8th December 2025

What a fantastic Christmas Making Afternoon we had! Thank you so much to everyone who joined us – it was brilliant to see so many families in school enjoying some festive fun together. The children have worked incredibly hard this term and we're sure you'll agree they have so much to be proud of. Having you in school gave them the perfect opportunity to really showcase their achievements.

Important Dates and Information

Writing Competition

Our writing lead, Miss Acaster, is holding a writing competition. Children are invited to write a short poem on a topic of their choosing.

Entries must be in by Friday 12th December. 

This competition is all about celebrating your child's individual creativity and writing journey. Please ensure that your child writes their poem independently - we truly value and celebrate every effort at every stage of development.

Entries can be handwritten or typed, and illustrated to bring them to life. 

We look forward to reading entries from our year group!

Christmas Lunch

Our Christmas lunch will be served on Wednesday 10th December. We're looking forward to a delicious festive meal together!

Christmas Sing-a-longs

We'd love you to join us for our Christmas performances:

• Fox and Mole classes: Tuesday 16th December at 9.15am
• Hare and Badger classes: Wednesday 17th December at 9.15am

Please ensure children wear full school uniform on these days. Thank you.

Tissue Donations

We'd be really grateful for any donations of tissues for our classrooms. Having tissues readily available helps the children manage coughs and colds independently, whilst supporting our learning about good hygiene practices. Thank you in advance for your support.

Our Learning

Discovery Learning

We're keeping the festive spirit alive! The children will be busy crafting headbands ready for our performances and creating their own stencils for Christmas cards. We'll also continue to reinforce the importance of good hygiene, linking this to our learning about Florence Nightingale.

Writing

We're reading 'The Snowflake' to explore journey tales. Using their knowledge of adjectives, the children will be writing setting descriptions to build their own snowflake stories.

We've been so impressed with the children's progress in writing – why not challenge them to write at home? Short stories, letters, shopping lists and Christmas lists are all great practice opportunities.

The children will continue to develop their understanding of what makes a sentence and practise using the 'Always Toolkit' checklist to self-assess their writing.

Phonics

Following last week's assessments, teachers will be planning bespoke lessons tailored to their class needs. This will ensure every child knows all the new alternative digraphs. We recommend taking a look at the 'For Parents' section of the Little Wandle website to learn more about how we teach phonics and alternative representations.

Maths

We'll be consolidating our learning on place value, calculation skills, 2D and 3D shapes, and patterns to round off the term. There will be lots of opportunities for children to revisit previously taught skills to ensure they're secure.

Computing

Children will be experimenting with mark-making on Purple Mash. This will bring together their typing skills and continue to develop their touchpad skills.

As always, if you need any further information or support, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

The Year 1 Team

1st December 2025

We'd like to thank everyone who attended Parents' Evening this week. It was wonderful to share your child's successes with you and discuss how we can support their continued progress. The coming weeks are packed with exciting activities as we approach the festive season.

Important Dates and Information

Christmas Craft Afternoon – Friday 5th December, 1:30-3:00pm You're invited to join your child in their classroom for festive craft activities. If you're unable to attend, please let us know so we can arrange for your child to work with a friend during this session.

Parent Presents – Final Call During school hours, children will have the chance to choose and wrap one gift per child from our selection. If you'd like your child to participate in this event at the beginning of December, please pay £3 per child through the Friends of Earlswood online shop by 4pm on Sunday 30th November.

Winter Fair – Saturday 29th November, 12:00-2:00pm Join us at the Infant School for our Winter Fair, raising vital funds for the Federation. We look forward to seeing you there. Visit: https://www.pta-events.com/friendsofearlswood/

Our Learning

Discovery Learning Building on our study of Florence Nightingale, children will explore the connection between hygiene and good health. They'll discover how Florence Nightingale's pioneering work continues to influence hospitals today.

Writing We're reading 'Snowball' by Sue Hendra and learning to sequence story events. Children will explore three-part story structure and create their own snowball adventures. They'll continue developing their understanding of sentences and using the 'Always Toolkit' to check their own writing.

Phonics We'll be assessing all the sounds and tricky words learned so far to ensure every child reaches their full potential. To support learning at home, visit the Little Wandle website and look for the 'For Parents' section. You might also consider purchasing Little Wandle flashcards to practise sounds together at home. 

Maths Following our work on 2D and 3D shapes, we'll be exploring and creating repeating patterns.

Computing The children are becoming confident technology users! They'll continue developing keyboard skills, practising typing their names and experimenting with the space bar and backspace keys.

Have a restful weekend.

The Year 1 Team

24/11/25

Year 1 have been working incredibly hard developing their early calculation skills. We've been so impressed with how confidently they're using number lines to solve addition and subtraction problems and demonstrating their understanding through part-whole models.

We've also begun our exciting new topic on Florence Nightingale! The children have been sharing fascinating facts and starting to explore the significant impact her work has had on modern hospitals.

Key Notices

INSET Day – Monday 24th November
School will be closed to all children on Monday 24th November for staff training.

Parents' Evening
Parents' evenings will take place on Tuesday 25th November and Thursday 27th November. Please ensure you've booked an appointment to see your child's class teacher via SCOPAY. These meetings are essential for discussing your child's achievements, next steps, and how we can work together to support their learning.

Friends of Earlswood Donation Days
The Friends of Earlswood are hosting a donation day ahead of our Winter Fair. Children are invited to wear their own clothes in exchange for:

• Wednesday 26th November – Bottle for the Bottle Tombola

Parent Presents
During this annual event, held during school time, children have the opportunity to choose and wrap one present (per child) from a selection of gifts. If you'd like your child to take part in early December, please pay £3 per child through the FoE online shop. Sales close at 4pm on Sunday 30th November.

Winter Fair
Our Winter Fair will be held on Saturday 29th November, 12 noon – 2pm at the Infant School, raising much-needed funds for the Federation. We look forward to seeing you there! Entry tickets can be purchased from https://www.pta-events.com/friendsofearlswood.

Our Learning This Week

Discovery Learning

Children will continue exploring the life of Florence Nightingale, using timelines to understand key achievements in her life. We'll be writing facts about her work and learning about the importance of hygiene in healthcare.

Writing

This week, we're reading the information book 'Life Savers: Spend a day with 12 real-life emergency service heroes' by Eryl Nash and Ana Albero. We'll continue learning about adjectives, nouns and verbs, and how these are used to write simple sentences. Children will practise asking questions such as 'who, what, where, when, why and how' to draw information from texts and write their own facts.

Children will continue developing their understanding of what makes a sentence and practise using the 'Always Toolkit' checklist to self-assess their writing.

Phonics

We will continue to learn alternative graphemes whilst continually revisiting those we have already learnt. We will be ‘growing the code’, teaching children the different spellings for sounds they already know. For example, the /ai/ sound can be written ai, ay, or a-e. This helps children read more confidently and spell more accurately.

Maths

Children will begin learning about 2d shapes, counting the amount of sides and corners. We will use 2D shapes to make simple pictures.

Computing

The children are increasingly confident to log onto the chromebooks and use them independently. This week, we will practise using the keyboard on Purple Mash.

We look forward to seeing you all next week.

The Year 1 Team

17 November 2025

We hope you've enjoyed welcoming your superheroes home this week! The children truly embraced our Superhero Training Day, showing wonderful commitment to our SMILE values through teamwork, problem-solving and creativity. Together, we successfully rescued our superhero licences with an amazing display of talent, including our very own 'Power Wave'! Thank you so much for providing such fantastic costumes and accessories – they really brought our learning to life.

Important Dates and Information:

INSET Day – Monday 24th November
School will be closed to all children.

Parents' Evening – Tuesday 25th and Thursday 27th November
Please book your appointment via SCOPAY if you haven't already. These meetings are a valuable opportunity to discuss your child's progress and next steps, and to work together in supporting their learning.

Friends of Earlswood Non-Uniform Days:
Children can wear their own clothes in exchange for donations:

• Wednesday 19th November – Toy for the Toy Tombola
• Wednesday 26th November – Bottle for the Bottle Tombola

Parent Presents
This popular event gives children the chance to choose and wrap a gift for you during school time. If you'd like your child to take part (£3 per child), please purchase through the FoE online shop by 4pm on Sunday 30th November.

Winter Fair – Saturday 29th November, 12pm-2pm
Join us at the Infant School for our Winter Fair, raising vital funds for the Federation. Entry tickets available via the Friends of Earlswood online shop.

Our Learning This Week:

Discovery Learning
We're continuing our superhero theme by learning about Florence Nightingale and her important contribution to healthcare. We'll explore real-life superheroes and discuss who helps us in our communities. We'll also investigate 'Extreme Weather', linking this to seasonal change and the work of real-life superheroes.

Writing
Using 'Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero', we'll practise describing different settings using adjectives and verbs. By the end of the week, children will write their own three-part story! We'll continue using our 'Always Toolkit' to help children check and improve their writing.

Phonics
This week's new sounds:

• /ee/ e-e
• /oo/ /yoo/ ew
• /ee/ ie
• /or/ aw

Tricky words: house, mouse, water, want

For home learning support, visit the Little Wandle website ('For Parents' tab) or consider purchasing Little Wandle flashcards from Harper Collins or Amazon.

Maths
We'll consolidate subtraction using number lines, working with numbers within 10. The week will finish with practical activities to check understanding of basic calculation skills.

Computing
The children have done brilliantly logging into the Chromebooks! This week, we'll develop their skills using the touchpad and keyboard to access age-appropriate resources including Purple Mash and Numbots.

We look forward to seeing you all next week.

The Year 1 Team

10 November 2025

What a fantastic first week back! The children have been incredibly creative, working on their Piet Mondrian-inspired sculptures. It was wonderful to see them collaborate on their large-scale sculpture – they should be very proud of what they've achieved. Through this project, we've explored abstract art, colour, shape and texture.

Our exciting Superhero theme is now underway! Each child has designed themselves as a superhero, which has been a brilliant way to learn about adjectives and verbs.

Important Dates and Events

Monday 10 November – Odd Sock Day
Children are welcome to wear odd socks to mark Anti-Bullying Week. This is a fun way to celebrate our individuality and what makes each of us unique. No donation is needed.

Tuesday 11 November – Superhero Training Day
Children may wear superhero costumes as we immerse ourselves in all things super!

Wednesday 12 November – Flu Vaccinations
Flu vaccinations will take place for those who have given consent. Please contact the office if you need more information.

Friday 14 November – Children in Need
Children are welcome to wear their own clothes, particularly something bright and/or spotty. We ask for a £1 donation to support this important cause.

Wednesday 19 November – Friends of Earlswood Donation Day
Children may wear their own clothes in return for a toy donation for the tombola.

Saturday 29 November – Winter Fair (12pm-2pm)
Join us at the Infant School for our Winter Fair, raising funds for the Federation. Entry tickets can be purchased at: https://www.pta-events.com/friendsofearlswood/

Our Learning This Week

Anti-Bullying Week: 'Power for Good'
We'll be developing skills to handle friendship challenges, learning:

• What to do if they think they're being bullied or know someone who might be
• How kindness can positively affect our lives
• Ways to spread kindness in our school and community

Discovery Learning
Building on our knowledge of the human body, we're now exploring our five senses. Children will continue planting tulips, bringing colour to our environment in spring.

Writing
Using 'Supertato' as inspiration, we're building vocabulary and using adjectives and verbs to create character descriptions. Children are learning to self-assess their writing using our 'Always Toolkit' checklist.

Phonics
We're learning alternative graphemes this week:

• /ai/ a-e
• /igh/ i-e
• /oa/ o-a
• /ee/ e-e

New tricky words: 'should', 'would', 'could', 'are'

To support learning at home, visit the Little Wandle website ('For Parents' tab) or consider purchasing Little Wandle flashcards from Harper Collins or Amazon.

Maths
We're continuing subtraction, using number lines to solve problems within 10.

Computing
Children will be introduced to our Chromebooks, learning to log in and use touchpads and keyboards.

Have a lovely weekend – we're looking forward to an exciting week ahead!

24/10/2025

What a fantastic first half term in Year 1! The children have settled brilliantly into their new routines and have amazed us with their wonderful skills and knowledge.

We began the term exploring our Local Area, enjoyed a walk to Ifold Road park, and designed our own playground equipment. The children have also discovered the history of toys and shown excellent understanding of how things have changed over time.

In phonics, we're continuing to learn new sounds and the children are becoming increasingly fluent readers. They're growing in confidence with numbers and are starting to solve simple mathematical problems independently. 

We hope everyone enjoys a restful half term break. We look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday 3rd November.

Key notices:

Family Photos for RE

We'll be exploring our families in RE lessons. To support our discussions, please email family photos to infoinfants@earlswood.surrey.sch.uk or hand them to your child's class teacher. Thank you.

Non-Uniform Day - Wednesday 5th November

Children are invited to wear something bright, colourful and/or sparkly in exchange for a £1 donation to Friends of Earlswood. Donations can be made online via SCOPAY and will support the purchase of gifts for our Parent Present Event in December.

Superhero Training Day - Tuesday 11th November

Children are welcome to come dressed as superheroes for this special day. Thank you to those who have already made payment via SCOPAY.

Junk Modelling Donations

Please continue to send in recyclable materials for our Design and Technology areas. Thank you for your contributions.

Our Learning (3.11.25)

Sculpture Week

The children will participate in Sculpture Week, with their learning inspired by the artist Piet Mondrian. Drawing on their knowledge of primary colours, they'll create their own artwork whilst exploring concepts of line, position and shape.

Discovery Learning

We're launching our 'Heroes' topic by exploring favourite fictional characters and using our imaginations. This links perfectly with our science focus on 'The Human Body', where we'll learn about body parts including arms, legs, hands, feet, neck and head.

As we move into November, children will plant tulips to bring colour to our environment in spring. We'll also learn about Bonfire Night safety, including how to stay safe around fireworks and sparklers.

Writing

Using the text 'Superkid', we'll build exciting vocabulary banks of adjectives and verbs to describe characters. Children will develop their understanding of sentences and use the 'Always Toolkit' checklist to self-assess their writing.

Phonics

We'll continue learning alternative graphemes whilst revisiting those already taught. New sounds will  include:

• /oa/ o go
• /igh/ i tiger
• /ai/ a paper
• /ee/ e he

We'll also learn the tricky words: Mr, Mrs, Ms and ask.

Home Learning Support: Visit the Little Wandle website and look for the 'For Parents' tab. You might also consider purchasing Little Wandle flashcards to practise sounds at home, available from Harper Collins or Amazon.

Maths

Children will continue developing their calculation skills through subtraction. We'll link this to our previous learning on 'fact families' and use tens frames, bar models and number lines to solve simple problems.

The Year 1 Team

20/10/2025

The children have been exploring toys from the past, evaluating their freestanding structures, and investigating the fascinating mathematical world of 'fact families'. We continue to be impressed by how the children approach their learning during discovery time, and we're thoroughly enjoying this learning journey together.

Key Notices

Reading Groups

The Little Wandle phonics scheme allows us to be responsive to the needs of individual children. We've completed our first assessments in Year 1, and some children may be moved to a different reading group based on their outcomes. It's important that children develop fluency in Year 1 to help them draw meaning from texts. If you have any questions, please speak to your child's class teacher.

We Need Your Help!

Shoeboxes: We're in need of cardboard boxes for our upcoming Sculpture Week project. Please hand any shoe boxes or similar-sized boxes to your class teacher. Ideally, we'd like one for every child.

Junk Modelling: Please continue to bring in recyclable materials for our Design and Technology areas. Thank you for your ongoing support!

This Week's Learning

Discovery Learning

This week, we'll be looking at old toys and considering who might have played with them. This will help children understand their place in history and recognise toys that have been played with by many generations, but recreated with new materials.

Writing

In Drawing Club, we'll use the 'Guess How Much I Love You' stories to inspire our writing. We continue to practise using our 'Always Toolkit' to include capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.

We've sent home 'tricky word' lists. Please support your child to write these words correctly every time they write.

Phonics

This week we'll be learning new alternative graphemes: 'ir', 'ie', 'ue' and 'u'. We'll also learn the tricky words: 'here', 'today', 'one', 'their', 'people', 'oh' and 'your'.

Handwriting

We'll be writing the vowel sounds 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and 'u'. The children have made excellent progress with their letter formation, which is helping them on their journey to becoming more independent writers.

Maths

This week's maths continues to focus on addition, using word problems to put our new skills into context. We'll continue to write simple number sentences to record our learning.

We look forward to seeing you next week.

The Year 1 Team

13th October 2025

What an exciting week in Year 1! The children have been fascinated by their history topic, exploring toys from the past and comparing them to the toys they play with today. A huge thank you to families who have kindly shared old toys with us – these treasures have really brought our learning to life and sparked wonderful conversations!

In Design and Technology, we've been amazed by the children's creativity. They've designed and built fantastic mini playground equipment, demonstrating their understanding of freestanding structures. It's been wonderful to see them experimenting with different joining techniques and problem-solving when things didn't quite work as planned.

Key Notices

Historical Toys

We'd love to enrich our history learning with real artefacts. If you have any old toys from your childhood (or your parents' childhood) that we could borrow, or photographs of you playing with toys as a child, please send them to your class teacher. We promise to take great care of precious items and can keep them as 'look but don't touch' items if needed.

Donations Needed

Shoeboxes: We're preparing for an exciting Sculpture Week project and need cardboard shoeboxes (or similar sized boxes). Ideally, we'd like one per child. Please hand any donations to your class teacher.

Junk Modelling: Please continue sending in clean recyclable materials (boxes, tubes, bottles, etc.) for our Design and Technology area. The children love using these for their creative projects!

Our Learning This Week

Discovery Learning (History & DT)

This week, children will evaluate their mini playground equipment by testing whether their structures are strong enough for their chosen user. We'll also continue our history journey, learning about the toys our grandparents played with and discovering how toys have changed over time.

Writing

In our writing sessions, we're using the lovely book 'Toys in the Museum' to inspire our stories and descriptions. The children continue to practise using their 'Always Toolkit' – remembering capital letters, full stops and finger spaces in every piece of writing.

Home support: We've sent home 'tricky word' lists. Please encourage your child to practise writing these words correctly.

Phonics

This week we'll be assessing the children's phonics progress so far this term. During lessons, we'll revisit important skills including:

• Breaking longer words into chunks
• Understanding plurals
• Practising tricky words
• Learning alternative graphemes (different ways to write the same sound)

Handwriting

We're focusing on the 'zig zag' letter family this week: v, w, x and z. Using our Little Wandle letter formation rhymes, we're making sure all letters sit neatly on the line and are the right size.

Maths

Our maths focus is addition. Children are learning important vocabulary including 'add', 'altogether', 'sum' and 'total'. They'll practise writing number sentences correctly and use bar models to help them visualise and solve calculations.

We look forward to seeing you all next week.

The Year 1 Team

6th October 2025

We've enthusiastically embraced our new learning topics of 'Toys' and 'Freestanding Structures'. The children have enjoyed sharing their favourite toys with the class, which we're using as a starting point to compare with historical toys.

Key Notices:

Feeling Good Week: 6th-10th October As part of our continued commitment to promoting positive mental health, we're participating in Feeling Good Week. Goslings, Ducklings and children in Reception to Year 6 are invited to wear their own clothes on Monday 6th October to mark the beginning of this special week. Goslings and Chicks are invited to wear their own clothes on Friday 10th October to celebrate World Mental Health Day.

Individual Photographs Children in Year 1 will have their individual photographs taken on Thursday 9th October. Please ensure your child wears full school uniform on this day, including their school jumper. Thank you.

Historical Toys Children will be learning about toys from the past. For Year 1 pupils, this relates to toys that their parents and grandparents played with. If you have any old toys that could be used as artefacts, or perhaps photographs of toys (or even pictures of you as a child playing with your toys!), please share these with your class teacher. We're happy to keep precious items as 'viewing only' for the children to learn from if necessary.

Superhero Day We'll be launching our 'Heroes' topic with a Superhero Day at school on Tuesday 11th November. Children are welcome to wear superhero costumes and/or accessories on this day.

Donations:

Shoeboxes We need cardboard boxes for our Sculpture Week project. Please give any shoeboxes or similar-sized boxes to your class teacher. Ideally, we need one for every child.

Junk Modelling Please continue to bring in your recyclable materials for our Design and Technology areas. Thank you.

This Week's Learning:

Discovery Learning This week, we'll be exploring how we can tell whether toys are new or old, and challenging misconceptions that dusty or dirty toys are always old! In Design and Technology, we'll be bringing our playground equipment designs to life using art and craft materials and construction toys.

Writing We'll be using a short animation from the 1990s called 'Old Bear' to inspire our writing. Children will continue practising using our 'Always Toolkit' to include capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. We're ensuring that we spell 'tricky words' correctly.

Phonics This week we'll be consolidating our learning so far, revisiting our newly learnt sounds 'ea', 'oy', 'ou' and 'ay'.

Please visit the Little Wandle website for additional information. We recommend downloading the 'Year 1 Sounds' document and watching the videos on 'Phase 5 sounds' and 'How we teach Phase 5'. After half term, children will continue to learn up to 4 new alternative graphemes each week.

If you would like further support, please contact your child's class teacher in the first instance.

Handwriting We'll be learning the 'one armed robot' letters m, k and p using the Little Wandle letter formation rhymes. We've been focusing on ensuring all our letters are 'on the line' and of an appropriate size.

Mathematics Children will be using a 'part whole' model to partition numbers and recognise 'fact families'.

For example:

• 3 + 5 = 8
• 5 + 3 = 8
• 8 – 5 = 3
• 8 – 3 = 5

Have a wonderful weekend.

The Year 1 Team

29/09/2025

Our Year 1 children have had a fantastic time exploring different types of bulbs—thank you so much for your generous donations! The children loved planting these in our outdoor areas and were thrilled to discover a toad hiding in our compost bag. Miss Harris has kindly given our toad a new home in her garden.

Last week, we enjoyed a wonderful walk to Ifold Road Playpark. The children returned bursting with ideas and have been busy painting, drawing and writing about their favourite playground equipment as part of our Design and Technology (DT) project. This week, we’re combining our DT learning with our history topic, ‘Toys’.

Key Notices

Toys Day:
On Wednesday 1 October, children are invited to bring their favourite toy to school.

• If your child’s toy is very large (like bikes or scooters) or electronic (such as iPads or game consoles), please send a photograph instead.
• Please ensure all toys are clearly named.
• Note: We can’t take responsibility for any lost or broken toys.

Historical Toys:
We’ll be learning about toys from the past, especially those that parents or grandparents played with.

• If you have old toys we could use as artefacts, or photos of these toys (or of you as a child with your toys), please send them in.
• Precious items can be ‘viewing only’ for the children to learn from.

Superhero Day - 11th November:

• To kick off our exciting new ‘Heroes’ topic, we’ll be holding a Superhero Day on Tuesday 11th November. All children are invited to come to school dressed as their favourite superhero or to wear superhero-themed accessories. More information will be shared soon.

Reading:
Please read with your child every day and record it in their reading record. It’s important that children read their Little Wandle reading books daily for 10 minutes to support their progress.

Donations for Junk Modelling:
Please keep sending in recyclable materials for our DT activities—thank you for your ongoing support!

This Week’s Learning

Discovery Learning:
We’ll talk about our favourite toys and learn that everyone’s favourites can be different. Children will also explore how the toys we play with can change as we grow up.

Design and Technology:
Children will be designing their favourite playground equipment. We’ll think carefully about which materials to use and how big our models should be.

Writing:
Following our school policy, children are now using green pencils for capital letters and red pencils for punctuation. They are showing great independence with this new routine!

Phonics:
We’re starting Phase 5 phonics this week, which introduces alternative graphemes (ay, ou, oy, and ee).

• Please visit the Little Wandle website for more information, including the ‘Year 1 Sounds’ document and helpful videos.
• After half term, children will continue to learn up to four new alternative graphemes each week.
• If you need further support, please contact your child’s class teacher.

Handwriting:
We’ll be learning the ‘one armed robot’ letters (r, b, n, and h) using Little Wandle letter formation rhymes. The focus is on keeping our letters on the line and a consistent size.

Maths:
This week, we’re practising ordering and comparing numbers using a number line and consolidating vocabulary such as ‘more’, ‘few’, ‘same’, and ‘less’.
Here are some easy ways to support maths at home:

• Counting forwards and backwards to 20
• Counting items in the shop (“Can you choose 8 apples, please?”)
• Simple subtraction (“We had 10 grapes, you ate 3… how many are left?”)
• Adding money (“I’ve got £3, you’ve got £5, how much do we have altogether?”)
• Lego towers (“Build a tower of 10 bricks, now another with 5 more”)
• Playing board games like snakes and ladders

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to another exciting week ahead.

The Year 1 Team

22/9/25

Our new Discovery Time routines are already having a positive impact—the children are thriving and enjoying independent learning as they explore their environment. Soon, we’ll be moving on to our next topic, which will focus on ‘Freestanding Structures’ and ‘Toys’.

Key Notices

Local Area Walk
Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to join our local area walk on Wednesday 24th September.

• Hare and Badger classes will leave at 9:30am.
• Fox and Mole classes will leave at 11:00am.

Reading
Please remember to read with your child every day and record it in their reading records. We’re excited to be awarding clothes for our Reading Teds as the children make progress!

Seasonal Change
As autumn arrives, we encourage children to bring in natural autumnal items—such as leaves and conkers—that they find while out and about. These will help prompt discussions about seasonal changes in class.

Donations

• Spring Bulbs: Thank you so much for the bulbs you’ve already donated! The children have loved observing time-lapse videos and learning about roots and shoots. If you’re able, we would really appreciate further donations of spring bulbs (e.g., daffodils, tulips, crocuses, hyacinths).
• Junk Modelling: Please continue sending in recyclable materials for our Design and Technology area. Our budding engineers are making fantastic creations!

Our Learning This Week

Discovery Learning
This week, we’ll be exploring direction and making our own compasses to identify north, south, east, and west. We’ll wrap up with our local area walk and start our DT project on freestanding structures, encouraging children to think about their favourite playpark equipment.

Writing
We’ll use the story of Hansel and Gretel to inspire our writing. Children are working hard to include capital letters, full stops, and finger spaces.

Phonics
Children will revisit Phase 4 phonics, focusing on reading and spelling longer words like ‘chimp’ and ‘appear’. We’ll also revise the tricky words: was, they, some, come, were, there, sure, and pure.

Handwriting
Our focus is on ‘long ladder’ letters: l, t, u, j, y, and i, using the Little Wandle letter formation rhymes. We’re practising keeping all letters ‘on the line’.

Maths
Through practical activities, children will compare quantities using key vocabulary—‘few’, ‘more’, and ‘same’—and begin using ‘greater than’ and ‘less than’. We’ll also consolidate our understanding of ‘one more’ and ‘one less’.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

The Year 1 Team

15/09/2025

The children have settled in well, continuing their phonics journey with the Little Wandle programme. We have been so impressed with their confident, focused approach! We have enjoyed exploring our school grounds, including a visit to see our new chickens. 

Key Notices

• PE Days: PE sessions are every Tuesday and Friday. Please ensure your child comes to school in their PE kit, including black trainers, on these days.
• Coats: As our weather can be unpredictable, please make sure your child brings a coat to school each day.
• Local Area Photographs: Thank you to everyone who has already sent in photos. We’d love to see more examples of your child exploring the local area to support our class learning.

Upcoming Event: Local Area Walk

Our Local Area Walk will take place on Wednesday 24th September.

• Badger and Hare classes: leave at 9:30am
• Mole and Fox classes: leave at 11:00am
  All children will return in time for lunch.
  If you are able to help on the day, please let your class teacher know.

Donations:

• Spring Bulbs:
  As part of our ‘Plants’ topic, we are making the most of the changing seasons for some real-life learning. It’s a great time to plant spring bulbs, so if you can donate any tulip, daffodil, hyacinth or crocus bulbs, we’d be very grateful. This will give every child the chance to plant their own bulb and brighten our outdoor areas in the new year.  
• Junk Modelling Materials:
  We are always in need of clean, recyclable materials (cardboard and plastic packaging) for our Design and Technology workshops. Any contributions would be gratefully received.

Our Learning This Week

Discovery Learning

This week, we’re continuing our exploration of “Our Local Area.” The children will be learning to identify and sort human and physical features, grouping them to help deepen their understanding of the world around them.

Writing

In Drawing Club, our focus remains on writing simple sentences. We’ll be practising using finger spaces, capital letters, and full stops. Our story this week is “The Billy Goats Gruff.” Traditional tales like this are fantastic for developing early writing skills - feel free to share your own favourites at home!

Handwriting

We are concentrating on the ‘curly caterpillar letters’: e, f, s, and o. Children will work in small groups with an adult, practising correct letter formation, writing on the line, and starting each letter in the right place. You can find helpful letter formation rhymes to support your child on the Little Wandle website.

Maths

Our focus in maths is on recognising numbers as words and becoming confident with ‘one more’. You can support your child at home by asking questions like, “What is one more than…?” and using everyday objects to practise counting one more than a given number.

We look forward to another exciting week ahead!
The Year 1 Team

Welcome to Year 1!

We’re delighted to welcome your children into Year 1. The children have settled in brilliantly and are already exploring all the new resources and equipment available in our outdoor areas during ‘Discovery Time’.

Key Notices

• PE Days: Our PE sessions will take place every Tuesday and Friday. Please send your child to school in their PE kit, including black trainers, on these days.
• Coats: As the weather can be unpredictable, make sure your child brings a coat to school every day.
• Local Area Photographs: To support our topic work, we’d love photographs of your child enjoying the local area. This could be at the park, by Earlswood Lakes, outside your home, or visiting other local attractions. Please email photos to the school office or hand them to your class teacher.
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Upcoming Event: Local Area Walk

We’re excited to take Year 1 on a Local Area Walk on Wednesday 24th September. This will help the children spot human and physical features around us and kick off our DT learning on freestanding structures. We’ll finish our walk with a visit to Ifold Road park!

If you’re able to help on the day, please let your class teacher know. More details will follow soon—thank you in advance for your support.

Our Learning This Week

Discovery Learning

Our topic this term is ‘Our Local Area’. This week, we’ll move our learning outside the classroom to explore the Infant School site. The children will take a walk around the school and practise designing simple maps.

Writing

In Drawing Club, we’ll be writing simple sentences inspired by Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. We’ll be practising using finger spaces and making sure we spell tricky words correctly.

Handwriting

We’re focusing on the ‘curly caterpillar letters’—c, a, d, and g. Children will work in small groups with an adult to practise correct letter formation, writing on the line, and starting in the right place.

Maths

This week, we’ll consolidate our previous learning by sorting and counting objects accurately.

We look forward to seeing you next week!

The Year 1 Team