This term our topic is “School Days”, we will learn about the locality of our school and carry out some local fieldwork. We will learn about the history of our school by researching when it was built and if there are any major events in the timeline of the school existence. We will have the opportunity to explore walk around the local area and identify the physical and human geographical features that we see on the way. Following this, we will learn about life in the Victorian era, with particular reference to Victorian schools. We will learn details of a Victorian classroom setting, including artefacts and Victorian lessons. Finally we will compare a significant person within our school community in the present day with a significant person from the Victorian era.
To find our more, view our School Days Knowledge Organiser.
Other helpful documents
*School Days Optional Home Learning Tasks
rom a geographical perspective, we will learn about local geographical features. We will learn how pollution and litter affect the local environment and school grounds.
From a historical perspective, we will learn about the Victorian era with a particular focus on a Victorian school day.
Reading
Our Class Text and Comprehension
In term 5, our reading comprehension will be “Whiffy Wilson: The Wolf who wouldn't go to school” by Carly Hart. In this fiction text, Wilson can’t count to ten, paint or read a book. He does not want to go to school. Wilson thinks school will be boring. He would rather watch telly and stay up late at night. His friend Dotty takes him to school and shows him what a fun place it is. Wilson has a lovely time and can’t wait to go back to school the next day.
In term 6, our reading comprehension will be based around two poems, “Today I’m not going to school” by Aoife Mannix and “Where do all the teachers go?” by Peter Dixon. We will a variety of complimentary poems throughout the term.
For further information about the reading skills we will focus upon this term, please view “Nightingale Class’s Sequential Reading Curriculum”.
Independent Reading
Ongoing, will be our daily Read Write Inc phonics lessons which children have access to books to read for pleasure at their individual accurate reading level. We also provide children with high quality picture books to take home to encourage reading for pleasure.
Writing
Over the course of the term, we will be writing poems about what our school is like in the present day, and what is was like in the past. We will be writing diaries based in the Victorian era as well as writing letters to our current headteacher.
Firstly, we will be writing poetry which encourages the children’s creativity and develops their use of subject-specific vocabulary. The children will have to include a variety of verbs in their sentences and will be given opportunities to collect ideas by walking around the school. They will then celebrate their poems by reading them aloud to other children and hold a discussion about each other’s poems.
We will also write a diary to describe how children felt during a Victorian handwriting lesson. They will learn how to use sequencing words and formulaic phrases, including those to indicate the start and end of a text. Writing diary entries is a useful context for teaching the children how to express the thoughts and feelings of the writer, recounting events in a sequence of sentences.
Furthermore, the children will write a letter to the headteacher to explain how they are going to make a positive contribution to the school. Through writing letters, children can express their thoughts to another person in a sequence of sentences.
Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling
Punctuation
This term we will be asked to suggest what’s missing from sentences, including all types of punctuation learnt; encouraged to use full stops and capital letters in all of their writing; and to use question marks and exclamation marks correctly when appropriate.
Grammar
This term we will revisit describing words. Using them in the school environment and writing; recognise a sentence which is a question or an exclamation; learn when a sentence gives information or instruction; write simple instructions; learn simple conjunctions words; and read and write common irregular past tense; introduce the use of adverbs which describe how an action is done; compose oral and written sentences that describe an activity; create word banks of past tense verb which children can use as a resource; and build vocabulary about the wider world through outings and outdoor walks.
Spellings
During our spelling lessons we will revisit digraphs and trigraph including split digraphs; third person singular of verbs adding syllable e.g. she washes; adding ‘-ed’ to the word, sometimes making an extra syllable e.g. wanted; adding ‘-er’ and ‘-est’; learn new consonant ‘ph’; adding the prefix ‘un-‘; practise for phonics screening check; revise all words ending in ‘-y’; using ‘k’ for the ‘c’ sound; learning ‘ce’ to make ‘s’ sound; days of the week – practise independent spelling; and practise and check full set of Common Exp words.
To view our weekly breakdown of our spellings, please view our Term 5 and 6 Homework Grid
In addition to these weekly spelling rules, we will continue to learn and spell words from the 1 statutory spelling list. For an overview of these spellings, please view the Spelling word list for Year 1
Following the White Rose Maths scheme, year 1 will cover 6 main blocks of learning over the course of the summer term: multiplication and division; fractions; position and direction; place value within 100; money; and time. As part of the White Rose Maths scheme, each block is broken down into a series of small learning steps. Combined, these small learning steps then cover all the curriculum content your child needs to know in small related chunks.
| Maths area of learning | Block | Small Learning Steps. |
| Number | Multiplication and division | Count in 2s; count in 10s; count in 5s; recognise equal groups; add equal groups; make arrays; make doubles; make equal groups – grouping; and make equal groups – sharing |
| Number | Fractions | Recognise a half of an objects or a shape; find a half of an objects or a shape; recognise a half of a quantity; find a half of a quantity; recognise a quarter of an objects or a shape; find a quarter of a object or a shape; recognise a quarter of a quantity; and find a quarter of a quantity. |
| Geometry | Position and Direction | Describe turns; describe position – left and right; describe position – forwards and backwards; describe position – above and below; and ordinal numbers |
| Number | Place value within 100 | Count from 50 to 100; tens to 100; partition into tens and ones; the number line to 100; 1 more, 1 less; compare numbers with the same numbers of tens; and compare any two numbers |
| Measurement | Money | Unitising; recognising coins; recognising notes; and count coins |
| Measurement | Time | Before and after; days of the week; months of the year; hours, minutes and seconds, tell the time to the hour; and tell the time to half the hour. |
One of the most important things for your child to have mastered and maintain is their knowledge of number bonds to 10 and 20, also to write numbers in digits and words. For an overview of our weekly focus, please view our Term 5 and 6 Homework Grid. To complement their work in lessons reinforcing their fluency, recall and commutativity of these facts, your child will be set a weekly activity to complete as part of their homework on Sumdog.
This term our topic is ‘Plant Parts’. This topic teaches children about wild and garden plants by exploring the local environment. They identify and describe the basic parts of plants and observe how they change over time.
To find out more, view our Plant Parts Knowledge Organiser
Plant Parts Lesson Overview
| Lesson | Learning focus |
| 1 | Seasonal changes in plants |
| 2 | Identifying plants |
| 3 | Plant parts and diagrams |
| 4 | Seeds and bulbs |
| 5 | Investigating leaves |
| 6 | Importance of plants |
| 7 | My plant |
In term 6, our topic is ‘Animal Parts’, children will learn about animals, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and invertebrates. They identify and describe their common structures, diets, and how animals should be cared for.
To find out more, view our Animal Parts Knowledge Organiser.
| Lesson | Learning focus |
| 1 | Identifying animals parts |
| 2 | Grouping animals |
| 3 | Sorting and pattern seeking |
| 4 | Our pets |
| 5 | Carnivore, herbivore and omnivore |
| 6 | Class pet |
| 7 | Observation and simple test |
Art: Street view
Our topic for this term is ‘Street View’. This topic teaches children about artwork depicting streets and buildings and focuses on the work of the American pop artist, James Rizzi. Children will learn how to create a 3-D mural based on Rizzi's work which will then be put together to make a collaborative piece of artwork to create a collection of buildings.
To find out more, view our Street View Knowledge Organiser.
Design and Technology: Chop, Slice and Mash
Our topic for DT this term will be a food technology topic “Chop, Slice and Mash’. This project teaches children about sources of food and the preparatory skills of peeling, tearing, slicing, chopping, mashing and grating. They use this knowledge and techniques to design and make a supermarket sandwich according to specific design criteria.
To find out more, view our Chop, Slice and Mash Knowledge Organiser.
Maze Explorers
In term 5, we will focusing on maze explorers. We will learn about:
- To understand the functionality of the basic direction keys
- To understand how to create and debug a set of instructions(algorithm)
- To use the additional direction keys as part of their algorithm.
- To understand how to change and extend the algorithm list.
- To create a longer algorithm for an activity.
- To provide an opportunity for the children to set challenges for each other
View our Maze Explorers Knowledge Organiser
Animated Stories
In term 6, we will be learning how to create animated stories. We will learning about:
- To understand the differences between traditional books and ebooks.
- To explore the tools of 2Create a Story’s My Simple Story level.
- To save the page they have created.
- To add animation to a picture.
- To play the pages created so far.
- To save the additional changes and overwrite the file.
- To add a sound effect to a picture.
- To add a voice recording to the picture.
- To add created music to the picture
- To add a background to the story.
- To use the copy and paste feature to create additional pages.
View our Animated Stories Knowledge Organiser
Term 5: Sikhism – Naam Karan
The Naam Karan is a Sikh baby naming ceremony, and many Sikh parents bring their newborns to the Gurdwara (the Sikh temple) as soon as they are able to visit. The Granthi (reader of the scriptures) opens the holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, at random, and the first letter of the first word on the left-hand page will be the first letter of the baby's name. Family relationships are important in Sikhism. After the Naam Karan, many Sikh children will continue to learn about the Sikh faith at home and at the Gurdwara. Some may also attend Punjabi lessons so they can read the Guru Granth Sahib themselves. Throughout the term, we will notice and respond sensitively to some similarties and differences between religions and world views.
The key themes we will consider an examine are: family, family traditions, relationships between generations.
For the key words and vocabulary associated with this topic, please view our “Naam Karan Glossary”.
Term 6 Buddhism – Esala Perahera
Esala Perahera, also known as the Festival of the Tooth, is celebrated in Kandy, Sri Lanka, during July and August. The festival lasts for 10 days and begins when Jak tree cuttings are planted outside four temples called Devalas. Torch lit processions (peraheras) of dancers, drummers, acrobats and highly decorated elephants fill the streets and visit the different temples during the festival. The most spectacular elephant carries a replica of the Buddha's tooth casket, which is kept in the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.
The festival ends with a water cutting ceremony called Diya Kepeema. Water in the Mahaweli River is 'cut through' with a sword to separate the pure and impure water and ensure there is no drought in Sri Lanka during the coming year. Some of the water is then collected and kept so that it can be used during the tree planting ceremony, which will open the following year's Esala Perahera festival.
The key themes we will consider an examine are: Who was Buddha? What is a Buddhist temple like? Why are some places sacred? Which places are special to you?
For the key words and vocabulary associated with this topic, please view our “Esala Perahera Glossary”.
Over the course of term 5 and 6, we will continue to follow our Jigsaw PSHE scheme of learning. Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE is a progressive and spiral scheme of learning. In planning the lessons, Jigsaw PSHE ensures that learning from previous years is revisited and extended, adding new concepts, knowledge and skills, year on year as appropriate.
For more information regarding the knowledge and skills progression, please view the Jigsaw Knowledge Skills and Progression Document for ages 5-6.
Term 5: Relationships
This puzzle is about looking the relationships we have with our friends and families. We will start by identifying the members of our families and understand that there are lots of different types of families. We will learn about making friends and identify what being a good friend means to us. Furthermore, we will learn about greeting and consider the appropriate ways of physical contact to greet our friends and know which way we personally prefer. We will learn about people who help us in our school community and know where to ask for help. Children will learn to recognise their own qualities as a person and as a friend. Finally, we will celebrate someone who is special to us.
Term 6: Changing Me
This puzzle pieces helps me to understand that everyone is unique and special. We will start to learn the lifecycles of animals and humans and understand that we change as we grow. I can identify something that changes in my body as I grow and understand that this may happen out of our control. Children will learn that this is a natural process and that everybody grows at different rates. We will learn to understand, respects the changes that they see in other people. The children will learn to identify the parts of the body that make boys different to girls, and use the correct names for these parts. They will be taught to respect their bodies and understand which parts are private. They will learn that every time they learn something new, they change a little bit. Finally they will learn about coping strategies to help the cope with change.
Following the GetSet4PE scheme of learning, our physical education (PE) lessons for term 5 and 6 will focus on athletics and striking and fielding.
Athletics
Throughout our athletics lessons children will learn how to move and different speeds over varying distances. They will focus on developing their skills to balance. Following this the children will develop agility and coordination. Furthermore, they will explore hopping, jumping and leaping for distance. They will then develop throwing for distance and finally learn to develop their throwing for accuracy.
Striking and Fielding
This topic of PE will enable children to develop their underarm throwing and catching, which will then progress on to overarm throwing. We will develop striking a ball with our hands as well as with equipment. We will learn how to collect a ball when fielding and how to get a batter out. We will have opportunities to develop the skills of decision making within a game and understand how to score points.
To find out more, view our GetSet4PE Knowledge Organisers
Term 5: “What songs can we sing to help us through the day?”
This unit of work focuses on having fun through improvisation.
Term 6: “How does music connect us with the environment?”
This unit will explore sound and how to create a story.
Following the Charanga Musical School scheme of learning, these units are organised into 3 main parts:
- Listen and Appraise the songs.
- Musical Activities - learn and/or build on our knowledge and understanding about the interrelated dimensions of music.
- Perform the Song - perform and share our learning as we progress through the unit of work.
For more information, please view our Charanga musical school year 1 knowledge organisers