Year 1

Year One – Autumn Term 2025

Dear Parents / Carers,

Welcome to Year One and we hope that you had a fantastic Summer break. It is always an exciting term and we are looking forward to working with your children this year.

Reading will continue to be at the heart of all learning and, as always, we encourage you to get involved with your children’s reading by sharing and discussing their latest book. Please read a bedtime story to your child every day. Studies show the massive impact this has for your child. There is a separate letter to explain the changes to individual reading teaching and books your children will send home.

Our English sessions are based on our topic for the half term. For the first part of the term, we will be looking at the story ‘The Koala who could’ and ‘The Great Big Book of Families’. We will be exploring a range of genres in the text building children’s stamina in writing. After half term, we will be focusing on non-fiction. With the children’s writing we are looking for them to apply phonic knowledge and taught spelling patterns. The children will be looking to ensure sentences are correctly punctuated with a capital letters, finger space and full stop.

In Maths this term, our focus will be looking at numbers to 10 in Year 1. We will then use this knowledge with addition and subtraction before looking at 2D and 3D shape. We will be delivering our Maths through the Power Maths scheme, which focuses on problem solving and reasoning and we will be using Fluency Bee alongside the scheme to build children’s knowledge and confidence in arithmetic. Arithmetic will be a focus in school this year and taught every Friday, it is imperative children learn and rehearse number facts and number bonds.

We have two new topics for this term. They will form the basis for our learning in History, Geography, Art and D & T. We will be linking our Science with topic.

In the first half term we will be studying ‘School Days’. We will be learning about the Victorian Era with a focus on life in school back then. We will look at the structure and shape of the school building and look to recreate this using a 3D model. To end our learning in this topic we will be having a Victorian Day in school. Children can choose to come to school dressed in a Victorian outfit.

In Science, we will be learning about animals, including humans and learning about our bodies and the five senses.

In the second half term we will be studying ‘Our Wonderful World’. We will be learning about the four countries of the UK and their capital cities.

In Science, we will be looking at animals and identifying their structure. We will identify what animals need survive and why exercise is important.  

Our PSHE topics will be ‘Being me in my world’ and ‘Celebrating difference’. In RE, we will be looking at the religion Christianity and how to be kind to everyone. Later in the term, we will look at the Nativity Story.

For Computing we will be exploring and starting to use Purple Mash.

This half term in Music we will be looking at the unit ‘Hey You!’ and next half term we will be exploring playing in an orchestra and rehearsing songs for a Christmas.

Our PE focus will be basic fundamental skills this half term. After half term, we will be moving onto gymnastics. PE will be on Friday for Year 1. Children should attend school in their PE kits on this day. Can we remind parents that the PE kit should be dark tracksuit trousers, leggings or shorts, dark hoodie, white t-shirt and suitable trainers.

Alongside PE, we will be doing weekly Forest School sessions throughout the year.

For Autumn 1

Class 1R will be going to forest school on a Wednesday morning.

Class 1/2F will be going to forest school on a Tuesday morning.

We ask that you send your children appropriately dressed for the weather these days, including long sleeves and leggings or tracksuit bottoms. The children will need to bring in a pair of named wellies (please write inside the top of each boot in permanent marker) a separate letter with further details will be circulated, however if there are any questions, please email us or speak to us on the door. 

Home Learning will consist of reading at home, spellings and arithmetic. We will be sending home the spellings on look, cover, write, check sheets which need returning to school for a Friday. Weekly spelling tests will take place on a Friday. Arithmetic will be given out an Friday and needs to be returned by the following Friday.

If you have any concerns or issues that you wish to discuss with us, please let us know on the door or you can email us directly on our class emails.

Class 1EW – Year1EW@welearn365.com

Class 1R – Year1R@welearn365.com

We thank you for all your cooperation and look forward to a successful term ahead of us.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Evans, Mrs White and Mrs Reid