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Welcome to Class 1

Mrs Clarke, Mrs Brindle, Mrs Barratt, Miss Stringfellow, Mr Duckworth

Class 1 is a mixed age class of Reception and Year 1 children. We aim to nurture and help your child flourish as they begin their schooling at Bretherton and will support and guide them to achieve their full potential.

We welcome you back into the New Year and into the Spring term. We have lots of exciting activities planned and cannot wait to learn! Below is an overview of what we will be covering:

English

We will be looking at the book 'Leo and the Octopus'. This is about a little boy called Leo who struggles in social situations. We will be trying to find ways to help Leo just like we would help our firends as well as learning some facts about octopuses along the way.

We will then look at a book based on Little Red Riding Hood. We will write our own stories based on this book so will be reading lots of fairy tales in between. What fairy tales can you share at home?

Maths

This term year one will be learning about place value up to 20 and beyond and fractions. We will learn about the value of a 2-digit number breaking it down into tens and ones. Although the numbers may not be large, this gives us a great opportunities to truly understand how numbers are constructed. We will be counting forwards and backwards, finding one more and one less and using language such as greater than and less than. In fractions we will be finding the fraction of a shape and understanding halves and quarters.

In reception we will be subitising (recognising a number of objects without caounting) using known patterns e.g. those on dice or those on a tens frame. We wll be learning about mass and compacity and comparing quantities and reocngising and understanding the value of numbers to ten.

Science

In science we will start the term learning about our bodies, an extension from the work we did in the Autumn term. We will learn about the five senses and how they are important to us. We hope to have a visit from Guide Dogs for the Blind who will talk to the children how animals help using their senses.  We will also be learning about space and some planets and then continuing our work on seasons. We will make the most of any wintery weather before it moves into the season of spring and explore the world we have around us.

History

We will be thinking about people who help us now and who helped people in the past and will be looking at the life of Florence Nightingale. We will ask enquiry questions to learn about her life, how she helped people and how she made significant changes to how the world is today. We hope to have a visit from a doctor to share what medicine is like today.

RE

In  RE we will be learning about the stories Jesus heard and the stories he told. We will explore stories from the New Testament in the bible and consider how these help us lead out lives as Christians. We will then be understanding how Easter is a story that teaches us about love and how Jesus gave himself to show his love. 

Music

In music we are learning some musical stories and finding ways to express ourselves through music.  We will be moving to music with instruction, changing movements to match the tempo, pitch or dynamic of the piece; understanding that music and instruments can be used to convey moods or represent characters and playing an instrument as part of a group story. Through fairytales, children will be introduced to the concept of sound patterns (rhythms). They explore clapping along to repeated words and phrases, creating rhythmic patterns to tell a familiar fairytale.

PE

In PE, we are fortunate to have West Lancs Sports in teaching children gymnastics. They will learn a range of movements and learn how to pupt these together to make a sequence.

Art and DT

We will be starting with DT and learning about fruits and veegtables and food preparation. This topic is bound to be delicious. We will learn about the artist Eileen Downes who is known as “the artist who paints with bits of torn paper for a palette". We should certainly see some exciting art work as a result.

We will also continue to develop our love of the outdoors ensuring we get outside as much as possible to appreciate the world around us.

Our Early Years Provision

At Bretherton Endowed C of E Primary School our key aim is to continue and extend the education which has begun at home and in pre-school provision to enable every child to develop an enthusiasm for learning throughout his/her lifetime. 

Intent for the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

It is our intention at Bretherton Endowed C of E Primary School that children in the Early Years Foundation Stage feel happy, safe and secure. All children are valued as individuals. We aim to deliver a curriculum that provides memorable experiences and firm foundations for learning to enable every child to thrive. We endeavour to give children the Cultural Capital they need for the future by giving them the best start in life to enable them to fulfil their full potential  and achieve future success. 

To ensure the best outcomes for our children we offer a broad curriculum with a balance of adult led and child initiated activities. We provide a stimulating environment and exciting opportunities both indoors and outdoors to promote curiosity, problem solving and imagination. Our children are encouraged to be confident, resilient and independent. 

We continually promote and develop social, personal and emotional skills to enable children to play and learn together. Throughout the curriculum language and communication skills are a key focus as we recognise these are crucial in children’s development, learning and progress.

To enable every child to thrive at Bretherton Endowed C of E Primary School we recognise the importance of forming positive relationships between children, staff and parents.

Early Years Foundation Stage: September 2021

The government has released new guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage for September 2021. We will therefore be following the Early Learning Goals for planning and assessment.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

To prepare for the revised EYFS curriculum September 2021, we  follow the guidance in Development Matters (September 2021) and the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage  (September 2021).

The framework sets out the seven areas of learning and development.

The three prime areas of learning that underpin everything in the early years are:

• communication and language
• physical development
• personal, social and emotional development

The four specific areas of learning which help children to strengthen and apply the prime areas are:

• literacy
• mathematics
• understanding the world
• expressive arts and design

All of these seven areas are connected together. In addition there are three characteristics of effective teaching and learning which weave through all the areas. These are:

• playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things
• active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• creating and thinking critically , make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things– children develop their own ideas

In planning and guiding what children learn we incorporate the seven areas of learning, take into account the different rates at which children develop and provide the opportunities to encourage the three characteristics of learning.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile

The EYFS profile is a statutory assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It is comprises of an assessment of the child’s attainment in relation to the seventeen Early Learning Goal descriptors from the seven areas of learning:

• Communication and Language 

Listening, Attention and Understanding

Speaking

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development 

Self–Regulation

Managing Self

Building Relationships

• Physical Development

Gross Motor Skills

Fine Motor Skills

• Literacy 

Comprehension

         Word Reading

         Writing

• Mathematics 

Number

         Numerical Patterns

• Understanding the World 

Past and Present

People, Culture and Communities

The Natural World

• Expressive Arts and Design

Creating with Materials

Being Imaginative and Expressive

We use our professional judgement to make these assessments based on the knowledge and understanding of what the child knows, understands and can do. These assessments are informal and based on day to day observations of the child.  In addition, comments are added to describe how a child demonstrates the three characteristics of effective learning. The main purpose of this profile is to support a successful transition to Key Stage 1. It is also used to inform parents about their child’s development. Children are defined as having reached a Good Level of Development at the end of the EYFS if they have achieved at least the expected level for the Early Learning Goals in the three prime areas of learning and the specific areas of literacy and mathematics.   

Phonics and Reading in Class 1

• In EYFS and Year 1 we follow ‘Monster Phonics .’
• We mainly use the Monster Phonics Reading Schemes.

Curriculum in Class 1

• Year 1 children follow the National Curriculum Key Stage 1.
• All Class 1 children follow a two year cycle of topics and the Jigsaw PSHE scheme of work . This is an engaging curriculum which offers a variety of experiences and opportunities for the children and is linked to the continuous provision we have in class.

We operate an open door policy at Bretherton Endowed Primary School. Please do come and see us if you have any queries, concerns or just as importantly if you are pleased with something your child has done.