Summer 2, Week 3 – 20.06.25
Year One have had another fantastic week of learning!
In Maths, we have been learning about position and direction, looking at left and right. We loved doing the Hokey Cokey and Cha Cha Slide to practise identifying the left and the right! We also had fun completing an outdoors activity where we had to jump in each direction and quickly identify our left and right hands and feet! We have enjoyed this practical learning.
In English, we have been writing speech bubbles for characters in ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’. We enjoyed pretending to be the seagulls as they ate Mr Grinling’s lunch! The class came up with creative phrases for the characters to say. We have also been learning about prefixes and suffixes and have amazed Mrs Kempson with our understanding of these!
In Science, Year 1 have enjoyed writing about the Science experiment they completed last week. They planted seeds in soil and in paper towels to see which would grow the best. They found that the seeds grew better in the soil – as they predicted. Year 1 could explain that they grew better in the soil because it has nutrients. We will keep watching to see how our seeds progress!
In DT, we have started our module on puppet making. Year 1 explored which was the best way to join two pieces of fabric together. Mr Whybrow modelled with safety pins which the class decided was not a good way to connect materials as they are too sharp and they have a gap between them! The class tried glue and staples to connect the fabric and found that glue was the most successful way to join the fabric. This is the method we will use when making our puppets. Well done, Year 1!
Summer 2, Week 1 – 6.06.25
Year 1 have had an excellent week and have started their final half term of this school year so well! This week, we have been exploring our new text ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’. We have enjoyed reading and exploring the story, looking at the key vocabulary and considering what characters would say and feel at different points in the story. We are looking forward to completing writing based on this text soon.
In Maths, we have continued learning about Fractions. We have been looking at halves and quarters and have recognised and found half of a shape, object and quantity. Year 1 have done a fantastic job of understanding what a half or a quarter is and have shown great enthusiasm towards their Maths learning.
In Humanities this week, Year 1 have continued to develop their Geography skills, and have found it fascinating to look at the physical and human change of UK coastlines. Mr Whybrow was impressed with how engaged the class were and the fantastic understanding that they demonstrated.
In PE, Year 1 have been learning about striking and fielding. They have developed their skills in throwing or rolling a ball, hitting the ball and fielding. They had great fun playing small games where they had a go at batting, bowling and fielding. Well done Year 1!
Summer 1, Week 3 – 9.05.25
Year One have come back after the Bank Holiday weekend ready to complete lots of fantastic learning!
In English, we have been writing a thank you letter based on our class text ‘The Storm Whale’. We have been writing from the perspective of the whale, thanking Noi for saving us and for being a good friend. I was so impressed with the care and thoughtful ideas that everyone included within their writing. Before we started writing, we learnt about question marks and have spent time working on singular and plural nouns.
In Maths, we have been learning to count in 5s, continuing our previous learning where we learnt to count in 10s and 2s. We have enjoyed chanting the 5 times table, grouping items and listening to a 5 times table song!
In RE, we have begun our learning about Judaism. We spent time learning about promises and agreements, and the importance of keeping these. Year One made thoughtful promises that they wanted to keep within our classroom such as, I will be confident.
Year One continue to show their creative abilities in Art where we began creating paper sculptures based on the theme ‘The Tree of Life’. The class applied the learning we have completed this term, where we have looked at rolling, folding, cutting and scrunching paper to create a Tree of Life sculpture of their own design. They drew their designs in advance, before starting to create their 3D model out of paper.
Summer 1, Week 1 – 25.04.25
Year 1 have had a super start to the new term and have already completed lots of fantastic learning! In Maths, we have been learning about mass and have enjoyed using balance scales to measure the mass of different items in our classroom. We have considered which items are heavier and lighter and have compared the mass of different objects. We have loved exploring and investigating in our Maths lessons. In English, we have started our new story ‘The Storm Whale’. Year 1 amazed me with their fantastic understanding of the story and we have enjoyed creating a story board to record the most important parts of the plot. We listened to ocean sounds, just like the characters in our story, and drew the main character’s island. We are excited to continue learning about this book and creating writing inspired by it. In Science, we have been out on the school field identifying and recording the different plants that we have seen. There was a wide range of plants that we identified including dandelions and nettles. In Art, we have
started our learning on 3D structures. We looked at a 3D sculpture and considered what our opinion of this artwork was. We then had fun creating a simple structure using paper cylinders. We made cylinders of different sizes, colours, and added patterns to create unique sculptures.
Spring 2, Week 4 – 28.03.25
Year 1 have had a busy few weeks full of fantastic learning!
Yesterday, we had our ‘Frozen Day’, an experience day based on our humanities topic. After learning about Ernest Shackleton, we were excited to become Antarctic explorers! We completed an investigation to see how we could walk more successfully on snow. We realised that animals with larger feet did not fall as deeply into the snow and found that having shoes with a larger surface area stops you from sinking as far into the snow! We also played with ice, where our hands got very cold, helping to give us a little
understanding about how cold it would be to walk in Antarctica! Using all this information, we carefully designed our own outfit to wear on an Antarctic expedition and I was so impressed with the details and creative ideas that Year 1 came up with to keep them warm in such cold conditions. Our day also included an expedition onto the field where we were given a map, a compass and a list of Antarctic animals that we had to find outside. We loved exploring with our friends and finding all the animals. Finally, it wouldn’t have
been a trip to the South Pole without leaving our mark with a flag!
In Maths, we have begun looking at comparing height and length and have enjoyed learning more about measurements. We had fun finding items around the room with our partners, and deciding which was shorter, taller or longer.
In RE, we enjoyed creating Palm Sunday art that will go on display in St Mary’s Church ready for the Easter activities that we will complete there next week.
Spring 2, Week 2 – 14.03.25
Year 1 have had another wonderful few weeks and have completed lots of fantastic learning!
In English, we finished our first piece of writing for this half term – a setting description of a forest in Spring. We have been working hard on including exciting features including adjectives, alliteration and similes. I was so impressed with the writing that Year 1 produced, the hard work that they put into it and the creativity that they showed.
In Maths, we are now counting to 50. We have been counting in groups of tens and ones and partitioning into tens and ones. We have used resources including base 10 to help us to secure our understanding of tens and ones. The attitude that Year 1 has shown towards their Maths has been brilliant!
In Science, we have been learning all about seasonal changes. We have enjoyed learning about the weather that is associated with each season, and carefully drew the appropriate weather symbols for Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We realised that rain appears in every season in the UK! We have also learnt about how the day length varies across the season. I was so impressed with the class as they recorded the day length for each season in a pictogram, showing that Summer has the longest days, and Winter has the shortest days. Our science understanding continues to shine!
In PE, we have enjoyed learning our maypole dance routine ready for our May Day celebrations. We have worked hard on securing the steps and getting them in time to the music.
Spring 2, Week 1 – 28.02.25
Year 1 have had a fantastic start to the new term and have worked so hard across the curriculum!
In English, we were excited to read our new text, ‘Tree: Seasons Come, Seasons Go’, where we enjoyed looking at the beautiful illustrations and noticing all the changes that happen throughout each season. We especially loved the owl who sat in the tree, watching everything change. To explore the signs of the seasons in person, we went on a season spotting walk on the playground.
We were excited to find lots of snowdrops, see new flowers beginning to grow and hear plenty of bird song as we walked around. We enjoyed our walk and found signs of winter, with evidence that spring is on its way!
In Maths, we have been tackling subtraction through using different methods, including our knowledge of number bonds and using number lines.
In Design and Technology, we have begun this term’s project, where we are making windmills. Year 1 really impressed me with their fantastic knowledge of windmills and their purpose, from generating electricity to producing flour. We have started to make our windmills, ensuring that we could create a stable structure that would stand up on its own.
In RE, we have started our learning about Easter, with a focus on Palm Sunday, by considering why Jesus was welcomed like a King, or a celebrity, into Jerusalem. We had fun acting out how we would welcome a King or Queen into our school! We also shone when practicing the first of our Easter songs that we have been learning each week in assembly.
Spring 1, Week 5 – 07.02.25
We have had another fantastic few weeks in Year 1! In English, we have been busy writing a letter to Winter, the character from our key text. We have been working hard to include adjectives, exclamation marks and words with the un- prefix. We have thought carefully about different adjectives that we could use to describe the winter season and to describe our character’s feelings. In Maths, we have been looking at our number bonds to 20 by building on our knowledge of number bonds to 10. We have enjoyed using counters and ten frames to explore the number bonds to 20. In Humanities, we loved learning about the compass directions. We went onto the playground with compasses so that we could find North. We were able to find North which meant we knew the direction of South, East and West. We felt like real explorers! In Music, we have been listening to a song each week which has been performed in a different musical style. We have listened to genres such as Latin, Folk and Blues and have enjoyed hearing different styles of music. We especially loved the Folk music! We have considered which instruments we could hear in each and completed activities to keep in time with the pulse of the music.
Spring 1, Week 3 – 24.01.25
Year One have had a wonderful start to the new term and we have enjoyed completing lots of brilliant learning! Our topic this term is ‘Seasons and Frozen Planet’ and we have enjoyed starting to learn about Antarctica. In English, our key text is ‘Hello Winter’ and we have loved reading this book and learning all about Winter and her friends. We have completed a piece of writing, a labelled diagram of what to wear in the snow, so that Winter’s friends can stay warm during such a cold season. In Maths, we have been understanding 20 and have been enjoying securing our knowledge of numbers to 20. We have been number playing games, using resources to make the numbers to 20 and enjoyed an outdoor Maths lesson where we found 20 items on our ten frames. In Art, we have been developing our understanding of Primary and Secondary colours and have been exploring how to mix colours. We have looked at different shades of colours and have recreated our own art based on a painting. In Computing, we have loved learning how to code and have started to have a go at programming ourselves when we created instructions to make fish move on our screens!