In Year 1 English this block, children will explore the story “Toys in Space” by Mini Grey, focusing on developing their reading, comprehension, and writing skills. They will retell the story, sequence events, and discuss the characters and their feelings. Pupils will practise writing sentences using capital letters, full stops, and adjectives to describe toys and settings. Through activities such as role-play and story mapping, children will learn to use vocabulary to express ideas clearly and creatively. This unit encourages imagination while building confidence in speaking, listening, and writing.

Key Vocabulary: toys, astronaut, spaceship, adventure, planet, feelings, scared, excited, brave, explore, story, character, setting, sentence, adjective, punctuation, imagination.

In Year 1 Maths, Block 5 focuses on Multiplication, Division, and Fractions. Children will begin to understand multiplication as repeated addition and division as sharing or grouping equally. They will practise counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s to help them recall multiplication facts and recognise patterns in numbers. Pupils will also be introduced to fractions, learning to identify halves and quarters of shapes and quantities. Through practical activities, visual representations, and problem-solving tasks, children will develop their numerical reasoning, mental maths skills, and confidence in working with numbers in different contexts.

Key Vocabulary: multiply, multiplication, divide, division, share, group, repeated addition, counting in 2s, counting in 5s, counting in 10s, fraction, half, quarter, equal, part, whole, number pattern.

In Year 1 History, Block 5 focuses on Space, exploring how humans first travelled to the Moon. Children will learn about the history of space travel, including key events such as the Apollo missions, and the roles of astronauts, scientists, and engineers. They will explore chronological order, understanding before and after, and use historical sources and pictures to discover what life was like during the Moon landing. Through discussion, storytelling, and simple research activities, pupils will develop their historical enquiry skills, learn to ask questions, and understand the impact of space exploration on our world today.

Key Vocabulary: space, moon, astronaut, rocket, launch, Apollo, mission, engineer, scientist, history, timeline, past, present, explore, invention, discovery, achievement.

In Year 1 Science, Block 5 focuses on Plants, helping children explore the natural world and understand how plants grow and survive. Pupils will learn to identify common plants, trees, flowers, and their basic parts such as roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. They will investigate what plants need to grow, including water, sunlight, and soil, and observe how plants change over time. Through hands-on activities like planting seeds, making observations, and drawing diagrams, children will develop scientific enquiry skills, learn to ask questions, record findings, and describe patterns in nature. This unit encourages curiosity about the environment and fosters respect for living things.

Key Vocabulary: plant, tree, flower, root, stem, leaf, seed, soil, water, sunlight, grow, observe, change, living, survival, environment.

In Year 1 Jigsaw PSHE, children will explore the theme of Relationships, developing their understanding of what makes a family, how to build positive friendships, and what it means to belong. They will learn how to show kindness, build trust, respect personal space, and recognise different feelings such as happy, sad, worried and proud. Through discussion and role-play, pupils will practise resolving simple conflicts, saying sorry, and identifying trusted adults who can help them stay safe. In Block 5, children will also learn to appreciate similarities and differences between themselves and others, understanding that everyone is unique and valuing diversity in friendships and communities. This unit supports children in becoming caring, respectful, and confident members of their class and wider community.

Key Vocabulary: family, friendship, relationship, belong, feelings, emotions, kindness, trust, safe, personal space, conflict, resolve, apologise, trusted adult, respect, similar, different, unique, diversity, inclusion.

In Year 1, Block 5 focuses on building children’s vocabulary through stories, discussions, hands-on activities, and cross-curricular learning in areas such as History, Science, Maths, and PSHE. A strong focus on vocabulary supports reading comprehension, writing development, and effective speaking and listening skills. Children learn both everyday vocabulary linked to their experiences and subject-specific vocabulary relevant to this block, including words about space and the Moon, plants, multiplication and division, fractions, and relationships. These rich vocabulary experiences help children communicate ideas clearly, think critically, and make connections across different areas of learning.

Adding –ing to a root word

 Sleeping. dressing, buzzing, fizzing, cleaning, jumping, eating, blinking, sinking.

Adding –er to a root word

hunter, printer, reader, thinker, cleaner, sweeper, singer, helper, worker, mixer

Adding –ed to a root word

dressed, kicked, parked, blinked, pulled cooked, painted, played, sorted, cleaned

Adding –er and est to a root word

smaller, smallest, kinder, kindest, colder, coldest, cleaner, cleanest, darker, darkest

Spelling words ending in-y

party, family, hurry, bendy, fizzy, messy, angry, yummy, lucky, jolly

Spelling –ph words

dolphin, phonics, telegraph, microphone, elephant, photograph, nephew, alphabet, photo, phrase

In Year 1, Block 5 home learning gives children the chance to practise reading, writing, and maths while exploring the topics covered this term. Pupils are encouraged to use their writing journals to record experiences, reflect on learning, and develop creative ideas linked to space, plants, multiplication and division, fractions, and relationships.

Reading at home remains a key focus. Children should read daily with an adult, who can support them by helping to sound out words, read with expression, and discuss the story before recording it in their reading log.

MyMaths tasks are set every Tuesday to reinforce number skills, problem-solving, and understanding of counting in 2s, 5s, 10s, multiplication, division, and fractions. Parents can support by asking questions, celebrating successes, and using everyday activities to practise maths. This routine helps children build confidence and stay connected to their learning at school.

In Computing, our topic for this block is We Are Rhythmic. In this unit, pupils explore how digital tools can be used to create and control sound patterns using ScratchJr and SoundTrap. They begin by recording and playing back their own audio and learning how to program sprites to trigger sounds in ScratchJr. Pupils then develop simple programs to create rhythmic sound patterns. In the second half of the unit, they use SoundTrap to record audio, experiment with sound effects, and create repeating percussion patterns. They also explore a range of built-in digital instruments. By the end of the unit, pupils will have developed an understanding of rhythm, sequencing, and creativity through digital music and sound programming.

Keywords: Audio, Digital, Message, Microphone, Repetition, Sample, Speaker, Track

In Year 1, pupils explore the natural world through drawing, painting and making, inspired by flora and fauna. They develop observational skills, focusing on line, shape, colour and texture. Children experiment with mark-making, colour mixing and composition to create expressive artwork based on plants and animals. Sketchbooks support observation and idea development. Pupils learn how artists are inspired by nature. 

Key vocabulary: line, shape, colour, texture, pattern, mark-making, observe, mix, compose, sketch, design, nature, detail, create, evaluate.

In Year 1, pupils develop singing and listening skills through Your Imagination. They learn to sing with clear voices and keep a steady pulse. Children explore rhythm through clapping and playing percussion instruments. They listen to music and respond through movement and discussion. Pupils practise performing together and begin to understand how music communicates ideas and feelings. 

Key vocabulary: pulse, beat, rhythm, tempo, sing, perform, listen, instrument, pattern, loud, quiet, music, together, respond, explore.

In Year 1, pupils explore imaginative drama through the theme Space Explorers. Children develop storytelling skills through role play as astronauts, aliens and explorers, using voice, movement and gesture to bring settings to life. They collaborate to create characters, sound effects and simple scenes. Pupils build confidence performing to others and learn how drama communicates stories. Key vocabulary: role, character, movement, gesture, voice, perform, story, scene, explore, imagine, space, audience, drama, expression, collaborate.

In Year 1, pupils explore dance through the theme of space, creating movements inspired by rockets, planets and astronauts. Children develop coordination, balance and control while learning to travel, turn and hold shapes. They practise linking movements into simple sequences and performing together. Pupils learn how movement can tell a story and show ideas. Key vocabulary: travel, shape, balance, turn, sequence, space, movement, perform, control, levels, pathway, timing, gesture, expression, dance.

Athletics 

In the athletics unit, pupils will be introduced to basic running, jumping, and throwing activities. They will practice simple running races, standing long jumps, and throwing activities.

Key Vocabulary: Running, jumping, throwing, pushing, power, speed, race, start, finish, distance.

All students will take part in a weekly swimming lesson designed to build both confidence and enjoyment in the water. Our programme follows a structured level system that ensures steady progression, tailored to each child’s ability. Alongside stroke development, children also learn important water safety and personal survival skills. We aim for every child to leave Junior School as a competent, confident swimmer with the skills to participate safely in a range of aquatic environments.