Westonzoyland Primary School ‘Embrace Opportunities, Choose Kindness, Value Everyone’
Buzzard – Miss Baker (Year 1)
Buzzard Class (2026-2027) 🙂
Buzzard Class Teaching Team
Miss Baker Mrs Janene Hall
Class Teacher Class HLTA
Mon-Weds
Welcome to Buzzard Class
Welcome to our Year 1 class page! We are looking forward to a fantastic year of learning, discovery and fun. On this page, you'll find an overview of the exciting topics and subjects we will be exploring throughout the year, along with useful information to help you support your child's learning at home. We can't wait to share this exciting journey with you!
English 📚
In Year 1, children build the foundations of their reading and writing by learning what makes a good sentence. They will learn to write complete sentences using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops, before exploring other punctuation such as question marks and exclamation marks. Children will develop their understanding of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, as well as using conjunctions to join ideas. As their confidence grows, they will explore exciting language features, including onomatopoeia and similes, to make their writing more descriptive and engaging. Throughout the year, children will write for a range of purposes, including stories, letters, poems and simple non-fiction texts, while continuing to develop their spelling, handwriting and phonics skills to become confident, independent readers and writers.
Using the book Our Class is a Family as a starting point, children begin the year by building a strong classroom community and establishing positive routines. They will develop their confidence in speaking and listening, share their ideas and experiences, and write simple sentences about familiar topics. Through engaging activities, children will practise using capital letters, full stops and finger spaces while developing confidence and independence in their writing.
Supporting learning at home:
Reading, writing and spelling can all be practised through everyday activities. Read together regularly, encourage your child to write simple sentences, and practise the sounds and words they are learning at school.
Each Friday, just like in Merlin, your child will bring home a mini phonics booklet linked to that week's learning, a spelling bookmark with the focus words, and a parent information sheet to help support learning at home. Just a few minutes of practice each day can make a big difference!
Reading 📖
Reading is at the heart of everything we do. Children are encouraged to read at least five times at home each week, and reading logs are checked daily. Regular reading helps children build vocabulary, improve comprehension, and develop a love of books. If reading isn’t completed at home, children will have the opportunity to catch up during break or lunchtime.
Twinkl Phonics
Twinkl Phonics is a DfE validated full systematic, synthetic phonics programme that allows us to deliver phonics teaching to children from the very beginning of learning to read and write, to full fluency.
In Year 1, children continue to develop and apply their phonics knowledge in their reading and writing. They work towards the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in June, with regular opportunities to practise and consolidate their learning through daily phonics lessons, reading activities and targeted support where needed. This helps children to develop confidence, accuracy and fluency as they become successful readers.
Maths ➗➕
This year, your child will build confidence with numbers and problem-solving through practical and fun activities. They will learn to count, read, and write numbers to 100, understand tens and ones, and compare and order numbers.
Children will practise addition and subtraction using number bonds and simple word problems, and begin exploring multiplication and division through grouping and sharing. They will also learn about fractions, measuring length, weight, and capacity, telling the time to the hour and half-hour, and recognising 2D and 3D shapes.
Children will develop skills in position, direction, and movement, and use their maths knowledge to solve problems and explain their thinking.
Supporting learning at home:
Maths is all around us! Have fun counting steps, spotting house numbers, reading clocks and practising simple mental arithmetic. Encourage your child to talk about how they worked things out and, most importantly, make learning fun!
PE & Outdoor Learning 🏃♀️🌿
PE Day: Monday – Please ensure your child comes to school wearing their PE kit. Throughout the year, children will develop a range of physical skills, including agility, balance, coordination and teamwork, through a variety of fun and engaging activities.
Outdoor Learning: Friday – Outdoor Learning will take place on Fridays every other half term, beginning in Autumn Term 2. On these days, children should come to school in their PE kit and bring a coat and suitable boots. Boots can be left at school if needed.
Staying in Touch ✉️
If you have any questions or concerns, please do come and see a member of staff at the door. For non-urgent matters, I kindly ask that you send an email, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
For more details about what we’ll be learning, please take a look at our Class Curriculum Map on the school’s curriculum page.
We can’t wait for a fantastic year full of learning, creativity, and fun! 🌟
Any questions? Please drop us a line.
In line with school guidance and staff wellbeing, emails will be responded to within 2 working days.