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 discover 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 encountered.

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 their learning about addition. They explored part-whole models, wrote number sentences and investigated fact families, discovering how three numbers can be used to make four related number sentences.

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 learnt about the Hindu festival of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights. We discussed how Diwali is celebrated, including the use of colourful rangoli patterns, beautiful lights and diva lamps. The children then had great fun creating their own beautiful mehndi-inspired patterns.

In Science, the children began their new topic, Properties of Materials. We explored a range of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, metal, glass, fabric and rubber. The children investigated different objects, thinking about what they were made from and how we could describe their properties.

Spellings for next Friday's test

Group 1:

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

Tricky words: the, a

Group 2:

bird, dirt, girl, shirt

Tricky words: the, a

Group 3:

pain, rain, sail, tail

Tricky words: the, a

I have written your child's reading group in their reading log.

Children in Need

Friday 13th November – children are welcome to come to school in non-uniform to support Children in Need.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, and hopefully we will see many of you at the fireworks!

Mrs Flatley

 Hello everyone,

 

The children have worked incredibly hard this half term and have settled into their new Year 1 classroom and routines so well. We are very proud of how enthusiastically they have embraced their learning and how much progress they have made. Well done, Year 1!

 

I’m sorry that I had to cancel our parent consultations this week. I look forward to meeting with you all on Wednesday 4th November and having the opportunity to discuss how your children are settling into Year 1.

 

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

 

English – Next week, 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 also have the opportunity to tell stories and describe incidents from their own experiences. They will be writing labels for the animals from the story and using adjectives to describe them.

 

Maths – The children will be exploring subtraction within 10 and place value within 20.

 

Science – Our topic will be ‘Uses of Everyday Materials’.

 

Geography – We will be exploring the topic ‘What is it like here?’

 

RE – The children will be learning about the religion of Islam, as well as exploring the Hindu festival of Diwali and the Christmas story.

 

Design & Technology – Our topic will be ‘Eat More Fruit and Vegetables’.

 

Computing – We will be exploring ‘Computing Systems and Technology Around Us’.

 

PSHE – The children will be learning about ‘Helping Myself and Others Feel Happy and Safe’.

 

Have a wonderful half term, and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday 2^nd November.

 

Mrs Flatley

 Hello

This week, the children have been enjoying the story Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson.

The children have been using adjectives to describe the witch and some of the objects she lost along the way. They also had the opportunity to label an illustration from the story. We have continued to focus on sentence writing, with the children working hard to remember their capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.

In Maths, the children continued exploring the greater than, less than and equals symbols to compare numbers. They enjoyed helping Blockzilla from Numberblocks, using their knowledge of numbers to decide which numbers were greater than, less than or equal to each other. They also explored number lines, finding numbers in the correct positions and filling in missing numbers. These activities helped to develop their understanding of number order and comparing numbers.

In History, the children really enjoyed becoming toy detectives! They investigated a variety of toys, sorting them into old and new. They looked carefully at the materials the toys were made from, their appearance and any signs of wear and tear to help them decide whether the toys were old or new. The children had great fun investigating the toys and discussing what they noticed.

In Science, we ventured out into the playground to observe and sketch a tree in Autumn. The children made careful observations, looking closely at the colours of the leaves and noticing signs of seasonal change. They took their time to capture what they could see in their sketches, developing their observation skills and learning more about how trees change throughout the seasons.

In Art, the children began preparing for their Paul Klee-inspired portraits. They have been practising their shading techniques, learning to shade in one direction, control the pressure of their pencils and ensure there are no gaps in their shading. They have worked hard to develop these skills and will complete their portraits on Monday. I look forward to seeing their finished artwork!

Well done Year 1, for another fantastic week of learning! You have worked so hard. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs Flatley

 Hello everyone,

It’s been a very exciting week in Year 1!

English

At the start of the week, the children were surprised by the unexpected arrival of Evil Pea! He created lots of mischief in the classroom, and the children enjoyed investigating what he had done before writing reports about the mess he had made. They were delighted when Supertato arrived the following day to make sure Evil Pea behaved himself!

The children came up with some wonderful adjectives to describe Supertato and used these to write sentences about him. They also let their creativity and imagination shine by designing their own superhero fruit or vegetable. We were so impressed with their fantastic ideas!

Maths

In Maths, the children explored the vocabulary more, fewer and the same. They built towers using cubes to investigate these concepts and practised using the correct mathematical vocabulary to compare their towers. They also compared and ordered numbers and quantities using digit cards, counters and tens frames.

Science

In Science, the children have enjoyed exploring the season of Autumn. They created autumnal-coloured handprints, which they cut out and added to our seasonal tree classroom display. They also used PVA glue and orange tissue paper to decorate pumpkins, creating some lovely autumnal artwork.

Next week, weather permitting, we will head outside to observe and sketch the trees in our playground, looking carefully at the changes we can see during Autumn. We will also be painting our own autumn trees, using the colours of the season for inspiration.

PSHE

In PSHE, the children continued to explore emotions. They discussed when and why people experience different emotions and thought about how our feelings can change throughout the day. The children identified times when they had experienced particular emotions and wrote about their own experiences. This encouraged them to reflect on their feelings and consider what might make them feel happy, sad, worried, excited or cross.

Art

In Art, the children enjoyed exploring Castle Garden by Paul Klee. They looked carefully at the different shapes within the artwork and searched for objects and images they could recognise. They then used shapes to create their own faces. Next week, the children will be building on these skills by using their drawing skills to create their own self-portraits.

Well done, Year 1! You have all worked so hard this week.

I hope you all have a lovely, restful weekend!

Mrs Flatley

 

 

 Hello everyone,

 

It was lovely to see so many of you this morning at our Harvest Festival coffee morning. The children have absolutely loved learning their songs, and I’m sure you’ll agree that they sang beautifully!

 

This week in English, we have been enjoying our work based on The Scarecrow’s Wedding by Julia Donaldson. The children worked hard to write sentences describing the main characters. They also created postcards describing the sights from the story and made a shopping list to help Harry and Betty prepare for their big day!

 

In Maths, the children have been counting backwards within 10. They made amazing rockets and enjoyed counting backwards in order to launch them! They also found 1 less using tens frames and counters. The children compared groups and explored the vocabulary fewer, more and the same.

 

Our Science topic this week has been all about Autumn. The children used the wonderful seasonal objects they collected to draw and name things we see at this time of year. They were full of ideas and very keen to share their thoughts about the signs of Autumn.

 

In RE, we’ve been learning about Harvest traditions. We’ve had some thoughtful discussions about where our food comes from and why Harvest is an important time for giving thanks.

 

Next Week in Year 1

English

 

The children’s learning will be based on the wonderful Supertato books by Sue Hendra. They will be describing characters from the story, sequencing events, creating their own superhero fruit or vegetable and writing speech bubbles.

 

Maths

Next week, the children will be learning about greater than, less than and equal to. They will also compare and order numbers and objects and will be introduced to using number lines.

 

Science

We will continue our exploration of the season of Autumn. The children will enjoy a nature walk around the school grounds to observe signs of Autumn in the environment. They will also sketch a tree in the playground, which we will revisit and sketch again during Winter, Spring and Summer to observe how it changes throughout the year.

 

The children will also create handprints using beautiful Autumn colours for our Science display and make pumpkins using tissue paper and PVA glue.

 

History

The children will investigate toys by examining their different characteristics, helping them to understand how toys have changed over time.

 

PSHE

The children will be thinking about when and why people show different emotions.

 

Art

The children will explore using different shapes to create a picture.

 

Reminders

Sharing Assembly – Monday 5th October

(for those who received a letter)

 

We wish you all a restful weekend!

 

Mrs Flatley

 Hello everyone,

It’s been another fantastic week in Year 1!

In English, we’ve continued exploring The Gruffalo’s Granny by Julia Donaldson. We have also been working hard on writing sentences correctly. The children have been trying their best to remember to include a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop at the end of each sentence. We will continue to focus on these important sentence-writing skills next week.

In Phonics, the children have continued revising their Phase 2 and Phase 3 sounds and tricky words. During our handwriting lessons, we have been practising correct letter formation and making sure we are holding our pencils correctly.

The children have also enjoyed their group reading sessions with an adult, where they have been developing their reading fluency, decoding skills and comprehension. They have worked incredibly hard!

In Maths, the children have been counting on from any number, representing numbers using counters and tens frames, and finding 1 more. The children have really enjoyed using practical resources such as dice, counters, digit cards and counting bears to support their understanding and make their learning fun and hands-on.

In Art, the children really enjoyed using pencils and crayons to create a variety of lines, exploring different textures and styles. I was very impressed with their enthusiasm and creativity!

In History, the children were very excited to share stories about the toys their parents, carers and grandparents used to play with. We looked at toys from the past and were surprised to discover that some of these toys are still enjoyed by children today!

In Science, we started exploring the season of Autumn. We talked about the changes we can see happening around us, including changes to the weather, trees and plants. The children enjoyed looking closely at signs of Autumn and sharing their own observations.

Next Week

English

The children will be exploring the story The Scarecrow’s Wedding by Julia Donaldson. They will be using adjectives to describe one of the main characters, writing a shopping list for the scarecrows’ wedding preparations and creating a ‘Wanted’ poster for the mischievous character Reginald Rake.

Phonics and Reading

The children will begin learning their Phase 5 sounds and tricky words. We will continue to practise our Phase 2 and Phase 3 sounds and tricky words to make sure these are secure, while beginning to introduce the new Phase 5 sounds. The children will also continue to develop their reading fluency, decoding skills and comprehension during their group reading sessions with an adult.

Maths

The children will be counting backwards within 20, finding 1 less, comparing groups and exploring the vocabulary of fewer, more and the same.

Science

To help bring our learning to life, we are creating an Autumn discovery table in the classroom. If you’re out and about this weekend, please keep your eyes peeled for any Autumn treasures your child could bring in, such as:

• Conkers
• Conker shells
• Acorns
• Pinecones
• Leaves in a variety of Autumn colours

Art

The children will be exploring shapes in Art.

PSHE

The children will be exploring different emotions and talking about how we recognise and manage our feelings.

History

We will continue to explore how toys have changed over time and compare toys from the past with toys that children play with today.

Notes

Harvest Festival

Years 1 & 2 – Friday 2nd October

Milk

If you would like your child to receive milk at snack time, you can place an order easily using the QR code displayed at the school office.

I hope you all have a restful and relaxing weekend.

Mrs Flatley

 Hello everyone,

We’ve had a very busy and exciting week of learning in Year 1! The children have been working so hard – well done, everyone!

 

In English this week, the children have been exploring the story The Gruffalo’s Granny by Julia Donaldson. The children were so excited to meet this ‘new’ member of the Gruffalo family and enjoyed revisiting the familiar characters from the story. They have been making predictions, sequencing events and describing characters using some fantastic adjectives.

Alongside our English learning, the children have continued their daily phonics lessons, enjoyed three group reading sessions with an adult, and developed their handwriting skills by focusing on correct letter formation and pencil grip.

 

In Maths, the children have been recognising numbers written as words, counting on from any number, and finding 1 more and 1 less. They have also been practising forming numbers correctly, developing their confidence and accuracy when writing numerals.

 

In Art this week, the children had lots of fun exploring the connection between music and drawing. They listened carefully to four different types of music and used what they heard to inspire the lines they created. The children experimented with changing their pressure, control and movement to reflect the mood and sounds of the music.

They thoroughly enjoyed this activity and produced some wonderfully expressive artwork, showing how music can inspire different types of lines and marks.

 

On Thursday, the children had fun visiting other classrooms to place their votes for the Year 6 House Captain. They also experienced ‘Friendship’ groups for the first time, where they discussed their favourite books and enjoyed sharing their reading choices with others.

Next Week

English

The children will continue their learning from the book The Gruffalo’s Granny. They will write a shopping list, make a wanted poster for the mouse and use their imagination to think about what they would do if they met a Gruffalo.

Maths

We will compare groups by matching, exploring concepts such as fewer, more and the same, and comparing numbers. We will also continue practising how to form each number correctly.

History

The children will be learning about the toys their parents, carers and grandparents played with when they were children. If you could talk with your child about your favourite toys from when you were young, it would be lovely for them to share what they find out during carpet time.

R.E.

We will be learning about thankfulness and Harvest traditions in preparation for our Harvest Festival.

PSHE

Continuing with our topic ‘Being Me in My World’, the children will be thinking about what it means to belong to our Year 1 class and how we can help everyone to feel happy, safe and included.

We hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Mrs Flatley