In Year 1 at Parkgate Primary, our intent is to inspire a love of learning and promote lifelong learners as children enter Key Stage One and the National Curriculum. We aim to have a seamless transition from Reception to Year 1, ensuring the learning from the EYFS curriculum in Reception is embedded and developed within Year 1. We continue with key themes of the EYFS, enabling children to:

· Play and explore

· Participate in active learning

· Continue to create and think critically

Rather than taking a formal, structured approach to learning straight away, we intend to harness our children’s curiosity by providing an education that is uniquely suited to them as individual learners. We have worked with colleagues within the city, taking part in a Year One pilot project focussing on continuous provision, ensuring we have a well-planned and cohesive curriculum where children will continue being independent, enthusiastic, successful learners who are able to co-operate with one another and become responsible members of their school community and wider society.

Continuous provision in year 1 is set out in a similar way to our Reception classes. However, it has been developed with careful planning to ensure that it challenges our children. The environment is set up to allow each child to follow their own interests. This enables staff to thread the national curriculum through interactions. Not only does this mean each child receives one-to-one / small group time with an adult, but it also means that teaching is tailor-made to suit the individual child. They are engaged because it interests them, and it is accessible to them through play opportunities.

We teach whole-class lessons in Maths, English, Phonics and the foundation subjects. In the Autumn term, these are short sessions followed by group work which allow the children to transition and bridge the gap from reception to year 1. For example, we continue the work in ‘Drawing club’ to respond to our children’s creativity in writing and move to ‘Curious Quests’ to allow the children to progress. We also continue to use floor books for recording work in Foundation subjects. During the spring term, the children will become more focused and start transitioning with more opportunities for full-class teaching alongside focussed continuous provision activities. In the summer term, the children will transition into a more formal approach ready for Year 2.