Year 1
Welcome to Year 1!
Hello and welcome to Year 1 where your child will have fun, work hard and try their best in everything that they do. It is going to be a great year full of new adventures, discoveries and learning. Miss Kilpatrick and all support staff are here to support you and your child. Within the classroom, we care about both students and parents, so please let us know if you have any concerns, ideally via Seesaw. Each day your child is required to bring to school a coat, book bag, reading diary, water bottle, lunch and snack (unless they order a hot dinner or toast).
Messages between school and home
Seesaw will continue to be our main method of communication this academic year. Please try where possible to send any message (no matter how small the worry or query!) through the inbox tool on Seesaw and we will always get an answer for you as promptly as possible. Miss Kilpatrick will have a school iPad, and this will be in class with her every day and where they will access your messages when time allows. Miss Kilpatrick is aware that messages can pop up at any time but please be aware that if a message is sent in the evening or over the weekend, it may be seen but depending on the content of the message, it may not be responded to until the following school day. Likewise, Miss Kilpatrick will be mindful and give advance notice of any messages/announcements that she sends too.
Learning Behaviours
We are developing children's ability to discuss their learning and helping them develop a language to talk about their own learning. The children in school today are going to be facing huge challenges in the wider world and we are working with them to develop skills and attitudes that will help them be successful in the wider world. Daresbury’s Learning Behaviours are Collaborating, Active Listening, Showing Curiosity, Being Independent and Reflecting. In the coming weeks, more will be shared with you and your child about our learning behaviours and how they will be used around the school and in each class.
House Points
Children can gain house points for a variety of things from following our learning behaviours to completing their homework. Their teacher and other members of staff can award house points throughout the school day or on Seesaw. If a child has been awarded a certificate in the celebration assembly on a Friday, they will also receive house points:
Special Mention = 3 pom poms
Wall of Success = 1 pom pom
Mathematician of the week = 1 pom pom
Reader of the week = 1 pom pom
Reading
Reading records need to be in school every day. You are expected to comment in their Reading Record on how your child has read at least three times a week (remember it doesn't just have to be about a school book) this allows the child a chance to discuss the book, author, illustrator, its themes, features and language, all of which are important for your child's comprehension and literacy skills. Your child will receive a raffle ticket weekly if they have read three times a week, which is put into a draw and pulled out termly to win a book token worth £5. Any additional reading will be rewarded with a merit.
Miss Kilpatrick will have a tracker in class to monitor reading records coming and going throughout the year. Please note that if a reading record is lost, as the first one is given for free, there will be small charge to replace it. These details, if needed, can be found with Mrs Staveley.
Reading Vipers
Year 1 will be using our 'Reading Vipers' during their guided reading whole class lessons. (Vocabulary, Infer, Predict, Explain, Retrieve, Summarise). The reading vipers have had a massive impact on developing language, comprehension and inference skills. Attached to the website are key questions that can be asked of the children whilst they are reading at home. This will give you a chance to see the type of questions that they are asked during lessons and assessment periods. On here you will find a link to the Reading Vipers strands with example questions that we encourage you to ask your child at home during reading sessions.
P.E
Year 1 children will have two sessions of PE a week. This term PE will take place on a Wednesday and a Thursday with Coach Craig. We will be continuing to ask that your child comes ready for PE on their PE days. We request that the children wear a school PE kit with a logo or a plain white t-shirt with plain black shorts/bottoms for PE.
Seesaw
As you all know, Seesaw is an interactive learning journal where your child will be able to share their work. It will be used in all subjects from problem-solving in Maths to Dance in PE. Spelling lists will additionally be added to Seesaw every Tuesday. You will be able to like and comment on your child's work, which will add to the great sense of achievement that the children feel when using the app. If you have any questions about Seesaw and how it works please feel free to ask Miss Kilpatrick. This is the best way to communicate with school staff. You can send a private message via the inbox. Staff will reply to these messages but be aware that they may not be seen during the school day whilst staff are teaching. Please ring the school if you have an urgent message.
Birthdays and Treats
We will ensure all children whose birthday it is being recognised and that their birthday is celebrated by the school however, we would prefer not to distribute cakes and sweets or gifts in class as this can take up quite a bit of time at the end of the day and can put some parents under pressure to provide this treat for everyone. We are also a 'Healthy School' and should not be actively promoting sugary treats on a regular basis. Thank you for your support with this.
How to help your child
Here are some websites that you may find useful to support your child's learning.
Maths
http://www.ictgames.com - Fun and exciting maths and literacy games available.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/ks1-collection/zbr4scw - The children LOVE this! Engaging maths, literacy, PSHE and MFL songs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/site/numeracy.shtml - A BBC website with all maths topics covered.
http://www.mathszone.co.uk/ - Lots and lots of games and tools to help your child with maths at home.
http://www.teachingtables.co.uk/ - Fun games to support the learning of times tables. Table Mountain is recommended and can be played in demo mode.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button - Great to practise number bonds, doubles, halves and times tables!
English
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm - Phonics.
www.topmarks.co.uk – for games and support materials in maths and literacy.
http://www.bigbrownbear.co.uk/magneticletters/ - A fun different way to practise and test spellings.
https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/list/phonics-games-phase-2-5 - Phonics games
https://www.literacyshedblog.com/uploads/1/2/5/7/12572836/ks1_reading_vipers.pdf
Please always ask in school if you need anything to support your child at home.