Walnut - Year 1
Welcome to Year 1
Walnut Class
Meet The Team
The Year 1 teacher is Mrs Salt
Our Class TA's are
Mrs O'Malley Monday - Wednesday
Mrs Porter Thursday & Friday
Mr Van de Leew - Wednesday PM
This term we are also welcoming Miss Gibbs, a 2nd year Teacher Trainee from Oxford Brookes,
who will be with us until Easter.
Important Information
PE - Spring Term
Monday and Friday
Please ensure the children come to school in their P.E kit on these days.
Please note
Year 1 have additional PE competitive sports sessions booked for the following dates,
Thursday 29th January & Thursday 26th March.
Children will need to wear their PE kits in on this date too.
Forest School and Music
Alternate Tuesdays - Commencing Tuesday 13th January 2026
Waterproof and Wellies are needed for Forest School.
Please ensure all items are named.
Reading & Library Books
Children will take part in a variety of reading practises throughout the week that include;
daily phonics lessons, timetabled class reading sessions
and individual 1:1 sessions with the teacher or TA.
Our regular book change day is Wednesday.
Please return their named envelopes containing reading & library books on this day.
Books will be updated and returned on Thursday.
Two new Bug Club reading books will be issued each week and your child's own choice of library book.
Please ensure you have ticked or commented in the reading records to let us know books need changing.
Regular reading practise is vital to help the children retain the individual sounds taught in class, to build their confidence to blend sounds together and to develop fluency as they read sentences.
Your help with this will be key to their success.
Online Access to Bug Club
Please remember to access your child's online Bug Club Account.
Additional books, videos of the phonemes and actions, as well interactive games specific to your child's reading level are available to further consolidate and enhance your child's reading confidence.
Whilst learning, children can accumulate points for their efforts and can choose to spend them in the online tree house, the pit stop or sticker factory. (This sometimes proves an added incentive for those reluctant readers.)
User names and passwords have been placed in the front of your child's reading record.
We would love to welcome in parent helpers with a little spare time
who are interested in listening to readers in class.
Please speak to Mrs Salt if you can help.
Curriculum Information
Spring Term
English
In Phonics, we will be learning the phase 5 alternate ways of reading and spelling previously taught phonemes and digraphs. We will look at spelling patterns and how to determine where best to use each option when writing our words and sentences.
We will continue to learn new tricky words and word endings that change words to the past tense and from singular words to plurals, learning rules that help us decide when to use s or es and the use of exclamation and question marks. We will be combining words into sentences and joining them to make short narratives. We will practise composing sentences orally before writing them down and ensure they can be properly read by others by including correct letter formations, capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.
Our Topic this term is Space and links nicely with our history investigation on famous Astronauts.
We will be using the story 'Man on the moon (A day in the life of Bob)' by Simon Bartram as a basis of inspiration for our reading and writing projects.
Maths
In maths we will continue to use the 'White Rose maths' scheme to fully develop the children's understanding of number and shape using a CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract) approach.
This term we will be building on the children's knowledge of numbers to ten and extending their understanding and skills by applying these to numbers to twenty. We will firstly look at place value and understanding teen numbers and what they represent. We will ordering, comparing and estimating with numbers to twenty and using number tracks and lines, tens frames, part/whole models and counters to work practically wherever possible to build understanding and strong foundations of number.
Humanities - History
Our Topic this term is 'Famous Astronauts'.
We will be learning about the events leading up to the first moon landings in 1969 and explore what has happened in space travel since the Apollo 11 landings right up until the present day. We will also look forward to 'history in its making' within the exciting promise of the Artemis programme and the Astronauts who are scheduled to be heading off to the moon in March this year. We will look the lives of famous astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins and other astronauts who have been influential in the making of space travel as we know it now.
Science
We will continue our investigation on materials and will be taking part in lots of practical experiments this term. We will experiment to find out why some materials are best suited for different jobs, look at absorption, melting and freezing and floating and sinking. We will also be looking at changes seen in Winter and Winter planting.
Art
This term our project is called 'Painting and Mixed Media'.
We will be learning about primary colours and investigating what secondary colours are made in the mixing process We will be painting and printing with these colours to create patterns and looking at the different shades we can make with them and the effects of using different brushes.
We will look at the work of the artists Jasper Johns and Clarice Cliff as an inspiration for our paintings.
PE
In PE this term, we will be learning exercise and movement skills within our module called Hit Catch Run.
We will also be exploring ranges of motion whilst developing strength, power, speed and agility through fun and engaging games.
PSHE
Personal, Social, Health & Economics
We use the 'Jjigsaw' scheme of work and this term will be focussing on 'Dreams and Goals'.
We will be introducing a 'treasure chest of Success' and investigating what it means and feels like to be successful. We will be thinking about the steps needed to reach success, how to work together with others, how to stretch our learning and thinking and will then investigate what we can do to overcome the obstacles we encounter.
RE
In RE we will continue to discuss world views and will be investigating what different groups of people believe God looks like. We will look at viewpoints from Christian, Hindu and Muslim faiths and explain some of the different names people use for God.
Computing
We will be investigating computer systems and networks and how to use a computer drawing programme. We will begin to practise clicking and dragging skills and learn how to make marks on a page, selecting chosen shapes and colours and placing them on the screen and adapting them as necessary.
Music
This will be taught by our music specialist Mr Lee on alternate Tuesday mornings.
This term the children will be learning Music Theory including how to identify and draw a treble and bass clef. They will be listening to different eras of music and learning to identify the sounds of the 4 main instrument families -
Percussion, Woodwind, Brass and Strings.
Parent Partnership
We are always happy to discuss anything with parents and carers to help to support children in learning or to provide pastoral support. If you would like to meet, please contact the office to arrange this.
Phonics Screening Check
Year 1 Curriculum Overview
Useful learning resources for parents for English and Maths
Bug Club Sounds and Actions
In their phonics lessons, the children are taught the letter sounds along with a matching action. This helps many children remember the individual letters or combination of letters more readily. It is important that the children use the 'pure' sound as they read each letter, this will ensure the words makes sense when blended back together. Phases 2, 3 & 4 are taught in Foundation and phase 5 in Year 1.
(Please note there are no new sounds taught in Phase 4.)
Bug Club Phonics Sound Board
Click on the link below to watch a video of the sounds and actions as they taught in each phase.
Phase 2
https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/bcpafsp2
Phase 3
https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/bcpafsp3
Phase 5 (Set A)
https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/bcpafsp5a
Phase 5 (Set B)
https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/bcpafs5