Year 1

The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright - Spring 1

Our class book this term is The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright, a wonderful story about finding courage and believing in yourself. Through this book, we will explore characters, settings, and events to help us develop our writing skills. Year 1 writing objectives include using capital letters and full stops correctly, writing simple sentences that make sense, and beginning to use joining words like and to extend ideas. We’ll also work on sequencing events from the story, writing short descriptions of the characters, and creating our own imaginative endings. This book gives us the perfect opportunity to practice using adjectives to make our writing exciting and to start thinking about how to express feelings in words.

Our Year 1 Provision

In Year 1, we continue to use a provision-based approach to support the smooth transition from Reception. This helps children move from learning through play to more structured activities in a way that feels natural and engaging. Provision allows children to explore, investigate and apply their learning independently, while adults guide, question and extend their thinking. It helps build confidence, curiosity and problem-solving skills — all essential foundations for success throughout Key Stage 1.

Our classroom provision areas include a construction zone for building and design challenges, a role-play area that links to our class texts and topics, a creative area for art, collage and making, and a small-world area where children can retell stories and invent their own. We also have maths and phonics investigation areas that let children practise new skills through hands-on games and challenges. Outdoors, our provision encourages movement, teamwork and real-world exploration.

Through this blend of play and purpose, our Year 1 children remain active, motivated learners who see every challenge as an opportunity to discover something new.

Reading

In Year 1 we focus on fluency (how quickly a child can read accurately) and comprehension (children understanding what they are reading). Please can you ensure that you’re reading regularly with your child as we can see the benefits not only in the children’s reading but their writing too.

We also have the phonics screener in June that we work towards in class. We would really appreciate support at home with this too as the more practice the children get, the better. 

Your child will read with an adult weekly and their reading diary signed to reflect this. Please can you ensure that an adult at home checks their diary weekly to see if there are any messages and sign to say how many times they have read. In year 1 we ask that the children read at least 3 times per week. 

 

 

Reading at Home – Helpful Tips for Parents

Reading together every day, even for just 10 minutes, makes a huge difference to your child’s progress and confidence. Below are some easy ways to support your child when reading at home.

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1. Create a Calm Reading Time

Find a quiet spot, turn off distractions, and make reading part of your daily routine. Keep it positive and relaxed — your encouragement matters most!

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2. Before You Start

• Look at the front cover and talk about the pictures.

• Ask: “What do you think this story might be about?”

• Spot any familiar words or sounds before reading.

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3. During Reading

If your child gets stuck on a word:

• Encourage them to segment (sound out) the word — e.g. /c/ /a/ /t/.

• Then blend the sounds together — “cat”.

• If they’re still unsure, tell them the word and move on — keep the reading flowing and positive.

• Praise effort: “You worked hard to sound that out!”

Other helpful prompts:

• “What sound does that letter make?”

• “Can you spot a chunk or pattern you know?”

• “Does that word make sense in the sentence?”

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4. Tricky Words

Some words can’t be sounded out (like said, the, was). Practise recognising these on sight and point them out when they appear in the book.

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5. Talk About the Story

After reading, ask simple questions to check understanding:

• “What happened at the start?”

• “Who was your favourite character?”

• “Why did that happen?”

• “What do you think will happen next?”

Encourage your child to talk about their favourite parts or something that made them laugh.

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6. Keep It Fun and Encouraging

• Take turns reading pages.

• Use funny voices for characters.

• Celebrate mistakes as learning opportunities — that’s how progress happens!

• Finish with praise: “You’re becoming such a confident reader!”

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7. If Your Child Is Struggling

• Keep sessions short and positive.

• Revisit familiar books to build confidence.

• Focus on one small step at a time — like practising a few sounds or tricky words.

• Let the teacher know if certain sounds or words keep causing difficulty so we can help in school too.

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Remember

Reading should be enjoyable — a chance to share stories, laughter, and curiosity. Every page you read together helps your child grow as a reader.

 

Please don't forget to fill in your child's reading diary whenever you read too!

 

Pathways to Write

Through a text-based approach, we teach writing skills and knowledge through the books below.

This half-term we will be using The Lion Inside as an aid for learning. Please don't read this with your child at home yet as we want to keep the story a surprise for the children!

 

Help at home

If you want to help out at home this half-term, you could:

• Write shopping lists with your child
• Practice writing sentences (full stops and capital letters)
• Write a diary with your child
• Write exciting stories

 

Books your child’s learning will be based around
Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
Lost and found by Oliver Jeffers	Nibbles by Emma Yarlett	The Lion Inside by Rachel bright	The curious case of the missing mammoth	Toys In Space by Mini Grey	Goldilocks and just the one bear by Leah Tomkinson

Mathematics in Year 1

Our Approach to Maths

At our school, we follow the Power Maths scheme, which is fully aligned with the National Curriculum and based on the Teaching for Mastery approach, developed through the NCETM. Power Maths helps every child to build a deep, secure and adaptable understanding of maths through small, carefully sequenced steps. It encourages children to think, explore and talk about maths — not just do it.

What is Maths Mastery?

The Mastery approach, promoted by the NCETM, is built on the belief that every child can succeed in maths. Instead of racing through content, we spend time developing a deep understanding of key concepts. This helps children make connections between ideas and apply their knowledge in different ways.

In a mastery classroom:

• All children move through topics together at broadly the same pace.

• Concrete (hands-on), pictorial (visual), and abstract (symbolic) representations are used to build secure understanding.

• Problem-solving and reasoning are central — children learn to explain their thinking, not just give answers.

• Quick graspers are challenged through deeper questioning rather than moving ahead to new content.

This approach ensures that learning is secure, inclusive, and long-lasting, setting firm foundations for future maths success.

 

What Happens in a Power Maths Lesson

Each Power Maths lesson follows a clear, consistent structure designed to develop confidence and curiosity:

1. Discover – A practical or story-based problem introduces the lesson in a real-life context. Children explore and discuss ideas together.

2. Share – The class shares different methods and strategies, guided by the teacher.

3. Think Together – Children work through carefully scaffolded examples, building their understanding step by step.

4. Practice – Independent and paired tasks help children apply what they’ve learned.

5. Reflect – The class comes together to discuss what they found out and what they can do next time.

This structure helps children reason, talk, and problem-solve — building mathematical fluency and confidence.

 

What We Cover in Year 1

Autumn Term:

• Counting, reading, and writing numbers to 100

• Place value (tens and ones)

• Addition and subtraction within 20

• Shape recognition and properties

• Number bonds to 10 and 20

Spring Term:

• Counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s

• Comparing numbers and using symbols (<, >, =)

• Measurement: length, height, weight, and capacity

• Multiplication and division through grouping and sharing

• Fractions: halves and quarters

Summer Term:

• Position and direction (turns, left/right)

• Time: o’clock and half past

• Money: recognising coins and making totals

• Consolidation and reasoning through problem-solving

 

Why We Use Power Maths

Power Maths is recommended by the Department for Education and developed alongside the NCETM. It supports a growth mindset by helping children see mistakes as part of learning and encourages deep mathematical thinking. Lessons are interactive, engaging, and designed to promote talk, collaboration, and independent reasoning.

By using Power Maths and the mastery approach, we aim to nurture confident mathematicians who are curious, resilient, and ready to tackle challenges with enthusiasm.

Timetable of our week

This is a rough timetable of our week. This may change each week depending on the whole school calendar.

 

PE - Our PE days this half term are Monday and Tuesday. Please send your child to school in their PE kit on these days, this starts from the second week back. 

Coats -  Please can you send your child in with a coat everyday as we will be doing learning in and out of the classroom in both rain and shine!!!  It would be a real help if these were clearly named so they don't get lost.

Water bottles -  Please ensure that your child's bottle is in school every day so that they can access a drink during the day. These aren't provided by school so please ensure you have one for the start of the year. 

Reading - It is important to see what your child has been engaging in at home, for example: reading, extra maths jobs, handwriting. Please could you record this in your child's reading diary

 

 

Below are some websites that will help support your child's learning at home:

Time

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/maths/telling_the_time/play/popup.shtml

http://resources.oswego.org/games/BangOnTime/clockwordres.html

http://resources.oswego.org/games/stoptheclock/sthec3.html

Place Value

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/chinese-dragon-ordering

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath/BalloonCount20.htm

http://www.ictgames.com/placeValue.htm

https://nrich.maths.org/8940

Addition and subtraction

http://www.iboard.co.uk/iwb/Simple-Addition-Stories-721

http://v7.k12.com/sample_lessons/activities/images/swfs/building_expressions_final.swf

http://www.arcademics.com/games/alien/alien.html

Measuring height and length

http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/schtemplate.cgi?template=/kids/mw/help/eh_popup_k.thtml&grade=K&title=Compare,+Order,+and+Measure+Length&tm=tmfa0113e

http://www.iboard.co.uk/activities/path/measuring_length/subject/maths

Multiplication and Division

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=grouping

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=sharingv2

English and Phonics

http://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/curriculum/literacy/lit_site/html/fiction/fairytale2/fairytale.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/using_punctuation/play/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/penguinsonice.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/

http://www.roythezebra.com/reading-games/high-frequency-words-numbers.html

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/SentSubPhase5a.html

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/PicnicOnPluto.html

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/BuriedTreasure2.html

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/aiAltSpellings.html