Year 1

On this page you will be able to find out about all the exciting learning happening in Year 1. Below you will find our year’s planning, half termly newsletter and link to our Twitter page.

Please click on an image for a brief introduction to the teachers

• Mrs Brownhill
  Year 1 Teacher
  Mrs Brownhill

  I am Mrs Brownhill and teach in Hazel Class this academic year. I have over 17 years experience of working with young children and have a passion for teaching children in the Early Years. I believe that this is where the foundation for all children's future learning is built and am enthusiastic to help them reach their full potential whilst instilling a love of learning.

  Outside of school I am an avid baker and can often be found experimenting with different recipes to create delicious baked goods.

  I can always be found in my classroom at the end of the day if you ever need to speak to me!

• Mr Shelley
  Year 1 Teacher & Maths lead
  Mr Shelley

  Hello, I'm Mr Shelley and I am a class teacher as well as the Maths lead. I am in my fifth year of teaching at Alexander McLeod school. I have experience of working in EYFS, KS1 and KS2. As Maths lead, I am enthusiastic about all things numerical and have high expectations of all learners. I am very passionate about making maths come to life, and allowing children to see and feel maths within the classroom.

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• Mrs Patterson
  Year 1 Teacher
  Mrs Patterson

  My name is Miss Patterson and I am excited to start my first year of teaching at Alexander McLeod. I have experience working in eyfs, ks1 and ks2, and have spent time supporting children with SEND in the classroom. I have previously worked in a legal capacity in the finance, housing and music industries. As a mum to two young children, I am passionate about education, and helping inspire young minds. I am particularly passionate about reading, and sharing the escapism of a good book with children. I enjoy singing and musical theatre, and try to encorporate these passions to help children to find their confidence. I'm excited to be joining the year 1 team.

Our Learning

Year 1 is a very exciting year as children move from the Early Years Foundation Stage into Key Stage One. As well as teaching the Year 1 National Curriculum, we will also be recapping important learning from the Early Years Framework.

Albert Einstein stated that ‘play is the highest form of research’. Year 1 will be using a provision based approach to cover our curriculum during the autumn term. We will use child-initiated play, along with small adult led focus groups to cover our curriculum. Each day we will provide various resources for children to explore freely in different areas of the classroom. Each area will be engaging, offer challenge and allow children to develop important life skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, as well as meeting the National Curriculum. As the children learn and develop, our provision will gradually become more formal. This will support children with their transition into Year 2 where all learning is formalised.

Phonics Screening Check

In Year 1, children will complete a Phonics Screening Check at the end of the year. Children will take this test in an informal setting, one-to-one, with a teacher. Whilst children learn phonics to help them with both word reading and spelling, the Phonics Screening Check only tests their skills at word reading. This is sometimes called decoding. During the Phonics Screening Check, children are asked to read (decode) 40 words. Most of these words are real words but some are pseudo-words (made up words). Pseudo-words are included to ensure that children are using their decoding skills and not just relying on their memory of words they’ve read before. As some children may misread these pseudo-words based on their similarity to words in their existing vocabulary, each pseudo-word is clearly identified with an image of an alien. Most teachers and children, therefore, refer to pseudo-words as alien words. Children are taught phonics every day and they will be taught the difference between pseudo-words and real words throughout the school year.

Year 1 Newsletter - Autumn Term 1

Key Stage 1 Curriculum booklet