Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh the things you can think up if only you try! ~ Dr Seuss.

Key Stage One

Key Stage One encompasses Year One and Year Two and helps your children make the transition into school from the Early Years to Year One. In Key Stage One our goal is to provide the opportunities for your child to invent, discover and learn. We aim to create children who are capable of learning with great vision, imagination and creativity.

Transition 

Transition between Year one and Early years is very important to us. This is a new phase for your child. Fortunately, due to the unique layout of our school your child is already familiar with staff and class spaces as well as routines, playtimes and assemblies. We work hard on transition between Reception and Year One. At the beginning of Year One we keep many of the features they are familiar with from Reception including whole school routines, play-based learning and access to our outdoor classroom, therefore enabling your child to access an environment where they are happy and ready to learn.

Outdoor Classroom  

Our outdoor space is an extension of our classroom space where the children take part in some forest school activities and work together across classes and year groups. In the outdoor classroom we have access to sand, water and construction as well as a wormery, plant viewer and gardening area, where we grow and cook our own vegetables. In this area the children can also find a quite space to read or draw and use their imaginations. We find that when using the outdoor classroom, the pupils are inspired and willing to learn. They often have the time and space to initiate their own learning experiences and activities. Our pond and forest area enable your children to become nature detectives and responsible citizens. This enables us to further develop their interest in the environment and their wider surroundings, exposing them to new opportunities whilst nurturing creativity and imagination. We aim to access and use our outdoor classroom most days and if the weather tries to beat us, which it sometimes does, we have sets of waterproofs to keep your children dry!

Homework

In Year One and Year Two your child will bring home regular homework.  We find that the children are usually very excited at this prospect. It is usually sent home on a Friday to be handed in the following Friday. In Year One homework is often practical in nature supporting work completed in class, enabling parents and children to work together.

In Year Two homework is still often practical, but your child will now have an individual English and Maths book where work will need to be competed neatly with a writing pencil. This will be an opportunity for you to work with your child on supporting and developing work completed in the class. Homework will be sent home on alternate weeks, but occasionally prior to a new topic commencing, children will be set a small research task where they can work with parents to find out fascinating facts about their new topic.

Times Tables

Please help your child to learn their times tables. By the end of Year Two all children need to know their two, five and ten times tables. Your children will be given a login for ‘Times Table Rockstars’ which enables them to practise at home. Once they know their two, five and ten times table we celebrate this achievement with a Bronze certificate awarded in Show and Tell. 

Handwriting

In Years One and Two we begin to learn a cursive script, so that by the end of Year Two most children can write in a flowing cursive style. Our handwriting script is practised weekly in specific lessons.

Spellings and Phonics

Phonics and Spelling strategies are taught every week in Year One and Two and tested on a Friday with individual spellings and dictated sentences. It is important that children are supported at home to enable them to learn and use specific spelling strategies. In Year One we continue to learn all of our phonics in preparation for our phonics test. We work very hard, practising our sounds, blending together and saying the word. For more information please refer to the phonics section of the English overview on our website. 

Library

On alternate weeks children in Key Stage One will visit our school library and choose a book to share at home with their parents. Children love visiting the library and this helps us to continue to develop their great love of literature.

Our Topics ~ Year One

Term 1 ~ Marvellous Me and Let's Celebrate

Term 2 ~ Who Lives in a Hole Like This and Easter

Term 3 ~ Home Sweet Home and Passover (Judaism)

Visits Include:  Art Gallery, Cowell's Garden Centre, Beamish Museum.

Our Topics ~ Year Two

Term 1 ~ Marvellous Me and The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker

Term 2 ~ Inventions and Easter

Term 3 ~ All Creatures Great and Small

Visits Include: Shipley Art Gallery, Kingston Park Shops, Grainger Market, Cragside, St Mary's Lighthouse.