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 12 years, first as a teaching assistant and then as a class teacher. I am ably assisted by Mrs Rachel Cannon and Miss Riley and other teaching assistants 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.
Summer Term 2024 Curriculum Map
Class 1 Summer Term 2024 Curriculum Map
Spring Term 2024 Curriculum Map
/docs/Class_1_Spring_Term_2024_Curriculum_Map.pdf
Autumn Term 2023 Curriculum Map
/docs/Class_1_Autumn_Term_2023_Curriculum_Map.pdf
Class 1 Spring Term Update
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, the 4 countries of the United Kingdom and their capital cities in Geography, everyday materials in Science, Gunta Stolzl and weaving in Art, programming Codapillars in Computing, 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. One of the highlights of our learning were the books that the children illustrated to show a timeline of events of the fire. They proudly drew front covers and even wrote a blurb on the back to encourage others to read their book.
Our weaving project has been a great success and we hope you liked the Valentine’s weaving. I would also like to thank the parents who assisted with the Great Fire of London inspired weaving project when they came to the open afternoon on Wednesday 20th March. They are looking really striking and I love how the children have used their understanding of colour to represent aspects of the fire.
We enjoyed a fantastic trip to The Willows and Wetlands Centre on Monday 18th March. The children were fascinated by the whole process of willow growing, harvesting, sorting, boiling, stripping and weaving. We loved our scavenger hunt to find woven willow birds as well. The trip was a great way to further our understanding of weaving as well as celebrating our local environment and crafts.
Class 1 Autumn Update
What a busy term and what wonderful learning has been taking place in Class 1. The new reception children have settled well with the support of the Year 1s and their Year 5 buddies. We have been learning class and school routines and familiarising ourselves with each of the areas of the classroom, the outside play area and the school grounds. Our outside play area is looking great with the addition of a new mud kitchen, lots of vertical and horizontal mark making surfaces, new curriculum sheds, lots of loose part resources and den building kits. So far the weather has been kind and we have been able to enjoy the outside space and learn how to play, share, create, imagine and explore. The stage has been everything from a castle to a "drive-thru!" The imagination of the children is wonderful!
The children have been debating whether all heroes wear capes. We have discussed the "qualities" of superheroes and whether "everyday heroes" also share these qualities. The children have enjoyed dressing up as heroes and have "saved" Class 1 from endless disasters!
As super scientists we have been learning about the parts of our bodies, our skeletons and our internal organs. The children sorted and categorised different body parts and made up categories for them such as "the squishy bits" (internal organs), "the hard bits" (bones) and "the outside bits" (limbs). It was great fun drawing around our friends and trying to label the different body parts.
