Class 1 - Miss Billson
Welcome to Class 1!
A huge welcome to Class 1, I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and I cannot wait to meet all our brilliant new starters and see all my lovely year 1's again.
Families, a big welcome to our school, within the first term we will hold welcome meetings for you to attend where I will explain everything about our class that you will need to know! For the meantime, this page will be updated throughout the year to provide you with key information such as timetables and planning.
In class one, we are a mixed age class of EYFS and Year 1 children. We are very fortunate to have several staff members who work with us to ensure we have the best time and learn lots!
Key Information:
Staff in Class 1 - Miss Billson (Teacher) , Mrs Richardson (LSA), Mr Riddell (LSA) , Mrs Trelawny (LSA), Miss Hughes (Cover teacher), Mrs Evans (Music Teacher)
Please note that on a Wednesday morning the class will be taught by Miss Hughes as this is Miss Billson's SENDCO time. On Thursday afternoons, the class will be taught by Mrs Evans and Mr Riddell as this is Miss Billson's PPA time.
PE - Mondays and Thursdays
What to bring - All items to be named please. Water bottle, snack, coat (we will be outside in most weathers) , wellies (that are left at school), indoor shoes, bag (the children often want to bring their creations home.)
Trips - Throughout the year we may arrange for class trips, you will be informed via Arbor.
Assessment - Year 1 have their phonics screening check set by the government in July. They will also complete NTS assessments at the end of every term. Alongside these, all children will have regular phonics assessments as part of Little Wandle and of course as their teacher I am constantly assessing their understanding of content and the ELGs.
Our timetable
In our timetable you will only see key lesson times. Whilst it looks very busy, please be assured that amongst this the children have on going continuous provision time throughout the day as well as allocated time for all children to explore their surroundings. (More will be explained in our welcome meetings.)
We follow several schemes in our school and for Class 1, the blocks of learning have been appropriately grouped and adjusted around to provide the children with linked learning experiences through termly topics which you can find in our long term plan.
Maths - White Rose Maths
English - Literacy tree
Phonics and reading - Little Wandle
Science - Kapow
Art/DT - Kapow
Geography/ History - Kapow
PE - PE planning
RE - Leicestershire agreed syllabus
PSHE - Kapow
Computing - Kapow
EYFS - Birth to Five matters and development matters documents are continuously referred to.
We follow several schemes in our school and for Class 1, the blocks of learning have been appropriately grouped and adjusted around to provide the children with linked learning experiences through termly topics which you can find in our long term plan.
Maths - White Rose Maths
English - Literacy tree
Phonics and reading - Little Wandle
Science - Kapow
Art/DT - Kapow
Geography/ History - Kapow
PE - PE planning
RE - Leicestershire agreed syllabus
PSHE - Kapow
Computing - Kapow
EYFS - Birth to Five matters and development matters documents are continuously referred to.
2025 - 2026 planning overview
| long_term_plan_25.26.docx |
Autumn term
During the first terms of EYFS, children will be going through a big transition in their school lives and we are here to support them every step of the way. We will be learning lots of new routines and getting into some group tasks in EYFS whilst always learning through the continuous provision and enhanced provision in our classroom.
For year 1s, this leap is huge and children often find the workload difficult we aim to support them with this whilst ensuring the curriculum is being taught at an appropriate level for their age. They are fortunate to be in same classroom with very familiar staff therefore they have the safety and security of knowing their environment, expectations and routines.
Autumn is not only transition time but we also lead into the Christmas season, full of glitter, joy and nativities!
Key dates this term:
26th August - Children begin/ return to school
17th October - School closed (Staff inset day)
18th October - 26th October - Half term (School closed)
27th October - Children return
19th December - Christmas holidays end of term
For year 1s, this leap is huge and children often find the workload difficult we aim to support them with this whilst ensuring the curriculum is being taught at an appropriate level for their age. They are fortunate to be in same classroom with very familiar staff therefore they have the safety and security of knowing their environment, expectations and routines.
Autumn is not only transition time but we also lead into the Christmas season, full of glitter, joy and nativities!
Key dates this term:
26th August - Children begin/ return to school
17th October - School closed (Staff inset day)
18th October - 26th October - Half term (School closed)
27th October - Children return
19th December - Christmas holidays end of term
Phonics
At Wymeswold we follow a phonics scheme called Little Wandle. This is a whole class approach meaning all children are taught phonics by 1 teacher at the same time. Children who need further support will have structured interventions outside of phonics lessons. As we are fortunate to be a mixed year class, this means that some children in Year 1 may need to repeat some EYFS phonics lessons in addition to the year 1 lessons if this is applicable to your child, I will speak to you about this.
In year 1 children have to sit a government phonics screening test, this requires all children to attempt at reading 40 words (a mix of nonsense and real words). Children are allowed to segment (sound it out) however they must be able to blend. These words include sounds from phase 2,3 and 5 so it is key children are secure in all of these to pass. It is vital that children practise their phonics outside of school to develop their reading and speaking.
Reading - Following the Little Wandle program, children will have group reading sessions with an adult at least twice a week. (This may vary due to events)
Children will bring books home to read that are a suitable level for them, they must be reading fluently and show good comprehension skills before they can progress.
Reading fluently - Remind children to use their magic finger to follow the words, children should be segmenting (sounding out) the words in their heads and reading without separating the sounds we call this blending. Children will get used to doing this the more you read with and encourage them to do these things.
I would recommend all parents to visit the Little Wandle website, they have a fantastic parents section which shows you what we will teach and how we do so. There are also various quick videos to allow you to support your child in the best way at home, ensuring every child is hearing the correct pronunciations both at school and home as this can often cause confusion. For example M would sound as "mmmm" not "muh". For parents | Letters and Sounds (littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk)
As children progress, we try to encourage children to say the letter name when spelling for example many children are used to saying M as "muh" not "Em" we try to remove misconceptions for the children by using the clear letter names when discussing spelling and graphemes.
Phonics websites:
For parents | Letters and Sounds (littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk)
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
At Wymeswold we follow a phonics scheme called Little Wandle. This is a whole class approach meaning all children are taught phonics by 1 teacher at the same time. Children who need further support will have structured interventions outside of phonics lessons. As we are fortunate to be a mixed year class, this means that some children in Year 1 may need to repeat some EYFS phonics lessons in addition to the year 1 lessons if this is applicable to your child, I will speak to you about this.
In year 1 children have to sit a government phonics screening test, this requires all children to attempt at reading 40 words (a mix of nonsense and real words). Children are allowed to segment (sound it out) however they must be able to blend. These words include sounds from phase 2,3 and 5 so it is key children are secure in all of these to pass. It is vital that children practise their phonics outside of school to develop their reading and speaking.
Reading - Following the Little Wandle program, children will have group reading sessions with an adult at least twice a week. (This may vary due to events)
Children will bring books home to read that are a suitable level for them, they must be reading fluently and show good comprehension skills before they can progress.
Reading fluently - Remind children to use their magic finger to follow the words, children should be segmenting (sounding out) the words in their heads and reading without separating the sounds we call this blending. Children will get used to doing this the more you read with and encourage them to do these things.
I would recommend all parents to visit the Little Wandle website, they have a fantastic parents section which shows you what we will teach and how we do so. There are also various quick videos to allow you to support your child in the best way at home, ensuring every child is hearing the correct pronunciations both at school and home as this can often cause confusion. For example M would sound as "mmmm" not "muh". For parents | Letters and Sounds (littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk)
As children progress, we try to encourage children to say the letter name when spelling for example many children are used to saying M as "muh" not "Em" we try to remove misconceptions for the children by using the clear letter names when discussing spelling and graphemes.
Phonics websites:
For parents | Letters and Sounds (littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk)
https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
