Holly Class

Hi Holly Class,

Welcome to our class blog page!

This is a page where we will update you with the things that we have been getting up to in the classroom and all of the amazing work that is going on!

We have been so impressed with how well the children have been transitioning from Reception to Year 1 and cannot wait to continue our learning journey together!

Mrs Leeves

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First Few weeks

Wow! What a busy few weeks we have had settling into school life again, learning all the new routines for Year One and taking on responsibilities such as sorting out our own book bags, having a go at being table captains and being a role model to the new reception children!

In Maths our focus has been counting within 10; counting forwards & backwards, finding 1 more and 1 less and getting to use the maths resources to support our learning. Here is an example of our work:

In Writing we have been looking at the story 'The Gruffalo' by Julia Donaldson. Our focus is labelling using our phonic knowledge to sound the words we want to write. As a class we created word bank of great adjectives to describe the features of the different characters and using our fred talk to sound we indpendently wrote the nouns (wings, nose, etc). Forming the letters the right way, resting on the line and using finger spaces between the words are our targets. Here is an example of our work:

In our foundation subjects, Science has been all about discovering what materials objects are made from and learning their properties such as hard, smooth, rough, etc. We loved sorting the diferent objects into their categories. In History we have been researching and comparing toys from the past and now, the children noticed what was the same and what was different, and discussed what they knew about these toys.

Blog Entry 20/10/2023

Wow! Can you believe it! It is already the end of the first term! We have simply been blown away by how hard the children have worked this term and the level of work they have been able to produce. We know that the transition between Reception and Year 1 is a very big jump, and the children have all risen to the challenge amazingly. We have loved seeing the children explore all the different foundation lessons that we have been teaching and we have really been seeing their creative sides come to life within our art learning.

We have been working hard in every subject and are still really focusing on our letter and number formation and Fred talk to sound out our words and making sure we are confident with this.

Maths

In our Maths lessons we have been thinking about our numbers to 10. This has included practically counting using our cubes and counters, counting on to 10 from any given number and most recently, working out 1 more and 1 less! We have also extended our learning past place value and have been looking at addition and subtraction. Focusing on being able to confidently use bar models, part whole models and practical resources to show our understanding of our learning. The children have shown a fantastic understanding of their number bonds to 10 over the last week and have been exploring this learning in lots of different ways! The children have also been working hard to challenge themselves and answer reasoning questions to further show their understanding and have been answering lots of questions where they must spot the mistake within the question!

English

We have been super busy in our writing lessons over the last few weeks and have been inspired by our history unit of toys to write some captions for them. The children have looked at the books ‘lost in the toy museum’ and ‘toys lost in space’ and have selected pictures to add more detail to base on the story. The children have been really challenging themselves to write more than one sentence and extend their writing using the word 'and'. The children have also been focusing on ensuring their writing is on the line and their letters are all formed correctly. You can see from their work how hard they are working to use Fred talk to sound out their words.

Humanities

We have absolutely loved looking at all the different toys that we have played with, our grown-ups and grandparents and the toys that Victorian children would have played with as well. We have been looking at a range of different artefacts and being historical detectives to help us put these toys on a timeline. We loved to learn about the fact that many of the much-loved toys we played with today were also toys that our parents and grandparents loved to play with as well.

Science

We finished our science unit of ‘materials and their properties’ by creating a big display in the Year 1 corridor to showcase all our learning. We went on a material hunt around the school and found lots of different items that we were able to sort. We used our properties vocabulary and sorted them into a range of different headings – we even had some fantastic conversations about how an item can fit into more than one category! The children were very impressed with the final display and their hard work and absolutely loved going on a material hunt to make it.

Homework

We hope that you have a fantastic and safe half-term, and we look forward to hearing all about it and seeing you back to school on Monday 30^th October.

Blog Entry 24/11/2023

We hope that you all had a fantastic and restful half-term and we cannot believe we are already half way through Autumn 2! The children have been working so hard in all of their lessons and have been producing such amazing high-quality work and we are so proud of them as always. We have settled back into Year 1 really well and have continued to explore lots of different learning within our foundation and core lessons. It has been so lovely to see them asking such thoughtful questions around our foundation learning and extending their learning to more complex sentences and mathematical problems.

We have been working hard in every subject and are really focusing on our number and letter formations as well as our continued use of Fred talk to sound out our words and making sure we are confident with this.

Maths

In our Maths lessons we have been extending our learning within the number 10. The children have been looking at the concept of greater than, less than and equal to and number equations – solving mathematical problems that have a multi-step element to them. The children are becoming really confident in explaining why a number is greater than or less than another number and have been using lots of different practical resources to help them with their learning. We have also extended our learning past addition and subtraction and have also been looking at shapes – extending the children’s learning of 2D shapes in reception to understanding and recognising their 3D friends. On Thursday, we went on a shape hunt around our classrooms and found lots of different items in our class that looked like some of our 3D shapes and then we discussed where we might have seen out 3D shapes outside of the classroom. The children have also been working hard to challenge themselves and answer reasoning questions to further show their understanding and have been answering lots of questions where they must spot the mistake within the question!

English

We have been super busy in our writing lessons over the last few weeks and have been inspired by fairy tales to write a range of character descriptions. The children have looked at ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. We have been using our writing lenses to help us create sentences that include ‘and’ and ‘because’ to add extra information. The children have been really focusing on ensuring that they are using Fred Talk within their writing to help them sound out each word, finger spaces, full stops and capital letters. For this first time this term as well, the children published their writing and we have been so proud of how focused they have been on their presentation and have displayed all of their writing within our classrooms. It has been fantastic to see the children continuing to grow in confidence within their writing and how much they are challenging themselves to extend their writing beyond one sentence.

Humanities

In our Year 1 history lessons, we've embarked on an exciting exploration of the iconic toy, Lego! Our little historians have delved into the rich history of Lego, tracing its evolution from its humble beginnings to becoming a global sensation. With colourful bricks in hand, our young learners eagerly dove into the past, discovering key milestones in Lego's journey. Using their creativity and critical thinking skills, the students collaborated to plot significant events onto a timeline, creating a visual narrative of Lego's remarkable story. From the invention of the first plastic interlocking bricks in the 1940s to the development of themed sets and characters, our Year 1 class is not only building with Lego but also constructing a deeper understanding of the world around them through the lens of history. The classroom has become a hub of excitement and discovery as our budding historian’s piece together the building blocks of Lego's captivating past.

The children are really enjoying being historical detectives and learning everything about Lego! We cannot wait to see what other amazing historical artefacts and facts that we can look at and discover within the next four weeks.

Science

In our science adventures, our little scientists have been diving into the fascinating world of sinking and floating. With an abundance of curiosity and excitement, our young learners have become hands-on explorers, embarking on a mission to understand why some objects sink while others float. Armed with an assortment of materials, from feathers to pebbles, our budding scientists conducted experiments to unravel the mysteries of buoyancy. Amazement filled the classroom as they tested and observed, discovering the magic hidden within everyday items. Through these engaging activities, our Year 1 students are not only honing their scientific skills but also cultivating a love for discovery and exploration that will undoubtedly shape their learning journey ahead.

Homework

Thank you again for your continued support with our homework systems in Year 1. We have been so impressed to see all the children bringing in their reading records daily and completing their numbots online as well. We can see how hard you are working and are really impressed. This is just a reminder that the children’s reading records do need to be signed daily by a grown-up and that numbots needs to be completed for 50 minutes each week.