Term 1

Weeks 1 & 2

Welcome to Term 1!

What a wonderful start we have had in Year 1! Our students have been busy making new friends and participating in a range of activities. Here is a quick peak of what we have been up to the past couple of weeks.

Getting to Know Each Other and Learning to Learn

We have spent time getting to know each other through Community Meetings. For example, during our first community meeting, students shared how they spent the summer holidays. Daily community meetings helps students practice speaking, listening and sharing their thoughts with each other.

The Year 1 students have been learning classroom routines so they know what to expect during different parts of the school day. For example, we have established our morning and afternoon routines together. We learned about showing kindness to help us build a positive learning community. The students also learned about Stop, Walk, Talk, a strategy that helps them respond if someone is upsetting them by asking them to stop, walking away, and then telling a teacher.

Reading

In Reading, we began the year by setting up our classroom library and organising our book boxes. Each book box contains resources such as library books and phonics folders to support our learning. The students chose books for their own book boxes and practised their phonics during independent reading sessions. We also learned about the structure of our phonics and reading lessons, helping the students understand what to expect each time. Everyone enjoyed visiting the school library and borrowing books to take back to the classroom for their book boxes!

Writing

In Writing, we focused on presenting our work neatly in our books, such as starting at the top of the page and using finger spaces. The students wrote about what they did on the holidays. We also practised writing detailed sentences using colourful semantics to help us build sentences. We also used a range of tabletop resources to support our writing.

Zones of Regulation

We have started exploring the Zones of Regulation framework, that helps students understand and regulate their emotions. There are four colour-coded zones which include the following: red, yellow, green and blue. Each zone represents different emotions.

For example:

Red - Angry, yelling, out of control

Yellow - Frustrated, anxious, excited

Green - Calm, happy, ready to learn

Blue - Sad, tired, bored

At this stage, students are beginning to recognise what zone they are in and the strategies they can use to get back to the "Green Zone". For example, one student identified that they can drink water to get back to the "Green Zone" and regain control.

Numeracy

Our year 1 students began their numeracy learning by becoming familiar with the structure of our numeracy lessons, helping them understand what to expect each session. We discussed lesson expectations and how to choose the right resources to support their learning. The students also enjoyed building their fluency through fun maths games, including Buzz, 4 in a Row, Snakes and Ladders, and Addition Snap, which encouraged engagement and strategic thinking.

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