Welcome to Year 1 - Barn Owls!

Hello everyone and welcome to Barn Owls! 
You will find lots of useful information on this page about your learning in Year 1.

Here is the Barn Owl team! Mrs Cronin (left) is the class teacher, Mrs Matthews (right) is our teaching assistant who helps us in class every day and Miss Croucher (centre) helps us in the mornings.   

January 2021 - A note from Mrs Cronin

As the school has moved to remote learning, we will be sending messages with learning jobs each afternoon ready for the next day.  Please email pictures of your child's learning, feedback on how they found the tasks and any questions to Year1@hillshott.herts.sch.uk. Many thanks for all your hard work so far, we have been very impressed with all of your motivation and resilience during this unusual start to a term! 

Here are some key points of information

• We open the classroom doors at 9am everyday and the register is taken at 9:10. 
  (We let the Kingfishers come in to school first and wash their hands, then it is our turn).
• Please bring your book bag into school everyday, with your reading book and reading record inside.  Then we can change your books on a Monday and Thursday, and write in your reading record when we read with you at school.
• Every child can choose a library book to bring home.  These are changed on Fridays. 
• We do PE twice a week, on a Monday and a Thursday.  These lessons are held outdoors whenever possible. Every child needs a full PE kit in school and a pair of trainers or plimsols. 
• Homework is given out on Fridays and due in on Mondays. 
• Spellings are given out on Fridays and collected the following Friday.  
• Our school day finishes at 3:10pm

Please see some pictures of our classroom below.  Our classroom is a bright, happy place to learn and we are all responsible for keeping it safe, clean and tidy. 

Here (above) is the presentation we would have shared with you as part of the Welcome Meeting at the start of the year.  Instead, we have included it here for you to watch.  It includes further information about the transition from Reception and information about our school day.  

Please also find links to documents which are always useful when supporting your child's writing. We have included a list of non-decodable words (tricky words) which are useful to practise reading by sight, as well as sound mats showing all the sounds we have been learning in Phonics lessons.

General Information

What do I need to bring to school?

Everyday children need to bring in their book bag, water bottle, reading book and reading record. Children need to bring their homework folders on Mondays and spelling folders on Friday each week.  

If I have any concerns or problems, who can I speak to? 

Your first point of call is your child's class teacher.  Please speak to them to arrange a mutually convenient time to have a discussion.  We ask that if you would like to speak to us at home time, please wait for the rest of the class to be dismissed so our full attention can be given. Parents evenings are held once a term for you to discuss your child's progress. 

Useful Links

Year 1 phonics lessons - https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCP_FbjYUP_UtldV2K_-niWw/playlists

Resources for everything - https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/class-management/school-closure-home-learning-classroom-management-key-stage-1-year-1-year-2

ICT games (general) - http://www.ictgames.com

General games and support - https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/

Phonics play - https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk

Phonics - https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com

Maths - http://sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm

General - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zjxhfg8

Maths - http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks1numeracy.html

Literacy Shed - https://www.literacyshed.com/home.html

Online books - https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/have-some-fun/storybooks-and-games/

Numbots - https://numbots.com/

Alphablocks - https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/alphablocks

Number blocks - https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/numberblocks

BBC Bitesize -  https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/z3g4d2p

Maths games - https://www.topmarks.co.uk

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/zjpqqp3/year-1-lessons/1

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zn9447h

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/znbnscw

At Hillshott Infant and Nursery School we follow the Penpals handwriting scheme.  Our younger children are introduced to the four main characters which help them to memorise the sequence for writing each letter correctly.  The key thing to remember is that almost all the letters start from the TOP, except d and e. 

Lots of activities support pencil control, including colouring, drawing, playdough, sand play, squeezing pegs, threading and many more!  This is why we provide a variety of activities to build up children's finger strength.