Welcome to Year 1
A huge welcome to Year 1! It is the start of a brand-new year and we can’t wait to make it an amazing one. We have got lots of exciting learning planned for you! We are looking forward to being able to develop our friendships, maturity, listening and a positive mindset, all when aspiring to be the best we can be in school.
Continuous Provision
The year one classrooms are set up in a similar way to Foundation Stage so that the children are building on prior learning. The children have access to areas of provision which are designed to challenge, enhance and practice their learning. Provision encourages children to use resources that they have previously encountered with an adult and use these independently.
The key principles of Continuous Provision in KS1 remain the same as in EYFS:
- Start with the child – what are they interested in, what will they naturally want to do? Are there key areas of learning that need strengthening or revisiting?
- Prioritise areas of provision according to the space available and resource these effectively
- Create a clearly defined space for each area of continuous provision
- Make sure that the resources provided earn their place by providing lots of possibilities for learning
- Organise resources carefully and make them accessible to the children
- Consider the way in which resources are grouped, displayed and labelled, in order to provide opportunities for incidental learning.
The decisions we make must also reflect the expectations we have for our children by the end of the year and the Key Stage. What skills and knowledge do we want them to master and, therefore, what equipment and opportunities must we provide? This is key to ensuring in year progression and to creating an environment that supports all teaching and learning.
Continuous Provision in Year 1 is not just an add-on, not just another thing to fit in alongside the curriculum: it is our curriculum.
What is Continuous Provision?
Continuous provision describes all of the different provision areas which are available for your children to use every day. Within each of these areas of provision there should be a core range of resources that children can use all of the time, throughout the whole year. Planning effectively for continuous provision is crucial and involves a consideration of classroom layout and resourcing that will enable staff to offer a breadth of learning possibilities
Why is Continuous Provision Important?
Carefully planned continuous provision will enable children to learn skills, will challenge their thinking and help them to embed concepts. It should also provide the context for a variety of learning conversations between children and adults with rich opportunities for modelling and extending speech and vocabulary. It is within this learning environment that the children will also develop key learning attributes. How the environment is planned, resourced, valued and used can impact positively, or negatively, on children’s engagement, independence, collaboration, self-confidence, resilience and curiosity.
The Importance of Defined Spaces
Children will be more likely to be engaged within your continuous provision areas if you create enclosed, clearly defined spaces. Creating provision areas in this way tends to lead to fewer distractions and also provides the context for children to collaborate, form relationships and communicate. Careful consideration has been given to the spaces, the layout of the room and which areas are likely to work well together or alongside each other in order to promote mathematical thinking or meaningful writing opportunities.
Meet the Year 1 Team
Great Fire of London Workshop
London's Burning Workshop
London's Burning Workshop
London's Burning Workshop