Topic Overview
Paddington
Key Question?
Where in the UK would Paddington like to live?
This term, our whole school will embark on an exciting geography adventure entitled “Our Wonderful World.” Building on the foundations laid in our first topic, “NE3 and Our City,” children will take the skills and knowledge they developed when exploring local geography and apply them to places further afield. From the rugged beauty of the UK and its coastal regions in Key Stage 1 to the diverse landscapes, extreme weather patterns and tourism trends of continents across the globe in Key Stage 2, pupils will broaden their horizons and deepen their understanding of the world around them. Through our key concepts—location and place, change, and cause and effect—children will investigate how environments differ, why they change, and how human and physical processes shape the planet. This topic will spark curiosity, encourage critical thinking, and inspire a sense of global responsibility as pupils discover the wonders of our world and their place within it.
Geography
The children will explore age-related atlases, and develop their place knowledge. We will first look at where we live, and build out from there to learn about the United Kingdom. We will be labelling countries and capital cities, and exploring geographical language such as ‘rural,’ ‘urban’ and ‘coastal’ in order to compare places within the UK. The children will look at characteristics of each UK country, allowing them to consider similarities and differences. This will enable them to compare London and Lima; Paddington’s two homes. Using their atlas skills and all their place knowledge, the children will be encouraged to plan and decide which UK country Paddington would most like to live in.
Key Vocabulary:
- atlas
- country
- capital city
- rural
- urban
English
In Literacy this half term, we will look at applying different SPAG rules that we have learned. This will include adding -ed endings to verbs to make them past tense, adding -ing and adding -s and -es to make plurals. All of this will help to make our writing more dynamic and creative. We will focus our writing on Paddington Bear and write detailed character descriptions of him and write in role as Paddington to complete a postcard from different parts of the UK. We will continue to encourage the children to be brave with their writing and use their phonics to support them in sounding out words.
Please continue to read daily. We encourage the reading of any books at home, as well as our Little Wandle books. When reading with your child, please try to discuss what has happened and how characters are feeling. It would be great if you could predict what may happen and encourage expression.
Thank you for your support!
Key Vocabulary:
- past tense
- present tense
- first person
- plurals
Phonics
Phonics continues to be taught daily in Year 1. At school we use the Little Wandle program and there is a great part of the website just for parents/carers: https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/ Take a look at the following resources:
Maths
This half term, we will deepen our understanding of the number system to 20 counting forwards and backwards, recognising the place value of each digit. This will enable us to compare quantities of objects and numbers. We will continue to develop methods for addition and subtraction. We will use our number bonds to help us cross ten, and subtract using a variety of skills on a number line and a one hundred square. We will also practise counting in 2s, 5s and 10s and consolidate our bonds to 10 and 20. For Shape, Space and Measure we will focus on measuring length and height of different objects. We will be learning what tools we can use to measure and will begin to look at using centimeters.
Websites:
- Log onto Numberbots - your log in has been sent home
Key Vocabulary:
- tens
- ones
- place value
- length
- height
Science
Our main focus in science this half term will be animals. We will learn to classify animals by their characteristics and their structure. The children will recall facts about common groups of animals including mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians. We will also look at animals which are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores and sort groups of animals according to what they eat. We will even look at teeth of animals to see how they have adapted over time.
Key Vocabulary:
- amphibians
- birds
- fish
- mammals
- reptiles
Computing
We will consider how and why people use the internet, the benefits of digital devices, and how people communicate safely with others online. We will then use the Green Screen to create postcards from different UK landmarks.
Art and Design Technology
Each half term the children will have a week dedicated to art and/or DT. During art week, we will collapse the curriculum and deliver a full arts week.
Art:
In art we will begin by appraising Karen Lederer’s work using printing. We will explore printing with everyday objects and materials. After looking at colour and composition, we will use Paul Klee’s painting ‘Castle and Sun’ to explore shape and printing. The children will recap colour mixing and choose suitable materials with which to print and create their own version of his work.
Design Technology:
We will spend time exploring different mechanisms including sliders and how they can be used. We will design and create our own storybook inspired by the tale of Humpty Dumpty. The children will think carefully about a design for their book and assemble different sliders to make their characters move in different directions. Once the children have finished, they will visit our Reception children to share their creations and get some feedback on their designs.
Music
Listening, appreciating, interpreting, playing, developing... The Year 1 children are lucky enough to have the Music services visiting us each week next half term. A specialist music teacher will come in each Tuesday and help teach the children to play the glockenspiels! We will also be appraising the work of the composer Anna Clyne.
PE
During our gymnastics unit the children will explore and develop basic gymnastic actions on the floor and using low apparatus. The skills of jumping, rolling, balancing and travelling will be used individually and combined to create movement sequences. We will understand the use of levels, directions and shapes and build our confidence by performing in groups to our peers.
The children will also explore travelling actions, movements and skills during our Dance unit and learn why it is important to count to music and use this in their dances. Our children will work individually and together to create ideas in relation to two themes- The Lost Toy and On Safari.
PSHE and Religious Education
PSHE
Our big questions this half term are:
- How can I look after the world?
- How can I say safe online?
Through these questions we will be exploring what it means to be part of community. We will look at What rules are; how we can care for others and what we can do to look after our world. We will also be learning about how to communicate safely online using different digital devices.
Religious Education
Through weekly RE lessons will learn about the importance of the Bible to Christian people, and some of the well-known characters and stories. We will discuss faithfulness, obedience, trust, as well as making and keeping promises.
Our Values
Please Instagram us @archibald_1st if you see your child being #AFSCurious #AFSCaring #AFSCreative or #AFSCourageous
If you would like any further details about this half term's curriculum, please speak to your child's teacher.