Autumn Term Information

Spellings

Every Monday morning, the children will be tested on five spellings based on the graphemes they have learnt in phonics during the previous week. The first set of words will be posted on Class Dojo next Monday (7th September) and will be tested in school the following Monday (14th September). The routine of posting the words on Monday morning to be tested the following week will be continued throughout Year 1 (subject to bank holidays). For those of you with older children, you may be used to the children having a sticker with new words placed in the back of their small spelling book. From this year, we will only be posting the spellings on Class Dojo.

Phonics & Tricky Words

Over the first couple of weeks, the children will revisiting and reviewing Phase 3 and Phase 4 words and graphemes to refresh their Reception knowledge. Later on during this half term, the children will begin learning Phase 5 content as part of the Year 1 phonics curriculum. We will post the new weekly graphemes and tricky words onto Class Dojo each week.

Reading books

Every Tuesday, the children will receive a new reading book that will be explored in reading groups on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Please ensure you are reading regularly with your child at home to support their learning. We would appreciate it if you could write a brief comment in their reading record each time a home reading session has been completed. If your child brings home a book that they have read before then please do not be alarmed - we need to ensure that the children's existing knowledge is secure before moving onto our Phase 5 content over the coming weeks.

In addition to their Little Wandle reading book, the children will also have the opportunity to select a fortnightly 'Reading for Pleasure' book from our class selection. We do not expect the children to read this book independently, but rather for them to enjoy with you at home.

Maths

Where possible, we would like the children to practise their number facts at home! They can use the following platforms to do so:

Hit the Button - This can be found here and is also available on to download on App Store or Google Play.

White Rose: 1 Minute Maths - This can be downloaded on both the App Store or Google Play.

On Hit the Button, we would like the children to strive towards fluency in the following areas:

• Number bonds → Up to 10 → Make 10 or Addition within 10
• Doubles → Doubles to 10
• Halves → Halves to 10

On 1 Minute Maths, we would like the children to practise the following objectives:

• 1 to 6 from the Addition section
• 1 to 6 from the Subtraction section
• 1 to 3 from the Multiplication section (counting in 2s, 5s and 10s)

We would like you to encourage your children to access these platforms on a regular basis.

PE lessons

Please note that the children's PE lessons will take place on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.

The children will get changed into their PE kit in school and will come home wearing it. Please ensure that their kit is sent back into school on Tuesday morning for the next PE session and then again by the beginning of the following week.

Other information

To ensure the school day flows as smoothly as possible, please can you ensure that your child has been to the toilet before they arrive at school. We begin phonics and reading groups at 9am sharp and this is crucial learning that must not be missed! 

Please may we also kindly request that all of the children's belongings are named. This makes it much easier to return items to their owner.

For break times, we would appreciate it if the children could bring in a suitable healthy snack such as fruit. Please avoid sending in crisps and biscuits.

This year, whole school celebration and values assemblies will be taking place on Friday mornings instead of Monday. During this time, teaching staff will have time for planning, preparation and assessment.

We will be planning some exciting school trips this year and information about these outings will be shared on Class Dojo in due course.

Best wishes,

Mr Storer, Mrs Johnston and Mrs Penhall