At the end of Spring One, year one had a Banquet to celebrate the end od the topic, Kings and Queens. The children made candles and scones. The dressed up in their best clothes too.

Week ending 14th June 2019

We have had a very busy week this week with our phonics. All the children have tried very hard and we are very pleased with their efforts and progress. Thank you for your continued support and we strongly encourage that you continue to practise phonics with the children at home as well as their weekly spellings and regular reading books.

This week in literacy, the children have been writing a recount of an African story called ‘Lazy Lion’. They have moved into creating a new story map with different African animals of their choice. The children have then added adjectives and conjunctions to their story maps to describe their new characters. Next week, the children will be using their own story maps to write their own African stories.

In numeracy, the children were challenged this week to answer problem questions relating to halves and quarters. For example, Daisy has 4 sweets and Liza wants a quarter of them. How many sweets will Liza get? The children were taught to share the sweets equally to solve the problem. We then moved onto consolidating 2 times tables by heart.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

To read our latest news for the week ending 7th June 2019, please click HERE

 

To read our latest news for the week ending 24th May 2019, please click HERE

 

To read our latest news for the week ending 17th May 2019, please click HERE

 

Week ending 10th May 2019

Time certainly flies! It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the first half of the Summer Term. We’ve been very busy in Year 1 these last couple of weeks.

It’s exciting to see how many parents have taken the time to come to the Year 1 open mornings. We had classrooms buzzing with parents enthusiastic to learn how to help their children read and how to support them in numeracy.

The Year 1 children have really enjoyed learning about plants. Each class has a couple of flower beds where the children have been planting flowers and potatoes.

We’ve got new toys for the children to play with at playtime: they’ve been enjoying building, skipping, and playing skittles.

In numeracy, we have been using a hundred squared to help the children count on and back in ones and in tens.   Click HERE to see an example.  We have also been finding number bonds of numbers up to 20. So for example number bonds of 8 are;

8+0=8

7+1=8

6+2=8

5+3=8

4+4=8

3+5=8

2+6=8

1+7=8

0+8=8

Children need to see the pattern of how to find the number bonds of a number.

In phonics, we continue to help children identify the main phoneme for each word, then sound it out and finally blend the sounds together in order to read the word. Please have a look at the reading journals as there are many words there to support your child.

Thank you,

Mrs. G. Manning and the Year One Team

 

Week ending 3rd May 2019

The highlight of the week for Year 1 children has certainly been our DT topic. The children have made and tasted fruit kebabs and Chaat. The children learnt about the importance of hygiene while cooking; they all washed their hands before touching any ingredient used. They were fantastic at taking turns and making their own Chaat.

We all sat together to enjoy eating the final product and again the children felt really proud of having managed to follow a recipe.

 

In literacy, we have been creating new story settings for a new adventure based on the story Jack and the Beanstalk. We have used drama to help the children describe the new story setting.

In numeracy, we have been learning about time. We have been using vocabulary such: one hour later and one hour earlier. The children have been using clocks to read time.

Please can we remind you to send in children’s coats, book bags and water bottles with their names on into school everyday.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

 

Week ending 5th April 2019

These last couple of weeks before the end of the spring term have been very busy but very exciting for children and adults alike as it was Parents’ Evening. Teachers and parents were able to strengthen their relationships in order to help the children. We will continue to appreciate parents’ views and take them into account. Thank you for all your support.

It is exciting to see how many parents have taken the time to come to the Year One classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their morning challenge.

Please make sure to continue spending a few minutes a day reading, writing or counting in 2’s, 5’s or 10’s.

Have a great break!

In literacy, the children have been learning about a poem. They acted out the poem and reflected on what it was about.

In numeracy, the children have been learning about 2D shapes and measure. We used vocabulary such as: long, longer, longest, short, shorter, shortest, heavy, heavier and heaviest, light, lighter and lightest to compare the measure of different objects.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

 

Week ending 22nd March 2019

The end of the Spring term is just round the corner. It is hard to believe that we are more than half way through the school year. The weather certainly does not confirm this, it feels as if we were still in winter.

The spring term is certainly short and busy, but very exciting for children and adults alike as we have Parents’ Evening this term. Teachers and parents will be able to strengthen their relationships in order to help the children. We will continue to appreciate parents’ views and take them into account. Remember to book your appointment on parent mail.

This week in Literacy, the children have been learning some traditional tales. We started the half term by practising writing instructions using the story of Hansel and Gretel. We then started to look at the tale of Rumpelstiltskin. The children received a letter from Rosalind who was trapped in a tall tower, and she attached a story map for us to learn and write up. Once we have learnt the story map, and are secure with our simple sentences, we will start to add adjectives to ensure that our writing is interesting.

This week in Numeracy, the children have been looking at solving one-step problems involving multiplication and division, by calculating the answer using concrete objects, pictorial representations and arrays with the support of the teacher.

Through grouping and sharing small quantities, pupils begin to understand: multiplication and division; doubling numbers and quantities; and finding simple fractions of objects, numbers and quantities.  Children are encouraged to make connections between arrays, number patterns, and counting in twos, fives and tens.

During numeracy lesson children looked at word problems.

For example:

Harry has 5 friends.

Each friend gives him 2 sweets.

How many sweets does he have altogether?

 

This week in Topic we have been finishing our Picasso style pictures. The children had ago at observational drawing. They then used colours to shade in the drawings and cut them into shapes. To finish off the children rearranged the shapes to create a cubism effect.

We have started Science this week and we have begun to look at signs of Spring. We were unable to get outside due to the weather but looked at a range of pictures to help with understanding.

In phonics we are preparing the children for their phonics screening test in June. You can help your child by getting them to read to you every day.

Phonics screening consists of 40 words, half are real words and half are made up. The children need to use their sounds to read the made up words.

Some examples of made up words are dat, rin, ept, coid, quass, blard, disp.

The children know they are made up words as they are seen with a picture of an alien.

 

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

 

 

Week ending 8th February 2019

On Wednesday 6th February we had our Banquet day. It was a fantastic day and we hope the children will cherish that experience for a long time. In the morning, we made our own crowns and our own scones with the guidance of our kitchen staff. In the afternoon, the children changed into their special clothes and we went to the Ks1 hall where they had cheese sandwiches, scones and some salad.

The children walked in twos as medieval music was played. It was a memorable day as the hall was decorated for our special Banquet to remember the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 in Westminster Abbey.

Thank you for supporting your child with this event by sending special clothes for the children to change into in order to go to the Banquet.

This week in Literacy the children have been writing up their information report on Queen Elizabeth. They have been using their plans to write facts under sub-headings that they created about the Queen. They wrote about whom she is, where she lives, what she does and who is in her family. They have worked really hard and once they finish they will start to edit and improve their sentences.

This week in Numeracy, the children have been looking at shapes.  In the beginning of the week children discussed the difference between 2d shapes and 3d shapes.  They looked around the classroom and the school to find 3d shapes and record their findings.  Key language was used to discuss the differences and similarities, eg cuboid, cylinder, cone, faces, vertices etc.   At the end of the week children focused on sorting out the shapes with different outcomes.

For example:

Pyramid and not a pyramid

Shapes with flat sides

Shapes with curved sides

This week in science, the children started a new topic: Materials. They started by identifying and sorting materials into plastic, wood, metal and paper. They identified the differences between the materials and sorted objects under the corresponding labels.

Please help your child revise for their spelling test. They love getting full marks.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

 

Week ending 1st February 2019

The weather is very erratic and we are now getting some very cold days. We like to take the children out during break as long as it’s dry, so please remember to make sure your child brings a warm coat, gloves, a scarf, and a hat to school. If it’s wet, children can wear wellies to school and bring their school shoes in a plastic bag.

I’d like to thank you for making sure your child brings their P.E kit to school. Please remember to label all pieces of clothing so we can give items back to the children if lost.

The children are improving with their spellings of the days of the week, the months of the year and numbers from zero to twenty so could you kindly keep working on these, just for a few minutes a day.

This week in Literacy the children have started to look at information report. We started the week by looking at features of fiction and non-fiction texts. We then looked specifically at noon fiction texts drawing out features such as titles, sub-headings, pictures and captions. The children then boxed up a plan of an information report about Prince George. They rehearsed subheadings and corresponding information. They are now ready to create their own plan for an information report about the Queen.

This week in Numeracy, the children have been looking at money.  In the beginning of the week children sorted out coins from the smallest amount to largest amount.  Key language was used to talk about money, for example pence, penny, one pound, two pounds, fifty pounds etc.  At the end of the week children focused on reasoning. The children answered questions by using ‘true or false’ statements and finally they gave a reason as to why they thought the answer was either true or false.

Here is an example:

A 2p coin is worth more money than a 5p coin because a 2p coin is bigger.

Are you struggling to find time to hear your child read? They can read their book to you while you are washing up. They can read to an older brother or sister. When you are out encourage your child to read signs, posters, labels etc. They need to use their phonic knowledge to read whether it is a school book or a sign in the shops or street names.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 25th January 2019

Time flies! We’re already more than halfway through our Spring Term. The weather keeps changing but the children have been able to enjoy playing outside!

It’s exciting to see how many parents keep taking the time to come to the Year 1 classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their Morning Challenge. Please keep this up! We all really appreciate your effort.

The weather is turning really cold. It’s still too cold for children to be outside without coats. We like to take the children out during break as long as it’s dry, so please remember to make sure your child brings a warm coat to school every day, even if it’s not cold in the morning, the weather has a habit of creating four seasons in one day! If it’s wet, children can wear wellington boots to school and bring their school shoes in a plastic bag.

 

Last week in Computing the children looked at Fairy tales to gather some ideas about the illustrations. We talked about how the illustrations are made. The children then created their own illustrations of a familiar story.

 

The children have settled in to their new phonics groups, some children have a different teacher while others have stayed the same. New spellings should be given this week for a spelling test next Friday. Remember to keep listening to your child read as this will help them, not only with their phonics, but in all areas of the curriculum.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 18th January 2019

Middle of January already! 2019 seems to be flying by! We are so proud of our children as their behaviour has been really good. They are also making good progress in phonics. Spelling tests will continue in two weeks’ time. For the time being please keep helping your children with their reading, homework and you can use reading journals to revise phonics.

This week in Literacy the children have started to learn a new book ‘Shhh, Don’t Wake the Royal Baby’. The children have learnt the story through the Talk for Writing process, starting off by learning it through actions. They have also practised using the story language used in the book such as ‘One Day’, ‘First’ and ‘Unfortunately’. This book corresponds with our topic for the term ‘Kings and Queens’, for which the children have learnt about the Royal Family, their heritage and traditions along with new vocabulary which they can use when working in Literacy.

In phonics this week, children have stayed in their own classes and have been sitting a mock phonics screening test. The year 1 team have been impressed with the progress some children have made so far this year. To help your child, please listen to him/her read regularly.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 11th January 2019

Time flies! Happy New Year to everyone!

It’s exciting to see how many parents keep taking the time to come to the Year One classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their Morning Challenge. Thank you!

The weather is unpredictable: we’ve had some very cold days. We like to take the children out during break as long as it’s dry, so please remember to make sure your child brings a warm coat, gloves, a scarf and a hat to school. If it’s wet, children can wear wellies to school and bring their school shoes in a plastic bag.

Our Year One classrooms and corridors are looking amazing with crafts made by the children during our Wow day to introduce our new topic, ‘Kings and Queens.’

It has been a busy week with Ofsted and our Nativity assemblies but the children have been brilliant all week.  Well done Year One!

 

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 21st December 2018

This week has been a busy week.  Children completed their recounts of the Nativity story. The art gallery was a success and it was extremely lovely to see lots of parents supporting the children. Please help the children with their fine motor skills during the holidays. The children can just use a ruler and a pencil and create a grid which they can then colour.

Have a lovely break and we will see you all again in the New Year!

This week in Literacy, the children have been writing up the story of the Nativity. They have been sure to incorporate all the skills they have learnt this term to include capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. The children used their practice from their nativity play to sequence their story.

This week in numeracy children have been looking at numbers, how to write numbers in digits and in words.  They were encouraged to count forwards and backwards in 1s and that they can start counting on/ back from any given number and that we do not always have to start from 0/1.  Children used this knowledge to solve word problems, such as

I am going to count on from 8 Will I say the number 6? Explain your answer.

I am thinking of a number that is one more than 11. What is my number?

Most of the children in year 1 have completed the read write inc phonics scheme and are now revising the sounds. We start with alternative spellings for the ai phoneme. The children have to choose the correct spelling choice for the word they are spelling.

An example is

a,          ai,     a-e,      ay, eigh

apron, rain, made, delay, eight

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 14th December 2018

Last Tuesday afternoon, during topic, the year 1 children spent an afternoon discovering their local area. Children were fascinated by how many leaves had fallen and changed colour, how the trees looked bare and some children felt that they looked lonely and cold. They had a lot of fun trying to spot buildings, places and shops in our local area. The children walked in twos and on the pavement, their behaviour was outstanding! We walked over the bridge and ran and screamed in the tunnel! The walk also linked nicely into our key objectives where children had to identify physical features and man-made features.

From this, in literacy the children have been sequencing the events of their walk and they have written a recount about the outing. The children have looked at verbs (action words) and used them in the past tense. We also emphasise the importance of thinking of a sentence, saying, writing and checking it so that their work make sense. The children have also started to edit their work, meaning they improve a given sentence using the features we have learnt.

This week the children have been working hard preparing for their nativity assembly. We hope many parents will be attending and supporting their children.

Last week in Numeracy children looked at the days of the week. They had to order them and write something that they do on each day. We moved on to the months of the year and children had to put them in order.  From this children were introduced to the seasons and once again children had to put the seasons into order.  Children had to identify which season goes with which month and they had to explain why they thought that and give evidence.   The children had to speak about what they do in the morning before coming to school and put events in chronological order.

For example,

First we get out of the bed.

Secondly we brush our teeth and have a wash.

Then we have breakfast.

Next we change our night clothes into school clothes and put on our coats.

Finally we walk to school.

Week ending 30th November 2018

The weather keeps changing and it is really getting cold now. Please ensure your child has a coat, a hat, gloves and a scarf.

Remember our doors are open on Friday morning so you can help your child with the morning challenge; it is great to see so many of you supporting this idea.

In Literacy, we have been using story maps to write our very own adventure stories. The children have drawn a story map and written stories based on ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ and created their own fantasy lands and transport for their character. We emphasised that a good adventure story needs to be in order of time, they need to have adjectives and they need to extend their sentence using ‘and’ or ‘because’. The children have come up with some amazing adjectives and were able to write up their story using their story map. We also emphasised the idea of ‘think, say and write’ in order for sentences to make sense.

In Numeracy we have been recalling the doubles of all numbers up to 10.  Children were encouraged to use concrete items to identify doubles such as numicon, teddies, cubes, toys cars etc

Double 1 is 2

   _{+                  =      2}

Double 3 is 6

+

 

= 6

 

Thank you, The Year One Team.

Week ending 23rd November 2018

The weather keeps changing and it is really getting cold now. Please ensure your child has a coat, a hat, gloves and a scarf.

Remember our doors are open on Friday morning so you can help your child with the morning challenge; it is great to see so many of you supporting this idea.

This week in literacy, the children completed their story. They worked really hard in innovating their own ideas from the original story. The children were encouraged to write the events in order, in past tense and to use ‘and’ or ‘because’ to extend their sentences. In addition, they used their prior knowledge of adjectives to describe their fantasy creatures for their adventure story. Once they had completed their story, the children, looked back and edited their work. They tried to improve their sentences by adding features of adventure stories that they had already learnt about. Then, using their knowledge of adventure stories, the children then started to plan their own story, using their own characters and imagination.

This week in Numeracy, the children have been looking at length, weight and capacity.  Children used a variety of resources to show their understanding of measurement.  Key language was used to talk about measurement and to compare two sets of measurements.  At the end of the week children focused on reasoning. The children answered questions by using ‘true or false’ statements and finally they gave a reason as to why they thought the answer was either true or false.

Here is an example:

 

 

 

 

To help the children with their handwriting, read write inc have letter formation rhymes. These rhymes and the accompanying picture help the children to form the letters correctly.

 

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 16th November 2018

On Monday, we had a special day ‘Parliament day.’ It was a really good day because the children were really engaged. It was a way to promote British values and help the children understand the importance of making our own choices. Children understood that at school their voices are heard via the school council. Every class votes to choose their representative just like adults vote to choose their MP.

This week is also an important week because the children have been learning about Anti-bullying and Respect. Children understand the importance of being kind to each other and to show respect by listening to each other and waiting our turn.

We will continue learning about British Values and Anti-Bullying during the year.

This week in Literacy, the children have been looking at describing characters using adjectives. They came up with a lovely story map and learnt actions, memorising the story of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. The children then used the story map to innovate their own story. They changed important parts of the story, while keeping the story language in order to create a fantastic class story based on the original.

This week in Numeracy, we started a new topic: investigate length, weight and capacity.  At the beginning of the week Year 1 explored length; they measured the length of different objects and had to find the difference in length.  Children were encouraged to use vocabulary such as longest and shortest.

Mid-week children looked at weight, they had to use balancing scales to compare different objects weight and were encouraged to use key vocabulary: lightest and heaviest.

Then children looked at capacity, children recapped on previous key words: full, empty, half full, half empty, nearly full, nearly empty.  Children used different items to fill containers.

At the end of the week children focused on reasoning, they had to identify and use the correct equipment to measure length, weight and capacity.

This week in topic, the children have been creating moving pictures. They designed their moving picture based on outer space and drew beautiful backgrounds and very colourful rockets. Next week, they create the mechanism to make their picture move!

The children have been working hard in their phonics groups and most children are making good progress. As the children work through the scheme of work you should hear them talking about digraphs, split digraphs and trigraphs. See if your child can point any out to you.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 9th November 2018

This is the second week of the half term and all the children have been working hard. The weather keeps changing so please remember to make sure your child has a coat as the children will always go out during the day for some fresh air.

Please remember to make sure all items of clothing are clearly label as we keep finding school jumpers with no names.

Thank you for supporting the children on Friday during morning challenge!

This week in Literacy, we started a new topic: Adventure stories! The children started off the week by going to different classes and learning about and reading different adventure stories. In class, we started to read ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. We began the topic by looking for clues about the characters of the story using only the words and pictures. Therefore, the children should be able to look at a picture and tell what is happening and explain how they know. By the end of the week, the children learnt how to retell the story using the story map and story language from the book.

This week in Numeracy we started to look at subtraction. We started the week by looking at what all the different words that we can use for subtraction, eg subtract, less, take away, minus, count back. We moved onto understanding that when we take away the number gets smaller than the first number.  Over the week children learnt to subtract by using different objects such as cubes, counting bears, pencils etc and by the end of the week children were able to draw circles. They did an excellent job as they were able to explain why they were drawing circles and why they were crossing a certain amount of circles to get to the right answer.

6 – 2 = 4

This week in Topic we have been sorting animals into categories. The children had to discuss what makes animals the same and different. Some children were able to decide on their own categories. The children have also been looking at how animals prepare for winter. The children were really fascinated and asked good questions in regards to hibernation and migration.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 2nd November 2018

The last week before Autumn half term was busy but very exciting for children and adults alike as it was Parents’ Evening Week. Teachers and parents were able to strengthen their relationships in order to help the children. We will continue to appreciate parents’ views and take them into account.

It is exciting to see how many parents have taken the time to come to the Year One classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their morning challenge. Thank you!

This week in literacy we started to look at poetry and rhyming words. We started the week by looking at what rhyming words were, and identifying them in the poem ‘Stegosaurus Wayne’. The children learnt a verse of the poem in groups and performed their verse to their peers. They did an excellent job and used actions to help them remember the rhymes. They started to create rhyming strings in which they had to think of as many words as possible which rhyme: e.g cat, mat, sat, pat…

At the end of the week the children put their knowledge of rhymes to the test to create a silly poem together as a class.

Wayne the Stegosaurus

Meet the stegosaurus, Wayne.
He doesn’t have the biggest brain.
He’s long and heavy, wide and tall,
but has a brain that’s extra small.

He’s not the brightest dinosaur.
He thinks that one plus one is four.
He can’t remember up from down.
He thinks the sky is chocolate brown.

 –Kenn Nesbitt

This week children have been looking at 2D shapes and their properties.  Getting familiar with 2D shapes names and key vocabulary such as straight sides, curved sides, corners, flat etc.

What do these shapes have in common and what are the differences.  Later on in the week children moved onto solving problems.

Extension – problem solving:
Can you name all the shapes you can see?

How many of each shape are there?

How are the shapes different, how are they the same?

In Topic we have been identifying different animals and learning to describe their features. The children have been looking at what makes the animals feel and look different, for example a fish has scales and a rabbit has fur.

After a half term break the children have settled straight back into their phonics groups. Some groups have revised the sounds taught last half term but are continuing through the read write inc programme. For more help on how to help your child at home you can find several videos on line. Here is a link to a video on blending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEzfpod5w_Q

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 12th October 2018

This week has been a great week! We had a Wow Day to support our topic ‘All Around the World’. The children had their own passports and visited different classes throughout the day to learn about different countries. In Willow class, they learnt about China; in Oak class, they learnt about Iceland; in Ash class, they learnt about Egypt; in Elm class they learnt about India and in Beech class, they learnt about France.

In topic this week the children have continued to explore countries in the UK. They had a lot of fun doing various activities for WOW Day on Wednesday in which they learnt all about the different landmarks in other countries around the world. They learnt about the pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China, The Northern Lights in Iceland, Taj Mahal in India, and the Eiffel Tower in France, along with other amazing facts about each of these countries. Following the WOW Day, the children started to plan to write a recount of their day.

In Numeracy, children have been exploring how to read and understand signs. The signs have different names and children are encouraged to use the different language to say the number sentence.

+ add, plus, addition, altogether.

= equals, total, makes.

Children then move onto finding all the different number facts of a given number. They have had to write their work in a systematic way.

Addition facts of 5

5 + 0 = 5

4 + 1 = 5

3 + 2 = 5

2 + 3 = 5

1 + 4 = 5

0 + 5 = 5

In the last newsletter you were able to see which sounds your child knew in set 1. If they are confident in set 1 they move on to set 2. Here are the set 2 sounds.

Over the last two weeks the children have been learning about the United Kingdom. They have been exploring England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The children have been learning to identify the capital cities.

Some of the homework handed in has been absolutely fantastic and we are really pleased with the effort some of the children have made.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 5th October 2018

Week 5 already! Time really flies and we have been really busy in Year One. The children have been working really hard at improving their hand writing, counting and reading skills. The weather is really starting to change so please make sure your child brings a coat to school every day.

This week in Literacy, the children started a new topic: Around the World. We started the week by exploring aerial views and understanding the concept of maps and how they can show us the location of different places around the world. Once the children understood the concept, they started to learn about different countries in the UK. We went on trips around England and Northern Ireland with Barnaby Bear, and explored the wonderful features of the countries in order to create some fantastic sentences (of course remembering to include capital letters and full stops).

This week in Numeracy, the children have been learning what length is, to compare lengths using new vocabulary.

They have learnt that they can measure the length a variety of objects: books, pens, pencils, different lengths of string, different shoe sizes etc.  Key vocabulary covered this week: length, long, longer, longest, short, shorter and shortest.  Children were encouraged to speak in full sentences using the new vocabulary to compare two items.

In phonics we learn the sounds in a set order. There are 3 sets. This is set 1.

Can your child read these sounds?

Thank you,

 

The Year One Team.

Week ending 28th September 2018

We  are pleased to know that the children are really improving in remembering to hand in their Learning Logs. Some children have brought in some amazing Rainbow homework, please keep on working on this. Thank you!

The weather has changed. Please, could you ensure that your child has a school jumper and a coat. We would also like to remind parents to ensure that P.E kits need to be in school every day.

This week in Literacy, the children have been learning where and when to use capital letters in their work. They have learnt that capital letters need to be placed not only at the beginning of a sentence, but also for proper nouns and the date. The children have been working really hard on rewriting sentences and placing the capital letters in the correct places. In addition, the children have learnt how to identify labels and captions. In their books, they practiced labelling and captioning different pictures using ‘and’ and ‘because’ in their sentences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In numeracy, the children have been exploring how to represent numbers as pictures.  Children have learnt how to use different objects dice, cards, dominoes, rulers, pencils to represent numbers.

Representing number 5

 

 

Each sound that has been taught in phonics lessons is practised over and over again until children can read words by blending the sounds they have learnt. The children are taught to use their fingers to help them spell the words; we call this ‘Fred fingers’. A finger is raised for each sound the children hear and the fingers are closed together and down as the sounds are blended to form the word. When your child is learning his/her spellings at home you may see them raising their fingers as they sound out the word to spell.

 

 

 

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

Week ending 21st September 2018

Week 3 already! Time certainly flies. On Tuesday at 3 o’clock many parents came to ‘Meet the Teacher’. Thank you very much for coming and please remember that all parents and carers are also welcome to help their children with their morning challenge on Fridays from 8:45 to 8:55.

The children have been working really hard and some fantastic rainbow homework is already on display in the different classrooms. A big thank you!

Could you please make sure your child has a water bottle at school and a coat, as the weather is starting to turn cold.

In Literacy this week, the children continued to read ‘The Sailor Bear’ and have been learning to predict what might happen in a story by using the pictures. The children have been saying and rehearsing their sentences before they write them down to make sure they make sense. They have continued to explore emotions and using key vocabulary in their work. As a class we have written a new, alternative ending to our story ‘The Sailor Bear’ which we compared to the original ending.

In Numeracy, children have been looking at finding one more and one less.  Children choose an object from around the classroom, measured it with cubes and then added one more or 1 less.

Children were encouraged to use true and false statements.

Number	1 More	True or false
9	10
6	4
5	6
1	3
8	9
4	5

In phonics some children have been revising their single sounds. They have been saying the sound, reading the sound and writing the sound. Sound letter pictures are used to help the children learn these sounds quickly.

 

 

 

The ‘my sound’ mat is used in class to help the children with their spelling and letter formation.

 

 

Week ending 14th September 2018

Thank you to all those parents who attended the meeting at 3pm on Tuesday with Mrs Manning. If you were unable to attend, you will be able to find the PowerPoint on the school website. Please remember that our open mornings are on Fridays at 8.45- 8.55 this year. Thankyou.

This week in Numeracy, we have been looking at numbers from 1-10. We read and wrote numbers in words and numerals.  Children were matching numerals with words, joining numbers with dot to dot games and word searches.

Year 1 has also been looking at how to represent numbers using a range of objects/resources e.g. counters, cubes, teddies, pencils etc. Children need to understand how a number means the same amount regardless of the objects used.

In Literacy this week the children have been reading ‘Sailor Bear’. We began by practising using ‘because’ and ‘and’ in our sentences to explain how we know something is true.

They have also been using a story map and actions to understand the sequence of the story while trying to describe and explain how the character is feeling. The children have been working hard in improving their letter formations.

In phonics, the children have been put in different groups to help them with their phonics. The children will be assessed regularly and may be moved to a different class. Spellings go home on Friday and the children are tested each Friday.

For information on how to say the sounds please use this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYx1CyDMZSc

We have received some fantastic homework from the children this week.

Some children have already completed some tasks from the Rainbow homework.

Here is a train and a flag.

I would like to remind parents the weather keeps changing so please ensure your child brings a coat to school every day. At playtimes, the children have enjoyed playing with the toys in the playground.

We are here to help, make sure you talk to your class teacher or the Year Leader if you have any concerns.

Thank you,

The Year One Team.

 

Week ending 7th September 2018

We had a very first good week back in Year One; most children are completely settled into the new routines. They’re looking very smart in their uniforms.

This week in Numeracy, we’ve been learning to count up to ten. We’ve been representing numbers in numerals, writing them in words, and drawing objects that represent each number.

In Literacy, we read the book ‘The Train Ride’. We identified patterns and we retold the story using a story map. The children wrote simple sentences remembering capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.

At playtimes, the children have enjoyed playing with the toys in the playground.

I would like to remind parents the weather keeps changing so please ensure your child brings a coat to school every day.

We are here to help, make sure you talk to your class teacher or the Year Leader if you have any concerns.

Thank you,

Mrs. G. Manning and the Year One Team.

W/C 23rd April 2018

The last week before the end of the spring term was busy but very exciting for children and adults alike as it was Parents’ Evening Week. Teachers and parents were able to strengthen their relationships in order to help the children. We will continue to appreciate parents’ views and take them into account. Thank you for all your support.

It is exciting to see how many parents have taken the time to come to the Year One classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their morning challenge.

In numeracy the children in year one have been learning how to use the hundred square to count on and back in 1s and 10s.

It is the summer term but it is still very cold, please ensure your child bring a coat to school.

Mrs. G. Manning and the Year One Team

19th March 2018

The end of the Spring term is just round the corner. It is hard to believe that we are more than half way through the school year. The weather certainly does not confirm this, it feels as if we were still in winter.

The spring term is certainly short and busy, but very exciting for children and adults alike as we have Parents’ Evening this term. Teachers and parents were able to strengthen their relationships in order to help the children. We will continue to appreciate parents’ views and take them into account. Thank you for all your support.

It is exciting to see how many parents have taken the time to come to the Year One classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their morning challenge. We will continue doing so and please do not hesitate to ask questions related to the morning challenge during these sessions.

In numeracy the children in Year One had lots of fun, hands on activities like making pictures with 3D shapes and sorting them into cubes, pyramids or neither. We also learnt about adding and subtracting using a number line and we started to use arrays for multiplication.

In art we have been learning about Pablo Picasso. The children have used 2D shapes to recreate some of his work. We are very lucky to have an artist visit us next week to develop the children’s skills even further!

In literacy we continue to use story maps to develop children’s vocabulary. The children wrote their own versions of Rumpelstiltskin.

Mrs. G. Manning and the Year One Team

19th February  to 26th February 2018

Time flies! We’re already more than halfway through our Spring Term, the weather keeps changing but the children have been able to enjoy playing outside.

It’s exciting to see how many parents keep taking the time to come to the Year 1 classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their Morning Challenge. Please keep this up – we all really appreciate your effort.

The weather is turning really cold, it’s still too cold for children to be outside without coats. We like to take the children out during break as long as it’s dry, so please remember to make sure your child brings a warm coat to school every day; even if it’s not cold in the morning, the weather has a habit of creating four seasons in one day! If it’s wet, children can wear wellington boots to school and bring their school shoes in a plastic bag.

Last week we had our Wow day. Our topic this half term is Fairy Tales. We had different teachers reading their favourite traditional stories to the children and during the day the children did some art and drama. All classes are displaying children’s work and we feel very proud of the children.

In numeracy we are learning about multiplication as groups of. We are concentrating in grouping in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. Children have been able to apply this concept in real life situations such as working out how much is needed for a party.

Mrs. G. Manning and the Year One Team

22nd January to 28th January 2018

It’s exciting to see how many parents keep taking the time to come to the Year One classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their Morning Challenge. Thank you!

The weather is very erratic and we still get some very cold days. We like to take the children out during break as long as it’s dry, so please remember to make sure your child brings a warm coat, gloves, a scarf, and a hat to school. If it’s wet, children can wear wellies to school and bring their school shoes in a plastic bag.

I’d like to thank you for making sure your child brings their P.E kit to school. Apart from our P.E lessons, we’re lucky to have coaches from Luton Town Football Club coming to teach the children football on a Friday afternoon. We choose 6 children from each class. This is an extra reward for the children and we hope all children who want to join in will do so at least once during the term.

In Numeracy, the children in Year One had lots of fun hands-on activities using equipment to learn about money. Most children ucan identify the value of most British coins and are able to find totals of a small group of coins.

This week in literacy we wrote our own version of part of the book “Shh! Don’t Wake the Royal Baby!” and acted it out. We walked through the story as a class using actions to help us remember it and created a story map as a visual aid. The children wrote fantastic stories, where they had opportunity to show how to use the past tense and to sequence events correctly. Handwriting is slowly improving; our aim is that by the end of the year the children will be able to write in joined up handwriting.

3rd January to 8th January 2018

Time flies! Happy New Year to everyone!

It’s exciting to see how many parents keep taking the time to come to the Year One classrooms between 8:45am and 9:00am on Fridays to support the children with their Morning Challenge. Thank you!

The weather is unpredictable: we’ve had some very cold days. We like to take the children out during break as long as it’s dry, so please remember to make sure your child brings a warm coat, gloves, a scarf and a hat to school. If it’s wet, children can wear wellies to school and bring their school shoes in a plastic bag.

Our Year One classrooms and corridors are looking amazing with crafts made by the children during our Wow day to introduce our new topic, ‘Kings and Queens.’

In Numeracy, the children in Year One will have lots of fun hands-on activities using equipment to learn about place value. It’s expected for children to understand that 13 means there is one ten (10) and three ones (1).

For the next three weeks in Literacy, all activities will be based on the story “Shh! Don’t Wake the Royal Baby”. We’ll read the story, walk through the story as a class using actions to help us remember the story, and choose a character to hot seat. During hot seating, we ask our chosen character questions to learn more about them. We’ll draw and label our character to help us write sentences to describe them and will be using adjectives (describing words) in a sentence – this is a 2A sentence.

This term, teachers will be encouraging children to use flicks on letters so they can start joining letters by the time they reach Year 2.

Once again, happy new year!

The Year One Team

 

 

25th November to 4th December 2017

Last Monday afternoon, during topic, the year 1 children spent an afternoon discovering their local area. Children were fascinated by how many leaves have fallen and changed colour.  How the trees look bare and some children felt that they looked lonely and cold. They also noticed the different types of houses, the variety of restaurants and shops near by.

The walk also linked nicely into our key objectives were children have to identify physical features and man-made features.

The children walked in twos and on the pavement, their behaviour was outstanding! Well done.

Reading:

This week the reading tip of the week is:

I look for smaller words hiding inside bigger words.

For example; teacher.

Try reading and writing these HFW words by yourself:

At

Like

See

Their

Saw

Numeracy

This week another strategy to do maths quicker and more efficiently, was introduced to children. The children used objects, feet, hands, buttons, pictures, dominoes, unicorns and teddies to show what happens when a number is doubled i.e 2 + 2 (2 fingers on one hand and add 2 more fingers on other hand) we add the same number again so the number gets bigger. Each time the children realised that doubling means they had to add the same number to itself.

20th November to 27th November  2017

Literacy

The children wrote their own stories based on the book ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak. They created their own fantasy lands: in some stories, Max went to the Red Planet, in others to Dinosaur Land, the beach, space, the desert, a frozen planet and many more. They had to think about how Max travelled: mechanisms chosen included a magic train, a rocket, and a private bus.

Across the year group, the children remembered to use finger spaces, full stops, capital letters, and conjunctions such as ‘and’ and ‘because’. Many children are starting to use to add more description and detail to their stories.

 

 

 

Science:

In science this week, the Year 1 children looked at the weather and how day lengths have changed between September and November. The children were able to talk about wearing warmer clothes than they did three months ago and about how the days are much shorter now than they were in September.

Numeracy:

The children spent the week learning about addition and subtraction. They solved number sentences practically and used pictures to find the answers to sums. It’s important to help the children understand how while numbers can be added in any order, when subtracting the biggest number must come first.

They have also been learning to count forwards and backwards in steps of 2, 5 and 10.

Reading

This week’s Reading Tip of the Week is:

I listen to the words as I read them, to see if they make sense.

Try reading and writing these HFW words by yourself:

What

Time

Looked

Asked

People

General

It’s amazing to see how much progress the children have made this term both in their work and in general; all classes have improved at lining up at breaktimes and lunchtimes.

Please remember we continue to welcome parents to support the children with their morning challenges on Fridays, between 8:45am and 9:00am.

Please do not hesitate to contact your class teacher or Year Leader if you have any concerns. We are here to work closely with you for the benefit of your children.

Many thanks,

 

The Year One team

6th November to 13th November  2016

Literacy

In literacy we have been learning about fantasy settings and fantasy characters. We have been reading some magic key stories and the home corners in each of the year 1 classrooms have been set up using the ideas from these books. We read the story WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak. This was about a little boy who dressed up in a wolf costume, his bedroom then changed into a jungle.

 

 

 

 

During the next couple of weeks, we will create our own fantasy settings and characters and produced our own fantasy stories.

Science:

This week, during science, the year 1 children have been looking at different animals.  Children have been classifying animals in different ways.

Numeracy;

To inspire the teaching of money, children had the opportunity to try a variety of activities like handling real coins and matching their values with objects.

9th  October to 16th October  2017

It’s hard to believe we’re now getting ready for the last week of this half term!

We’ve been busy these last two weeks learning about the World Around Us; we had our Wow day, where the children were given a mock passport so they could understand why passports are important documents. They went to different classes where their passports were stamped in the same way as when entering a foreign country. We learnt about China, Italy, France, Australia, and India: their capital cities, their flags, their languages, and their most important landmarks.

It’s exciting to see the number of parents taking the time to come to the Year 1 classrooms to support the children with their Friday morning Morning Challenge between 8:45am and 9:00am. Thank you!

In Numeracy, we had lots of hands on activities, learning about addition and number bonds to 10; the children used cubes to find different ways to make the number 10.

When reading your story books at home, try to remember the tip of the week: this week, the tip is “I sound out and blend the phonemes”.

Try reading the HFW words by yourself: these are in the children’s pink learning journals.

Wishing everyone a wonderful half term!

The Year 1 Team

17th September and 30th September 2017

These last two weeks, we welcomed several new children from several countries. Our children have worked hard helping these children settle to new routines and teaching them key words. Well done!

On Friday 22nd September, we enjoyed our non–uniform day. All children were very sensibly dressed and we appreciate the support given. All money collected is going to a good cause. We also would like to thank you for all your support given by buying cakes after school, again all money collected is going to charity.

Over the last couple of weeks in Numeracy, we’ve been learning to count up to ten. We’ve been representing numbers using different objects and we have been comparing different amounts, using key vocabulary such as: more than, less than, fewer than, the most or the least.

In Literacy, we learnt how to use labels and captions. The children wrote different labels for the classroom and extended their captions using the conjunctions either ‘and’ or ‘because’.

At playtimes, the children have enjoyed playing with the toys in the playground.

The weather is changing, it is getting cold so please ensure your children bring a coat to school and that it is clearly labelled.

I would like to remind parents that our open morning is on Friday, doors open at 9:45 am and you are welcome to stay until 9:00 am.

Thank you,

Mrs. G. Manning and the Year One Team.

4th September and 17th September 2017

We’ve had a fantastic time so far in Year 1; most children are completely settled into the new routines. They’re looking very smart in their uniforms.

On Fridays, we’ve enjoyed the support of the parents during our morning challenge sessions – thank you and please do keep coming to support our children, it’s a great opportunity to work with your child in their new classroom environment.

Over the last couple of weeks in Numeracy, we’ve been learning to count up to ten. We’ve been representing numbers in numerals, writing them in words, and drawing objects that represent each number.

In Literacy, we read the book ‘The Train Ride’ in the first week back. We’re now reading Sailor Bear, writing complete sentences describing how the main character feels, and using the conjunction ‘because’ to explain how we know.

At playtimes, the children have enjoyed playing with the toys in the playground.

I would like to remind parents the weather has turned cold a lot earlier this year so please ensure your child brings a coat to school every day.

Thank you,

Mrs. G. Manning and the Year One Team.