Year 1
Class Saint: St Christopher
Class Teacher: Mrs. R. Tsai
Curriculum
Spring Term 2026 Curriculum Map
February 2026
Exploring our local area!
This half term for Geography the children have been learning about our local area of Maldon. We have looked in depth at maps of Maldon and what places make up our town, identifying these with map symbols. We also explored the types of houses and the different jobs that people have in Maldon with some parents giving a recount of their working days.
To accompany this learning we had our Travelling Ted called Jamie Bear visit
various locations in Maldon. The children waited with anticipation each week to see what adventures he had been up to with their favourites being Morrisons to help with Mrs Tsai’s shopping and stopping at Costa for a special treat!
We consolidated the geography learning with a walk around Maldon where the
children followed their map to walk around the town in their groups. They had to
complete worksheets based on the locations they could find and identify which street the place was on and its relevant map symbol. They also had to spot the different types of houses we had learnt about with all children eager to point these out correctly. We also had a lovely opportunity to go inside All Saints Church and look at the font, stained glass windows, organ and saw where Maldon’s famous fat man Edward Bright was buried.
The children were a credit to St Francis and themselves especially in the cold
weather behaving well and enjoying the outing around their local town. They even got to warm up with some chips from the local chip shop as a treat once we returned to school.
R.E.
This half term we have been following our Red Branch 3 scheme called Galilee to
Jerusalem and learnt about how Jesus was as young boy and the importance he had to others to help them follow him and the right ways of God. There is only one small part of scripture (Luke Chapter 2 verses 41-50) that talks about Jesus as a young boy where he was left at the temple in Jerusalem for Passover. The children created their own temples from wooden blocks and recreated this story.
Furthermore, they have used their creative role playing ideas to re-enact the story of Zaccheaus, who was a tax man and took more money from people than he should. Zaccheaus sat waiting to see Jesus high up in the tree and was called down by Jesus to spend time with him. Following which Zaccheaus was a changed man and repented for the wrongs he had done by giving the people back their money 4 fold that he had taken.
Finally, the children created some wonderfully colourful fish which we have displayed on our classroom wall to represent the story of Peter recasting his nets following the orders of Jesus and becoming one of his disciples.
December 2025
Maths
In maths this half term we have had a big focus on our number work and have
extended our learning to include numbers 1 through to 20. We have played games where we have had to match the number to its word name and used the parachute to hide numbers for the children to then run under when lifted to identify the number called.
Further to this we have been strengthening our addition skills and Year 1 children
can confidently use four different methods to add numbers together including using their fingers, a number line, counting objects and part whole models. Worksheets have been completed to cover these four methods with practical activities to support these methods including jumping on a number line which the children drew in chalk on the playground and pretended to be our frog jumping from number to number for the sum given. We also created a “pond” for our lucky ducks and created islands with bridges to represent our part whole models – the children had to use their maths and addition skills to put the right number of ducks on the islands (the parts) and then add them together to cross the bridges to make a total (the whole). With a sound understanding of the methods above, we were then able to use these to start our learning of subtraction. This can be a daunting topic for children as it is the reverse of everything they have just learnt for adding, however the children have impressed me so much by how well they have been able to adapt their thinking and transfer this into subtraction problems. Super well done Year 1!
History
The children have enjoyed learning all about how toys have changed over the years. We have looked at toys they play with now, toys when they were a baby, toys their grown ups including grandparents played with and then even further back to the Victorian Era. The children understand what a timeline is along with new vocabulary such as past, present, before, now, old and modern. We had great fun looking at their baby pictures and trying to guess who the child was in the photo and discussing their favourite toys which a lot of them still play with today. They have been able to compare what toys were like in the past to those they play with now looking at materials used, colours, complexity verses simplicity, and range of toys available.
The children were shocked that when their grown-ups were little there were no ipads or internet, just basic toys and colouring books to keep us entertained!
To finish this topic we have had the pleasure of being able to invite History off the
Page into school for a workshop on Victorian toys. This has been an excellent
addition to support our learning as it has given the children a hand on experience of seeing what toys were like in the past and how they were played with in their own Victorian Toy Museum. Children were able to play with the artefacts and explore the materials, functions, colours and sizes comparing them to what we have today. In the afternoon the children were very excited to become toy makers themselves and were able to make their own toys including:
Thaumatropes – 2 images either side of paper (for example a bird on one side and a cage on the other) which when spun quickly on string come together to show the bird in the cage.
Clothes Peg dolls made from wooden clothes pegs and fabric.
Pecking toys – the children coloured in two sides of a bird which when attached
round a straw and fed through an elastic band. When the elastic band was stretched this allowed the bird to peck down it.
Spinning tops made from wooden sticks the children sharpened to a point and
attached a circular piece of card.
Boats from cork with paper sails.
Ball catch – a polystyrene ball was threaded onto a piece of string and attached to the top of a paper cone the children coloured in.
The children thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and had lots of fun. It was a great
way to complete our topic of the history of toys and a valuable contribution to their learning. The lady running the workshop commended all the children for how well they behaved, how respectful they were with the toys and equipment and how amazing they had been throughout the day which made us very proud.
October 2025
This half term in Science the children have been learning about different animal classifications. Children know there are 5 groupings of animals – mammals, reptiles, fish, birds and amphibians and can confidently name an animal that belongs to each group. This was demonstrated during a practical activity where the children sat in a circle with a range of animals and they each had a turn of putting an animal into the correct classification.
Everyone got their chosen animal correct – well done Year 1!
We also played a game outside to differentiate which animals are carnivores,
herbivores and omnivores where the children had to find animal cards around the
playground and name whether their animal ate meat, plants or both.
As part of the topic of animals the children have been learning about the human
body and discovered that we are mammals too! We discussed that mammals such as dogs, cats and elephants have legs, arms, skin, fur (our hair) and drink milk as a baby just like we do as humans. Further to this we have learnt our body parts through movement and song and also identified each of the 5 senses links to a different body part. We played a sound bingo game to test our listening and used a feeling bag of assorted items and textures to test our sense of touch.
We also enjoyed an activity where the children had to use their noses to try to guess the smell of different jars without seeing the item inside. Full pictures of these activities can be found on Google Classroom.
This topic has allowed the children to broaden their knowledge on animals and
humans through both written work and interactive activities and they are well on their way to being super scientists!
Academic Year 2024-2025
A Trip to Abberton! - June 2025
Year 1 had an amazing day at Abberton Reservoir, exploring seasonal changes, plants, and local wildlife. During nature walks, the children spotted seasonal signs, identified various plants, and observed birds and insects in their natural habitats. They took part in hands-on activities that enhanced their understanding of the natural world, building on their classroom learning. It was a fun and memorable experience for everyone involved.
R.E. - The Ascension of Jesus - May 2025
This half term, our Year 1 children completed their learning about the Ascension of Jesus. They explored the story of how Jesus returned to heaven, forty days after Easter, and discussed what it means today.
To help them understand and remember this important event, the children created beautiful pictures using cotton wool to show Jesus ascending into the clouds. This creative activity helped bring the story to life and sparked some lovely conversations about faith and heaven.
Maths - Investigating Length and Height - March 2025
In Year 1, students engaged in practical activities to develop their understanding of length and height. These activities helped them compare, measure, and describe objects using everyday language such as “longer,” “shorter,” “taller,” and “smaller.”
One key activity involved using non-standard units like cubes, blocks, or hands to measure objects around the classroom. For example, children compared the height of different objects using cubes and recorded their findings. They also practiced ordering items from shortest to tallest or longest to shortest, reinforcing their understanding of size differences.
Through these activities, children developed key mathematical vocabulary and began to grasp the importance of accurate measurement. They also improved their problem-solving skills by estimating lengths before measuring and discussing their results. Can you guess how long some of the objects were?
