Summer 2, Week 5 – 03/07/26
We have had rather an active 2 weeks in Year One. Last week children enjoyed lots of outdoor learning under the trees. The children experimented with finding materials and making shapes that would float and sink. The children also learnt how to tell the time to O’clock and half past. It was so lovely to enjoy some stories in the shade of the trees.
Children have completed their MFL days this week. They enjoyed learning all about Valencia in Spain and they made flags, learnt about traditions and food, made a fan so that they could dance the flamenco and even played Spanish number bingo. The children are now experts on Valencia!
In maths we have begun to learn about money and the value of coins and notes. The children have also enjoyed thinking about what the seaside was like long ago and what it is like today- considering the reasons for the differences. We are looking forward to finding out more about the seaside when we go on our exciting trip to Bournemouth next week!
Summer 2, Week 3 – 19/06/26
What a busy fortnight we have had in Year One! The children have been super settled with their work and are really showing their readiness for next year.
In English we have continued our character description writing – the children have worked hard to include adjectives and use conjunctions to extend their ideas.
In science children have been learning how to carry out a fair test. We have been investigating what makes a difference as to how high a ball bounces. The children have had great fun testing different theories and learning how to collect result, as well as how to draw a conclusion. So far, we have discovered: the harder the push-the higher the bounce, the higher the drop of the ball-the higher the bounce, the harder the surface of the ground- the higher the bounce. Children have worked superbly in teams to carry out their investigations.
In RE children have been learning about Judaism and how important the synagogue is. They have had funmaking a torah scroll, where they have written one of the ten commandments. The children have been super busy with assessment booklets too- it has been so lovely to see them concentrate and do the very best they can.
Well done Year One- a super beginning to the last half term!
Summer 2, Week 1 – 05/06/26
Over the last couple of school weeks, we have been very busy.
In science, we had fun identifying trees in the school grounds.
In English this week we have started our new text: The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch. We have enjoyed listening to the story and we have begun to write carefully about the characters in the story. The children are all working hard to keep their books super smart and neat.
In Maths we have started our new topic on place value. This week we have been practicing counting up to 100. The children enjoyed playing games in pairs to practice their counting on.
Before half term we all enjoyed using our new paper curling and joining skills to create our own sculpture. The children had great fun and worked independently to carry out their ideas. I was impressed with the imagination they used throughout this topic, and it was so lovely to see children creating their own sculptures and models at home.
Summer 1, Week 5 – 15/05/26
Year 1 have had another busy couple for weeks moving forward with our fantastic learning.
In English we have been busy writing up our stories from the point of view of the baby whale in our text ‘Storm Whale’. The children really used their imaginations to describe how the whale felt in the story about being stranded and then rescued.
In maths we have continued our learning on multiplication – learning how to make equal groups and how tomake arrays with equipment.
In PHSE we have been thinking about family and what it feels like to belong to a family. The children have been very thoughtful around our theme of ‘belonging’.
In RE we are learning about Judaism with a focus on shabbat. It has made us think about all the lovely things we do with our own families at the weekend. It has been lovely to see so many children being inspired by our Art topic on paper sculpture. Many have brought in lovely artwork they have tried at home. Last week we practised curling and folding paper in different ways and this week we learnt how to attach our 3d shapes to a base by cutting flaps or tabs. The children investigated how to attach lots of different shapes.
Summer 1, Week 3 – 01/05/26
Year One have had a very busy couple of weeks. We have started to write our stories from the point of view of the whale in the story. The children have been working hard on their handwriting, sentences and writing in the past tense.
In maths we started the term continuing our work on measuring- firstly with objects and then learning how to use a ruler to measure in cms. We have begun to learn about equal groupings in our multiplication and division topic. We have been practising counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10. We have enjoyed counting pairs of shoes, hands and counters in groups.
We have worked hard to polish our maypole dance and boy band dance ready for the May celebrations. It has been lovely to see the children work with great enthusiasm.
We have begun our learning on Judaism, firstly thinking about when shabbat happens and learning about the creation story.
Children have discussed use of plants in Science and we have been thinking about which part of the plant (root, stem, leaf, fruit) our fruit and vegetables come from.
The children have had fun in lively learning creating puppet shows, making sandcastles in the sand and playing in the ice cream shop!
Spring 2, Week 5 – 27/03/26
What a busy fortnight we have had in year one!
Last Thursday the children enjoyed their trip to the dance and gymnastics session at Chenderit. It was lovely to see the children joining in with learning new dances and developing their gymnastics skills on the big horse and box equipment. The children loved using the springboards and trampoline and many showed the courage to jump off the big equipment onto a crash mat. They had certainly built up an appetite by the time we arrived back to school for our late lunch- which was a lovely picnic in the sunshine.
On Friday we had our ‘Frozen Day’. First, we got ready to go on our expedition to the South Pole. The children designed explorers’ outfits and thought about the equipment we would need to take. They also made their own flag ready to place in the ground when we reached the South Pole.
We all set off on our expedition with a map, compass and our flags. The children searched for wild animals and features of Antarctica. Then we found South with our compasses. We found the South pole and placed our flags in the ground. The children showed great teamwork on our expedition! Luckily, we made it back from the South pole just in time for lunch! Throughout the day the children took great delight in watching some poor penguins who had become trapped in a block of ice- become free and swim away. Surprisingly it took most of the day for the penguins to be released from the blocks of ice.
In the afternoon we did some work on our zones of regulation. We thought about what we could do if we were feeling different types of emotions. We practised rainbow breathing to help us feel calm if we are worried or anxious.
The fun continued on Monday as we set up our Smoothie Cafe. The children loved chopping and slicing their fruit and using a blender to create their own smoothie. The best part was the tasting. The children had fun sitting in the smoothie cafe tasting their drinks. We even managed to surprise Mr Reeves with a delicious smoothie- made by Orla and Sophie. We think it was a pleasant interruption of his meeting!
It has truly been an exciting and varied fortnight, and it has been lovely to see the children working hard and using their imagination to bring their learning to life. Well done Year One for a fabulous term of hard work. Get ready to leave Antarctica and pack your bucket and spade for our next destination- the seaside!
Spring 2, Week 3 – 13/03/26
What another busy fortnight we have had in Year One!
In English we had a visit from Olive the owl- the character in our text ‘Tree’. Olive had written us a letter asking us to explain why the animals and plants are different at different times of the year. We are beginning to write an information text all about how weather and seasons affect plants and animals. This will be great as it consolidates our learning in science.The children enjoyed learning about glaciers in Humanities and thinking about how they have changed over time.
In RE we are learning about the key events in the Easter story. Children were great at acting out the different parts- they were the excited crowds shouting ‘Hosannah’ on Palm Sunday as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, and the friends at the last supper. They thought about the sadness of Jesus dying on the cross and the happiness on Easter Sunday as they realised that Jesus was alive.
The children had the opportunity to use their colour mixing skills when painting some lovely, Mother’s Day cards ready for the weekend. I’m sure they will look magnificent on display at home!
In PSHE we have begun to learn about ways to keep healthy. This week we talked about safety with household products and medicine. In maths we have continued to work on place value and becoming confident with numbers to 50, as well as completing English and maths assessment booklets- which the children have tried very hard with. The dancing is well underway for our performances for May celebration. The children are getting to grips with some complicated maypole steps – and had great fun with Mrs Tritton this week learning their dance to Queen music.
Well done Year One- some really great efforts and hard work this week!
Spring 2, Week 1 – 27/02/26
We have had a busy first week in year one. The children have come back and quickly have got back into routines.
This week we have continued our learning about the Antarctic. We have learnt about physical and human features. The children could explain why there are fewer human features in the Antarctic than here in Banbury.
In maths we have moved onto counting between 20 and 50. The children spotted patterns as they counted.
In English I have been very impressed with the children’s sentence building. They have enjoyed our new text about the seasons called’ Tree’ and have enjoyed describing some of the scenes from the book.
Children have enjoyed Forest school this week with Mrs Sabin. They love exploring and the photos show some experiences from before half term.
Spring 1, Week 5 – 06/02/26
What a busy fortnight we have had in Year One!
In maths we have continued our work on addition and subtraction.
In English we have been very busy writing a persuasive text about how wonderful each season is. I have been very impressed with the effort put into this work by many of the children.
We have continued our mark making in Art- looking at the optical illusion art of Bridget Riley. The children had fun trying to create curves and shapes with their lines.
In Science we have continued our learning about different animal groups and have this week furthered our knowledge on birds.
The children have been learning about weather in the UK and many have enjoyed being a weather reporter and putting symbols onto the map of the UK. Linking with this, children have enjoyed reading books about Winter in the explorers’ tent and creating their own snowflakes in the lively learning corner.
The children had a lovely MFL morning this week- beginning their work on Benin and learning all about the West African country. They will continue this learning next week.
No wonder the children are so tired!
Spring 1, Week 3 – 23/01/26
In English we have been learning about letter writing. The children have been busy writing letters to Winter in lively learning and have ended the week with writing some super letters of apology to her. In maths we have been working on number to 20 and have begun to practise strategies for adding.
Last week in humanities we became explorers and learnt how to find North using a compass. Some children wanted to keep walking so they could visit the North Pole!
We have continued to explore mark making in art and I have been so impressed with the children’s creativity. They had some great ideas for creating textures with charcoal and pencil.
The children have all had a fabulous time in Forest School with Mrs Sabin. They loved being outside in the squelchy mud on Wednesday.
The children are also loving their cricket time on a Monday and have been busy developing some excellent skills. Well-done Year one for another very busy, productive fortnight of learning!
Spring 1, Week 1 – 09/01/26
Year One have had a good start back to school this week and it was so nice to see them return after their Christmas break. The children were pleased to be back and meet their friends- and we were soon back into our daily routines!
We have started our new text this week called Hello Winter. Amazingly on Tuesday morning the children came in to find it was snowing in the classroom as well as outside! The children were excited to find a special silver box in our expedition tent. When we looked inside, we found a letter from Winter (the character in our story). We think we may have a sneaky snow pixie living in the tent who is making it snow- but we haven’t been able to find her yet! What a magical and exciting start to our term!
The children have made New Year’s Resolutions this week- lots of children are going to eat healthily and do exercise. One child wanted to develop their gymnastic skills and one child wanted to be kind to others. Let’s hope we manage to stick to our resolutions for the whole year!
In maths we have been working on our numbers to 20, using number lines and making teen numbers with tens and ones. I was impressed with how much the children had remembered from before the holidays.
We have started our Art topic on mark making. We learnt how to make a continuous line drawing and then investigated how to draw an emperor penguin using different tools. The children showed great focus and perseverance with this new technique. They thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, and we ended with an ‘art gallery’ where children were able to view other children’s artwork.
Finally, we started our new Humanities topic called Frozen Planet. We have used maps, atlases and globes to locate and label the major oceans. I think the children will make fabulous Antarctic Explorers this term! Well done Year One for a fabulous start to the year.
Autumn 2, Week 5 – 05/12/25
What a busy fortnight we have had in Year one! The children have been working very hard with their dancing and singing in preparation for our nativity shows next week.
In English we have started to investigate how to write a factual report. We have learnt about Victorian Christmas traditions and next week we will be writing up a report using the facts we have learnt.
This week we went on a fabulous trip to Tooley’s Boatyard in Banbury. We learnt all about the history of the boatyard and went on a boat called The Dancing Duck. We also used our colour mixing skills to paint canal plates with roses. Before lunch we had a lovely walk in the sunshine along the canal to the park- where a great time was had by all. The children behaved superbly and impressed all the adults with their curiosity to ask questions and super manners. Well done Year One for a lovely day trip and thankyou to all the adults who came and helped on the day.
Autumn 2, Week 3 – 21/11/25
It has been yet another busy week in Year One. I was very impressed with how calmly the children settled into their routines on Monday morning.
In English we have been practising describing scenes. We are becoming more adventurous with using adjectives to describe nouns in our sentences. Children enjoyed learning about types of animals in Science and comparing animals within each group.
In maths this week we have started our topic on shape. The children had great fun investigating which 3D shapes were best for building a tower. We managed to keep our tower standing for a significant amount of time before it was knocked over!
We had a lovely time during our RE Share and Learn session where we made puppets for each Christmas story character and then retold the Christmas story with them. Song practise for our nativity is well underway, and we are beginning to practise our dance choreography too. At Forest School we have been busy creating some festive art by hammering leaves onto fabric to make a Christmas tree print.
Autumn 2, Week 1 – 07/11/25
Week 1 has been a short one but full of great learning. The children impressed us with how they remembered all the routines from the first term, meaning we could hit the ground running to kick off this one.
In English, we have begun our new text. ‘Queen Victoria’s Bathing Machine. The children have enjoyed identifying the characters and settings from the story and have created a story map.
In Maths, we are continuing our addition and subtraction topic. This week, the children used double-sided counters and tens frames to solve addition word problems, played a game to help remember the bonds to ten and used their fingers or part-whole models to find the missing number in addition number sentences.
In PE, the children began their new unit, ‘ball skills’. They were practising aiming at a target, sending and receiving the ball.
Our first week back at Forest School was eventful. The children discovered two new roofed areas had been built during the half-term. These were funded by our PTFA and built by Graham Cherry (Jaxon’s Gramps) and his workmates. The materials were supplied by Discount Builders on Southam Road at a reduced price. So, a big thank you to all who contributed.
Whilst there, the children made full use of the new undercover mud kitchen area, cooking salads and cakes, played knights and dragons in a castle, pretended to be squirrels collecting nuts (conkers and pinecones) and made golden leaf crowns.
Some of the children also helped Miss Reid put up one of the new swings (donated by Jaxon’s Didy and Gramps and a new hammock (from the PTFA), with another one due to go up next week (donated by Lou Shore – Lana and Thea’s Mum). We are very blessed to have all these generous people supporting our Forest School. The children had a whale of a time.
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Autumn 1, Week 7 – 17/10/25
The last two weeks have been full of fun and learning.
In English, we created a story map and learned about past tense verbs and time connectives, in preparation for writing our recount of the story in Week 7.
In Maths, we built upon comparing numbers using the language and symbols for less than, greater than and equal to.
In week 7, we began our addition and subtraction unit by exploring parts and wholes. The children were introduced to part-whole models and used these to find number bonds within 10.
In Art, the children have been learning about primary and secondary colours. They used this learning to mix and paint a number picture.
At Forest School these past two weeks, we have made conker spiders, caterpillars and people, planted acorns, played hide and seek with our new fluffy forest friends (provided by the PTFA) and used apples to make pumpkin pictures.
In Lively Learning, we have been fishing in the canal. They hooked ducks and caught numbered fish to put in order. They have been writing street signs for our village. The children used oil pastels to create fruit and veg art. They even conducted their own floating & sinking experiment as well.
Autumn 1, Week 5 – 03/10/25
What another busy couple of weeks we have had in Year One!
In Maths, we have continued with our number work. Last week they sorted objects such as coins, buttons, shapes, counters and numbers, using different rules. Then they counted the items in their groups using tens frames. When Mrs Andrews dropped all her number cards, the children kindly helped her to match them all back up again into sets of numbers, number words and pictures.
This week, the children have told ‘1 more’ stories with animals, made rockets to blast off after counting down from any number within 10, found one less than a group of objects, and we have been working with number tracks and number lines to explore the idea of more than, fewer than and ordering numbers.
In English, we have continued our work on the text ‘Quack, quack, take two steps back! ‘We have learnt
about speech bubbles, and we have imagined what the characters would say to each other. We have also
been practising writing in the past tense, ready for when we write our final recount of the story.
In Science, the children explored objects and discussed the materials they were made from. They worked as a team to sort the objects into groups. They were challenged to draw one of the objects, name it and write about what it is made from in their books.
In Humanities, our learning about canals is well underway. Last week we learnt about the reason for canals
being built- to carry coal, wood and food from one place to another. This week we have learnt about how
machines such as the steam shovel made building the canals so much easier. Of course, the building of
our model canal and village continues in the classroom. We are now busy building houses to make
Cropredy village alongside our canal.
Week 4 at Forest School, the children explored the flora. Looking at all the different plants and trees. We talked about the differences between the trees’ leaves, bark and berries. Some children chose to do some leaf rubbings, others made bridges, dens or afternoon tea for each other.
In PE week 4, the children were working on their teamwork skills. They played games with the parachute that required them to look and listen to their friends to make the parachute or ball do what they wanted it to.
This week in PE, the children worked in small teams to direct their blindfolded teammate across the playground covered in cones and hoops.
In Art, we have been developing our painting skills. Last week, we learnt all about primary and secondary
colours, and we investigated what happens when we mix primary colours together in a range of different
mediums. The children especially loved making new colours by mixing the playdough. This week we
painted a numbers picture using a combination of primary and secondary colours, which we mixed
ourselves.
In Lively Learning, the children have been using natural materials to collage houses, building houses for our village out of junk. Creating canal boat puppet shows like Rosie and Jim, building the walls of the canal out of LEGO, writing prayers, and relaxing together with teddy bears and books.
Autumn 1, Week 3 – 19/09/25
The past two weeks, the children have been busy learning all the new routines and expectations of being in Year 1. They have really impressed us with how well they are picking it all up. We are getting so much quicker at our transitions between lessons, and the quality of the children’s work in their books is fantastic.
The children have really enjoyed exploring the lively learning area. The children have begun to look at our topic of Banbury and the canal. We have started to excavate our own canal, decorated plates in the canal boat and built more bridges out of Meccano. We have also made houses about our families whilst enjoying building with junk, reading together in the book corner and relaxing in the reflection area.
This week in science, we have begun our new topic about everyday materials. Miss Reid was shocked by how they already knew about the subject.
In English, the children have been learning how to set out their books, practising their handwriting and writing sentences about pictures.
Our NOSSP PE leader was very complimentary about how the children listened and followed instructions in their sessions with her. It sounded like they had a lovely time.
The children have thoroughly enjoyed starting their forest school sessions. They have learned the forest school rules and understand how to keep themselves safe while they are exploring and having fun.
Autumn 1, Week 1 – 05/09/25
What an amazing first week of term! The children have settled in beautifully. This week was an introductory week to our new school vision and values: ‘Building Bridges to a Brighter Future’.
In Maths this week, we were challenged to balance the bridge so we could connect the people on either side. We had to count out a certain number of blocks for one side of the bridge. Next, we used two different coloured blocks to make the bridge level so the Playmobil people could walk across. Then, we wrote down the number sentences we had made.
In English, we listened to the story ‘Bridges by Tom Percival. We wrote postcards from the imaginary place that our bridge took us to. Then, in Art we created fantasy collage bridges, using torn coloured paper.
As a team-building exercise, we were asked to build bridges with our bodies. First, we made shapes and bridges with our bodies on our own. Next, we worked with a partner to make an arch. Then we worked in teams to build a bridge using all of our bodies. We made connections not only with our bodies but also by communicating with our friends. Look at what we did…
We began our Lively Learning tasks this week, too. We…
- Built bridges out of Lego, wooden blocks and junk modelling.
- Wrote mini books about ourselves.
- Collaged and coloured pictures of canal bridges and boats
- Decorated wooden cutlery and paper cups to look like canal ware for us to play with in our canal boat
We have had great fun in week one!