Welcome to Year 1
Our day begins
Our day begins as soon as you arrive at school, which can be anytime between 8.15 am and 8.40 am. The classrooms are on the first floor of Fiveways. On the door of each classroom and on the hall noticeboard you will find a sign which tells you about some of the exciting things happening that week.
You and your belongings
You will find your peg outside the classroom in the long corridor. Your peg is clearly labelled and will be a safe home for your coat, games bag, swimming bag and ballet bag. Inside the classroom, you will find a drawer with your name on it, where you can place your book bag. Your reading pack needs to be taken out of your book bag and put in the book box on top of the drawer unit.
You will also have a snack box with you in the morning, which should contain one fruity item to eat, and something to drink. We keep the snack boxes in a large box just inside the classroom door.
You will leave your “Water Aid" bottle on the tray so that you can have a drink during the day. You can refill it at the water fountain in the fish tank hall.
Pocket-sized toys may be brought into school, but these must stay in your drawer until it is playtime.
You can also bring in your own pencil case with named pencils and felt tip pens. These are then kept in a special box so that we can get at them easily throughout the day.
In the mornings
We start each morning with handwriting and other activities to keep you busy until everyone has arrived and it is time to call the register. Whilst you are busy getting on with this, you may be asked to read your school reading book.
After the register is called we all go to Assembly at 8.50 am.
When Assembly is over, it is a time to work wonders with your numbers in Numeracy and get to grips with reading, listening and writing in Literacy.
Break time
At playtime we usually eat our snack in the playground and this is the time you can play with your pocket toy. In the playground there are balls and games to borrow, or you may be lucky enough to play in the castle play area. When the whistle blows you have to stop and then wait until you are asked to line up.
At lunchtime
Lunch time begins at 12.30 pm. After play, we wash our hands and go into the dining room to eat. Once in the dining room we queue quietly to choose our lunch. There is always plenty to eat and you may have a second helping.
After we have eaten we then have play time before starting the afternoon’s activities.
In the afternoon
We learn about the world around us and the way people used to live a long time ago. We have fun in creative activities, French, music, scripture and PE. Practical science takes place once a week.
During the Spring Term you will have the chance to go swimming on a Friday afternoon. Swimming lessons take place at Medina Swimming Pool in Newport. We also visit the local library.
We start to pack up and tidy the classroom at 3.30 pm and get ourselves ready to go home at 3.40 pm.
Club activities are available on four evenings a week.
Rewards
If you have worked hard during the day, or have done something kind for someone else, you will be rewarded.
We share “Big News" for extra special reasons. Your name will appear in the Big News diary.
Jobs to do
We all try hard to keep the classroom looking neat and tidy, especially your table and the reading corner.
We take it in turns to collect and return the register and to be the leader of the line.
Out and about
We like to go out on several trips a term. We travel in the school minibuses and have to be on our best behaviour. You take a letter home about the trips telling you when they are, and if you need to bring anything special into school to take with you.
At home
Every night we ask you to read your book to someone in your family. Don’t forget they will have missed the section you will have read at school that day, so you will need to tell them all about the story so far. It is helpful if they write a comment in your Reading Record book.
On Friday you can choose a book from the classroom book corner to enjoy at home over the weekend. This is returned on Monday.
You will also be given a new list of spellings to learn which are then tested on the following Friday morning. It is always useful to learn them in a different order from the list, in case they are jumbled up on test morning. Every night we ask you to read, cover and write your spellings in your little blue book. You will also have your Forget-me-nots list to read and spell.
If you make anything, write a great story, or have found an interesting book, you can bring these to school to share with your teacher and all of your friends.
What’s going on
Your family will know what we are doing at school because our weekly activities are posted on our classroom door and in the fish tank hall each Monday.
We send “Update" and “RJS News" home in your book bag and write messages in the Reading Record Book. Party invitations and invitations to our special events also travel to and fro in the book bag, so please remember to empty it out carefully each evening, to make sure you don’t miss anything important.
Parents can speak to teachers at any time and come to special evening meetings during the year.
The teachers write reports about your progress twice a year.
"We all work hard in Year 1, so do your very best and enjoy all the fun."