Year 1

Welcome to Year 1

Year 1 Curriculum Leader

Miss Victoria Smith

We have three classes in Year 1. The class teacher in Year 1C is Mr Cein and the teaching partner is Mr Tom. The class teacher in Year 1T is Mrs Tina and the teaching partner is Miss Zoe. The class teacher in Year 1V is Miss Victoria and the teaching partner is Ms Martina.

The Year 1 curriculum will build upon and extend the EYFS curriculum. Although the children are in a more formal learning environment in Year 1, they will continue to learn through exploration, experience, challenge and investigation using both the classroom and outdoor learning environment. We strive to ensure the children increase their independence, ready for their learning the following year.

Below you will find links to useful information.

Tips for Year 1 Parents and Carers

  1. Look for opportunities to talk about numbers. Encourage adding by counting on in their head, counting in 2's, 5's, and 10's forwards and backwards.

  2. Share books with your child - read to them and talk about the story.

  3. Reading every day for 5 - 10 minutes - regular reading practice is vital to support their progress. Children who read every day are more likely to become confident readers by the end of Year 1 giving them a solid basis for their future learning.

  4. Encouraging correct pencil grip - the more a child holds a pencil correctly, the more natural it will be to them.

  5. Encourage correct letter and number formation when writing at home. If they reverse letters ask them to re-write it to develop fluency.


At Park Lane, we teach the children to read accurately and fluently with the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme.


Year 1 suggested reading books

Man on the Moon by Simon Bartram

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Elmer by David Mckee

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

The Lion Inside by Rachel Bright

Toys in Space by Mini Grey

Peace at Last by Jill Murphy

Not Now, Bernard by David Mckee

Dr. Xargle’s Book of Earthlets by Jeanne Willis

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Tuesday by David Wiesner

Triangle by Mac Barnett

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Once the children have successfully completed the Read Write Inc programme, they go on to develop their comprehension skills in Whole Class Guided Reading sessions. These sessions allow children to read challenging and engaging texts. These stories have been specifically selected to stimulate your child’s passion for reading, giving them the ‘reading bug’. During Guided Reading sessions, we assess the children’s understanding of the text through engaging activities based on VIPERS.

What are Vipers?

VIPERS is an acronym to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK’s reading curriculum. They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts. You can find example questions for each of the VIPERS below. They can be used when listening to your child read at home. There is also a list of books for each year group, where you can find stories that are suitable for your child to read at home.

VIPERS stands for

Vocabulary Inference Prediction Explanation Retrieval Sequence or Summarise


At Park Lane we use the White Rose Mathematics scheme. Click on the picture to find out more information.