Welcome to Year 1
Our Class Teacher is Miss Thorpe
Our Curriculum History This half term, Year 1 will be learning all about the history of their local area, including their school and the town of Knutsford. The children will find out when their school was built and learn about the people who helped to create it. They will explore how Tatton Park has changed over time and look closely at how Knutsford was different in the past compared to today. The children will learn what the historical terms past and present mean, and they will use these words to help them describe how things have changed. They will identify similarities and differences in places, transport, and daily life, thinking carefully about what has stayed the same and what is different now. Through stories, pictures, and discussions, Year 1 will begin to develop their understanding of the past and how it connects to the present. By the end of the unit, the children will be able to talk about what Knutsford and their school were like long ago, explain how they have changed, and use the terms past and present with confidence. 
Our Key Enquiry Questions:
What is the difference between the past and the present?
When was our school built and who built it?
How has Knutsford changed over time?
What was Tatton Park like a long time ago?
Who is Maurice Egerton?
Science This term in Science, Year 1 will explore the exciting topic of Everyday Materials. The children will begin by learning to identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock and how to tell the difference between an object and the material it is made from. As part of their learning, they will describe the simple physical properties of these materials, such as whether they are hard or soft, shiny or dull, rough or smooth. The children will also practice grouping different materials and comparing them. They will start to think carefully about which materials are most suitable for different purposes, such as building a house. Through hands-on investigations, Year 1 will test materials, make observations, and begin to explain why some materials are better than others for certain jobs.
English Our class text in our Pathways to Write unit this half term is: ‘Meesha Makes Friends.’ This half term, Year 1’s focus text is Meesha Makes Friends by Tom Percival. In this unit, the children will be developing their early writing skills by learning to: 
Combine words to make simple sentences
Leave spaces between words
Use capital letters and full stops to punctuate sentences
Use capital letters for names of people and for the personal pronoun ‘I’
The children will build up their skills through exploring the story, practising writing short sentences, and talking about the characters and events. By the end of the unit, they will use what they have learned to write their own diary entry based on Meesha’s experiences in the story.
Our class novel is The Three Little Pigs, a traditional tale that follows three pigs as they build their houses and try to stay safe from the Big Bad Wolf. Through reading this story, the children will explore how characters make choices and solve problems. They will discuss the events in the story, predict what might happen next, and consider why the pigs’ different choices lead to different outcomes. This will also support their own writing by helping them understand story structure, including a beginning, middle, and end, and inspire them to create their own imaginative stories.
PSHE Our topic this half term is Family and Relationships. In Year 1, children will learn about families and the important role they play in looking after us. They will explore what friendships are, the qualities of positive friendships, and why they are important. Children will recognise how people show different emotions, how to respond to others’ feelings, and how friendships can make us feel happy and included. They will practice working with others, think about ways to solve friendship problems, and understand how to make friends feel welcome.
Finally, they will learn about gender stereotypes and the importance of treating everyone fairly. Our focus SDG for the term is: SDG3 Good Health and Well-being. Year 1 will learn about Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3), which is all about staying healthy and looking after our well-being. The children will explore simple ways to keep themselves and others healthy, such as eating well, washing hands, being active, and getting enough rest. They will also think about how being kind, caring, and helping others can make people feel happy and safe.
Our focus Children's Rights Article for the term is: Article 27 Year 1 will learn about Article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article explains that every child has the right to a safe place to live and enough food, clothing, and care to grow up healthy. The children will explore what it means to have these rights and why it is important that all children have their basic needs met. They will also think about how having these things helps them feel safe, cared for, and able to learn and play.
Our PE days for this half term are: Mondays and Thursdays. If there are any changes, I will inform you with plenty of notice. Homework will be handed out on a Friday and should be completed and returned by the following Thursday. Please find our Curriculum map below for more information. Please make sure to check Seesaw for regular updates about our learning, homework and announcements.