Term 1
What have we been learning?
This term we have been learning about animals and have looked at different animal groups. The children have been identifying amphibians, mammals, reptiles, birds, invertebrates and fish. A highlight was our animal encounter where we saw and held different creatures! In literacy, we have looked at lists, labels and captions, learning an autumn poem as well as learning our story ‘Tiny Little Fly’. In maths, we have practised counting within 100 and the different ways to make numbers to 10. In art we have been printing in different ways and have made some art in the style of Andy Warhol.

Home Learning:
Reading – Please read with your child four times a week. We celebrate High Flying Readers every Friday.   Numbots – Practise playing on Numbots for 5 mins a day.   Spelling: Practise the common exception words in the reading records.

Christmas: Year 1 will be involved in the Christmas performance (week commencing 9^th December). Y1 dates TBC. Watch out for tickets from the office.

WOW moments
Harvest Festival – Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to our performance of Misty by Shirley Hughes.

Animal Experience – We had some amazing creatures to visit us!

Next term: As part of our big question, How is my childhood different to that of my grandparents? We are looking for any photos or objects from grandparents that the children could bring in for us to talk about with the class. If you have something that may be of interest, please speak to your class teacher.

Term 3
What have we been learning? 

The children have been very busy this term learning all about ‘The Great Fire of London’.  We travelled back in time to 1666 to learn about how the fire started, the houses and their design and how the fire affected Tudor London. In Literacy we learnt and performed our class story - ‘Vlad and The Great Fire of London. Then we used our super sentences and sounding out to write the story. 

The children have also produced amazing work in mathematics; exploring numbers to 100, investigating odd and even numbers, the composition of numbers to 10, and naming and describing 2D and 3D shapes.  

In our P.E. lessons we’ve been learning to dance to a count of 8. We then linked this to our music lessons, where we’ve been learning about finding the pulse or beat in a piece of music. We used our senses as a stimulus for our learning, singing songs and using untuned percussion instruments to hold the beat. In our art lessons, we produced our own collages by cutting and ripping different types of materials. We loved showing off our learning about The Great Fire of London through the medium of art! 

Wow moments: 

We went down to the forest to start our own fire and watch it spread through our imaginary Tudor houses. We discussed how the buildings that are close together help a fire to spread. When there was a large space between the buildings, the fire could not spread as easily! 

Home Learning:                    

Please read with your child at least 4 times a week. This is crucial because it helps your child practice all the sounds they learn in phonics. Reading regularly supports fluent reading. 

Numbots – please help your child to log in and have a go at this fun maths game. 

Dates and information for Term 4: 

PE will continue to be on a Thursday. Please take out earrings and wear full PE Kits. We will be outside so make sure to bring joggers, and your school jumper / cardigan. Please make sure all items of clothing are named! 

6th March - World Book Day. 

12th and 13th March – parents’ evening 

14th March; Parent phonics meeting 

Term 2

What have we been learning?
This term we have been answering the question “How different is my childhood to that of my grandparents?” We even had special visitors who we asked lots of questions and loved learning about what toys and school was like when they were our age. In literacy, we looked at Dogger by Shirley Hughes, and then tweaked the story to make it our own. In maths, we’ve been learning about part-whole models and continuing to explore the composition of numbers using our rekenreks and dice frames. Recently begun to look at 2D and 3D shapes. We have explored shapes and patterns through tangrams and in a festive way! In P.E. we have enjoyed learning about gymnastics - making and performing our own gymnastics routine! During science we looked at the human body and enjoyed finding out all about bones and joints. Finally, we enjoyed lots of Christmas crafts and fun. The highlight was collaborating with older children to make our Christmas decorations.

Nativity:
A huge well done to all the children who worked phenomenally hard to put on an excellent nativity for all the adults who were able to come. We are all very proud of all their hard work, and thankful for the adults at home who sorted costumes or helped their children learn lines. We hope you enjoyed the performance as much as we did!

Home learning:
Please continue to read at least 4 times a week with your children - we will continue to celebrate our ‘High Flying Readers’ weekly.  Keep an eye out for any phonic gaps or common exception words to practice.  Keep practicing on Numbots – up to 5 minutes a day is all that’s recommended. 

Next term:
RE Day is on 8^th January. Sasfer Internet day is on 12^th February.

PE will be back on a Thursday – please remember to send your child in with PE kit and no jewellery.

Term 4
This term we have been exploring the question “why is weather wonderful?”. In geography and science, the children have been learning about the weather we can expect in all four seasons. We were very fortunate to have a visit in school from the explorer dome. Whilst in the inflatable dome, we took part in experiments, became camouflaged to avoid predators and even got rained on!  

In literacy, we have been basing our learning around a book called ‘Big Rain Coming’, set in Australia. We used pictures from the story to help us retell the story – more recently the children have enjoyed learning about kangaroos through non-chronological reports! 

The children have produced wonderful work in maths, continuing our previous learning around odd and even numbers. We have used resources to explore the composition of odd and even numbers, and learned what happens when you have one or two more than, or less than, any odd or even number.  

This term we’ve also enjoyed World Book Day. During WBD we spoke all about our favourite stories. We then investigated new stories, using the cover art to give us clues as to what the story might be about.  

In P.E. we have begun to learn how to use space, as well as how to pass the ball in invasion games. We’re hoping the weather continues to improve next term so we can do more of our learning outside! 

Well done Year 1 we are extremely proud of you!