As well as being the Class one teacher, I am also the school’s Expressive Arts leader. Class one is a bright, happy, kind and nurturing learning environment, which offers a wide range of engaging, exciting and enriching teaching and learning experiences, catering for all the children’s needs and interests through carefully considered support and challenge.
Building on the skills introduced and taught in Early Years, we continue to develop the core, basic skills of Literacy and Numeracy alongside the other areas of learning experiences – Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Humanities, Science and Technology, and Welsh.
We foster a love of books and reading in Class one, and both fiction and non-fiction texts are used to capture the children’s interests and spark their imaginations across our termly topics of ‘Celebrations’, ‘People Who Inspire Us’ and ‘Beachcombers’.
Many of our class one learning opportunities are co-designed with the children, through our ‘Bright Sparks’ initiative, which allows them to share and discuss their ideas linked to our termly topics and, in turn, helps to develop their communication skills, engagement in their learning and their confidence.
Putting the children at the centre of the learning process, we encourage them to open their eyes and minds to new knowledge, skills and interests in a safe and fun environment. The children are encouraged to be positive in their approach to their own learning.
We want to ignite a passion for learning and further develop the natural curiosity that young children possess, helping them all to become ‘Ambitious, Capable Learners’, ‘Enterprising, Creative Contributors’, ‘Healthy, Confident Individuals’ and ‘Ethical, Informed Citizens’.
As well as helping to promote the children’s academic learning, our Class one teaching and learning also nurtures their social and emotional intelligence and wellbeing. I am very proud to say that I have a professional team of Learning Support Assistants, who help to create a very caring and happy environment for all the children.
The children learn to socialise and work with each other, always with an emphasis on kindness, respect, good manners and tolerance. Mindfulness activities are interwoven into our daily routines. We encourage the children to give new things a try and we emphasise that mistakes are ok – making them is often how we learn more!
Our class one indoor environment is complemented by an array of wonderful outdoor settings, including the adventure playground and yard, extensive sports field, track with trim trail, and our nature garden. The great outdoors is used by Class one daily for playtimes, topic-specific learning tasks, physical activity, mindfulness, Forest School activities and independent work time.
We can often be found cloud spotting, using natural materials to create artwork, building homes for our wonderful wildlife, using our senses to notice seasonal changes and hugging trees to feel closer to nature!
This is complemented by termly trips within the local area, for example, to Colby Woodland Gardens and our beautiful, local beaches. We also venture out into the wider community by taking walks around the village and engaging in activities such as beach cleans and litter picks to help give the children an appreciation of and care for nature, our locality, and the wider world.
It is very important to us in Class one that we work with the children and parents in partnership, and our friendly, caring, calm approach and open communication ensure the best for the children in our care. We encourage good learning habits and we ask the children to read regularly, learn the sounds patterns and words for their weekly spellings quizzes, practise basic mental maths skills and times tables, and their handwriting at home.
The children also have a learning log project to complete once every half term, which offers them an opportunity to build upon their in-school learning as well as showcase their individual interests and strengths.
As a class one team, we support all of the children to work hard, aim high, develop their independence and confidence and to ‘be all they can be’ – our school motto. Crucially, we want all the children to be themselves, to be happy, to thrive, and to love coming to school – if we see smiles and hear laughter, that is when we know we are on the right track!
We are very proud of all the children in class one and look forward each academic year to a happy, fun-filled and productive time supporting, sharing and celebrating the children’s personal progress and achievements.
Please bring your child to school dressed in their P.E. kit on their designated day.
Please bring in a healthy snack for your child to enjoy at morning break!
