Friday, 14 November 2025

 Good Evening,


What a fun and busy week we have had in Year 1!


We began the week with Odd Socks Day to mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week. The children enjoyed discussing why we wear odd socks and explored this year’s theme, “Power for Good.” Today they looked fantastic in their spotty clothes for Children in Need and they loved joining in with the BBC live event Activate with Joe Wicks. Thank you so much for your generous donations.


In English, the children sequenced key events from the story Cave Baby. They practised using capital letters, full stops, and the conjunction ‘and’ to join sentences. To finish the week, they wrote thoughtful sorry letters from Cave Baby to his mum, apologising for drawing on the walls.


In Phonics, the children learnt the alternative sounds for i, o, e and a, as well as the new tricky words Mr, Mrs, Ms and ask.


Next Week

Maths – We will begin a new topic on 2D and 3D shapes.


English – Our focus text will be Sidney, Stella and the Moon by Emma Yarlett. The children will create “Lost Moon” posters, use the conjunction because to give reasons for their ideas, and write questions about what they would like to find out about the moon.


Science – The children will identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water and rock.


Geography – The children will use different classroom objects to create ‘messy maps’ of the classroom.


D&T – We will find out the class’s favourite fruits and vegetables and present the data in a pictogram.


Spellings for next Friday’s test are:


Group 1: open, post, most, so, be, being, she, he

Tricky words: do, to


Group 2: see, deep, jeep, sheep

Tricky words: a


We hope you have a wonderful weekend.


The Year 1 team


Friday, 7 November 2025

Hello everyone,


Welcome to the second half of the Autumn term! It was lovely to see the children back on Monday and to hear all about their half-term adventures.


In English, the children have been exploring the book Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson. When they arrived at school on Monday, they were surprised to find cave paintings on the walls—how mischievous! The children then wrote about a time when they had been a little bit mischievous themselves. They also described the woolly mammoth from the story and created some wonderful noun phrases to describe the other animals that Cave Baby saw.

 

In Phonics this week, the children learnt the sounds ‘ir,’ ‘ie,’ ‘ue’ and ‘u.’ They also learnt the new tricky words ‘their,’ ‘people,’ ‘oh’ and ‘your.’

 

In Maths, the children continued learning about addition. They explored the vocabulary associated with addition and applied their knowledge to solve a range of problems.

 

In Geography, the children used Google Earth to locate the UK, England, Potters Bar, and our school. They were so excited to spot familiar places on the map and particularly enjoyed seeing our school from an aerial view.

 

In RE, the children began learning about the religion of Islam. They showed great curiosity and respect as they discussed what they already knew and what they would like to find out.

 

Next Week

English – The children will continue working from the book Cave Baby. They will sequence key events from the story, use capital letters and full stops when punctuating sentences, begin to use exclamation marks, and use the conjunction and to join sentences.

Maths – The children will be introduced to subtraction using a range of practical resources.

PSHE – The children will take part in activities for Anti-Bullying Week.

Geography – The children will work in groups to create ‘messy maps’ of the classroom.

Science – The children will begin to explore a range of materials around the classroom.

Art – The children will create their own Paul Klee-inspired portrait.

 

Spellings for next Friday’s test are:

girl, bird, dirt, shirt, lie, pie, tie, cried

Tricky words:
the, a

 

Notes

Cyber Safety Presentation
We would like to invite all parents and carers to attend a Cyber Safety Presentation led by the Police Team next Wednesday, between 2:00pm and 3:00pm. The presentation will offer valuable, practical advice on protecting yourself, your family, and your data online. It will also explain how parents can help children make safe and responsible choices when using technology.

Odd Socks Day
Monday 10th November – children are encouraged to wear odd socks to celebrate individuality and mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week.

Children in Need
Friday 14th November – children can come to school in non-uniform with a spotty theme for a £1.00 donation.

 

PE Days

  • Monday – 30 minutes
  • Thursday – 1 hour
  • Friday – 1 hour

Please ensure that your child has their PE kit in school for these days. The PE kit should consist of:

  • Navy shorts or tracksuit bottoms
  • White t-shirt (with or without the school crest)
  • Black plimsolls for indoors
  • Training shoes for outdoors
  • Socks

 

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

From the Year 1 Team

Friday, 24 October 2025

 Hello everyone,

It was lovely to see so many of you at our parent consultations this week. The children have settled into Year 1 extremely well, and we are so proud of all their hard work and enthusiasm for learning — well done, Year 1!

Please see below for an overview of the topics we will be exploring next term.

 

English- Next week in Year 1, we’ll be diving into the wonderful story Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson! We’ll begin by reading and discussing the story together, thinking about the characters, the setting, and the amazing animals Cave Baby sees along the way. The children will then have the opportunity to tell stories and describe incidents from their own experiences. The children will be writing labels for the animals from the story and describing them using adjectives.

 

Maths- The children will be subtracting within 10 and place value within 20.

 

Science- The topic ‘Uses of everyday materials.’

 

Geography- The topic ‘What is it like here?’

 

RE- The children will be learning about the religion of Islam.

 

Design & Technology- Eat more fruit and vegetables.

 

Art- Self portraits in the style of the artist Paul Klee.

 

 

ICT- The topic ‘Computing systems and technology around us’. 

 

PSHE - Celebrating differences.

 

 Have a wonderful half term

 

The Year 1 team

Friday, 17 October 2025

 Hello everyone,

We’ve had a fantastic week in Year 1! On Tuesday, the children took part in an exciting STEM science workshop all morning, all about materials. They identified various materials and sorted objects based on their properties.

Next, they carried out an investigation to help the Three Little Pigs choose the best fabric for their curtains. After that, the children became engineers and worked together to build a house for the pigs using only 12 toothpicks and 20 jelly sweets.

The children had a wonderful morning—it was lovely to see them so engaged and excited throughout the activities. We hope you enjoy the photos below!









































































 

Next week

English

The children will be working from the much-loved book Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. They will use adjectives to describe characters from the story They will write a witch’s shopping list of weird and wonderful items needed to make a special magic potion and they will design and label their own character to join the witch on her broom, thinking about what makes their character unique.

 

Maths

The children will explore number bonds to 10 and continue learning about addition. They will also practice solving addition problems to build their confidence and understanding.

 

RE

The children will be learning about Diwali.

 

Art

The children will be exploring shapes

.

PSHE

The children will explore choices and consequences.

 

Notes

Parent Consultations

Wednesday 22nd (am) & Thursday 23rd (pm)

 

We hope you all have a restful and relaxing weekend.

Mrs Flatley, Mrs Blatch & Miss Russon