Year 1

Welcome to Year 1

This half term our topic is

Our Island, Your Island

For our new topic, we will be exploring the continent of Africa! We will compare life in Harbury to life in Tanzania. To kick-start this brand-new topic, we will take a walk around Harbury. The purpose of this trail is to learn about the history of the village and its local landmarks - the Harbury Heritage Group has kindly offered to accompany us.

In Geography, we will locate the UK and Tanzania on a world map, along with the continents in which they are situated. We will also identify human and physical features of our local area and compare them to those in Tanzania. Additionally, we will explore seasonal and daily weather patterns in Harbury and note how they differ from Tanzania.

The children will be given plenty of writing opportunities related to this topic, starting with a recount of our walk around Harbury. We will then explore numerous African tales throughout this topic. Throughout the year, we will have a series of writing tasks based on traditional tales – the next one being 'Billy Goats Gruff.' We will conclude the topic by writing our own letters to our sponsored child in Tanzania.

We will continue to develop our writing skills by emphasizing the use of capital letters, finger spaces, correct letter formation, and full stops, alongside applying our phonics knowledge. Phonics sessions will remain a daily part of our timetable.

In Science we will be exploring 'Animals including Humans'.

In Art, we will be creating sculptors inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. In DT, we will be making fruit kebabs.

In maths we will focus on the following topic areas: Place Value, Addition and Subtraction, Length and Height, Mass and Volume. 

In RE we will be thinking about 'What does it mean to belong to a faith community?’. We will also be gaining a deeper understanding about our values of Collaboration and Hope. Our reflection area will demonstrate these values and how we incorporate these into our classroom.

In PE, we will focus on Send & Receive and Fitness during the first half term and then move onto Dance and Strike & Field.

Harbury Windmill

Harbury Windmill

Walk around Harbury

Walk around Harbury

Thatched Village house in rural Tanzania

Thatched Village house in rural Tanzania

Classroom in Ulyankulu, Tanzania

Classroom in Ulyankulu, Tanzania

All the Animals Were Sleeping

All the Animals Were Sleeping

Anansi and the Golden Pot

Anansi and the Golden Pot

One Day on our Blue Planet: In the Savannah

One Day on our Blue Planet: In the Savannah

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Three Billy Goats Gruff