Welcome
to Year 1
Mr Howlett-Wright
Mrs Croft
class 4
Meet your teachers
Mr howlett-wright
Hello to you amazing small humans it’s Mr H here! I have taught at Monkwood now for four and a half years and I am loving it!! I am so super excited to be your teacher in Year 1 and can’t wait to hit the ground running with some new areas of learning which we have got in store. Outside of school, I live with my Husband and son who is 14 and our crazy dog and cats Bailey, Bonsai and Boba. I love to sing and I love Musicals and Disney! I enjoy going out with friends and having days out to lots of new places! If you love Music, Drama and Performing Arts… You’re definitely in the right class! Welcome aboard!
Meet your teaching Assistants
Mrs Driver
Hi boys and girls, I am Mrs Driver and I cannot wait to be part of your learning journey in Year 1! We are going to have so much fun! My favourite things to do are spending time with my three children, taking them on lots of fun adventures and making amazing memories. At school, I enjoy reading Julia Donaldson stories and doing art projects. I also love going into the school woods, if you look carefully you might even see the Gruffalo or Stickman!
Mrs Carpenter
Hello everyone, my name is Mrs Carpenter and I have worked at Monkwood for many years. You will find me helping children on the Key Stage 1 corridor as well as on the playground at lunchtime. I have a grown up girl who also helps at school, and we love sharing stories when we get home.
Mrs tipper
Hello my name is Mrs Tipper, I have 2 boys and I love rugby and judo and camping, I’m so exited to meet you all and to get to know you, my favourite colour is yellow my favourite food is pizza.
class 5
Meet your teachers
Mrs Croft
Hello, my name is Mrs Croft and I am really excited to be your teacher in September! I have been teaching for 24 years and I have taught in all ages from Nursery to Year 2. I have been teaching at Monkwood since February 2023 and I love it. I have two gorgeous children. I love spending time with my family and friends. We like going camping, walking and visiting lots of different places. I love reading and I am really excited about sharing my favourite stories with you. I cannot wait to watch you grow and learn next year, I know we are going to have so much fun in our Class 5 family.
Class Information
Children need to bring a water bottle with their name on to school every day. Children will need a
book bag which they can keep their reading book, any letters and homework in. Children need to
bring their reading book and book bag to school every day.
Please can all jumpers, cardigans and coats have your child’s name in.
Our class Dojo account will be updated regularly with messages, Dojo points and picture updates so
you can share in our learning journey.
Once the PE days have been arranged we will let you know when Year 1 will have PE through Class
Dojo.
Regular reading at home is really important and will help your child become a confident and fluent
reader. Children need to read home at least three times a week, but every day is better! Please write
down in their reading diary when they have read so we can award dojos for each time they have
read at home.
Alongside reading, homework is sent home each Friday and can be returned to school once it has
been completed. In each class we have a homework box where completed homework can be put.
Children who return their homework are awarded with dojos.
Areas of Learning
In Year 1 children move to following the National Curriculum, we have an exciting curriculum planned which enables children to develop a love of learning and become readers, writers, mathematicians, geographers, historians, scientists and artists, to name just a few!
PSHE – This term in PSHE we will explore the topics of ‘Being Me In my World’ and ‘Celebrating Differences’ using the Jigsaw scheme.
Phonics – Children will continue their phonics journey following the Read uWrite Inc. phonics scheme. This is a systematic approach with daily phonics lesson which helps pupil become confident and fluent readers. Reading books are matched to your child’s phonics group.
English – We will use a range of high-quality texts to inspire and motivate the children on their reading and writing journey. One of our focus authors In Year 1 in Julia Donaldson! Some of the books we will share during the Autumn term include The Gruffalo; Owl Babies; Leaf Man and The Gingerbread Man.
In writing we will focus on forming each letter correctly and carefully and placing the letters correctly on our handwriting lines. We will develop writing simple sentences with finger spaces, capital letters and full stops.
Mathematics – Our maths topics will include exploring sorting objects into groups; recognising, naming and sorting 2D shapes; reading and writing numbers 1-10 in numerals and words; exploring simple addition and subtraction to 10; number bonds to 10 and reading and writing number sentences.
History – In History we will be learning about the Victorian Era and what it was like to go to school in the Victorian times. We will look at how our school has changed over time. We will also learn about and celebrate Remembrance Day.
Geography – In Geography we will be finding out about the features of our school and the village of Rawmarsh.
Science – In Science we will be learning about forces, materials, electricity and seasonal change.
Class News
Y1 Romero Britto Inspired Art!
Y1 have been working so hard on their art skills this half term! They have created some amazing final masterpieces, inspired by the artist Romero
Monkwood Woodland Session!
Monkwood recently took part in woodland sessions with POP’s Outdoor Education. In Y1, they absolutely loved collecting and using natural materials, in order to make
Y1 Clay Art!
Last term in Art, the children learnt all about clay and how to make a clay tile. They explored using different techniques to create patterns
Y1 Bronze Pledge Achievement!
We have achieved our Bronze Pledge! The children in Year 1 have been working in their classes towards the Bronze Primary School Pledge. Each term we focused