Welcome to the Summer Term in Year 1

During the Summer Term, Year 1 will be travelling back in time to explore a variety of Welsh Myths and Legends. We will be working to develop our use of descriptive words. We will then use these to retell stories and work to invent our own. We are looking forward to sending you a copy of our creations made using our green screen equipment.

We will continue to develop literacy skills by using the school 'Core Knowledge' scheme and through both fiction and non-fiction based extended writing. The children will build on their sound knowledge by focusing on additional vowel sounds and the most common spelling for each.

We will also be introducing a greater number of tricky word spellings, most of which contain one of the vowel sounds. Handwriting will also continue to be an important part of our literacy sessions.

As reading skills further develop, children will continue to access 'Accelerated Reader', where they will have weekly individual reading sessions and make use of a computer quiz to check their understanding of what has been read.

We will also undertake whole class reading sessions, exploring texts based around our overarching concept. Some of these stories include :

• Gwion and Ceridwen, The Legend of Cantre’r Gwaelod, The Lady of the Lake, The Mystery of Kenfig Pool, The Red Dragon, Rhiannon and Pwyll and King Arthur.

In Welsh, we will focus on vocabulary to describe our weather and clothes alongside daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions in class.

This term, through practical activities we will be continuing to build on our knowledge and understanding of place value in numbers to 100, working to recite numbers up to 100, forwards and backwards and from different starting points.

We will be working creatively to demonstrate an understanding of repeating patterns, including shape and number.

Our outdoor area now offers us the opportunity to make sensible estimates of measurement in weight and capacity, that can be checked using non-standard measures. We will also be looking at using standard units of time to read ‘o’clock’ using both analogue and 12-hour digital clocks and use lots of equipment to help us with our understanding.

The resources used doing numeracy sessions will be available throughout the day. This allows the children to transfer the skills learnt in numeracy to other subjects and activities.

Stories from The Mabinogion and The Legend of King Arthur will be explored throughout the term.

While exploring myths, legends and folk tales we will be discussing how these have been told and passed down through the generations.

We plan to visit Cosmeston Medieval Village to experience how the characters from our class stories lived their lives. We will also be finding out about castles and the lives of the people inside them.

We will be having a Careers Week where the children will be able to appreciate the increasing range of opportunities in the workplace and understand the purpose of work in life.

SeeSaw

As a foundation phase, we will continue to use the platform ‘SeeSaw’ within the classroom. This means the children can save their work privately in their own folder. SeeSaw also allows children to develop their necessary ICT skills independently. The app allows class teachers to have a recording tool which helps create a lovely journal of work, where progress and development can be seen.

Within our classroom, we encourage the children to take age appropriate responsibility, whilst continuing to be clear, firm and compassionate.

Activities will provide opportunities for children to take different levels of responsibility for a range of tasks. We will also be creating situations with different roles, to explore situations from each person's perspective.

• Children should bring a water bottle to school each day.

• P.E. will be on a Thursday. Children should attend school in the agreed P.E. kit on this day.

• We have a number of children in school with a nut allergy. We strive to be a nut free school so please do not send in nut products in packed lunches.

Don't forget to download our School App via the Play or App stores - The School App will provide you with up to date information about activities and events at Oldcastle Primary School. Please look out for our weekly newsletter issued via The School App and available on our website on a Friday afternoon. The newsletter contains all forthcoming diary dates for the school.