Welcome to Year 1 Class 1 J Your

Welcome to Year 1 Class 1 J

Your new teachers in year 1 will be Mrs Jones (Monday to Thursday), Mrs Sonczak (Friday) My name is Mrs Jones and I can’t wait to meet you all. I love reading and baking with my little boy who is two. I enjoy spending time outside exploring with my family and our black Labrador Wilf. We also have a pet guinea pig called Boris.

Your new teachers in year 1 will be Mrs Jones (Monday to Thursday), Mrs Sonczak (Friday) My name is Mrs Sonczak. I love animals and books. My favourite book is Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. I love to bake cakes and go on lovely walks with Mr Sonczak, Sienna my little girl and my fluffy dog who is named Cookie. She is named Cookie because she has brown spots like chocolate chips! I am so excited to meet you all. We are going to have so much fun learning together.

Mrs Parkinson is the Teaching Assistant in Year 1 My name is Mrs Parkinson and I work in year 1 with all classes. We have a great workshop where you can come and play, investigate, explore and make things. I have 2 grown up boys called David and Christopher and 3 grandchildren. I love going to visit them in Brighton and going to the beach. I am looking forward to seeing you all in September.

Team Leader for KS 1 My name is Mrs Ivell. Next year I will be teaching for two days in Year 2 and I am also the Assistant Head Teacher and Team Leader for KS 1. If you have any queries or concerns about your child then probably the first person to speak to is your class teacher. Mornings are very busy in class so we ask that appointments are made for the end of the day. However, I am always here to help so please feel free to contact me, via the school office, if you have any concerns you wish to discuss.

Learning in Year 1 Moving classes can be an anxious time for some children and here at Mills Hill we try to make the transition as smooth as possible. In addition, children moving from Reception (Early Years Foundation Stage – EYFS) into Year 1 (Key Stage 1) have the added complexities of moving into a new key stage where learning moves from more play based to adult-led. This year the situation will be even more complicated because children have missed out on the usual school experiences of the Summer Term. However, we want to thank you for all the home learning you have done, reassure you and focus on the positives. All children will have grown and developed physically – walking, running, jumping, balancing, bike rides, kicking a ball. Others will have developed their IT skills and be able to confidently find and play games or You Tube clips on a tablet. Children have been baking, gardening, looking at wildlife, investigating, drawing, painting, designing – to name but a few. When children return in September we will assess their learning, adapt our approach to teaching and plan and deliver an appropriate curriculum accordingly. In the Autumn Term we will look at ways we can continue to support the play based principles of the EYFS whilst providing a catch up programme of learning to ensure children are developing in the key areas of Reading, Writing and Maths. More than ever we need to work in partnership, home and school, to ensure the best outcomes for our children.

Helping Your Child at Home • Children will have a set reading day when they will read in a small group with the class teacher. Books will be changed and sent home each week. Please read with your child each day. • Spellings will be sent home on Friday and tested the following Friday. It is important that children practise these to then be able to use in their writing. • Our topic for Autumn 1 will be “Paws, Claws and Whiskers”. This is a science based topic – Biology. A knowledge mat of key information is available on the next slide. • Over the summer, children could look at the vocabulary and definitions and begin to have an understanding of the “Big Questions”.

YEAR 1: PAWS, CLAWS AND WHISKERS/ANIMALS Key Vocabulary fish amphibians A fish is a scaly skinned creature with a spine that swims in water and breathes using gills. Wild Animals Are animals that are coldblooded. Most lay eggs and their skin is covered with hard, dry scales. birds Birds have feathers and wings. They lay eggs and are warmblooded animals. Mammals are also warm blooded animals. They breath air and have a backbone. carnivore A carnivore is a meat-eating animal that gets its food from killing other animals. herbivore A herbivore eats plants. omnivore An omnivore eats plants and meat. Sticky knowledge Animals are endangered and there are lots of ways that we can help them. We can take care of animals such as pets by feeding them, giving them water, giving them a safe place to live. All amphibians begin their life in water with gills and tails. Examples are frogs and newts. reptiles mammals BIOLOGY BASED TOPIC Some animals are extinct like dinosaurs. Extinct means there are no longer any of that species of animal alive. Big Questions Interesting Reads Can you tell me three of your favourite animals? Any animal. What does a dog look like? It has a tail, four legs, fur, teeth etc. Can you name three parts of your body? Elbow, head, lips, foot etc. What do we use our eyes for? We use our eyes to see things. What is a carnivore? A carnivore is an animal that eats meat.

Classroom Entrance – 1 J • Drop off – 9. 00 am – at the gate near Reception entrance • Pick up - 3. 00 pm – details of where to collect will be sent out on Parentmail.

Classroom – 1 J It’s difficult to know exactly how classrooms will look like in September in particular with regards to table layout but we will still have our working walls and celebration areas. Each classroom will have their own toilets and hand washing facilities.

Friends and Family Board Each year we ask children to complete a task during the summer break so that we can have a classroom “Friends and Family” board. Please can you either draw pictures or add photos showing your family on our Caring Hearts rainbow. You could add pictures to the clouds or the rainbow itself or even colour the picture and use it as a background for a family photo. Alternatively, if you prefer you could choose to create your own rainbow on A 4 paper / card and include pictures of your family. We look forward to sharing your family Caring Hearts rainbow when we start back next year. A pdf file is available to download. Click here.

Outdoors At break time and lunch time, year 1 children will have opportunities to play on the infant playground as well as on the MUGA.

Lunchtime • Children will have their lunch in the infant hall. • Usually year 1 children eat their lunch first and then play out.

Meeting your teacher Follow the link below to see a welcome message from Mrs Jones and listen to a story. Click here.