Otley and Witnesham Partnership

Welcome to Class I.  Mrs Skeet is the class teacher on a Monday and Tuesday and Mrs Engels is the class teacher on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and they are supported by Mrs McCormack (TA). Class 1 is a fun, supportive place to learn and we welcome you to our class page! 

How we learn

Children in Class 1 learn partly through whole group discussion and largely through small group activities and practical activities. We follow the Early Years Curriculum which is very active and play based as well as using their own interests.  Children learn in small groups working with adults on set tasks and also through self-chosen activities inside and outside. Adults observe children in their play and enhance and develop their learning by talking to them, providing extra resources and suggesting ideas. This guides and challenges them and encourages them to try a range of new activities that will develop and increase their skills.

We aim to share with children a love of learning and to build their confidence, independence, teamwork, knowledge and skills in a caring, fun environment.

We strongly believe in growing children’s independence. Children are proud to be able to be able to do things for themselves and conquering mini challenges builds resilience. We encourage a “can do” attitude in our children. Through setting good examples and teaching social skills, children learn to be very caring and respectful towards each other. Children are also encouraged to talk and communicate well and every opportunity is taken to develop their language skills.

What we learn

Please look at the curriculum part of our website if you would like to find out the topics we learn about or our termly topic letters can be found in the letters section of the website.

We sometimes study extra bits and pieces that come from the children’s interests. For example, when several of the children have a particular interest in something such as pirates, we can teach them skills through a pirates theme to create maximum engagement. Children are welcome to bring things in from home when appropriate, that are related to our topics.

Children do daily “Funky Fingers” which is “PE” for the fingers. This helps us develop our arm, hand and finger muscles to allow us to become effective writers. (Writing is partly a physical skill.)

We have weekly Welly Wednesdays, in which we do woodland activities on site in our own small woodland or go on adventures in the local area. We do this in all weathers so children need to be well wrapped up. Research states children who spend time in the outdoor environment grow up to care about the environment as adults. Children and staff love these activities and gain a great many skills through participating in them and exploring.

Each year we go on a theatre trip to the Wolsey Studio to experience real theatre. We also go on other education visits when they support our topic learning.

Communication

We are always happy to answer any questions or help in any way we can. We like to have a very open door policy with parents and firmly believe we are a partnership in each child’s education. Parents are always welcome to come into the classroom at the end of the day to have a look around. We recommend signing up to Class Dojo which is an online App we use to share information and what we have been doing in the classroom with parents. We also recommend parents check home school diaries for messages.

We hold a Reading Workshop in the Autumn Term to learn how best to support their children. Additionally we hold a Phonics cafe in the Spring Term, this where parents have the opportunity to observe a session being taught and can discuss it afterwards with the opportunity to ask questions.

Parents are invited to a Maths session in the Spring Term and a Relationships session in the Summer Term.

Parents are also invited to come in and work with their children on a specific topic in one of our Learning Together Sessions.

We share recent learning in a Class Assembly each Spring Term.

Homework

Children in class 1 receive activities to do at home such as number, shape or rhyme games and word cards to learn. When ready, children take home books to practise their reading skills. The more regularly they read at home the quicker their skills develop.

 Please support your children by making time to hear them and read.

 Take a look at our latest Class Newsletter to see what we are up to this term: