Homework

Reading

The children that make most progress in year 1 are the children that read regularly at home. We encourage you to spend 10 minutes each day sharing a book with your child. We regularly assess the children and will write the level / colour or book that they are on in their orange reading record. The books are in a box outside of the classroom door and we would ask you to change the books as and when you need to at drop off or pick up.

 Phonics

The children take part in a daily phonics session to learn the sounds they need to become fluent readers. It is helpful if you can practice these regularly at home using flashcards. I’ve included a link to the cards that we use in school.

Common Exception Words

Some words cannot be decoded using phonics; they just need to be memorised. I have added a document showing all the words that children need to both read and spell by the end of year 1 to reach the expected standard. It is helpful to choose 2 or 3 a week to practice, you could hide them around the house, write them in chalk on the pavements etc. Anything to make it fun and memorable. After half term the children will be given a set of these words to learn each week and will take part in a weekly test. 

Letter Formation

Alongside our phonics scheme we teach the children rhymes to help them learn to correctly form each letter. It’s important that the children learn to write each letter correctly, start each letter in the correct place and ensure ascenders and descenders are clearly visible. The children will be given a sheet each week to practice at home and will receive a dojo if they complete it. I have also included all  the sheets here in case anyone is particularly keen to try more.

Show and Tell

In year 1 we begin the year with a daily ‘show and tell’ session. This gives each child the opportunity to stand in front of their peers and share something of interest to them. This could be a toy, an event, a photo, something they have made etc. It is most helpful if the children rehearse a couple of sentences at home to share. Show and tell is an important part of year 1 as it gives the children the opportunity to build confidence and develop their communication skills in a safe environment. We understand that each child is different, and some may not want to take part; this is absolutely fine hopefully as they become more settled in the class, they may develop the confidence to take part. Each child has been allocated a day that they can share if they wish to. Please ensure anything they bring to school is clearly labelled with their name and isn’t too valuable or irreplaceable.