St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School
St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School

Year 1

Curriculum Overview – Autumn

The first lesson in RE when children return in September focuses on the school saint, St Ambrose Barlow. This is then followed by the school mission statement and our class saint, which is St Anna Maria Rubatto. In RE, children cover the first two branches of Discerning Disciples which encompass Creation and Covenant, and Prophecy and Promise.

In Literacy, Year 1 read ‘Supertato’ and ‘Evil Pea Rules’ by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet, focusing on basic sentence structure and skills. Reading and Phonics is completed daily, reinforcing Phase 3 and 4 GPCs and introducing Phase 5 GPCs.

In Maths, the children work within numbers to 20, developing addition and subtraction skills.

In Year 1, Aston Villa deliver weekly PE lessons, developing skills needed for a range of sports.

Spring

The RE units focus on Branches Three and Four of Discerning Disciples. Our class mass takes place in the Year 1 classroom during this term.

In Maths, a combination of Maths No Problem and White Rose is used, and the units covered include property of shape, length and height, and number and place value.

In Spring Term, Phase 5 GPCs continue to be developed.

A plethora of explorers are taught in History; these range from polar explorers to space explorers and underwater explorers.

In Literacy, their writing focuses on types of sentences, conjunctions, word classes, and time conjunctions. These are taught through the genres of classic stories, instructions, and traditional tales.

During Art, we develop weaving skills, making an underwater-themed placemat and a heart bag.

Summer

Year 1 start the term with their class assembly, which takes place in the school hall.

The Phonics Screening Test takes place; the children are well prepared after developing their understanding of Phase 2, 3, and 5 GPCs as well as learning to read pseudo words. In Literacy, a non-fiction booklet is produced, and stories with a familiar setting are taught using a range of books and videos.

In Year 1, time, money, volume and capacity, and mass is covered within Maths.

We visit Twycross Zoo, where the children develop their Science understanding of animals and humans.

In Geography, we conclude the two strands that have been covered, which are Locational, Europe and World Knowledge, and How Our World Impacts on Humans.