Y1- Birds, birds, birds....

We have had a fantastic morning in Year 1. We have had Mr + Mrs Farrington in who are keen birdwatchers and volunteers with the RSPB. In groups the children went out with binoculars to see what birds they could spot. They saw a lot of different species from robins, blue tits and green finches.

In the class room we made bird paper aeroplanes and measured how far they flew. Then we learn't some facts about some British birds. Why not ask your child what is interesting about a woodpecker? Or hat happens to a robins chest when they get older?

Y1- Forest school flags

On Monday the children decided they wanted to make some flags to show their Wild Thing wood. They chose a branch and then hit it in to the ground. They then designed and made their own flags!

Science week is nearly here!

Science week is nearly here (wb 5th Feb) and the teachers are all busy preparing some fantastic learning opportunities within all of the classes. We have some amazing activities lined up including the planetarium dome, drone flying, hands on experiments, a Science show and much more! 

If you haven't had a chance to make something for the Science fair don't worry you still have plenty of time. Remember it has to be something you can move using energy!

Also a quick reminder about our dress up day (dress up as a Scientist) on the Wednesday the 7th February.

Any questions please do ask your team or come and see me (Mrs Thorpe). 

Can anybody lend us some lights please?

Has anybody got any of the curtain fairy lights that we could borrow in Year 1 for a few weeks please? We promise to look after them and label them so we know who they belong to! If you have any of these packed away in your Christmas decorations in the loft please can we use them. If you do have any then could we have them by Weds/Thurs this week please.

Also have you got any kitchen roll tubes (not the toilet roll tubes) or pringle tubes we can have please? We will be making things with these this week. 

Thank you from the Year 1 team

Y1- Some fantastic writing!

Year 1 are thoroughly enjoying learning about explorers. Today we compared Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong. The children were able to write about the differences in the two missions. Why not ask them who they are? What did they use on their journey? What is different about the two explorers?

In Jigsaw today we looked at the story of ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’. We spoke about how to overcome obstacles in their learning. We then watched a Dojo video explaining about what to do if you are ‘stuck in the pit’. All the children knew they have to use the 4Bs and persevere!

Y1 Forest School- Clay wild things

Today the children used the book 'Where the wild things are' to make their own wild things using clay. They used the natural materials around them to add the features such as horns and teeth! 

Y1- Learning about explorers from the past

We are learning so much in Year 1 about the ISS and what it would be like to live and work in space. All of the children are enjoying watching the videos of astronauts such as Tim Peake and Chris Hadfield. This week we will be learning about explorers from the past. The children will be comparing Christopher Columbus' mission with that of Neil Armstrong. 

In Maths we will be starting our measuring unit. For the next couple of weeks the children will be using non standard units such as bricks and unifix to measure length and height of different objects as well as using rulers and meter rulers. Hopefully you would have seen the months of the year home learning that was in all of the book bags last week. It was set to try and get the children thinking about what happens in each month. 

Reminder- It is Forest School again for Autumn and Winter, full wet weather gear needed please. 

We will be starting our new phonics scheme Read, WrIte Inc this week. More information about this will be coming home shortly.

This week's learning!

The children have had a fantastic couple of days!

In literacy we have been learning more about life in space and two particular astronauts. The children created biographical accounts on Tim Peake and Chris Hadfield, learning about the special missions they completed! Can they tell you what they were?

In numeracy we have been finishing our work on telling the time to the half hour and matching it to the digital clock! We have also been working on our 2 and 5 times tables. Ask your child if they can count in 2s or 5s going up the stairs tonight?

In Art we started our portraits topic, looking at self-portraits. I think we have some budding artists amongst us! We also learned about pitch in Music, using a low and high voice to sing songs. Can your child sing a nursery rhyme in Daddy Bears deep voice?

With all this fantastic learning going on the children have been collecting many Dojo points for perseverance and being focused on the task! This week’s top Dojo scores came from Jolan and Orson. Well done boys!

For out praise assembly we wanted to congratulate:

Kuda for this amazing writing about the moon!

Mollie for her super sentences in her biographical accounts.

Isaac for his excellent writing in literacy this week.

Mia for her fantastic effort in her writing.

Jolan for his quick time telling and converting analogue to digital.

Orson for his brilliant attempt at working out his 3 times tables!

Well done year 1! A super end to the week.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

Autumn and Winter Forest School

This week in Forest School the children have been making 'Wild thing' pictures.

They have also been whittling hazel sticks using a folding knife

The children found some muddle puddles and started to make bridges and check the depth of the water 

One group decided to make some stakes and hit them in to the ground as flag poles! 

Y1 This week in Year 1

This week in year 1 we have started our Space topic. The children started the week by thinking of questions that they wanted to find out. We have now started to watch videos about different space objects. The children will write about questions to do with these objects and make up a fact file.

In maths we are carrying on with learning about time. We have looked at the different months of the year and days of the week. It would be good at home if you could talk about the months of the year. What month is your birthday? I will be sending home some maths home learning tomorrow that will help with this.

If your child wants to do dodge ball please can you put their name down in the office. Mr Gibson had 17 children today but the cut off is 15.

Thank you to everyone that made it to the parent information session this morning. Group reading books were discussed. We are in the process of buying new ones and replacing old books.

Y1 Forest School

Just a reminder that it is Forest School next week. I do plan on taking the children out in most weathers as we have the roundhouse for cover. However if the wind speed stays high then this might change our plans.

We aim to start Forest School again on Monday afternoon for the AUTUMN and WINTER group. Full winter, waterproof clothing will be needed please. If your child doesn't have this in school then they will not be able to come out as it is far too cold not to be wearing the correct clothing. Hats, gloves, trousers (waterproof ones as well if possible), top, fleece, waterproof coat that you don't mind getting mucky and wellingtons.

Y1 Class Dojo lesson- Your brain is like a muscle

Today we started to look at Class Dojo. We collated a list of attributes which we thought we should be seeing in our classroom. Then we watched a video about 'Mojo' the dojo who was struggling with his work. He found it too tricky so decided to give up. As a class we discussed how he needed to be a resilient tortoise and persevere. In groups the class were set a challenge to build a tower out of newspaper. This got their building learning powers working and they had to work together to overcome issues. The teams showed how they were resourceful spiders by planning and adapting. The children learnt how their brains were muscles. They need challenges so that they can grow stronger.

Y1- Welcome to 2018!

Welcome to the Spring term! We hope you had a restful Christmas break. This week in Year 1 the children will be writing about their holidays. We have started to think about our goals for this year and will be writing these at the end of the week. 

In Year 1 we will be introducing Class Dojo. This is a classroom tool which will be used by the staff to award points to individuals and groups. These points will be linked to our building learning powers. We will blog at the end of the week with full details. We want the children to have as much of a role in this as the adults and so will develop this further in the next few days. 

In Maths today we started looking at time. It is such good practice to give the children a chance to look at a clock (not just a digital time such as on a phone or a tablet). Have any of the children got watches for Christmas that they could wear? 

In phonics the children learnt about base words and suffixes. Today we added -s to the end of a word to change it from a singular to a plural. 

Just a reminder that Tuesday the 9th at 9am will be the Year 1 parent information session in the hall.