Inspired by: The Trouble with Dragons - Curriculum Objectives

The curriculum objectives for Year 1 pupils encompass a comprehensive approach to developing reading and writing skills. Pupils are expected to apply their phonetic knowledge to decode words efficiently, quickly associating the correct sounds with graphemes for over 40 phonemes, and read accurately by blending these sounds in unfamiliar words. They should also be able to read common exception words and those with suffixes such as 's', 'es', 'ing', 'ed', 'er', and 'est'. Additionally, children should become adept at reading words containing contractions, understanding the role of the apostrophe, and develop fluency through re-reading books aligned with their phonic knowledge. The curriculum also aims to foster a love of reading by listening to and discussing a variety of texts, linking readings to personal experiences, and becoming familiar with traditional tales and predictable phrases. Pupils are encouraged to understand texts by drawing on their knowledge, making inferences, predicting outcomes, and engaging in discussions to clarify their comprehension.

On the writing front, pupils should be able to spell words containing the 40+ phonemes they've learned, as well as common exception words and the days of the week. They should understand the alphabet, add prefixes and suffixes appropriately, and write simple dictated sentences from memory. Writing skills are further developed by composing and sequencing sentences to form short narratives, ensuring that their writing makes sense, and reading it aloud. Proper handwriting is also emphasised, with pupils learning to form letters and digits correctly. The module 'The Trouble with Dragons' by Debi Gliori serves as a thematic focus for these learning objectives, guiding pupils through activities such as discussing the book's cover, predicting story events, writing descriptive pieces about dragons, and creating various written materials like shopping lists and party invitations. Pupils also learn about grammar and punctuation, including the use of capital letters, full stops, and the conjunction 'and' to join words and clauses.