Autumn Term 2 2026 

A Starry Night!

Our second exciting topic for this school year is A Starry Night.  Within this topic we will explore safe relationships and respecting ourselves and others through our PSHE/RSHE curriculum.  Natterhub will also form part of our computing curriculum with ‘It’s nice to be nice’ online. The children will learn what algorithms are and how they are implemented as programmes on digital devices. The children will learn how to programme a Beebot. In geography, we will be developing our locational knowledge by naming, locating, and identifying characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom and its surrounding seas. The children will enhance their geographical skills by using world maps, atlases, and globes.

In science, we are learning to identify and name a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees. We will learn how to identify and name the parts of a tree. We will also look at seasonal change and the signs of Autumn. Alongside this, our DT work will focus on designing, making and evaluating our calendars for next year.

This term, our RE learning focusses on the key question, ‘How are stories and celebrations linked?’ Children will explore what Christmas means to Christians and what Hanukkah means to Jewish people. We will learn about the stories behind these festivals and discover how they are celebrated by different communities around the world.

We also have many carefully selected high quality texts for story time that link to A Starry Night, we cannot wait to start reading them. These include Peace at last, Grandad’s Island, Owl Babies, Can’t you sleep little bear, What the Ladybird heard, Funny Bones and Laura’s Star.

English

Children are continuing to practice correct letter formation in their handwriting, ensuring that letters are the correct size and are all facing the correct way. We are continuing to look at the sizing of our letters, focusing on ascenders and descenders.            

Through Talk for Writing, our focus story is ‘How to catch a Star’. We will become very familiar with the story through re-telling it orally and using a number of different writing styles to put our own spin on the story! We will also be developing our understanding of spelling, punctuation and grammar, the use of adjectives, verbs and imperative verbs. The children will be encouraged to write carefully composed sentences.

Maths

In Year One we follow a maths scheme called White Rose Maths. This term, we will cover:

Addition and Subtraction and Shape. These units of work will further develop knowledge and skills in addition and subtraction. We will continue our learning of fact families by looking at the eight facts. We will also name and identify both 3D and 2D shapes and learn about patterns with shapes.

Each term the consolidation of previous knowledge is also planned into the curriculum as needed for the individual class.

We will also continue our “Mastering Number” programme, using short, practical activities to develop pupils’ confidence and understanding of number. These are 10-minute daily sessions and are in addition to our maths lessons.   

Enrichment activities

We are delighted to offer a range of enrichment activities for the children this term, including:

• Christmas baking
• The Snowman day
• Sing-a-long
• Church visit

Further information about each of these activities will be shared in due course.

Phonics information and reading

As always, we place huge emphasis on the importance of regular reading practice both in and out of school. Every child will be allocated a Reading Practice group and will read three times with their group each week. Books will be changed each Monday.

Please ensure that your child brings their reading practice book and reading record to school each day so that we can assess and record their progress appropriately. Hearing your child read at least 3x a week is very valuable in developing their reading skills and their love of reading! We cannot emphasise this enough!!

Our daily lessons will take the same format and build on the phonics teaching from Reception. This progresses quickly and so practising new sounds and spellings is vital. More information about our expectations for reading and spelling and how you can support your child at home will be sent home in a separate letter.

Homework Challenges

These can be handed in at any point up until half-term and be done in any format – photos, videos, writing, drawings, or any other type of artwork. Please choose from the following:

• What are the famous Landmarks of Lincoln? Have you ever visited our capital city, London? What did you see? There are lots of famous landmarks that you can look at on the internet with a trusted adult. What is the same between Lincoln and London and what is different?
• Find out about deciduous trees and maybe take some photographs of deciduous and evergreen trees in your garden or on your journey to school.
• Create an Autumn picture/collage or a picture of a starry night.