Grade 1

Reading:

Last fortnight in Reading, students focused on developing their understanding of split digraphs, specifically a_e (as in cake) and i_e (as in bike). Throughout the lessons, students were explicitly taught to recognise and read words containing these split digraphs, supporting their decoding skills and building reading confidence. They practised reading words with a_e and i_e separately, followed by revision activities to consolidate their understanding. Students then applied their learning by reading and identifying words featuring both split digraphs, strengthening their ability to connect spelling patterns with pronunciation. This sequence supported students in becoming more fluent and confident readers when encountering these vowel patterns in texts.

Writing:

Over the past fortnight in Writing, students became authors as they finished their unit on Aesop’s Fables by writing and publishing their very own fables! They have also now begun looking at Narrative texts through their study of Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Roberts. While exploring the story, students have practised retelling the events in order. They learnt that in the beginning of a story the characters and setting are introduced; in the middle of a story the problem is introduced; and that the solution is at the end of a story. Additionally students have also learnt that conjunction words are words like ‘but,’ ‘because,’ ‘then’ and 'so’are used to glue two sentences or ideas together. Then they practised using conjunction words like ‘but’ and ‘because’ to describe cause and effect relationships in their sentence writing. To make their sentences even more interesting, students also learnt about statements and questions and how they can use these to uplevel their writing.

Maths:

Over the past two weeks, students have been developing their understanding of subtraction and time through a range of engaging, hands-on learning experiences.

In Week 8, students explored subtraction within 20 by representing "take away" number stories using concrete materials, pictures, and ten-frames. They were introduced to the subtraction symbol (–) and practised writing and solving subtraction equations. Students also investigated the relationship between addition and subtraction by creating and solving fact families and identifying the difference between numbers.

In Week 9, students focused on the concept of time by sequencing familiar events and comparing their duration. They learned to order events that occur throughout the day and sequence events over longer periods such as days, weeks, months, and years. Students also compared and ordered events based on how long they take, using mathematical language such as first, last, later, sequence, and duration.

Home Learning:

Reading

Read together each night and encourage your child to sound out words and spot tricky words.
Students can go on a “word hunt” at home to find and read words with a_e (cake) and i_e (bike) in books, signs, or magazines.
Students can practise building and reading words using magnetic letters or writing simple word lists such as make, cake, like, and bike.
Students can sort or group words into a_e and i_e categories and read them aloud to an adult to build fluency and confidence.

Writing

Read a narrative story and generate statements and questions together (e.g. Goldilocks was hungry so she ate the porridge (statement), Where were the three bears? (question).
Encourage your child to retell a favourite story in their own words, including the beginning, middle, and end. Talk about the characters and the setting in the beginning, the problem of the story in the middle, and the solution at the end.
Play a "conjunction hunt" by looking for doing words in books, magazines, or around the house (e.g., and, but, because, then, so).
Write a few simple sentences using statements and questions.

Maths:

Practise solving subtraction problems using household items (e.g. "There are 17 socks in the basket. 5 are put away. How many socks are left?").
Encourage your child to create and solve their own subtraction number stories using toys, books, or snacks.
Challenge your child to find the difference between two quantities around the home (e.g. 12 apples and 8 oranges. What is the difference?).
Discuss the order of daily events and ask your child to sequence them using the terms first, next, later, and last (e.g. eating breakfast, getting dressed, travelling to school, eating lunch, going to bed).
Compare the durations of everyday activities and ask your child to order them from shortest to longest, explaining their reasoning (e.g., brushing your teeth, reading a book, watching a movie, travelling to school or going on a holiday).
Explore a family calendar together and discuss upcoming events, identifying whether they will occur in days, weeks, months, or years (e.g. a birthday, school holiday, school term, or special family event).