to 

Ladybirds Class 

Hello and welcome to our special page for year one class, known as the 'Ladybirds' class! 

 

We want your child to be happy and to enjoy learning so if you have any questions or concerns please come and see us! Don't hesitate to get in touch with any question no matter how big or small. Email me at Ladybirds@coppice.derbyshire.sch.uk.

All year we will be working towards meeting the end of year expectations for year one. 

 Meet the Staff 

Mr D'Souza - Year One class teacher

Mrs S Fowkes - Teaching Assistant (all day, every day)

 

Mrs Jephson is the Key Stage One Co-ordinator who will be popping in lots to check we are having lots of fun whilst we learn.  

Mr D'Souza will have one day out of class on a Tuesday every two weeks for PPA and this will usually be covered by Mr J Moreton. 

 

General Information

In the morning the gates will be open between 8.35am and 8.40am.  Please say goodbye to your children on the playground and they will walk around to enter the classroom via the cloakroom.  Parents are not allowed to accompany them from the playground.

 

Learning Information

Our topic this term is ‘Plant a Little Seed'. An overview (knowledge organiser) of this half term’s topic can be found by clicking here.

As a key stage, we like to inform parents about the types of things we will be covering in each topic in a little more detail. To access our parents' medium term plan overview please click here.

This half term we will continue to learn through a broad and balanced curriculum. Click here to see our Summer 1 weekly timetable. PE this half term is on a Wednesday and Thursday. Please wear your PE uniform on these days and make sure that earrings are removed.

As always, homework is set at the start of a half term and is due in the last week of half term. Click here to see this half term’s homework.

 

Topic Overview

This half term’s topic ‘Plant a Little Seed’ is focussed on Science and Geography. By the end of the unit the ‘sticky knowledge’ we want our children to remember is:

Sticky knowledge

I can identify an oak tree, horse chestnut tree and conifer trees by their leaves

I know that plants need water, sunlight and warmth to grow.

I know that plants have stems, roots, leaves and flowers.

Week 1 - What do plants need to grow?
This week, we will be conducting a whole-class investigation where we will plant four seeds:
• One will have water and sunlight.
• One will have water and no sunlight.
• One will have sunlight and no water.
• One will have no water or sunlight.

We will then make predictions about what we think will happen to each plant. After that, we will closely observe the plants throughout the term to see what happens.

      

Week 2 – Can I identify garden flowers?
This week, we will be visiting Peacocks Nursery, where we will look around the garden centre to find different flowering plants using our plant identification sheets. We will tick these plants on our sheets once we have spotted them.

If there are any plants that are not on our identification sheets, we will draw them in the boxes at the bottom and find out what they are called. Then, we will choose a plant that we like and explain what we like about it. We will sketch it, observing closely the different parts of the plant and the fine details (stem, leaf, etc.).

     

Week 3 – How do I plant a seed?
This week, we will revisit the conditions needed for plant growth. We will check on each of the plants, line them up next to each other, and put them under the visualiser so the children can see what is happening to them all. The children will discuss which one is growing the fastest and describe why they think this is.

We will then explain our findings and introduce further conditions, e.g. air, nutrients, and warmth. We will learn about the process of germination – water goes into the seed, and the seed sprouts shoots and roots, turning it into a plant.

The children will then have the opportunity to plant a runner bean seed, and we will watch it grow throughout the term.

                  

Week 4 – Which plants grow fruit and vegetables?
This week, we will be looking at a range of different fruit and vegetable plants with roots and leaves still attached. The children will then label the different parts of the plants: roots, stem, and leaves.

They will then sort the plants in a range of ways, e.g. fruit or vegetable; overground or underground; seeds that grow inside the plant or outside the plant; plants that have seeds and come from a flower (fruits), and plants that do not (vegetables).

Week 5 – Where can I find different plants in the school grounds? (mapping and fieldwork)
This week, we will be going outside to plot the locations of different plants on a map of the school. We will label garden flowers, wildflowers, fruit and vegetable plants, and trees on our map of the school grounds.

The children will visit the different areas marked on the map, then draw a symbol to represent that type of plant and add the symbol to the key at the bottom of the map (for example, a deciduous tree).

This term's topic information and IMPORTANT vocabulary

Art / DT	This half term we will be looking carefully at the work of others and basing some of our work theirs. We will work in the style of Eric Carle and Jackson Pollock.	Warm, cool,  contrasting, coordinating, colour wheel, primary colours, secondary colours, collage, symmetry, texture. Flat, polished, smooth, raised, rough, coarse. Cut, incised, pitted, scratched, uneven, sticky, Soft, hard, shiny, glossy and reflective.
Science	This half term we will be looking at things that grow. We will be becoming gardeners and planting our own sunflowers, lettuces and potatoes! We will be learning about what things need to grow. We will be observing and reporting on what we can grow. We will also be learning about the parts of plants and trees and learning to use scientific words to describe them such as deciduous and evergreen.	Plants, wild plants, seeds, evergreen trees, deciduous trees, leaves, smooth, rough, grow, change.
PSHCE	This half term is ‘Being Healthy’. This unit focuses on the core theme ‘health and well-being’ Through this unit of work, the children will explore what a healthy lifestyle means and identify the benefits of having one. They will also learn ways of keeping healthy and start to recognise what they like and dislike. They will consider the consequences that good and not so good choices have. After learning about healthy lifestyles, they will investigate setting simple goals. They will also learn some key life skills including the importance of personal hygiene and preventing the spread of germs.	Healthy, lifestyle, a balanced diet, personal hygiene, exercise, mental health, healthy choices.
Computing	This half term we will be becoming 'Lego Builders' where the children will  follow and create simple instructions on the computer. Then the children will consider how the order of instructions affects the result.	Algorithm, code, debugging, instructions, program
RE	This half term we will be exploring the key question ‘What does it mean to belong to a faith community?’. The children will start by thinking about themselves and their identify and which groups they belong to. They will then read stories and learn about religious ceremonies and think about how these things show how people show belonging to their religion / God.	Faith, identity, belonging, ceremonies, symbols, cross, crucifix, a church, rosary, Bible, fish, dove, candle, Christians, Muslims, Islamic calligraphy Jews, Kiddush wine, challah bread, Shabbat.

Literacy

 

 

 In Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation (SPAG) this half term we will be focussing on our place value of punctuation unit on identifying subjects and verbs in sentences and identifying and using past and present tense.

 

In Whole Class Reading we will be focussing on texts linked to our literacy lessons.

 Fluency reading

Discuss and clarifying the meanings of new words.

Echo reading.

Extending reading.

Answering comprehension questions by retrieving the answer from the text.

Choral reading

Close reading

 

In Literacy we will be exploring lots of genres and be given a wide variety of writing opportunities.

Week 1 – Eddie’s Garden – we will be focussing on instructions and writing our own instructions on how to plant a seed.

Week 2– Oliver’s Vegetables – we will be learning the story and practising retelling it and writing key parts of it for example a setting description.

Week 3 – Jim and the Beanstalk – We will be writing a recount of our trip to Peacocks Nursery. Then during the second part of the week we will write a thank you letter to Peacocks Nursery.

Week 4– Plants – this week we will be writing non chronological reports about our favourite types of plants. We will be using diagrams, labels, subheadings and much more.

Week 5 – The Nut Tree by Julia Donaldson and What do you do on a nature walk? By Kate Williams  - this week we will be focussing on poetry. We will be learning poems off by heart and reciting them. We will be thinking about the features of poems e.g. rhyming words and then go on a nature walk on which to write our own poem based upon.

Week 6— The Enormous Turnip—this week we will be learning about the story ‘The Enormous Turnip’ then we will be writing our own version of the story.

 

Phonics

We will teach phonics to the whole class together and will run same day intervention sessions for children requiring further consolidation to help them to keep up.

 

Below we will attach parent information sheets which will explain the learning for each week in phonics so you can support your child at home.

Summer 1 - week 1 review week 

Reading

In school we will listen to your child read their reading book at least once every week, please make sure that it is in school every day.  Please support your child with reading by listening to them read regularly at home.  Just a couple of pages every day makes a huge difference to their confidence.  Remember to record on the Go read app or Boom reader website every time you hear your child read.  Reading is the most important piece of homework you can do with your child at this age as reading is the key that unlocks all other areas of learning.  To be successful writers, children first have to be confident and successful readers so your support is invaluable.

 

Helping with Literacy at Home

You can help your child at home by:

• Practising common exception words - reading and spelling. Click here to view year one common exception words.
• Talk about what they are learning in class that week.
• Encourage your child to read out any writing they complete at home to check it makes sense.
• Read with your child at least 3 times a week.

 

 

Reading

In school we will listen to your child read their reading book at least once every week, please make sure that it is in school every day.  Please support your child with reading by listening to them read regularly at home.  Just a couple of pages every day makes a huge difference to their confidence.  Remember to record on the Go read app or Boom reader website every time you hear your child read.  Reading is the most important piece of homework you can do with your child at this age as reading is the key that unlocks all other areas of learning.  To be successful writers, children first have to be confident and successful readers so your support is invaluable.

 

 

Numeracy

In Maths our units are  ‘Position’ ‘Measures of weight’ ‘Place value within 50’ ‘Multiplication and Division’, ‘Fractions’, ‘Measures of Time’

The objectives we will looking at this half term are:

• Describing position, ordinal numbers, heavier and lighter and measuring mass
• Groups of tens and ones , partition into tens and ones, the number line up to 50, estimate on a number line and 1 more and 1 less up to 50.
• Recognising equal groups (multiplication), adding equal groups (multiplication), making arrays (multiplication) making doubles (multiplication), making equal groups – grouping and sharing
• Recognising and finding half and a quarter of an object or shape (fractions)
• Recognising and finding half and a quarter of a quantity (fractions)
• Hours, minutes and seconds (time)
• Telling the time to the hour (time)

 

In addition to these objectives covered in maths lessons we will also have daily counting stick practise focussing on our chanting of the 2s, 5s and 10s times tables.

 

Helping with maths at Home

Talking about the learning they have done in class.

Practise counting to 20 forwards and backwards

Practising counting in 2's, 5's and 10's

Practise recalling addition, subtraction and number facts to 10 and then to 20.

Encouraging your child to count - add money, count out objects, calculate how many will be left, estimate how many there are etc...

Our Coppice CARE Values

C stands for: cooperation, committed and considerate

A stands for: accepting, aspirational and achieving

R stands for: respectful, responsible and resilience

E stands for: excellent, empathetic and enthusiastic

Each week we have a new value – 12 in total.  The children will have an assembly Monday morning about how to show and give respect to others both in school and at home!  We will be expecting this to be demonstrated to all members of our Coppice community. It is important that even when we move onto a new value, the old one isn’t lost.

Each week Mrs Seaton will send out a Newsletter that will reflect the value we are working on so that it can also be supported at home.  We look forward to seeing our children bright and early ready to embrace the new weekly challenges!