What a fabulous week we have had! Take a look at what we have been up to!

Maths

This week in Year 1, we have been learning all about halves.

We explored finding halves of objects and shapes and learned that a half is one equal part of a whole. We worked carefully to make sure our groups were equal.

Using counters and cubes, we also learned how to find half of a number. First, we looked at how many equal groups we needed, then we counted out the correct number of counters and shared them into two equal groups.

We worked really hard and showed great understanding during our activities.

 

​​Next week we will be looking at time!

Each week, we will share a key maths fact. This week, we are learning:

Addition Facts:

• 5 + 0 = 5

• 0 + 5 = 5

Read, Write Inc. (RWI)

This week, the children have shown fantastic enthusiasm as we revisited previously taught sounds and continued to strengthen their phonics reading skills. It has been a joy to see their growing confidence and engagement in learning.

We have been focusing on several key areas, including recognising “special friends” — groups of letters that work together to make a single sound. The children are becoming increasingly confident at spotting these in words and using Fred Talk, blending, and segmenting to support their reading. They have also been practising reading green words and learning a range of red (tricky) words.

Alongside this, we have seen great progress in handwriting. The children are taking increasing care with letter formation, using capital letters appropriately, and remembering to add full stops to complete their sentences. Their handwriting is becoming clearer and more controlled each week, which is wonderful to see.

To support your child at home, you can help by spotting “special friends” in everyday words, blending sounds together to read full words, and encouraging regular practice for an extra boost. We are finding spotting chatty friends like; a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e and u-e a particular challenge, so any practise with spotting these would be great.

Reading at Home

• Children will bring home two books each week:

  1. RWI Home Book – should be read three times a week for fluency. Changed every Monday by an adult.

  2. Book with coloured sticker – children can change independently, ideally in the morning.

• Please ensure reading folders are placed in the trays at school.

• Encourage your child to read at home and record it in their reading record.

• Certificates are awarded weekly to celebrate reading achievements, and every 20 reads earns a special certificate!

If you have any questions, please speak to your child’s class teacher

Thematic

This week in Year 1, we have been learning how to name and locate the seven continents of the world on a map.

We used an atlas to explore a world map and worked together to name all seven continents. We also learned that the United Kingdom is part of Europe. Using Europe as our starting point, we practised using the directions North, East, South and West to help us find and locate the other continents around the world.

To help us remember our learning, we completed a fun sorting activity where we matched the continents to their names and placed them correctly on a large map. We worked really hard and showed great teamwork!

Next week we will have RE in the afternoon.

Home Learning

This week in maths we have been looking at half of objects, shapes and numbers. This week for your love to learn we would like you to show us half in as many different ways as you can! Here is some learning we have been up to this week…

 

Young Artists’ Competition 2026

DEADLINE – Wednesday 1st April 2026

The Rotary Club of Margate have launched their Thanet schools’ art competition. Selected entries will be displayed at Sainsbury’s Westwood Cross in their annual art exhibition.

To enter, please create a piece of A4 artwork with a wildlife theme- artwork will need to be flat so it can fit into a frame. On the reverse, please write the following information:

Child’s Name

Year Group

Medium Used

Brief description of the artwork

Permission and Consent - By submitting your child’s artwork to the competition, you give permission for the artwork to be displayed in a public exhibition. You also consent to your child’s name, age, school name, and title of the artwork being shown alongside the piece. You understand that the exhibition may be visited by members of the public and that images of the display may be used by the organisers for promotional or reporting purposes, both in print and online. No other personal details will be shared.

If you have any questions – please feel free to contact Mrs Barlow.

Thank you, we look forward to receiving your competition entries!

Mrs Barlow and Mrs Howard

 

​Additional Information

Forest school is now on a Thursday afternoon, please can children bring in wellington boots for this and if they wish to play on the field they would also need wellingtons. Their wellingtons are kept in their locker and can get muddy so please provide a suitable bag for these to be put into their locker.

PE is on a Tuesday afternoon please can children wear a plain white t-shirt, or our new Chilton PE t-shirts, black or navy bottoms and a plain black or blue sweatshirt.

Read at 3! This is where we would love to invite you into our classrooms and read with your child for the full 15 minutes. This will happen every Friday there after this term.

Spare clothes for year 1

We kindly ask that all Year 1 children have a spare set of clothes in school, including underwear and socks, in case of accidents or spills during the day. Having these items available helps us ensure your child stays comfortable and can quickly return to their learning.

If you have any spare underwear or clothing at home that your child has outgrown and you would be happy to donate, we would greatly appreciate it. These donations are very helpful for supporting all children when needed.

Thank you for your continued support.

Advance notice Phonics Screen

We would like to give you advance notice that on Friday 24th April at 3:00pm, there will be a parent talk for Year 1 regarding the phonics screening check.

This session will provide you with helpful information about what the phonics screen involves and how you can support your child at home.

We hope you are able to attend and look forward to seeing you there.

Key dates

Week Beginning 30th March – Parent Teacher consultation week

Wednesday 1st April at 9.05am– Easter Bonnet Parade for Team Periwinkle, Team Ocean and Team Cornflower

Wednesday 1st April at 2.45pm – Easter Bonnet Parade for Team Teal, Team Sky and Team Sapphire

Thursday 2nd April – Chilton Fundraisers Sponsored Eggscellent Event - Non-Uniform to be worn with further details to follow next term.

Thursday 2nd April - Last day of term. School to finish at 3.15pm

If you would like to contact us, please feel free to email, alternatively we are available to catch at the end of the day or the start of the day by the door.

Team Ocean - Eloise.hall@chiltonprimary.co.uk

Team Sky - Poppy.winchcombe@chiltonprimary.co.uk and Elaine.howard@chiltonprimary.co.uk ( On a Wednesday)

Have a restful weekend and we will see you all on Monday!

Miss Hall, Mrs Winchcombe and Mrs Howard