Week beginning 1st October 2018

Hello All,

We have been planning a class harvest festival this week and the children have decided they would like to sing harvest songs, do harvest dances and make a fruit salad. We are also collecting tins or packets of food for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Our class festival will be on Wednesday afternoon, but the food can be brought in any day next week.

Maths

We have been finding one more and one less than numbers up to 20. We have been working on writing our numbers correctly and adding number pairs to ten. The children have been counting beats to a tambourine to speed up their counting skills.

Next week we will be working on shapes and symmetry. The main focus will be triangles, circles, squares and rectangles. A great home activity would be to ask your children to name all the square objects in their homes, or all the circular things they can find etc.

English

The children have been creating story maps this week and learning how to sequence stories using language such as 'first, next, finally.' Next week we will be reading a new book called 'Where's My Teddy?' and our lessons will come from this story. The children will create a 'wanted' poster for the teddy, learn how to sequence the events in the story, create their own story and recognise the use of question marks.

History

We continue to look at toys from the past and present. Next week we will be sorting toys into groups and focussing on our favourite toys. We will be able to name the characteristics of different toys and put them into different categories.

RE

On Wednesday we will celebrate harvest and have planned activities for that afternoon. The children are very excited to make their fruit salads.

Science

As part of our topic on animals (including humans) we will be labelling different parts of the body.

DT

We have cut and painted the body parts for our caterpillars. Next week we will be looking at different materials that will help our caterpillars move in a wriggly way.

General Information

• Please ensure that your children have full PE kits in school at all times. This includes trainers and warm clothing for outdoor games.
• Many of you are paying for milk, but not all the children who have the option of a carton at playtime take the opportunity to drink it. Please have a chat with your children and ask if they still want milk. 
• Please remember to work on 'maths seeds' on a regular basis. It supports the mathematical understanding around the concepts we cover in lessons.
• Please bring a tin or packet of food for our collection for harvest.

I hope you all have a fun and relaxing weekend.

Ms Davis

Week beginning 24th September 2018

Hello parents and carers,

I did send out a blog on Friday, but for some reason it is no longer on our page so I am updating you today.
The children are really enjoying Year One and are having fun while learning. They are extremely good at tidying up, especially when I put one of their favourite songs on. As soon as they hear 'Happy' they go into clearing up mode and by the time the song has finished the classroom is back to it's original state.

Maths

The children are learning their number bonds to ten and above. They are recognising numbers on dice and dominoes without having to count them. This week we will be learning 'one more' and 'two more.'
We are learning how to count to one hundred. Towards the end of the week we will move on to 'one less.'

English

As you know, the children are becoming accustomed to writing lists, labels and captions. It was pleasing to see how much progress they have made when they created a list of things to do in a park. As we read different stories this week we will be looking at the emotions that the characters portray. The children will be creating a list from happy to sad, to learn as many different words for the feelings in between the extremes.
Towards the end of the week we will be learning about sequences in stories and the children will be identifying the beginning, what happens next and the end of tales.

D and T

This week we will be creating hungry caterpillars. The children will enhance their design skills by thinking about how to create caterpillars that move.
It will be fun to re-create the story with one of the caterpillars and the different foods!

History

We will be looking at toys from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's this week. The children will be learning how many years there are in a decade. They will recognise toys from different eras and complete the activity by sorting pictures of toys into the decades chosen.

RE

As it is harvest time I will show the children images of harvest celebrations in different cultures and religions. We will focus on Christianity and how we celebrate harvest time.

Science

The children will make lists of different animals in a range of categories, such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish.

I hope the children enjoy this week. Don't forget Book Club on Thursday and Friday this week!

MsDavis

Week beginning 17th September 2018

Hello Parents/carers,


We have had a lovely week, as the children are becoming accustomed to the new routines and activities. They are extremely good at tidying up. We put a song on and by the time the song has finished they have completely cleared away!


We have learned our number bonds to ten this week and how to find one more!


 In English we have created labels for our toy museum, made captions for animals and written a class story that uses repetition.


We have been learning about animals and that some live in water, some on land and some both. The children successfully completed a Venn diagram to show this information.


Next week we will be learning how to count to 100. We will find one more and one less that an number to 18. We will be counting on and back.


We start a new book on Monday. This week's book is 'Voices in the Park' by Anthony Browne. The theme will be to focus on what we do in parks. The children will be making lists, identifying and naming feelings, creating a class story map, using captions and sequencing sentences.


We will be looking at the toys that were popular in different decades, as the children learn and understand how long a decade is. We will be focussing on the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.


For our science lesson we will be becoming familiar with finding names for different fish, amphibians, reptiles birds and mammals. This will develop into a sorting activity.


For RE the children will be thinking about harvest time and how different religions have different ways of celebrating harvest. I will be asking the children how they would like to celebrate harvest in our classroom and we will make plans!


In the PSHE lesson we will be focussing on rules and responsibilities. This will be followed by a mindfulness session as the children learn different techniques to find a calm place.


I hope you all have a restful weekend.
YDavis

Week beginning 10th September 2018

Hello Year One,

We have had a wonderful week, with many different activities.

The children have been learning how to match objects to the correct numbers and recognise the numbers on dice and dominoes without counting. They have begun to estimate numbers and count forwards and backwards to twenty.

As a class they are calculating how many children are in school each day. They are working out the day of the week and the date each day.

It is great that so many of you are hearing your children read on a regular basis as it has a huge impact on their progress. Please can you remind the children to place their reading book and record card in the red box if they need new books. The red box is on the table in the cloakroom. Please can you send in the children's maths record books every Monday as we need to check them all. The blue maths records go in the blue box.

The children's independence is developing and they are able to make their own way to the classroom in the mornings.

The children should have a PE kit in school every day in a PE bag. They need shorts, a t-shirt and plimsoles. They also need a track suit or warm clothes with trainers as for the next few weeks they will be having outdoor sessions.

English

In our English lessons we have been learning how to make lists and captions. This will be continued next week. We will also be looking at patterns within text and identifying what labels are used for. We will be making a class book about pets, so if you have any photos of your own animals the children can bring them in.

Maths

In maths we will be learning how to count on and count back. We will be learning one more and one less.

History

 We will continue to learn about toys (new and old).

Art and DT

We used paints, glitter and different papers to create firework art this week. They were able to follow instructions well and created vibrant, colourful pictures. I was very pleased at how well the children cleaned up afterwards.
The children will be creating self-portraits in our art lesson and will use the egg boxes to make hungry caterpillars next week.

Religious Education

We will be learning about what religion is, what beliefs are and what practices people carry out when they are part of a religious group. If anyone from home would like to come in and share their beliefs and practices it would be great. Please let me know if you are available and would like to do this.

Science

We will be looking at a variety of animals and grouping them in various ways. We will be looking at similarities, differences and features of animals that are the same.


Mrs Robinson has been to visit us several times this week and has noticed how happy and settled the children feel.

I wish you all a happy and restful weekend and am looking forward to seeing the children next week.

Ms Davis and Mrs Wells

Week beginning 5th September 2018

Hello Year One,
What a fantastic beginning we have had this week. The children have all settled really well and seem happy and full of fun in school.

We have been exploring the new classroom, which has a hospital, reading corner, maths station, creative space and construction area.

The children love the magic box that comes out on a Friday and I'm sure if you ask them they will tell you all about it.

The children have done exceptionally well at coming to the classroom independently in the mornings and have adapted well to all the new routines etc.

Next week each child will be given a reading book. Please hear your children read as often as possible as it makes a huge difference to the rate of progress they make. Please write a comment in the reading journal to let us know that you have heard your child read and where they are up to. When the book has been read it will be changed the same day. Mrs Wells and I will hear each child read every week. When the books have been read the children will place them in the red tray in the classroom ready for Mrs Wells to change them.

We are beginning a topic on toys next week and it would be great if your child could bring one toy in to school. We will be looking at old and new toys, therefore if any parents/carers/grandparents etc could send in a toy from a different era that would be fantastic. If anyone would like to bring in a toy  and talk to the children about it that would be amazing! Please let me know if you or someone you know would like the opportunity to do this.

As you are aware we are in the process of redecorating the school and for the next few weeks the hall will not be available, therefore the children will need tracksuit and trainers as they will be outside for all PE lessons. The weather could turn colder soon so it is far better to be prepared. Plimsoles are not appropriate for outside PE as they will get wet.

In Year One we will not be using 'show and tell' as part of our work as the children will be required to bring things from home associated to the topic, for example, this term we will be asking for toys.

We will be reading 'The Hungry Caterpillar next week and it would be great if you could send in empty egg boxes so that the children can make caterpillars on strings.

Please could all children have their hair tied back for health and safety reasons.

We will be beginning to work from our timetable next week. If anyone would like a copy or to come and see how we plan the days please feel free to ask me.

The children were very tired today. I think they were exhausted from all the new things they have learned and because they have had a long holiday. I wish you all plenty of rest and a happy weekend and am looking forward to a busy week next week

Many thanks
Ms Davis