Miss Nicola McGregor
Mrs Fiona Keeley
Mr Chika Nnorom
Welcome
welcome, welcome to Yr 1!! We are excited to get to know you and in particular journeying through our learning this year.
Key Information
PE Day: Our PE day is on Friday with Miss Hall and Mr Donkin. You will need a PE kit including; black/navy joggers or shorts, black/navy jumper, white t-shirt and appropriate trainers.
Reading books: Your child will be read with/ asked about reading at home once a week and their book will be changed or if they have finished their book sooner and would like to change it they only need to ask a teacher.
Other: please record your child's reading on the Go Read (Boom reader) App when you enjoy a book at home together. Your child also has access to TTrockstars to help learn and practice multiplication and division facts.
Curriculum Coverage - Autumn
In English we will be looking at Poetry (exploring pattern & rhyme), we will also be exploring setting descriptions, stories with familiar settings, Instructional writing finally, shape poems and calligrams. Our core books for this term are BEEGU by Alexis Deacon and Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
In maths we will be covering Number- in particular place value within 10, Addition & subtraction within 10 and Geometry -Shapes
This term we will be learning Seasonal changes and daily weather, plants, Animals including humans in Science. Digital images, Algorithms and Beebots in Computing, As well as, looking at Historical changes within living memory for History. Continents, Oceans and Countries of the UK in Geography.
Maths in Year 1 has been focusing on numbers up to 10. The children have been learning to recognise numbers as words, as well as counting backwards and forwards. The children have been using a range of concrete manipulatives to support them in their understanding of number. They had great fun using tens frames and cubes to represent different amounts.
In our English lessons we have started reading one of our core texts for autumn term – Beegu, by Alexis Deacon. The children have been predicting what might happen and retrieving information from Beegu and other texts to answer questions.
Over the first few weeks of term, during our writing focus the children have been writing sentences remembering to use capital letters and full stops. We have also been identifying and using nouns and verbs.
This week in writing the children had to rewrite sentences that had duplicate words or missing words.
In History we have been learning about our community and looking at how things have changed. We started learning about things that have happened beyond living memory and within living memory. We know that living memory is anything that happened in our Grandparents lifetime, not ours.
The community of Great Ashby is part of the bigger community of Stevenage. We looked at pictures of shops in Stevenage and thought about the things they sell and why.
We then had a look at pictures of shops from the 1950’s and compared them to the shops of today. We looked at the tills from the 50’s and how we pay now. We also noticed that people had to queue outside shops before they could be served. We had some fun thinking about how those people must have felt standing in long queues waiting for the chance to get shopping.
The children took turns role playing how the customers of the 50’s must have felt.
In Year 1 Art, the children were introduced to the work of Piet Mondrian. During the lesson, the children created textured surfaces by layering various materials in horizontal and vertical patterns, mirroring Mondrian’s style. Using the dip, dip, dab painting method, they used primary colours to paint their prepared surfaces, exploring how the different textures influenced their brushstrokes. The children also looked at the illustrations in the book ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ exploring the brushstrokes used and practised refining their own techniques by imitating the patterns they identified.
This week in Maths we've been learning about Number facts family. Using number bonds within 10 to help secure addition sentences, we used lots of concrete, pictorials and abstract approaches to help secure our number facts family. Such as whole part model, bar models, rekenrek, lots of visuals and many more resources to represent different number bonds and recognise systematical patterns within the different bonds.
Summer Term
We hope you all have had a lovely Easter holidays. We are very excited to welcome all the children back.
This term in English, we will be exploring different texts, including 'There's a Rang-Tan in my bedroom' by James Sellick and 'Tango makes three' by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell as well as learning about writing informal letters. In maths we will expand our number knowledge to numbers up to 100 and beginning to solve one step problems using multiplication and division. Our science learning will focus on identifying different plants and trees as well as exploring plants in the local environment and looking at life cycles of plants.
In Summer 1 we will focus on Art and will be making sculptures by exploring shapes and textures. In Summer 2 our DT learning will focus on creating bridges with recyclable materials. In History we will be finding out all about lives of significant individuals whist in Geography we will be learning about the continents and oceans of the world.
We hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year. We are very excited to welcome all the children back.
This term in English, we will be exploring different texts, including 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' by Beatrix Potter and 'Look up!' by Nathan Bryon as well as the poem 'Chocolate Cake' by Michael Rosen. In maths we will expand our number knowledge to numbers up to 505 and begin learning to tell the time to O'Clock and half past. Our science learning will focus on naming parts of the body as well as beginning to classify and group animals in different ways.
In Spring 1 we will focus on Art, in particular sketching and shading techniques. In Spring 2 our DT will look at combining tastes in creating a sandwich. In History we will be finding out all about Christopher Columbus whist in Geography we will look at locating place on a different maps.
Please note - our PE days are Monday AND Friday for both classes.
Each week the children are expected to complete the following home learing:
* Reading with an adult at least three times and recorded on Boom Reader BoomReader — The Digital Reading Record (go-read.co.uk)
* Read the e-book set on Oxford Owl in conjunction with our phonics learning Oxford Owl for School and Home
* Practice new sounds on their phonics key rings
* Have a go at the phonics challenge set on the class page
* Log into Times Table Rock Stars (log ins to come soon) Times Tables Rock Stars – Times Tables Rock Stars (ttrockstars.com)
Monday 8th January - return to school
Thursday 1st - Friday 2nd January - cross curricular days
Monday 12th February - Parents consultation
Wednesday 14th February - Parents consultation
19-23rd February - Half term
Thursday 14th March - House afternoon
Friday 28th March - Term ends
Week beginning 15th July 2024
This half term the year 1 children have been learning about maps in Geography. This week they have made maps of the school and placed where the treasure was placed on their map.
Week beginning 8th July 2024
Year 1 have been working really hard in preparation for the music festival and have really enjoyed rehearsing in class and practicing their song and the actions!
Phonics Challenge
Play a game of 'I spy' - can you write the word and spell it using your phonics?
Week beginning 1st July 2024
This week the children have been building bridges as part of their DT learning. They have been using cardboard to work out how to make a strong bridge
Phonics Challenge
This week the children have been learning alternative graphemes for the 'er' sound - 'our' / 're' - challenge yourself to find as many words as you can with these graphemes.
Week beginning 24th June 2024
This week in year 1, the children have been starting to learn about imperative verbs (command statements). They have then been using these verbs to create a step by step guide of how to make something (such as a sandwich) using these verbs and sketches.
They have needed to think carefully about ordering the steps of how to make a sandwich so their instructions make sense.
Phonics challenge
Practise reading a range of words that use 'wh' grapheme such as what, when, who, whose - can you spot the different sounds it makes.
Week beginning 17th June 2024
This week in phonics the children have been learning the alternative sound for 'f'' - 'gh' as in cough. They have also been learning that in certain words the 'o' sound is written as 'ou'.
They have been practising to read and write there words and then applying this knowledge when writing sentences.
Phonics challenge
Practise reading words with 'ed' - write a list of the words you find.
Week beginning 10th June 2024
In maths this week, the children have been measuring the length and height of objects in centimetres and comparing the size of more than one object.
Phonics challenge
Play I spy with your family looking for words that have the split digraphs i_e/ o_e
Week beginning 3rd June 2024
In geography, the children have been learning about hot and dry places and hot and wet places in the world and how they vary. They have discussed what would be a good area to live and why. They have also been learning about the different continents and oceans of the world and where the equator is.
Phonics challenge
Play a game from www.phonicsplay.co.uk - resources page. Concentrate on phase 5 sounds. Can you identify the real and the fake words?
Week beginning 20th May 2024
In Science lessons this half term, we have been learning about different types of plants and trees and what plants need in order to grow. The children have particularly enjoyed comparing wild and garden plants; identifying deciduous and evergreen trees by their leaves; and learning about the life cycle of a plant. This week the children will be bringing home their radish seeds to continue growing at home!
Phonics challenge
Go on an I spy hunt - how many things can you find that have a split digraph - eg - stone. Can you then write a list of those words?
Week beginning 13th May 2024
In music, we have been learning about pitch and how to use dot notation to determine how high or low each note is. The children have been really great at combining this with their prior learning about pulse and rhythm, and clapping along to the beat of various songs. The children have also been exploring different genres of music, from classical to Bruno Mars!
Phonics Challenge:
Spot the trigraphs in words - ear/ air - can you find words with alternative graphemes and make a list of them?
e.g - bear (sounds like air) / deer (sounds like ear)
Week beginning 7th May 2024
This week in Maths the children are learning how to make equal groupings and investigate numbers that can make equal groups. They have used concrete manipulative to investigate before moving on to pictorial representations.
Phonics Challenge:
We are currently practicing all our previously learnt sound. Make a list of all the words you can with the split digraphs a_e, o_e and u_e.
Can you spot words that have split digraphs in your reading books?
Week beginning 29th April
In our reading learning, the children have been exploring the book ‘There’s a rang-tan in my bedroom’. We have been exploring the rhyme and rhythm of the book and the children have used percussion instruments to enhance this.
Week beginning 22nd April 2024
In our music learning year 1 have been exploring rhythm and pulse in words and songs.
Week beginning 15th April
This week in year 1, the children have been learning about syllables and patterns in poems. They have counted the syllables in poems and then used a set pattern to write their own poems about animals
This week we have been exploring measures as part of our maths learning. As well as discussing different vocabulary linked to measures we have used non-standard units of measure to measure the length, height, mass and capacity of different objects across the week. We were set a challenge to see how many multi-link cubes long the classroom was. We also had to predict how many cups of water it would take to fill different sixed containers.
Over the last few weeks we have been learning how to log onto the school computers. We have been issued our unique usernames and had a go at logging on in school. This week we were able to log on independently. We then opened up word and learnt what word processing it. We began by writing our names in full. Then we wrote three words before finally writing a sentence. We learnt that we should never share our log in details with anyone!
This week we learnt that <o> can make an 'u' sound. What words can you think of that have the 'o' sound in them?
We have enjoyed learning about the book 'Look up' by Nathan Bryon. We read the book together as well as other texts that shared a theme. On Friday we created images of the meteor shower like we saw in the book.
This week we have been completing phonics assessment. Please keep reading lots at home ass adding to Boom reader.
This week we were treated to a performance from Mrs Thomas on her Violin. She played us a song using the bow - it was very good! Then she explained the different parts of the instruments and what they do. Finally she played some songs and we had to move around to reflect how the song made us feel.
'ay' sounds
we have been learning lots of different 'ay' sounds (a, ey, ea, eigh)
make a list of different words that match each sound.
This week in maths, we have been exploring making doubles. We used lots of manipulatives to help us including multi-link and counters. Once we were confident, we rolled a number on a dice and made a table to show its double. It was fun using the manipulatives to help us work out the double.
Spot the harder to read and spell words.
Play an investigation game as you read your books for any harder to read and spell words that come up!
Our Geography focus this half term has been our local area. We have looked at different maps of Great Ashby and Stevenage and began labelling key features of the town. We also looked at the different houses around the school. We drew a house and labeled the different parts.
This week we have learnt that <a> can make an 'a' sound (sat), 'ay' (acorn) or 'o' (swan). Make a table of words for each sound made by the <a> grapheme.
This week we have been exploring calligrams and shape poems as part of our writing unit. We discussed the use of actions as part of a performance and all the children had a turn at performing their weather poem. Scan the QR codes to see some of the performances.
This week we have been looking at alternative pronunciations for 'ay' (hay, baby, grey, sleigh). Which words can you find for each different sound?
We have had a busy week being back in school this week. In our computing learning we will be focusing on how we can stay safe online. We began this week exploring what the internet is. The internet lets us connect with other computers all over the world. It allows us to read and share information too. We discussed ways we could stay say online. We also spoke about the report button that can be found on most websites. The children then made a poster with top tips on how to stay safe online.
This week we have been assessing children's reading levels. New books will be sent out next week inline with their new level. In the meantime, keep a look out for harder to read and spell words in the texts you share with your children. Encourage them to read them for you.
On Monday year one had a fantastic day exploring the history of toys in our history workshop. The children thought about their own toys, what they were made from and how they were constructed. They were then guided through making replicas of toys from the past themselves. They made a teddy, a spinning top, a football player and many more. The children enjoyed making and playing with their toys.
Read a festive story at home with your children. What harder to read and spell words do they recognise?
The year 1 team would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy, healthy holiday. Thank you for all your hard work this term!
This week we've been getting Christmas-y with our production. The children performed the poem 'I had a little snowman' before singing the song 'Stable under a Star'. They performed both poem and song superbly and made us all proud of how well they did. We also enjoyed our Christmas dinner on Thursday. Thank you to all the kitchen and lunch time staff for making it such a fun afternoon!
What words can you find in the words 'Christmas' and 'holidays'
This week we completed out sewing project as part of our DT learning. We have been exploring simple running stitch and how to add different decorations to our simple patterns. We designed and created gingerbread decorations for the festive season. After we completed the project we used our evaluation skills to review our creations.
This week we will continue with phonics assessments.
Keep a log of the harder to read and spell words you find in your reading and Oxford owl books. Which ones do you know well and which ones do you need to recap?
This half term we have been programmers. We have learnt about algorithms - these are a set of instructions that form part of programming. We learnt through exploring with the Bee-Bots that you can get an algorithm wrong. We learnt that we can debug our algorithm to make it do what we want it.
We used the iPads and the Bee-Bot app to extend our learning further. We wrote down our algorithms to complete the challenges and debugged them when they didn't work as we wished. This helped us to be successful programmers!
This week we have begun our phonics assessments for the term. Keep recapping the sounds we have learnt this year.
This half term, Year 1 have been learning about different materials in their science lessons. We have explored some of the properties of metal, plastic, wood, glass and water. We have completed investigations to see how waterproof the materials are so we could pick the best material to make an umbrella from. The children have enjoyed exploring some of the new vocabulary linked to our materials project such as rough, stretchy and opaque.
Explore the tri-graphs 'ear' 'air' 'ure' with the children. What words can you think of?
This week in RE we have been exploring the Chanukah story. This is a Jewish story about a miracle that happened linked to oil in a temple. We learnt about how Jewish people light a special mannorah with 8 branches using a special servant candle.
We're currently recapping sounds we've learnt so far. Please keep a note of sounds the children are struggling with in their books and practice these at the end.
This week we began exploring the time in maths. We have looked at different units of time (such as number of days in a week, number of months in a year, minutes in an hour, hours in a second). We also began exploring how to tell the time (O'Clock). We made our own cloks to help us with our learning and also used them to learn about the different hands on the clock.
Phonics challenge:
Write a poem with some words containing the a-e, e-e, u-e split vowel digraphs.
This half term in computing we will be looking at computer programming. We began last week by learning about algorithms. An algorithm is a set of instructions that tell a programme what to do. We began to create simple algorithms for the BeeBots to follow. The children were completing challenges like 'make your BeeBot draw a square'. The childre enjoyed learning all about the BeeBots and how to programme them.
This week we began exploring the split vowel digraphs. Make a list of words you find in your reading book and Oxfor owl book with split vowel digraphs in.
This week we have been exploring shapes in our maths learning. We have looked at both 2D and 3D shapes across the week. We discussed their names and properties. On Thursday we had a 3D shape hunt across the school. We found 3D shapes in the playground as well as in the classroom.
This week we will focus on the 'oe' (as in doe) sound. What examples of this sound can you find in your books as you are reading? Can you make a list of words with 'oe' in them.
This week we have been writing our own version of Mr Wolf's Week. We spent the beginning of the week planning out what happened each day. We used stem sentences to extend our writing and spent some time editing our writing adding in adjectives. Finally we published our writing by perfectly presenting it. This means we used our best handwriting and wrote out the learning with all our editing and improvements in.
Recap all our sounds leant so far on the key rings. Why not challenge yourself to find the most objects with each sound in around the house and garden.
This week in art we have been exploring our primary and secondary colours. We made a colour wheel to show what happens when we mix the colours together! We will be using this knowledge to inform our art learning over the rest of the term.
This week we have been completing our first phonics assessment. At parents evening, you will be given a sheet for any phase 3 sounds you may still need to work on.
Whilst out and about this week, why not encourage your children to sound out some of he things you see. For example letter box - l.e.tt.er b.o.x
In their geography lessons this week, Year 1 children began developing their skills of map reading. The children explored a map of the United Kingdom and learnt that there are four countries that make up the UK - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The children learnt about the different flags linked to each of the countries, as well as the national flower of each country. The children then had to work as a team to correctly cut and stick pictures of the flags and flowers next to the corresponding country. The children had a lot of fun and enjoyed retaining their knowledge in a practical way.
This week you will have recived the new sounds learnt in phonics for your key ring. In addition to this, on the lilac card are some harder to read and spell words. All the children were also given a wallet to help keep the sounds safe. Please keep add the sounds to the key ring and keep recapping them.
Your challenge this week is to make a collage are object in the home with the 'ie' sound in.
On Thursday the children were very excited to see the circus had come to school. We had two exciting days of circus themed learning. In English we shared the book 'Clown' by Quentin Blake and wrote captions for some of the images. In maths we explored pictograms of our favourite circus acts and made a timetable of acts for our own circus show. In music we sang a circus themed song and in Art we drew a picture of the circus.
As well as this we had a circus workshop delivered by the performers. We balanced feathers, juggled hankies and span plates. On Thursday afternoon we were treated to a fabulous circus show from the team at Circus Sensible.
This week the children were given their first phonics key ring. You can use these to support the sounds we have learnt this week. You could spot the sounds as you are out and about or challenge your children to make list of words linked the the sounds. Don't forget to read your new oxford owl book which focuses on the sounds from this week.
This week the children in Mr Paice's group have been exploring subtraction. They have used different resources to support them including Deans blocks, counting beads and multilink. The children then moved on to using a number line and showing their jumps to support their working.
Gather some household objects. Have a go at writing labels using your phonics skills to write the words. underline any digraphs or trigraphs used.
This week in computing we continued to explore taking photos on the iPads. Last week children learnt how to unlock the device, find the camera app, and take a selfie. This week we spoke about why we might want to take photographs. One pupil said 'To remember happy moments' another said they wanted a picture of their mummy and daddy. We then spoke about taking photographs for a purpose - such as for the school newsletter. We went outside a took some photos of the KS1 playground. We spoke about the need to frame our pictures in the screen to make sure we had a good quality photograph. We came back into class and explored the editing setting, focusing on brightness and colour saturation.
This week your challenge is to log in to Oxford Owl and find and read your first e-Book. Why not write a short book review to encourage others to read it too!
We have been really impressed with how quickly the children have settled back into the school year. In English this week, the children have been exploring the book 'Where's my Teddy?'. We have read the story and used the illustrations to help us generate some cloud words (adjectives) about the characters. On Thursday we went to look at some of the woodland at the edge of the school grounds. We used our senses to help generate some more adjectives about the setting and used this in our writing. Next week we will explore nouns and have a go at sequencing the story.
The Year 1 Team
Miss Murphy (Matisse)
Miss Broad (Hockney)
Summer Term
Welcome to the Summer Term of Year 1! We are looking forward to sharing lots of exciting learning with you over the coming term.
Important Days
Our PE days are Tuesday and Friday. Please ensure your child has their full PE kit including black/navy joggers, black/navy jumper and appropriate trainers at school every day. Please ensure children wear suncream as we approach the warmer days. Please ensure all items are clearly labelled with your child's name.
Key Information
Children will be read with once a week and books will be changed weekly. Please record your child's reading on the Go Read/Boom Reader App when you enjoy a book at home together.
Your child can also use the Times Tables Rock Stars app to practise their times tables or NumBots app (same login as TTRS) to practise number bonds, addition and subtraction facts.
Spellings will be sent home every Friday and can be returned any time up to the following Friday.
Curriculum Coverage
In English we will continue practising our use of phonics and applying this to reading and writing skills, by exploring new texts such as 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'How to wash a Wooly Mammoth' and a non-fiction text on bats. We will be developing our writing skills through writing letters, stories, description, poetry and non-fiction texts.
In Maths we will be exploring number and place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in Summer 1 and then fractions, shape and measurement and statistics in Summer 2.
This term we will enjoy learning about plants and seasons in Science, sculpture in Art, construction in DT, Neil Armstrong and The Great Fire of London in History and weather in Geography. Keep an eye out on our class page for weekly updates!
Week Beginning Monday 17th July 2023
This week, the children got to show their music performances to parents and carers in our musical festival. We showed our understanding of pulse and performed as a year group and we other year groups.
We have had a very enjoyable last week with the children and would like to thank them once again for their hard work, enthusiasm and kindness throughout the year. Thank you to parents and carers for your support throughout the year and kind words, cards and gifts at the end of term - it is greatly appreciated. We are excited to watch the children continued to be successful in Year 2!
We wish you all a happy and safe summer break!
The Year 1 Team
Miss Murphy, Miss Broad, Mrs Faulkner and Mrs Clark
Week Beginning Monday 10th July 2023
Phonics:
Miss Murphy's group:
Recap of adding ing, ed, er and est suffix and adding s and es (bands or fizzes)
Miss Broad's group:
ai, ee and oo family
Mrs Clark's group:
u_e, ue, ew
cube, cue, chew
Weekly update
This week in science, we learnt about Mae Jemison, the first black female in space. We learnt about her achievements at NASA and how she stayed determined to achieve her goals. We made fact files on what we learnt during our learning.
Week Beginning Monday 3rd July 2023
Phonics:
Miss Murphy's group:
Adding the suffest 'est' to great adjectives:
fine = finest (drop the e and then add est)
big - biggest (When a vowel precedes the final consonant, double the final consonant before adding ed)
coldest = coldest (not change)
funny = funniest (ends in a y, change to an i and add est)
Mrs Faulkner's group:
Miss Broad's group:
Green sounds recap and 'igh family'
igh - night
ie- pie
i-e - kite
i - mind
Mrs Clark's group:
Green trick words and split i_e digraph -
kite, mine, time
Use the following trick words in sentences:
they, were, where, there
Weekly update
On Monday 3rd July, Year 1 visited Knebworth Park. We explored the gardens and made curriculum links to science and maths. We collected different plants that we could see and used our science learning to help us name trees and plants. We also found out interesting facts like how the trunk of a red wood tree grows so big, a car can drive through it (it's true, we saw picture evidence!). All children showed fantastic Round Diamond learning behaviours on the trip. More pictures can be found on our Facebook Page.
Week Beginning Monday 26th June 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy’s group:
“W special” - a making an /o/ sound after a w - warm, wasp, was, wash
o making an /ur/ sound - word, word
Miss Broad’s phonics group:
Split vowel digraph recap:
a_e - made
e-e - these
i_e like in line
o_e - bone
u_e - like in tube or flute
Mrs Faulkner’s group:
tch like in pitch
dge like in fudge
Alternative pronunciations: s spelt st (bristle), s spelt se (mouse), u spelt o (come).
Mrs Clark’s group:
ee like in been
ea like in sea
e_e like in theme
Practise your groups sounds on phonics play (Phase 5 games). Mrs Faulkner and Miss Murphy’s group, you can choose some phase 5 sounds to practise or play the Pond Plural or Planetary Plural game on there.
Weekly Update
In history, we have been learning about the Great Fire of London. We have chronologically ordered the events of the fire and compared fire fighters today and in 1666. This week we designed houses that would not burn as easy as the ones in 1666. We made our houses of brick, far apart from other houses and not near cloth factories based on the historical fact we learnt in the lesson.
Week Beginning Monday 19th June 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy’s group:
Past tense verbs - adding the suffix -ed
Short vowel sounds: Brushed
Long vowel sounds: Chased
Words with one consonant after the vowel: hopped
Words that end in y: tried
Miss Broad’s phonics group:
Green sounds and tricky words recap
Mrs Faulkner’s group:
Alternative pronunciations: s spelt st (bristle), s spelt se (mouse), u spelt o (come).
Mrs Clark: oe like in toe, ue like in glue, au like in August.
Make up a story using as many green tricky words as possible: oh, Mrs, people, their, called, Mr, looked, asked, could.
Weekly Update
In music, we looked at organising musical sounds with a focus on rhythm and dynamics. We looked at different images of summer and chose instruments that matched things we saw, like a guiro to show a bike in the park, a maraca to show watering plants or bells to show a bird tweeting. We then put these instruments together into a group composition.
Week Beginning Monday 12th June 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy’s group:
Alternative Pronunciations - ch spelt ‘t’ like in mixture and ‘tch’ like in catch and ‘j’ spelt ‘dge.’ like in nudge.
Miss Broad’s phonics group:
Green sounds recap
Mrs Faulkner’s group:
Alternative pronunciation recap
Look out for alternative pronunciations in your reading books
e.g ‘a’ spelt ai, ay, a-e, a
Weekly Update
In maths, Year 1 have been consolidating their understanding of measurement. We have applied our knowledge of measurement vocabulary and applied this to measurement problems such as measuring the capacity of a container in cups, comparing the mass of objects and finding objects that are heavier and lighter than 50g.
Week Beginning Monday 5th June 2023
Phonics
All groups have been recapping green sounds this week particularly the ew, au and aw digraphs, as well as the spilt vowel digraphs (a-e, e-e, i-e, e-e and o-e)
Please continue to engage in the phonics resources below to practice segmenting and blending real and alien words in preparation for the children's phonics screening check. Please encourage your child to segment using robot arms or draw sound buttons to help them blend with accuracy - especially on alien words!
Please note you shouldn't need a login for these sites, to access the games on phonics play please click on the resources tab. There are some games you can access without logging in.
Weekly Update
This week, we had two Cross-Curricular Days on inspirational people. We had a visit from Paul Sturgess and Darren Edwards. The children had a fantastic two days and learnt so much about the power of self-belief and the opportunities that can come from challenges ⭐️
Our learning included writing a letter to an inspirational person, celebrating our differences and learning how to point score.
Week Beginning Monday 22nd May 2023
Phonics
All groups have been recapping green sounds this week particularly the ew, au and aw digraphs, as well as the spilt vowel digraphs (a-e, e-e, i-e, e-e and o-e)
Please continue to engage in the phonics resources below to practice segmenting and blending real and alien words in preparation for the children's phonics screening check. Please encourage your child to segment using robot arms or draw sound buttons to help them blend with accuracy - especially on alien words!
Please note you shouldn't need a login for these sites, to access the games on phonics play please click on the resources tab.
Weekly update
In Science we have been learning about plants. We have looked at evergreen and deciduous trees as well as exploring wild and garden plants. We compared different types of plants and labeled the parts or different flowers. We finished our topic by planting sunflower seeds and bean plants. We can't wait to see what they look like after half term!
Week Beginning Monday 15th May 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's and Mrs Faulkner's sounds:
Recapping green sounds - au, ew, g (j), ea ( e & ee), ai, ay, a, ey
e.g. autumn, crew, gem, bead, bread, rain, pay, acorn, grey
Miss Broad's sounds: i-e, o-e, u-e
e.g. bike, stone, tube, flute
Please engage in the resources below to practice segmenting and blending real and alien words in preparation for the children's phonics screening check. Please encourage your child to segment using robot arms or draw sound buttons to help them blend with accuracy - especially on alien words!
Please note you shouldn't need a login for either of these sites, to access the games on phonics play please click on the resources tab.
Weekly update
In Miss Murphy's English class we learnt that a contraction is two words put together to make a shorter word. We read different contractions and then highlighted contractions we found in our story, The Gingerbread Boy. We then discussed the repeated phrases and why repeated phrases are helpful when reading.
Week Beginning Monday 8th May 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's and Mrs Faulkner's sounds:
Recapping green sounds (o-e, i-e, u-e, aw, au)
Miss Broad's sounds: au, ey, a-e, e-e
e.g. autumn, monkey, cake, theme
Please engage in the resources below to practice segmenting and blending real and alien words in preparation for the children's phonics screening check. Please encourage your child to segment using robot arms or draw sound buttons to help them blend with accuracy - especially on alien words!
Weekly update
In art this term we have been learning about sculpture. This week, we manipulating materials into desired shapes by creating people out of tin foil. The children had to cut and scrunch the tin foil in order to make it look like a person. We then discussed how we could have improved our final outcome.
Week Beginning Monday 1st May 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds:
Recapping green sounds
Miss Faulkner's sounds: ey, a-e, e-e
e.g. monkey, bake, concrete
Miss Broad's sounds: ew, oe
e.g. crew, new, toe
Please engage in the resources below to practice segmenting and blending real and alien words in preparation for the children's phonics screening check. Please encourage your child to segment using robot arms to help them blend with accuracy - especially on alien words!
Weekly update
In RE this term we have been learning about special books. This week, we explored 'The Torah' which is the religious book of Judaism. We learnt about the Jewish creation story and sequenced the story to help us remember the order of events.
Week Beginning Monday 24th April 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds:
Recapping
Miss Faulkner's sounds: ew (oo), ew (you), oe, au
e.g. blew, few, toe, august
Miss Broad's sounds: aw, wh (w), wh (h), ph
paw, claw, whisper, wheel, who, phonics, alphabet
Click the link below to practise reading with your child. Please encourage your child to segment using robot arms to help them blend with accuracy - especially on alien words!
Weekly update
This week in Miss Broad's maths class we have been learning all about addition. To deepen our understanding we have been doing some problem solving. Flick through the pictures to see our solutions!
Week Beginning Monday 17th April 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds:
Alternative pronunciation of a (ar, o and or)
e.g. last, what, walk
Miss Broad's sounds: ue ('oo' and 'you')
e.g. glue, blue, tissue, due, argue, rescue
Write a sentence that includes a word that contains the digraphs you have focussed on this week.
Weekly update
This terms art topic is all about sculptures. We have begun our topic by experimenting with paper. We practised folding, cutting and sticking by creating a playground for a bug.
Week Beginning Monday 27th March 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds:
Alternative pronunciation of letters (graphemes) -
ie make long e sound like in field or chief
ea making a short e sound like in bread or ready
Miss Broad's sounds: ay, ou, ie, ea, oy, ir
e.g. day, cloud, pie, sea, boy, bird
Over the Easter holidays, practise writing sentences about the activities you do. Try to include words with your sounds in.
Weekly update
On Monday, Year 1 had a visit from David, the minister from Great Ashby Community Church. They had an exciting afternoon completing activities which symbolised Easter such as celebrating new life and looking at the meaning of the cross.
Week Beginning Monday 20th March 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds:
Alternative pronunciation of letters (graphemes) -
ch - making /k/ or /sh/
like if school and chef
Miss Broad's sounds: ir, oy
e.g. bird, boy
Alien words are words that are not real but they can be segmented and blended using phonics sounds. See if you can come up with your own alien words for the sounds you did this week.
e.g cherp, hirf, foyt
Weekly update
In DT this week, the children made their sandwiches that they have planned. We made sweet and savoury options and practised our skill of spreading to create the sandwich, before adding a filling or ham, cheese, chicken and jam,
Week Beginning Monday 13th March 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds:
Alternative pronunciation of letters (graphemes) -
g making a j sound - gem, gentle, giant
u making a yoo sound - music, human
u making a oo sound - pull, push, full
Miss Broad's sounds: ea
e.g. sea, bead, dream
Alien words are words that are not real but they can be segmented and blended using phonics sounds. See if you can come up with your own alien words for the sounds you did this week.
e.g kreab, gentip, pulf
Weekly update
In English, Miss Murphy's group looked at finding appropriate adjectives and verbs to describe the caterpillar in our new story 'Caterpillar shoes'. We used a thesaurus to help us up level words like nice to thoughtful and walked to strolled. We worked in groups to come up with our new vocabulary and applied it to a setting description on Tuesday. Next week, we will wrote reports on the lifecycle of a caterpillar.
Week Beginning Monday 6th March 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds:
Alternative pronunciation of letters (graphemes) -
s making /zh like in treasure or television
o like in gold vs focus
i like in milk vs item
c like in city vs cake
Miss Broad's sounds: ie
e.g. tie, pie, tried
How many words can you write down with these sounds in? Play Bingo with an adult using these words.
Weekly update
This week in computing, we continued to look at word processing using laptops and iPads. We compared how you type differently on both devices and the different ways that you could format the text using colour, bold, underline or italics. We also practised how we log on to a laptop, open word to type and then log off the laptop.
Week Beginning Monday 27th February 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds: split digraph recap - a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e
e.g. made, these, five, phone, tube, June
Miss Broad's sounds: ou
e.g. cloud, proud, mouth
Can you write a short story for World Book Day using some words with your sound in?
Weekly update
We had a fantastic day for World Book Day on Friday! The day started off with 'Teleporting Teacher' where we enjoyed a story read by a different teacher (Miss Coker for Matisse and Mrs Parker for Hockney). We really enjoyed our visit from author, James Campbell, who told us lots of funny stories and how wonderful it is to be a writer. We also did an art activity based on our class story for the day: 'Here We Are' by Oliver Jeffers. In the afternoon, we were very lucky to be joined by lots of parents and siblings to share a cosy story together. Thank you to all staff, parents and children that made World Book Day a fantastic day!
Week Beginning Monday 20th February 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds: i-e, o-e, ue
e.g. five, phone, tube, June
Miss Broad's sounds: ay
e.g. may, pay, stay
How many things can you find outside of your house that have these sounds in?
Weekly update
In science this week, we have started to look at animal groups. We first had pictures of a range of animals and sorted them using our own categories such as lives in water and doesn't live in water. Then we learnt about the five animal groups: mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians. We learnt about the features of each of the groups and then used the same pictures to group the animals into the five animal groups.
Week Beginning Monday 6th February 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds: au, ey, a-e, e-e
e.g. august, monkey, bake, evening
Miss Broad's sounds: pr, sc, thr, str
e.g. prank, scarf, three, string
Draw and label a picture of something which has these sounds in.
Weekly update
Here are some photos from our rockstar day. The children had lots of fun exploring times tables by playing games, battling other year groups and modelling their costumes.
We hope you have a lovely half term!
Week Beginning Monday 30th January 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds: oe, wh, ph, aw
toe, whirl, phone, paw
Miss Broad's sounds: sl, sp, tw, sm
slip, spell, twin, smell
Can you find an object with one of these sounds in?
E.g. twig, whisk
Weekly update
This week our maths learning has been all about multiplication. We have made the link between counting in 2s, 5s and 10s to what the number sentence really means. We linked this to repeated addition showing 2 x 5 means 2 groups of 5. Here our some pictures of us matching the repeated addition number sentence to a pictoral representation of the grouping.
Week Beginning Monday 23rd January 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds: ou, ie, ea, oy
mouse, pie, treat, royal
Miss Broad's sounds: sk, sn, nch, scr, shr
skill, snail, lunch, scrap, shred
Can you write a sentence which has one of this weeks sounds in?
Weekly update
In RHSE we have been learning about responsibility. We have discussed things which we are responsible for and this week moved on to learning about responsible and irresponsible choices. We sorted the scenarios and discussed what we would do in each situation. Here our some of our ideas.
Week Beginning Monday 16th January 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds: ay, a-e
day, bake
Miss Broad's sounds: fl, gl, pl
float, glitch, plain
How many words can you think of that have one of this weeks sounds in?
Weekly update
This week we explored lots of exciting instruments in music. We discussed how to play each instrument and whether you bang or shake the instrument as well as discussing whether the instrument made a high or low sound.
Week Beginning Monday 9th January 2023
Phonics
Miss Murphy's sounds: ue (oo and yoo), ew (oo and yoo), u-e
blue, statue, blew, stew, cube
Miss Broad's sounds: br, fr, bl
brown, fresh, black
Can you find any objects in your homes which have these sounds in?
E.g. A fridge has the 'fr' sound in.
Weekly update
This week year 1 began their new science topic 'Animals including humans'. We have begun by looking at different parts of their bodies and what their function is. Here you can see us exploring a human skeleton and pointing at all the intricate details we could see.
Week Beginning Monday 19th December 2022
Year 1 have been exploring Christmas poetry. We performed the poem 'Cold' by Shirley Hughes and then wrote our own acrostic poems. We have also been doing lots of Christmas crafts and singing songs.
The year 1 team would like to say a huge thank you for all of the generous gifts we have received! We wish you a safe and happy Christmas break!🎄
Week Beginning Monday 12th December 2022
Year 1 had a fantastic day on Thursday exploring toys and being toy makers during our History of Toys workshop! We got to explore a toy museum, investigate artefacts in dig boxes and then make our own traditional toys from a range of different materials. Thank you to our staff and parent volunteers who helped to support a great day.
Snow day 12.12.22
Good morning Year1!
As you will know school is closed today due to the snow. Here are some activities which you can complete at home today based on our learning this week.
We hope you have a safe and enjoyable day.
Here is some English learning:
Here is some maths learning:
Here is some afternoon learning:
Week Beginning Monday 5th December 2022
In Science this term we have been learning all about 'Everyday Materials'. We have discussed lots of materials and what objects we know which are made of these materials. We have also used lots of key vocabulary to describe the properties of the materials. This week we sorted the objects based on their properties. We looked at whether materials are 'waterproof' or 'not waterproof', 'transparent' or 'opaque' and 'rough' or 'smooth'.
Week Beginning Monday 28th November 2022
In English we have started a new text called 'Mog's Christmas Calamity'. We began by sequencing the story by putting the pictures in order. We added time adverbs to help show others the order of the text.
Week Beginning Monday 21st November 2022
This week in English, we have been exploring the core text 'Farmer Duck.' To help us sequence the story, we worked in groups to act out different parts of the story. In this book, the animals talk using animal sounds, so we thought about how the animals may be feeling and what they would say, and included these in our improvisations.
Week Beginning Monday 14th November 2022
This week in computing, we applied our knowledge of algorithms and directions to Bee-Bots 🐝
We worked in groups and had to direct the Bee-Bot towards different places on our tables. We had to consider whether it needed to move forward, backwards, left or right and estimate how many spaces.
Week Beginning Monday 7th November 2022
This week in music, we used body percussion to create different dynamics to show the sounds of a rainstorm. You can see a video of this below. We discussed how the loud and quiet dynamics makes you feel like you can hear different types of weather in the rain storm ⛈️
In DT, we developed our cutting skills and cut out a paper template ready to start our sewing of a Christmas decoration this half term 🧵🪡
Week Beginning Monday 31st October 2022
At the start of this half term, our core text in English is Handa's surprise. This week, we got to taste different fruits from the story. We got to taste banana, tangerine, mango and pineapple and thought of adjectives to describe these fruits using our senses: taste, touch, smell, see. We used this learning to help us write descriptions of the fruit.
Week Beginning Monday 17th October 2022
We have had two very exciting cross-curricular days themed around space. We have read lots of exciting stories including 'The Way Back Home' by Oliver Jeffers and 'Field Trip to The Moon' by John Hare. We designed and described characters who we would want to meet on the moon and even measured our bodies for a space suit. We even had a visit from an inflatable planetarium. These are just a few of the wonderful things we have been up to. Please look through our pictures to see what else we have been up to.
Week Beginning Monday 10th October 2022
This half term in geography, we have been learning all about the world around us. We have been using our new maps around school to help us place the continents and this week we used them to locate the countries that make up the United Kingdom. Please ask us questions about the maps before or after school.
Week Beginning Monday 3rd October 2022
In music this week, we were exploring pulse and rhythm through songs. We learnt that the pulse in the song is a steady beat and that rhythm is a pattern of sounds of different lengths. We used the boomwhackers to show the pulse and rhythm of different songs. We also discussed how shorter boomwhackers has a higher pitch and a longer boomwhacker had a lower pitch.
Week Beginning Monday 26th September 2022
In maths, we have been exploring equal to, more than and less than using our place value knowledge. We used Numicon and other images to create numbers and show equal and then thought of our own numbers that were more and less.
Week Beginning Monday 19th September 2022
This week in English, we begun exploring the text “Plenty of Love to Go Around.” First we looked at the title and front cover and predicted what would happen. This week we have also learnt how to write lists and captions and describe a character using adjectives. Next week we will go on to retelling the story. We will be using this learning for our corridor display outside Year 1. Make sure you come to take a look during Parent Consultations!
Week beginning: 12.09.22
In history this week, we explored our new school history timeline to learn about the key vocabulary "old" and "past". We then looked at some old toys from the past and came up with questions that we wanted to know the answer to about the toys. We will use these questions to research the answers next week.
Week beginning: 05.09.22
This week we have started lots of lovely topics in our afternoon learning. In computing we will be learning all about images and photographs. We began this topic by using our school IPad's to take some pictures of our friends and things around the classroom. We then learnt how to delete these images off the IPad's.
Welcome to Year 1
Academic Year 2021-2022
The Year 1 Team
Miss Lamont (Matisse)
Miss Broad (Hockney)
Welcome back to the Spring Term of Year 1! We are looking forward to sharing lots of exciting learning with you over the coming term.
Important Days
Our PE days are Tuesday and Friday. Please ensure your child has their full PE kit including black/navy joggers, black/navy jumper and appropriate trainers at school every day.
Key Information
Children will be read with once a week and books will be changed weekly/when finished. Please record your child's reading on the Go Read App when you enjoy a book at home together.
Your child can also use the Times Tables Rock Stars app to practise their times tables.
Curriculum Coverage
In English we will continue practicing our use of phonics, exploring new texts such as Here Comes ‘Mr Post Mouse’ and ‘The Last Noo Noo’ and poetry about different animals.
In Maths we will be exploring number and place value, addition and subtraction and multiplication and division in a range of fluency, problem solving and reasoning contexts.
This term we will enjoy learning about the human body in Science, sketching in Art, The Stuart’s in History and our local area in Geography. Keep an eye out on our class page for weekly updates!
For further information on our curriculum please look at the documents attached below.
Week beginning: 09.05.22
This week we were fortunate enough to have a visit from the Stevenage Fire Service. We were able to ask some of our unanswered questions about how the fire service has changed since The Great Fire of London and how they manage to do such a good job.
Week beginning: 13.06.22
In DT, we have linked our sculpture learning to our history topic about The Great Fire of London. We have decided to create a sculpture of St Paul's Cathedral. We have focussed on the dome shape of the cathedral and used Papier Mache to create our masterpieces.
Week beginning: 06.06.22
In Computing, we have been exploring powerpoint. We have learnt how to copy and paste a picture, type sentences and change the font and colour. We have really enjoyed exploring all of the many features on powerpoint.
Week beginning: 23.05.22
This week we took a day off timetable to celebrate our Queen's jubilee. We discussed who our queen is and how she has reigned for 70 years. We created artwork and researched all about her life. We learnt some special songs and really enjoyed our day.
Week beginning: 16.05.22
Over the last few weeks we have had butterflies. We watched them grow into big green caterpillars before they went into their chrysalis. They then crawled out of their chrysalis and became beautiful butterflies.
Week beginning: 09.05.22
In Geography, the children have been learning about different types of weather and what the weather is like in each season. This week, we explored weather charts and temperature. The children worked responsibly as a team, labelling each day and what the weather was like.
Week beginning: 02.05.22
In science we have been identifying and classifying common plants and wild plants. We went onto the school field to look for common wild plants and flowers. The children were determined to find as many as possible, they found lots and lots of daisies and dandelions!
Week beginning: 25.04.22
In English this week we have been reading the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The children were energised when acting out the story. They practised using body language and changing their voice to show which character they were.
Week beginning: 18.04.22
In music this week we have been practising some of our key vocab: rhythm, pitch and pulse. The children enjoyed marching to the pulse and practising the skill of singing high and low notes.
Week beginning: 28.03.22
Here is a video of some of our maths learning earlier on in the term. This term we have looked at measurement and geometry. This video shows you a snippet of our learning on time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4gyQ1H0C3LI&feature=youtu.be
Week beginning: 21.03.22
In DT we have been learning about different foods and where they come from. This week we practiced our baking skills by learning to mix the chocolate and rice krispies together. We each chose our favourite toppings to add on top.
Week beginning: 14.03.22
This week in geography we went for a walk around Great Ashby. We were looking out for physical and human features to write down on our clipboards. We linked this to our RSHE learning where we discussed road safety and how to be sensible near the roads.
Week beginning: 07.03.22
This week in computing we were learning about word processing. We were all energised when exploring 'word 2016' where we typed a biography all about ourselves. Some of us were able to change the size of our text.