Welcome to Kittiwakes class page!
Welcome to the Kittiwakes class page!
My name is Mrs Radcliffe and I teach the Year 1 children here at Starcross Primary School. I have been teaching in this class since I joined the school 7 years ago. We have one Teaching Assistant, Mrs Stockham, who we share with Year 2.
We can’t believe that we have started the Summer Term already and it is set to be jam packed full of exciting and interesting things to learn.
With a lead from our History focus ‘school days’ we will be looking at how schools have changed since the Victorian times. We will compare our school now to our school then. We shall be digging into the archives of our school to look at old photographs and artefacts. We will be using time words and phrases to describe the past, present and future. We will build a time line of events since the school opened in 1837. We will discover Samuel Wilderspin – the creator of school playgrounds. We like him already!
Reading & Phonics
We use the Read Write Inc programme to teach our children to read. Every day, at 9:15, children move around the school into their phonics groups, where we teach them the sounds to be able to decode words. We ensure that what we teach is matched to their phonics ability, enabling children to feel confident to read the books that they take home. Children are assessed every half term to ensure that they are progressing through the phonics scheme and are ready for Year 2. This Summer Term, we shall be gearing up for the phonics screening check in June. This is an assessment to check that children have learned all the sounds to decode words at an appropriate level for their age. Children love reading alien words!
English
In English, we will be writing poetry in different forms e.g. shape, acrostic and list poems. We will be inspired by our ‘school days’ History topic to talk about what we really love about school. Later on, in the term, we will be exploring diary entries and having a go at writing one of our own. I wonder what we will write about during our school day?
Maths
We follow White Rose Maths to teach our children to be mathematicians. This term we are discovering the world of multiplication, division and fractions. Children will be amazed at the knowledge they already have, which will support their understanding in these areas.
Art
Street View – This project is linked to ‘School Days’ and teaches children about artwork depicting streets and buildings. It focuses on the work of the American pop artist, James Rizzi. Children create a 3-D mural based on Rizzi’s work.
Science
Plant parts – now that we are expert meteorologists and we know a thing or two about the weather, we will consolidate our understanding with Seasonal Changes by observing plants and trees. This term, we are learning about different types of plants and trees and will be able to observe and talk about how they grow. We will be able to name common wild plants, identify types of tree leaves and label the different parts of a plant.
Arena PE
During the first half term we follow our Athletics programme. Let’s hope that all this rain goes away and is replaced by the lovely sunshine. We really want to be able to get out in to the playground for these PE sessions.
Computing
We will be exploring how to film, record sounds and music and save or upload the content.
Religious Education
We will be investigating the question – How do Jewish people live
Music
We use a programme called ‘Sing up.’ This term we shall be dancing and drawing to Nautilus. This iconic, futuristic sounding piece is characterised by its heavy beat and rising pitch patterns. Through this music, pupils will develop their feeling and understanding of pitch, beat, and duration. We will listen actively to the piece, interpreting its gestures in dance. We will engage imaginatively with the piece by drawing to the music. Finally, we will compare our interpretations with contrasting animations and videos, discovering that music can be interpreted in a myriad of ways.
Jigsaw (PSHE)
We are looking at different relationships with friends, families and the people who help us.