Wednesday 29 April 2015

29.4.15- DT- Wheels and axles experiments

In DT this week we have made our own wheels and axles to see where is the best place to have a hole in the wheel. The children experimented by having a hole nearer the edge of the wheel and soon found out this wasn't very good as the wheel would stop.

I was really impressed with how well Year 1 worked together and shared the resources so well done!

29.4.15- Caterpillars

This week in Literacy we are looking at the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We have now made our story map of the story and will be using this to help us write about the life cycle of butterflies.




If you haven't seen them already, please do look at our developing caterpillars in the class room. We are making a timeline of their growth!

Wednesday 22 April 2015

22.4.14- Bugfest visit!

Wow what fantastic visitors we had this morning!! I hope that the children have come home and told you all about the creatures that Nick from Bugfest bought in to show us. We have learnt so much from the visit and saw animals that most of the children have probably never seen in real life.

We looked at 'Big Bertha' the Millipede with 346 legs!
 
We saw two different Tarantulas
 
We also met a land snail called Frank, some stick insects, Scorpions, a centipede and two snakes. I was even brave enough to hold one!
 
The children got to stroke 'Tigger' (above) and an even larger snake that weighed 4 stone! Please come and see all the pictures on the board in the morning.
 

22.4.15- Missing Wellingtons!

Please could you all have a look and see if your child has accidentally bought home the wrong wellies. We have misplaced Layla's pink sparkly wellies. They have her name on the bottom.
 
Many thanks
 
Mrs Thorpe

Monday 20 April 2015

20.4.15- Spellings....

 
 
Well done to all of the children that showed me their spellings today.
 
We had them written in books, on paper and even on a banana! All of those children got a rocket point!
 
Please keep them coming in. All of these words are words that Year 1 should be able to read and spell.

Sunday 19 April 2015

19.4.15- Last week

Congratulations to all of the children that received awards on Friday. I hope they feel proud of their accomplishments and carry on working really hard! If your child bought home one of the cups then they get to keep this for the half term and then will need to hand this in at the end of the term ready for the next child to receive it.
 
Last week I was really impressed with how much Year 1 remembered about 3D shape and how many properties of the shapes that they could talk about. We started using Probots to program a code in to a robotic car and make it move. We also worked in pairs to give directions and make shapes on the school field. This week we are moving on to multiplying and working through an investigation.



19.4.15: Forest School is back- this week!

I am really pleased to say that Forest School will be starting again this week! Summer and Autumn (morning groups) will be the first two groups that are going to be with me outside on a Wednesday afternoon. I will be doing 6 continuous sessions with the same group and then in the second week after half term I will then take Spring and Winter for their 6 sessions.

I know it is quite hot at the moment but the children will still need to wear home trousers and wellingtons/ walking shoes and a long sleeve t shirt. This is because we will be using tools and walking through the woods in our grounds. They will also need to have a hat and sun cream applied. I will make sure that we have plenty of shade outside.

Whilst I take Summer and Autumn, Mrs Hall will be taking Spring and Winter for a smaller PE lesson and then Let's Explore. Any questions please do come and see me.

Thursday 16 April 2015

16.4.15- Our Life Education visit and gardening

This morning Year 1 went in the Life Education van. We learnt all about the four main food types and why it is important to have a healthy balanced diet. Then we look at different parts of the body and their function. Lastly we helped Harold make good decisions and looked at healthy packed lunches.
 
After lunch we planted our seeds in our new raised bed by the Year 4 hut. We sowed carrots, peas, potatoes and planted basil in pots. We have also had a tidy up of our outside area and are looking forward to using our newly painted black board thanks to Rosa's Mum for painting this for us!
 

Wednesday 15 April 2015

15.4.15- Hats, water and sun cream

As we are having a lovely warm spurt can I just put a quick reminder about water, hats and sun cream!
 
It is really important that the children keep hydrated and so please make sure their named water bottles come in. We have a number of drink breaks throughout the day and the children are free to have a drink when they need to. We will fill the bottles up when empty.
 
The majority of the children have bought their hats in this week. The sun has been really hot so please do send your child in with a named hat. We do have a few spares but sometimes not enough.
 
If you feel that your child needs more sun cream on (after you might have put it on in the morning) please do send it in. We will keep this in our medical box and allow the children to apply this themselves when needed.

15.4.15- I wonder....

Well it is fantastic to be back and hear all of the amazing things you have all got up to in the holidays! I was really impressed to see so much home learning, we will have some time to look through it all next week.

Year 1 are really good at questioning and thinking about what they want to find out. Today we wrote a number of 'I wonder' statements about a variety of British animals that we can see in our school grounds. These questions will be the basis of our topic and Literacy this half term.

We also looked at a picture of a man which the children may not have seen before.


We were learning about how the news of Nelson's death reached London via Dorchester. The children really enjoyed learning about the history surrounding Lord Nelson and how Dorchester played an important role in the 'Trafalgar way'. I did mention that this plaque is in Antelope walk, maybe the next time you are down in that part of town you could have a look! I wonder how many children remember how the news reached the King? How long did it take? Why is this picture a painting?



Sunday 12 April 2015

12.4.15- Parent information session date and the start of the Summer term!

I hope that you have all had a fun and restful two weeks off and are eager to get back in to school. We have got some fantastic topics this term and I will share all of this in the Year 1 parent information session on Thursday 23rd April in the hall.
 
 
I look forward to looking at all of your home learning on amphibians- we will look at them next week.
 
 
 
 
If anyone has any old tights and yoghurt pots we would like to collect enough for one each to do some growing in. On that note if we have any keen parent gardeners or grandparents that would like to help us in Year 1 please come and see us.
 
 
Many thanks
 
Mrs Thorpe and Mrs Hall

Tuesday 7 April 2015

2 Litre bottles needed......again


Hello everyone,

You may remember last year, when year 1 were in reception, that we kept asking for lots of 2l bottles to make a greenhouse. Well we have well and truly begun our work - you can see one side currently sitting between years 2 & 3 classroom. However, we are actually beginning to run out of bottles! To keep the project going it would be very helpful if you could bring in any 2l bottles you use at home. Please hand them in to Mrs. Thorpe or bring them through to reception classroom. Unfortunately they do have to be the standard shape 2l bottle - see picture above - as the other shapes don't quite fit together. We need another 700 bottles approximately! Not all at once mind you. 

Thank you for your help and enjoy the rest of your Easter holidays!