Whitehall Infant School

Phonics Screening Check Information

Year One Information

Our Team:

Miss Downie – Elm Class

Miss Jago– Beech class

Mrs Hirani – Pine class

Mrs Jamil – Willow class

Mrs Hussain, Mrs Handa, Mrs Young – Learning Support Assistants

Miss Cann and Miss Phillips – Cover staff

Timings of the Day and Attendance

Learning begins from the moment your child enters their classroom in the morning. It is very important that your child is in school and on time every day to reach their potential

School starts at 8:30am and finishes at 3pm. You should line up outside the school gates until a member of staff informs you to walk up the drive way.

If your child is absent you must call or email the school every day.

01895 590112

office@mail.whitehallinf.org

Expected attendance is at least 95%

All children who are in school every day and on time have their name put forward to win a prize in assembly! They are our ‘attendance heroes’ for the week.

What does your child need to bring to school?

• Named water bottle
• Named book bag
• Reading record, book and homework if required.
• Named waterproof coat

How can you help your child at home?

• Check your child’s book bag for letters or other information
• Check your emails for letters or updates
• Talk to your child about their day
• Read with your child as much as possible
• Ensure your child is prepared for learning

A Typical Day in Year One

Learning In Year One

• In Year 1, we build on what has been learnt in reception and continue to develop key skills such as resilience and confidence.
• We concentrate on the basic skills of reading, writing and maths but ensure that all children have a broad and balanced curriculum.
• We do this by following the National Curriculum for all subjects.
• In Year 1, children will complete the Phonic Screening Check. Children have to read 40 words correctly during the check. More information about the check will be shared later this term.  For help with supporting your child, please see our Read Write Inc page.

Inclusive Learning

• We support all learners to achieve excellence in all they do when they are at Whitehall.
• We support children who are learning to acquire English with specific activities in class as well as a specialist language programme depending on level.
• Children who are new to school are supported to settle in including having a buddy from their class to help them.
• Some children may find learning more challenging than others for a range of different reasons. Children with a special educational need (SEN) complete targeted interventions depending on what they need support with. This is overseen by Mrs Kennedy, our SENCO.

We teach reading through: 

• Read Write Inc. phonic lessons
• Guiding reading
• Reading comprehension

We teach writing through:

• Through Read Write Inc. phonic lessons for spelling and understanding the structure of a sentence.
• Talk for writing
• Drama

We teach maths through:

• A Mastery approach to ensure children have a secure understanding of concepts taught
• Use of counting recourses – dienes and pictorial methods
• Topics are revisited throughout the year

We also teach:

• Geography
• History
• Computing
• PE (indoor and outdoor)
• Science
• RE
• PSHE including Relationship and Health Education
• Music
• Art
• Design and Technology

See our curriculum page for information about how we teach these subjects.

A half term overview is also published on the curriculum page so that you can see what topics that your child will be learning.

Behaviour and attitudes at Whitehall Infant School are good.

• We have a positive approach to managing behaviour
• We believe that any behaviour is a way of communicating and we support children to self regulate and to react to any negative feelings in an appropriate way.

School rewards

Individual praise including

• in class gold awards
• Class / group rewards
• Assembly recognition
• Sharing with parents / carers lots of positive news.

Managing negative behaviour

• Green cards. All children start with a green card in every lesson/session
• An adult may remind children about the school rules.
• After 2 reminders, a child receives a warning and the green card is moved onto its side.
• If improved behaviour is seen the card is moved back to its original position
• If no improvement is seen, a child receives a blue card in class. This may mean they have thinking time. The teacher will speak to them about the behaviour. This will not be done in front of the class. We also do not shout.
• In rare cases a child may display a red behaviour e.g. hurting another child. If this happens, parents/carers will be informed and appropriate actions taken to support the child to not do this again

Homework and Reading

• Books are changed once a week
• Please read and sign the reading record as much as possible.
• Homework is sent out on Friday and is due the following Friday. This will start in the Spring term.
• Please read little and often with your child.