Year 1 Squirrels 2021 - 2022
Welcome to Year 1 Squirrels!
Teacher
My name is Mrs Drake and I am the Year 1 class teacher.
A little bit about me Name: Mrs Drake Year group: 1 Favourite subjects: Maths and Art Favourite book: Alice in Wonderland Children: Jamie aged 12 and Emme aged 8 Hobbies: I love cooking, yoga and roller blading Favourite food: Chinese food and chocolate (not at the same time!) |
Teaching Assistant
Our classroom Teaching Assistant is Miss Broxton
Important Messages for Parents and Carers
The children will have PE twice a week, once with the class teacher and once with the coaches. The children will have PE on Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings. The children should come to school wearing their PE kit and they will stay in their kit all day. PE kit must be a white t-shirt. black shorts and pumps/trainers.
Reading books will be changed on Mondays and Thursdays. Please remember to log any reading your child does on Go Read! and bring reading books in on these days.
Creative Curriculum
Autumn Term
Gift of Colour
This term is geography focused with a study of Africa. The children will be learning the continents of the world along with the major oceans. We will learn about human and physical geography using Africa and our local area to help us understand what they are. We have learned about simple direction and are beginning to learn the four points of a compass. In English our work has been based on African stories including The Ghanian Goldilocks. In art we learned how to create simple, repeated African patterns and also looked at the artist Tinga Tinga and created our own pieces inspired by him. In RE we will be taking a closer lok athe Jewish faith and exploring the story of Jesus before Christmas. In PSHE our focus will be rules and friendships.As part of Black History month we will be learning about Nelson Mandela.
Spring Term
Dungeons and Dragons
This term is going to be spent looking at a period of time known as the Medieval period of British history. We will be exploring castles in the United Kingdom, looking at where and why they were built, and other excitng activites like how to attack and defend them. We will be exciting the children's imagination by going on a castle visit to Skipton Castle! Our English texts are linked to our topic and include 'The Knight and The Dragon'. In Art we will be making our own Paul Klee insired castle pictures (using shapes) and we will also be doing some printing! In RE we will be learning about what makes a place sacred. We will be visiting a local church (Saint Elizabeth's church) and spend time talking to the vicar about their place of worship. Our focus in PSHE will be new beginnings and healthy eating. In science and DT we will be exploring materials and their properties.
Summer Term
The Secret Garden
This term will be spent looking at our local area of Reddish, with a focus on making maps and plotting routes using keys and symbols. We will look at how the area has changed over time and identify significant individuals, places and historical events. We will look at new local artist Kate Kelly who designs 3D artwork of plants and animals. In Science we will be observing how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants. In D&T we will be looking at mechanisms such as sliders and levers and creating a product connected to our Secret Garden topic. Our focus in PSHE will be showing feelings and staying safe in different places and RE will be about caring for others and the world and why it matters.
Newsletter
Please see the newsletter in the attachments at the bottom of this page.
Year 1 Statutory Spellings
Below is a list of spellings children in Year 1 should be able to read and write by the end of Year 1. Please practise these where possible.

Contact & Class Dojo
At Abingdon Primary School we use a commucation & rewards app called Class Dojo. This provides the children with an opportunity to earn points based on skills and values created in class and also links in with the schools core values of resilience, respect and responsibility. We use Class Dojos to engage parents by sharing photos and videos of exciting moments in the classroom. It is also an effective way for teachers and parents to communicate.
ali.drake@abingdon.stockport.sch.uk
Useful Websites
Below is a list of websites you may find useful to assist with your child's learning at home.
BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
Topmarks maths games: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/
Scratch (coding): https://scratch.mit.edu/
Hit the Button https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Files to Download
Year 1 Squirrels: News items
Newsletter 20th May 2022, by Murray
Newsletter 13th May 2022, by Murray
Newsletter 6th May 2022, by Murray