Our brains help us to learn lots of new and different things every day, enabling us to gain the knowledge, skills and understanding that we will need to become successful adults. By finding out more about how we learn, and how we can improve the way that we learn, we will be better equipped for meeting the many challenges ahead of us.

It's... Brainwave: The Brain

In Health & Wellbeing, we'll be learning about:

• How we can learn by making connections across different subjects and activities
• The Personal Learning Goals that help us to become better learners
• How Knowledge, Skills and Understanding combine for effective learning
• The different parts of the brain
• How to wake up our brain
• How to look after our brain

In Physical Education, we'll be learning about:

• How to learn and practise skills for a special athletic challenge
• How to assess the development of our skills over time

In Design, Technology and Innovation, we'll be learning about:

• Connecting learning between subjects
• Designing physical challenges

In Science, we'll be learning about:

• The things we can do to make new connections or strengthen existing connections in our brains

In International, we'll be learning about:

• The importance of understanding our place in the world

next...

Toys around the world and the role that they play in entertaining us, educating us, and stimulating our imagination. As historians, we will be finding out about the ways in which toys have changed over time; as scientists, we will be exploring the various materials that toys are made of; as designers, we will be learning about the different stages of the toy-making process and creating our own board games; and as programmers, we will be covering the basics of computer game coding. Toys come in many shapes and sizes, but what is it that makes a great toy?

It's... The Magic Toymaker

In History, we’ll be learning about:

• Toys and games from the past
• How to order a group of objects from old or new
• How to create our own toy museum display
• How we can learn about the past in different ways

In Science, we’ll be learning about:

• How to sort toys based on what they are made of
• Which materials can be bent, squashed, twisted or stretched
• Why different materials have particular uses
• Pushes and pulls, and how toys move

In Design, Technology and Innovation, we’ll be learning about:

• ‘Magic’ toys that fool our eyes
• How to design and make our own board game

In ICT & Computing, we’ll be learning about:

• How to control our own space sprite on a computer 

In International, we’ll be learning about:

• Popular games from other countries and teaching others to play them

followed by...

Exciting jobs from different places and time periods in order to create our own imaginary community. We will need to be historians, geographers, musicians, designers and citizens of the world! What job would you like to do when you grow up?

It's... A Day in the Life

In International, we’ll be learning about:

• The jobs people do in our school
• The jobs that our parents and family do
• What family life is like in other countries
• Using our imagination to invent characters
• The process for creating a TV show

In Geography, we’ll be learning about:

• The services and buildings in the local area
• Creating our own street map
• Using a map to find out information

In History, we’ll be learning about:

• The history of television
• Comparing the past to the present
• The original purpose of the soap opera
• The reasons why jobs and technology change over time

In Music, we’ll be learning about:

• To improvise and create a soundscape for one of our characters
• Using our voices expressively and creatively in saying chants and rhymes
• Composing an accompaniment to open our soap opera

In ICT, we’ll be learning about:

• Using editing software to create a video clip of the opening sequence to our soap opera

In Health and Wellbeing, we’ll be learning about:

• People in our community that help us
• The ways in which people stay safe in their jobs
• The jobs we might like to do in the future

In Technology, we’ll be learning about:

• Using a range of materials to make vehicles for our street map
• The importance of uniform in a profession and designing our own
• Creating an ID card for our future selves in 20 years' time

In Art, we’ll be learning about:

• The key features of a portrait
• Creating a self-portrait using a range of materials

followed by...

 Significant people left a lasting impact on humanity through their hard work, resilience and creativity. As historians, we will investigate the lives of several influential figures to find out about the personal qualities that enabled them to shape the world as we know it. As musicians and artists, we will be producing pieces inspired by the lives and works of famous composers and painters, thereby exploring the elements that made their creations so ground-breaking. Throughout the unit, learners should be encouraged to reflect: How are our lives different thanks to the work of these significant people?

It’s... People of the Past

In History, we’ll be learning about:

• Using a living graph to explore how a person from history might have been feeling
• The life of a famous explorer using maps and role play
• Comparing the lives of two different explorers
• The difficult decisions that rulers had to make in the past
• The achievements of important scientists and inventors
• Spoken and written communication technologies that have developed over time
• What life was like at different times in the past

In Music, we’ll be learning about:

• The life and music of a famous composer
• How to use music to tell a story

In Art, we’ll be learning about:

• What someone’s portrait can tell us about them
• How to create a portrait of a friend
• How to create a Cubist-style artwork
• Comparing and contrasting the work of famous artists
• How to paint a scene in the style of a famous artist

In International, we’ll be learning about:

• The idea of ‘fairness’ and what it means
• The qualities and skills needed to be an effective leader

later on in Year One...

Discovering why holidays are special days when we take a rest from school and work. We will need to be geographers as we learn about different holiday destinations around the world, and we will need to take on the role of historians when we learn about holidays in the past. We will also need to be able to find out information from the Internet and books.

Now that we can travel to different parts of the world more easily, who knows where we will go for our holidays in the future?

It’s... Hooray... Let's Go on Holiday!

In Geography, we’ll be learning about:

• The places people go to on holiday
• How people travel to holiday destinations
• Some of the things people do on holiday
• What the weather is like in different holiday destinations

In History, we’ll be learning about:

• The holidays that we have been on
• The evolution of luggage over time
• Differences between holidays in the past and holidays today

In Design, Technology and Innovation, we'll be learning about:

• Designing a holiday souvenir

In Art, we’ll be learning about:

• Painting a holiday scene for a postcard or poster
• How to create a collage on the theme of holidays

In ICT & Computing, we’ll be learning about:

• How to create a Virtual Tour on Google Earth

In Health and Wellbeing, we’ll be learning about:

• How we can make sure that we stay safe when on holiday

In International, we’ll be learning about:

• How to be responsible tourists and look after the places that we visit on holiday
• How to greet people in different languages
• Some of the Wonders of the World.

and finally...

 Celebrations are hugely an important part of human life. As artists, musicians, designers, historians and dancers, we will be exploring the ways in which all peoples and cultures, from every part of the world, take part in and hold celebrations to mark special events and special times in people's lives.

It’s... Let's Celebrate

In History, we’ll be learning about:

• How people in our families celebrated in the recent past
• How particular past events are still celebrated

In Design, Technology and Innovation, we’ll be learning about:

• How to plan for a celebration
• How to design and make a product for a celebration

In Art, we’ll be learning about:

• How decoration is used in celebrations
• How the work of artists is used in celebrations
• How to make artefacts and images that could be used in celebrations

In Music, we’ll be learning about:

• How songs and music are used in celebrations in our own and other countries
• How to compose our own music for a celebration

In Physical Education, we’ll be learning about:

• How to create a celebration dance
• How to improve the performance of our dance

In International, we’ll be learning about:

• What is the same and what is different between the celebrations in the home countries of the different children in our class
• How to work and celebrate with each other