year) the topics change. There is always one main topic and several companion units.
In Terms 1 and 2 the main topic is a History unit called ‘Childhood’. In this project we will explore everyday life and families today, including comparisons with childhood in the 1950s, using artefacts and a range of different sources. A particular focus for us will be toys – toys that we enjoy today, comparing it to those enjoyed from the 1950s. To support our historical exploration here, we have an exciting new feature within our classroom… our very own toy museum! We cannot wait for all to be unveiled!
The companion units for this project are ‘Our Wonderful World’ (Geography), ‘Funny Faces and Fabulous Features’ and ‘Mix It’ (Art and Design), ‘Everyday Materials’ and ‘Human Senses’ (Science) and ‘Shade and Shelter’ (Design Technology). The latter will teach us about the purpose of shelters and their materials – an opportunity to combine our Science learning! We will name and describe shelters and design and make shelter prototypes. We will then design and build a play den as a group and evaluate our completed products.
English
Children in Year One continue to develop their phonetic knowledge using Read Write Inc (RWI). We carefully group the children according to their phonic knowledge. This ensures each child is being supported, yet challenged, aiming for excellent reading progress.
Children will have Read Write Inc lessons from Monday-Thursday. Our RWI lessons are followed by a whole class English lesson, where we will continue to focus on reading skills as well as our writing skills. The theme will vary each week, our learning may be based on a story, inspired by a picture, an event or even a piece of music! On Fridays alongside our whole class English lesson, we will also have a focus session on Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG), as well as dedicated handwriting sessions.
Reading
Children will have access to two books to read at home. One will be an eBook set by their RWI leader to match their phonic ability. Each eBook will be accompanied by a quiz, which provide opportunities for children to apply their phonic knowledge, as well as developing their comprehension skills. Children will also have a RWI Book Bag Book, a physical book that they will take home that is matched to the phonics they are learning. Each eBook and Book Bag Book will stay with each child for a few days and should be re-read to support fluency in reading.
For those children who have completed the RWI scheme, they will then move onto reading AR (Accelerated Reader) books. These books are equally matched to the child’s reading ability, as an initial quiz provides each child with a reading level. The children will then get to choose a reading book within their book band levels, providing each child with autonomy over their reading.
Maths
We use Power Maths as the main driver in our Maths learning, but this is supported with a range of practical activities to ensure that each child has a secure understanding of the concepts taught.
We will be starting to use our brand new rekenreks this term through the Mastering Number program. This will develop children's fluency and understanding of number.
Term 2 coverage
English – Read Write Inc will continue in the same way that the children are used to from Bumblebee class. Our core text for our English learning this term is Everyday Materials (Ways into Science) by Peter Riley. This links nicely with our previous Science project 'Everyday Materials'. We will use this text to continue exploring non-fiction texts, learning about features used within this text type and to begin incorporating those within our own writing. We will also be sticking to this theme of materials as we explore supplementing texts, such as the famous fairy tale Three Little Pigs. There will be opportunities to explore these texts using VIPERS (reading comprehension skills), as well as inspiring our writing tasks.
In Maths this term we will continue to develop our understanding of numbers to 10, as we move onto addition within 10. We will continue to explore a variety of maths skills, including a range of resources - one particular representation being the part-whole model. We will explore addition strategies that include the part-whole model, as well as tens frames and the number line.
In Science we will be learning about the 'Human Senses'. This project teaches us that humans are a type of animal known as a mammal. We will name and count body parts and identify similarities and differences. We will also learn about the senses, the body parts associated with each sense and their role in keeping us safe.
History is our main unit within our Cornerstones curriculum, with our driver project ‘Childhood’. In this project we will explore everyday life and families today, including comparisons with childhood in the 1950s, using artefacts and a range of different sources. A particular focus for us will be toys – toys that we enjoy today, comparing it to those enjoyed from the 1950s.
In Computing we will be learning about digital art. We will continue to develop our keyboard and mouse skills, as we use the laptops. We will learn how to use a variety of digital tools to create our own digital artwork, inspired by a variety of famous artists. We will continue to do so using the program paintz.app.
In PE this term we will be focusing on Gymnastics. In order to make PE lessons run more smoothly, we will continue to ask for children to come into school dressed in their PE kits on their PE day. In Owls our weekly PE session will take place every Friday. So please make sure that your child comes into school every Friday dressed in their PE kit.
In PSHE this term we will begin learning about ‘relationships’, as we explore our key question ‘who is special to use and who keeps us safe?’. This unit of learning will allow us to explore relationships with families, friends and trusted adults.
In Art our project ‘Funny Faces and Fabulous Features’ we will learn about portraits. We will explore the concept of the portrait how the collage technique can be used to make a portrait. Whilst exploring this new Art learning, we will incorporate previously learnt skills from our first topic 'Mix It', utilising our learning on colour.
Home Learning
Here at Bethersden our home learning tasks are set each week on Tuesday via Google Classroom. Each child has their own login details to access this (which includes an email address and password – these can be found in their yellow reading records). Once set every Tuesday, the tasks will be due the following Monday. Each week we dedicate time to sharing and celebrating completed home learning tasks, something we and the children always look forward to. The tasks will range from physical activities, discussions, questions to explore – all activities we hope you will enjoy!
Alongside tasks set on Google Classroom, there will also be a weekly spelling ‘assignment’ set on Spelling Shed. We would also encourage children to practise their maths skills using NumBots. Links to both of these sites can be found here on our class page. All login details can also be found in their yellow reading records.
We are looking forward to continued support with home learning this new academic year.
How can you support your Year 1 child?
There are many ways that you can support your child to have a healthy, fun filled Year 1!
- Please make sure that they are on time, have the correct uniform and have had a healthy breakfast.
- Read! Listen to them read, read to them, let them see you enjoying reading – reading in any form will help foster a love of books – something that we are passionate about at Bethersden Primary.
- Please ensure that they have the correct PE kit. Our PE day is on Friday, so please ensure your child comes into school on Fridays wearing their PE kit.
- Provide a water bottle (hydrated brains are happy brains!)
- Please provide appropriate clothing for outdoor learning, we will not let the weather stop us! We are also needing to keep the room well ventilated, so an extra layer, or a blue fleece may be appreciated as the weather gets colder.
Contact us
We are always available after school if you need a quick catch up. If you need a longer or more private meeting, please book this in at the office and we will be happy to accommodate.
If you have a non-urgent message for the team you could email the families email on the address below. This is checked regularly and the message will be passed on to the class team.
families@bethersden.kent.sch.uk
We cannot wait for another successful term in Owl Class!
Very best wishes,
The Owl Team