Welcome to Year 1!

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.