Feeling Hot Hot Hot!

 Hi Year One Families,

Well what a week that was! First of all an apology, slight technical hitch means the Ipad didn't upload our photos so I don't have any to share on this blog sorry about that!

The week was a little bit of a strange one due to the extreme heat- the Year One team are grateful for your support last week.

But we did continue our learning in the best way we could!

In Maths we introduced Time, we focussed on days of the week and months of the year, please continue to practise these at home. In the coming week we will focus on telling time to the hour and half hour. Learning to tell the time, is a brilliant life long skill, to support children's knowledge of this- you could continue to focus on this at home, highlighting the time in your everyday life.

In English on Friday we started our final English focus of Year One, we will be writing diary entries and we will be taking our inspiration from the beautiful story The Sea Saw.

We have continued our focus on Collage in Art and continued our practise for Sports Day in PE.

Talking of Sports Day, EYFS and KS1 Sports Day is Tuesday 30th June from 10:00-11:00 we warmly welcome you to join us. There will be a variety of activities across our Inclusive Sports Fortnight.

Whole School Dance Day 10th from 2:30

We have a busy few weeks ahead and Miss Joy will be visiting over the next few weeks too! 

Please do get in touch if you have anything you would like to discuss.

Ms Evans and the Year One Team.

Moon rocks, fact files and Collage

 Hi Year One Families,

What a lovely week we had in Year One, the children are being the most excellent at the moment!

In Maths we have finished our topic on money, children have learnt to recognise coins, notes and amounts. Please continue to develop this important life skill at home over the coming weeks. This week we will be focussing on Time, recognising 'o'clock' and half past.

On Monday we will finish our current English focus of Fact files and later in the week we will start our final English focus of Year One The Sea Saw, we will use this book as inspiration to create diary entries.

We have had a fantastic experience looking at a variety of moon rocks and metors this week, the children really enjoyed this experience.

They were busy bees in Forest School, PE and Art this week.

A word about the hot weather- it is likely to be very hot over the next few days. Please ensure that children are appropriately dressed, they have a hat and sunscreen- they can independently reapply this throughout the day. Please ensure they have a drinks bottle in school- we will encourage them to drink regulalrly and remain in the shade if they are outside.

If you have anything you would like to discuss please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Ms Evans and the Year One Team.

A busy week in Year One.

 Hi Year One Families,

Despite the rainy weather, we had a wonderful trip to Kingston Lacey this week. The children enjoyed exploring the beautiful grounds and became nature detectives for the day. 

In the walled garden, they observed a variety of seasonal flowers and discussed the colours, shapes and features they could see. We also spent some time in the Japanese garden, where the children enjoyed a peaceful mindfulness moment, listening carefully to the sounds around them and taking time to appreciate the natural environment. During our walk, we spotted a range of deciduous and evergreen trees and talked about the differences between them.

In Maths, we have completed our unit on numbers to 100. Next week, we will begin a short unit on money, where the children will learn to recognise coins and notes. To support this learning giving children opportunity to handle cash and pay for things whilst shopping will help build their awareness of currency.

In Art, we completed some beautiful observational drawings of leaves, carefully looking at shape, pattern and detail. We have also continued to create resources for our collages by making leaf rubbings using a variety of textures and colours.

Art Donations Needed We are looking for donations of old magazines and newspapers to support our upcoming art projects. If you have any spare copies at home, we would be very grateful if you could send them into school.

In PE, we have begun practising for Sports Day. The children have been developing their running, throwing and teamwork skills and are looking forward to the event. Sports Day will take place on Monday 30th June from 9:00am–11:00am.

In English, we will be learning about the features of fact files and exploring how information can be organised under different headings. The children will then begin drafting their own fact files about Emperor penguins, using all the fascinating facts they have been learning.

Please do get in touch if you have anything you would like to discuss

Thank you for your continued support. 

Ms Evans and the Year One Team.

Dens, Dance and Textured Rubbings

 Hello Year one families,

It was lovely to return to class this week and spend time with the children.

We had a fantastic afternoon at Forest School on Thursday, making the most of the outdoors while dodging the rain showers! On Friday, we began our new Contemporary Dance unit in PE. The children explored how contemporary dance can be used to create a superhero-themed performance, while also learning about the history and cultural significance of this dance style. I was incredibly impressed by their focus, determination and willingness to try something new.

In English, we have continued our work on Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. This week, the children explored how the penguin might have felt when he was lost before making comparisons between where the boy lived and where the penguin lived. Over the coming weeks, we will be using our learning to create a fact file all about penguins.

We also started our new Art unit on Friday. The children explored the  great outdoors and created textured rubbings inspired by nature. This activity has been sent home as part of their home learning so that they can continue gathering resources for their collage work. Please do send in any newspapers, magazines or interesting paper materials that we can use to support our collage creations over the next few weeks.

Looking ahead to next week, the National Phonics Screening will take place and children will finally get their time at 'Biscuit Club.'

We will continue exploring numbers to 100 in Maths. I have been very impressed with the children's knowledge of their 2, 5 and 10 times tables.

In English, our focus remains Lost and Found and all things penguin! We will be focusing on using the conjunction but and enhancing our descriptions through the use of adjectives as we build our knowledge of creating a factfile.

On Thursday, we have our trip to Kingston Lacey. We are keeping all our fingers and toes crossed for good weather so that we can enjoy the day outdoors!

In Art, we will be completing observational drawings of leaves, and in History, we will continue learning about the history of our school.

As always, please do get in touch if there is anything you would like to discuss. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms Evans and the Year One Team.

Help us find our missing RWI books! 📚

 Dear Families,

We need your help! We are currently missing a large number of our Read Write Inc. (RWI) books, and we would be very grateful if you could have a look around at home for any school reading books that may have been forgotten or tucked away on a shelf.

Our RWI books are an important resource that help all children develop their reading skills. When books are not returned, it can mean that other children are unable to access the texts they need for their reading groups.

Please take a few minutes to check:

• Bookshelves and bedrooms
• Book bags and backpacks
• Under beds, sofas, or in the car
• Any places where reading books may have been put for safekeeping

If you find any RWI books, please send them back to school as soon as possible. There is no need to worry about how long they have been at home—we would simply love to have them returned so they can be enjoyed by other children.

Thank you for your support and cooperation. Together, we can help keep our reading resources available for everyone.

Happy reading!

Hello Again

Hi Year One Families!

I am delighted to be returning to school tomorrow following my period of recovery. I have really missed the children and am excited to get going again for a busy and exciting half term!

This term, in English, we will begin by focussing on Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers and using the story as inspiration for writing fact files.

In Maths, we will be learning about Numbers to 100, Money and Time as well as recapping important areas of the Maths curriculum.

In Science we will continue our focus on Plants and in History we will be studying the History of The Prince of Wales School.

Our Art focus this half term is collage, and we will be learning about the artist Frida Kahlo. Please could you keep and donate any magazines or newspapers you have at home as we will need lots of these. 

The children will also enjoy Dance on Wednesdays, Forest School on Thursdays and PE on Fridays. Buckle up it's going to be a busy one!

A reminder that we have two trips coming up:

• Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens – Thursday 4th June
• Kingston Lacey – Thursday 11th June

Please refer to Arbour for details.

Please ensure children come to school with coats/hats/shoes etc appropriate for the weather on these days.

I am looking forward to a fantastic half term with the children and can't wait to see all the amazing learning they achieve.

Ms Evans

Year One Revisit Their Maze Explorer Skills!

Today in Computing, our fantastic Year One pupils took part in a revisit and review lesson, returning to their learning as Maze Explorers using 2Go! 

This session gave pupils the opportunity to rebuild confidence, strengthen understanding and deepen their skills in giving instructions to a computer.

We began by revisiting how to use the direction keys to move characters around the screen. The children quickly recalled how to move forwards, backwards, left and right, showing how well this learning has been embedded over time.

In Challenge One, pupils guided a fish through an underwater maze to reach a treasure chest. They demonstrated great thinking as they carefully planned their routes, counted squares and considered each move before pressing the keys. It was brilliant to see pupils confidently using strategies such as trial and improvement, including the undo button and restarting when needed.

Moving on to Challenge 2, pupils applied their knowledge in a more complex scenario, navigating a car through a town to reach different destinations.  Here, they revisited how to use number commands alongside direction keys, allowing them to move more efficiently across the grid. Many pupils were able to explain their thinking clearly, spotting quicker routes and refining their instructions.

We were particularly impressed with how pupils:

✨ Recalled key skills from previous learning
✨ Applied their knowledge with increasing independence
✨ Used computing vocabulary such as direction, route and command
✨ Showed resilience when improving and debugging their work

This revisit lesson was a brilliant opportunity to secure and strengthen prior learning, ensuring all pupils are confident and ready for the next steps in their computing journey.

A fantastic effort from Year One! 🚀