All the children have come back into the classroom in great form today and we have had a lovely start back after the Christmas break!

New sounds have been sent home along with a Curriculum Letter for the term and a new Homework Menu (stuck into homework books).
Your child will also come home with their new RWI book on Thursday. This will be the book we have been reading in class this week. Their new ‘shiny’ RWI book will come home next Monday. The children did so well in their Christmas assessments and we are really proud of how much progress they are making with their reading and writing! Your child will now have moved/changed RWI colour as they have all progressed with their reading. This will be evident when they bring home their new book on Thursday.

Wellies!
If your child wants to walk/come to school in a pair of wellies whilst the weather is so cold and unsettled this is absolutely fine. They can wear these at break time and lunch time also to save their school shoes getting ruined and their socks and feet getting cold and wet. Could you please just ensure that they also have a pair of normal school shoes in their bag to change into for whilst they are in the classroom/school.

Many Thanks,
Mrs Clough

Year 1 Maths (PV within 20)

We have recently started looking at numbers within 20. Throughout this unit, we and will learn to identify and correctly record numbers 11-20 focusing on the amount of tens and ones each number is showing. Children will be encouraged to count on from ten to find a total which will support their recording of each number as they begin to realise that all numbers 11-20 have one ten and several ones depending on the number. E.g. 15 – one ten and 5 ones. Children will gradually learn how to find one more and one less of a given number to 20 and record missing numbers on a number 0-20.

Lots of practice over the Christmas holidays would really support your child’s learning in the classroom. Many children are recording ’15’ as ’51’ so we will be working hard on developing their place value knowledge during the first half of the Spring term. We will also be learning how to record numbers 11-20 as words, compare numbers using language such as ‘greater than’ and ‘less than’ and order numbers based on their size. Children should start to understand that all of these numbers have the same amount of tens but have a different amount of ones. This will support them when discussing the value of these numbers.  E.g. “17 is greater than 15 because it has more ones”  or “18 has 1 ten and 8 ones”.

Key questions to support your child at home:

• Can you show me 14 in three different ways?
• How many tens and ones does that number have?
• Can you write these numbers in numerals and words?
• How much more than 10 is 18?
• Is 20 greater than 19 or less than 19?
• What is the same about finding one more and one less?
• When finding one more and one less, which digit changes?
• Can you use a number line to find one more and one less?

Hi Everyone,

It was lovely to properly meet so many of you at parents evening last week!

I had lots of questions about how best to support your child with their learning at home so I thought it might be useful for me to outline some of the key points discussed with various parents.

Reading and Writing:

• Regular reading with your child, recorded this in their pink reading journal.
• Practicing the new weekly sound as often as possible. Reading and writing words that include the new sound.
• Ensuring your child is forming all letters correctly and is aware of the difference between a capital and a lower case letter.
• Clear finger spaces and full stops are also a top priority.

Hopefully the phonics workshop in a couple of weeks will help gain a greater understanding into reading and writing in Year 1.

Maths:

• Keep a close eye on number formation – correcting where possible so that all digits 0-9 are formed correctly.
• Securing number bonds to 10 (2 + 8 = 10, 9 + 1 = 10, 10 – 7 = 3)
• Identifying how many tens and ones are in a 2-digit number (eventually up to 100)
• Adding and subtracting numbers with 20 (20 – 5 = ) (11 – 4 = )
• Counting in groups of 10’s, 5’s and 2’s

Please be mindful that some of these concepts will NOT be taught in Year 1 until much later in the year so there is no expectation for you to cover everything all in one week! Much of the Autumn term is focused on numbers to 10 only (place value and addition and subtraction).

We will then move on to look at numbers within 20 in the Spring term (place value and addition and subtraction).

Towards the end of the Spring and Summer term we look at numbers within 50 and 100 (place value only).

In terms of adding and subtracting numbers – the aim for Year 1 children is to confidently add and subtract within 20.

We will also look at 2D and 3D shapes, money, time, simple fractions and measure.

The termly curriculum letters will keep you up to date with what we will be focusing on in class that term and is the best way to stay up to date with your child’s learning.

A few other things to note:

Trip confirmation letters and payment are to be made by the end of this week please.

Phonics Screening Workshop – Thursday October 23^rd

Lastly, for those of you that aren’t aware, I am also expecting my second baby early next year. We will keep you all informed as soon as we have more information regarding dates and cover.

Thanks for all your continued support,

Mrs Clough