Welcome to Year 1

Academic Year 2022-23

The Year 1 Team

Miss Murphy (Matisse)

Miss Broad (Hockney)

Happy New Year!

Welcome 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. As the weather turns colder, children will need appropriate jumpers and joggers in their bag. 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 'The Last Noo Noo', 'Mr Post Mouse' and 'Billy's Bucket'. We will be developing our writing skills through writing letters, stories, description and poetry. 
 

In Maths we will be exploring number and place value and the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division).

This term we will enjoy learning about the human body and animal groups in Science, drawing in Art, food technology in DT, The Stuarts in History and the similarities and differences between human and physical geography between Stevenage and Weston in Geography. Keep an eye out on our class page for weekly updates! 
 

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. 

Week beginning: 28.02.22

This week we celebrated world book day by dressing up as our favourite character from a story book. We all had an energised approach to all of the exciting activities we took part in. Thank you to Miss Conroy and Mr Longland for making this special day possible. Here is just a small part of what we got up to.

Week beginning: 21.02.22

This week Mr Haig organised a 'Wellbeing Wednesday' based off the NHS campaign '5 ways to wellbeing'. We took part in lots of different activities which all helped to improve our mental and physical wellbeing.

Week beginning: 07.02.22

In maths, the children have been practising their 5 times tables. Below are some videos that we use in school which may support your child to count in 5’s at home. Don’t forget, you can also log in to Times Tables Rockstar’s to practise :)

Week beginning: 31.01.22

In music this half term, the children have explored rhythm, pitch and pulse in a range of ways including marching to a beat, singing the high low song and using the glockenspiel’s. The children showed determination to use instruments that they had not used before and were successful at finding the high and low notes. Well done :)

Week beginning: 24.01.22

In computing the children have been learning all about keeping safe on the internet and ways they can be responsible online. This has included creating rules, posters and even a password rap about how to create a strong and safe online password. The children showed energised learning when creating their very own raps!

Week beginning: 17.01.22

In History this term we are learning all about the Stuart’s. To begin our topic, the children answered the big questions “What is history?” and “What is a Historian?”. The children learnt that we are historians that learn all about the past using sources such as books, artefacts and photos. 

Week beginning: 10.01.22

Science: Awe and Wonder 

In science this week the children were introduced to a new topic, The Human Body. They thought of body parts they knew and their functions. Then, they were able to explore a skeleton. All of the children showed responsibility during this lesson, well done :)

Week beginning: 05.01.22

Happy New Year! 
This week Year 1 have had an exciting start to the Spring term with our cross curricular days. They have taken part in lots of activities to improve Life Skills such as: making jam sandwiches, recycling and British Sign Language. 

The children were especially determined when learning the alphabet using BSL. Below you can enjoy a video from each class. 

Week beginning: 13.12.21

Year 1 have had a very successful first term, the year 1 team are so proud of how determined the children have all been. We have been practicing these two Christmas songs throughout the last few weeks and wanted to share them with you. We hope you enjoy them. 

We wish you a healthy and happy Christmas and look forward to welcoming you back in the new year.

https://youtu.be/dXg5x3HmBPg

https://youtu.be/zg5bYLdlzFA

We also enjoyed a yummy Christmas dinner this week, all the children in year 1 enjoyed their lunch. It was lovely to see the children singing along to festive songs and spending time chatting and having fun with their friends. Thank you to everyone who works in the kitchen for making this possible.

Week beginning: 6.12.21

Year 1 have enjoyed Christmas jumper day raising lots of money for 'Save the Children'. We also had a special visit from Santa Claus, the children were very excited to receive their presents - they were all on the good list!

Week beginning: 29.11.21

This week we have been exploring money and using the coins to help us count in 2s, 5s and 10s. We have also explored different ways of making a coin by adding different coins together. We began the week by ordering the coins in order of their value so children knew how much each coin was worth.

Week beginning: 22.11.21

This week we have enjoyed hearing a range of many interesting texts during our story time at the end of the day. Take a look at these recordings of story time in year 1 where you can see Miss Broad reading 'Jabari Jumps' to Hockney class and Miss Lamont reading 'Conker the Chameleon' to Matisse.

Year 1 Hockney https://youtu.be/M0x5tN6ONz0

Year 1 Matisse https://youtu.be/1yGhoS7czW0

Week beginning: 15.11.21

This week in DT we learnt how to make a template. We cut out our template on paper and then drew round it on felt to make the exact same shape on the felt. We practiced this to help us make our felt Christmas decoration in a few weeks.

Week beginning: 08.11.21

This week we began our new English topic looking at the book 'Handa's Surprise'. We began the week by acting out the story and then looked at adjectives to write descriptive sentences. On Thursday we tasted the fruit to help us to describe what the fruit tasted like in sentences on Friday. 

Week beginning: 01.11.21

This week we learnt all about parliament. We held a debate where the children used their energised learning to state their arguments for and against a school uniform. In Hockney class the against school uniform team won, but in Matisse class, the children voted to keep the school uniform.

Week beginning: 18.10.21

This week the children retold the story of Mr Wolf's Week during our English learning. They were determined to complete this  and were able to make a cross curricular link with Science which we have been learning all about the seasons in throughout this half term. The children wrote fantastic stories, using their phonics to spell and remembering the sentence rules. Well done on a successful first half term, Year 1!

Week beginning: 11.10.21

In maths, we have been focusing on our 2 and 10 times tables. In Miss Broad’s set, the children have been extremely energised when taking part in the 2 x table and 10 x table BBC Super Movers. In Miss Lamont’s set, the children have been enjoying the counting in 2’s and 10’s videos which are linked below. It’s great to see the children having fun and making progress. Don’t forget to log on to TTRS this week and have a go at the times tables that have been set on there :) 

Week beginning: 04.10.21

In history, the children have been learning all about toys from the past. They were very excited to explore toys from the Victorian era and have a chance to research what they were made from, how they move and what they were used for in the past. They learnt the names of lots of old toys including the Diablo, Jacob’s Ladder and a cam toy. All of these were very popular with the children! 

Week beginning: 27.09.21

This week in our maths learning, we have been exploring number bonds to 10 and 20. We have learnt that finding number bonds means we are looking for two numbers that add together to make 10 or 20.  The children have used Numicon, multi-link and tens frames to support their learning. They also enjoyed listening to Farmer Pete’s number bond song and writing the number sentences independently. 

Week beginning: 20.09.21

This week in English, we began a new text called ‘Where’s My Teddy?’. We have focused on the vocabulary in the text and used this to generate lots of our own adjectives to describe the characters and the setting in the story.
 

The children were all extra energised on Tuesday during our English lesson as they were able to bring in their own teddy to support their learning. We drew, labelled and described our teddy’s. Well done Year One :) 
 

Week beginning: 13.09.21

This week in our art learning, both classes enjoyed finding out more about their class artist. In Matisse, we created a collage in the style of Henri Matisse ‘The Snail’. Hockney class reimagined David Hockney’s “Rocky Mountains” painting, using lots of different patterns and colours.

We then discussed what it means to “evaluate” a piece of art and came up with examples of what we thought went well, and ways we would improve our collage/painting next time. 

Week beginning: 06.09.21

This week in our computing learning, the children were exploring the camera app using the iPads. They were able to unlock the screen, find the camera and take pictures confidently. We then discussed how to delete pictures from the camera roll and we also learnt the skill of flipping the camera around to take a selfie. The children were energised during this lesson and enjoyed finding lots of things around the room to take a photo off.

Week beginning: 30.08.21

It was great to welcome the children back into Year 1 on Thursday 2nd September. We spent the first two days in our home classes, getting to know each other, our new classroom and finding out all the things we’d be learning about in Year 1. Both classes enjoyed making some lovely art work for the reading areas and cloakroom displays.

Over the summer, some children completed the home learning tasks that were given to them on Move Up Day. It was fantastic to see so many children participate and take pride when sharing their learning. They knew lots of facts about their class artists (Henri Matisse and David Hockney) and were able to share lots of key vocabulary that will support them with their learning in other subjects such as science and history. Below are some examples of the children’s learning.

2021-22

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!