Year 1

Week ending 7.7.23

A busy and fun filled week this week! 

In maths, we learnt how to find out one more and one less of numbers up to 100. We compared numbers with the same tens (e.g 53 and 59) with visuals and digits. 

In English, we started reading the first part of our new book, The Last Wolf. We thought of questions that Little Red and the Wolf would like to ask each other. Throughout the text there are suffixes ending in -ed and plurals with -s and -es. We played a bingo game with a partner using the -ed story words and sorted them into the different sound endings, as not all -ed words sound like they end like that. In another lesson, the children worked in groups to figure out the plurals puzzle. They had to match the root word to the plural and they managed very well. 

In RE, we started looking at My World and Jesus’ world. The children got out and wore some clothes that looked like they are from Jesus’ time. We compared them with our clothes and discussed the differences between them due to different places, culture, weather, materials etc.  

In D&T, the children started to make their car model. They used their plans and began putting together the wheels and axels independently which was great to see! We even got onto painting our base colour in preparation for next week’s designing. 

In PHSE, we continued with our changing me topic. We discussed that our body belongs to us and we should tell someone we trust if anything makes us feel upset or worried. We then watched a video involving the Pantosaurus and listened to the great advice from them! Here is the link so you’re not missing out on the song. 

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/

On Thursday we took part in our Sports Day. Everyone did a fantastic job and tried their best! We are looking forward to seeing who won on Monday …

On Friday, we continued with our computing topic. The children managed to change backgrounds and add sprites onto the Scratch app. Once they’ve done this, they added algorithms to make the sprites move. 

See you all on Monday for more fun and learning!

Week ending 23.6.23

Another week gone by with so much learning! The class have all been so resilient and I’m so proud of how far they’ve all come on. 

In maths this week, we continued with our position and direction topic where we looked at above and below, forwards and backwards and ordinal numbers. The children built on their previous knowledge and began to deepen their learning with word problems and applying the instructions altogether. 

In English, we looked at a WAGOLL (what a good one looks like) in writing a postcard. We looked at sentence structure and editing and correcting sentences. 

In Science, we compared the weather in the different seasons and discussed how nature can change due to the weather. In History, we looked at comparing cars from different times and tried sorting them from oldest to newest. The children did a great job at spotting the difference between the cars and seeing how they’ve evolved into the ones to drive today. In D&T, the children experimented putting together wheels and axles and seeing how the chassis shape can be altered. We even had a practise test with one another to see how they worked! In PHSE, we looked at how we’ve changed as we’ve grown up and what other changes have happened to us through the years. E.g. losing teeth, new clothes because we’ve grown, different school years. 

We’ve enjoyed being together and learning this week. Let’s see what next week brings! 

Week ending 16.6.23

A hot and busy first week back after half term! It’s been good to have everyone back together. 

We started our week off with a visit from Reverend Bob, who spoke to us about baptism and explained what happens during a service and after. 

In maths this week, we started a new topic of position and direction where the children discussed full, quarter, three quarter and half turns. We then moved onto left and right and understanding how to move objects and draw shapes. 

In English, we focused on nouns and adjectives. The children wrote down nouns for a picture from The Secret of Black Rock and then went back to edit in adjectives to describe those nouns. We looked at plurals -s and -es, and the exceptions of when to use suffix -es. 

In Science, we started our new topic of seasons and took our learning outside in the shade to observe what summer looks like in our school grounds. In History, we started our summer term topic of Transport through time where we talked about Carl Benz who invented the first petrol engine car in 1885. In Computing, we have now moved onto our last topic of programming animations and we had a little play around on the app Scratch to see how to use the programming area and buttons. In PHSE, we looked at life cycles of humans and animals and tried sorting some out in our table groups. 

We finally ended the week by having a celebration for Father’s Day! It was lovely to see our children hand over the cards they’d made and spend some special time with them. 

Overall, a lovely week back together and learning. Looking forward to seeing what’s happening next week!

Week ending 26.5.23

A lovely busy week as we finish for our half term. 

In maths, we have been recognising and finding half of shapes and objects. We then moved onto finding half of a quantity and understanding that a whole has to be split into two equal parts. The children did very well using stem sentences and a method to split the quantities. We then moved onto recognising and finding a quarter of shapes and objects. The children had to split a whole into four equal parts. 

In English, we began the week by planning our return story. The children got really into creating their character, the world that their character visits and the creature they come across. For the rest of the week, we wrote up our big write. The children did so well and on the Friday we went into Reception and read our stories to them which they loved! 

In PE, we had our athletics lesson outside, where we set up stations for the children to practise the skills they’ve done over the weeks. 

In Computing, the children practised their skills from last week and made a page about themselves. They made decisions about font and what text they wanted in bold, italics or underlined. 

In Art, the children made their animal clay tiles from their planning. They did really well using the equipment correctly and correcting mistakes as they went. 

In PHSE, we ended our relationships topic and had discussions about who is special to us and why. We then made a little something to take to those people in our lives. 
In Geography, we finished our UK topic and wrote about why the UK is special. Some children came to the front to read what they had written. 

During the week, we had a great visit from Zoo2u for our science topic. We were shown different animals from the categories and told about their diets, habitats and interesting facts about them. The children loved petting the animals and understanding more about them. They asked some great questions and were so well behaved listening and being with the animals. 

I’m so proud of how well year 1 have worked this half term. I hope you all have a wonderful well deserved rest!

Week ending 19.5.23

What an eventful week we’ve had!  

We kick started the week with dressing up like a pop star. Thank you to all of your efforts in the outfits, they were amazing! In the afternoon, we had a Eurovision concert and Year 1 sang ‘Can’t stop this feeling’. They sang well and did great actions. 

In maths, we looked at doubling and understanding how to explain that it means it is twice as big as the original amount. The children were good at adding two of the same numbers together in their addition sentences and proving it on ten frames. 

For preparation for our big writes coming up in English, the children verbally practised using different sentence starters. The children chose a scene of a story and used different sentence starters to hook the readers in. Some children read theirs out to the class!  

In Science, we had a visitor come in on Wednesday. The children tried to predict what profession our visitor did and had some clues on their tables to discuss the equipment. Some children predicted correctly that our visitor was a vet! She explained about how she looks after household pets and what she does when they are sick. Some X-rays of animals were shown and we had to figure out the pets and what was wrong with them. We had so much fun!

In Spanish, the children learnt some more songs about the garden and the insects that you may find there. 

In PHSE, we discussed about belonging and what makes us feel like we belong. A lot of children spoke about family, clubs they feel a part of and the school community. Therefore, we made little belonging books to remind ourselves of what we belong to and why it’s special. 

In Computing, we continued with digital literacy and understood about types of font, bold, italic and underlining that can be found on the toolbar. The children managed to create and change texts using these features well. 

Keep up the good work Year 1!

Week ending 12.5.23

A lovely week of learning together as usual! 
 

In English, we had a little mystery to solve. The children were given a page from our new book but only had a few windows to look through at it. They predicted what the book could be about using just the window images and then we ended up opening the envelope and revealing the whole page! 

We then looked at verbs ending with the suffix -ed in our book and tried highlighting them. 

In maths, we looked at counting in 5s and then moved onto recognising equal groups. We had an explore of how numbers can be split into equal groups and found that there isn’t always one answer or sometimes you can’t! 

In Spanish, the children first recapped vocabulary they already know and then went onto extending their colours and playing a game with the colour fans. In Geography, we continued to find more out about the countries of the UK. We have already researched and looked at England and Scotland - so this week we looked at Wales. In science, we looked at offspring of animals and humans and how some offspring looks the same as the adult and how others don’t. Ask your child to see if they remember which animals don’t look like their adult! In computing, we looked at writing sentences using the iPad keyboard and using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. The children are getting very good at typing now! 

I am looking forward to seeing what learning happens next week and what pop stars you come as on Monday …

Week ending 5.5.23

A shorter week this week but it was still packed full of learning and fun!

In English, we finished our information reports on our wild things. The children did a great job explaining what their wild thing’s appearance, diet, movement is like and some added an amazing fact! 

In maths, we’ve started the topic of multiplication and division of numbers up to 100. We have been revisiting counting in 2s and 10s but are now applying those counting skills to problems and reasoning questions. 

In Spanish, we learnt about the garden and what we might find in there. In PE, we focused on aiming and throwing a ball over a net and dropping and catching it quickly. In Art, we practised making patterns and drawings in clay in preparation for making animals in clay tiles. 

On Thursday, Year 1 started the day off by doing their class worship about the Christian value truthfulness. The were confident and amazing to watch - I was a very proud teacher! 

On Friday, we celebrated the King’s coronation. We learned about what coronation means and what will be happening on the day. We made our own crowns, had fun activities, coloured and had a disco where we danced the afternoon away! The sun even came out for lunchtime so we sat outside and had our party lunch together. 
 

A lovely end to our week - let’s see what next week brings …

Week ending 21.4.23

A lovely week being back together after the Easter holidays. The children loved finding out their new carpet and table places and we got back into the swing of things very quickly! 

In maths this week, we’ve focused on length, height and began learning about mass. The children have been making sure to use mathematical language when comparing length and height. We looked at measuring scales and how heavier objects go down and lighter objects go up. Next week, we will explore measuring and comparing mass. 

In English, we began the week immersing ourselves into kennings. The children learnt that a kenning is a special type of poem that uses 2 word phrases to describe something or someone. We played a game where we had to guess what the kenning was describing and then we started to use those examples to make our own Wild Thing kenning. That class worked in their new groups to create a team kenning and then some groups read theirs out and acted alongside the reading. We had such a fun lesson! For the rest of the week, we explored a WAGOLL information report and started to design and create our own Wild Thing that we will be reporting on. 

In RE, we started our new Baptism topic. We looked at pictures of different people being baptised or christened and the class wrote down questions that they’d like to find out throughout the topic. Some children discussed their christenings or people that they know who have been baptised. 

In Spanish, Year 1 recapped their numbers and continued to learn new vocabulary of animals.

In PHSE, we talked about belonging and family. We looked at what animal families look like and what our families look like. 

In PE, we started our racquet skills and athletics topics. In athletics, the children were introduced to different sports and practised some techniques in preparation for future lessons. 

In Science, we began our animals topic, where we started talking about and noting down animals (including humans) basic needs.  

In Geography, we looked at the United Kingdom and how to find it on a world map. We then looked at what countries are in the UK and where they are located. We will be learning more about each country as the weeks go on. 

On Friday, we said goodbye to our student teacher Miss Mee who has been with us for a number of weeks. The children enjoyed being taught by her and we made her a lovely card to say thank you. 

Week ending 31.3.23

Year 1 had a lovely end to the Spring term. 

In maths, we continued to partition numbers up to 50 using part-whole models. The children were a lot more confident at using stem sentences to help them partition the numbers: First we have 47, then we split it into tens and ones, now I have 4 tens and 7 ones. 

In English, we began to write our portal narrative using Where the Wild Things are and a WAGOLL as inspiration. The children used their plans well and took more ownership in their writing! 

In Science, we ended our topic of plants and explored answering the question ‘Is a plant a living thing?’. The children were able to understand that a living thing moves, breathes, drinks, eats and reproduces and therefore came to the conclusion that a plant is a living thing. In Spanish, Mrs Kimmins began teaching the children masculine and feminine nouns which was tricky but they did very well applying their new knowledge in some games. In RE, we finished our Easter topic talking about Jesus’s resurrection. The children listened to scripture from the bible and drew a picture of what their interpretation of the resurrection looked like. 

On Friday, we enjoyed showing off our Easter bonnets to the school. We paraded around the hall and winners were chosen from each year group. Later on, we had an early visit from the Easter bunny to help us practise our egg-hunting skills. The children did well to work as a team and find them all around the school. Once we had gathered the eggs, we decided to group them into tens to help us count them easier! 

I hope you all have a wonderful and restful Easter break and I am looking forward to seeing you when we are back! 

Week ending 24.3.23

This week we continued our learning linked to British science week. We had two assemblies with scientists who spoke about how science helps us to explore and learn the world around us. 

In maths, we counted forwards and backwards within numbers up to 50 on a 50 square grid. We then moved onto using that number knowledge to help us count larger amounts of objects/pictures in groups of tens. 

In English, we made plans to create a portal narrative next week. The children had great ideas and loved sharing them with their peers. 

In science, we learnt about a variety of local flowers and trees and went on a hunt for them in our school grounds. Some children spotted some flowers that we hadn’t looked at and it led our learning to a bit of research! In RE, the children looked at new life and the life cycle of butterfly. We then compared the life cycle of a butterfly to Jesus’s resurrection and the children made similarities between the two. We then went outside and made our own life cycle of a butterfly with natural resources from things we found. In PE, we continued with some gymnastics and basic skills using the equipment in the hall. In history, we learnt about Norman castles and how William the conqueror built them when he became king of England. The children learnt about the different parts of a castle, what they were called and what they were designed for. 

Another successful week in Year 1 with lots of fun learning together! 

Week ending 17.3.23

Year 1 have enjoyed Science week this week! 

On Monday, we had a whole school assembly about extracting DNA. After that, we had a visit from Miss Melvin, a biochemist from Alder Hey, who spoke to us about what she does and the different strands of scientists. She explained about how she looks at bacteria and blood. The children then performed an experiment about how soap helps fight bacteria on our hands - which the children loved! 

On Tuesday, we compared plants and noticed the similarities and differences about their different parts. It was interesting to see how stems were longer on other plants, leaves were different shapes and how some plants had flower heads and others didn’t. We then learned about deciduous and evergreen trees. The children understood how deciduous trees lose their leaves in winter and evergreens stay green all year round. As it was raining, our exploration of the different leaves will be taken into next week. 

Year 1 also completed our STEM project about being a detective and how forensic scientists can help us detect fingerprints. So we got into pairs and took each others fingerprints. It was amazing to see the different patterns of loops, arches and whorls in our fingers. Things got a little messy! … 

We loved celebrating our Mother’s Day in school on Friday morning for all the important women in our life. Thank you for being you and so wonderful! 

Week ending 10.3.23

Year 1 have been busy this week and have worked very hard as always. 

In maths, we have been looking at how knowing addition facts can help us to work out subtraction facts. We used ten frames and part-whole models to help us explore what that looks like and how knowing number bond facts can be very helpful for quick addition and subtraction knowledge.

On Tuesday, we received some mysterious objects and a letter telling us about our new book 'Where the wild things are'! We read through it and enjoyed all of the drawings and what the wild things looked like. Year 1 recapped what adjectives are and wrote a sentence or two using them to describe a setting from the book. Some of the children came up to the front to read their sentences aloud.

In PHSE this week we continued with our topic of 'healthy me' and discussed about how to keep clean and what safe and unsafe household items may look like. In RE, we took a look at the cress seeds we planted last week and they had grown! So, we decided to try the cress we had grown and put them in sandwiches. The children had such a fun time making the sandwiches on their own and eating something that they had grown and looked after! In Spanish, we revisited numbers and extended our knowledge of learning how to ask and answer questions. In PE, the children learnt about how to defend and use their body to stop balls being passed in games. In Science, we recorded our observations about the flowers in our classroom.

We are looking forward to science week next week and all the fun things we will be getting to do! ...

Week ending 3.3.23

Another great week of learning and lots of characters joining us along the way...

We began the week planting our cress seeds in RE. Our topic of Easter talks about new life, therefore we planted some seeds to document the journey of seeing the new life happen in our classroom and we will see how they develop as the week goes on. In maths, the children focused on subtraction and how to count backwards from 20 and also use their number bond knowledge to help them work out subtraction equations. In English, we continued to write our letter as Hermelin and share our letters with our peers. In Science last week, we discussed about what plants need to live and stay alive and to test out our theories, we placed five plants around the classroom. Four of the plants are missing one of the following; water, soil, sunlight and the right temperature and there is one plant with all of them. So, we did a check up this week on what they looked and smelt like. Alongside our observations, we learnt about the different parts of a flower and a tree. In PE, the children practised their throws from last week and learnt about how to dodge and defend a ball. Later in the lesson, they put it into action by trialling a small game of matball.

On Thursday, we had world book day and might I add, we looked FANTASTIC! Thank you so much parents and carers for all the effort you put in to make your child look amazing and so proud to wear their costume. We had a lovely day reading our books with our friends and looking at a folktale story from India called 'The Tiger Child'. The children listened to the story, learnt where India is located on a map, sequenced the story and re-told it using the construction and animals. 

We are looking forward to seeing what is in store for our learning next week.

Week ending 24.2.23

We have had a great week back after half term and have loved starting all of our new topics.

In maths this week, we have looked at and explored all of the different number bonds to 20. We then moved onto doubles and how we can use our doubles knowledge to work out number sentences that are near doubles. E.g. 6 + 6 = 12 can help us work out 6 + 7 = 13 because 6 + 6 = 12 + 1 = 13. In English, we recapped looking at and using the conjunctions ‘so, because, and, but, or’ and began to plan a letter from Hermelin for our write next week. 

In RE, we have started our new topic about Easter and this week we went outside for a Spring walk to see if we could find signs of spring. The children did so well exploring the field and explaining what they had found and discussing what it looks like now and what it will be like in spring time. In PE, we are looking at how to play Matball. We began our first lesson understanding how to do a chest pass and shoulder pass. This then led to putting those throws into practise with a game at the end in teams. In PHSE, we have started our healthy me topic where we discussed how we can be healthy and what we need to do. We understood how a balanced diet, having plenty of sleep, washing our hands and playing outdoors is good for us. In Spanish, Mrs Kimmins began to teach us numbers in Spanish and the children loved all of the videos and songs that helped them remember how to say them. 
 

Looking forward to seeing what next week brings!

Week ending 10.2.23

We’ve been very busy all the way up until the end of half term. 
 

In maths this week, we have been looking at different and more efficient methods of adding numbers up to 20. We used ten frames to do this and really enjoyed counting on from the largest number and also understanding how to make number bonds to ten to help you add. 
 

In English, we looked at the characters from Hermelin in more detail. We discussed capital letters and looked at conjunctions like ‘because, and, but and so’ and how they help us to extend our sentences. The children did really well understanding how to use them at different times.

In computing, we looked at routes and how we can program robots to move in different ways by starting and finishing in the same place. They are now really good at programming the BeeBots and understand where to alter the instructions if it doesn’t go to plan. In RE, we looked at how we can look after God’s creation and created posters of saving our world and put them around school. 
 

On Thursday, it was our LDST well-being day where we did some activities like creating thank you cards, yoga and gardening. The children loved dressing up in something yellow and discussing about all of the things that help our minds to stay positive and happy and how it’s important to speak out to others if you’re feeling upset or down.  
 

On Friday, we had our annual service at St Luke’s and it was wonderful to have everyone come together and show each other what we’d learnt about our Christian value of perseverance. Year 1 did SO well reading and acting out the parable of the lost sheep and made everyone very proud! 
 

Hope you all have a rested half term and I’m looking forward to seeing you all when we are back! 

Week ending 3.2.23

We’ve been working so hard this week on our learning - as always!

In maths, we have been ordering numbers up to 20 from the smallest to largest and vice versa. The children really explored their reasoning skills and managed to explain to their partner or an adult about why they were correct and how they knew a number was the smallest or largest in the group. 

In English, we finished writing our detective stories and read them out in class. It’s been lovely to see such a joy for writing in our class this year and how well the children have used vocabulary, we’ve looked at in our vehicle and example texts, and writing resources in their stories. 
 

In RE, we went outside to investigate and admire God’s detail in the world. The children looked at the nature around us that we look at every day and put it under a magnifying glass. We were all amazed to see the details in the leaves, tree trunks and even blades of grass! 
 

In computing, the children began programming robots to make directions. They put together the knowledge we’ve built up over the weeks and were able to control the robots and direct them from a start to a finish place. 
 

In Science, we looked at sorting materials into groups. The children worked in small groups and decided how they were going to sort the materials. We quickly realised that there could be a number of ways to sort them and worked as a team to work out which material would go where. 
 

A wonderful week had by all!

Week ending 27.1.23

Lots of lovely activities going on in Year 1 this week...

In maths, year 1 have been using a number line up to 20. They have been filling in blank spaces and have also been introduced to a new word 'estimate'. The children did a wonderful job using their reasoning skills to estimate where the numbers went on the number line. We first found that finding the halfway line and number, really helped us to make our estimating more accurate.

In English, we began to start writing our detective stories! Some children wanted to share the beginning of theirs and stood at the front and read theirs out. I am sure we will be hearing more detective stories as we continue to write them next week. We also looked at the conjunction 'because' and paired up sentences with their because reasoning. 

In RE, we looked at animal creations and discussed, wrote and drew which our favourite animals are. It's been lovely to talk about the world around us and what we love and appreciate. In Science, we looked at properties of materials and were understanding why certain materials have different properties than one another. We were introduced to the new vocabulary 'waterproof' and 'absorbent'. In Art, we continued with our printing and looked at how to use certain equipment to make prints - the children loved getting messy with the rollers! In Computing, we played games with the Bee-bots and programmed them to move forwards and backwards and tried to predict which shapes they would land on in their journey. 

Overall, another great week of learning and I am looking forward to seeing what next week brings!

Week ending 20.1.23

Another great week of new learning with our lovely year 1s!

In maths, we learnt about how the numbers 17-20 are split into tens and ones and understanding what is more or less than the numbers from 11-20. The children are increasing fluency in understanding the number bonds from 11-20 which is great and we will continue recapping these skills throughout the rest of the year. e.g. 10 + 5 = 15, 10 + 8 = 18.

In English, we read a WAGOLL detective story (what a good one looks like) and unpicked the features that were included. The children became familiar with the sequence of how a story is written, using time words effectively and understanding more about adding the suffix -s and -es to plurals.

In Science, it was a wonderful opportunity to go outside and explore how winter looks. We had a big discussion about how some trees have looked the same since September and others have lost their leaves. I introduced the words ‘deciduous’ and ‘evergreen’ trees and we then began spotting them on our school grounds. The children also loved handling the snow and great questions were asked about “why does snow stick together and go hard?” and why it goes wet when we’ve held it. We thoroughly enjoyed being outside and being scientists! In PE, we have continued with our dancing and had an under the sea theme this week. The children enjoyed moving in different ways and using their body to express different types of sea creatures. In RE, we discussed God's creation of the world and what He did in the 7 days. The children drew and wrote what their favourite part of the creation story was and why. In Spanish this week with Mrs Kimmins, the children continued to expand their colour learning and learnt actions to help them to remember how to say the numbers up to 5. In Geography, we looked at different coasts around the UK including cliffs, beaches, harbours and ports. The children loved looking at videos and pictures of how different our coastline looks. To end the week, in Computing, we looked at directions. We began by giving each other directions first and then went off into groups to give our Bee-bots some directions as a team.

Week ending 13.1.23

A very busy week this week as we get back into our normal routine and lots of learning going on!

In maths, we have been focusing on the numbers up to 20 and deepening our understanding of how they are split into a ten and ones. We explored the numbers using our ten frames this week, to see how they 

look and can be subitised. It's really important that the children spot this pattern and can see the numbers being partitioned.

In English this week, we had an unexpected suitcase dropped off at our class door on Tuesday... we investigated and found some odd things inside. We tried to piece together who might own the suitcase and what clues they were trying to give us - the children predicted the suitcase belonged to a detective and they were correct! Our new story this term is Hermelin the detective mouse and we've loved seeing what he's been getting up to on Offley Street and who lives there. Whilst reading the story, we came across some words beginning with un- which we didn't know what they meant. Therefore, we spent time learning about the prefix un- and how words are changed when we add it on. 

In Geography, we began our 'Seaside' topic and discussed about what a coast was and where we can find the UK's coastline. We also talked about and looked on maps to see what seas surround the United Kingdom, the children were great at spotting and reading the map. In RE, we have started our new topic about God and Creation and focused on the question, 'What's it like to be creative?' and made our own creations using either, coloured pencils, oil pastels or lego. In art, the children were looking at mono printing and went outside to do crayon rubbings of things they spotted outside. They discussed whether a rough or smooth surface made the better rubbing. In PE, Year 1 is now looking at dance. Our theme this week was pirates and we made up a class dance to begin with and then finished off the dance in small groups where children added in their own dance moves. In Science, we started our new topic 'Materials'. We looked at some on our tables first in groups to discuss if they could name any of the materials. The children did well and were able to identify the materials used in every day objects. In Spanish with Mrs Kimmins, the class continued to recap previous colours and learnt some new ones. They played games where they had to find colours to match the Spanish saying and they did really well! In computing, we started our topic 'Moving robots' and discussed what robots are and how we might use them. We then went on to look at buttons on robots, how we can control a robot using them and played a game using the Bee-bot.

Finally, to end the week, our class went to the library where they decided to choose a book to take home and read independently or with an adult. They will be changing them next Friday if they have finished it or fancy a swap and will continue to do for the rest of this term.

Well done Year 1 on a fantastic week!

Week ending 6.1.23

Happy New Year! It has been lovely to be reunited again after the Christmas holiday and what better way to start off 2023 with arts week. 

Our project this week has been based around our world. Therefore, we’ve spent the last three days creating land animals using our own hand prints, colouring, making 3D sea creatures and creating trees and flowers with different materials. It’s been great to see the children so engaged. We also discussed ways that we can look after our world and protect it. 
 

On Wednesday, we had a wonderful visit from the pantomime and had Mrs Kimmins come in on Thursday for our Spanish lesson. The children learnt how to say different colours in Spanish.
 

We are looking forward to this Spring term and seeing what more fun and learning we’ve got to explore.   

Week ending 21.12.22

A wonderful end to the Autumn term with lots of festive activities. 
 

On Monday, we had our Cronton talent show where we watched lots of different acts from different year groups. Our class performed a nativity song and some went up to tell jokes - everyone loved what we did! 
 

On Tuesday, we had breakfast with Santa and received a present from him. We then continued the morning with a computing lesson, where we created digital artwork on the iPads. After that, we had a lovely afternoon making Christmas cards and baubles. On Wednesday we had our celebration assembly! 

Myself and Mrs Soni would like to say a huge thank you to all of the children and parents for our Christmas gifts and support this term. We were overwhelmed by your generosity! We hope you have a restful Christmas break and a happy new year. 

Week ending 16.12.22

A lot going on in Year 1 this week…

On Monday we watched the EYFS performance which was amazing, we all loved it. On Tuesday, in Design and Technology, our class made their healthy fruit salads and did a wonderful job at cutting and preparing their fruit. On Wednesday morning, the witch from our Rapunzel book broke free and into our school! We spent the rest of the week writing up a set of instructions on how to catch the witch and put them up around school so that she can be caught and put back! That afternoon, we had our KS1 party where we played lots of games and had prizes. Then finally to end a lovely week, on Friday, we had our Christmas dinner in school with Christmas jumpers. In computing, we’ve been looking at different artists and tried to recreate their artwork on different apps on the iPads. The children have found it really interesting and have made some wonderful digital artwork.

Looking forward to more festivity next week!

Week ending 9.12.22

An eventful week as we are coming to the end of our Autumn term. 

In maths, we’ve had the week exploring 2D and 3D shapes. The children explored their names, properties and whether they stack or roll. 

In English, we’ve been looking at instructions and putting them in order. We’ve also explored imperative verbs and how they are bossy verbs used in sets of instructions. The children sorted words that were imperative and not as teams. 

In Spanish, the children have been continuing to learn new vocabulary and played a game called quiz quiz trade where they tried out some of their Spanish. I’m computing, the children have been looking at digital painting on the iPads and understanding how to use the different tools. 

On Thursday, we had a visitor from Dr Riding to link to our current science topic. She brought in equipment that she uses day to day as clues to see if the children could guess what she did as a job. The children had a chance to look and explore the equipment and thought of vet, nurse and doctor. Dr Riding then explained a bit about her job and what she uses the equipment for. After that, we spoke as a class about how to keep our bodies healthy. 

On Friday, we had our first Christmas Nativity performance in the afternoon and the children did so well! Our other performance was on Sunday morning and the children were amazing for that too. I’m so proud of how well they did - well done Year 1!

Week ending 2.12.22

A busy week for Year 1 this week. They worked really hard on their first assessments and were AMAZING on our school trip to the Museum of Liverpool. 

In maths this week, we focused a bit more on subtraction. We are now more confident at finding all of the family facts and will be reminding ourselves on how to find them all through maths meetings in the coming weeks.

In English, a note and a set of instructions was delivered to us from Dexter (a character from our example text)! It was a set of instructions on how to defeat a troll. We will be looking at instructions in more detail next week.

In RE this week, the class had a chance to start creating their own piece of artwork of how they envisage the wise men meeting Jesus. In Spanish, year 1 had a fun lesson of games to revisit their past learning about family.  

Alongside all of this, the big news this week was our trip to the museum of Liverpool. The children were fantastic role models and were great listeners and observers at the museum. We began our trip by being shown a timeline of toys that are in the museum from the early 1900s. We looked at toys made 100 years ago and compared them to the toys we have today and how they’ve changed. We then sorted some toys from older to newer with some help on what to look out for. After this, we worked in groups to discuss and explain which was the older and newer toy and why. The final part of our workshop, we were able to play with all of the toys. The children had so much fun with this and loved exploring all of the toys the museum had. After the workshop, we went around the museum looking at different uses of transport and the different ages.

I’ve been so proud of year 1 this week - well done! 

Week ending the 25.11.22

We kick started the week by watching England’s first game in the World Cup together on Monday. We will soon be choosing a country to research and learn about so we will keep you posted. 

In English, we have spent all week writing up our stories inspired by Rapunzel. The children worked so hard to follow their plans and remember capital letters and full stops. We will be encouraging the children next week to read their stories aloud to the class so that we all get to hear each others wonderful ideas.

In maths, the children have been introduced to using a number line to help them to subtract. Also, we have been looking to find the family facts using part part wholes and questions. There are 8 equations in a family fact, 4 subtraction and 4 addition. 

We had a lovely time in RE this week learning about the Magi and their journey to see Jesus. We looked at different painted interpretations of how the wise men met Jesus and voted for the paintings we liked the best. We then discussed as a class what questions we would like to ask them and wrote them down. In PE we continued to play inclusive games and the children have been getting a lot better at working in teams and with different team mates. 

Lastly, we have been practising hard on our writing skills each morning by writing a sentence or two about a picture. As well as that, Year 1 have been working on our KS1 Christmas nativity which we are excited about. We are looking forward to more learning next week and our trip!

Week ending 18.11.22

A great week in Year 1! We started off the week wearing odd socks for our Anti-Bullying week and talked about everyone being unique and it linking to our Christian value justice and standing up for fairness and equality. 

In maths, we have started to look at subtracting and using ‘First… Then… and Next’ stem sentences to understand how equations look and what happens when we take away from the whole number. This learning will continue into next week where we will begin to write subtraction equations and find all the family facts. 
In English, we have been busy planning our own narratives using the our vehicle text ‘Rapunzel’ as a framework. The children have been thinking about who their main and bad characters will be and what cunning plans will be created to get rid of the bad character. We have been reminded of using adjectives to help enhance and improve our writing.
 

In Design and Technology, the children rated what fruits they liked the taste of and which they’d like to have in their fruit salad. They also had a taste of some sour fruits to understand the difference between sour and sweet - there was a lot of squinting faces! In Science, we continued learning more about the parts of our bodies that are linked to the senses, this week we focused on the ears and how sound travels in waves. We enjoyed our PE lessons this week as we built upon our inclusive sports. We brought out the kurling game and also a new one called boccia! We introduced ‘team captains’ this week, where the children had a go at leading a group of children and a game. In RE, we talked about the nativity story and sequenced the events and discussed Jesus being God’s promised gift. Finally, in History we learnt about the story of the gunpowder plot and the reason why we celebrate bonfire night and the 5th November. 
 

We are looking forward to seeing what next week’s learning brings! 

Another two awards for sensible walking around school in Year 1 from our celebration assembly! Who could it be next week?…

Week ending 11.11.22

Another lovely week learning together in year 1. 

In maths, we continued with addition and solved addition problems with our peers. The children are a lot more confident at finding the number bonds which is great to see. In English, we’ve been analysing an example text and discussing what skills we could include in our traditional tale planning next week. The children have learnt lots of new vocabulary through doing this. 

In Science, we are exploring the senses and this week enjoyed learning all about our eyes and how they use light to help us see. In PE, we have begun our inclusive sports for this half term. This week, the children had a go at playing indoor kurling, where they learnt to play as a team and practise tactics in order to try and win the rounds. In Design and Technology, we enjoyed having a taster session and discussed taste, texture, flavour and appearance in preparation for making a healthy fruit salad. Lastly, in Spanish we learnt how to say our name and also ask others for theirs. We enjoyed seeing Mrs Kimmins’ friend again!

Also our road safety assessments have begun and we will be continuing that throughout the next few weeks! 

In addition, on Friday, an award was handed out from a prefect to someone in our class for sensible walking around school - well done!

Week ending 4/11/22

Year 1 have had a packed week of learning since starting back after the half term. 

In maths, we spent the week working systematically with 2 sided counters and ten frames and finding all the number bonds to different numbers (with special focus on our number bonds to 10). We found through our explorations that to find the amount of number bonds a number has, you just add one to the number you’re looking at.
eg. There are 6 number bonds for 5 and 11 for the number 10.
 

In English, we’ve spent the week immersing ourselves into our new book ‘Rapunzel’ by Bethan Woolvin - which has a different spin to the story. The children were great at making predicting based on pictures and thinking what characters could be saying. 
 

In Science, we began our new topic ‘senses’, where the class discussed what body parts they can already identify and managed to independently label a diagram. We learnt about how our brain helps our senses. 
 

In RE, we talked about gifts and asked the question of whether are gifts just objects. We rated how we feel when we give and receive gifts using an emoji rating. Some children told the class their explanations. 
 

Our Christian value this half term is justice and in our PHSE lesson this week, we spoke about what justice might look like in our school and world. Therefore, we talked about wanting to be like superheroes who fight for justice and designed our own superhero. 
 

We are excited to see what more learning happens next week!

We also enjoyed our school disco! Thank you to everyone who made it special. 

Week ending 21/10/22

A wonderful week to end a wonderful first half term!

This week Year 1 began to explore addition number sentences in maths using their knowledge of part part wholes. They started to understand that the parts can be added in different ways and the whole can start at the end or beginning of a number sentence.
e.g. 4 + 5 = 9 or 9 = 5 + 4.
 

In English, the class wrote a short recount as character Major Glad from a part of the story of their choice. The children did really well focusing on their handwriting, full stops, capital letters and finger spaces. I was proud of all of them!

In Science this week, we went outside and observed the trees on our school grounds and focused on the question “Are all trees the same?”. The children picked different leaves off the floor and discussed with their outdoor partner about what they’d found. Our observations brought up a good discussion about certain trees being green and having ‘spiky leaves’ and others having orange, yellow, red and brown leaves that had fallen off the twigs. We will be keeping an eye on our trees all year round! 

On Thursday, we enjoyed working with our Gardeners to look at the Festival of Lights - Diwali. We split up into each others class and worked on some artwork. We looked at Henna Hands and why they are so special. They bring the wearer, good luck, health, wealth and happiness. We also made some cards and looked at the story of Rama and Sita. A lovely day all round!

Week ending 14/10/22

Lots of fun in Year 1 this week, with even more visitors! We started off the week with a wonderful workshop linked to Cronton Sun, moon and stars project. The children talked about astronomy and the stars and each child made a telescope which we tested outside. 
 

In English, Year 1 began to plan their recount message as character Major Glad. In maths, we’ve been exploring in depth about wholes and parts using stem sentences and how to use a part-whole model. In Geography, we explored the playground and field and worked on our map skills and drew the human and physical features that we saw. In Spanish, Year 1 continued to build upon their previous knowledge and met a friend of Mrs Kimmins and learnt how to say their own name in Spanish. In PE, the children continued to focus on controlling a ball and practising kicking and stopping the ball. Finally, in our computing lesson this week, we used the iPads to practise our typing skills - we were all very excited. The children did a great job practising their skills independently and produced a quick ‘about me’ page on an app. 
 

We finished the week off by taking part in a Diwali dance workshop (in preparation for our Diwali day next week) and the children were amazing! Looking forward to seeing what next week brings.

Week ending 7/10/22

An eventful week this week for Year 1! We took part in our harvest festival assembly which was wonderful to see all of Key Stage 1 and Early Years come together. Year 1 were fabulous with the words and actions - well done!

In maths, we have been looking at ‘greater than, fewer than and equal to’ using symbols. We have also been ordering numbers from smallest to greatest and vice versa. 

In English, Year 1 have learnt about plurals this week and have explored in pairs how characters could be feeling in different parts of our ‘Major Glad and Major Dizzy’ book by using emotion emojis. All of which are in preparation for our next writing piece. 

In our other lessons, Year 1 continued to focus on pulse and rhythm in music and we even had a sing off of boys against girls to finish the lesson. There was lots of sass in the class! In Geography, we explored the different places in school and discussed what activities we do in each place. In Spanish, we began to learn the words for family and played some games.

The last treat of the week was a visit from Farmer Olly and his tractor! A few of our children asked questions about Ollie’s farm, his tractors and harvest. It really helped the children understand more about harvest and what we’ve been learning about in RE. 

All in all, another busy week in our first half term. Looking forward to seeing what next week brings… 

Week ending 30/9/22

Year 1 have had an exciting week this week. We started off on Monday with our European Day of Languages where we learned about Italy. We found Italy on the map and learned some Italian phrases. We tried different types of ravioli, pizza and had ice cream by the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We even met a gladiator at the Colosseum!

This week in English, we’ve been writing our own discovery story linked to our book ‘Major Glad, Major Dizzy’. I was so impressed with the children’s independence, creativity and effort! 

Later on in the week, we had a zoom call with our link school Arise in Tanzania. The children from both schools asked and answered questions about daily life. We were all very fascinated! 
 

Then we had our first Spanish lesson with Mrs Kimmins. The children learned to say hello, good morning, afternoon and good night. Year 1 also explored mixing powder paints in Art this week and in Geography, we have been using our address and postcode knowledge from last week to find our school on Google Earth. We looked at aerial maps of our school and discussed which were easier to recognise our school. Not only that, but Year 1 have been getting better at their football skills in PE and focusing on controlling the ball whilst moving. 

Lastly, we were awarded another prefect certificate for sensible walking around school. Well done! 

Week ending 23/9/22

Our wonderful year 1s have had a great week of learning. We have continued working practically in maths and discussed/explored one more and one less than a number with ten frames and number lines. In English, we have been focusing on adjectives and expanding our vocabulary when describing things - this has been in preparation for our story write next week.
 

In PE, year 1 have been working on their throwing and aiming skills and challenging themselves with distance and throwing into a target with one hand. In Geography, we have looked at the importance of addresses and postcodes and why we need them. Year one loved their art lesson this week as they practised drawing a self portrait using mirrors. The children tried really hard and all teachers were very impressed by their concentration and skills! We hope you enjoy our photos. 
 

A huge congratulations to our new year one student council pupils who will be representing us this year. Also, certificates were given out in assembly today to two of our children, from our school prefects, for sensible walking around school. Well done!

Week ending 16/9/22

This week year 1 have had yet another wonderful week settling into their new routine. We have now completed reading our new book ‘Major Glad, Major Dizzy’ in English and have enjoyed thinking about what the toys could be saying to one another. In maths, the children have been using ten frames and cubes to represent objects and create stem sentences of “First there are… Then we… Now we have…” 

We enjoyed our first music lesson about pulse and rhythm. The children particularly liked rapping and singing to the ‘Hey You!’ song. I’m sure if you asked them they’d perform a verse or two for you… 

In PHSE we talked about feeling safe and special. The children drew who makes them feel this way and when.

We also had an exciting end of the week discussing student council. The children who wanted to be on the student council stood at the front of the class and explained to their peers why they should vote for them. On Friday, we went to the hall and voted from our selection of year 1 candidates. We are excited to see the results next week!

Welcome to Year 1

This year, it will be Mrs Broadley and Mrs Soni looking after you! We are both very excited to welcome you into Key Stage 1 and cannot wait to have some wonderful times learning new things together.