Academic

Subject Areas
- English
- Maths
- Science
- French
- History
  - History Revision
- Geography
  - Geography Revision
- Religious Studies
- Classics
- Art
- Music
- ICT
- Drama
- P.E.
- Design Technology
- Boys' Games
- Girls' Games
Curriculum Notes
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- Year 1
- Year 2
- Year 3
- Year 4
- Year 5
- Year 6
- Year 7
- Year 8
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- Foundation Stage
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- Science
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Curriculum Notes - Year 1

On this page you can find the curriculum notes for Year 1, for the Autumn , Spring and Summer Terms.

Autumn Term

Literacy(to include the Ruth Miskin Literacy programme, Read, Write, Inc.’ )

To encourage children to speak clearly and respond to a variety of stimuli.
To improve skills in reading out loud with expression, paying attention to punctuation and meaning.
To increase the number of whole words children can read by sight.
To encourage children to read for enjoyment.
To encourage children to use skills taught in phonic lessons for decoding unfamiliar vocabulary.
To answer simple questions in complete sentences using a given text.
To revise and learn the 44 sounds of the English language and to use them to blend and segment words for reading and for spelling ‘consonant/vowel/consonant’ (CVC) words independently.
To read and spell key words in common usage
To practise the correct formation of the lower case letters of the alphabet including a ‘flick’.
To construct simple sentences independently.
To use a variety of stimuli encourage creative writing.
To practise writing more extended stories.

Numeracy

To count, read, write and order numbers up to 20.
To introduce the concept of place value up to 20.
To add and subtract accurately up to 10 using a variety of methods.
To begin to understand the meaning of ‘difference’, ‘more than’ and ‘less than’.
To introduce money using 1p and 2p coins.
To investigate 2D and 3D shapes.
To introduce the concept of time, including days of the week, months of the year and seasons.

Term Topic

Toys

Geography

To investigate toys and experiences of childhood from diferent parts of the world.

History

To develop an understanding of the passing of time and chronology by looking at their own, their parents and grandparents' toys, as well as toys from other periods.
To make simple observations of artefacts.

Science

To recognise that force needs to be applied to any object in order to make it move, chnage direction and stop.
to investigate howpushes and pulls cahn change the shape of some objects.
To investigate different forces such as gravity, wind, water.
To recognise that moving objects are a hazard, in particular the dangers on the road and learn about road safety.

Art, Craft, Design Technology

To encourage careful and imaginative art work.
To encourage the idea of appropriate use of colour.
To look at the work of a famous artist, such as Matisse, and to use his or her work as a stimulus for their own pieces.
To gain knowledge of and practise techniques and materials in the following areas:
Drawing, painting, modelling in clay, collage, scissor work, use of the fretsaw, sewing, cooking.

Music, Dance & Drama

Music:

To listen, respond, concentrate and work together
To begin to investigate rhythm with their voices
To begin to notice that sounds last for different lengths of time
To explore duration
To recognise the contrast between loud and quiet sounds
To make loud and quiet sounds following a conductor
To become familiar with the correct names of various percussion instruments

Dance:

To focus attention on the teacher, their own bodies and the start/stop of the drum as they perform
To recognise when we are still and when we are moving
To gain awareness of body tension in order to hold firm shapes
To be able to show control in linking actions together
To use toys as a stimulus for body shapes and movement
To understand that we can move in our own personal space and the whole room
To be able to plan and perform a (firework) dance with a beginning, middle and end.

Drama:

To develop concentration, observation and memory skills
To be able to work together
To interact positively with each other
To develop speaking and listening skills
To gain confidence in group settings
To follow instructions
To work as a team

P.E. & GAMES

Games and Ball Skills

Introduce sending and catching large and small balls against the wall and in pairs.
Introduce dribbling a football, basketball and hockey-ball.
Discuss use of ‘reverse-stick’ in hockey.
Foster the awareness of space and fellow team-members, and encourage running, chasing, dodging, avoiding opponents, and scoring in hockey, football, netball and basketball, by introducing small-sided games of 1 versus 1, 2 versus 1 and 2 versus 2

Gymnastics

Revise travelling on feet: hopping, skipping & jumping.
Revise travelling on hands and feet: introduce cartwheels.
Introduce changes of shape, speed and direction: ‘straight’, ‘star’ and ‘tuck’ jumps; emphasize good landing.
Experiment with own ideas of travelling by rolling: sideways rolls in ‘pin’, ‘star’ and ‘curled’ shapes; tuck forward roll, forward roll to straddle-sit, and tuck backward roll.
Experiment with ideas in balancing: introduce shoulder stand.
Experiment with above on floor and apparatus, emphasizing quality of movements.
Join together at least 3 movements in a sequence and repeat them.

I.C.T.

To log on and off the computer.
Revision of Paint program and introduction of new tools, e.g. Special effects tools.
To use a Paint program to create real or fantasy situations.
To play games linked to topic work.
To revise keyboard skills and introduce new ones, e.g. Using shift key and space bar.
To use a word bank.

R.E.

To revisit the Christian Creation story
To learn that God provided everything for Man in the Garden of Eden.
To understand that doing something wrong affects others.
To recognise the value of oneself and others.
To be able to talk about special religious occasions such as Harvest and Remembrance
To consider why we need to be thankful and to learn a ‘Grace’.
To retell the Christmas story.

P.S.H.E.

To encourage the children to be aware of the needs of others.
To encourage kindness and caring for each other.
Road safety – safe places to cross the road.

French

Learn a little about France and its people
Encourage the children to speak freely and with a good accent
Enjoy exploring another language through the use of songs, rhymes, stories and games
Learn the numbers 1 to 20 and the colours
Learn parts of the face and the body
Respond to classroom instructions and action words.

Ways In Which You Can Help

Please support your child by encouraging him or her to read with you for pleasure in the evenings and at weekends.
Please ensure that your child has all the correct kit in school every day.

Spring Term

Literacy(to include the Ruth Miskin Literacy programme, Read, Write, Inc.’ )

To encourage children to speak clearly and respond to a variety of stimuli.
To learn the 44 ‘Speed Sounds’ and the corresponding letters/letter groups.
To learn to read words using sound-blending.
To read lively stories with a strong phonic structure featuring words they have learned to sound out.
To comprehend stories through partner discussion.
To show that they comprehend the stories by answering ‘Find it’ and ‘Prove it’ discussion questions.
To answer simple, literal and inferential questions on the text.
To justify answers and opinions by looking for evidence in the text.
To improve skills in reading out loud with expression, paying attention to punctuation and meaning.
To increase the number of whole words children can read by sight.
To encourage children to read for enjoyment.
To encourage children to use skills taught in phonic lessons for decoding unfamiliar vocabulary.
To read and spell key words in common usage.
To practise the correct formation of lower case letters including a ‘flick’ and to learn the correct formation of the upper case letters and when to use them..
To learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds.
To learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (letter names).
To construct simple sentences independently.
To use a variety of stimuli to encourage creative writing.
To compose a range of texts using discussion prompts.
To practise writing more extended stories.

Numeracy

To count, read, write and order numbers up to 100.
To revise the concept of place value up to 20 and continue to 100.
To learn number bonds to 10.
To continue working on the concept of ‘difference’, ‘more than’ and ‘less than’ with numbers to 100.
To introduce money using 5p and 10p coins.
To begin to understand the difference between a number and a digit.
To count in 10s.
To investigate symmetry.
To learn ‘o’clock’ and ‘half past the hour’.
To practise estimating.
To investigate the fractions halves and quarters.

Term Topic

Light and Dark

Geography

To appreciate Planet Earth’s relationship to the Sun and how this affects the pattern of day and night in different parts of the world

History

To understand how light sources have developed throughout the ages

Science

To understand that light comes from a source
To identify light sources including the Sun
To recognise that shiny objects and other reflectors are not light sources
To appreciate that darkness is the absence of light
To understand that we need light to see and that living things need sunlight to survive
To build awareness of safety issues: not looking at the Sun, dangers of naked flames, road safety at night

Art, Craft and Design Technology

To encourage careful and imaginative art work.
To encourage the idea of appropriate use of colour.
To look at the work of a famous artist, such as Monet, and to use his or her work as a stimulus for their own pieces.To gain knowledge of and practise techniques and materials in the following areas: Drawing, painting, modelling in clay, collage, scissor work, use of the fretsaw, sewing, cooking.

Music, Dance and Drama

Music:

To begin to understand that music can be played at different speeds.
To develop their own musical patterns for a composition.
To understand that voices all have different timbres and that we can change the timbre of our voices.
To listen carefully and respond to music as instruction.
To begin to describe timbres they hear using a range of vocabulary.
To investigate the different timbres possible from a range of instruments.
To investigate a range of timbres.
To investigate moving at varying speeds according to the speed of the music.

Dance:

To use movement expressively.
To investigate moving at varying speeds according to the speed of the music.
To develop movement skills.
To change the rhythm, speed, level and direction of their movements.
To create and perform a dance using simple movement patterns.

Drama:

To work together as a team.
To work in role.
To follow instructions accurately.
To create roles.
To respond as themselves in a fictional setting.
To comment constructively on drama in which they have participated.
To use actions to convey situations.
To use language expressively and convey emotions.
To develop memory skills.

P.E. & GAMES

Games and Ball Skills

In Netball, Basketball and Football Skills:
To revise catching, throwing and dribbling.
To revise dodges.
To introduce straight and bounced chest passes and, in Netball and Basketball, underarm passes.
In Football, to combine dribbling and passing and to work on shooting skills.
To try all skills in 2 v 1 and 1 v 1 games.

Rugby Skills

To practise passing and receiving.
To practise running with the ball, changing direction and swerves.
To practise retrieving the ball from the floor.
To practise running and passing the ball.
To take part in simple 2 v 1 games.

Gymnastics

To revise balancing – shoulder stand – and introduce handstand and ‘crab’.
To explore ways of moving smoothly from one balance to another by twisting, turning, rolling.
To revise jumps – straight, star, tuck.
To introduce half twist jump and pirouette.
To introduce pike and straddle jumps.
To continue experimentation with individual sequences – join together at least five movements in a sequence and to be able to repeat them.
To explore all new ideas on the floor and on apparatus, emphasizing quality of movement.

ICT

To understand instructions; being able to give them and follow them.
To begin to record instructions and make predictions.
To revise using a word bank.
To be able to save their work.
To learn how to use ICT to represent information graphically and be able to interpret it, e.g. Using a pictogram.

R.E.

To consider other major religions –Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism.
To hear the stories of Jesus the miracle maker and the healer.
To tell the Easter story.

P.S.H.E.

To encourage the children to be aware of the needs of others.
To encourage kindness and caring for each other.
Road safety – keeping safe near vehicles.

FRENCH

To continue to learn about France and its people.
To encourage the children to speak freely and with a good accent
To learn the numbers to 30.
Learn the names of animals
Introduce children to the vocabulary of food, clothes and shopping
Introduce children to weather expressions

WAYS IN WHICH YOU CAN HELP

Please support you child by encouraging him or her to read with you for pleasure in the evenings and at weekends.
Please ensure that your child has all the correct kit in school every day.

SUMMER

LITERACY (to include the Ruth Miskin Literacy programme, Read, Write, Inc.’ )

To encourage children to speak clearly and respond to a variety of stimuli.
To learn the 44 ‘Speed Sounds’ and the corresponding letters/letter groups.
To learn to read words using sound-blending.
To read lively stories with a strong phonic structure featuring words they have learned to sound out.
To comprehend stories through partner discussion.
To show that they comprehend the stories by answering ‘Find it’ and ‘Prove it’ discussion questions.
To answer simple, literal and inferential questions on the text.
To justify answers and opinions by looking for evidence in the text.
To improve skills in reading out loud with expression, paying attention to punctuation and meaning.
To increase the number of whole words children can read by sight.
To encourage children to read for enjoyment.
To encourage children to use skills taught in phonic lessons for decoding unfamiliar vocabulary.
To read and spell key words in common usage.
To practise the correct formation of lower case letters including a ‘flick’ and to learn the correct formation of the upper case letters and when to use them..
To learn to write the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds.
To learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (letter names).
To construct simple sentences independently.
To use a variety of stimuli to encourage creative writing.
To compose a range of texts using discussion prompts.
To practise writing more extended stories.

NUMERACY

To count, read, write and order numbers up to 100.
To revise the concept of place value up to 100.
To partition numbers up to 100 into 10s and units.
To begin to understand the term ‘difference’ and recognise that it is a subtraction.
To use money to 20p and change from 20p.
To investigate capacity: the need for uniform measure, measuring containers.
To learn about moving in different directions: left, right, up, down, forwards, backwards, whole turns, half turns.

TERM TOPIC

Growing

Geography

To look at different animals and plants from around the world
To consider how we care for our environment

History

To discuss the evolution of plants and animals
To appreciate the problem of extinction and how we can help prevent it

Science

To investigate differences between living/non-living things.
To investigate the differences between plants and animals.
To learn the parts of a plant and label them.
To grow plants from seeds.
To consider what plants need to grow successfully.
To look at the life cycles of butterflies, frogs, egg-laying animals, mammals and humans.
To investigate the water cycle.
To understand waterproof and absorbent.
To investigate wind power.

ART, CRAFT & DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

To encourage careful and imaginative art work.
To continue to use colour carefully.
To consider how Monet and other artists portray the living world using clay, collage, painting, pastels, fretsaw and sewing to support the topic work.

MUSIC, DANCE & DRAMA

Music

Gain an understanding that sounds can be used singly or in any variety of combination.
Notice the changes of texture during certain pieces of music.
Begin to compose their own pieces of music using percussion instruments.
Use pictures and symbols as simple forms of notation.

Dance

To explore how to choose and apply skills and actions in sequence and in combination.
To use movement imaginatively and perform basic skills.
To change the rhythm, speed, level and direction of their movement.

Drama

Use language effectively and respond to instructions.
Observe, describe and copy what others have done.
Use language to convey characters.
Work in role.
Act out stories.

P.E. & GAMES

Athletics

To practise sprinting: start and finish; action (use of arms).
To practise relay techniques: changeovers.
To practise the high jump: take off; landing; use of arms.
To practise the long jump: standing broad jump; one-footed take-off; use of arms; two-footed landing.
To practise throwing for height: sideways stance; follow-through (similar action to shot-put technique).
To practise throwing for length: sideways stance; taking arm back, follow-through (similar action to javelin technique).
To practise the hop, step, jump: introduction to triple jump techniques; emphasize rhythm; use of arms; stable landing.
To practise jumping hurdles: initially encourage idea of running over hurdles, then develop technique.
To practise distance running: techniques for running over a larger distance; need to pace oneself.

Cricket skills

To practise throwing, catching, bowling, wicket-keeping and striking the ball with cricket bat.
To experience playing in 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 games and non-stop cricket games within grids.

Rounders Skills

To practise striking the ball with rounders bat, bowling underarm, back-stop techniques
To experience 3v3 and 4v4 games within grids

Swimming

(Children are divided into 'shallow end' and 'deep end' swimmers. 'Deep end' swimmers must be capable of swimming two lengths without touching the sides and this is rigorously tested.)

To teach the children the safety brief for the pool: correct entry to water; immediate response to sound of whistle; leaving the pool safely.
To teach and practise Breaststroke, Front Crawl and Backstroke: by attempting whole stroke; legs only; whole stroke; arms only; whole stroke
To teach and practise personal survival skills: treading water; retrieving of bricks from pool floor, surface diving through hoops
To introduce diving (deep end group only)
To experience fun games with balls leading up to water polo

ICT

To use the internet to research class topic.
To be able to sort objects according to different criteria.
To label objects.
Revision of paint skills.
To combine pictures with text.
To use simple word processing skills.

To introduce some of the parables of Jesus.
To listen to and respond to some of the parables of Jesus
To recognise and be able to discuss the messages that Jesus was trying to convey in these stories.
To be able to discuss how these messages can be relevant to the way we behave and live our lives today.

PSHE

To encourage the children to be aware of the needs of others
To encourage kindness and caring for each other
Rood safety - keeping safe near vehicles

FRENCH

Continue to learn a little about France and its people
Encourage the children to speak freely and with a good accent
Enjoy exploring another language through the use of songs, rhymes, stories and games
Learn the numbers to 40
Revise colours and animal names
Practise weather expressions
Learn the vocabulary relating to the family

WAYS IN WHICH YOU CAN HELP

Please support you child by encouraging him or her to read with you for pleasure in the evenings and at weekends.
Please ensure that your child has all the correct kit in school every day.

Carswell Manor
Faringdon
Oxfordshire
SN7 8PT

(01367) 870700