Welcome to Moonstone Class!
Moonstone Class is made up of 25 wonderful Year 1 children and our class teachers are called Mrs Keenan and Mrs Robinson.
(Mrs Robinson teaches us every Monday and every other Tuesday, and Mrs Keenan teaches us the rest of the days).
We are very lucky across Year 1 to be supported by lots of fabulous teaching assistants at different times during the week, and these are: Mrs White, Miss Hawkins, Mrs Dowthwaite, Miss Gaunt and Miss Bossman.
On our webpage you will find some important information such as our spellings and any important dates for your diary. These will also be communicated on Class Dojo where further regular updates will be shared so please make sure you are connected.
We hope you enjoy seeing all of the fantastic things that we do in Moonstone Class.
Feel free to send me a message any time on Class Dojo, or through my school email:
ghardaker@dovedale.derbyshire.sch.uk
(I got married last year but I still use my old email address!)
Key Dates
- Monday 1st June - Back to school
- W/C 22nd June - Celebration Week
- Wednesday 24th June - Expert group afternoon
- Thursday 25th June - Class swap morning
- Friday 26th June - Inset Day
- Friday 3rd July - Sport's Day
- Wednesday 15th July - Meet the teacher
- Wednesday 22nd July - End of the year, parent drop in
- Thursday 23rd July - Inset Day
PE Days
Our PE Days for Summer 2 are as follows:
Indoor PE - Every Monday afternoon
Outdoor PE - Every Wednesday afternoon
The PE kit should include:
A plain red/white t-shirt (with or without the school logo)
A plain black sports jacket
Plain black or navy joggers or shorts (weather dependent)
Trainers or plimsoles
Reading
Your child will receive a reading diary and a wallet containing 2 books. The first book is a black and white ‘storybook’ – this will be a copy of the book your child has learned to read in their Read, Write Inc phonics group. They will know this book and should be able to read it fluently – this is their book where they can show off their great reading skills to you! The second book is a ‘Book Bag Book’ – this book will be matched to your child’s phonics knowledge. Although they will not have read this book in school, they should be able to read it quite easily. This book enables your child to apply their phonic skills independently and for this reason, this is the book we encourage you to focus on at home.
Soon the children will be receiving a library book. This will be a book to share together at home. We promote a love of books and reading at school and would like to encourage this at home. We do not expect children to be able to read the sharing book themselves, but we do expect them to enjoy listening to it, learning from it and talking to you about it!
In order for our phonics teaching to work effectively, it is essential that all books are returned to school. After hearing your child read at home, or sharing a book together, please make sure all books go straight back into their reading wallet / bag so they are always readily available at school. Depending on their phonics group, children will be given new reading books every 4 to 6 days.
Please note:
- Some black and white storybooks have a space for the child's name. Please leave this blank as these are not personal copies, and will be re-used.
Finally, a reminder that we ask for you to hear your child read at least 3 times each week. Please sign your child’s reading diary after each read and include any comments you would like to make. If your child has read at least 3 times each week, their name will get entered into our Reading Raffle!
Spellings
After the first few weeks of school, your child will receive weekly spellings to learn at home. We don't start them straight away as we want to give your child time to settle into Year 1 life before throwing something else at them! Once we start spelling tests, please support your child with practising their spellings at home so that they are ready for their weekly spelling test. The spelling test will take place every Friday. We don't try to 'catch the children' out with the spelling tests - we help/support them (especially at the start) and we use them as more of a learning point!
When we give the children the spelling booklets, the children will also receive log in details for a website/app called Spelling Shed. Spelling Shed is used across the school and it allows the children to practise their weekly spellings in a fun way. The children love using Spelling Shed.
Please see the link below for other fun ways to practise spellings at home.
Maths
We start off this half term with a Multiplication and Divison focus. Children will recognise equal groups and make equal groups through sharing and grouping. They will take part in a 'sharing picnic' where they will have to share the items out equally with their friends ensuring everyone has an equal amount! We will be adding equal groups, making arrays and doubles. After this learning block, we will then move onto Fractions! Children will recognise half and quarters of objects, shapes and quantities. We will take part in another picnic but this time, children will only get half of everything! They will have to ensure that when they cut their items in half, they are split equally! We end the year with place value to 100, time and money. It's a busy mathematical term!
Science
In Science this term the children will finish off their 'Animals including Humans' learning block by exploring the diets of different animals through dissecting poo - it's not as gross as it sounds I promise! They will find out whether the poo came from a carnivore, a herbivore or an omnivore. The children will explore the 5 senses by taking part in a 'senses' investigation working out what they can smell/taste/feel/hear etc. We will be going on a Minibeast hunt to use observations to compare and contrast animals first hand. Throughout the rest of the learning block, the children will continue their learning around the seasons with a specific focus on Spring/Summer. They will observe changes in surroundings, temperature, rainfall, day length and will make tables and charts. The children will also explore how to stay safe in the sun as we move into Summer.
Religious Education (RE)
In RE this term the children will continue to explore the key question from last half term 'What does it mean to belong to a faith community?'. This half term we will delve even deeper into the question. The children will build on their knowledge by discovering how Christians and Muslims welcome a new baby into their faiths. They will explore traditions within Baptism/Christening/Aqiqah ceremonies/ celebrations and the importance of these within each religion before comparing the two welcoming ceremonies to find similarities/differences. Children will then explore traditions and the importance of Weddings within the Christian religion. They will explore why making promises to other people is important within a Christian Wedding. The children will get to act out and be a part of a Christian Wedding.
PSCHE (Personal, Social, Citizenship, Health, and Economic Education)
Throughout this term, the children will be exploring the knowledge and learning block 'Bullying Matters'. Throughout the sequence of lessons the children will explore what bullying is and how it can hurt other people. They will recognise that their behaviour can affect others. They will identify different types of bullying including physical, emotional and online and they will understand that all of these are unnacceptable. The children will learn how to recognise when people are being unkind to them or others and who to tell and what to say - identifying how to get the help and support that they need. They will explore what it means to be an upstander and a bystander in bullying situations and they will be able to identify strategies to resist teasing/ bullying if experienced or witnessed.
Within the last 2 weeks of this half term, our PSHCE lessons will largely focus around keeping ourselves safe especially with the Summer holidays fast approaching! The children will explore how to keep safe around roads, trainlines, water, fire and the sun. They will also explore what to do in an emergency and dialing 999.
Computing
Our computing block for this half term is Programming Animations. Children will be introduced to on-screen programming through ScratchJr. They will explore the way a project looks by investigating sprites and backgrounds. They will use programming blocks to use, modify, and create programs. Children will also be introduced to the early stages of program design through the introduction of algorithms.
Art
In Art this half term, our focus is 'Painting and Printing'. Children will explore Primary and Secondary colours through colour mixing. They will then use their knowledge to paint and print in a range of different styles including the use of nature.
PE
Our 2 blocks in PE this term are 'Athletics' and 'Sending and Receiving'.
Athletics - Within athletics this half term, the children will practise adjusting their running pace smoothly, demonstrate a variety of jumping styles, feel the effect of throwing from sitting, kneeling and standing, perform hop and jump combinations with balance and control and will throw and retrieve equipment safely. To practise these skills the children will be taking part in a range of games/activities such as stuck in the mud, cops and robbers, frogs and grasshoppers, toad in the hole and walk the plank.
Sending and Receiving - Within sending and receiving this half term, the children will practise dribbling a ball, passing a ball, receiving a ball and shooting at a target using rolling and kicking. To practise these skills, the children will be taking part in a range of games/activities such as alien invasion, rob the nest, space invaders, animal dribbling and cannon ball collect.
