1 Ravel

Ms Cooper is the class teacher for 1 Ravel. 

                                                                                     

 

Lent 2 2024-2025

 

 

 What a busy and exciting half term we have had in Year 1! It all started with World Book Day and the Reading Festival. Our theme for this year’s World Book Day was ‘Mystery’, and we had a great time exploring different mystery stories and participating in a workshop where we looked for clues to solve a crime! It was fantastic to see the efforts everyone put into their costumes to transform into their favourite book character. In the evening, the children arrived back to school in their pyjamas, for a cozy story time in the classrooms, sipping hot chocolate and enjoying biscuits.

Then, we had the wonderful Eisteddfod Festival. The children worked very hard over the holidays rehearsing performances, Creative Writing and producing magnificent art masterpieces. We were so impressed with the talent in Year 1 but had to whittle down the entries to the brave few who performed in front of Reception, the rest of Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and our judging panel.

The following week, we had a very exciting trip to Holland Park Ecology Centre to continue with our Southfield Horticulturalist learning. What an incredible time we had exploring mini-beasts in our pond dipping workshop! We were amazed by some of the creatures we saw up close. Not only did we visit Holland Park, but Year 1 also ventured out to Buckingham Palace Royal Mews, to contextualise our learning in History. The children have loved discovering all the monarchs leading up to the commonwealth.

Amongst all the exciting activities, we have still had time to learn about the Jewish faith, discuss relationships in PSHE, build on our motor skills in PE, and explore measuring length, height, mass and volume in our Maths lessons.  

Lent 1 2024-2025

 

 

This half term has gone by so quickly. We have been busy with so much learning from Photography to Geography, Maths to Philosophy. In English, we have looked at not one but two different books from the same author- John Burningham. We started off with The Magic Bed as we explored dream like adventures. We wrote a letter and a diary entry all about Pirate Island and a poor tiger who had lost its parents. Through Courtney, we loved exploring a new type of poem - acrostic poems. It was a lot of fun making up ones using our own names as the title. Our writing has improved such a lot since Christmas; our brains and hands are getting very strong! Alongside English we have been consolidating our knowledge of numbers to 20 in Maths. We started off looking at each “teen number” and now we are looking at addition and subtraction using these numbers. We are really good at using counting cubes, tens frames and number lines to help us. We can now explain what the correct answer is but also how we know. Science and Geography have been really interesting this half term. We have been looking at The United Kingdom and the four countries that are part of the union and alongside that, the seasons and weather patterns we expect to see here. We even learnt how to present data in a graph! When exploring the United Kingdom, and specifically Scotland, we learnt lots of interesting facts. Did you know that Edinburgh is built on an extinct volcano?  

 We have been really lucky to have 2 enriching theme weeks this term- Photography and Philosophy. First up was photography where we looked at the work of Edward Weston. We were so proud to show you our incredible still life masterpieces in our exhibition. We arranged our own floral compositions and then used the camera to capture the beauty of Spring. In philosophy, we looked at the concept of reality. We pondered questions like, “Is everyone’s reality the same?” and “How do we know what is real?” Again, we were immensely excited to see our work on display for you all.

 

    

 

Michaelmas 2 2024-2025

 

 

We have had an incredibly busy half term in Year One. The children have a wonderful attitude towards learning, with an enthusiasm for discovering new knowledge. Through our writing we have learnt about the history of bonfire night, explored poetry and discovered more about English wildlife and specifically barn owls. All that along side our math’s where we have been consolidating our number knowledge and understanding of addition and subtraction. We have studied how addition can be commutative and how numbers are linked in number fact families.

We have been so lucky to extend our learning through numerous school trips this term and feel very grateful to all the grown ups who supported the trips to make them happen. Our first Year 1 trip was to a church where our learning in RE came to life and we got to hear an organ and look inside the font. We all agreed the stain glass windows were beautiful. Next we all boarded a coach to the British Wildlife Center. We braved the cold and it was well worth it to see the incredible red squirrels, otters and very rare Scottish cats. Then we visited the National Portrait Gallery to explore exactly what a portrait is. We were able to use our Southfield Historian skills to examine the art as historical sources. Their clothing and objects in their hands gave us clues as to who they were, when they were alive and why they are significant. Lastly the Christmas fun really kicked off with a pantomime. It was so much fun… oh no it wasn’t… oh yes it was!

And of course, this term has also been busy getting ready for our nativity, Honky Tonky Donkey! We were delighted to perform it to so many of you and felt so proud of all our hard work. I think you will agree it was “eee ore excellent!”

 

 

 

 

 

We are so impressed with how everyone has been settling into Year One. Our routines have been established and everyone is fully aware of the expectations and rules of the school. The children are sitting beautifully, they move sensibly around the school and line up quickly and quietly. They have also managed to learn our fantastic school song.

In our classes we are all feeling extremely proud of what we have achieved so far. We have learnt lots of new sounds in phonics. This has helped us with our Creative Writing and English work. In English we have been studying the lovely story, Peace at Last. As I’m sure the children will have told you, it is a story about Mr Bear who can’t find a comfy, quiet place to sleep. We have used this story to write a diary entry, a character and setting description and a letter to name a few. In Maths, we have been working on our knowledge of number and place value. We have now started on our addition and subtraction skills and looking at different methods to solve number problems.

As the classes are finding their confidence and individuality at school, it is important to discuss diversity. We celebrated just this with a special Creative Write session where we considered what makes us unique and if differences in our abilities should impact how we treat others. This has tied into our science topic of the 5 senses. In Geography we have learnt all about map making and what makes a successful map. Our learning about spatial sense has allowed us to make more sense of the world around us.

The week of the 7th October was Charities Week. We loved learning about Guide Dogs and how amazing and clever dogs can be! Did you know it takes two years of training for a puppy to become a working guide dog? We all had a lot of fun getting sticky decorating our biscuits and were so excited to meet Upton, a real-life Guide Dog. We asked lots of questions to Upton’s owner and even learned that Guide Dogs do not chase squirrels when they have their working harness on!

 

 

 

 We have had an incredible final term in Year 1, looking back to the autumn you can see just how much the children have all grown and how much progress they have made. Everyone is feeling very ready for the new challenges ahead in Year 2, not to mention a long relaxing summer holiday! A huge achievement for all the children was the Phonics Screening Check. I am sure they are all relieved to never see another Alien Word again. This is another example this year of where the hard work from these children has really paid off. Their reading has come so far and their confidence bloomed. We are all very proud of them and I am sure they feel the same.

Alongside our reading we have been finishing up our learning on "Parliament and Leaders" as well as "Materials" learning about their properties and uses. We really enjoyed a series of practical lessons testing for magnetism and trying to find a suitable material to make an umbrella from. We even had our very own class elections. Children created a manifesto considering what would help secure them some votes without over promising given there would be limited resources available. Some of the children were brave enough to make a speech to the rest of their class, stating why people should vote for them. We have some future politicians amongst us I am sure.

Throughout our Summer Term we have enjoyed a lot of Drama. We were lucky enough to watch so many of the fantastic school productions as well as see some true professionals in action during our Jemima Puddleduck workshop. It was all truly inspirational. Right from the first week back, we were buzzin', wagglin' and getting ready for our own "Bee Musical." I am sure you will agree all the children were amazing up on stage. The costumes looked marvellous, the stage was set and everyone danced, bopped and sung their heart out. I think they will remember those songs forever! After all that hard work it was time for our final school trip! We all headed to St Paul's cathedral to marvel at the beautiful artwork and architecture. We were especially inspired by the story of the phoenix and how this mythical creature inspired the landmark's rebuild after The Great Fire of London. The term ended on a high- finding out who the new teachers are and what the classroom names will be. Everyone is more than ready for the new challenges September will bring and we are exciting to start giving new things a go! Well done Year 1... now Year 2!

 

 

This half term has been incredibly busy for Year 1! In English, we began studying the childhood classic: Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. The children had the opportunity to imagine the stories from the perspectives of different characters and have produced a range of heartwarming outcomes. We cannot wait for you to see them! Plants have been our focus in Science. Very excitingly, we explored growing conditions by growing our own cress in the classroom. The optimum location was on the windowsill, where the seeds were exposed to sunlight, and where they could be easily watered. In Geography, we have travelled across all seven continents, discovering lots of informative facts as we went. Did you know during the winter in Antarctica it can be dark for several weeks at a time? In Maths, we have delved into a range of new topics including multiplication, fractions, and geometry. On top of this, we have continued to develop our fine motor skills in PE, explored change in PSHE and learnt about a range of holy days in RE.

This half term we also celebrated Shakespeare Week. In Year 1, we learnt about ‘The Tempest’, focusing particularly on the treacherous storm created by Prospero. We crafted some incredibly creative character descriptions and setting descriptions. To celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday, we all dressed up as Shakespearean characters and it was joyous to see so many Juliets, Shakespeares and even a few Prosperos!

Poetry has been a focus across Southfield this year and, this half term, we were introduced to the much-loved poet Allan Ahlberg. His poems focused on mischief in the classroom, and we had lots of fun creating our own versions of ‘Please Mrs Butler’ and ‘The Supply Teacher’.

To top off this fantastic half term, we enjoyed Mind, Body and Spirit week. The children made us very proud this week as everyone tried something new, whether this be hula hooping, circus skills or trying tzatziki for the first time! We explored a range of wellness techniques in the classroom, including yoga, mindfulness, and journaling. In DT we cooked up a storm when we made tzatziki and in Art, we created our very own glitter jars which help to promote calmness.

 

 

 

 

It has been another jam packed half term this spring with so many exciting projects. It all started with our Spring Exhibition, I know everyone felt extremely proud seeing their work from last term on display. It was amazing to see how much learning we have all done and the super progress made.

After that, it was straight into the Eisteddfod Festival. The children worked very hard over the holidays rehearsing performances, creative writing and producing magnificent art masterpieces. We were so impressed with the talent in Year 1 but had to whittle down the entries to the brave few who performed in front of Reception, the rest of Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and our judging panel. We had so much art submitted there was an exhibition showcasing the best! We were very proud of Elina in 1 Ravel who scooped up third prize with her sister, Amelia, in Year 2. However, they all did incredibly well and deserved to feel immensely proud of themselves.

Since then, it has been World Book Day and our own Reading Festival. It was amazing to see the effort everyone had made in their costumes and the transformations when everyone returned a few hours later for Bedtime Books. Our classrooms were so cozy as we sipped our hot chocolate and enjoyed the biscuits whilst listening to the stories. On top of this we had our workshop earlier that week where we studied “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch” and came up with a sneaky plan to keep those pesky seagulls away from our tasty lunch!

Year 1 has been getting very crafty recently, all whilst looking after our planet. We have been using old egg boxes, recycling them into Easter Decorations to bring spring into the classroom. We also recycled old jar and pots to make candle votives, Mums we hope they are shining brightly at home also bringing a sense of spring inside.

It’s not over yet! Year 1 still have our school trip to Buckingham Palace Royal Mews. We are hoping to see the Royal carriages and learn more about the role they played in the coronation. This ties perfectly into our History learning where we started off with King John I and looking at all the monarchs up until the commonwealth.

All that and we have still had time to learn about the Jewish faith, look at relationships in PSHE, build on our motor skills in PE and complete the Spring Term with measuring length, height, mass and volume in math’s!

 

 

 

This half term has flown by, although it has only been 5 weeks we have crammed in a lot of fantastic learning! In English we have looked at 3 different books from the same author- John Burningham. We started off with Courtney and loved exploring a new type of poem, acrostic poems. It was a lot of fun making up ones using our own names as the title. We have also looked at the Magic Bed and Simp. Our writing has improved such a lot since Christmas, our brains and hands are getting very strong! Alongside English we have been consolidating our knowledge of numbers to 20. We started off looking at each “teen number” and now we are looking at addition and subtraction using these numbers. We are really good at using counting cubes, tens frames and number lines to help us. We can now explain what the correct answer is but also how we know.

 

Next half term, we can’t wait to show you our work in our “Seasons and Weather” exhibition. Science and Geography have been closely linked as we have studied the four countries of the United Kingdom and the weather patterns we can observe. We even learnt how to present data in a graph! When exploring the United Kingdom and specifically Scotland we learnt lots of interesting facts. Did you know that Edinburgh is built on an extinct volcano?

 

We have been so lucky to explore a farm, build castles in a DT workshop and even connect with our partner school in Spain. We looked at some photos of their school and had so many questions about what life is like in school there. We wrote a long list together and can’t wait to hear back from them.  

 

 

We have had an incredibly busy half term in Year One. The children have a wonderful attitude towards learning, with an enthusiasm for discovering new knowledge. We have written a vast range of non-fiction pieces in English. We have explored fact files which really embedded our passion for animals and a strong desire to share facts. We have also written a biography of Helen Keller and a set of instructions on “How to decorate a Gingerbread Man.” All that alongside our maths where we have been consolidating our number knowledge and understanding of addition and subtraction. We have studied how addition can be commutative and how numbers are linked in number fact families.

This year we celebrated Bonfire Night. We were lucky enough to have an expert visit us and teach us all about the significance of Guy Fawkes and what happened on the 5^th November all those years ago.  Then it was International Week, where, in Year One, we learnt all about France. We already had some experts in our year group so it was lovely to see them sharing ideas with their friends. We looked at the French Painter Seurat and painted our Parisian scenes with dots just like him. We celebrated our learning with a French Party where some people were very brave and tried new French foods.

In our curriculum lessons, we have explored the animal kingdom and how to support domestic animals in our homes, as well as starting to discover history and learn about all the disciplinary skills we need to become historians. We got to go on a trip to the National Portrait Gallery where we looked at how portraits can also teach us about the past. We also visited a church which was a wonderful way to explore the Christian culture. And of course, this term has also been busy getting ready for our nativity, Honky Tonky Donkey! We were delighted to perform it to so many of you and felt so proud of all our hard work.

 

 

 

As we go through our first half term in Year One we are all so incredibly proud of how all the children are settling in. New routines have been established and everyone is fully aware of the expectations and rules of the school. The children are sitting beautifully, they move sensibly around the school and line up quickly and quietly.

In our classes we are all feeling extremely proud of what we have achieved so far. We have learnt lots of new sounds in phonics. This has helped us with our creative writing and English work. In English we have been studying the lovely story, Peace at Last. As I’m sure the children will have told you, it is a story about Mr Bear who can’t find a comfy, quiet place to sleep. We have used this story to write diaries, character and setting descriptions. In Maths we have been working on our knowledge of number and place value. We have now started on our addition and subtraction skills and looking at different methods to solve number problems.

As the classes are finding their confidence and individuality at school, it is important to discuss diversity. We celebrated just this with a special Creative Write session where we considered what makes us unique and if differences in how we look should impact how we treat others. This has tied into our science topic of the 5 senses. We have learnt that although our eyes, skin and different features may look slightly different our bodies all work in the same way. In Geography we have learnt all about map making and what makes a successful map. Our learning about spatial sense has allowed us to make more sense of the world around us.

In Year One we had our first DT day where we were learning about textiles. We had an amazing time making sock puppets and refined our fine motor skills whilst we were at it. These butterflies have now “flown” home so we hope they are still being enjoyed there.

The week of the 9th October was Charities Week. We loved learning about Guide Dogs and how amazing and clever dogs can be! Did you know it takes two years of training for a puppy to become a working guide dog? We all had a lot of fun getting sticky decorating our biscuits and were so excited to meet Upton, a real life Guide Dog. 

  

 

 

We have had an amazing final term in Year 1, looking back to the autumn you can see just how much the children have all grown and how much progress they have made. Everyone is feeling very ready for the new challenges ahead in Year 2, not to mention a long relaxing summer holiday! 

Our term started with Healthy Lifestyles week. We danced, we ran, we balanced we even hula-hooped! It was a lot of fun. Our favourite moment was the carnival where we represented Venezuela and Columbia with our flags, pink dolphins, orchid headbands and troupial bird puppets. However, we also loved sports day and the children felt so proud to take home their well-deserved medals. 

After Healthy Lifestyle Week, we really kick started our "Bee Musical" rehearsals so we could BEE ready in time. We loved all the jazzy songs and learnt all the lyrics in record time. Once the big day arrived we got dressed up in our incredible costumes and were so brave to perform to such a huge crowd. Again, it was great fun and a real highlight of our year.In such a busy term, we managed to squeeze in two school trips, Kew Gardens and St Paul's Cathedral. We were lucky to have such a beautiful day at Kew, the sun was out and the gardens were spectacular. We were able to become plant hunters and find out about some of the trees planted there. Do you know sap is like the blood of a tree, transporting the nutrients to the branches and leaves? St Paul's was such a treat too, we got to visit the actual staircase Paddington was filmed on- we were very sensible and didn't slide down the banisters like him- some of us did think we could smell marmalade though.  

Last week was Science Week which gave us the chance to do experiments, explore the human body in Explorer Dome and hear from some of our extremely knowledgeable, scientist parents. What a fantastic end to our incredible year together! 

 

 

This half of term in Year One has been a busy and exciting time!

We celebrated the King’s Coronation with our very own street party – it was such fun! We had wonderful weather, food and games. We also visited the Holland Park Synagogue as part of our contextualised curriculum. It helped us further our understanding of Judaism. Shakespeare dress up day was great – even Mrs Tauchert and Ms Cooper got involved and came as William Shakespeare and Titania from A Midusmmer Night’s Dream. We had a fantastic two weeks learning all about William Shakespeare and his work. We had a brilliant workshop from Adrian who taught us all about A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After all that fun, we then had two weeks where we used film to help us write some incredible stories – one focusing on a villian’s origin story which was brilliant. We got to visit The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace to add some context to our understanding of Kings, Queens and Leaders in History. That was an amazing trip – we even saw some of the famous Windsor Greys. Lots of us killed teachers because we didn’t want homework! We were really inspired. In Maths our understanding of groups of equal numbers, fractions of shape and quantities started to become really embedded. All in all, it has been a brilliant half term! Our Year One clubs of Arts and Crafts have also been very busy this term – we made butterflies in Arts and Crafts and performances really started to come alive in Performance club.

  

 

 

 This half term has been jam packed with lots of exciting things from World Book Day and our Reading Festival; a trip to the Buddhist Vihara as well as Buckingham Palace to exploring more about Kings and Queens during our amazing History Week. Alongside all this we have been busy writing some none fiction texts such as an advert persuading people to visit London for a holiday and a biography on King John I. This linked perfectly to our History topic where we are learning about Kings Queens and Leaders as you saw at our History Exhibition. In Maths we have been developing our knowledge of number and functions using numbers up to 50. We have also had time to explore how to take care of our Earth in Science, think about relationships in PSHE, learn about the Jewish culture in RE and even discuss staying safe whilst online. We have also been having fun in our lunchtime clubs. Some of the children have been getting crafty with Mrs Tauchert whilst others have been discovering new musicals in performance club.

 

 

 

 We have had a very busy term in Year One –it has flown by! We have created some amazing writing based around the works of John Burningham alongside consolidating our knowledge of numbers to 20. In Science we got to explore seasons and the weather. We even learnt how to present data in a graph! In Geography, we explored the United Kingdom and learnt lots of interesting facts. Did you know that Edinburgh is built on an extinct volcano? In PSHE Day, we explored healthy choices and made fruit and cheese kebabs. They were delicious and it was lots of fun. Our lunchtime clubs have been loads of fun too with pompom making with Mrs Tauchert and performance with Ms Cooper. We can’t wait for next half term.

  

 

 

 We have had an incredibly busy half term in Year One. The children have grown in confidence and it is wonderful to see how their attitude to learning is flourishing. We have written an amazing range of non-fiction pieces in English and consolidated our number knowledge and understanding of addition and subtraction. We have written a biography of Helen Keller, a book review of Peace at Last and a set of instructions. In math’s we have explored how addition can be commutative and how numbers are linked in number fact families.

In our curriculum lessons, we have explored the animal kingdom and how to support domestic animals in our homes, as well as starting to discover history and learn about all the disciplinary skills we need to become historians. We got to go on a trip to the Design Museum where we looked at the fantastic art of the surrealists. This term has also been busy getting ready for our nativity, Honky Tonky Donkey!

 

 

 

Autumn One has been a brilliant first term for Year One. We are so proud of how everyone is settling in to their new routines. The children have all grown up over the summer holidays and are now able to sit beautifully on the carpet, move sensibly around the school and line up quickly and quietly.

In our classes we are all feeling extremely proud of what we have achieved so far. We have learnt lots of new sounds in phonics. This has helped us with our creative writing and English work. In English we have been studying the lovely story, Peace at Last. As I’m sure the children will have told you, it is a story about Mr Bear who can’t find a comfy, quiet place to sleep. We have used this story to write letters, diaries, character and setting descriptions. In Maths we have been working on our knowledge of number and place value. We have now started on our addition and subtraction skills and looking at different methods to solve number problems such as the part, part whole method.

The week of the 10th October was Charities Week. We loved learning about Guide Dogs and how amazing and clever dogs can be! Did you know it takes two years of training for a puppy to become a working guide dog? We all had a lot of fun getting sticky decorating our biscuits!

This term we have also been really lucky to get to go to Forest School. Here we have learnt how to look after nature, be creative with our natural crafts and safely make fires- we even baked some apples on it. Forest School is perfect for developing the children’s gross motor skills as it gives them the opportunity to climb, run, jump and explore the tree swings. It is a lot of fun.

As the classes are finding their confidence and individuality at school, it is important to discuss diversity. Towards the end of this half term we have been celebrating just that. We have been looking in class about what makes us the same and what makes us different. This has tied into our Science topic of the 5 senses. We have learnt that although our eyes, skin and different features may look slightly different our bodies all work in the same way. In Geography we have learnt all about map making and what makes a successful map. Our learning about spatial sense has allowed us to make more sense of the world around us.

 

 

 

 Summer 2 was a brilliant term here at Southfield, and a fantastic way for us to mark the end of Year 1.

The Summer 2 half-term began with our Phonics Screening Test, and we are so proud of the amazing results achieved by the year group. The children have worked diligently at their phonics all year, and it was amazing to see the fruits of this in these results!

Week 1 and 2 of this half-term were also busy because of our Jubilee Week (Week 1) and Healthy Lifestyles Week (Week 2). From garden parties to painting wind chimes, Zumba to boxercise, these were two action packed weeks and the children had a whale of a time during both. The Sports Day was a particular highlight of our Healthy Lifestyles Week, and we were very proud to see each and every child taking part, trying their best and – most importantly – having fun!

Our much anticipated trip to the Natural History Museum was another highlight of the Summer 2 half-term, as we all had a great day out learning about the past. The children took part in the dinosaur-themed ‘Super Stegosaurus’ workshop, where they had the privilege of getting up close and personal with the famous Dippy the Diplodocus.

In terms of our curricular work, ‘Materials and Magnets’ was the theme of our Science work this half-term, while the children learned all about ‘Parliament and Prime Ministers’ in our History lessons, which proved to be more topical than we might have anticipated at the beginning of the term! We covered a range of different non-fiction themes in our English work this half-term, while in Maths the children continued their work on multiplication and division, before moving on to Measurement. Length, Weight and Capacity were the focuses of this work.

Overall, it has been an unbelievable year in Year 1. We are incredibly lucky to have such an amazing group, where each and every child brings something special and different to our Year 1 family. As teachers, we are so proud of how the children have grown over the year. We will miss you all, but can’t wait to see you all flourish in Year 2; Ms Tamber and Ms Kemp are lucky to be getting such a wonderful group.

 

 

 

The children were incredibly excited for our first school trip of the year to Kew Gardens, and it did not disappoint! From the tube journey there and back to the fun in the ‘Children’s Garden’, the children had an amazing time in what was an action-packed day! The children took part in a fascinating ‘Plant Scientists’ workshop, where they learned all about the amazing variety of plants which are housed in Kew Gardens, from the different parts of plants to the ways in which different plants disperse their seeds. ‘Plants’ was the theme of our Science work this half term, so it was amazing for the children to have the chance to see in reality what they had been learning about in class.

In terms of our curricular work, ‘The Seven Continents’ was the theme of our Geography work, while the children learned all about ‘Plants’ in Science, as was mentioned above. Dyan Sheldon’s The Whales’ Song was this half term’s class text, and this wonderful book acted as a brilliant context around which to centre our English lessons. Maths saw us continue our work on counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, while the children were also formally introduced to multiplication and division for the first time.

 

 

 

This has been an action-packed half-term for Year 1!
Science Week and the Reading Festival were two major highlights of the half-term, and the children hugely enjoyed throwing themselves into the events, workshops, experiments and dress-up days that came with those two weeks. Our World Book Day dress-up and the ‘Explorer Dome’ during Science Week were two particular highlights!
We also hosted our very own History Exhibition, where the children were able to showcase the learning they have been doing on our ‘Kings, Queens and Leaders’ history topic. We showed the parents what we have learned about monarchy as an institution, about Queen Elizabeth, about the controversial King John I and about the Magna Carta. Huge credit must go to the children and parents for the amazing History projects which were completed over the half-term, which the children were so proud to display in our exhibition!
In terms of our curricular subjects, we have been busy in both English and Maths this half-term. In English we have been focusing on non-fictional writing, and the children have produced book reviews, information reports, biographies and newspaper reports to name but a few! In Maths we have been learning about the inverse relationship and how to count in multiples of 2 and 5.

 

 

 

 

 

We have had another busy half-term in Year 1, in which the children have really worked hard and excelled in all our different curricular areas. Our English work this half-term has been centred around our class text, The Magic Bed, by John Burningham. Using this book as a springboard, we have written letters, diaries, acrostic poems, adverts, character descriptions and postcards over the course of the half-term. In terms of grammar, we have been focusing largely on verbs, adjectives and exclamation marks this half-term. The children also had the opportunity to further express their creativity in our Creative Writing lessons this half-term. As usual, we used a book as the stimulus for these lessons, with Jack and Nancy, Mister Magnolia and A Huge Bag of Worries being our texts this time around. In Maths we have continued our work on addition and subtraction this half-term, while also learning about 2D shapes, 3D shapes and the greater than and lesser than symbols. Our Geography theme has been the United Kingdom, and we have learnt lots about England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the UK as a whole. In Science, meanwhile, we have been learning about ‘Seasons and Weather’. Our work on this theme has been greatly enriched by the ability to use the school’s Science in the Natural World Wildlife area. In our final week of the half-term, we had our RE, PSHE and Computing days. Our RE day explored Christianity, while our PSHE day centred on the subjects of Diversity and Safety. In Computing, we completed the ‘We are Digital Aritists’ unit, where the focus was on creating work inspired by great artists.

 

 

In Year 1 this half term in English our writing has been non-fiction based. The children wrote in a range of genres, including book reviews, reports and information leaflets. Our History and Science lessons provided inspiration for this written work, thereby linking our writing to the knowledge which the children had already gained. Alongside their usual English lessons, we will also continued to teach our bi-weekly Creative Writing sessions, where the storybooks ‘Dinosaur’s Day out’, ‘Room on a Broom’ and ‘Zog’ were used to spark the children’s own creativity. In Maths we have been identifying and representing numbers using different pictorial representations, placing numbers from 0-100 on number lines, and learning addition and subtraction number bonds facts. In History we have been learning about the past, our own family tree, Mary Seacole, and archaeologists. We have learnt about animals and their needs in Science and we now have a clearer understanding of animals needs and how to describe and group animals according to their features and diet. We also found out about how to look after pets. In the penultimate week before the end of term we had an RE day where we learnt about different creation stories. We acted out some of these stories and found out which religious traditions they belong to. We then wrote about the importance of the world and why it is important to care for it. We also had a PSHE day where we set a goal for ourselves, we learnt what ‘voting’ is and carried out a class vote, we looked at the importance of keeping clean and the use of medicines, and also explored what ‘bullying’ is. For our computing day we have been working on our computing unit ‘We are TV chefs’ to create simple clear steps to follow (an algorithm) for a recipe. We used different features of a video camera to record a short video about making a pizza(1H)/burger(1R).. During this unit we have been developing our collaboration skills and discussing our work to think about how it could be improved.

 

 

The children in Year 1 have been working very hard this half time, and learning a great deal across all the different subjects.

In English, we have been using the story Peace at Last to write a character description, a diary, a short narrative, a letter and a poem. We have been working hard to remember to use capital letters and full stops in the correct places and include adjectives in our writing.

In Maths, we have been counting forwards and backwards across 100. We have been working to make sure we are writing numbers correctly. We have also been finding one more and one less from a given number.

In Geography, we have been learning about what makes a good map and about the compass points, North, South, East and West. We have learnt about our body in Science and we now know even more about our five senses. In the last week before half term we had an RE day where we learnt about Judaism and the Synagogue.

We also had a PSHE day where we learnt about healthy living, healthy eating and how to keep our teeth healthy.

Below are links to our Welcome meeting and current curriculum overviews.

 

Michaelmas 1 Curriculum Overview

Michaelmas 2 Curriculum Overview

Lent 1 Curriculum Overview

 Lent 2 Curriculum Overview

Trinity 1 Curriculum Overview

End of Year 1 Expectations

Welcome Meeting