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Year 1 Curriculum Overview

Year 1 Autumn 2024

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  • In English, the text, ‘Handa’s Surprise’ is taught, which is about a girl living in an African village, struggling to try and deliver fresh fruit to her neighbour. Pupils will write a list of their own fruits for Handa to transport and will write a new version of the story using different fruits and food items. We then study the classic, ‘The Gingerbread Man’ where we complete a retell of the story, followed by ‘Stick Man’ by Julia Donaldson. We use her exceptional story writing techniques to write a character description, and complete an exciting trail linked to the story. Reading centres around the Read Write Inc phonics programme and is tailored to meet the phonetical needs of your child. This term, our handwriting lessons and daily handwriting starters focus on printing letters using the correct formation, orientation and sizing. Finally, SPaG is a key focus within English lessons, focusing upon moving away from sentence-like structures to forming basic, grammatically accurate sentences that make sense and include a noun and a verb. Punctuation lessons focus on full stops, capital letters, question marks and exclamation marks.

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  • In Year 1 Maths, we explore place value as well as addition and subtraction within 10. This is to secure understanding of amounts, including ordering and comparing (e.g. more and less) before moving on to numbers within 20 (and then 50) later in the year. The Autumn term focus is number bonds to 10, exploring parts and whole as well as sorting 2D and 3D shapes.

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  • In Science, the topics of animals’ needs for survival and materials are studied along with a mini sustainability project based on plastics. Pupils also carry out practical investigations, making predictions, selecting materials, recording results and drawing basic conclusions for themselves based on these enquiries.

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  • Through the topic of “Our Amazing Country”, Year 1 and 2 study history and geography. In history, pupils will find out about the Great Fire of London and what London was like in 1666 whilst, in geography, we study the UK now, with a focus upon London as a modern capital city.

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  • In PE this term, pupils will receive lessons on ball skills with the support of Soccer 2000 coaches and will develop team building and target skills with their teacher.

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  • In Art, we will be looking at techniques including pointillism, paint mixing and collage/layering using the theme of the Great Fire of London.

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  • Computing focuses on the basic skills needed to access technology, such as logging on and using a mouse before moving on to writing digitally or creating music digitally.

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  • In Jigsaw, we are covering the topic “Being Me in My World” where pupils learn about feeling special, safe and part of a class. They consider rights, responsibilities, choices and consequences. We then move on to “Celebrating Differences” where pupils identify how people are similar in some ways and different in other ways, and think about what bullying is and how to deal with it and celebrate differences in everyone. We use Project Evolve to link this learning to online safety, focusing on self-identity and self-image and how to manage online information.

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  • DT this term has a focus on making a model fairground ride, using the London Eye as a starting point for our designs. DT explores the design, plan, make and evaluate model.

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  • In Music, Year 1’s learning focuses around a unit called ‘Hey You!’ and two half-units entitled ‘Rhythm in the Way We Walk’ and ‘Banana Rap’. Pupils will be given the opportunity to listen to and appraise songs, considering their own likes and preferences as well as comparing similar songs with a focus on the music, instruments and lyrics. Pupils will learn to sing and play instruments, including untuned percussion instruments.

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  • In RE, Year 1 and 2 study a unit called, ‘What can we learn from stories from the Bible?’ based around the stories of Moses, plus a unit in the second half term called, ‘Beginning to learn from Islam.’

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  • Our new oracy curriculum is based around speaking and listening and we are filtering discussion opportunities and talk tactics into all other curricular areas, as well as into homework tasks. Reading at home is encouraged daily in Year 1.​

 

Year 1 Spring 2025

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  • In English lessons, during Spring 1, the following texts are taught: ‘The Highway Rat’ by Julia Donaldson, where a greedy rat travels the highway in search of other animals' food, before his sweet tooth finally leads him to a sticky outcome, and ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. We now complete English lessons in Year 1 rather than just writing and Read Write Inc lessons. This is so that Year 1 children also develop their reading comprehension skills, outside of Read Write Inc lessons, and have more opportunity to retrieve basic information and make simple inferences, in addition to learning phonics. In writing sessions, pupils write a character description of the Highway Rat and then practise recalling events from Goldilocks in detail and in chronological order. During half term 2, the texts, ‘Ruby’s Worry’ and ‘Finn’s Little Fibs’ by Tom Percival are taught. These books are about children who struggle to express their feelings. During the first block of writing, pupils will focus on retelling one of these stories and, during the second block, they will write a basic letter from the perspective of one of the lead characters.
     

  • Reading continues to centre around the Read Write Inc phonics programme for all Year 1 pupils and is tailored to meet the phonetical needs of each child. This term, our handwriting lessons and daily handwriting starters focus on printing letters using the correct formation, orientation and sizing, with a focus on some of the tricky formations such as k and f. Finally, Spelling Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) is a key focus within English lessons, with pupils continuing to produce grammatically accurate sentences that make sense and include a noun, verb, and perhaps an adjective or simple conjunction like ‘and’ to add some very basic descriptions and cohesive devices. Punctuation lessons focus on full stops, capital letters, question marks and exclamation marks.
     

  • In Year 1 Maths, the White Rose scheme is used to explore place value within 50, as well as addition and subtraction within 20. We explore these concepts in different ways, using concrete resources, visual models and diagrams to support us. In the second half of the term, we start learning about the measures of length and height, beginning with non-standard units like cubes and moving on to centimetres. We then learn about weight and volume, using cubes and cups to measure and compare.
     

  • In Science, we use the White Rose Science scheme of work. This term, there is a focus on biology in the topic of plants, including the effect of light and dark on plants, and living things and their habitats. Pupils learn through practical investigations, making predictions, selecting materials, recording results and drawing basic conclusions for themselves based on these enquiries.
     

  • Through the topic of “It’s a Wonderful World”, Year 1 and 2 undertake historical and geographical study. In history, pupils will find out about Nurturing Nurses from the past, considering the greatest achievements of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole whilst, in geography, pupils study the continents, concentrating on how places around the world are different.
     

  • In PE this term, pupils will receive lessons with Soccer 2000 coaches on net and wall games, working on sending and receiving techniques. With their class teacher, they will be learning invasion games focusing upon the skills of striking and fielding.
     

  • In Art, pupils will draw portraits of Florence Nightingale, considering proportion, shading and tone. We will then look at the work of Pablo Picasso and have a go at creating a cubist portrait! After half term, we will also experiment with paint and colour mixing, using 2d shapes to create paintings of animals and Aboriginal art from Australia.
     

  • Computing includes the themes of programming, where we use programmable devices such as beebots and floorbots, and create block charts to represent basic data and information.
     

  • In Jigsaw, we cover the topic “Dreams and Goals” where pupils learn about setting targets to be successful. We then move on to “Healthy Me” where pupils consider how to lead a healthy life, including food choices, road safety, using medicines safely and linking health and happiness. Our Project Evolve Online Safety lessons for the term concentrate on privacy and security, health, wellbeing and lifestyle.
     

  • DT this term has a focus on designing and making a model ambulance using wheels and axles. DT explores the design, plan, make and evaluate model.
     

  • In Music, Year 1’s learning focuses around a unit called ‘In The Groove’ in the first half term and a unit entitled ‘Round and Round’ in the second half term. Pupils will be given the opportunity to listen to and appraise songs, considering their own likes and preferences as well as making comparisons to other similar songs with a focus on not only the music and instruments but also the lyrics. Pupils will learn to sing songs and play instruments, including untuned percussion instruments.
     

  • In RE, Year 1 and 2 finish the Autumn Term unit called, ‘Beginning to learn from Islam’ plus in the second half term study, ‘Questions that puzzle us – Christianity.’
     

  • Homework for Year 1 is as follows:
    - Reading their school reading book at least three times a week.
    -     Additional phonics prep which will be sent out ahead of the Phonic Screening Check in May.
    - Accessing Times Table Rock Stars to rehearse early multiplication facts.
    - Oracy homework that is sent via text and includes points of discussion for home based conversation around our “Thunk” of the week (a moral question suitable for debate) and our big question for history/geography for the week.

 

Year 1 Summer 2025

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  • In English in Year 1, the following texts are taught during the summer term: The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch by Ronda Armitage, Dougal’s Deep-Sea Diary by Simon Bartram, Gorilla by Anthony Browne, and The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield. For the first text, pupils write a description of the book’s setting. Then, for the second text, pupils create an information leaflet, drawing on their non-fiction understanding. We return to fiction for the third text, writing a retelling of Gorilla, and for our final text, we again focus on fiction, producing a linked imaginative story.
     

  • Reading continues to centre around the Read Write Inc. phonics programme for all Year 1 pupils and is tailored to meet the phonetic needs of your child. This term, our handwriting lessons and daily handwriting starters focus on capital letter formation, plus a revision of all lowercase letters ahead of the move into Year 2, where letter joining will begin.
     

  • SPaG is a key focus within English lessons. By now, our non-negotiable expectations within writing include spelling most Year 1 common exception words correctly, using phonics or word banks to support spelling, beginning to show an awareness of how full stops and capital letters are used to demarcate sentences, and demonstrating an understanding of how to use capital letters for names, places, days of the week, and the pronoun ‘I’. In terms of genre-specific expectations, we focus on ensuring sentences make sense, using the conjunction ‘and’ to link two simple sentences, using question marks and exclamation marks, and incorporating basic adjectives to describe. Our Year 1 proofreading expectations involve pupils re-reading their writing to check that it makes sense and beginning to make changes independently.
     

  • In Year 1 Maths, the topics are fractions, position and direction, place value, money, and time.

    In fractions, pupils recognise and find halves of shapes or quantities and then move on to recognising and finding quarters.

    Within position and direction, pupils learn about ordinal numbers and use terms such as turns, left, right, forwards, backwards, above, and below.

    Place value understanding now extends to numbers up to 100 and includes learning how to partition these numbers, find 1 more or less than given numbers, and compare numbers.

    In the money block, we learn about the units of pence and pounds, how to recognise coins and notes, and how to count using coins.

    For time, pupils learn the concepts of days, months, hours, minutes, and seconds, as well as how to tell the time to the hour and half hour.
     

  • In Science, the topics of plants (bulbs and seeds), growing up (life cycles), and sustainability (wildlife) are explored. Pupils also engage in practical investigations, making predictions, recording results, and drawing basic conclusions based on their enquiries.
     

  • Through the topic of ‘Ice Worlds’, Year 1 and 2 undertake historical and geographical learning. In history, pupils learn about polar explorers, focusing on Scott of the Antarctic. In geography, we study the icy regions of Antarctica and Alaska and contrast these with a location in the UK: Cornwall.
     

  • In PE this term, pupils will receive Soccer 2000 lessons focused on athletics, as well as work on their gymnastic techniques. With their class teacher, they will also learn dance and yoga.
     

  • In Art, we will learn how to sculpt and mould using clay, creating a clay polar animal as a finished product. After half term, we will experiment with different media and textures to make a collage.
     

  • Computing lessons begin with the topic “Creating Media,” where pupils learn skills related to digital photography, including capturing and editing digital photographs for different purposes. During the second half of the term, pupils study “Programming Part B,” using a program called Scratch Junior to design algorithms and programs that use events to trigger sequences of code for various outcomes.

    In terms of online safety, pupils will use our Project Evolve scheme to learn about online relationships and their digital reputation.
     

  • In Jigsaw, we are covering the topic ‘Relationships’, where pupils learn about being part of a family, what makes a good friend, people who help us, and physical contact preferences. We then move on to ‘Changing Me’, where pupils consider how humans change as they grow, how to cope with change, and the basic differences between girls and boys.
     

  • DT this term focuses on textiles, where we are designing and making an explorer’s pouch using running stitch. DT follows the design, plan, make, and evaluate model.
     

  • In Music, Year 1’s learning focuses on a unit called ‘Your Imagination’ during the first half of the term. Pupils will have the opportunity to listen to and appraise songs, considering their own likes and preferences, as well as comparing them to other similar songs. The focus will be not only on the music and instruments but also on the lyrics. Pupils will learn to sing the songs and play instruments, including untuned percussion. In the final part of the summer term, they will take part in ‘Reflect, Rewind and Replay’, selecting their favourite songs and genres from the past 12 months and revisiting them.
     

  • In RE, Year 1 and 2 study the unit ‘Holy Places: Worship at the Church, Mandir, Mosque and Gurdwara’. We are hoping to organise a visit to a place of worship to complement this topic and deepen our understanding.
     

  • Homework for Year 1 is as follows:
    - Reading their school reading book at least three times a week.
    - Additional phonics preparation, which will be sent out ahead of the Phonics Screening Check in May.
    - Accessing Times Table Rock Stars to rehearse early multiplication facts.
    - Oracy homework, sent via text, which includes discussion points for home based on our “Thunk” of the week (a moral question suitable for debate) and our big question for history/geography for the week.

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