Welcome to Year 1!

Week Ending 25/04/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about measuring objects! We have measured objects with different forms of measure, e.g. cubes, paper clips, rubbers and lots more. We also celebrated Earth Day on the 22nd of April and we looked at lots of ways we could help the environment. We then created earth pictures using things from the natural earth and it was so much fun! 

Week Ending 28/03/2025

This week in Year 1 we went on a local school trip to Radlett Library. We were so excited because our favourite things are books! We looked around the library, were shown how to check our our own library books and even played some games. In Maths, we have been learning about mass. We have learnt that things can be heavier or lighter than each other, or they can be balanced! We found this out through using scales in the classroom to weight different objects. 

Week Ending 21/03/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about how the sun creates our day and night. We then looked at how the earth's tilt is what causes the seasons! We learnt when the earth tilts away from the sun it creates winter. We then tested shadows to see how light cannot travel through objects. In Maths we have been looking at the 100 square. We have been learning how we can use this to help us work out answers to questions! 

Week Ending 14/03/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about what happens to different animals in each season of the year. We learnt about what animals hibernate and when, when they have young and many more things. We also for science week made some origami fish for our engineering challenge, making a creature using paper with no glue, scissors and sticky tape. It was a good challenge!

Week Ending 07/03/2025

This week was World Book Day and we celebrated by reading our whole school book 'Hermelin the Detective Mouse'. We found letters in our classroom from the teachers asking for help to find their missing items, so we had to investigate and find these items. We then wrote letters to these teachers to tell them where their items are! We had so much fun.

Week Ending 28/02/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about the seasons. We have been thinking about what the season is at the moment and what have predicted what will happen to the trees, the animals and weather as we move into spring. We also have been learning all about nouns and plural nouns through our book ‘MARTHA MAPS IT OUT’. We learnt some words need ‘s’ and some need ‘es’ when they are plural.

Week Ending 14/02/2025

This week we have been writing our own nonsense poems! We used a poem called the ‘Ning Nang Nong’ to inspire our own versions, which includes rhyming couplets! We have also been making doubles in maths. We used different colour counters to show which number we were doubling and then wrote a number sentence to match!

Week Ending 07/02/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been learning all about rhyming couplets! We investigated nursery rhymes to see if we could spot any of these couplets and we could! We have also been comparing capital cities. We have compared London to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and found that they had similar landmarks to us, however they were designed differently because of our different cultures. 

Week Ending 31/01/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been reading a new story called ‘Ruby’s Worry’. We each had a book and did lots of class reads discussing what to do if we had a worry and how we can make our worries shrink. We also have been learning about directions to describe a route. We used left, right, North, South, East and West to describe where to go! We also created snakes for the Lunar New Year week, as it is the year of the snake!

Week Ending 24/01/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about The Great Fire of London. We learnt about the story and know that the fire started in a bakery on Pudding Lane and burnt down lots of houses and St Paul's Cathedral! So we built our own Pudding Lane with St Paul's Cathedral. We have also been learning about road safety this week, making sure we know how to get to school as safely as possible. We then acted out what to do when we get to a road, knowing that we need to ‘stop, look, listen and think.’

Week Ending 17/01/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been reading the story 'Stanley’s Stick' and this inspired us to create our own stanley’s stick and see what it could turn into! Some sticks turned into superheroes that save the world, some turned into navigators that help us find treasure. We also have had a travel agency in the classroom this week. After learning all about the UK we decided to convince our friends to come to different parts of the UK by telling them all the information we have learnt. 

Week Ending 10/01/2025

This week in Year 1 we have been learning all about the UK. We have looked at different stories for each country and even learnt some Irish dancing! We now know the capital cities of these countries and a story about some landmarks and saints of those countries. We also have been looking closely at the number ten and making 10 with our friends around the classroom. 

Week Ending 13/12/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been completing out D&T topic where we built our own den! We used different materials and claw clips to secure a roof to our den to provide shade and shelter. We also have read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and then used our Traditional Tale language to act out the story.

Week Ending 06/12/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been looking at Traditional Tales and have been reading ‘Princess and the Pea.’ We investigated the story to see if there was a happily ever after or if there were any animals that act like humans. We then acted out the story with puppets.   In Geography, we have been looking at aerial photos to see what physical and human Geography features we could find. 

Week Ending 29/11/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been creating prototype shelters for our design and technology using lego. We know for a shelter to have shade and be safe it needs a roof, so we worked very hard on thinking about how to create a roof on our models. Some of us made garages, houses, gazebos and so on. We have also been looking at addition word problems. We have read the question a part at a time and then used our tens frame to help us find the answer!

Week Ending 22/11/2024

This week in Year 1 we have started a new book in English called ‘Gruffalo Crumble and Other Recipes.’ We followed a recipe from inside the book and then wrote our own recipe! We have also been learning about striking and fielding games in PE where we have had to learn how to throw to a far distance. We know we need to aim with our arm and push the ball out.

Week Ending 15/11/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been learning all about respect as part of Anti Bullying.  We celebrated our uniqueness during odd socks day and know who we can talk to if we are worried. In Maths we have been using part whole models to help us figure out what the whole number is when we have been given two parts. We have also been trying to learn different ways of describing directions in Geography. We have learnt about a compass and how to use and and then follow direction cards with our friends, but then even used direction cards to help our animals travel through a map we created ourselves!

Week Ending 08/11/2024

This week in Year 1 we have started learning gymnastics in PE. We were trying to travel like different animals, travelling high and tall like a giraffe or even low to the ground like a snake. We then sequenced together these different ways of travelling to make a pattern. We have also begun our Geography topic this week. We have been learning about the physical and human features of Geography and made the human features we learnt on our maps!

Week Ending 18/10/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been testing the absorbency of materials. We dipped them into water that was on our tables and looked to see if the water rose up. Not only were we testing absorbency but we also did an experiment to find out which material would be best used for a roof! We also have been learning about 3d shapes and trying to figure out which ones stack and which ones roll, or if they do both!

Week Ending 10/10/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been investigating different materials. We have been looking into these materials properties and deciding which properties each material has. We found glass is transparent and so are some plastics! We also learnt how to use a Venn Diagram to show similarities and differences between different things. 

Week Ending 04/10/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been acting out the story of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. The children in groups took turns to tell the story and act out each scene in the story. We also have been comparing numbers in maths with the words greater than, less than and equal to. We used new symbols to show which number was greater. 

Week Ending 26/09/2024

This week in Year 1 the children have been investigating maps of a 1950's town compared to a town in the present day. The children then built buildings on the maps that would match each map. For example on the 1950’s map children built factories and on the present day map they built lots of houses. We also have been comparing numbers by matching in Maths. We used objects to match pictures. 

Week Ending 20/09/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been thinking about life in the 1950’s. We found out that men and women worked different jobs, for example men worked in factories and coal mines whereas the women might work in an office or be housewives. We celebrated Queen Elizabeth's coronation that occurred in 1953 through creating our own crowns and palaces of the Queen. We have also been practising our numbers up 10 ten, to help us during learning we made our own number lines!

Week Ending 13/09/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been learning how to use our maths books! We were so excited to have our own and now do Maths learning inside them. We have been looking at how to group different objects and how to represent them on a tens frame. We have also started reading a new book in English 'Peace At Last'. We have been on a noise hunt to understand what noises Mr Bear could hear. 

Blogs 2023-24

Week Ending 19/07/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been writing our own versions of Jack and the Beanstalk, changing what we could see at the top of the beanstalk. Once we wrote the story we created a comic strip of what we thought would happen next! We also have made fruit salads in our D&T project to end the week. We sat outside and enjoyed our fruit salads in the shade, away from the heat.

Week Ending 12/07/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been getting ready to write our Jack in the Beanstalk stories through sequencing the story and developing our vocabulary. We have also been practising our maths skills by having fun and playing lots of maths fluency games.

Week Ending 05/07/2024

This week in Year One we have started reading a new book. We had to try to figure out what our story was from all these clues around the classroom and we came to the conclusion it was Jack and the Beanstalk! We have also grown our own plants during science. We have been thinking about why plants are so important and what they do for us and animals. 

Week Ending 28/06/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about plants and the importance of them.  We have planted class plants to watch them grow and we will observe the important structures of our plants. We have also been learning about money. We started with looking at pre-money counters to help us understand how to count different amounts and now we are learning to recognise and count in coins. We liked playing shop to count money to buy different items.

Week Ending 014/06/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been taking part in our 30 days wild challenge which links very well to our Science topic. We have been looking at the different parts of plants and leaves. We then went investigating in our outdoor area looking for leaves and plants and putting our knowledge to the test. In Maths we have also been comparing numbers using crocodile symbols and had fun making numbers between 40-100 to compare. 

Week Ending 07/06/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about numbers all the way to 100. We played a game where we rolled the dice and had to move that many spaces on the 100 square. We also learnt how to partition numbers into tens and ones. In P.E we have been learning how to play rapid fire! We really enjoyed learning how to play cricket and had fun learning how to field. 

Week Ending 24/05/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been finishing our art project. We created collagraphy paper using lots of textures and materials to create a tile to print. We made weather shapes and created amazing weather prints. We have also been learning about geometry this week, thinking about quarter turns, half turns, left and right.

Week Ending 17/05/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about how to half and quarter numbers. We found that to make a half we need two equal groups and to make a quarter you need 4 equal groups. We also started a project in Art all to do with weather symbols. We have started creating shapes and patterns using lots of different objects, and now we are testing how different lines work together.

Week Ending 10/05/2024

This week we have been learning how to divide. We have been dividing by making equal groups. We sorted 12 bears and then 16 bears into equal groups using our counting bears. We found 16 could be put into equal groups of 2, 8 and 4. We have also been writing our stories of the Billy Goats Gruff and have been thinking about how to write the beginning, middle and end of a story. 

Week Ending 19/04/2024

This week in Year One we have started a new topic in history. We have been thinking about our school and how it runs. We were super lucky and had our Head Teacher Mrs Traxon come and speak to the children about what the jobs of a head teacher are and what her day looks like. We also have been thinking about what families look like and how each family is unique and different. We even saw how even animals' families look different!

Week Ending 22/03/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been writing instructions on how to sneak our monster into school. We have used bossy verbs to help us write these instructions as these verbs tell us exactly what to do. We have also been learning about measure in maths. We understand that mass means weight and are using the word mass to describe the weight of something. For example here we have the mass of an orange as 5 cubes. 

Week Ending 15/03/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been investigating wind and temperature in science. To measure the temperature we looked at weather reports and looked at thermometers to test how hot the weather is during spring. We also made windsocks to test the wind and how hard it was blowing. We also finished writing our books about an amazing stick and shared our writing with all our friends!

Week Ending 08/03/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been reading a new book called The Girl and the Dinosaur for World Book Day. We made our own wishes like Marrianne in the story, wishing for something made up to come true! We also made our own spirit animals with crazy mixtures of lots of different animals. For example, one child made a snake with a scorpion tail and spider legs!

Week Ending 01/03/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about measuring. We have thought about what it means for something to be taller, shorter and longer. We measured different sized sticks and put them in size order, measured different objects using cubes to see how long they were and are now using rulers to measure. We are looking at how long things are in centimetres. We have also started learning about the four seasons and how trees, deciduous and evergreen trees, change in different seasons.  

Week Ending 16/02/2024

This week in Year 1 we have had a visit from a rocket from outer space! We investigated what had happened, looking for clues and evidence of what had happened and what this alien looked like! We learnt about the planets and found this alien was from Saturn and then wrote newspaper articles about what we thought had happened and why the rocket crashed in our class! We thought that like the book 'Beegu' we are reading in English, the alien wanted to come and meet little friends and therefore decided to come to our school. 

Week Ending 26/01/2024

This week in Year 1 we have been working very hard on writing reports all about tigers. We looked at all the main features of a report like titles, subheading, pictures and labels. We made sure to include all of them and enjoyed sharing them with Reception this afternoon! We also investigated string music and listened to it, trying to find the new instruments we learnt about. We then listened again to the music and drew what we could hear. 

Week Ending 19/01/2024

This week in Year One, we have been investigating teen numbers.  We found that all teen numbers start with a one, this means there is one ten inside of a teen number which we represented using a tens stick. We then counted how many more ones would be needed to make a teen number, for example in 12 we need one ten and two more and showed this using our cubes.

We have also been learning about reports, looking at the main features of a report and starting to create our own all about tigers.

Week Ending 12/01/2024

This week in Year One we have been learning about a new topic in Geography which is all about cities. We have learnt about landmarks around the world and landmarks in London. Here are some of our landmark replicas we built. We also have been playing team building games in P.E to remember how to communicate to our friends and how to work together. We had to figure out how to pass the hoop from one side of the line to the other without using our hands!

Week Ending 15/12/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about portraits and how to create our own. We first drew ones of ourselves, then drew a portrait in the style of Picasso and lastly made a collage of ourselves adding funny details. We also wrote a letter to Santa and learnt how to write an envelope so that we can send our letter to Santa!

Week Ending 08/12/2023

This week in Year One we have been learning about subtraction and used animals to create number stories using the language of subtraction.  In R.E we have enjoyed sharing our experiences of Hanukkah and learning more about how and why this is celebrated.  We also learnt about Christingle and were proud of ourselves for making our own Christingle!  A highlight of the week was going to the pantomime; the children had a great time and were a credit to the school.  Well done Year 1!

Week Ending 01/12/2023

This week in Year One we have started a new topic in science about the human body. We have been investigating what is similar about ourselves compared to others and learning new names for parts of our bodies, for example your leg has a part which is a thigh and a part that's the calf. We also have been making Christmas decorations for the classroom with a twist, our paper chains are in number bonds to 10!

Week Ending 24/11/2023

This week in Year One we have been doing a D&T project about shade and shelter. We investigated different shade and shelter that people or animals may live in. We then used this information to help us build our own shelters and thought about what materials may be waterproof to create a roof. We also have started thinking about how to subtract numbers, trying to find a missing part using a subtraction sign.

Week Ending 17/11/2023

This week in Year 1 the children have been learning about gymnastics in P.E. We have been making our bodies turn into different shapes and holding these shapes on multiple different height and width surfaces. We also have been trying to find our number bonds to 10 using tens frames. We found if there are 10 red counters and no blue counters then 10 + 0 must be 10, but if there are 3 red counters and 7 blue counters then 3 + 7 = 10. 

Week Ending 10/11/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been using our part whole model to write number sentences. We first used Numicon and cubes to make parts and the whole to help us write these number sentences knowing that we use a part + part = whole. However, we have now learnt that we can also write this number sentence another way, we can write it as the whole = part + part. We have also been learning about our world, thinking about the different continents and where we live the UK. 

Week Ending 3/11/2023

This week in Year 1 we have started a new topic called ‘Our Wonderful World’, which is our first geography topic! We have found that there is human and physical geography, here you can see the children separating human and physical geography. We also have started using the part whole model in maths to help us with our adding. 

Week Ending 13/10/2023

This week in Year 1, we have learnt a new concept in maths: greater than, less than and equal to. Therefore we have been exploring what these words mean when comparing numbers. We have also tested cars driving over different materials to see which materials are best for a car to drive alone smoothly. 

Week Ending 06/10/2023

This week in Year 2 we have been working on our science topic Understanding Human Need. We have been learning about the human life cycle and all the things that humans need to keep safe and healthy. We have looked at nutrition, hydration, sleep and exercise and how important they all are.

Week Ending 29/09/2023

This week in Year 1 we have started a new book in English. We are reading, ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ and have explored the story through going on our own bear hunt around the school. But before we could go, we had to think about what to bring on a bear hunt and learnt how to write lists. We thought we would need wellies for the mud and water, maybe a bear costume to sneak up on the bear with, spare clothes and much more! We also have been comparing 1950’s maps to the present day, finding that now we have more car parks and petrol stations because there were less cars in the 1950’s. We also learnt that Queen Elizabeth had her coronation in 1953 and therefore thought about the Queen's coronation and King Charles's coronation this year.  

Week Ending 22/09/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been learning all about the 1950's. We have thought about what life would have been like for adults and children in the 1950's and thought about the similarities and differences there are. We found that entertainment was very different, there were small  TV's but lots of radios. We also found out trains were steam trains that took goods to factories, which you can see in our 1950's worlds we created in these pictures above. We also listened to 1950's music and looked at how people danced in the 1950's. Some of the children thought Elvis Presley's moves were a bit odd! In maths we have also been grouping natural materials in our outdoor classroom, seeing what similarities and differences we could find in our nature.

Week Ending 15/09/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been using our tens frames to represent objects. We had on our white board 8 cows and thought, we can't put 8 cows onto a tens frame to help us count! So we used counters to represent the cows on our tens frames to help us count. We also have started reading the book ‘Peace at last’ about a bear that can not get to sleep because of all the noise. So we investigated what noise we could hear around the school. One child said ‘I can hear the rustling of the trees.’ Another said ‘I can hear the crunch of the leaves on the floor when the children walk.’

Week Ending 08/09/2023

Welcome back to school Year One! This week in Year One the children have settled in amazingly! It is very different to Reception being in Year One and they have made us very proud. We have started learning about what history is and what the past, present and future is. We have also started our maths learning where we were sorting objects into different groups, looking at what makes things similar and different. One person made a pattern for each group, one group having red, blue, red, blue and the other group having blue, yellow, blue, yellow, showing two different groups.

Blogs 2022-23

Week Ending 14/07/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been creating cityscapes using James Rizzi as inspiration.  We first copied a piece of his work then created our own using a pencil.  Finally we used coloured paper to make the buildings and black markers to make the features of the buildings.  We have also enjoyed visiting our new classrooms and meeting our new teachers!

Week Ending 07/07/2023

This week in Year 1 we have continued to be inspired by our trip to the Roald Dahl museum!  We have put ourselves into the story of James and the Giant Peach and went around the school on a bug hunt, excited to see if we could find any characters from the story.  We became George from George's Marvellous Medicine and created our own medicines through the separation of colour.  We have also been learning all about money and how to use it.  Therefore when we made our own medicines, Miss Morris opened up a shop where we could use our money skills learnt in maths to buy the ingredients to make our own marvellous medicine. 

Week Ending 30/06/2023

This week, in Year One, we had our class trip to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and we had the most amazing experience! We started our day by watching a re-enactment of some of our favourite stories like the Twits and The BFG, even getting to have some dreams blown into our heads ready to giggle through the night. 

We then got to explore the children's gallery, getting to experience some of the things inside of Roald Dahl's stories. We crawled through Fantastic Mr Foxes tunnel, looking at all the amazing things you can find underground, and ventured into James’ Giant Peach, to see what insects we could find!

We then had the opportunity to create our own dream bottles, looking around the Buck Museum thinking about what our dreams could be filled with and writing them down to put into our dream bottles. Inspired by the things they saw around the museum and what their dreams are, one child wrote “My dream is a stable, where there was a wonderful pony that was golden in the sunshine with a black swirly tail.” We then got to fill our dream bottles with colours of tissue, feathers and stars that represented our dream. The children loved their time at the Roald Dahl Museum with one child saying ‘I loved everything about this trip!’ The children felt their experience was magical, excited to find out what their dreams were that night, ‘when we had dreams blown into our heads I couldn’t wait to find out what my dream would be, I wanted to go to sleep right away.’ 

Week Ending 23/06/2023

We have been investigating animals and their different categories according to what they eat and what heir body type is.  We created some observational drawings of animals and made animals out of clay using scoring and hash techniques. We have also written a story of the Billy Goats Gruff, investigating the setting of the story and the characters. We then built some of the settings from the story using Lego, for example the bridge the goats walk across.

Week Ending 16/06/2023

This week we have been learning about different animals and the different categories they can fall into.  We found there are amphibians, invertebrates, mammals, birds, fish and reptiles.  We found what animals fit into each category and then looked at using a Carroll diagram to compare different animals.  We have also been learning about numbers to 100 and how we can partition them into tens and ones using a part-part whole model and base 10. 

Week Ending 09/06/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been investigating quarters. We have looked at how to make a quarter of a shape and then moved onto how to make a quarter of a quantity. We found it was quite tricky to cut a triangle into quarters! We have also been learning how to chop and slice food in our D&T topic this week, leading us to create our own fruit or vegetable salad. We used the skills we learnt to create our own, which they then got to eat on the field in the lovely sun.

Week Ending 26/05/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been reading and writing all about Jack and the Beanstalk. We have come up with some incredible adjectives to describe the beanstalk, Jack, the giant and much more. We ended the week with writing a lovely story of Jack and the Beanstalk, using all the words we came up with; we then created some of the settings of the story using Lego in groups. We also have been thinking about what makes a half in maths. We first started with halving shapes and then moved onto halving numbers; we used Lego to help us find out what half of a number is. 

Week Ending 19/05/2023

This week in Science we have been observing and labelling seeds and leaves.  We went on a leaf hunt ad used our observational skills to identify many different types of leaves.  In English we read the story of the Tiny Seed and then wrote our won version of the story remembering to use adjectives and conjunctions.  In Maths, for our geometry unit, we have been working on describing the position of an object.  Finally in P.E. we have enjoyed playing cricket; we are working on our batting and catching skills.

Week Ending 12/05/2023

Year 1 had a wonderful time celebrating the coronation! They participated enthusiastically in a wide range of activities.  Highlights included making bunting, planting, re-enacting a coronation with Reception and Year 2 and making flags. Well done Year 1!

Week Ending 28/04/2023

This week in Year One we have been learning all about the Victorian Era.  We have found out what school was like for children during this era and even had a day of being in a Victorian school today! We found out that boys and girls would be split up to learn different things, the tables were in rows and there were 70 children in one classroom.  We even tried Victorian writing lessons.  Not only did we find out about schools in the Victorian Era, we also found out about the inventions that were made in this period, what the lies of the rich and poor were like and much more.

Week Ending 21/04/2023

In Year 1 we have been challenging ourselves to use adjectives in our writing.  We used a picture of a mad scientist for inspiration and came up with some amazing ways to describe him and his potions.  We then used this to create our own story about the mad scientist (who got very inventive!).  Not only did we write a story but we made our story come to life when we acted it out.  Year 1 had lots of different ideas about what the mad scientist was doing!

Week Ending 31/03/2023

This week, as part of our Design and Technology topic,  Year 1 have been learning about how cars move!  We have learnt that wheels are attached to an axle and that every car has a chassis.  We then used our learning to design our own car with wheels, axles and a chassis and then observed how our designs worked. Well done Year 1- you have worked hard this term! We hope you have a wonderful Spring break! 

Week Ending 24/03/2023

Year 1 have been learning how to write instructions.  To help us write our instructions we created a magic potion and then wrote the instructions for how we made it. We have also been thinking about how we can make our sentences better by adding adjectives.  Here are some examples of how we have described a bee in spring!

Week Ending 17/03/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been doing lots of different science experiments as part of British Science Week! We created paper aeroplanes to test in the wind to see how the wind affects the trajectory of our paper aeroplanes.  We found that if we wanted our planes to travel forwards we needed to make sure we flew them in the right direction otherwise the wind blew them backwards! We created phones using paper cups and string, we found out that the string has to be straight so that the sound is carried along it.  We confidently explained our experiment to the whole school in assembly.  Finally we were so proud of our birds that we built using origami.  Great work Year 1!

Week Ending 10/03/2023

This week was a very exciting week!  Year 1 enjoyed taking part in a dinosaur workshop where they experienced meeting some dinosaurs and hunted for dinosaur fossils just like palaeontologists.   This inspired us so much that we decided to create our own dinosaurs using shapes and then used spectacular adjectives to describe what they looked like.  Rather than just writing 'big' found lots of words like 'huge, gigantic, enormous, immense' and many more.  Great work Year 1!

Week Ending 03/03/2023

This week, as part of 'World Book Day'  we have been reading 'The Barnabus Project' which we have really enjoyed! We created our own projects that didn't make it to the shop floor. We then used our imagination in role play to put a story together, using the characters we had created.  Great work Year One!

Week Ending 10/02/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about motifs.  We made our own weather motifs by using natural objects and organising them into the shape of different weathers.  We then explored line, shape and texture in order to make our own collagraphy paper which we used to produce a print of our weather motif.  In Geography we have been comparing capital cities; we looked at London and Kuala Lumpur.  The children found many similarities and differences between the two cities even though they are on opposite sides of the world!

Week Ending 03/02/2023

Well done all in Year 1 for a super assembly! You worked so hard on this and were all really confident.  We are very proud of you.

This week in R.E. we have been continuing our topic 'belonging' and learnt about what it means to belong to a Jewish community.  We wrote about Shabbat and then used the construction to create a Shabbat scene.  In Music we are enjoying singing to a variety of styles- this week we sang 'in the groove' Latin style and also used the instruments, following the music carefully.

Week Ending 27/01/2023

This week in Year 1 we have been learning about the number 20.  We physically made 40 with what we could find outside and challenged ourselves to use the resources in the classroom to make 20 in lots of different ways.  In English we have been reading 'Stanley's Stick'.  The children used their imagination effectively to turn ordinary things like a stick or a sock into magical, extraordinary things.  Great work Year 1!

Week Ending 20/01/2023

In Year 1 this week we have been learning all about the UK and in particular what cities there are within the UK.  We also thought about what the weather is usually like and we we created a weather report for each part of the UK.  We performed our reports as if we were on the news presenting the weather!  In Maths we have been extending our understanding of the composition of teen numbers. 

Week Ending 13/01/2023

This week in Year 1 we have had fun using the new playground markings and have thought about ways in which we can make sure that we all enjoy playtimes.  We thought about how we can include everyone in our games and even try something we haven't done before.  We have also been looking at reports, investigating what makes a report, why we have reports and the features of reports. 

Week Ending 16/12/2022

This week in Year 1 we have been creating decorations for our classroom; making paper chains in groups and seeing what methods we could use to create the longest chain but also found that we could create repeating patterns using different colours.  In Maths we have been developing our knowledge of subtraction by using different methods to solve problems such as part whole models, number lines and crossing out.  We then used part whole models to write fact families using addition and subtraction.  Well done Year 1! 

Week Ending 09/12/2022

In Year 1 we have started a new project in art, learning all about portraits. We have been investigating what makes a portrait and started to create our own portraits.  We have created a collage of our faces, using the main techniques of portraits. We also went on a winter walk to investigate what is on the ground and why it is there.  Keep up the good work Year 1! 

Week Ending 02/12/2022

This week in Year 1 we have been learning how to subtract numbers in Maths.  It is an exciting new topic for us - we have been learning how to use part whole models and the minus sign when writing our number sentences.  We also have been writing some poetry in our English Lesson and this week have been exploring rhyming words that we could use in our poems.  Well done Year 1!

Week Ending 25/11/2022

This week in Science we have been extending our scientific vocabulary relating to the human body.  We have also thought about what makes us different from each other and found many different things such as eye colour, age and how big our hands were!

In R.E we have been looking at how and why light is used in different religions.  We went outside and worked very effectively in groups to use natural materials to create Menorahs or candles.  Great work Year 1!

Week Ending 18/11/2022

In Year 1 as part of our science unit of work, we have been learning about our senses and what each sense is for.  We tested each of our senses by smelling vinegar, tasting oranges, listening to musical instruments and observing the trees in our grounds.  As part of Anti-bullying week we have had class discussions and have also participated in a workshop all about anti-bullying and how to be kind friends.

Week Ending 11/11/2022

This week in Year 1 the children used their learning about maps and how maps are created using geographical knowledge, to make their own map of the story 'we're going on a bear hunt'.  The children used different colours and materials to make their map to the final destination of the dark, gloomy cave.  Also this week we had Science day! The children had to build the biggest tower they could using just paper. Each group worked together brilliantly; the winning group were the Hippos.  Well done everybody!

Today we have been reflecting on Remembrance day and what it means.  We each made a poppy and put them together to make a wreath. 

Week Ending 04/11/2022

In Year One we have been analysing further one of our favourite books ‘We're going on a bear hunt'.  We started off by going on our own bear hunt around the school to find the bear. We discussed the words in the book and learnt what 'onomatopoeia' means and created our own onomatopoeic words.  We have also started learning about the world through Geography by looking at an investigating what maps are and how they help us.   Well done Year 1!

Week Ending 21/10/2022

This week we really enjoyed our trip to the library! We listened carefully to a story with puppets and found out lots of information about the library, including how many books there are.  Our adults were impressed with our listening skills and how we walked sensibly to and from the library.  We have also been enjoying our music lessons and made an orchestra of spooky sounds to make a spooky introduction to a song.

Week Ending 14/10/2022

In Year One this week we have been learning about the key information that goes into a recount.  We were able to use this information to create a recount of our morning routine.  We have also been testing and experimenting with mixing colours and using different equipment we were able to see what happened when we mixed two primary colours together. Well done Year One!

Week Ending 07/10/2022

This week in Year One we have been reading 'Peace at last' by Jill Murphy.  We wanted to change some of the noises that kept Mr Bear awake so we made musical instruments to create sound effects.  We have also been testing a variety of materials in order to find out which ones were waterproof.  We needed to find the best material to make an umbrella so that our reading teddy remained dry!

Blogs 2021-22

Week Ending 15/7/2022

This week, in Year 1, we have been working on our grammar. We used the prefix ‘un’ in our writing to change the meaning of the word, revisited nouns and added ‘es’ to the end of words to show multiples of an object.

For our Maths, we have been working on fluency by completing lots of calculations based on subtraction. We thoroughly enjoyed completing challenge questions and word problems. The highlight of our week was our Victorian Day! The class participated in activities throughout the day, as they learnt about Queen Victoria, Victorian Schools, Victorian zoos and transport, as well as facts from the era. Year 1 enjoyed using props and artefacts from the time and taking part in an interactive quiz.

Week Ending 8/7/2022

This week in Year 1, we have continued our work on the book ‘Here Comes Mr Postmouse’. We wrote letters to characters in the book and focused on asking the characters questions about their houses.

For our maths, we have finished our work on telling the time. Year 1 were able to tell the time to the hour and to half past. The highlight of our week last week was sports day! We worked extremely well as a team and encouraged our friends when competing. It was clear that Year 1 are both extremely kind and talented.

Week Ending 1/7/2022

For our Maths this week, we have been learning how to tell the time. The class have started to tell the time to the hour and have enjoyed engaging in lots of practical activities!

During our English lessons, we have continued our work on the book ‘Here Comes Mr Postmouse’. Year One have focused on writing letters to different characters in the book and describing, in detail, the houses which they live in.

We have also started a new Art topic called ‘Street Art’, the class have thoroughly enjoyed using Google Maps to make observations about the surrounding buildings and then drawing them in their sketchbooks.

Week Ending 24/6/2022

This week in Year 1, the class have started a new book called ‘Here Comes Mr Postmouse’. They have enjoyed writing letters to say thank you for all of Mr Postmouse’s hard work and drawing speech bubbles to discuss the conversations that he may have had when delivering the post! 

For our Maths, we have continued our work on coins and their different values. We were able to identify the different coins and use our understanding of greater than and less than to work out totals of different amounts.

In order to celebrate coming to the end of our ‘30 Days Wild’ challenge, we did our Science lesson outside and enjoyed learning about the plants and trees that we have on our school grounds.

Week Ending 17/6/2022

During our Maths lessons, we revisited our work on coins and their different values. We were able to identify the different coins and use our understanding of greater than and less than to work out totals of different amounts. This required excellent mathematical fluency, which Year 1 were all fantastic at! We also spent some time going over notes and their values. By the end of the week, we were able to apply our understanding of money by answering mastery questions which helped to develop our reasoning skills. 

For our English lessons, we have been learning about suffixes. Year One enjoyed discussing how a letter or a group of letters that go on the end of a word changes the word’s meaning. They were also able to write detailed sentences using various suffixes.

This week, for our Science topic, we have been learning all about plants. Year One were able to identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees!

Week Ending 10/6/2022

This week, in Year 1, we have enjoyed playing lots of Phonics games.

For our Maths we have revisited place value and focused on answering word problems. The class were able to use their reasoning skills to explain their answers in detail.

Year 1 have also spent lots of time outdoors completing Art activities. In addition to this, the class have enjoyed taking part in circle time for their PSHE lessons.

Week Ending 26/5/2022

Year 1 has had an extremely exciting week this week. They have thoroughly enjoyed learning about Queen Elizabeth II and the significance of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.  The children made bunting to decorate the school and produced fantastic portraits of the Queen! A highlight of the week was the Jubilee themed picnic, the children had lots of fun playing games and singing the National Anthem with their friends.

Week Ending 20/5/2022

This week, in Year 1, we have been focusing on positional and directional language during our Maths lessons. This has involved the children applying their understanding of fractions to describe rotational turns that a shape has undergone. They were able to explain whether the shape had moved clockwise or anticlockwise and if it was a quarter turn, half turn or full turn.

For our English, we have been using descriptive language to ensure that each piece of writing the children produce is engaging and exciting. To celebrate ‘Outdoor Classroom Day’, the children enjoyed playing lots of Phonics games outside. They particularly enjoyed throwing a Phonics themed beach ball and reading the words that they landed on.

A real highlight of the week was performing presentations to their peers explaining what they have learnt about schools in the Victorian era. The presentations were extremely impressive and it was evident that the class would much rather be taught as they are now and not in the Victorian era!

Week Ending 13/5/2022

For our English this week, we have focused on writing recounts from the book ‘Where’s My Teddy’ and our own personal experiences. We were then able to use a checklist to edit and improve our writing. During our Maths lessons, we have continued our work on fractions. This has involved identifying a half and a quarter of both shapes and numerical values.

In addition to this, we have continued our work on our topic ‘School Days’. This week, we have learnt about school life during the Victorian times and compared it to school as we know it now.

Week Ending 6/5/2022

This week in Year 1, for our English, we created a wanted poster to share key information about a missing teddy bear! This involved drawing the bear, describing its physical features and detailing when and where it had been lost.

During our Maths lessons, we have been working on fractions. We identified a half and a quarter of different shapes and then moved on to finding a half and a quarter of different numbers.

For our topic, we have thoroughly enjoyed using Google Earth to locate our school and create sketch maps. By the end of the week, Year 1 were able to use aerial photographs to recognise landmarks and identify basic human and physical features.

Week Ending 29/4/2022

For our English this week, we have started a new book called ‘Voices in the Park’. We have identified the key events in the story using a story map and recorded ideas in a list form. During our Maths lesson, we have been learning about sharing equally between groups and making arrays.

For our Art topic, we have been looking at the artist Andy Goldsworthy. We have had a go at collecting natural materials to create some wonderful animal inspired natural art and have thoroughly enjoyed making different designs throughout the week!

Week Ending 1/4/2022

This week, in Year 1, we have been looking at weight and mass for our Maths lessons. This has involved us measuring mass and then making comparisons. For our English lessons, we have focused on reading a story and asking questions directed at the main characters. This enabled us to gain a greater insight into what the characters were thinking and why they acted in a certain way during the story.

We have also enjoyed lots of Easter activities, we designed our own Easter eggs and enjoyed lots of Easter crafts!

Week Ending 25/3/2022

This week in Year One, we have been working on identifying rhyming words. We have had lots of fun reading different stories and making a list of all of the rhyming words that we could find. By the end of the week, we were able to write our own sentences using rhyming words. For our Maths, we have been learning about fact families and inverse operations. 

We have also thoroughly enjoyed our music lessons, where we learnt about key terminology such as pitch and tempo and learnt a new song. The highlight of our week was our Science workshop!

Week Ending 18/3/2022

Year 1 have continued to work extremely hard this week. During our English lessons, we have been writing our own stories about a lost toy. This has involved using descriptive language, conjunctions and drawing beautiful pictures to illustrate our stories.

For our Maths, we have continued our work on subtraction and have focused on developing our reasoning skills. This has involved answering word problems and applying our understanding. 

To celebrate Science Week, we went to our school pond! Our theme this year was growth, we therefore learnt about the life cycle of a frog.  We discussed the life cycle and what conditions we would need to ensure that our frogspawn makes it to the next stage of the life cycle. Year 1 have had lots of fun setting up our tank and using magnifying glasses to see how the process is going! We look forward to seeing tadpoles swimming around our tank soon and then hopefully our very own frogs!

We have also been busy doing lots of Red Nose Day activities! We discussed what fundraising is and thought about how we can help those who are less fortunate than us.

Week Ending 11/3/2022

Year One have been working extremely hard on their Phonics and handwriting this week. We have learnt new sounds and Year One have been able to blend the new digraphs with confidence when reading. This confidence has been reflected  in independent writing activities.

For our Maths, we have been introduced to new vocabulary relating to mass and volume.  We have been able to make comparisons and explain the new terminology learnt.

For our PE lessons, we have focused on ball skills. We had lots of fun competing in mini competitions!

Week Ending 4/3/2022

This week in Year 1, we have been identifying and drawing 3D shapes. By the end of this week we were able to count and record the 3D shapes in the classroom using a tally chart. For our topic this week, we have enjoyed our music lessons. We focused on listening to a piece of music and playing along to the beat.  

The highlight of our week was ‘World Book Day’, we had such a fantastic day dressed up as our favourite characters. To celebrate the day, we read lots of books and discussed our favourites. We also designed a book cover, wrote a blurb to a mystery book and decorated potatoes to resemble famous characters from the books that we love.

Week Ending 25/2/2022

For our Maths this week, Year 1 identified 2D shapes and discussed their properties. When learning about 2D shapes, we went on a shape hunt in our classroom and concluded that shapes are all around us. We also revisited addition and subtraction.

During our English lessons, we have focused on grammar. We discussed how different punctuation impacts a piece of writing and applied this to our own. Once we had completed a written piece, we discussed how we could upgrade our writing and therefore, make it more enjoyable for the reader.

Week Ending 11/2/2022

This week in Year 1, for our English, we have worked on editing our writing to ensure that our sentences are grammatically correct. At the end of week, we discussed what a postcard is and wrote our own from the perspective of Farmer Duck.

For our Maths, we have identified odd and even numbers and played lots of games for our fluency.

We also made Weathervanes for our D&T topic and have enjoyed doing lots of art!

Week Ending 4/2/2022

For our English this week, we have started a new book called ‘Farmer Duck’. We have been making predictions about what will happen next in the book, summarising the story and describing in detail the main characters. We have also focused on rereading our work to ensure that it always makes sense.

During our Maths lessons, we have revisited doubling and halving. We used our understanding of addition to help us to double and applied our understanding of place value to help when halving bigger numbers.

We also learnt about Chinese New Year, we discussed what Chinese New Year is and how it is celebrated. We even had a go at making our own masks!

Week Ending 28/1/2022

This week, Year 1 have been working hard at using descriptive and exciting language when writing about both characters and settings. 

For our Maths, we have continued our work on place value and  have identified hundreds, tens and ones. 

In addition to this, we have had lots of fun during our science topic. To end the topic, we went on a sound hunt and recorded all the sounds that we could hear in the school. We also talked about what pitch the sounds were and if they were far or near from us.

Week Ending 21/1/2022

This week, Year 1 have been scientists and have taken part in lots of experiments based on the human body and our Five Senses. Our first experiment focused on using our sense of smell, we smelt a range of things and used descriptive language to describe and compare the smells. For our second experiment, we learnt about our senses of taste and sight. We had three different drinks, all the same colour and had to guess the flavour. We were very good at this and could tell which of the drinks were flavourless and only contained food colouring, despite our sense of sight suggesting that they were the same.

During our English lessons, we have continued our work based on the book ‘Mr Big’.

When writing about the story, we have focused on using conjunctions to extend our writing and using adjectives to ensure that our writing is descriptive and engaging for our readers. In addition to this, for our Maths lessons we have been developing our understanding of place value and therefore identifying hundreds, tens and ones.

Week Ending 14/1/2022

This week in Year 1, for our new English topic, we started a book called ‘Mr Big’. We thoroughly enjoyed reading the story and have begun to think about how Mr Big is feeling, both on the inside and outside.

During our Maths lessons, we have been writing numbers between 0-20 in both numerals and words. To challenge ourselves, we had a go at word problems, this involved addition and subtraction calculations using the written version of the numbers. 

We also started our Science topic on the five senses, we began our unit by taking a walk around the school and testing our five senses. For example, on our senses walk, we were able to identify what we could see, hear, touch, smell and even taste!

Week Ending 10/12/2021

For our Maths, we have been making equivalent values using addition and subtraction. We used weighing scales to ensure that both sides were balanced and made the same total. Throughout the week, Year 1 have also enjoyed fluency lessons which have involved playing lots of mathematical games!

During our English lessons, we have been writing instructions for different recipes. We have focused on using bossy verbs and ensuring that our instructions are grammatically correct.

Week Ending 3/12/2021

For our English this week, we have started a new book called ‘Gruffalo Crumble and Other Recipes’. When writing about the book we were able to write lists and identify ‘bossy’ verbs.

During our Maths lessons, we have been using greater than and less than symbols. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit from a friendly crocodile, who loved to eat the bigger numbers! We have also continued our Art work on mark making.

Week Ending 26/11/2021

Year 1 have focused on visual representations for Maths. We have completed addition and subtraction calculations, using part-whole models and bar models. Whilst completing these calculations, we have focused on our presentation and our reasoning. To ensure that we have a thorough understanding of each method, Year 1 have been identifying which visual representations show the same calculation and have explained why and how we know. 

For our English this week, we have continued our work on writing sentences in greater detail. This has included the use of conjunctions and descriptive language. 

To end our week, we had lots of fun doing mark making for our Art topic!

Week Ending 19/11/2021

This week, in Year 1, we have been focusing on addition and subtraction for our Maths lessons. This has involved us completing bar models and part-whole models. We were also able to apply our understanding by answering challenge questions, these focused on answering word problems and providing our reasoning.

For our English lessons, we have been writing our own stories based on the book that we have been reading, ‘Stanley’s Stick’. When writing our stories, we used a checklist to ensure that we included finger spaces, capital letters and full stops, as well as, descriptive language.

A highlight of our week has been using the Chromebooks for our Computing lessons! We have been developing our computing skills by logging onto the Chromebooks, typing sentences on a Word document and designing our own art pieces using the programme Chrome Canvas.

We have also enjoyed lots of enrichment days this week, based on Anti-Bullying Week, Tolerance Day and Children in Need Day. These have involved lots of creative activities and discussions.

Week Ending 12/11/2021

This week in Year 1, for our English, we have identified rhyming words and used them to write our own sentences. For our Maths lessons, we have focused on subtraction, this has involved us using counters to take away. We were also able to use our understanding of part-whole models to help when subtracting.

To mark Remembrance Day, we made poppies and created our own Art inspired by doves. Year One used watercolours to create the background, then cut out a dove to put on top of our background. To finish off our designs, we stuck down key words such as ‘peace’.

Week Ending 1/10/2021

Year 1 have continued to enjoy writing about the book ‘Puffin Peter’. We have been using our phonics to help us when writing and have focused on our sentence structure. We have enjoyed the book so much that we even had a go at drawing our own puffins! They were fantastic!

For our Maths this week, we have continued to work on our fluency and have begun to tackle some challenge questions. We have used numicon and number lines to support us when answering our challenge questions.

Week Ending 24/09/2021

This week in Year 1, for our new English topic, we started a book called ‘Puffin Peter’. We have thoroughly enjoyed reading the story and making predictions about what will happen next. When writing about the story, we have focused on using our Phonics to help us to write sentences to describe the puffins and their friendship.

During our Maths lessons, we have been working on our mathematical fluency skills. We have had lots of fun playing maths games which have required us to use our knowledge of number bonds to twenty. We have also spent our afternoons working on our new Geography topic called ‘Weather and Seasons’. We had lots of fun going on a field walk and recording what we found in our weather diaries! This generated lots of discussion surrounding the different seasons and the weather that we would expect in each season.

Week Ending 17/09/2021

Year 1 have had a busy week this week! We have been learning all about positional and directional language for our Maths lessons. For our English lessons, we have done lots of drawing and labelling. We even made a lantern, just like the one that was in the story that we have been reading.

For our Phonics this week, we have been revisiting some of the sounds that we learnt in Reception. When revisiting the digraph ‘ee’, we had lots of fun being ‘busy bees’ in the classroom! We have also enjoyed lots of circle time throughout the week to discuss our feelings and the Zones of Regulations.

Week Ending 10/09/2021

This week, Year 1 have settled back into the classroom well and it has been lovely to be reunited with our friends again. We have worked hard on our new classroom routines and have enjoyed doing lots of Phonics!

For our English lessons, we have started to read a new book called ‘Journey’ and have imagined the places that we would go to if we had a magic pencil! To end our busy week, we had lots of fun going on a Minibeast hunt! We were able to classify the different Minibeasts and identify their habitat.