Year 1 Curriculum Content

During the Autumn term, the children in Year 1 explore the overarching question of ‘Who shaped the world we live in today?’ Their class novel is The Cat and the King written by Nick Sharratt, which allows the children to look at various themes including castles, moving home, class, catastrophes and baking. This class novel lends itself perfectly to the teaching of the curriculum as a whole, with Year 1 pupils studying The Industrial Revolution in History and learning all about the four countries and capital cities of The United Kingdom and its surrounding seas in Geography. Everyday Materials is the focus of their Science work, with Charles Macintosh being the key scientist that is studied. In Art, Year 1 pupils look at the work of Vincent Van Gough as a basis for developing their drawing skills and in DT, they make puppets as the outcome for their unit on textiles. The children develop their knowledge surrounding Christianity ,specifically focussing on God and The Community, in RE and in PSHE explore the areas of ‘Being me in my world’ and ‘Celebrating Differences’ through the Jigsaw scheme of work. Computing lessons allow the children to develop their awareness of technology around us and how to create digital paintings. In Music, Year 1 pupils learn how to use their voices expressively and creatively and focus on developing their running and Gymnastic skills in PE.

The overarching question during the Spring term is ‘Where could we go?’ and the children in Year 1 read the class novel of Yours Sincerely Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa. Key themes for exploration throughout this term include Africa, flight, friendship, the environment and nature. Year 1 pupils learn all about Charles Darwin and study the Science topic area of Animals Including Humans. Their key geographical place for study is Kenya, comparing hot and cold places around the world, and using this as a focus for painting landscapes in Art. The DT project for Year 1 pupils requires them to build an animal shelter structure, based on the animals they have looked at in their Science topic. In RE, the children study the religion of Islam, specifically looking at God and The Community. Music lessons provide the Year 1 pupils with the opportunity to play tuned and untuned instruments as well as listen with understanding and concentration to a variety of music. The children are able to explore and develop skills based on digital writing and grouping data in Computing and various areas of ball skills in PE lessons. Through Jigsaw, Year 1 pupils think about their dreams and goals for now and the future as well as relationships in PSHE.

The Summer term’s overarching question asks the children to think about ‘Has our world always looked this way?’. Through the study of their class novel The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton, the Year 1 pupils explore the key themes of adventure, discovery, magic and imagination. They look at the formation of The National Trust, specifically studying Clumber Park, which creates the basis of their collage work in Art. Science topics for Year 1 in this term are Plants and Seasonal Change across the whole year. In PSHE, the children are asked to explore the areas of ‘Healthy Me’ and ‘Changing Me’, which links to developing knowledge and understanding of Health and Wellbeing during their PE lessons. Computing lessons allow for the Year 1 children to develop their skills surrounding moving a robot and introduction to animation whilst DT looks at furthering cooking skills. RE lessons study places of worship, linking to the religions of Christianity and Islam, previously studied earlier in the year.