What does a Year 1 class look like at Wellington College International Hangzhou?

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Year 1 is the year that the children in hangzhou international school transition from following the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, to the English National Curriculum. This is the foundation for all core subjects and foundation subjects, such as science, history and geography. The foundations subjects are taught through a range of exciting and inspiring themes. Throughout the day, the children are taught by a range of teachers, including the Year 1 Year homeroom teacher and specialists, who teach lessons in Mandarin, music, PE, swimming, ICT, art and drama. The Year 1 English National Curriculum ensures that the teaching and learning delivered to the children is balanced and consistent. It highlights both the knowledge and skills that the children are required to have for individual subjects and importantly, it considers the way in which pupils’ progress is reported and assessed.

In Year 1, there is a priority to build upon knowledge learnt during the foundation stage whilst continuing to develop a love of learning in a warm and welcoming learning environment. It is important for all the children in Year 1 to feel happy, safe and secure in school and therefore the teachers provide fantastic pastoral care alongside providing full and extensive teaching of the English National Curriculum. Throughout Year 1, the children will have the opportunity to further extend their existing knowledge of phonics. This is taught through a scheme called Read Write Inc which supports children to be able to read accurately and fluently with a good comprehension. This also ensures children develop their spelling, letter formation and handwriting. During English lessons, the children will be exposed to a range of text types and be able learn through exciting stories, thus supporting good writing development. During maths lessons, the children will have numerous opportunities to explore new concepts through practical learning tasks. This will help to support their understanding in each area of maths and guarantee enjoyment of the subject. They will begin to learn about measure, time and fractions alongside continuing to learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. New concepts ensure that the children will also become familiar with counting in twos, fives and tens and knowing how to use strategies to support halving and doubling.

The Year 1 curriculum has been designed to ensure that the needs of individual pupils can been met. It is a comprehensive and challenging curriculum that ensures pupils can make great, academic success. By providing a curriculum that is catered for the needs of our Year 1 children, it enhances and improves pupil engagement in the classroom. Learning is tailored to suit the interests and skills of the children entering Year 1 and this ensures the children can be motivated and inspired to achieve their full potential. Transitioning from the nursery into Year 1 or alternatively, another educational setting can be challenging for some children. This is a period where they will begin to adapt to new teachers, environments and daily routines. It is important for this transitional period to run smoothly to ensure that the children feel settled when they begin. By working closely alongside professionals in the nursery and parents, we can accurately assess how much support the children will require in order to transition effectively.

The expectations for our Year 1 pupils follow the schools five main principles for behaviour. We would expect to see all children demonstrating courage, respect, integrity, kindness and responsibility. By following these values, it provides a friendly and safe learning environment for the children.