Welcome to Year 1 

Academic Year 2020-2021

The Year 1 Team

Mrs Brittany Jones

Miss Kirsty Lamont

We are so pleased to be welcoming the children into Year 1 and are looking forward to sharing lots of exciting learning with you over the coming term. 
 

Important Days
Our PE days are Wednesday 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 sign your child's reading record when you enjoy a book at home together.

Maths home learning will be set every Friday on Google Classroom. This home learning will be in line with what your child has learnt in maths throughout the week. 

Welly boots can be brought in and left at school so that the children can enjoy spending time outdoors, whatever the weather! 

Curriculum Coverage

This term we will enjoy learning about plants and seasonal changes in Science, sculptures in Art, the Great Fire of London in History and both seasonal and daily weather patterns in Geography. Keep an eye out on our class page for weekly updates! 

Week beginning: 19.07.21

The Year 1 team just want to wish you a safe and happy summer. Thank you for your determination, resilience and positive attitudes towards this challenging year. Enjoy the summer holidays and we will see you when you’re in Year 2!!

Miss Lamont, Mrs Jones, Mrs Faulkner and Mrs Lavery xx 

Week beginning: 12.07.21

This week we used all the skills we have been practising in our Art learning this term, such as fastening techniques, to create our own house using junk modelling. We discussed what we would need to create a successful house including, windows, a roof and a door. The children loved being creative and finding different ways to make openings and add features to their house in their own way. We then displayed our learning outside as a gallery for our grown ups to look at before taking them home. 

Week beginning: 05.07.21

This week in computing we started to make our own book using PowerPoint. We chose a traditional tale such as Little Red Riding Hood or The Gingerbread Boy. We then created a title page, designed the background, changed the font and font size and even learnt the skill of how to add a new slide for each page in the story. We had lots of fun!

Week beginning: 28.06.21

This week in our maths learning we have been learning all about 2D shapes. We identified, named and sorted lots of 2D shapes and we enjoyed listening to the shapes song to help us. We also discussed the features of 2D shapes. We know that squares and rectangles both have four straight sides, circles have one curved side and a semi-circle has one curved and one straight side. 

Week beginning: 21.06.21

This week we started a new text in our English learning - The Gingerbread Boy. We reminded ourselves of the common features in traditional tales such as; story language, repeated phrases and good and bad characters. We then used acting skills to retell the story. We practised different voices and actions to show the audience which character we were portraying. We all loved pretending to be the cheeky Gingerbread Boy and shouting “run run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” and lots of us enjoyed pretending to be the sly fox swimming him across the river!

Week beginning: 14.06.21

This week we had our Healthy Lifestyles cross-curricular days. We had so much fun learning about the Olympics and different ways to keep ourselves healthy. We were able to experience some Olympic inspired activities such as wrestling, canoeing and relays. We also learnt about skills for being a great athlete such as courage, determination and respect. Below are some pictures of some of the activities that we took part in. 

Week beginning: 07.06.21

This week in English we began exploring a new text called Bats. This is a non-fiction text that taught us real facts and information about bats. We have been learning about features of non-fiction texts such as labels, headings and a contents page. We were able to label our own picture of a bat using the correct scientific vocabulary. We also learnt that at nights bats see through using their hearing. They squeak and the squeak bounces back at them to tell them if an obstacle is there. We tried out being bats using squeaking noises to help us to see. Then we used our VIPERS skill explaining to explain if we would want to see like a bat. We made sure to use the conjunction ‘because’ to help us to explain. 

Week beginning: 24.05.21

This week, we completed our papier mache art project where we created the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. First, we applied layers of newspaper and a glue mixture onto the top of a balloon to create the dome of the cathedral. We had to wait for this to dry. The next day, we painted the dome and then added detailing to make it appear more realistic. We chose the correct thickness of paintbrush based on what we we were painting (e.g. thicker paintbrush for painting larger areas). Some children also colour mixed  their paint to create their own perfect colour for St Paul's cathedral. Next, we created tin foil sculptures of a cross. After the dome is dry, we will put the cross on top of the dome. We look very forward to seeing the final products. 

Week beginning: 17.05.21

This week we took part in Well-Beeing Wednesdays. We were able to discuss ways to be mindful and strategies to help when we are feeling worried or upset. For example, reading a book, gardening or painting. In the classroom, we sponge painted some butterflies to create symmetrical patterns. Outside with Mr Haig, we were able to plant flowers and learn about the important pollinators. We loved being able to spend this time outside. This was an enjoyable afternoon for all! 

Week beginning: 10.05.21

This week in art we continued our learning journey about sculpture. We looked at some of Alberto Giacometti’s art and discussed the features of his sculptures. Using what we know about the human body, we then made our own sculptures out of tin foil based on Alberto Giacometti’s work. Once our sculptures were made, we had lots of fun manipulating the tin foil in different ways to make our sculptures run, dance and jump.

Week beginning: 03.05.21

This week in science we continued our learning journey about plants. We discussed all of the things that plants need in order to survive. Using this information, we were given a special space mission!  Using what we know about plants, we had to design, build and present a structure that could help a plant to survive on Mars. We discussed challenges to growing a plant on Mars and ways we would overcome those with our designs. We had lots of fun doing this! 

Week beginning 26.04.21

This week we enjoyed two cross- curricular days. We got to immerse ourselves in all parts of the theatre from costume design to script writing. We looked at the theatre production Aladdin and enjoyed acting out some scenes from the show. Below are some photos from our performances to the year 2 children. 

Please find below the Year 1 Fluency Facts for Summer Term 1. 

Week beginning: 19.04.21

In science, we have started our new topic all about plants. This week we went on a wild plant hunt. We looked for wild plants such as dandelions, buttercups and brambles. Each time we found one, we recorded it on our tally charts. We really enjoyed identifying the names of the wild plants. 

Week beginning: 12.04.21 

This week, we started to learn about traditional tales in English. We discussed some of the common features of traditional tales such as repeated phrases and good and bad characters. We read the story Little Red Riding Hood and explored some of these features within this text. To help us to learn the story, in small groups, we each acted out a scene. Then we put all the scenes together to perform the whole story. Some of us invited Miss Jewitt to come alone and be part of our audience. We all really enjoyed acting and then watching each other’s scenes! :)  

Week beginning: 22.03.21

In RE, we have been learning about the Easter story. This week we learnt about how and why people celebrate Easter. We enjoyed making our own Easter baskets as a way of celebrating Easter. 

Week beginning: 15.03.21

This week in our DT learning, we were lucky enough to make our own crispy cakes. The children LOVED having the opportunity to melt the chocolate, mix in the Rice Krispie’s and create their own cake with a delicious, chocolate egg on top.

Whilst we were cooking, we were thinking about our 5 senses and how we were using them. Particularly our sense of smell, touch and taste for some of us who managed to have a sneaky taste before taking the cakes home.

Well done to all of Year 1 for being so sensible, we hope you enjoyed your yummy treats!

Week beginning: 08.03.21

Welcome back to all of the Year 1s! It is so lovely to see everyone in person. 

On Tuesday, we completed a computing activity. We practised our typing skills using BBC Dance Mat Typing. The link is attached below if your child would like to continue to practise their typing skills at home. Remember to have a grown up supervising whenever children are using the Internet. Below are some pictures of us practising using the home row on the keyboard. We practised placing our hands in the correct place and using the correct fingers to press the keys. 

Year 1 Transition Booklet:

Week beginning: 01.03.21

On Thursday, we celebrated World Book Day! We took part in an assortment of exciting activities including listening to a story by a real author, The Masked Reader and story time with a different class teacher. We all had such a fun day! Below are some of our costumes from World Book Day. 

Week beginning: 22.02.21

This half term in Science, we are beginning our topic on animals and living things. This week we explored how we know if something is alive, no longer alive or has never been alive. To do this, we learnt that for something to be living it must do certain things such as, move, breathe, eat, grow and get rid of waste.

The children then went on a walk outside or out into their gardens to find as many things as they could that were alive, used to be alive or had never been alive. We then sorted these things into a table and some of us took photos too! Well done Year 1.

Week beginning: 08.02.21

In English, we have been exploring the story ‘The Last Noo Noo’ by Jill Murphy. We have done lots of lovely activities such asking the characters questions and explaining how the characters feel. This week we have been designing our very own Noo Noo snatchers. We drew our design and then labelled it with noun phrases. Some of us chose to actually build our Noo Noo snatchers using materials from around the house. Check out our designs and models below. 

Week beginning: 01.02.21

In science this half term we have been learning about the human body. This week, we completed an investigation testing our sense of smell. A big thank you to the lovely grownups at home who helped us to organise this by collecting different items from around the house. We kept our eyes closed so we didn’t know what each item was. We then used our sense of smell to make predictions on what the items were. This was a really fun investigation! 

Week beginning: 25.01.21

This week in maths we have been learning how to multiply numbers using groups. At the beginning of the week, the children were challenged to investigate whether or not when you double numbers, you always get an even answer. The children investigated using lots of objects around their homes to come to a decision.

It was lovely to see all of the children so enthusiastic in our maths learning! They came up with some very imaginative ways to double and our conclusion was that numbers we double ARE always even. Well done Year 1!

Week beginning: 18.01.21

Before Christmas, the children were set a home learning challenge by the Humanities faculty. They were challenged to download the Google Arts and Culture app and then explore an area, an artefact, a music gallery or an art gallery. They were then asked to present their findings. Well done to the children who submitted their findings. It has been lovely to look at all of these projects. Below we have posted some of these brilliant pieces of learning. If you haven’t done so already, we encourage you to download the Google Arts and Culture app and have fun exploring it!  

Week beginning: 14.12.20 

This week in maths we have been practising our maths fluency. We have looked specifically at practising our number bonds to 10, 20 and some of us even challenged ourselves with number bonds to 100. We used the visuals to support us in finding the missing number bond. Below are some examples of our lovely learning. 

Week beginning: 07.12.20

This week we had a very interesting RE afternoon all about Diwali. We learnt about who celebrates Diwali and how it is celebrated. Together, we read the story of Rama and Sita. We learnt that Diwali is a festival of lights so we made lanterns. Below are some pictures of us creating them. We were very proud of our finished outcomes. We also learnt about Rangoli patterns and looked at some beautiful Rangoli designs. 

Week beginning: 07.12.20

In one of our class assemblies this week, we learnt how to sing When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney using Makaton. Makaton is a different way to talk to children and grown ups using our hands. The signs that we are making match the words that we are saying. The Makaton signs have been sent home if you want to try to learn it together at home. Enjoy the videos of us singing and signing the song together. 

Week beginning: 30.11.20

In Design and Technology, we have been learning about sewing. We have been practising a running stitch in order to use it to sew our Christmas stockings together. This week, we began to sew our Christmas stockings. We found the task challenging but we all really enjoyed sewing the fabrics together. Everyone continued to help and support each other throughout the task. We look forward to the finished results. 

Week beginning: 23.11.20

This week we enjoyed taking part in two Wizard of Oz Cross-Curricular days. We completed an assortment of exciting activities such as writing a magic spell for a potion, designing our own magic slippers and learning about extreme weather conditions. In science, we completed an experiment about melting ice. We thought about our own predictions, made observations and then came to a conclusion. We really enjoyed the cross-curricular learning.