Welcome to Year 1 

Academic Year 2020-2021

The Year 1 Team

Mrs Brittany Jones

Miss Kirsty Lamont

Mrs Jan Figueiredo
 

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.

MyMaths home learning will be set every Friday. The online learning will consolidate what we have been covering that week at school so please enjoy completing these activities when you can. Your child's login details can be found inside their reading record.

https://www.mymaths.co.uk/

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 the human body and animals in Science, drawing in Art, the Stuarts in History and comparing Stevenage to Weston in Geography. Keep an eye out on our class page for weekly updates! 

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: 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. 

Week beginning: 16.11.20

In Design and Technology this week, we started to learn about how to sew a running stitch. We are practising this technique in order to use it on a finished product at the end of this half term. First, we learnt how to thread a needle. Then we tried our best to sew a straight line using the running stitch technique. All of the children supported and encouraged each other throughout the process. 

Week beginning: 09.11.20

Week beginning 02.11.20

In English, we have been learning about the text Handa's Surprise. To explore the text further, we taste tested the fruits from the story such as avocado, passion fruit and tangerines. This helped us to come up with adjectives to describe the different fruits. For example, the sour passion fruit and the squishy banana. We also used drama to help us to learn the story. We split into groups where we were all responsible for performing a small part of the story. Afterwards, we put all of the parts together to perform the entire story. We enjoyed watching everyone perform. 

Week beginning 19.10.20

In art this half term we have been looking at mixing primary colours. This week we learnt that if you mix a primary colour with white, it will create a tint. We explored the artist Paul Klee and how he experimented with all different types of colours and then we had a go at creating our own using blue and white. We were all proud of our finished results and enjoyed learning another new skill in art!

Week beginning 12.10.20

In maths this week we have been learning about 2D shapes. We named and described the properties of 2D shapes. Using hula hoops to help us, we sorted shapes based on their properties. We enjoyed singing the song below to help us to practise the names of shapes. Enjoy singing it together at home. 

Week beginning 05.10.20

In geography, we have been learning about the United Kingdom. We enjoyed working together in small groups to sort the flags and national flowers into the correct parts of the United Kingdom. Below is a link to a song that has been helping us to learn more information about the United Kingdom. Enjoy listening to it together at home.

Week beginning: 28.09.20

This week in Maths, we have been learning about number bonds to 10. We have learnt that finding number bonds means we are looking for two numbers that add together to make 10. We have used Numicon to practise making number bonds to 10, then wrote them out as number sentences. 

The children enjoyed singing along to this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyK8iEO5-GI

Week Beginning 14.09.20

In Art, we replicated a piece of art done by our class artist. We enjoyed learning about a new art technique. Everyone was very proud of their finished result. 

In Matisse class, we created a collage using curved and straight lines. We chose to use bright colours like Henri Matisse. 

In Hockney class, we created a painting using water colour paint and oil pastels. We tried to make it look like the water was moving like in David Hockney's swimming pool paintings. 

The children in Year 1 have settled beautifully into their new routines this week!

In English, we have been reminding ourselves of our Phonics learning and have used this knowledge to write labels. We’ve also enjoyed reading the book ‘Plenty of Love to go Around’. 
 

The children have really impressed the teachers with their yellow highlighting to show learning they’re proud of, and their red pen to respond to written feedback. 

If you have any questions regarding starting Year 1 in September please email: faqs@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk  

Year 1

Academic Year 2019-2020

Welcome to Year 1!

We look forward to all the exciting learning we will be able to share with you over the coming term. 

Year One Team 

Teachers

Miss Ruth Cousins

Mrs Brittany Jones

Mrs Jackie Mulcahy

Teaching Assistants

Miss Sue Hardy

Mrs Ruth Lavery

Important Days

Our PE days are on a Tuesday and a Friday. Please ensure your child has their full PE kit, including black/navy jogging bottoms and a black/navy jumper, as well as appropriate trainers at school every day. 

Thursday 2nd July 2020 - D&T

This week in D&T we have enjoyed building our own structures to resemble a home. We used straws, and joined them together using masking tape.