Willow Tree Primary School

Welcome to the Year 1 class page, where you will find everything you need to know about the year ahead.  

Children will continue to enjoy a rich and well-rounded curriculum designed to deepen their understanding, develop key skills and nurture a lifelong love of learning. Our English curriculum follows a book-led approach, where children will read high quality texts to inspire creative writing. Throughout the year, we will study texts such as Lost at the Toy Museum, Oi Frog and Paddington Bear. Phonics will make up a huge part of our reading lessons as we continue to follow the RWI programme. In Mathematics, children will develop confidence with numbers to 20, addition and subtraction and money, while deepening their understanding of key operations, shape and measure through our mastery approach. The children will also take part in the Mastering Number programme to strengthen their confidence and fluency with number. 

This year, we will explore the world through our History and Geography topics, looking at the UK, learning about the 1960’s and our lost and found topic in Geography. In Science, we will be looking at a range of topics including Animals Including Humans, materials and plants. Throughout the year we will also be looking at the weather and seasonal changes. Additionally, the children will continue to enjoy a broad curriculum with weekly lessons in Religious Education, Music, Science, Computing, PSHE, and PE, along with an Art and Design Technology unit taught each half term. 

Pupils should continue to read regularly at home (a minimum of 5 times a week), and parents should sign reading diaries. Homework will be set on Thursdays this will be phonics based and QR codes will be sent home for the children to access this. 

This year our PE days will be Tuesday and Friday. We are asking that pupils come into school in their PE kits on their PE days - this should be the Willow Tree green and purple official kit and trainers. In the winter, pupils can wear plain black jogging bottoms (over their PE kits to keep them warm). No football/rugby kits are allowed. 

If you require any further information, please contact Mrs Sullivan. 

We start our day with a 60 minute phonics lesson. The children are already familiar with the Read Write Inc programme and it will continue to support the children to become confident, fluent, independent readers. We mainly use Read Write Inc books to support reading because these match the children's phonics progress and are phonetically decodable. We also have to look out for those alien words. We spot the 'special friends' in words first to be able to segment and blend the words. 

If you would like to help your child to learn their speed sounds then you can download the set 1, 2 and set 3 sounds below.

Year 1 Common Exception Words

These are sometimes called our 'red words'.  Below is a list of all the words the children need to know by the end of year. Your child will bring home a red envelope with a selection of these words in. With your help reading the words to the children every day they will begin to recognise the words and read them independently.