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Year 1 2026 - 2027
Welcome to the Year 1 Homepage
The Year 1 team is Mrs Argent-Belcher (Monday - Thursday) and Mrs Bailey (Friday)
Miss Franklin and Mrs A Davies will also be supporting the children throughout the week.
What the children can expect in year 1:
The autumn term of year one builds on the fabulous experiences they have had in the Early Years, providing opportunities for teacher-led learning as well as engagement in self-led learning activities with their peers both indoors and outdoors. This ensures that the children continue to learn the social skills needed to work collaboratively, as well as developing their independence skills.
During this year the children will build on their phonic knowledge alongside a range of other reading strategies on their journey towards becoming an independent reader and they will develop the basic skills required in writing and maths to ensure they have strong foundations in place for their learning journey.
As the year progresses, the children will develop their independence by moving from working in groups to a whole class approach which supports their transition into Year 2.
P.E. lessons will take place on Wednesdays (House of Dance) and on Fridays, (gymnastics) so please come to school dressed in your PE kits.
Guided Reading books will be read three times in school over Monday-Wednesday and go home on the Wednesday. Please aim to read this with your child a further three times before returning it the following Monday.
Autumn Term 2
In English we will be starting a book in Autumn 2, called Nibbles.
We will be using spaces between words, combining words to make sentences and begin to use capital letters and full stops. We will explore the story from the different characters perspectives and write about how Goldilocks and the giant are feeling after a Nibbles encounter.
Each day the children are read at least one story, and often poetry. Regular exposure to rhyme and narrative improves memory, vocabulary, concentration, emotional intelligence, grammar structures and phonetic awareness: these lay an excellent foundation for reading and writing. Please do read books at home- we are passionate about this!
In Maths we follow the Maths No Problem scheme, using concrete objects to first make it, then journaling with a draw it, write it, explain it approach. We will continue to explore addition to 10 and subtraction to 10 using a Part Part Whole model, number lines and with an increasing knowledge of number bonds from our mastery approach.
In Geography we are exploring the weather and seasons. We will record the rainfall and keep a chart to observe the weather from October to November. The children will learn how to dress for different seasons and know what weather to expect each month.
In RE we will be exploring the question: Why is Christmas is celebrated by Christians.
In Computing we will be exploring technology all around us. We will use the ipads and chromebooks to learn to log in, save data and type our names. We use the ipads in our continous provision to play numbots, a great game to encourage maths skills!
In Science this term they will look at seasonal changes, including seeing for themselves the deciduous trees losing their leaves.
Our Design Techmology unit is called Moving Minibeasts. The children will learn about different mechanisms to make their minibeast move, including a fixed point with a lever, sliding mechanism and wheel. They will learn to use various tools safely and skillfully, and have access to these in the continous provision.
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Over the year, we will be working through the My Happy Mind modules. This term, we extend the work started in Reception, with the modules: Meet the Brain and Celebrate.
Meet the Brain module - this module introduces children to how their brains work and why caring for them is essential.
Key Concepts:
- The brain helps us with many jobs—thinking, feeling, learning, and decision-making.
- Looking after our brain helps us be our best selves.
- When we learn something new, our brain remembers it for next time—this supports a growth mindset.
Children meet characters like Berty and Betty who explain brain functions in a fun, relatable way.
We explore different breathing strategies to develop mindful techniques, all of which help children to manage their emotional states and care for their brain. We link this directly to our emotion coaching work using the Zones of Regulation approach. Each week we will be practising different strategies to develop our own toolbox of ways that help us.
We will start by recapping on some strategies we used last year, including Tunnel Breathing, wall pushes, counting colours, having a drink / snack and drawing / colouring.
Throughout the week we build in reflection time to appreciate how our brains helped us during the day.
Celebrate module - this module focuses on helping children discover and appreciate their unique character strengths.
Key Concepts:
- Every child has special traits that make them who they are.
- Recognising and celebrating these strengths builds self-esteem and confidence.
- Children learn to value their individuality and the strengths of others.
This module helps to build a positive self-image, feel more confident in ourselves, encourages children to be proud of who they are and lays the foundation for empathy and appreciation of diversity.
We look to build this into our school day by pointing out children’s strengths in everyday situations and encouraging them to talk about what makes them feel proud.
In music this term, children will be developing their musical knowledge and creativity through singing, movement, and rhythm games. They’ll also discover that music has a steady pulse, like a heartbeat, and learn to create rhythms using words, such as their names, favourite foods, and animals. They will also be learning songs for our Christmas performance.
