Year 1

Learning is fun when you are in Year 1

Semester One

Our Year 1 students are entering a new and exciting stage of their lives as they begin their first year of formal schooling!

This semester the students are experiencing a number of days of Celebration of Learning. These special days are designed to enhance and support the Year 1 Key Learning Areas. “Alphabet Day” is a culmination of exploring the basic sounds of the alphabet through cooking, a treasure hunt and art and craft activities. Our “Maths in Motion” Day activities have drawn inspiration from the strands of chance and data, measurement, space and number. Students are actively involved in hands on activities such as graphing with Smarties, constructing and measuring with Crocometres, constructing models of 3D shapes and playing Coin Toss Targets. Sensational Science Day encourages all students to participate experimentally in a variety of different enquiries.

Throughout the semester, students continue to focus on Numeracy and all other areas of Mathematics with number concepts, patterning, graphing, and shape and line.

Literacy underpins the whole curriculum, but a concentrated literacy time is programmed into each day. In this time, the Year 1 students read, write, develop reading strategies and use their comprehension, listening and speaking skills. Small ability group learning with guided, shared and individual reading as well as word games and sight word practice are all part of regular practice in a Year 1 child’s week.

Science, Physical Education, Library, Music and Health are conducted by specialist teachers, allowing the students to have the best tuition in these valued Key Learning Areas.

Christian Studies is a fundamental element at Faith. In addition to their weekly lessons, the students are actively involved in worship through our weekly Chapel services and in our morning classroom devotions.

Students will use educational computer programs including Paint, Phonics Alive, Reading for Literacy and Kid Pix. ICT is an important learning area for Year 1 with skill-based learning integrated with Maths, SOSE and Christian Studies units or work.

Semester Two

Our special days or Celebrations of Learning continue this semester, with our “Wrapped in Reading” Day. The main focus of this day is for students to be fully immersed in language, print and literacy through such fun activities as reading recipes to cook, reading clues to find treasure, reading and following directions to made masks and various other craft activities.

During the final term of the year we will be learning about our Australian Aboriginal neighbours. The highlight of this unit of work will be our excursion to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Centre at Inala. Students learn to throw boomerangs, recognize and try Bush Tucker, discover how some of the artefacts are made and listen to traditional tales and accounts of everyday life in traditional Aboriginal culture.

Our students are encouraged to do their best at all times and respect others in play, work and small group activities. They are encouraged to develop self-discipline, problem-solving, self-directed learning strategies and independence as competent and capable learners of Faith Lutheran College, Redlands.