Pear Tree Mead Academy
Educating children 2 – 11
Pear Tree Mead, Harlow, CM18 7BY
( 01279 836181 Fax 01279 423504
Head Teacher Mrs C. Peden BA(Ed) (Hons) Chair of Governors Mrs W Beckett
Acting Deputy Headteacher Mrs R Arnould BA (PGCE) Acting Assistant Headteacher Mrs S Martin LLB (Hons) (PGCE)
Year 1 – Autumn Curriculum Letter
Dear parents/carers,
We would like to welcome you back to school and hope you have all had a lovely summer holiday.
In the Autumn term our experience will be Superheroes. To introduce the children to the experience we have talked to them about what they would like to learn, therefore this experience is very child led and will be lots of fun.
Ø In Science, the children will be comparing and using materials. The children will will be learning all about the different parts of their bodies, the five senses and the human skeleton. Also we will be completing science investigations.
Ø In PE, the children will have the opportunity to participate in swimming, hockey and gymnastics.
Ø In Music the children will be learning a variety of harvest songs and will be working on a Christmas production.
Ø In Geography the children will be learning more about where we live and to link with history about a hero from our country from a long time ago. We will be learning the story of Robert Scott and discussing Antarctica.
Ø In Art the children’s main learning will be looking at the artist Andy Warhol. They will also be making their own pop art paintings. They will also experience lots of other skills and techniques for different art pieces.
Ø In DT the children will be designing, making and evaluating their own superhero vehicle using a range of materials.
Ø In computing the children we will be learning many new skills, this will include basic skills, turning on and using a laptop. There will also be lots of work on e-safety. The children will start to learn about computer programming and will be using different programs to create their own superhero.
Ø In RE the children will be learning about Christianity and Christian festivals.
Ø In SMSC and PSHE the children will be learning about different relationships and the wider world. We will be teaching all the British values especially democracy. The children will also learn about the TERRIFIC values; which for this term are ‘Fair’ and ‘Independent’
Ø In English , phonics , reading and writing will be our main focus areas.
Ø In Mathematics the children will be learning about number, addition and subtraction, and lots of other shape space and measure areas
As a school we believe in each child developing a growth mindset. We will be teaching the children to become super learners. We will be encouraging to try their best, never give up , practise, its ok to make mistakes and to challenge themselves.
PE will sometimes be taught outside and therefore it is important that the children have warm clothing in school to be able to do this. Although PE will be taking place on a set afternoon, please ensure that the children have both kits on their pegs in school all week in case the session has to be changed. This consists of a green polo shirt with school emblem, black shorts with school emblem, a Zipped hoody with school emblem, a change of shoes (plimsolls and trainers) and jogging bottoms. It is very helpful if your child’s clothing is named!!
Class / PE DayJuniper / Thursday
Cedar / Friday
Children will be swimming each week so please ensure that they have the correct swimming kit, including a swimming hat and also £1.50 to cover the cost of running the sessions.
Class / Swimming DayJuniper / Wednesday
Cedar / Wednesday
We would also like to thank parents for their co-operation in developing the children’s independence and coming in to class on their own. If you have any concerns you need to speak to the classroom teacher about, please tell the adult at the door you would like to talk, and the teacher will happily meet with you after the children have been let out.
During Autumn term homework will be set half termly and we will be using the homework web system. Your child will be given all of their half terms homework at the beginning of each half term. They will then choose a piece of homework to complete every week from the homework web. Each piece of homework will have different point values depending on the challenge of the homework which will be added up each week. At the end of each half term a homework winner will be awarded a certificate and a prize. This will hopefully give your child a sense of challenge and enjoyment. Remember we do have a homework club which you can sign up for. Homework will be collected in and marked on a Thursday, with books being returned to each child on a Friday.
Children will also be allocated a set of spelling each weeks and will be tested each Wednesday.
We would like to encourage the children to be reading frequently at home. You can change your children’s books any day after school in the library. Please note that we will notify you when your child should move up to the next colour band. Pease remember to bring your children’s reading diaries in every day as they will be checked regularly. In order to encourage the children to read at home we are setting up a new reward system. Each child will be given a raffle ticket after they have read 5 times at home, this raffle ticket will be placed in a special pot and at the end of each half term a winning ticket will be drawn and someone will win a special prize. Obviously the more times they read, the more tickets they collect and the more of a chance they have to win!!
In addition to our planned curriculum there will be additional special days and events taking place, notification of this will be sent to you in separate letters.
Yours sincerely,
Miss Butler and Miss Radomska
Year 1 Teachers
Registered address: Pear Tree Mead Academy, Pear Tree Mead Harlow Essex CM18 7BY
Company Registration number: 09141452