Bethersden Primary School

Owl Class

Welcome to the Owl Class web page for 2023-2024!

A very warm welcome to Owl class’s home page! 

What a successful start to the academic year we have had in Year 1 across our first three terms - officially half way through the year! We cannot wait to see what Term 4 has in store for us, as we continue many of the projects we began in our previous term. 

This page will be updated throughout the year with information regarding our topics and learning for the term ahead. You can find all relevant information regarding our latest term below.

Class team

Class Teacher: Miss Sammy Hughes (Mon-Thurs)
Class Teacher: Miss Michelle Rockingham (Fri)
Learning Support: Miss Rhiannon Mexter

Class documents

Owl Class Timetable - Term 4: 

owl timetable term 4 2023 2024.pdf

Owl Timetables - Term 3

Owl Timetable - Term 2

Owl Timetable - Term 1

Useful web links

Oxford Owl

Spelling Shed

NumBots

Owl Classroom

Our learning

As a school, we follow the Cornerstones Curriculum. Each ‘long’ term (so 3 times a year) the topics change. There is always one main topic and several companion units.

In Terms 3 and 4 the main topic is a Geography unit called ‘Bright Lights Big City’. In this project we will learn about the physical and human features of the United Kingdom, developing on our previously learnt skills across our learning in term 1 and 2 in Geography. We will then focus on the characteristics and features of our capital city, London. To support this learning what was once our 'toy museum' will be transformed into a London museum. 

The companion units for this project are 'Rain and Sunrays' (Art and Design), Seasonal Changes 'Science' and Taxi! (Design Technology). The latter will teach us about wheels, axles and chassis and how they work together to make a vehicle move. This links wonderfully with our main project, as we will be planning, designing and making our very own London taxi. 

English

Children in Year One continue to develop their phonetic knowledge using Read Write Inc (RWI). We carefully group the children according to their phonic knowledge. This ensures each child is being supported, yet challenged, aiming for excellent reading progress.

Children will have Read Write Inc lessons from Monday-Thursday. Our RWI lessons are followed by a whole class English lesson, where we will continue to focus on reading skills as well as our writing skills. The theme will vary each week, our learning may be based on a story, inspired by a picture, an event or even a piece of music! On Fridays alongside our whole class English lesson, we will also have a focus session on Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG), as well as dedicated handwriting sessions. 

Reading

Children will have access to two books to read at home. One will be an eBook set by their RWI leader to match their phonic ability. These will be set on Thursdays. Each eBook will be accompanied by a quiz, which provide opportunities for children to apply their phonic knowledge, as well as developing their comprehension skills. Children will also have a RWI Book Bag Book, a physical book that they will take home that is matched to the phonics they are learning. Book bag books are changed accordingly every Monday and Thursday. Therefore each eBook and Book Bag Book will stay with each child for a few days and should be re-read to support fluency in reading.

For those children who have completed the RWI scheme, they will then move onto reading AR (Accelerated Reader) books. These books are equally matched to the child’s reading ability, as an initial quiz provides each child with a reading level. The children will then get to choose a reading book within their book band levels, providing each child with autonomy over their reading.

Maths

We use Power Maths as the main driver in our Maths learning, but this is supported with a range of practical activities to ensure that each child has a secure understanding of the concepts taught.

Last term we began our new Mastering Number program, where we focus on developing our fluency and understanding of number. We have been thoroughly enjoying using a range of maths manipulatives, particularly the introduction of the rekenreks. 

Term 3 coverage

English – Read Write Inc will continue in the same way that the children are used to from Bumblebee class. Our core text for our English learning this term is The Fish Who Could Wish by John Bush. This rhyming text will support our learning of poetry within Term 4, as we explore this genre of writing. An accompanying text we will begin our term with is Paddington by Michael Bond. We are excited to draw on our Geography learning about our capital city, linking this with our learning in English. There will be continued opportunities to explore these texts using VIPERS (reading comprehension skills), as well as inspiring our writing tasks.

In Maths this term we will continue to develop our understanding of number, focusing on numbers to 20. We will continue to explore a variety of methods to add and subtract, including using a range of resources - one particular resource being the number line. 

In Science we will continue to learn about 'Seasonal Changes'. This project teaches us about the seasons, seasonal changes and typical seasonal weather and events. We will learn about measuring the weather and the role of a meteorologist. We will also begin to learn about the science of day and night and recognise that the seasons have varying day lengths in the UK - which links nicely to our Geography learning. 

Geography is our main unit within our Cornerstones curriculum, with our driver project ‘Bright Lights Big City’. In this project we will learn about the physical and human features of the United Kingdom, developing on our previously learnt skills across our learning in term 1 and 2 in Geography. In Term 3 we began exploring our capital city of London, identifying many famous landmarks. This term we will learn about another capital city from a different country - Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. We will identify similarities and differences between these two capital cities. 

In our DT project ‘Taxi!’ we will learn about wheels, axles and chassis and how they work together to make a vehicle move. We will then be designing and making our own London Taxi's - linking nicely to our Geography learning. 

In Computing our new unit 'Data and Information' introduces learners to the concept of grouping data. We will begin by using labels to put objects into groups, and labelling these. We will then demonstrate our ability to sort objects into different groups, based on the properties identified. Finally, we will use our ability to sort objects into different groups to answer questions about data.

In PE this term we will be focusing on Orienteering - we will be taking part in parachute games, scavenger hunts and obstacle courses! In order to make PE lessons run more smoothly, we will continue to ask for children to come into school dressed in their PE kits on their PE day. In Owls our weekly PE session will take place every Friday. So please make sure that your child comes into school every Friday dressed in their PE kit.

In PSHE this term we will begin learning about ‘health and well-being’, as we explore 2 key areas: similarities and differences and coping with change. Within the first area we will explore what makes us special and unique, and will learn to embrace our differences. In the latter we will think about how we have changed during our lifetime already, and begin to discuss what the future us might look like - as we focus on future aspirations. 

Home Learning

Here at Bethersden our home learning tasks are set each week on Tuesday via Google Classroom. Each child has their own login details to access this (which includes an email address and password – these can be found in their yellow reading records). Once set every Tuesday, the tasks will be due the following Monday. Each week we dedicate time to sharing and celebrating completed home learning tasks, something we and the children always look forward to. The tasks will range from physical activities, discussions, questions to explore – all activities we hope you will enjoy!

Alongside tasks set on Google Classroom, there will also be a weekly spelling ‘assignment’ set on Spelling Shed. We would also encourage children to practise their maths skills using NumBots. Links to both of these sites can be found here on our class page. All login details can also be found in their yellow reading records.

We are looking forward to continued support with home learning this new academic year.

How can you support your Year 1 child?

There are many ways that you can support your child to have a healthy, fun filled Year 1!

  • Please make sure that they are on time, have the correct uniform and have had a healthy breakfast.
  • Read! Listen to them read, read to them, let them see you enjoying reading – reading in any form will help foster a love of books – something that we are passionate about at Bethersden Primary.
  • Please ensure that they have the correct PE kit. Our PE day is on Friday, so please ensure your child comes into school on Fridays wearing their PE kit.
  • Provide a water bottle (hydrated brains are happy brains!) - Please make sure these are filled with water only and not squash/juice. 
  • Please provide appropriate clothing for outdoor learning, we will not let the weather stop us!  We are also needing to keep the room well ventilated, so an extra layer, or a blue fleece may be appreciated as the weather gets colder.

Contact us

We are always available after school if you need a quick catch up. If you need a longer or more private meeting, please book this in at the office and we will be happy to accommodate.

If you have a non-urgent message for the team you could email the families email on the address below. This is checked regularly and the message will be passed on to the class team.

families@bethersden.kent.sch.uk

We cannot wait for another successful term in Owl Class!

Very best wishes,

The Owl Team