Welcome to 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 6 years ago. I share Kittiwakes class with Mrs Vicky McLaren who is also a Teacher and works in class on a Monday. We have two Teaching Assistants, Miss Jessica Houghton who works on Monday and Friday mornings and Mrs Charlotte Jarrett who supports us for the remainder of the week.

This year, we have been developing our provision opportunities for children to engage in their learning through play. We have seen many changes within the classroom for teaching and learning but we think that they are great! Children can experience a smooth transition from reception into Year1 as they prepare for Key Stage 1 learning.

In Year 1, we continue with the Floppy’s Phonics journey which started in reception. Children are familiar with the consistent routines and develop their ability to use phonics for reading and writing.

We have Maths lessons daily as well as a ’10 minute maths’ programme, that helps to support fluency and develop key maths skills. The children enjoy these sessions ,especially when they get to use the rekenreks.

In the Autumn term, we were busy learning about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. This tied in brilliantly with our science topic about materials. We built lots of bridges! We also went on our first ever school trip, down to Plymouth, to see the Royal Albert Bridge. I was such a fun day out!

This term, our science focus is about trees and plants. We are growing bulbs and seeds in class and are going to plant some outside too. It is so interesting to watch the roots and stems grow. We have been using our plants to make still life installations, just like the work of the artist Paul Cezanne. We are learning how to take photographs, as well as how to adapt them, print and upload them!

This term, we have started forest school for the very first time. We really look forward to these afternoons. We get ourselves suited and booted and walk up to our nature area where we can have a full hour of outdoor learning. Sometimes it’s really cold and muddy but we don’t mind!