St Francis was born into a wealthy family and originally wanted to be a soldier. On his way to join the army, he was sent a mesage from God who told him to devote his life to The Church. His feast day is on the 4th October and he is the Patron Saint of animals, merchants and ecology.
"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love." - St Francis of Assisi
Year 1's class value is 'Peace'. This value is celebrated in October.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” - John 14:27
English
In English lessons the children will look at space and will write their own ‘fact files’ and stories about travelling to space and visiting the moon. To link with Christopher Columbus the children will enjoy reading and listening to poems about pirates and the sea; this will then lead them onto writing their own poems. The children will also be writing stories and letters linked to traditional story tales.
Creative Development
This will link to our topic and will involve making the planets in space and rockets. Our music this term will also be linked to our topic about the moon and the sea.
History
Our History topic this term is called: Who made the best discovery? The children will find out interesting facts about Neil Armstrong and Christopher Columbus, such as who they were and why they are well known.
Maths
Adding and calculating:
The mathematics curriculum is planned according to Rising Stars Mathematics. We will be covering the following topics: Numbers are everywhere, counting in tens and ones, adding, subtracting and sequencing, length and height, number patterns, days of the week, months of the year and adding and subtracting to 20.
ICT integrated with maths, science and speaking and listening
In Computing, the children will be learning how to use Bee Bots to navigate their journey. Year 1 will also look at seasonal changes and explore why leaves fall off the trees in Autumn.
RE
Children shall learn about their class Saint St Francis - who he was and why he was so special. We will also look at:
Why is it good to listen to and remember the stories Jesus told?
Why are Saints important to Christians? We will also celebrate Harvest Festival and Remembrance Day.
We shall learn about the importance of the Nativity near Christmas time with a focus on the Nativity Characters: Which character are you? Why are you important?
ICT Integrated with RE
We shall use our knowledge of The Nativity to illustrate our Christmas cards. We will use a drawing programme on the net books to create our design of the main characters in the story.
In science Year 1 will explore the five senses and will learn to identify and locate parts of their body. The children will learn the difference between humans and other animals and the difference between animals and non-living things.