Year 1 Summer Term 1 2026

Welcome back – can you believe it’s already the summer term?Our topic this term is ‘By the Sea and Pirates’, which will inspire much of our learning. We will beexploring the books The Treasure of Pirate Frank by Elspeth Graham and Mal Peet, and The Pirates NextDoor by Jonny Duddle. Through these, we will discover what pirates wore and what life was like aboardtheir ships. We were especially excited to meet some ‘real’ pirates during our pirate workshop – howexciting it was to be a pirate for the day!

During our afternoon Learning Journeys, we will be exploring similarities and differences between coastallocations in Geography. Linking with our pirate theme, we will compare our local coast of Eastbourne witha more tropical location. We will also learn about the historical figure Grace Darling, looking closely at herstory and how she influenced modern sea rescue. Alongside this, we will enjoy a range of crafts andactivities inspired by pirates and the seaside.

Our artist of the term will be Barbara Hepworth, known for her abstract sculptures featuring curvedshapes and hollow spaces, often inspired by natural forms such as waves. We will experiment with clay tocreate our own sculptures in her style.

In Maths, we will be focusing on counting in groups of 10, understanding the value of tens and ones, andlearning how to partition two-digit numbers. We will also explore making equal groups and begin workingwith arrays. To keep our skills sharp, we will continue to revisit previous learning, including addition,subtraction, and place value.

The children are continuing to enjoy using the Purple Mash online learning platform to develop their ICTskills. Don’t forget that Purple Mash can also be accessed at home—each child’s username and passwordcan be found inside the front cover of their reading record.

Finally, please continue to support your child in practising their spellings. The more they practise, the moreconfidently they will remember and use these words in their everyday writing.

Thank you for all your hard work and support in helping your children at home.

Year One Team.