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Multiplication, Division and Fractions

In this unit, children will begin to develop an early understanding of multiplication, division, and fractions through practical activities and real-life examples.

Key Learning

1. Multiplication (Grouping and Counting)

As mathematicians we will:

Learn that multiplication means making equal groups

Count in 2s, 5s, and 10s

Use objects, pictures, and numbers to solve simple problems

Begin to use language such as “groups of” and “lots of”

2. Division (Sharing and Grouping)

Learn that division means sharing equally or grouping

Share objects into equal groups

Solve simple problems using practical resources

Use language such as “share”, “group”, and “equal”

3. Fractions (Halves and Quarters)

Recognise and find ½ (a half) and ¼ (a quarter)

Understand that fractions are equal parts of a whole

Find halves and quarters of shapes and small quantities

4. Problem Solving and Reasoning

Use practical equipment (counters, cubes, drawings)

Explain their thinking using simple mathematical language

Solve simple word problems involving sharing and grouping

How can you help at home?

Practice counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s together

Use everyday objects (toys, snacks) to make equal groups

Encourage sharing items equally between family members

Talk about fractions when cutting food (e.g. “Let’s cut this sandwich into halves”)

Key Vocabulary

multiply, divide, equal, group, share, lots of, half, quarter, fraction

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In this fun and engaging music unit, children will explore rhythm, storytelling, and expression through songs and games based around a playful “cat and mouse” theme.

Unit Songs and Pieces

Three Little Mice

What Do You Want to Eat, Little Mouse?

The Old Grey Cat (Steve Grocott)

As Musicians, we will use a singing game as a starting point to help children create and explore their own rhythms. They will begin to read and write simple music using basic notation. Children will also learn how music can tell a story and create different moods by changing how it sounds.

Key Musical Focus

Children will explore:

Mood – how music can feel happy, scary, or calm

Tempo – how fast or slow the music is

Dynamics – how loud or quiet the music is

Rhythm – patterns of sound and silence

Timbre – the different types of sounds instruments and voices make

Dot notation – simple ways to write down rhythms

Key Musical Learning

Children will:

Create their own rhythm patterns and put them together to make short compositions

Begin to write down their ideas using simple symbols (such as dots and sticks)

Sing songs and chants with expression and confidence

Listen carefully and copy rhythm patterns

How can you help at home?

Clap simple rhythms and ask your child to copy them

Sing songs and nursery rhymes together

Talk about how music sounds (Is it fast? Slow? Loud? Quiet?)

Encourage your child to make up their own rhythm patterns using claps or household objects

Key Vocabulary
rhythm, tempo, dynamics, mood, timbre, pattern, compose, notation.

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Library - Monday afternoon with Mrs Austin

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Library - Monday afternoon with Mrs Austin

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Every Monday afternoon, the children will visit the school library with Mrs Austin.

During this time, they will have the opportunity to explore a wide range of books and change their current library book.

Please ensure that your child brings their library book with them every Monday so they can take part in choosing a new one.

We are also excited to share that we are hoping to begin a “Secret Reader” in Year 1. This will take place at 2:15pm every Monday. We would like to invite any parents, grandparents, family members, or carers to let us know if they would like to take part.

This would involve letting the Year 1 team know of your interest, and we will then confirm a Monday date and a book for you to read with the children. It will be kept as a surprise for all of the children, including your own child, to make it extra special and exciting.

More information will follow, but please do let us know if you would be interested.

We are also looking ahead to the summer term and would love to invite any parents who may be interested in volunteering as a parent reader. Your support would be greatly appreciated as we continue working hard to develop the children’s reading skills.

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In this unit, children will begin to learn about Islam. They will explore what Muslims believe about Allah (God) and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and understand some important religious objects and practices.

Key Learning

Children will:

Learn that Muslims believe in one God, called Allah.

Be introduced to some of the 99 names of Allah, which describe His qualities (e.g. kind, merciful).

Learn that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Prophet of God and an important role model for Muslims.

Learn that the Qur’an is the holy book of Islam

Understand that Muslims treat the Qur’an with great respect

Explore how it is handled carefully, kept clean, and often placed on a special stand

Children will learn about and explore how Muslims use special religious objects.

Develop respect for different beliefs and traditions

Talk about similarities and differences between their own lives and the lives of others

Key Vocabulary

Islam, Muslim, Allah, Prophet, Muhammad, Qur’an, holy, respect, prayer, artefact

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As Writers, we will be exploring The Secret of Black Rock by Joe Todd-Stanton and use it as inspiration to write our own return stories.

In our exciting new writing unit inspired by The Secret of Black Rock, we will be building confidence, creativity, and key writing skills.

As Writers, we will learn to:

Write imaginative return stories to entertain our readers

Sequence our sentences to create short narratives with a clear beginning, middle, and end

Build clear, complete sentences by combining words and joining ideas using and

Strengthen our vocabulary by adding suffixes (-ing, -ed, -er, -est) and using the prefix un- to change meaning

Use punctuation confidently, including capital letters (for names and I), full stops, question marks, and exclamation marks, while remembering accurate spacing between words

We are looking forward to seeing Sparrow grow as imaginative, confident, and increasingly accurate writers throughout this summer unit!

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This half term in Year 1, we will be reviewing and revising all of the sounds taught so far to help children confidently segment and blend for both reading and spelling.

Our focus is on building fluency, accuracy, and confidence as we prepare for the Phonics Screening Check in June.

The Summer 1 term will continue to be fun, practical, and focused on revision, with daily opportunities to retrieve and practise the sounds the children have learned throughout the year.

We have blocked out the next few weeks to allow children time to revisit all sounds, with particular focus on the trickier ones, to ensure they feel confident and ready.

Children will be:

Practising real and nonsense (pseudo) words

Revisiting tricky sounds

Strengthening their decoding and blending skills every day

A huge thank you to all the parents and carers who attended the Phonics Parent Information Evening. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces! Thank you also for your continued effort and hard work supporting your children over the Easter holidays — it truly makes a difference.

Please see the video on this Padlet that revisits all the sounds children need to know. This comes directly from our ELS Phonics Scheme and was shared during the information evening. It is a great resource to watch together at home.

Below are some additional links to free games and activities that can help children practise their phonics reading and skills in a fun and engaging way:

Phonics Play

Oxford Owl

BBC Bitesize – Phonics

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PE days:

Please note that our PE days for the Summer Term have changed:

Tuesday – Dance with Mrs Potter

Wednesday – Gymnastics with Mrs Austin

Our PE Units This Term:

This Summer Term, Sparrows will be taking part in Dance and Gymnastics. Across both units, children will continue to develop confidence, coordination and control while working safely and creatively with others.

As gymnasts, we will be learning to:

use simple gymnastic actions and body shapes

take off and land safely when jumping

perform shapes using large and small body parts

travel with control and good body tension

recognise and link ‘like’ actions into short sequences

carry and use apparatus safely

work confidently, listening to and valuing others

As dancers, we will be learning to:

move to music, responding to different moods and rhythms

explore space, levels, direction and stillness

move as different characters, such as animals from the jungle

copy and mirror a partner’s movements

create and perform movements that show friendship

explore basic Lindy Hop actions

understand that a dance has a beginning, middle and end

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Geography - Where in the world do people and animals live? 

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Geography - Where in the world do people and animals live? 

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As Geographers, we will go on an exciting journey around the world to discover where people and animals live!

We will learn the names of the seven continents and five oceans, and have fun finding them on maps, atlases and globes.

We will discover that we live in Europe and begin to spot the UK and other amazing places around the world.

We will explore hot and cold parts of the world and learn about fascinating animals that live there, like elephants in warm places and penguins in icy lands.

We are especially excited for our trip to Chester Zoo, where we will see lots of amazing animals and think about where in the world they come from!

We will find out how some animals, like birds, travel long distances to warmer places during the year.

We will learn about the different places people live, from busy cities to peaceful countryside, sandy coasts and tropical rainforests.

We will ask lots of curious questions and become confident using maps and globes to explore our world.

We will also learn exciting new geography words to help us talk about our discoveries.

We can’t wait to travel the world together and become amazing young geographers!

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Personal Development - Coram Life Education (SCARF): Rights and Respect

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Personal Development - Coram Life Education (SCARF): Rights and Respect

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As Safe Cuddington Learners, the children will be developing important personal, social and health skills through our SCARF Coram Life Education unit: Being My Best.

Key learning will include:

Understanding how to keep our bodies healthy by making good choices about food, including learning how to “eat a rainbow” and enjoy a balanced diet.

Exploring what it means to eat well, recognising healthy and less healthy foods, and how these choices help our bodies grow strong.

Learning about the importance of personal hygiene through Harold’s Wash and Brush Up, including how to look after our teeth and keep our bodies clean.

Discovering how to stay healthy and prevent the spread of germs with “Catch it! Bin it! Kill it!”.

Building resilience and confidence through Harold Learns to Ride His Bike, understanding that it’s okay to make mistakes and keep trying.

Celebrating kindness and positivity through Pass on the Praise!, recognising how encouraging others helps build strong friendships and self-esteem.

Exploring Inside My Wonderful Body! to develop an awareness of how our bodies work and why they are special.

Through stories, discussions and practical activities, we will continue to build confidence, independence and a strong sense of responsibility for our health and wellbeing.

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As Safe Cuddington Learners, the children will be exploring our No Outsiders text Max the Champion by Sean Stockdale and Alex Strick, as part of the No Outsiders programme developed by Andrew Moffat.

This story supports children in understanding fairness, inclusion and celebrating difference, particularly through the theme of disability and challenging stereotypes.

Key learning will include:

Recognising that people may have different abilities and needs, and that these differences should be understood and respected.

Understanding that everyone can achieve and be successful in their own way.

Challenging assumptions or stereotypes about what people can or cannot do.

Valuing fairness and recognising when something is unjust.

Learning how to show respect, kindness and encouragement towards others, especially when they face challenges.

Through discussion, role-play and reflection, we will continue to build a classroom community in Sparrows, where everyone feels included, supported and proud of who they are, reinforcing the message that there are No Outsiders in our school.

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Max the Champion🏆🥇 - By Alexandra Strick & Sean Stockdale

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As Creative Cuddington Learners, the children will be developing their creativity through our Art unit Sculpture – Making Birds.

As artists, we will be learning to explore ideas, experiment with materials and express ourselves through both drawing and sculpture.

Key learning will include:

Using graded pencils to sketch and invent ideas, including exploring hatching techniques to add tone and texture.

Adding detail and definition to our work using markers and pen.

Making a 3D shape by using a range of construction techniques to create our own bird sculptures.

Using our sketching skills and imagination to mark, make and adapt papers ready to construct a 3D object.

Through exploration, creativity and reflection, we will continue to build confidence as artists, taking pride in our ideas and celebrating the unique outcomes we create.

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Year 1 Science: Animals Including Humans

In this topic, we will explore different types of animals, including humans. We will begin to understand how animals live, grow, and stay healthy.

As Scientists we will be learning to:

1. Types of Animals
Identify and name common animals, including:

Mammals (e.g. dogs, humans)

Birds (e.g. robins, owls)

Fish (e.g. goldfish)

Reptiles (e.g. snakes, lizards)

Amphibians (e.g. frogs)

Animal Groups and Features

Describe what animals look like

Group animals based on their features (e.g. wings, fur, scales)

Learn how different animals are similar and different

3. Carnivores, Herbivores, and Omnivores

Carnivores eat meat

Herbivores eat plants

Omnivores eat both plants and meat

4. The Human Body

Identify basic body parts (head, arms, legs, etc.)

Learn about the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch)

Understand which body parts are linked to each sense

5. Keeping Healthy

Eat a balanced diet

Exercise regularly

Maintain good hygiene (washing hands, brushing teeth)

How can you help at home?

Talk about different animals you see in books or outside

Visit a zoo, farm, or park

Encourage your child to sort animals into groups

Discuss healthy food choices and daily routines

Practice naming body parts and senses

Key Vocabulary
animal, mammal, bird, fish, reptile, amphibian, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, body, senses, healthy