Spruce Class (Year 1)

September 2023 Welcome Letter

Dear parents and carers,

Welcome back! I hope you have had a great summer. It was really lovely to see all of the children before the summer holidays for our transition day and talk about what an amazing year Y1 is going to be. We have some exciting topics coming up this year!

English, Phonics and Maths will be taught every morning and foundation subjects and Science will be taught in the afternoon. Our topic during Autumn 1 is History themed and will be ‘The Great Fire of London’ followed by learning about ‘The Gunpowder Plot, just in time for Bonfire Night. In English, our initial focus will be labels, lists and signs followed by traditional tales and ‘The Jolly Postman’. Our Maths focus will be place value and we will be building on the Maths skills learnt in reception.

This year we are very lucky to be supported by Miss France (Monday and Tuesday) and Mrs. Swallow (Wednesday all day, Thursday and Friday mornings). They will work in the classroom and with small intervention groups. On Monday afternoon, Mrs. Kenyon teaches the class R.E. and then the children have P.E. with our sports specialist Calvin Moorhead. We also have a P.E. session on a Wednesday. As P.E. is the last lesson of the day on Monday and timings are tight Calvin will send the children home wearing their P.E. kits. with their uniform in their P.E. bags. If their kits can be returned for Wednesday’s lesson it would be much appreciated. The kits can then stay in school until the following Monday. On Thursdays, Mrs. Livesey will teach the class while I have my SENDCo time – the children are familiar with both Mrs. Livesey and Mrs. Kenyon.

Please make sure your child has the correct P.E. kit, consisting of blue or black shorts, white T-shirt, Velcro trainers, spare socks and, when the weather gets colder and wetter, tracksuit bottoms, fleece and coat. Children need trainers as opposed to pumps as we aim to be outside for P.E. as much as the weather will allow. Please ensure all items of clothing are clearly named. Long hair must be tied back and all jewellery removed for P.E. If earrings cannot be removed, they must be covered with tape, which needs to be provided please.

We ask that you continue to listen to your children read, out loud, at home as often as possible – ideally daily. This is so important to increase their fluency and to foster their love of reading. Please ensure every time you listen to your children you record this in their yellow reading records. We will continue to send the children home with reading books to suit their ability and we will change books on Wednesdays. We are lucky to have governors who come and listen to the children read on a regular basis, however, we are always on the lookout for parent volunteers so please let me know if you are able to come in and help.

Class updates and pictures of all the fun we get up to will be communicated via Dojo, all parents should have access but please let me know if you cannot access the class account.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns or queries. Class Dojo is the quickest way to contact me during the working day, or you can email betty.stephenson@sedbergh-pri.cumbria.sch.uk

I look forward to working with you and your children this year.

Mrs. Stephenson and the Year 1 team