Year 1

Year 1 at Holy Cross is exciting and part of an incredible learning journey where every child is provided with the best opportunities to achieve their full potential. 

We provide engaging, ambitious and nurturing experiences so that our children develop as critical and creative thinkers, who can work cooperatively, solve problems, express themselves with confidence, engage with the wider world and contribute to creating an equal and fair society. 

In September we develop the classroom environment to support a smooth transition from Early Years and to continue to promote independent learning. 

Most importantly of all, we always have children’s happiness and well-being at the heart of everything we do.

Curriculum Intent

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School is a unique and special place where our faith is at the heart of all we do. Our children learn to live the Gospel values of love, forgiveness and peace.  Within our federation of Aspire London we use the National Curriculum and believe that our children deserve for it to be tailored to their needs.  With this in mind we have prioritised the things we want our children to enjoy, experience and remember during their time with us. 

Our curriculum at Aspire London has a set of ‘drivers’ developed from the deep knowledge of the pupils and their families within our School community.

The drivers which shape our curriculum ensure we give our pupils aspirational opportunities throughout their primary school years.  We provide our children with the wealth of knowledge required to be informed and thoughtful members of our community and wider world.  The breadth of our curriculum encourages pupils to be ambitious, develop an inquiring mind and a life-long love of learning.

Curriculum Drivers

Significant People: Aspire London will: Develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the world and people, past and present, who shape it Provide identifiable role models to raise ambition and aspiration

Community: Aspire London will: Immerse the children in the historically rich and diverse nature of London Give pupils an understanding of the positive impact of migration and a cultural appreciation of our community

Equality & Justice: Aspire London will: Empower pupils to be advocates who address issues of prejudice and discrimination Ensure pupils value fairness and resolve differences through positive discussion

Environmental Responsibility: Aspire London will: Educate children of the need to protect God’s planet from environmental damage Create eco- friendly citizens who are aware of the impact of their individual actions and those of the wider world.

Autumn Term 2024

English	Our focus texts will be Traction Man and The Adventures of the Egg Box Dragon and trough these texts we will draft and write by composing and rehearsing sentences orally, sequence sentences to form short narratives. In narrative, we will create settings, characters and plot. We will write for different purposes including about fictional personal experiences and fictional narratives. We will also re-read writing to check it makes sense and make simple revisions. Reading- We will begin to increase familiarity with a range of books, explain and discuss understanding and discuss the sequence of events in them. We will answer and ask questions about what has been read. Phonics- We will revise graphemes, tricky and high frequency words from Phase 3 and 4. We will also introduce new Phase 5 graphemes and tricky words for reading and spelling.
Maths	Place value- We will be sorting, counting and representing objects to 20. We will be counting forwards, backwards, one more and one less within 20. We will be comparing objects, introducing greater than, less than and equal to, comparing numbers to 20, ordering objects and ordering numbers within 20. We will also introduce ordinal numbers. Addition and Subtraction- We will be reading, writing and interpreting mathematical statements involving addition (+), subtraction (–) and equals (=) signs. We will be representing and using number bonds and related subtraction facts within 10. We will also add and subtract one-digit numbers to 10, including zero. Geometry- We will learn to recognise and name common 2-D shapes (rectangles, squares, circles and triangles) and 3-D shapes (cuboids, cubes, pyramids and spheres).
RE	We will be learning about the story of the creation from Genesis. We will learn about the responsibility we have to look after God’s world, and understand that God made us because he loves us. We will be able to explain what a Rosary is and how we start a prayer with the sign of the cross. We will learn the story of the birth of Jesus. We will understand that Mary is our mother too, and reflect on how she looks after us.
Science	We will identify and name a variety of common animals, and understand the terms carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. We will be able to identify the five senses and say which body part is associated with each sense. We will know the names and order of the seasons and identify common types of weather.
History/ Geography	Toys – we will be learning about how toys have changed from the past to the present, including within the memory of parents and grandparents. We will be looking at how the materials used to make toys have changed. We will learn about toys used in the past and present in different countries around the world, including Nigeria.
Computing	We will be able identify and recall icons and resources on MLE. We will learn how to open, save and print, and understand and explain the importance of logging out. We will be able to explain what a database is and understand that data can be represented in picture format.
PE	Gymnastics – we will be learning how to climb on and off the equipment safely and how to travel in different ways including rolling. Dance – we will learn how to copy and repeat actions and how to create a sequence of movements. Games – we will catch and bounce balls, learn basic striking and receiving skills, and know how to throw underarm and overarm.
Art	Painting and Drawing – We will learn how to draw lines of varying thickness, and how to use a pencil to mark make, dots and lines to demonstrate pattern and texture. We will name the primary and secondary colours, understand that we can mix primary colours to make secondary colours. We will learn what an artist is and describe the work of various artists including; Joan Miro, Picasso, Van Gogh and Paul Klee.
DT	Textiles- We will explore and evaluate different types of puppets. We will create a design criterion based on research and talk about ideas and design a simple glove puppet through annotated drawings. We will design, make and evaluate our own puppet.
Music	We will learn how to use our bodies to create different sounds. We will be recognising core rhythms, and similar rhythmic patterns and syllables. We will be playing simple patterns on percussion instruments and learn and perform songs about the weather and seasons.
PSHE/RSE	Me and my relationships – we will understand that classroom rules help us to learn and to be safe. We will learn that we belong to different groups and communities and understand simple qualities of friendship. We will also learn that we can give thanks to God in different ways and that we are all part of God’s family, and that God loves us. Growing and changing – we will learn the major internal body parts and understand the bodily processes associated with them. We will recognise the things we could do as a baby, a toddler and can do now. We will also discuss who they can talk to if they feel uncomfortable about and secret they are told, or told to keep.

Autumn Term Knowledge Organisers

BBC Bitesize and Purple Mash are excellent resources for you to use. Click on the icon, have a look and see what you can learn!