St Mellons Church in Wales Primary SchoolWelcome to Class 1! Croeso i Dosbarth 1!
Teacher: Mrs Brana
Communication
Contact us on class1@stmellonsprm.cardiff.sch.uk
Google Classroom code - wlyvl42
Twitter (X) - @stmellonsprm https://twitter.com/stmellonsprm
The 'Teacher to Parent' text messaging service will be used when required.
Overview of the Day
8.55 - 9.00 - Greet each other/ registration
9.00 - 9.15- Worship
9.15.– 9.25 - Guided Group Reading
9.25 - 10.30 - Literacy
10.30 – 10.45 - Break
10.45– 11.55– Numeracy
1.00 - 3.00 - Context and Missions
3.00 - 3.15 - Tidy up/ Storytime/Cymraeg
Important Dates for the Half Term
28.4.25 - Return to school
Christian Value Celebration Day - Our new value is Friendship
5.5.25 Bank Holiday
6.5.25 Tennis workshops today for every class - wear your P.E. kit
11th - 17th May Christian Aid Week
23rd May End of term
2nd June Return to School
10th June Class Photographs
11th June Sports Day
18th June Reserve Sports Day
26th June Class 1 and 2 assembly
4th July Reports out to parents
10th July New PS1 intake meeting (Nursery and reception) 2pm
14th July Transition Week
16th July Leavers Assembly 9.30
18th July Last day of term.
21st July - INSET day school closed for pupils
Snack, P.E. Day and Uniform
Snack:
Healthy snacks can be purchased from school (via ParentPay) or brought from home.
P.E.
Class 1 have P.E. on Tuesdays and pupils can come wearing their P.E. kits.
Current Learning
Our context this half term is Fit and Fabulous under the whole school umbrella of FLOURISH AND THRIVE with Humanities and Science as the main driving AoLEs.
This half term class 1 pupils will be finding out how to stay Fit and Fabulous. We will be learning about exercise and healthy food choices. We will be aiming to improve our fitness levels and get ready for sports day. We will be learning about how to eat well and look after our bodies with good hygiene habits. We will be learning to work together and support each other.
Pupil Voice - What do you want to know class 1?
How do we move? Teddy
Where does blood come from? Eddie
How do lungs get bigger and smaller? Lily
Where are our spines? Lucas
Why do we have a skeleton? Mohamed
How do eyeballs move? Arthur
Why is there water in our bodies? Aron
Why do we have to eat at lunchtime? David
Why do we need to be healthy? Emyr
Why do we need to drink milk? Oscar
How do our arms move? Isaac
Why do we need to eat fruit? Chloe
What happens if we do not eat healthy food? Eddie
How do our muscles work? Sophia
Where is our heart? Niall
Why does my heart beat really fast when I do lots of running? Mohamed
Planning
Weekly planning is made available on Google Classroom
Click to see Medium Term Planning
Class 1 pupils have books in their reading bags that you can share at home. Please feel free to write in the yellow reading record books when you have heard your child read. Books are changed each week. Please ensure your child brings their book bag to school each day as we have visitors who pop in to hear children read, such as Father Kellen. Please can parents/ grandparents/ even older siblings write in the reading record books when they have listened to their child read.
See below for our homework grid.
Homework 
Here are a few ideas for this half-term for homework that links to our current topic...
There are new homework assignments posted on Google Classroom each week on a Friday.
Four Purposes
The four purposes are that all children and young people will be:
Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives.
Enterprising, creative contributors who are ready to play a full part in life and work.
Ethical, informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world.
Healthy, confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
Christian Values
Our Value this half term is: Respect
A link for parents who want to know more about our value and how to continue the learning at home.
"Respect your father and mother" Ephesians 6:2-3
Literacy
Reading takes place every day with group reading sessions and children read as individuals to an adult at least once a week. We do have visitors who like to listen to readers so book bags need to be school everyday and we aim to change the reading book at least once a week. Your child's progress in reading should continue to be developed at home though shared reading experiences with their book in their book bag and also with their own books.
Read, Write, Ink is how we teach phonics and how children learn to read.
what to teach when speed sound lessons.pdf
rwi workshop for parents jan 2025 pptx.pdf
How can I help my child to read?
Do not read the book aloud before your child reads it to you. • Ask your child to read the sounds and words before he or she reads the story. • When your child reads the story, ask him or her to sound out the words that he or she can’t read automatically. Don’t allow your child to struggle too much. Praise your child when he or she succeeds. • Read back each sentence or page to keep the plot moving. (Your child’s energy is going into reading the words not the story.) • Do not ask your child to guess the word by using the pictures. • Do it all with patience and love!
I have also added flashcards of the high frequency words - words appear a lot and are in many books - to Google Classroom in the Homework section. If you help your child to learn these words it will make reading easy!
Numeracy
At St Mellons, we follow the concrete, pictorial/visual, abstract approach.
1)Use concrete resources to show...
2)Draw it out or use these pictures to show...
3) Write with symbols to show...
We will be counting objects, looking closely at the teen numbers, ordering numbers, writing numbers correctly, adding two more, counting forwards and backwards in 10s and 5s, taking away, reading the time to the nearest hour, weighing objects and comparing weights and measuring capacity in the water tray.
How can you help at home?
There are plenty of ways you can help at home with this topic.
You could discuss what makes you happy about where you live. You could look at where members of your family live and sketch a map of the route with things you see on the way. You could go on a nature walk near to where you live and collect things to make a collage when you get home. You could try growing something in your garden when spring arrives!
If you go on a car journey, compare the place to where you live. How is it the same as your street? How is it different? Look for hills, streams, mountains, rivers, cliffs, forests, beaches.
We are learning how to tell the time. We are practising 'o'clock' times. We are moving on to half past the hour. Look at the time you leave the house or arrive home from school. Look at the time on the oven or microwave when you are preparing or eating food in the kitchen. Look at the time when you get in the car to go on a journey. Make telling the time part of your day. Play the game below...
Meet the Teacher 11.09.24...for those that missed it!
Welsh - Cymraeg and MFL - Modern Foreign Languages
Sut mae'r tywydd heddiw? song
Mae hi'n bwrw glaw - It is raining (a good one to learn when living in Wales!)
Pwy wyt ti? - Mrs Brana ydw i.
Who are you? - I am Mrs Brana.
Sut wyt ti'n teimlo? - How are you feeling?
(da iawn, bendegedig, ardderchog, ar ben y byd, hapus, wedi blino)
MFL is under review at the moment. It is a mandatory section of The Languages Connect Us part of the Literacy Curriculum.
Internet Safety
Pupils are taught ways to stay safe online in class and Digital Leaders have carried out whole school assemblies about internet safety. Sound advice on internet safety can be found on https://www.internetmatters.org/
Jigsaw - PSHE
We teach PSHE through JIGSAW throughout the school.
Curriculum for Wales Relationships Sexuality Education Code
Healthy Schools
What is a Healthy School?
A Healthy School:
- Is one that promotes physical, social, emotional and mental health and helps equip pupils, staff and families with the skills and attitudes to make informed decisions about their health.
- Recognises the importance of investing in health and wellbeing to assist in the process of raising children and young people's achievement levels.
- Involves the whole school community, parents, governors, staff and pupils in improving children's health, well-being and happiness, helping them to get the most out of life.
Click here for lots of Healthy Lunchbox Ideas
Active Travel
We encourage 'Active Travel' with the travel tracker website where your child records how they travel to school each day. Badges are given out to the pupils who are the most active each month.
Picture News
Each week, on a Monday during whole school worship, pupils get a snapshot of the news via Picture News - real stories adapted for children. Pupils get an opportunity to discuss and reflect upon real life issues, see where in the world it is happening and how it relates to our lives and impacts the lives of others whilst reinforcing Christian Values. This Picture News discusses the importance of human interactions as Amazon workers were asked to return to the office after several years of working from home.
Useful links