SCHOOL DAYS

Topic Summary

In the School Days project, your child will have the opportunity to take part in a traditional Victorian class and will learn about the differences between schooling in the Victorian era and schooling today. They will learn about objects found in a Victorian classroom and how they were used. They will research Samuel Wilderspin, an important figure in the development of schooling for young children in the Victorian era, whose ideals are reflected in schooling today. They will learn to describe the passage of time through study of past, present and future tense vocabulary.

Reading and Writing Journey

Throughout the topic, we will be looking at the following texts to help us with our reading and writing journeys.

                         Whiffy Wilson                                      The Wolf's Story                                    Non fiction texts

During our English journey we will be looking at a range of fiction and non-fiction texts including ‘Whiffy Wilson The Wolf Who wouldn’t go to School’. Texts like this will help us work through the writing curriculum for Year 1. There are different types of writing we will complete to enable the children to apply the skills learnt. These outcomes are...

* A List Poem

* A Description

* Persuasive Writing

* Letter / Diary

* Recount

* Narrative

Our Guided Reading journey will focus on texts that coincide with our topic like 'Little Red Riding Hood' and 'The Wolf's Story.' These texts will help us to work through the word-reading and comprehension side of the Year 1 curriculum by focusing on decoding, predicting, inference, vocabulary and sharing views along with other key skills.

Maths Journey

We begin the Summer term with 'Multiplication and Division.' Children will be using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations to understand the concept of multiplication and division. There will be a strong focus on recalling and using what we learn about counting in jumps of 2s, 5s and 10s to help us solve problems. As well as this, we will look at 'Fractions' and 'Position and Direction' previously linked to their learning on shapes. 

As we move further into the Summer term, we will revisit our ‘Measure’ Maths journey. Children will look at 'Money' and 'Time.'

Foundation Subjects

As well as the core subject areas, we will also be focusing on key foundation subjects. These foundation subjects provide further breadth into topics surrounding history, geography, science, art etc. The focus will be on the skills which link to our topic. 

History

School Days is a History based topic. This means that there are very strong cross-curricular links throughout all learning journeys that teaches children about significant events. Children will learn all about Victorian era and learn that this is a time beyond living memory. They will compare the similarities and differences of the Victorian era to today. Children will learn about Victorian schools and significant person Samuel Wilderspin who changed how children were taught.  

Geography

In Geography, children will build on their geographical knowledge of maps, use satellite images from Google Earth to locate their local community and school.   

Science

Our Science journey teaches children about animal parts and plant parts. The animal parts project teaches children 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. The plant parts project 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.

Art

Art will consist of a project called ‘Street View.' This project teaches children about artwork depicting streets and buildings and focuses on the work of the American pop artist, James Rizzi. They create a 3-D mural based on Rizzi's work.

Design and Technology

Design and technology will consist of a project called 'Chop, Slice and Mash.' Children will learn 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.

Computing

During the Summer term children will look at the following topics: maze explorers and pictograms.

PSHE

Children will look at the theme of 'Health and Wellbeing' this term. This will cover the following aspects: physical health and mental wellbeing, growing and changing and keeping safe.

Religious Education

Across the two halves of the Summer term, children will look at two different themes and concepts for their RE learning journey. During the first half of the term the children will be focusing on the concept of 'Community' within the theme of 'Community in Sikh faith and further traditions.'

Throughout the second half term the children will be able to explore the concept of 'Special' within the theme of ‘Special books.'

Physical Education

Children will focus on catching and throwing skills.  Then will move onto: fielding, rolling and collecting especially when playing cricket games.  In the second half of the Summer term, children will apply skills to athletics and focus on agility skills.

Music

In Music sessions, children will explore different sound sources and materials. They will also explore instruments and sing songs.

Enrichment Opportunity

Children will get the chance to visit Manor Farm! They will learn more about Victorian schools from taking part in various workshops. As well as this, children will see some animals and get the opportunity to feed them.

How can you help at home...

There's lots of ways that you can help your child at home. Just like last term, one of them is by helping your child to retain their phonics and apply them daily. You can do this from the homework tasks sent home, what sound your child has informed you that they have learnt or logging them onto 'Phonics Hero' which is a fun and engaging platform to use!

The other way to help is to keep reading with your child as much as possible. This will encourage your child to apply their phonics and develop their understanding of the text. You can use the online BUGCLUB tool to help encourage your child to read at home! Alongside this, what would be most helpful is to ensure that your child reads their book and brings it back to school weekly. They will bring home a reading log, please sign and comment where appropriate. This enables us to monitor their progress. Reading at home regularly will help enhance children’s reading skills which will also  impact their writing.  

Homework will be given out every Friday and asked to be returned on a Tuesday.  It will be linked to what your child has been learning about in school that week. Discussing your child's homework with them is a great way to help with consolidating and checking their understanding. Please ensure that your child completes this consistently and sign to say that you've seen it 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask! I'll always try my best to keep you updated through Marv Me and through regular contact day to day.

 Thank you for your super support and engagement. It is HUGELY appreciated