Puffin

Welcome to Puffin Class!

Hello, I am Miss Foxwell and I am really proud and excited to be the Puffin Class teacher.  We are also extremely lucky to have Miss Quince  supporting us  with our learning .

In Year 1 we work hard, have fun and always do our best!

We share busy but enjoyable days, learning but having fun. 

Keep up the super work Puffins and remember to puff out your chests and be proud to be a Puffin!

 

 

Daily routine

In Puffins, the school doors open at 8:35am and close at 8.45am.  The children should  line up outside their designated classroom door and then come in through this door.

Morning break is at 10:25am where a healthy fruit or vegetable snack is provided by the school; milk is also available for children to drink at break time, but will need to be paid for by the parents or carers.  Lunchtime is then at 11.45am and we also have an afternoon break at 2.15pm.

At the end of the day, our school doors open at 3.20pm and close at 3.30pm.

Curriculum

Please click on the link below for curriculum information for the current academic year. This has details on the topics we will cover. 

Year 1 curriculum overview 2023-2024

Phonics

Our daily phonics sessions follow the Read Write Inc. Program. During these sessions children learn the relationship between letters and sounds and secure the foundations for successful reading, writing and spelling.  Our puppet ‘Fred the Frog’ helps us to speak in pure sounds to improve our phonics. We also use sound buttons to support our reading and writing. 

Throughout the year, children are sent home red words which are words that cannot be sounded out, so need to be learnt. Children are also given speed sounds to learn and will be familiar with these from their daily phonics sessions.  It is also important to practise these as they will need to apply these sounds to reading words for the national phonics test in the summer term.

PE

Puffin class has outdoor PE on a Wednesday and indoor PE on a Tuesday.  Children will be expected to come to school in their PE uniform on those days (see the school uniform section of our website). On indoor days in the winter, please can children wear joggers over the top of their shorts and they will then be able to remove their joggers for their indoor session.  Please can children with long hair also have this tied up and any ear piercings should either be removed or taped.

Homework 

Our homework in year 1 consists of reading, Doodlemaths and the red words / speed sounds mentioned in the previous section.

Children are expected to regularly read at home and have their reading record signed by an adult with any relevant comments. All children will receive up to two books and this will give them the opportunity to discuss the differences between the  books and also answer a range of questions from an adult. When they are ready to change their books, they will need to place them in the book box in their classrooms. We have two changing days which are Tuesdays and Fridays.

Children also have their own Doodlemaths login and we recommend spending 5-10 minutes on Doodlemaths every day or when possible.  The children really enjoy practising their mental maths via this app and should be completing this independently.

Reading and Library Books

All children have a weekly library session where they can choose a book to take home.

We also build our reading and comprehension skills through weekly reading groups. Staff do not make comments in the home reading record as we keep our own more detailed records in school linked to the year group curriculum objectives.  

The children love sharing stories as a class. We explore a range of texts across the year to develop our love for books and comprehension skills in a more complex text. The texts covered can be seen within the curriculum section of our website under recommended reading.