Grade 1

Grade 1 is an important time for consolidating and building upon concepts and skills learnt in Prep. Students will continue to build positive friendships with their teachers and classmates to further support their learning and development in all aspects of the school environment. Resilience is a key skill that is taught throughout the year which focuses on learning to regulate emotions and resolve conflicts whilst being respectful, compassionate and independent.

Literacy:
In Reading, the focus is on making reading exciting and engaging for students. Each class has a well equipped classroom library to inspire students to enjoy reading a variety of books. During the year, the students will be focussing on their fluency and accuracy. Comprehension is another key focus in reading throughout Grade 1. Students will learn to think deeply about the text by relating what they read to their own personal experiences. Jolly Phonics continues in Grade 1, with the focus moving towards understanding the many different digraphs and long vowel sounds used within the English language. Teachers use the Jolly Phonics Classroom system as a visual and engaging tool to further develop their phonological awareness. In Writing, Grade 1 students will continue to build upon their writing skills with a focus on developing further sentences and punctuation. Children continue to develop their writing skills through recounting experiences in the classroom and outside in the school yard. They will also begin to have a go at story writing and experiment with narrative elements such as character, setting, problem and solution. This will give students the opportunity to be creative and use their imagination to write fun and interesting stories that they enjoy. Students will also have a go at writing procedures, through fun, hands-on step by step experiences. Later in the year, they will be introduced to informative texts which will be linked to their inquiry on Australian animals. Handwriting will be revised daily through every writing opportunity to ensure correct letter formation is upheld.

Numeracy:
In Numeracy, the main focus is place value and developing a strong number sense. We explore this through making and representing numbers to 120 and beyond, as well as further understanding the different parts that make up a number. Students investigate numbers and number patterns with numbers, through quick counting, skip counting, videos and songs. They learn to count by 2s, 5s and 10s, as well as counting forwards and backwards from a number. Throughout the year, students learn strategies to independently solve addition and subtraction problems, through the use of hands-on materials and whole class activities. Students further develop their understanding of 2D and 3D shapes, number sequencing, chance and data, and time. These concepts are revisited numerous times throughout the year to consolidate students’ learning.

Inquiry 
In Year 1 students will investigate the following topics:

‘What are the similarities between my family and others?’
Students explore the diversity of cultures and the part they play in the community. They learn about differences and similarities between their culture and other cultures.

‘What are materials?’
Students will get to investigate materials, exploring the flexibility of materials through manipulation such as bending, twisting, and stretching. This hands-on topic includes lots of in-classroom experiences and a Science incursion where they rotate through a number of different experiments.

‘What is art?’ 
Students will learn about many different forms of art and how artists express themselves through art. They will explore photography, sculpture, abstract art, collaborative art and more. Finishing the term with an Art Show, where students will get to showcase their works for everyone to see.

‘What do Australain animals need to survive?’ 
Students will learn about many Australian animals that are unique to our country. Students will learn about what our Australian animals look like, how they behave and what they need to survive and thrive.

Throughout the year, students participate in a range of incursions and excursions to further enhance and support their learning.

Homework
In Grade 1, we continue the routine of homework by nightly reading, sitting with an adult and enjoying the reading process. We encourage greater fluency and comprehension while reading at home too. Students practise and consolidate spelling of common words which link to their learning within the classroom. This will help create quicker ability to write and recognise these words.