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! 🚀

Stick and Tree Adventures

 Hi Year One Families,

We have had such a lovely week back, we’ve certainly made the most of learning outside the classroom this week, with a stick adventure in English and a tree hunt in Science.

We have also launched our new exhibition This is Me, I hope you were as impressed and thrilled with Year one’s amazing portraits as I was!

In English we have introduced our new story, Stanley's Stick. Year one has found their own stick and have begun to write in the first person using ‘I’  to tell us what they do with their stick. We have had some fantastic ideas such as a wrench, double paintbrush, dog and plant cutter! This focus will continue for the next two weeks and will culminate in writing a first person account and letter writing.

In Science and Geography we  have started new topics Plants and Wild World- which focuses on Human and Physical features and continues our exploration of maps.

In Music we have started a new Cultural Capital focus of the musical The Lion King and our focus skill is timbre.

We started a new DT focus, this week we were exploring how best to join materials, we experimented with pins, glue and staples.

PE is on Mondays with Mini Ballers. In Maths we will be starting a new Unit on Multiplication and Division.

I will be saying my ‘see you soons’ to Year One on Monday, and Miss Joy will be looking after them until my return after May Half Term, however I will still be popping in from time to time when I can grab a lift to Dorchester!

Year one are doing any amazing job, please continue to practise Real and Alien words and reading daily at home, this makes such a huge difference to the children’s reading.

See you all soon!

Ms Evans and the fabulous Year One Team.

Welcome back to the Summer Term - Year One

Hi Year One Families,

We are looking forward to welcoming the children back tomorrow.

This week we will start a new focus in English with the lovely story Stanley’s Stick. It is Geography and DT’s turn this half term, we will be making puppets in DT and exploring our Wild World in Geography.

We will have PE on Mondays

“This Is Me” Self Portrait Exhibition will launch on 15th April at 3:30pm. We look forward to sharing the children’s wonderful work with you.

Please continue to use the Phonics resources sent home before Easter over the next coming weeks. 

As ever please ensure all personal belongings are named especially jumpers, cardigans and water bottles.

See you tomorrow

Ms Evans and the wonderful Year One Team

Moon Buggies and Baby Lambs!

Hi Year One Families 

What a fantastic week we have had!

On Wednesday, we held our lovely Moon Buggy Workshop. It was lovely to see the hall full of creativity, problem-solving and teamwork as the children worked alongside their families to design and build their own moon buggies. Thank you so much to all the parents and carers who were able to attend and support the children — it really made the afternoon special.

On Friday, we also enjoyed a fabulous visit to the farm where the children were able to see the newborn lambs. It was a lovely opportunity for them to experience the signs of spring and talk about life cycles in a real-life setting.

In Maths this week, we will be starting Unit 9: Introducing Mass, where the children will begin exploring the concept of weight and comparing how heavy or light different objects are.

We will also be continuing our exciting writing work this week. The children will be creating their own stories inspired by The Shooting Star. Based upon our focus book The Comet. The children have already shared some wonderful ideas, and we are looking forward to seeing their creativity shine as they begin writing their own versions.

A reminder that our Year One Class Assembly will take place on Wednesday 25th at 9:30am. The children have been working incredibly hard preparing for this and are very excited to share their learning with you. We hope you can join us.

In History, we will be learning about Katherine Johnson, the mathematician whose work helped NASA send astronauts to the moon. This links beautifully with our Moon Landing topic and will help the children understand the important people behind historic events.

During RE this week, we are very lucky to have a special visitor Mrs Scott coming in to talk to the children about why Easter is important to Christians. This will help deepen the children’s understanding of the Christian celebration of Easter and we can't wait to welcome back Mrs Scott.

Finally, a reminder that we have a whole-school trip on Friday to the Corn Exchange. 

All that's left to say is I hope you all have a wonderful Easter Holidays when we get there at the end of the week!

Ms Evans and the fabulous Year One Team!

Bringing Stories to Life!

This week in Year One Computing, pupils took another exciting step in their digital storytelling journey as they continued working on their animated e-books.

Building on their previous learning, the children opened their saved stories and explored them in play mode, watching their animations come to life. This was a great opportunity to reflect on their work so far and think about how they could make it even better.

🔊 Adding Sound to Stories

The focus of this lesson was all about sound — and how it can enhance storytelling.

Pupils learned how to:

- Add sound effects to match what is happening in their story

- Record their own voice to narrate parts of their e-book

- Create simple music using digital instruments such as the piano, keyboard and violin

It was fantastic to see the creativity on display, with pupils carefully choosing sounds to match their characters and settings. Some children recorded expressive narrations, while others composed short musical pieces to add atmosphere.

Creativity in Action

Using the “My Story” mode in Purple Mash, pupils explored a range of sound categories and tools. They discovered how even a simple sound effect can completely change how a story feels.

There were lots of thoughtful decisions being made:

- Which sound best matches this page?

- Should I narrate this part to help the reader?

- What kind of music fits my story?

Looking Ahead

We are incredibly proud of how confidently Year 1 pupils are using technology to express their ideas. Their stories are becoming richer, more engaging, and more personal with every lesson.

We can’t wait to see (and hear!) how their animated stories continue to develop in the coming weeks.

Music, Moons and much paint!

 Hi Year One Families,

We are busy continuing our adventures in Year One.

This week has been a busy one! 

In Maths we have finished our unit focus on Counting to Fifty, please continue to support children with counting within 50 at home- especially counting in tens. We will now have a short focus on Introducing Height and Length, before moving on to Mass and Weight before the end of term.

In English we finished reading The Comet and have been focussing on writing questions and statements. We will move on to story mapping and planning over the coming week.

In Art we mixed primary colours to make secondary colours and created a background for our self portraits. We practised our brush stroke techniques, using thin paint brushes to carefully paint around our self portrait. Next week, we will paint the face and facial features! 

In History we got in to character and pretend we were Neil Armstrong at important stages of his life. We loved pretending to walk on the moon.

Important information:

Our Moon Buggy parent session is this Wednesday from 2:00 you are very welcome to come and join your child junk modelling and crafting their very own Moon Buggy!

Farm Trip: We will be visiting Maiden Castle Farm on Friday 20th March (covered by our local trips consent form) please ensure that children have suitable footwear (wellies or walking boots) warm clothes, or waterproofs with a coat etc which is suitable for the weather on the day.

Our class assembly will be on Wednesday 25th March at 9:30- the children are really looking forward to sharing their learning with you.

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

Ms Evans and the Year One Team.

Channeling our inner Neil Armstrong

Animated E-Books (Continued)

Today in Year One Computing, the pupils continued their work on creating their own animated e-books. Last week they began designing digital stories, and today they returned to their saved work to develop their ideas further.

The children opened their previous files and explored the different pages they had already created. Using the arrows at the bottom of the screen, they were able to move backwards and forwards through their stories and think about how their animal characters could develop further. Many pupils added new ideas about what their animal likes to eat, where it lives, what it enjoys playing with and the sounds it might make.

A big focus of today’s lesson was learning how to add animation. The pupils experimented with the animation tools, testing different effects to see how pictures could move on the screen. They quickly discovered that animation can bring a story to life, and there were lots of smiles as characters began jumping, sliding and appearing across their pages.

The class also learned how to use play mode to watch their stories as a reader would experience them. This allowed the children to check their animations and see how the pages worked together as a complete digital book.

Throughout the session, pupils practised an important computing skill — saving their work. They learned how to save their files so that any new changes would overwrite the previous version, ensuring their progress was not lost.

By the end of the lesson, the children had extended their stories, added animation to their pages and enjoyed watching their creations come to life. We look forward to seeing how these imaginative animated e-books continue to develop over the coming weeks.