Year 1

Index

Classes

Italy

Portugal

Spain

Curriculum overview

You can download a summary of our curriculum below.

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School curriculum summary

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Remote education provision

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Year group curriculum overview

Term period	Curriculum overview
Autumn	Autumn year group curriculum (PDF)
Spring	Spring year group curriculum (PDF)
Summer	Summer year group curriculum (PDF)

Curriculum scrapbook

Spring 1

Week 1-2

alternative of the image - See caption below — Year 1 found Explorer Bear in the classroom, and we unpacked his backpack. We discovered items to go exploring, such as a map, a torch, snacks, water, mobile phone and some photographs. Explorer bear encouraged us to explore the photographs around the school and we visited Antarctica, the desert, a tropical island, and the Rainforest. We discussed the equipment we needed for exploring in the different environments by sorting useful and non-useful items. During History we learnt about significant explorers and created a timeline to map out these historic events. Explorer Bear was thrilled to be included on the time line!

alternative of the image - See caption below — In science our objective was to study seasonal changes. Therefore, as part of a seasonal study we looked at the changes that Winter had made to the trees. We discovered that most of our trees were bare unless they were evergreen. In Art we then used our skills of line drawing to draw pictures of ‘trees in winter’ we started by using pencil and focused the core of the tree and then added in our branches. Finally, we used black pen for effect, and we were very happy with the result.

alternative of the image - See caption below — In writing Year 1 were baffled when we came in after break and saw that a star had appeared high up in the classroom! We were tasked with using some resources to build something that we could use to catch the star. We then had a go at using our contraptions to catch the star! We were then introduced to our new story “How to catch a star”. Our writing outcome for the next couple of weeks will be instructions to inform others of how to catch a star of their own!

Week 3-4

alternative of the image - See caption below — During Science, we explored the weather and listened to rainfall noises. Then, we discussed the sound of rain, what it reminded us of, and how it made us feel. Next, we thought about how often it rained during the winter and whether it rains quite a lot all year 1ound. Together we shared our memories of rain, splashing in puddles, and sometimes getting soaked unexpectedly! We discussed how we could measure the rainfall and set up an experiment using rain gauges. Carefully, we positioned these in different locations around the school. The focus was on measuring the rainfall over the week. Surprisingly, our data showed there was little rain over the week!

alternative of the image - See caption below — During History learning, we have been introduced to Amelia Earhart. We role-played being a pilot and pretended to fly our planes around the world. Then we followed instructions to make our paper aeroplanes, which we took outside and tested how far they would fly. As you can see from the photos, we made some fantastic planes that flew across the playground!

alternative of the image - See caption below — During Picture News, we learnt about a repair cafe in Wales that encouraged many people to fix old items or upcycle them to help save money and reduce waste. We reflected on how we could repair our broken objects and upcycle them to make new things. Then we remembered how we recycled plastic waste to create art last year. Proudly, we walked around the Outdoor Cathedral and viewed our stunning art. We all agreed we love our beautiful world and vowed to repair, re-use and recycle objects to help look after and protect our beautiful planet.

Week 5-6

alternative of the image - See caption below — A special visitor throughout the year, and through our curriculum and Collective Worships, we often hear about inspirational and ground-breaking figures from history. We welcomed Aaron Phipps a GB gold medal Paralympian into our school and he led a fantastic meet and greet with the Year 1 children and answered their inquisitive questions. We were truly privileged to hear, first-hand about his incredible and awe- inspiring achievements. It was truly inspiring to hear of Aaron’s determination to succeed and stay positive.

alternative of the image - See caption below — Wow what a fantastic day out our Year 1s experienced! The day started with an exciting coach trip consisting of lots of singing and sightseeing. When we arrived at the space centre we had the opportunity to become astronauts and explore the space exhibits.

alternative of the image - See caption below — We went deep inside the galaxy discovering meteorites and completing a star dust fact finding activity.

alternative of the image - See caption below — We then became budding rocket engineers and discovered forces. We built our own rockets, carefully considering the shape and objects we wanted to add on to make them aerodynamic. They were loaded with fuel, and we lit them and observed how far they flew!

alternative of the image - See caption below — We finished by relaxing in our seats in the fabulous planetarium and flew though the solar system whilst learning about different constellations and whether there is the potential for life beyond Earth?! It truly was an out of this world day!

Spring 2

Week 1-2

alternative of the image - See caption below — Did your child come home excited because they had been investigating ‘poo’? We have been learning all about the differing diets of carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores. We were provided with some ‘poo’ specimens and using magnifying glasses and our hands we investigated what we could see in each specimen. We then had to determine which category of animal that ‘poo’ may belong too!

alternative of the image - See caption below — This half term in ICT we have been making pictograms. Each class made a fruit pictogram by collecting class data about favourite fruits and then inputting the data into 2Count, on Purple Mash. We also then used our knowledge to make a pictogram about pets. Check out our super work which has been put on a corridor display!

alternative of the image - See caption below — We celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as a character from our favourite story. The children enjoyed listening to stories read throughout the day and loved seeing everyone’s outfits. We took parts in lots of World Book Day activities and enjoyed sharing our favourite books together. It was a great day that all the children enjoyed!

Week 3-4

alternative of the image - See caption below — In Geography we have been exploring different places in the world. We started by looking at the UK and Antarctica which led us into researching different climates. We learned that a climate is the expected weather in an area. We found that different areas both in school and in the world have different climates. Some are hot and some are cold.

alternative of the image - See caption below — We were incredibly lucky to have a visit from Caroline and Harold this half term. We explored the human body and how to keep our bodies healthy. We then learned about the value of relationships and how we can work better if we work as a team.

alternative of the image - See caption below — In English we have been writing recounts from the perspective of the mouse from The Selfish Crocodile. We thought carefully about the ingredients of an effective sentence and tried to apply our knowledge of adjectives, conjunctions and prepositions in our writing.

Week 5-6

alternative of the image - See caption below — We are very lucky to have Mrs Voaden in Year 1 who is a qualified cricket coach. If you happened to wander across the playground on this half term, you could be forgiven for thinking you had taken the wrong turning in West End and, rather than arriving at Saint James Primary School, you had entered the Ageas bowl. The children clearly benefitted from the expert coaching and showed some impressive bowling and batting skills that belied their age.

alternative of the image - See caption below — In DT we explored different levers and how they move. We then designed our own animal puppet that included one of these levers so that it had a moving part. Using split pins and card we then made and evaluated our creations.

alternative of the image - See caption below — We learned that incarnation and salvation are a part of a big story in the bible. We learned how Christians show their beliefs about Jesus’ death and resurrection in church worship at Easter. Finally we thought about whether the story of Easter has anything to say to them about sadness, hope or heaven, exploring different ideas.

Summer 1

Week 1-2

alternative of the image - See caption below — As part of our Geography unit, we focused on our local area of West End. We used maps to locate the different places we knew in West End and discover places we didn’t know. We used locational and directional language to navigate our way around maps. Finally, we designed our own maps of a place we knew well and used what we learned about ‘keys’ to help our friends understand the maps we had drawn.

alternative of the image - See caption below — Continuing with our theme of West End, we used the book ‘The day the crayons came home’ as a stimulus for our writing journey. The children role played being crayons lost in West End and wrote to Duncan trying to explain where they were by referencing the different West End landmarks.

alternative of the image - See caption below — As part of our PSHE curriculum we looked at the NSPCC ‘PANTS rule’. With the help of their mascot ‘Pantosaurus’ PANTS is a simple conversation the help keep children safe from sexual abuse. We sang the Pantosaurus song and the children all designed and decorated a pair of their own pants alongside a poster with the ‘PANTS’ acronym.

Week 3-4

alternative of the image - See caption below — The coronation of King Charles 3rd is an occasion for pageantry and celebration that has remained essentially the same for over a thousand years. In Year 1, we celebrated in style with the rest of the school by wearing red, white and blue clothes, designing crowns and creating our celebration flags. The day was a joyous occasion, eating coronation cupcakes, and singing the new National Anthem. At the end of the day, we were presented with a golden Coronation Coin to mark the special event. What a proud moment to cherish forever!

alternative of the image - See caption below — The Story Stealer visited our class, covered up our books and told us not to read. How much did our stories mean to us? We wanted them back! From hearing a new story from the Sikh culture about a great Indian leader called Guru, we learnt he was imprisoned because the emperor was jealous of him. Through role-play, we acted out the story and quickly learnt how stories are important to us. The Story Stealer returned all our stories once he read our letters and explanations how much we believed and loved our stories.

alternative of the image - See caption below — We explored the work of the famous print artist Orla Kiely and used her style to design a potato stamp to create our monoprints. We learnt about patterns and how they repeat in many ways by using one, two colours or more. The patterns that rotated were also a challenge and posed great fun. Inspired by the artist, we shared our motif stamps with a partner and created brightly coloured designs. Our designs consisted of simple shapes like the artist, and elements that represented our wonderful West End village, such as trees, houses, birds, and cars. What excellent artists we have in our village!

Week 5-6

alternative of the image - See caption below — We have been exploring how different containers have a different capacity. We filled up a range of shaped containers with water and decided if they were full, nearly full, half full, nearly empty or empty. We discovered that just because a container is taller it doesn’t necessarily mean it has a greater capacity.

alternative of the image - See caption below — In ICT this half term we have been exploring algorithms and coding. We particularly enjoyed having the Bee Bots in the classrooms and creating algorithms to program them to move from one area on a treasure map to another.

alternative of the image - See caption below — In writing we have been exploring leaflets because the aim of our writing journey is to write our very own leaflet about West End. We explored the features of leaflets and discussed how they differ to story books. We noticed that leaflets can contain; titles, headings, addresses, facts, addresses and pictures. We look forward to writing our own!