Welcome to Year 1!
Y1 Curriculum Information
September 2026
Welcome to Year 1!
We are very excited to begin this new chapter with the children and have lots of exciting learning planned for the term ahead. Our Autumn term 1 Learning Forecast gives you a little more information about the learning that will take place across the curriculum. We are looking forward to watching the children grow in confidence, independence and curiosity as they settle into Year 1 and explore lots of new and exciting ideas.
English: During English, we will be developing the children's understanding of captions and how they can be used to describe and explain pictures. We will be looking carefully at images, discussing what we can see and thinking about how we can use words to share information. We will also begin to develop our understanding of nouns and adjectives, learning how to identify them and use them to make our sentences more interesting and descriptive. Throughout our English learning, we will be encouraging the children to develop their vocabulary, speak in full sentences and share their ideas confidently.
Maths:
Our Maths learning this term will focus on place value. We will explore numbers and develop our understanding of what each digit represents and why its position is important. As always, we will use lots of practical resources and hands-on activities to support the children's understanding. Resources such as Numicon, number lines and other manipulatives will help the children to see and experience mathematical concepts before moving towards more abstract representations. We will also continue to develop the children's number fluency, encouraging them to become increasingly confident with counting, recognising numbers and recalling key number facts.
Number Operations for end of Year 1 expectations:
Please see below video for how we add using more formal methods at the end of the year after exploring adding with resources such as Numicon, rekenrek, numberlines etc
Please see below video for how we subtract using more formal methods at the end of the year after exploring adding with resources such as Numicon, rekenrek, numberlines etc
Please see below video for how we multiply using more formal methods at the end of the year after exploring adding with resources such as Numicon, rekenrek, numberlines etc
Please see below video for how we divide using more formal methods at the end of the year after exploring adding with resources such as Numicon, mufti link, dienes etc
Science:
In Science, our focus will be The Human Body. The children will explore different parts of the body and begin to understand what they do and why they are important. We will use lots of practical activities, discussion and opportunities for the children to investigate and ask questions about themselves and how their bodies work.
Topic:
The first half term will be history. Get ready to travel back in time! Our History topic is Dinosaurs. We will learn about dinosaurs, when they lived and how we know about them today. The children will have opportunities to explore the past, look at evidence and develop their understanding of how we find out about things that happened a very long time ago. We are sure this will be a topic that sparks lots of curiosity, questions and imaginative play!
Music:
In Music, we will be exploring rhythm. The children will develop their ability to listen carefully, keep a steady beat and experiment with different rhythms. We will use our voices and a range of instruments to create, copy and perform rhythms together. Most importantly, we will have lots of fun making music!
Art:
Our Art focus this term will be spirals. We will explore different ways of creating spiral patterns and develop our drawing and mark-making skills. The children will experiment with lines, shapes and movement while developing their confidence in using different artistic techniques.
Phonics- Little wandle:
As in Reception, we will continue to follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised phonics programme. Our learning will focus on Phase 3, building on the children's existing knowledge of sounds and developing their confidence with blending and reading words. Phonics will be an important part of our daily routine and will support the children as they continue to develop their reading and spelling skills.
Reading at Home!
Reading at home is incredibly important, and we really appreciate all the support you give with this. The children will bring home two types of books each week:
Little Wandle Phonics Book: This book contains sounds and words that your child has been learning in school. It is designed to allow them to practise their phonics and develop confidence with reading independently. Please don't worry if your child wants to read the same book more than once! Repeated reading is incredibly valuable. Seeing the same words and sentences regularly helps children to become more fluent, confident and accurate readers.
Reading for Pleasure Book: This is a book for you to enjoy together. It is an opportunity to share stories, look at pictures, talk about characters and events and simply enjoy reading together.
Please encourage your child to read regularly at home. Even 10 minutes of reading each day can make a huge difference to their progress, vocabulary, imagination and enjoyment of books.
Year 1 learning structure
Although the children are now in Year 1, we still believe that opportunities for practical, hands-on learning and exploration are incredibly important. We will provide opportunities for the children to apply the skills they have been learning through practical activities, creative tasks, investigations and independent exploration. These experiences help the children to develop their independence, problem-solving skills, communication and confidence, while also allowing them to follow their own interests and curiosity.
We are really looking forward to the term ahead and all of the exciting learning opportunities we have planned. Our main priority is that the children are happy, confident and excited to come to school each day. We want them to develop a love of learning while feeling safe, supported and proud of their achievements.
Thank you for your continued support. Working together with you makes such a difference to your child's learning and development.
If you have any questions, worries or concerns, please don't hesitate to speak to us at the end of the school day or contact Miss Jermy through classdojo.
Many thanks,
Miss Jermy
Useful Links
Little Wandle Information for Parents
A website with videos and information to help parents support their child's phonics learning.
Topmarks
A website with a variety of games to help children learn.
Maths Games
Maths activities specifically for children in Year 1.
Phonics Play
Practise your phonics with these free games. Can you sort the 'rubbish' words from the 'treasure'?
Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
Department for Education's page for parents wishing to find out more about the Year 1 phonics screening check