Year 1 Curriculum Guide

Throughout the year, students will be guided through six Units of Inquiry of global significance, providing opportunities to broaden their learning by developing their conceptual understandings, strengthening their knowledge and skills across, between and beyond subject areas.

The following five Units of Inquiry will be explored throughout the year. Each unit is developed around a concept, a Central Idea and Lines of Inquiry.

An inquiry into:

• Myself: My health and wellbeing
• Interactions: My relationships with others and my sense of belonging
• Growth: The impact on my learning and development

Unit timing: Weekly

An inquiry into:

• inspiration, imagination and creativity
• personal, social and cultural modes and practices of communication
• intentions, perceptions, interpretations and responses

Unit timing: all year

符號具有可用於交流的共享含義。

An inquiry into:

• How people use symbols to communicate (case study - Hong Kong) 人們如何使用符號進行交流（案例研究 - 香港）
  
• Different symbols we use 我們使用的不同符號
  
• How symbols communicate meaning 符號是如何傳達意義的
  

Unit timing: Term One

Central Idea: Patterns, cycles and systems help us to understand the natural world.

圖案、週期和系統幫助我們理解自然世界。

An inquiry into:

• Patterns and cycles can be observed, measured and predicted圖案與週期可以被觀察、測量和預測
• Living things and materials can be grouped according to characteristics (systems) 生物與材料可依據其特性（系統）進行分類
• Patterns & cycles influence the behaviours of living things 圖案和週期會影響生物的行為

Unit timing: Term Two

An inquiry into:

• Our past (case study) 我們的過去（案例分析）
  
• How people can document & share the changes in their lives in a variety of ways 人們可以通過多種方式記錄和分享他們生活中的變化
• Reflecting on personal growth & change can lead to new learning 反思個人成長和變化可以帶來新的學習
  

Unit timing: Term Three

The development of language is fundamental to all areas of our learning programs. Language helps us communicate our thinking and understanding.

Language is socially constructed - it is dependent on social interactions and relationships. It permeates all subject areas. As such, we view all of our teachers and assistants to be language teachers.

English is our main language of instruction, with Chinese (Mandarin) taught as an additional language.

In Year 1, we begin our phonics and camera words program, providing the students with the essential building blocks for reading and writing. Our reading program focuses on developing decoding strategies, fluency and comprehension. These are developed through a mixture of guiding reading, shared reading, read aloud and independent reading sessions. Readers will be sent home on a regular basis so students can practise taught skills after school.

Students will explore a range of text types: to entertain, to inform and to persuade. Specific writing skills will be developed around how to entertain a reader through recounts, stories and poems.

Chinese Foundation focuses on speaking, listening and social Chinese. Students read texts and focus on speaking, listening and social Chinese. Students read text and environmental print and learn to write the most commonly occurring characters.

Chinese Language focuses on Chinese speaking, listening and the reading of longer texts. Students write their own longer pieces of writing.

Mathematics is a global language of concepts and symbols through which we make sense of the world around us.

Mathematics is taught through three main stages:

1. Constructing meaning and ideas about a mathematical concept through interactions with objects, discussions, experimentation and play;
2. Transferring these ideas and understandings into symbols;
3. Applying these ideas and understanding in real-life and hands-on problem solving activities.

Mathematics is taught through the strands of number, data handling, shape and space, measure and problem solving.

In Year 1, students will explore numbers up to 100. They will learn addition and subtraction facts to 20. They will learn different addition strategies such as skip counting, doubling and grouping. They will explore the concept of division through equal sharing and recognise halves and quarters.

Students will explore the concept of space by applying directional vocabulary. They will measure and compare length and capacity using informal units. They will classify a range of 2D shapes and 3D objects. They will tell time to the half-hour, distinguish between the different season and explore the use of calendars.

In Year 1, students will explore a range of land-based and freshwater environments. They will learn how to identify a range of native and garden plants and spending time observing the different patterns and cycles in nature. Students will have opportunities to explore water sources, as well as, creating and maintaining a freshwater ecosystem at school.

Wellbeing is a central pillar of our school and is taught on a weekly basis. Students learn through Relationships and Sexuality Education, Social and Emotional Learning, PE & Health and Digital Wellbeing. There is a focus on self-management, relationship skills and fundamental movement skills.

Science and Social Studies are primarily taught through the Units of Inquiry (see above). We have new curriculum for 2025-26

This year, we will have a focus on students developing their scientific understanding in the areas of Living Things, Physical and Chemical Science and Earth and Space.

Through Social Studies, students learn about the past, the present and the future through exploring their community and finding out about the wider global community. They learn about their environment and their place in the world through place knowledge and geographical skills.

In Year 1, students will use a range a different digital systems, mainly through the use of an I-pad. Devices are shared between two students and access is teacher-led and screen time is limited. Students will also explore a range of tools, equipment & techniques to use with different materials.

• Use a variety of spoken language and visual cues to understand and express emotions.
• Begin to use strategies for self regulation.

• Display responsibility for belongings.
• Understand what is meant by ‘whole body listening.’

• Identify and follow shared classroom, playground and school norms.
• Understand what is meant by manners and identify what these look like in a variety of settings.
• Form positive relationships.
• Understand how to resolve conflicts with friends.
• Know how and where to get support if needed.

• Listen and follow two-step instructions.
• Communicate with others in the class.
• Ask questions.
• Use increasingly accurate pronunciation when speaking.
• Use accurate past and present tense when sharing information.

• Decode simple text with a teacher at PM level 8 or higher.
• Listen to stories daily and show interest in a variety of picture books, often using pictures to help retell stories or gain information.
• Use knowledge of phonemes and camera words (words that are not easily decoded) from the ‘Basic Code’ of the 'Get Reading Right Program’ when reading.

• Draw a picture related to a specific topic and write multiple sentences or phrases using appropriate spacing between words.
• Use knowledge of phonemes and camera words to spell.
• Form letters and numbers correctly.
• Attempt to spell unfamiliar words in a way that can be understood by readers.
• Accurately use capital letters and full stops consistently.

• Recognise and write numbers from 1-100.
• Count on and back from a given number between 0-100.
• Begin to skip count in multiples of 1, 2, 5 and 10.
• Add and subtract using concrete materials and pictorial representations, including the number line.
• Recognise mathematical statements involving addition, subtraction, and equals signs.
• Recognise and name halves and quarters as equal parts of an object, shape or quantity.
• Create simple representations of data and tally charts, usually using pictures.

• Sort, describe and name shapes.
• Compare measurements of length, weight or capacity.
  
• Know days of the week and months of the year.
  
• Recognise o'clock and half-past on a clock.

• Solve simple addition and subtraction problems using visual aids such as cubes, counters or pictures.

• Copy, extend, create and describe patterns with objects and drawings.

To see the Subject Guidance for all subjects from Nursery to Year 6 please click on this link

Email: info@ichkhly.edu.hk
Website: www.ichkhly.edu.hk
Location: 3 Hong Lok Yuen 20th Street, Hong Lok Yuen, Hong Kong
Phone: +852 3955 3000
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