Year 1

Welcome back! We trust that you and your children had a fantastic winter break and are now rejuvenated and eager to continue this exciting year at Foxfield. We are thrilled to present the Year 1 curriculum newsletter for the 2026 spring 1 term, where you can explore the incredible learning opportunities that await your children during this upcoming period. You will also see the words that will be used for the spelling assessments this half term.

English

This half term our core text in English is Grandad's Secret Giant. We will be writing a character description to describe the main character and a newspaper report to recount events throughout the story.

Maths

We will be looking at place value to 20. Children will have the opportunity to understand tens and ones within two digit numbers. Children will begin to solve addition and subtraction within 20 using manipulatives and different strategies.

Science

Plants

In science this half term, year 1 will be learning about plants. Children will be able to recognise and identify different plants as well as investigate the growth of them. Children will learn about the importance of plants and identify what a plant needs to grow. They will also identify the difference between seeds and bulbs.

History

We will be identifying how toys have changed over time. Children will develop an understanding of recreational activities and have the opportunity to bring in their favourite toy and explain why it is their favourite toy. We will be discussing what recreational activities our grandparents enjoyed.

Computing

In Computing, we will be looking at grouping data. Children will be describing objects using labels and match objects to labels. Children will use grouping on purple mash to sort objects.

RE

In RE year 1 will be looking at Hinduism. We will be finding out what Hindus can learn from the Diwali story and learning about the story of Rama and Sita. We will be visiting a local Hindu temple in Woolwich where we can ask questions and learn new things about facts we don't know.

PE

In PE we will be focusing on invasion games. Children will participate in different sending and receiving activities in pairs and small groups using different equipment such as tennis balls, footballs and beanbags.

Design and Technology

In Design and Technology this half term we will be creating sliding mechanisms. We will be identifying how objects move when they are pushed, pulled or twisted and we will identify the different forces used. Children will have the opportunity to create their own moving picture linked to our science learning of plants.

Music

In Music, we will be exploring a variety of songs and experiment with finding the pulse. We will also be listening to an orchestra an identifying instruments used within this group.

RHE

In RHE, we will be looking at family. Children will have the opprortunity to share about their family as well as understand that all families are different. We will diiscuss the importance of family through circle time. Children will have an understanding of different generations.

Homework Expectations

Year 1:

Practise and reinforce the phonemes and graphemes learned in school weekly. Children will be sent home a weekly Little Wandle homework sheet.
Read their phonetically decodable book for at least 10 minutes per day
Practice of weekly spelling list
Count in 2, 5, 10 (all doubles to 10 and halves)

Spelling Lists

Handwriting practice

We use Letter-Join as our new whole-school handwriting scheme. Children can log in to the Letter-Join website at home on iPads, tablets and computers.

Home Learning platforms

In order to support children's learning in school, we have a few non-negotiables that we ask all children to complete weekly. You can read our expectations by clicking on the home learning offer tab. Beyond these core homework activities, Foxfield provides access to several engaging online platforms for optional additional tasks, for which your child has been given a login. These platforms include Letter-Join for handwriting practice, spag.com for spelling and grammar practice, Collins Big Cat e-library for access to all levelled reading books and Numbots for addition and subtraction practice. Class teachers will assign specific activities on these platforms, and children are able to regularly participate in fun activities.

Children should be encouraged to log into Letter-Join on a weekly basis and complete the activity assigned by their class teacher, linked to the current skill they are learning in class that week. For spelling and grammar, children will be set one activity a week linked to their learning in class. In the Collins Big Cat e-library, the children will have all books within their secure phonics level assigned to their account. This will not replace the physical book they bring home, instead they will have access to reread old titles or have further practice of the previous phonemes they have learnt. For numbots, the children will have the opportunity to develop their understanding of numbers within 100, including quick recalls of addition and subtraction facts. If the level they choose in ‘Storymode’ is too easy, please move onto the next level - you do not have to complete all elements on this website, although some levels can be used to recall learning from Reception. To further support your child’s learning, we will be setting a selection of activities on Purple Mash once every half term. Purple Mash is an online platform containing cross-curricular creative tools and activities that allow children to explore and enhance their knowledge in a fun, engaging way.

Your child will be expected to work their way through the assigned tasks at their own pace over the course of the half term. The homework will cover a variety of subjects, including core areas such as reading and maths, as well as other curriculum areas like science, history, and computing.

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