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Gladstone Primary Academy

Welcome to Year 1

Year One is the first year in Key Stage One and is where the children are first introduced to the National Curriculum. Children in Year One are five and six years old. Year One is based on the Gladstone Street site and their classrooms face the main playground. 

We currently have two Year one classes: 

 
1B - Miss Benoit & Mrs Brand
1S - Miss Saeed

Children are taught in groups for Power Maths and Power English; these groups may change depending on your child's achievements and next step in learning.  Children stay with their class teacher for other curriculum subjects. 

A Typical Day

8.35 School gates open and children come into their classroom. In class, children will select their lunch and be involved in early morning activities like reading and handwriting practise.
8.40 Register.  Children who arrive after this time are late.

9.00

9.15

Mastering Number

Power Phonics

10.15 Playtime

10.30

11.00

11.25

Text Detectives (Literacy)

Rhyme time & Handwriting

Power Maths 

12.30 Lunchtime
1.15 Curriculum subjects including Science, Geography, History, PE, RE & PHSE
2.40 Storytime (Friday 5's)
2.55 End of school day for Year 1

Home Learning 

As part of our Reading Agreement with families, children in Year 1 will have a reading book that they bring home every day. They are expected to spend 10 to 15 minutes every day reading and sharing the book with someone. Families - please make sure you sign your child's reading record and return it to school everyday. Once they have read the book they should talk about what they have read. This could include -  identifying the main events in the story and making links to their own experiences. Children need to reread the same book over a few days to help build up their fluency and understanding of the text.

The Curriculum 

During Year One, children build on the learning developed in the Reception classes, moving from the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum into the National curriculum for Key Stage One.

Reading

  • Sound and blend unfamiliar printed words quickly and accurately using the phonic knowledge and skills that they have already learnt
  • Continue to recognise and read new letter patterns
  • Read words that do not follow the letter pattern rules - we call these ‘common exception words’
  • Develop a love of reading and broaden their vocabulary by listening to and talking about a wide range of high-quality books

Writing

  • Learn to spell words using their phonic knowledge hear, say and write the sounds in the words they know
  • Develop the physical skills needed for handwriting
  • Learn how to organise their ideas in writing

Maths

  • Develop confidence and fluency with whole numbers, counting and place value
  • Use practical resources and drawings to add, subtract, multiply and divide
  • Recognise, draw and compare shapes
  • Use measures to compare and describe quantities such as length, mass, capacity, time and money

In Year 1, children will apply their subject knowledge from curriculum subjects through opportunities linked to a broad title.  These are to be confirmed.

For Religious Education (RE) we follow the Peterborough Agreed Syllabus; and Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) we follow the Cambridgeshire Syllabus

Tests and Examinations

In Year One children are regularly assessed to help teachers decide what the children need to learn next.

In June the children undertake the phonics screening. This assesses the children’s phonic awareness. This involves segmenting, blending and reading 40 words - 20 real words and 20 ‘pseudo’ (not real) words.

Other Useful Information

School meals in Key Stage One are free and we would encourage all our children to stay and have a hot meal. Children can enjoy the opportunity of eating with their friends or family members from other classes. Lunch time supervisors and members of our support staff are available at lunchtime to support the children when eating or outside on the playground.

We encourage children to drink water regularly throughout the day. We would like all children to bring their own water bottle into school every day. Please only fill the bottle with plain water, as flavoured water contains high levels of sugar and is not allowed in the classroom. Please name your child's water bottle.

Please could all uniform be labelled with your child’s name and class so that staff can easily identify who items belong to.

Children can come to school in their PE kit on Tuesday and Wednesday:

  • School sport's top 
  • Shorts or jogging bottoms
  • Trainers
  • Sweatshirt / jumper (in cold weather)

We hope your child or children enjoy their learning in Year One. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask a member of the Year One Team.