Welcome to Elm Class!

We are a mixed year 1 and 2 class. We continue our passion for learning from the foundation stage but promote independence as we learn together in a happy and supportive environment.

In Elm class we are a family. We recognise and celebrate each other’s unique talents and are always willing to help others in a kind and respectful way. Our classroom is a place where we are inspired to learn and feel comfortable to takes risks and learn from our mistakes.

Our day begins with a calming morning activity which prepares us for a day of learning. On this page, you will be able to discover what we get up to in Elm Class.

Writing

In writing, we follow ‘The Write Stuff’ which teaches children to become excellent writers. Each unit is base on a high quality book and the children journey through the book and identify key ‘plot points’ as the story unfolds. The children then have an opportunity to practice developing their own writing through sentence stacking. The children also take part in experience days which are practical sessions which help to deepen children’s understanding of their class text. The children will then use their new skills to write independently.

Our focuses this year so far:
Term 1: The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson, Biographies – Mae Jemison, Created our own autobiographies

Term 2: The way back home by Oliver Jeffers, Diary entry of Neil Armstrong

Term 3: Granddad’s Island by Benji Davies

Term 4: Poetry – Nut Tree by Julia Donaldson, Recount – a trip to the woods

Maths

In Elm Class we follow White Rose Maths to deliver our Maths curriculum. We continue to develop confidence and fluency with counting, place value and whole numbers. We work on becoming secure in our number bonds to 20 so that we can apply our understanding to numbers up to 100. The children use and understand the four operations and we work on our recall of the multiplication and division facts for the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. In addition, we develop our knowledge of shape, measure, fractions, positioning and statistics.

Foundation subjects

In Elm class each term, we either have a History or a Geography based theme each term.

This year the children have learnt:

Term 1 and 2: History – Movers and Shakers

Term 3: History – The Great fire of London

Term 4: Geography – Our country; the UK

We have a science line of enquiry where we use our scientific skills to investigate:

• Animals including humans
• Everyday materials
• Seasonal Changes
• Living things and their habitats
• Plants

Homework

In Elm Class, homework will be set on a Friday and is due back on Wednesday. Homework will consist of a Maths task and another either linked to English or our topic. Reading is also expected 5 times a week.