Class 1

Welcome to Class 1

My name is Mrs Leighton and I have the pleasure of being the teacher in Class 1. I have been at Curry Mallet School for 14 years, first as a teaching assistant and then as a class teacher. I am ably assisted by Mrs Cannon and Mrs Otton throughout the week, who support, encourage and nurture the pupils and help provide a curriculum and learning environment rich in experiences. In Class 1 we believe that pupils who feel valued will have the confidence to develop lively, enquiring minds.

Class 1 is a mixed aged class of Reception and year 1 children. Through a combination of continuous provision and adult led activities we aim to provide a curriculum which is exciting, diverse and accessible to all.

We are fortunate to have an amazing outdoor space solely for the use of pupils in our class and we like to make use of this in all seasons and weathers. Weekly forest school sessions further enhance our learning opportunities.

Our newest arrivals always have a Year 5 buddy to help them find their feet and guide them through their first few weeks of school. These buddies are positive role models and help us to develop the Christian values of friendship and compassion.

Homework

The expectation for homework in Class 1 is that your child reads to an adult five times a week and records this in their Reading Log. Spelling homework is to practice spelling games on Spelling Frame, sometimes words are set to practice at other times please practice common exception words. Maths homework is to practice number facts using Numbots. Log in details for all sites are in the front of your child's Reading Log. A creative home learning challenge is set at the beginning of each term; details of this can be found on the Class Curriculum Map which can be found at the bottom of this page.

Spring Term 2026

Is it Easter already? Where has the time gone? We have had such a busy term learning about The Great Fire of London in history, everyday materials in Science, Gunta Stolzl and weaving in Art, understanding beat and tempo and singing songs about the Great Fire in music, learning how to stay healthy in PSHE, the Easter story in RE, ball skills and making shapes in PE and all of that alongside our daily English, maths, phonics, story time, number fluency. There’s never a dull moment in Class 1.

The children have really enjoyed learning about the Great Fire of London and were fascinated by the differences between now and then, particularly how different the houses were and how few facilities they had! Running water and indoor toilets being the most alarming! Whilst some of the children found the idea of the fire frightening, we were able to talk about the positive changes that have been made since then and the lessons that were learned. We talked about smoke alarms and modern firefighters linking back to our everyday heroes project of last term.

Great Fire of London

In Science we have been learning about everyday materials and their properties. We discussed the difference between an object and the material from which it is made. We talked about the properties of materials and discovered whether they were hard, soft, smooth, rough, flexible, strong etc. We investigated whether materials were magnetic or not, whether they were opaque, translucent or transparent and we loved our experiment to test whether materials were waterproof or not. There are some super scientists in Class 1.

Super Scientists

Visit to We the Curious

On 1st April Class 1 went to We the Curious in Bristol to help us consolidate our Science learning about everyday materials. We started the day with a workshop about materials and their properties and had to choose the best materials for a purpose. We had great fun testing the waterproof properties of paper, plastic, wood, tiles and roof felt. We built walls and learned how to make them strong so that they wouldn't fall down. After we had tested materials on a small building, we then had large blocks and roofing materials to make a big house. In the afternoon we went to the planetarium and learned about different planets and then we had an opportunity to explore the museum. There were so many different exhibits and experiments to try. It was a great trip that was enjoyed by all.

Visit to We the Curious

Autumn Term 2025

Another busy term has flown by. The new reception children are now not so new and the Year 1s have been brilliant and welcoming role models for the new children. Class 1 has been filled with fun, friendship and compassion as the children have got to know each other. Old friendships have been rekindled and new friendships have been forged.

The children have "let their light shine" in so many different ways. There has been so much courage and perseverance as we have all had to learn new things. The reception children have worked incredibly hard with their phonics and now most children can read simple CVC words as well as segmenting words to spell. Wow! The progress in handwriting and letter formation has been incredible as many of the reception children were unable to write their name when they joined us in September!

Everyday Heroes

We have really enjoyed our project about everyday heroes this term. In September we decided that Superheroes wore capes, had special equipment, wore special clothes and saved people and animals. We have now discovered that everyday heroes also do those things. We were lucky enough to have a visit from 2 everyday heroes - a vet (Laura) and a nurse (Sarah). They told us about the types of jobs that vets and nurses do, the equipment they use and the clothes that they have to wear. It turns out that not all heroes wear capes and in fact there are superheroes living among us as they also save people and animals.

Andy Warhol

This term we have enjoyed learning about Andy Warhol and his Pop Art. We enjoyed mixing colours and learned about primary and secondary colours. We learned that Andy Warhol liked making art about popular things and used repeated images in lots of different colours. We had a go at making our own repeated images inspired by Andy Warhol.