Spring 1 - Amazing Asia

Week 2 

We have had another busy and exciting week in Year 1, full of learning across lots of different subjects.

In English, we have been using adjectives to describe Rapunzel at different points in the story. We thought carefully about words to describe how she is feeling and what she looks like. We have also started writing our retelling of the story. So far, we have written the opening and the build up, and we are feeling very excited to write the rest of the story next week.

In maths, we have continued our learning on place value within 20. We focused on the teen numbers and explored different images and representations that show 20. We also started finding one more and one less than a given number up to 20, using objects, number lines and pictures to help us.

In geography, we went on a virtual walk around our local area. We identified human and physical features and talked about what we could see around us in our community.

In science, we focused on our learning about the seasons and looked closely at what winter is like. We recalled the four seasons and talked about the weather and months associated with winter.

In music, we learned more about high and low notes and learned a new song called Up and Down. We listened to everyday sounds and decided whether they were high or low. We also learned about the organ and discovered that long, wide pipes make low notes, while smaller pipes make higher notes.

In PSHE, we learned about how our bodies feel when we are nervous, worried or scared. We talked about who we can speak to if we feel these emotions and how sharing our feelings can help.

In RE, we learned about and sequenced the story of Jesus calling the disciples. We talked about what happened in the story and why it is important to Christians.

In computing, we continued programming Beebots. We had great fun predicting where the Beebot would end up and then taking turns to programme it to travel to different shapes on a map.

In art, we explored colour mixing. We mixed primary colours to create secondary colours and enjoyed experimenting to see what new colours we could make.

It has been another great week of learning in Year 1, and we are looking forward to continuing our work next week.

Week 1 

We have had a lovely first week back after Christmas and have really enjoyed settling back into our routines and learning together again.

In English, we started our new text Rapunzel by Bethan Woollvin. We made predictions about the story, sequenced the main events and explored some new ambitious vocabulary. We have been writing sentences using verbs and focused on words with the suffixes ed, ing and er. We worked hard to share our ideas and build confident sentences.

In maths, we finished our unit on shape by making repeating patterns using 2D and 3D shapes. We then started our new unit on place value within 20. We have been writing numbers as numerals and words and matching numbers to visual representations, using objects and pictures to help us.

In science, we learned about the differences between objects and materials and explored what objects are made from. We then enjoyed a fantastic science show all about materials, where Adrian showed us lots of interesting investigations that really helped bring our learning to life.

In music, we learned about our new composer Joe Hisaishi, who has produced lots of music for films. We found out that he learned to play the violin at the age of four. We explored pitch and sang Chick A Lo to show that we could use high and low notes.

In PE, we all enjoyed our first session with our sports coach. We listened carefully, followed instructions and had lots of fun being active.

In RE, we learned about Jesus and his disciples. We talked about how disciples are special friends and learned that Jesus had twelve disciples, as written in the Bible.

In art, we learned about the work of Clarice Cliff and recreated some of the bold shapes and bright colours she used on plates, bowls and jugs. We really enjoyed experimenting with patterns and colour combinations.

In PSHE, we learned about the importance of sleep. We discussed how much sleep we need and what a good bedtime routine looks like to help us stay healthy and ready to learn.

In computing, we used a Beebot app to learn how to code and control the Beebot to travel in different directions. We learned about debugging code, clearing an already written code and understanding what an algorithm is. We worked carefully to give clear instructions and fix mistakes.

It has been a fantastic first week back, and we are looking forward to another exciting term of learning in Year 1.

Autumn 2 

Autumn 2 Week 7

We have had a wonderful final week and a fantastic half term in Year 1.

In English, we have been planning and writing our independent write: a letter. We worked carefully to use the features we have practised this term, including capital letters, full stops, finger spaces and clear handwriting. We are really proud of how confidently we approached our independent work.

In maths, we have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes. We explored their names and features and enjoyed spotting them in our classroom and everyday surroundings.

In science, we have been learning all about animals. We found out and described how animals look different from one another and grouped animals according to their features. We learned that animals have senses to explore the world around them and help them survive, and that animals need to be treated with care and sensitivity to keep them alive and healthy. We also discussed what makes animals alive, including how they move, feed, grow, use their senses and reproduce. We recognised similarities between animals and looked closely at their structure, such as the head, body, how they move, their senses, body covering and tails.

In history, we learned about Sunita Williams and then focused on the chronology of all the explorers we have studied this half term. We enjoyed ordering them and thinking about when they lived and why their journeys were important.

In computing, we enjoyed designing Christmas jumper patterns using Keynote. We learned how to copy and paste and used our creativity to design bright and festive patterns.

On Monday, Charlie brought in delicious Lucia buns for us to try as part of a Swedish tradition. We loved learning about this special celebration and trying the tasty treat together. We also had our Christmas party day where we enjoyed playing games such as pass the parcel and spending time dancing with our friends.

On Thursday, we all enjoyed our Christmas dinner together in the hall. It was a lovely festive moment and so nice to share a meal as a year group. We also celebrated Christmas Jumper Day, filling the classroom with colour and sparkle.In the afternoon, we had a very special visit from Father Christmas, and we were very lucky to each receive a present! It was such an exciting and magical surprise.

To end the school week, we enjoyed our behaviour treat—playing crazy golf in the school hall. It was a brilliant way to celebrate our hard work and positive behaviour this half term. Finally, we finished the week in the most magical way possible with a special visit from some reindeer. It was a wonderful moment and the perfect way to end our festive celebrations.

We are so proud of everything we have achieved in Year 1 this term. Thank you for all your support, and we wish everyone a lovely Christmas break. We look forward to welcoming you back next term.

Autumn 2 Week 6 

We have had a wonderful and very festive week in Year 1.

In English, we have been writing the final outcome of our letters to the toys. We published our work this week and our letters look amazing. We have been working hard on our handwriting and focusing on using capital letters, full stops, question marks and finger spaces. We are so proud of how much progress we have made and how fantastic our finished letters look.

In maths, we have been finishing our unit on adding and subtracting within 10. We have used practical resources and number lines to help us find the answers and we have even been solving reasoning and problem solving questions to show our understanding.

On Tuesday, we went to the pantomime to watch Snow White. It was a huge success and we all enjoyed ourselves. We were brilliantly behaved and had so much fun joining in with the show. We even enjoyed some festive singing on the coach on the way back!

In PSHE, we explored who our special people are and what they mean to us. We thought about the people who help us, care for us and make us feel safe, happy and loved.  In French, we learnt about Christmas traditions in France and learnt some new Christmas vocabulary too!

This week we also performed our nativity - Born in a Barn! We were so impressed with how confidently Year 1 sang all of their songs and how beautifully they remembered their dances and actions. Everyone worked so hard and shone on stage. We are incredibly proud of them all. Thank you so much to everyone who came to watch and for all the support this week—it meant so much to us.

Autumn 2 Week 5

We have had another lovely and busy week in Year 1, full of creativity, hard work and lots of festive excitement.

On Monday, we set off on a wet and muddy outdoor learning adventure as we stepped into the shoes of the characters from the Nativity story. Our walk took us through the forest and field, where we recreated Mary and Joseph’s long journey to Bethlehem. As we travelled, we kept our eyes peeled for the bright star that guided the wise men, imagining what it would have been like to follow it across unfamiliar lands. We even sang some of our Nativity songs along the way, helping the story come alive around us.

Once we reached the forest, we re-enacted the journeys of the shepherds and the wise kings as they travelled to visit the newborn King. We thought about how they might have felt and the challenges they would have faced on their way. During our walk back to school, we spread the good news that Jesus had been born, just as the shepherds did all those years ago. Along the route, we gathered leaves, pinecones and other natural materials, which we later used to create our own festive wreaths. It was a wonderful morning filled with imagination, learning and Christmas spirit—despite the mud!

In maths, we have been adding and subtracting within ten. We are becoming more independent with our number work and have been using number lines to help us find the answers accurately.

In English, we have worked really hard to start writing our own letters. Our letters are asking the toys for help to rescue another toy from the attic, and we have been focusing on using and, capital letters, full stops, question marks and writing in the first person. We have also enjoyed using actions to help us remember our sentences before writing them down.

This week has been our Elf Enterprise Week, and we have loved making our Sweetie Sleighs ready to sell at the Christmas Fair on Sunday. We have been very busy working as Santa’s little elves in the Year 1 workshop, showing great teamwork and concentration.

We have also been practising our nativity songs and are getting very excited for our performance next week. We are sounding wonderful and really enjoying the chance to bring the story to life.

It has been a fantastic week, and we are looking forward to even more festive fun ahead.

Autumn 2 Week 4

We have had a lovely week in Year 1, full of learning, teamwork and lots of smiles.

In English, we started our new non fiction unit about writing a message and a letter from a lost toy. We have been practising using capital letters, full stops and finger spaces, and we are becoming much more confident at writing clear sentences. Mrs Bradley and Mrs Bass have been so impressed with how hard we have worked and our wonderful writing.  In maths, we have been adding and subtracting within 10. We used cubes, number lines and pictures to help us solve problems carefully and accurately.

In RE, we learned about the Three Kings Festival, also called Epiphany. We found out why this festival is important to Christians and how people celebrate it in different places around the world.  In music, we have been very busy rehearsing for our Christmas nativity. We are learning our songs beautifully and are already sounding wonderful. We are so excited to share our performance with you soon. In PSHE, we talked about rules and why we have them. We also learned about British Values, focusing on the rule of law and how rules help our country run smoothly and keep everyone safe.

In French, we recapped our colours and numbers and listened to a story called Je m'appelle Monsieur le Loup. We enjoyed hearing familiar words and trying out some new ones.  In history, we learned about Captain Scott and Roald Amundsen and their race to the South Pole. We explored why Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole first and compared the choices each explorer made.

It has been a fantastic week in Year 1. We are enjoying our learning and getting very excited for all the festive activities still to come.

Autumn 2 Week 2

We’ve had a very busy and exciting week in class, packed with learning across all our subjects.

We began writing story sentences inspired by the book Old Bear in English. We planned our Octopus opening and built up our Bear section. We also explored the characters’ thoughts and feelings and described the setting to help bring our stories to life. In Maths, we continued working on addition problems and applied our learning to real-life word problems. The children used practical resources to help them add numbers together. They have done brilliantly, and this will prepare us well as we move on to subtraction next week.

This week we visited Nightingale’s Farm! We saw chickens, sheep, goats, and pigs and we even had the chance to feed some of them. This visit helped us deepen our understanding of animal groups and their features from Science, which we started learning about last week. In RE, we looked at the Nativity story. We used props to retell the story and thought about why it is important to Christians. In History, we learned about the famous traveller Ibn Battuta, who lived 700 years ago. The children recalled some of the places he visited and discussed why his travels were so important.

On Tuesday, we visited the war memorial for Remembrance Day. The children showed great respect as we remembered the soldiers who have served and sacrificed. In Music, we began learning some of our nativity songs on the ukulele. The children really enjoyed making music together!

Autumn 1 - Native Narratives

Autumn 1 Week 7

This week in English, we’ve been busy writing all about our local area! The children have done some fantastic independent writing about Millennium Green, our school, and the local shop. They’ve worked incredibly hard to remember their finger spaces, capital letters, and full stops, and we are so proud of the progress they are making with their writing skills. We’ll be continuing our local area writing next week, and we can’t wait to see what the children come up with next!

In Maths, we’ve been learning how to write addition sentences. We’ve explored the symbols + (add) and = (equal to)and used part-whole models and other hands-on resources to help us understand how numbers fit together. The children are also making amazing progress with their number formation, and it’s brilliant to see their confidence growing.

Our Phonics lessons have been full of excitement as we continue with Phase 5. This week we explored alternative graphemes and learned some new sounds: aw, wh, ph, and ew. The children are enjoying spotting these sounds in words and using them in their own writing.

In Geography, we’ve been learning all about maps. We looked at paper maps and compared them with the digital maps we see today, like on phones or in cars. We explored what a map key is, and discovered that, unlike the keys that unlock doors, a map key unlocks the meaning of the symbols on a map! The children even created their own map keys for our local area. In Art, we’ve been working hard on our 3D sculptures of the local area. It’s been exciting to see the children’s creativity as they build models of familiar places.

In French, we’ve been reading Le Roi Vert and practising how to describe the clothes we are wearing. Très bien, everyone! Our Music lessons have continued with the ukulele, and the children are doing a fantastic job learning to play this fun instrument.

A big highlight of the week was our Class Worship with Year 3 and Year 1, both in school and at St Paul’s Church, where we shared all we’ve been learning about Harvest. We sang Harvest Samba, shared drawings of our favourite foods like apples, pizza, and roast dinners, and talked about how Harvest is a time to thank God for the food we eat. We also reflected on how some people don’t have as much, so we made pretend meals to share and thought about how we can care for others in need. Year 3 performed a beautiful poem filled with Bible verses about the harvest season. We finished our worship with prayers of thanks for food, farmers, and the strength to grow and harvest crops. It was a joyful reminder that Harvest is all about being thankful and sharing with others.

Autumn 1 Week 6

We've had a fantastic week in Year 1!

This week, we began our new Writing topic all about our local area. Our main focus has been writing in full sentences using capital letters, full stops, and finger spaces. Some of us have even been practising our lead-ins in handwriting and starting to use them in our writing. We’ve also started using the word ‘and’ to join our ideas together. We are very proud of how hard everyone is trying with their writing! In Maths, we’ve started our topic on addition and subtraction within 10. We have been learning about partitioning numbers and have been introduced to part-whole models. The children have shown fantastic perseverance and resilience as they’ve explored this new way of thinking about numbers. 

In Geography, we’ve been learning to use directional and positional language, including North, East, South, and West. We found out what a compass is and how to use one. The children loved going outside to follow the compass and discover which animals were hiding in each direction. We continued our sculpture work in Art this week using paper as our material. The children applied their learning to create buildings and objects they might see in school. We have some very creative designers in Year 1! In Science, we explored mirrors and used them to help us draw self-portraits. We talked about the features that make each of us unique and took care to notice all the little details in our faces.

We joined Year 3 for a special RE OAL this week. We have been learning about the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot in RE. We discussed that Sukkot is a Harvest Festival celebrated by people who belong to the Jewish faith. We talked about how Jewish people sometimes use a language called Hebrew and sukkah is a Hebrew word for a type of tent. Sukkot is celebrated during the autumn and it lasts for seven days. We spoke about the preparations for Sukkot and how people build a sukkah. The children learnt that a sukkah must have at least three walls and the roof must be something found from the ground, such as plants. We also learnt that Jewish people spend as much time as possible in their sukkah for the whole week of Sukkot. They eat all their meals in the sukkah and say a prayer to thank God for Sukkot. The children built their own sukkahs in groups in the woods using sheets, string and natural objects. We ate biscuits in our sukkah’s too! 

Our theme in Worship has been ‘Caring for Creation’, linking beautifully with our new RE topic on Creation. The children have created wonderful drawings representing the seven days of creation and have been learning the Bible story with actions to help them remember it. In Music, we’ve continued learning how to play the ukulele, and in French, we’ve been practising our colours through the story of Le Roi Vert. Très bien, Year 1!

We’ve also been very busy practising for our upcoming Harvest worship. We’re so excited to welcome our families to St Paul’s Church on Sunday, and again at school on Monday, to share our learning and say thank you for the wonderful world we live in.

Autumn 1 Week 5

What a busy and exciting week we've had in Year 1!

As part of Black History Month, we have started learning about Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the first Black female bishop in the Church of England. In English, we read about her amazing life and all the barriers she faced to become a vicar and then a bishop. We thought about the word "proud", and wrote about things we are proud of and what Rev. Rose might be proud of too. We also thought of some brilliant questions we would ask her if we met her.

In Maths, we’ve been learning to order numbers on number lines, even when the numbers go backwards or when the number line doesn’t start at 0 or 1! We’ve worked hard on solving number problems and are now ready to begin learning about addition and subtraction. In Art, we’ve been creating animal sculptures using strips of paper. The children have been folding, bending, and twisting the paper in different ways to make fantastic creatures like snails, monkeys, giraffes, and snakes. Our classroom is full of creativity!

In RE, we’ve been thinking deeply about the big question: "What can we do to help those who don’t have a good harvest?"
The children have shown wonderful reflection and kindness in their answers. During Worship, we’ve continued to explore Black History Month, and for Spirituality Day, we had a special worship with Rev. Ben. We spent time learning about our school vision:
✨ "As God's family, together we achieve." ✨
We learned about St Paul and his letters, especially Romans 12:4–8, which tells us that everyone has special gifts. The children thought about their own gifts and talents, drew pictures of them, and we made a lovely video to celebrate!

In Computing, we’ve been learning how to edit text using iPads, and in French, we’ve continued learning our colours through stories and games.

Autumn 1 Week 4

We've had such a fantastic time in class this week, with so much exciting learning happening across all subjects!

In Maths, we've been exploring the language of more, fewer, and the same, using the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to decide whether Mummy, Daddy, or Baby Bear had more or fewer cubes. We also learned about the symbols for greater than (>), less than (<), and equal to (=), and met Blockzilla from Numberblocks! We even made our own Blockzillas using straws and cubes to compare numbers. The children have done an amazing job and are already using this knowledge in other areas of their learning.

In English, we’ve started a new poetry unit. We learnt the poem Where Zebras Go by Sue Hardy-Dawson and explored some of its exciting vocabulary, including sirocco, shallow, and wallow. We were especially interested in the rhyming patterns! The children also learnt and performed the poem Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, showing great enthusiasm and expression.

In Science, we’ve been thinking about what makes us unique. We talked about the differences in our own features and how we are both the same and different from others. Our RE learning focused on the Jewish festival of Sukkot. We explored the rules for building a Sukkah, including the need for three walls and a natural roof. We also learnt about the Star of David and discussed how it connects to Judaism, just like the Christian cross links to Christianity. In Worship, we’ve been focusing on the values of tolerance and generosity. The children created thoughtful five-finger prayers to pray for their friends, families, and others in the world.

In Outdoor Adventurous Learning (OAL), we had a wonderful session with Wild One Adventures! We took part in a Maasai jumping competition, crowned a King of the Tribe, and trained to be warriors. We also learnt about North, East, South, and West through fun games, searched for the biggest and smallest conkers we could find, played musical instruments, swung in hammocks, and enjoyed warm juice to finish off a fun-filled day!

In Music, we’ve been continuing our ukulele lessons, growing more confident with each session. In PSHE, we’ve been exploring different emotions and how to recognise and manage them. Finally, in French, we’ve loved learning the song Arc en Ciel (I Can Sing a Rainbow) to help us practise all the colours in French and we’re getting really good at them!

Autumn 1 Week 3

What a busy and exciting week we've had in Year 1!

We’ve been working hard to finish our retellings of Little Red Riding Hood and The Maasai Warriors in English. We made sure to use capital letters, full stops, and finger spaces in all our writing. Now, we are getting ready to innovate the story by creating our own versions. To help us, we’ve been researching African animals like giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and zebras. We’ve now planned our own innovated stories, and we can’t wait to start writing them independently next week!

In Maths, we’ve been learning all about 1 more. We used resources, number lines, and number tracks to help us understand. We’ve also been counting backwards, blasting off rockets with a big "Blast off!" as we reach zero. This has helped us start thinking about 1 less too.

This week in Science, we explored the parts of the body and our five senses: sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste. We had fun matching each sense to the correct body part. In Geography, we’ve been learning about human and physical features in our local area. After going on a local walk, we sorted the things we found into the correct category. We continued our musical journey by learning more about the ukulele. We're beginning to understand how to hold it and strum along with the rhythm.

This week in Worship, we've been thinking about giving sacrificially. We created a beautiful Generosity Tree in our classroom. Each leaf shows something we’ve given up for others. In RE, we’ve been learning about the story of Exodus and the life of Moses. Next, we’ll begin learning about the Jewish festival of Sukkot as part of our World Faith learning. In French, we read the story Petit-Bleu et Petit-Jaune and practiced saying our colours. Très bien, Year 1!

What a fantastic week of learning, we are so proud of everything you’ve achieved.

Autumn 1 Week 2

Year 1 have had a busy and exciting week, diving into our learning across all subjects. In English, we have been exploring the characters in our text Little Red Riding Hood and the Maasai Warriors. The children have loved getting to know the story and have already learnt our class story map, which helps us remember the sequence and language of the story. This has been shared with parents on Seesaw, please take some time to practice retelling it together at home! We've also started writing our own retellings, working hard to use capital letters and full stops correctly. 

In Maths, we’ve been learning how to count on from different numbers. We’ve used practical resources to show numbers in different ways and have also been practicing writing numbers as words. In RE, we read a passage from the Bible and spoke about Jesus’s commandments. We discussed how these relate to the importance of Harvest and talked about the difference between good and bad harvests. The children had some thoughtful ideas about how we can help those who don’t receive a good harvest. During Worship, we continued exploring our school value of Generosity through the story of Johnny Appleseed. The children enjoyed hearing about his life and how he shared what he had with others.

In Art, we became sculptors! Using only paper, glue, and a big dose of creativity, we designed and built our own paper sculptures by rolling, twisting and folding. Some children were so inspired they went home and had another go. Music has been lively as always! We continued learning about the ukulele and how to play it. The children are beginning to understand rhythm and how to hold and strum the instrument correctly. Finally, in Geography, we went on a local area walk around Hoddlesden to spot both human and physical features. We found hills, buildings, the war memorial and lots of houses. The children were brilliant explorers and had lots of observations to share back in class.

Autumn 1 Week 1

We've had a brilliant start to the term with lots of exciting learning across all our subjects!

This week in English, we started reading Little Red and the Maasai Warriors. We explored the Maasai tribe and compared their way of life to our own. It was fascinating to learn how different cultures live! We also spent time discussing the character of Little Red Riding Hood, thinking about her appearance and personality. Along the way, we learned some new vocabulary, including tribe, Maasai, fear, and cloak. In Maths, we have been busy sorting and counting. We've been learning and using our special Year 1 counting rules to help us count accurately. We also discovered new ways to share our total number with each other. We've had lots of fun counting different objects to help deepen our understanding.

We began thinking about Harvest this week in RE and how it is a special time to thank God for the food we have. We talked about Harvest being God’s gift to us and thought about our favourite foods. We enjoyed drawing lovely pictures of the foods we’re most thankful for! In Worship, we have been focusing on generosity—how we can be generous to others at school and at home. We also discussed the British Value of tolerance and what it means to respect and accept others, even if they are different from us.

Our Science learning this week has been about  Autumn. We looked at the signs of autumn all around us and created colourful posters to help us remember what to look out for—falling leaves, conkers, shorter days, and more! In PE, we have started practicing our throwing and catching skills. We learned how to do both overarm and underarm throws and aimed to land them in hoops. In Art, we explored the amazing paper work of artist Samantha Stephenson. We had a go at recreating her style using paper, and we loved experimenting with shapes, colours, and textures.