Welcome to Miss Jones' Year 1 Blog

29th June 2015

Reminder: Summer Fair is on Saturday 4th July 10:30 - 2pm. It would be great to see you all there and enjoy the stalls, activities and the sunshine!

This week the children had a visit from a friendly lion who left paws marks all over the classroom and outdoor area. The children had listened to the story' Where Going on a Lion Hunt' and then they went to look for clues to see where the lion could be. Back in class they wrote postcards to their friends as if they had been on holiday to Africa and explained what it was like there and what animals they saw linking into our topic 'Would you prefer to live in Africa or the UK?" Later in the week the children watched the video clip of Madagascar when the animals escaped the zoo. The children planned and wrote their own stories about a lion who went on an adventure around New York city, Well done Keiran for knowing all the famous landmarks and including them in his story. The stories the children wrote were fantastic and you will be able to see them when all the books are sent home in a number of weeks. Well done Riaz and Sophie would had some amazing ideas for their stories.

In Maths this week the children have been solving addition and subtraction word problems. It was lovely to see the children really explaining to me how they solved the problems by drawing pictures and diagrams.

In Science the children have been learning about materials. This week we looked at plastic. They were set three tasks. First to go on a hunt around the classroom and find objects made from plastic and non plastic. They then had to make a model made from only plastic objects. Their challenge was to sort them into   opaque and transparent.groups.  

The children today have come home with the yearly school report and phonics screening results. Attached to the report is a letter about an optional parents evening on Tuesday and a questionnaire for you to complete. It also explains the new curriculum assessment changes and how you child is now currently assessed.

On Monday next week the children will be having a transition day in Year 2. This is a chance for them to meet their new teacher and talk about what will be happening next year.

On Tuesday next week Year 1 and Year 2 will be going on their trip to the Safari Park. If the weather is like this can you please make sure that they wear sun cream and have a hat and sunglasses and all pack lunches must be disposable.

I hope to see you all tomorrow or if you busy have a lovely weekend!

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

Year 1 receiving a special delivery from Mrs Grinling. (The character from The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch

W/B 22/06/15

What a fun week!

On Wednesday the whole school had sports day! It was lovely to see so many parents and friends come to support the children and take part in the parents races! This year green team won the trophy again for the second year running. Well done green team! The children in Year 1 competed in the bat and bean bag race and the sprint. The children really enjoyed the competitive events, being apart of their team and cheering on their class mates.

In English this week the children continued to read the story The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch.  They wrote letters to help cheer up Mr Grinling, after the naughty seagulls kept taking his lunch. We even had a special delivery from Mrs Grinling who left the class a picnic basket full of food  on the washing machine from the lighthouse in the classroom. It meant the children could have a tea party on Friday if they children achieved all their writing targets.  The writing focus this week was to use question marks and exclamation marks in their writing. Well done Year 1! I am sure Mr Grindling will cheer up after reading all your letters. See the video below of the children receiving the basket. In Maths the children  have been learning how to read and draw o'clock and half past times. The homework this week is following up from the lessons.

This week Mrs White has set you a challenge. Can you identify which vegetables and fruits have been growing in our class growing patch. See the pictures below.

Next week all Year 1 parents will be given the results of the Year 1 phonics screening check.

I hope you have a great weekend everyone. See you next week.

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

W/B 19/06/15

It has been so busy this week in Year 1! All the children have now completed the phonics screening check. I am so proud of how hard they have worked in their booster groups and during the check. You will be informed about how your child got on in a couple of weeks when the results are released. Well done Year 1!

We have been working very hard in class and out of class. The children have been practising their races ready for sports day next week. It is lovely to see the children cheering and helping each other along during the races. Remember sports day is next Wednesday at 1:30pm. Children have all their kits in school and their water bottles so we kindly ask that you do not bring your children any drinks or food while sports day is on. If it is a hot day, can all children please have sun cream on before they come to school.

In school this week it has been Science Week and we have had an special Art day. In Science the children where set a challenge by Bubbles the Clown. He asked them to investigate whether the size of the bubble effected how long they last. The children first made predictions and then had great fun exploring and making bubbles then timing how long they lasted. The children were surprised to find out that the small bubbles last a lot longer. Year 1 are fantastic little scientists they made great observations and created new ways of making bubbles using your hands.

Our Art day on Friday was all about recycling old objects to create lovely new Art. In Year 1 we recycled some old CD and create beautiful cd fish for a display in our classroom area. See the picture below. Taylor and Sophie have been fantastic in their role as class Eco Monitors. They have been checking everyday that we are turning lights off, recycling paper and not throwing things away that can be used again. (I have been told off a couple of times by them but had to agree with what they said) Well done to both of you! 

In English the children have listened to the lovely story 'The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch.' The children have made their own favourite sandwiches and wrote instructions with all the key features, In Maths we have been looking at doubling and halving and measuring in cm using a ruler. This week the homework is based on doubling and halving.

Have a great weekend everyone.

See you on Monday

Miss Jones, Miss Kime and the Year 1 team

W/B 08/06/2015

Important Information

Next week the Year 1 Phonics Screening will take place. The children have been doing booster sessions over the last number of months and have been trying so hard. Can you please ensure that your child is in school everyday as the check can take place on any day. If your child has an appointment and will need to be out of school, can you please  let me know on Monday morning. The result of the check will not be known until a couple of weeks later and you will be informed via a letter sent home.

This week in English the children have been learning about repeating patterns, alliteration and similes in poems. They investigated how sand feels and changed when water is added to it and then wrote their own poems about the beach and sandcastles. In Maths we have been learning about counting in 2's, 5's and 10's and solving number sequences.  In Music we have been learning our class song ready to record next week on the Grange Valley whole class CD and learnt an African song 'Kay, Kay , Kule.'

As the weather has been so lovely the children have been in our outdoor learning area everyday! The children are spending more time outside so can I please suggest that children put sun cream on before they come to school. Children can bring in sun cream but they have to apply it themselves.

Finally congratulations to all Year 1 for winning the attendance award this week, as a treat we got to eat ice pops on the field and play a game of football. Lets try and win again next week! Remember we need to all be in everyday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team 

W/B 01/06/2015

Welcome back everyone to the last term of Year 1! This term is going to fly by as there is so much going on in school. (Sports day, summer fair, phonics screening, end of year trip,  transition to meet new class teachers and much much more!)

This week the children have settled straight back in. We have started our phonics booster groups to help support all the children in these weeks running up to the check. They are all trying so hard! To support your child at home please continue to practise the sounds that I sent home for your child in their holiday homework and allow them to go on www.phonicsplay.co.uk  and Education City as much as possible. Please put all the children on Phase 5 games and any of the sounds. Thank you!

In writing this week the children have started their new topic 'Poems about Nature.' The children listen to some famous poems and then created their own versions looking at repeating patterns and rhyming words. Well done to Kieron who used some fantastic vocabulary in his poem.  The children are all trying so hard with their handwriting and this week were all given special pencils to keep up their beautiful writing!

In Maths we have been looking at numbers between given number to 100 and counting continue to learn to count in  2's, 5's and 10's. There is a great app for IPADs called 'Percy Parker'. It help to teach the children times tables ready for Year 2. Its fun for the children so is a good one to download at home. I challenged all the children to help me solve some multiplication word problems involving cupcakes! The children used all their knowledge and reasoning skills to solve the problems. Well done Year 1!

We have started to learn about our new topic 'Would you prefer to live in the UK or Africa?' The children will be exploring the continent and comparing what life is like in different parts and to the UK.

Reminders

Sports day is only a few weeks away and from next week we will be practising. Some children haven't got a full PE in school after the holidays. Can you please make sure you bring in any new kit asap! Thank you.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend and it is as hot as they say it is going to be. See you all next week

Miss Jones and the Year 1 staff

Important Information

After the holidays the Year 1 children only will be entering and leaving school via the external door near to their classroom door. This is located at the front of the school in the courtyard area (the old main entrance). This open will be open until 8:55. If your children arrives to school after that time they must go through the main entrance. Thank you.

W/B 18th May 2015

This week the whole school has been learning about the environment and recycling. We have had lots of visitors in school to talk to the children and complete workshops. We had the police and community police talk to the children about how to stay safe around the school with it's heavy traffic. The children asked lots of questions and got to try on the police uniforms. Year 1 also got a visit from a community arts group who let the children express their feelings and understanding of nature through dance. On Wednesday the children had a Bee Keeper come into school, to explain how important bees and how they look after the hives. 

In PE the children have been practising thier ball skills, today they were looking at passing the ball accurately to a partner and dribbling around the cones. In maths the children have been looking at finding amounts using different coins. The children worked so hard trying to achieve thier rocket targets, it is so lovely to see how much the children are progressing. 

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W/B 11th May 2015

First of all I must say a huge well done to the all of our Year 6's! You have spent months preparing for your SATS and this week you have all worked so hard to achieve the best you can! Well done! Enjoy a lovely weekend to relax a little bit before your next challenge of enjoying Alton Towers next week!

I think the Year's 6 hard work must have rubbed off on Year 1 because the children have created some fantastic story writing this week. On Monday we went for a walk around school to identify materials the building was made out of but we weren't expecting to find a gold magic key and a door in our forest area! The children had been looking at fantasy stories and related this to the story 'Narnia.' I wonder what could be behind the door? The children came back to class and wrote their own fantasy stories about when they went through the door in the forest and created some unusual characters for their stories! The children then read their stories to each other and they praised each other on their work!

This week the children were set the task by me to do one act of kindness everyday. We have started to collect the good deeds on our class kindness tree! It was lovely to hear the children helping each other at playtimes and in class. In particular we decided we would be quiet and respectful around the school to make sure the Year 6's could concentrate on their important tests.

In Maths this week the children have been looking at measurement. The children estimated the weights of different objects  and used balance scales to measure the weights with non standard units and kilograms. Later in the week we looked at capacity and compared the capacity of different containers.

On Monday we had a visitor into school. (Florence Nightingale) She must have travelled forward in a time using a time machine which landed on our school field. The children wrote questions to ask her, making sure they put the correct punctuation at the end of their questions. They then interviewed her and found out lots more about her life.

We also had time this week in our outdoor area the children have been looking after our vegetable plot and flower beds.

Reminder: Every day the Year 6 children are selling healthy snacks to all children. All items are 50p and children can purchase these at afternoon playtimes. This is optional and your child does not need to bring this in everyday.

It is only a number of weeks until the phonics screening check. Please keep using the phonics packs sent home at the beginning of the year and after the phonics screening meeting. Please come and see me if you would like to know any areas your child could have extra practise on at home.  

The children have a great opportunity this term to do extra PE sessions with the Everton coaches and soon be sports day. Can you please check that your child's PE pumps still fit and they haven't out grown them.

Next week in school is Eco Week. The children will be having a vast amount of visitors coming into school to speak to them.  Some attending include the Community police,  Farmers and a Bee Keeper.

Have a great weekend everyone!

See you next week.

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

W/B 4th May 2015

Message from Mrs Holfcroft

On Thursday our new school gate arrived which means that the electrics will soon be activated. The gates will be controlled by the office as an extra security measure. Keeping our children safe at all times is so important to us at Grange Valley.

The gates will be locked to cars from 8:40 until 3:40, access within those times will be limited. Staff will have access fobs and visitors will need to speak to the office via the intercom that will be situated by the entrance.

The gates for pedestrians will also be locked and access to school will be limited with permission needed via the office through the new intercom.  

Any queries please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Holcroft or the office staff.

What a busy 4 day week it has been! There has been so many hot topics we needed to discuss in Year 1. First of all the arrival of a new baby princess! We recalled all our knowledge from our previous topic about the royals and the Queen to discuss the family and what this meant for the country. In the entrance to the school the children have been able to look at our new royal family tree and see the line to the throne. This week the children have also begun to discuss what voting means and what they have seen or heard about on the news. It was lovely to hear some of children understand a great deal and help to explain to others in class. In Year 1 we decided to some voting of our own. We choose a number of topics to vote on for example we voted for a leader of our garden area and leader of the line someone who was going to be a good role model to others around school.

In English this week the children have listened to the story ' The Sorcerer's Apprentice' The children have loved this fantasy story. We looked at the different characters and created lists to make our own potions. For this the children had to think how to make word plural. We looked at the rule for adding s and es to words. In Maths this week the children have been learning how to add and take away 10 from a two digit number. We looked at how to partition the numbers to help us add and take away quickly. 

In Science and Design and Technology we have been looking at different materials. This week the children recalled the story of The Three Little Pigs and talked about what their houses were made of. The children looked at properties of the materials and why the little pigs should have thought about this  before building their houses. We decided to create an investigation to test the best materials to protect little pigs. The children made their own pigs out of clay and then built houses for them using different materials. (paper, plastic, fabric, wood) Next week we are going to test the models and record the results.

I hope you have a great weekend everyone!

See you next week

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team

W/B 27th April 2015

The SEAL focus this term is Relationships. Everyday this week we have been talking about the importance of how we need to look after each other and to be kind to others showing that we care. It is lovely to see the children helping each other in class and on the playground.

In English this week the children have started a very exciting topic - Fantasy Stories. The children have been reading a different fantasy story everyday. We have looked at different films and books that have imaginative and exciting fantasy settings. We watched video clips of Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia and Alice and Wonderland. On Wednesday the children produced some fantastic writing creating their own fantasy settings. The children have great imaginations and will be using their settings to write stories over the next few weeks.

It is so lovely to see the children getting excited for our history lessons. Everyday the children want to learn something new about Florence Nightingale. This week the children using the Ipads to research about her on the internet. They really enjoyed this, particularly the website http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/florence_nightingale/. Let the children have another look at home.

This week all the children have completed a practise phonics assessment ready for the  actual assessment in 7 weeks. The children are trying so hard in phonics sessions. For the next number of weeks all the children will be involved in booster phonics sessions within class.

Reminders

Children are only allowed to drink water in school. Children can have juice drinks in their pack lunch but in class all children have their own water bottles. Have a great weekend everyone.

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

20th April 2015

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a lovely break. It was so great to come back into school to see the new school entrance completed. I hope you all like it!  The school feels so much bigger!!! It was a great surprise to see the new school library also finished it looks fantastic and what's even better is it's right outside Year 1's classroom so it looks fantastic every time we walk back into class. We will be trying to get in there as much as possible!

This week the children have been settling back into their last full term in Year 1! I can't believe it. They have been working particular hard on their handwriting this week. Please keep pratising at home especially those lazy letters (y,p,g,f,j,q). Last half term the children planted fruit and vegetables in our outdoor area to link in to our Science topic. This week the children came back to little strawberries on their plants and little lettuces starting to grow. The whole class got a chance to spend time looking after the vegetable garden this week.

In English we have been looking at different punctuation and when you should be use question marks, full stops and exclamation marks in our writing. We have been creating our own comic strips and have been writing our own speech bubbles for the pictures. In Maths we have been finding 1 more and 1 less and 10 more and 10 less than any given number to 100. We then have been challenging ourselves to put this into a word problem or a missing number problem.

Reminders

Sponsored dance on Friday 1st May. Please see leaflet below.

Can you please make sure all the children have their PE kits back in school after the taking them home over the holidays. Year 1 have the Everton coaches this term and we will be practising for sports day soon.

We are now starting to have lovely weather and the children are outside for long periods of time at breaks and lunch time. Can you please make sure the children come into school with sun cream already on. We cannot put sun cream on the children.  

Keep practising the phonics sounds at home in particular the Phase 5 sounds. Please go on education city at home as much as possible.

Year 1- Literacy-Letters and Sounds - Phase 4-5.

Have a great weekend

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

W/B 16th March 2015

It was lovely to have a chat with you all on parents evening. It was a great chance to show you the children's work and how hard they are trying in school! 

Year 1 have been little gardeners this week! Linked to our Science topic all about plants the children have planted sunflowers and are going to have a compitition to see which groups plant will grow the tallest. In computing we have been learning to be TV Chefs, presenting our own food programmes. The children have been using time adverbial so to present a recipe on how to make a fruit kebab. We used the iPads to record our videos and next week we will be editing our work to improve it by editing on the computers. We also got very excited on Friday to see the solar eclipse. The children watch BBC news live and we looked at pictures of what it would look like. The children were fascinated and had lots of questions! 

This week we have been adding and subtracting a 1 digit number from a two digit number to 100. Please see the calculation policy on the curriculum page in how you can support your child at home. 

Can all children will be accessing Education City, Letters and Sounds, Phase 5 as much as possible. At home please encourage all children to hold thier pencil correctly when writing at home. It must be in the tripod grip. 

Easter Egg Raffle Tickets
Tickets will be on sale in school at break time for the Easter Egg Raffle that will be drawn at our Easter Bingo on the Thursdays 26th March (see attached flyer) organised by our PTFA. There are lots of scrummy Easter eggs available to win. Tickets are 20p each or £1 for a strip.

Decorate an Egg Competiton

We will be holding our ‘decorate an egg’ competition once again , back by popular demand from the children.
We would like children to use their creative talents by decorating a ‘boiled
egg’ and bringing it into school to exhibit it in the hall on Wednesday 1st April. All eggs
will be judged by Mrs Bailey and Mrs Louden and prizes will be given for the best dressed eggs
in each class!
So let’s see what wonderful designs you can come up with this year…

Have a great weekend! 

Year 1

W/B 9th March 2015

Next week it is parents evening. All children have come home with their appointment times this week.

This week the children had a chance to visit the school book fair to look at the great selection of books they could buy. It was lovely to see the children reading stories to each other and deciding which books they would like to read. I now have a long list I need to get through in school, after all the requests!  

The children have continued their Science topic this week all about plants and where asked the learning challenge question "What could you put in a salad?" The children are going to be learning all about different types of fruits and vegetables and how we plant them. This week we had a chance to go into our outdoor area and started to plant some of our own vegetables in our garden plot.  We are going to be growing beetroot, carrots and lettuce. Each week the children will take it in turns to look after our vegetable plot.

As it is Mother's Day this weekend. We continued our green fingers theme and got the children to plant some flowers in jars for all the mums. The cards the children brought home show the paintings of the birds the children did last term.

In English this week the children have been learning about senses poetry. They wrote fantastic poems based on the poem called Smelly People!!! the children then wrote their own versions.  Look in their books on parents evening to see if you were mentioned!

At the end of the week we got to raise money for Red Nose Day. All the children looked fantastic in their outfits. Take a look below. Thank you to you all for bringing in money for this great cause.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Year 1 team.

W/B 23rd February 2015

World Book Week - Friday 6th March. Children can come into school dressed as their favourite book character.

 WOW! It has been a fantastic week! This week the whole school celebrated our Around the World Week. Our class choose to focus our week on the great down under, Australia! The children have had a great week and all the teachers enjoyed themselves too.

In English we wrote fact files and postcards to Barney Bear in Australia who wanted to know how Australia was different to the UK. We also read a fantastic story called Kangaroo Cancan Café and discuss what we would like our hidden talent to be. In Maths we were learning how to count in 2's, 5's and 10's by counting kangaroo legs, jelly fish and star fish. In our Geography lessons, we located Australia on a map, used Ipads to find out what the flag of Australia and other countries looks like, compared the difference in weather and found out about the wildlife and famous landmarks found in Australia.

At the beginning of the week we had a visit from POP Group, who taught us songs through the decades from different countries around the world. On Wednesday we got to visit the local library, to listen to various stories from around the world and locate the countries on the globe. When we came back to school we jumped on a flight to America (Year 2) to taste foods from that country in our Fly and Dine afternoon. We then flew back to Australia and we got to taste traditional Australian bread, biscuits and different fruits grown there.

To finish off the week we had our whole school around the world week assembly. Each class presented their learning of their country to the whole school. Year 1 read an acrostic poem spelling Australia to tell people about facts they had learnt.

See pictures from the week below.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Year 1 team    

W/B 9th February 2015

Can't believe a half term has come and gone!

This week the children have been very busy doing assessments. We discussed with the children how to get their learning target rockets shooting up to the sky! The children have tried so hard this week and I am so proud of you all. It is lovely to see how you are all developing! For our writing assessment we read the story Hansel and Gretel. We then discuss the setting of the story and then created our own candy houses out of gingerbread and sweets! The children then described the setting in their writing task. Once we had completed all our writing we all got a lovely treat to eat the candy houses!

After our visit to Sankey Valley last week we decided to get out of the classroom and go bird watching. First we made birdfeeders using all the knowledge the ranger told us about what birds liked to eat. We used tally charts to record all the birds we saw in our school grounds. It was lovely to see the children naming all the different birds.

On Thursday we of course had our Valentines disco. The children absolutely love playing all the games and having the traditional girls and boys dance off! See some pictures below.

The first week back after half term the whole school will be having an Around the World Week. Year 1 will be study the beautiful Australia. A letter has gone home tonight about the activities involved. On Friday 27th February the children will be asked to come in traditional dress, colours of the flag or an animal from the country. An assembly has also been planned on Friday morning for any parents to attend.  

This week we also welcome a new member to our class Mr Rigby who will be in Year 1 until Easter.

 Have a fantastic week off and I look forward to seeing you all in the new term! 

Year 1 Team.

Over the holiday can you please practise with the children writing all the letters of the alphabet and ensure the children are holding their pencil correctly. This is something we need to make sure is corrected.

W/B 2nd February 2015

Well done to this week’s winners of the gold , silver and bronze merit award. The children are making good progress in their handwriting and therefore each week a child will now be awarded a special handwriting pencil if they are working towards their own handwriting targets. I wonder who it might be next week!!!!

It has been a busy but exciting week in Year 1. In English we have now completed our own non-fiction books all about Plants. They look fantastic and include all the key features of non-fiction books that we have been learning about. Keep an eye out for our new classroom display with all the children’s fantastic work! Some of the children are going to keep them in our reading area for everyone to look at! Later in the week we started to celebrate National Storytelling Week by asking the children to share with the class what their favourite story books are and to see if anyone else had read them. Here is what some of the children said.

Molly P said  “I love reading all the Harry Potter books. I went to visit Haydock Library and got a certificate for attending a Harry Potter Book Night.”

Riaz said “I like reading Roald Dahl books.” In class Riaz is currently enjoying listening to our class novel James and the Giant Peach but has read George's Marvellous Medicine and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at home.  

Zevin said “ I read the Elves and the Shoemaker and The Ugly Duckling book in our story corner. They are the traditional tales we have been learning about.”

Lucas said “I love reading stories with dragons and magic castles.” Hopefully we will get the chance to learn about fantasy stories soon in class!  

Later in the week the children enjoyed a session where they read to one another and listen to their stories.

Of course we can't forget our trip to Sankey Valley this week which linked in with our Science topic. The children met with the rangers and were shown pictures of different birds and how they can help feed and look after them. Well done to Emily who knew the name of every bird that the ranger showed her!!! He was very impressed and let Emily help guide the walk. When we went on our walk the children looked for the local robins and encouraged them to come and feed on the ground near them. They loved this as they got to act like chickens scratching away the top hard, icy soil to help the robins.

Reminders

Valentines disco is Thursday 12th February 3:30-5pm.  All children can bring in a change of clothes.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Year 1 Team

W/B 26th January 2015

Happy Birthday to Max who celebrated his birthday this week!

What a week it has been! First I must mention the horrid weather we have been having! Thank you for being so understanding waiting for the children outside in that horrible windy weather. The school doors will be opened as early as possible in the mornings to allow for all parents not to stand outside for too long! 

A huge thank you to all the grandparents, parents and visitors from Hayeswood for coming into Year 1 for the coffee afternoon to speak to the children about their past to link in with our history topic 'What was it like 50 years ago?' The children loved asking all their questions about what school, toys, food and technology was like 50+ years ago. It is really hard concept for the children to understand the past and some of their misconceptions were clarified in talking to you all. Below are some of the photographs from the afternoon. Thank you to everyone who brought in photos and objects from their childhood. 

In English this week we have been looking at non fiction texts. In guided reading the children looked at a selection of non fiction books and picked out the key features and how the pages where laid out. Well done Strawberries reading group for trying so hard in Wednesday session. In our writing sessions the children have started to create their own non fiction books all about plants. The books will then be put in our classroom reading area for everyone to look at. The children have been learning about non fiction features including captions, chapter titles, contents pages, glossaries and indexes.

In Maths we have been learning all about time. They were very good at reading o'clock and half past times and ordering events during the day. At home children can access Education City game (Year 1, Section 5, Time Games) to consolidate their learning. We need to continue to practise drawing the times ensuring the hand sizes are different and that the hour hand is draw accurately in half past times. 

The children have really enjoyed our Science lessons this week. We have continued looking at plants, focusing mainly on the different parts of the plants and what plants need to grow. We decided that the only way to find out what plants need was to create our own investigation. The children have planted cress seeds and will grow them in different conditions (with water, no water, no soil, no light etc). They have made predictions about what they think will happen and will look after their plants over the next week. We will let you know our findings next week and see whether their predictions were correct. In Art the children also got to make their own flowers that included all the main parts (stem, roots, petals an leaves). See pictures below. 

Reminders

• Our class trip is on 4th February. Can you please ensure you have returned the permission slip and money into school ASAP. All children must be dressed apporailety. The must wear school uniform and have suitable footwear and coat, hat, scarf and gloves. If this weather stays it is going to be very chilly! The children will be outside all afternoon on a nature walk. 
• This week we have had a number of school jumpers go missing. The children are all responsible for looking after their own jumpers and keep them in their trays when not wearing them. Can you please ensure all uniform has your child's name on and that if you have any jumpers at home which don't belong to our child can you return them to school. Thank you. 
• Can you please ensure your child has a spare pair of underwear in school which can be kept in their PE bags. Thank you. 
• Information has been put on the school website about the strategies we use in school to support the children with addition and subtraction. Please have a look at this as you can help to support your children at home when doing their homework. You will find it under the Curriculum page. 

Have a great week everyone!

Year 1 team. 

W/B 19th January 2015

This week the children have been reading my favourite story Jack and the Beanstalk. The children have squenced the story and wrote a book review about the characters and setting. We talked to the children about whether Jack was right to take the money sack from the Giant and what he should do to try and make it better. The children decided we should write a sorry letter to the Giant. The writing they produced was fantastic. The children were encouraged to use capital letters for names of people, connectives 'and' and 'because' and to include the main features of a letter. Well done to Evan, Taylor, Georgia, Matthew and Jake E who all went to Mrs Holfcroft and recieved a special headteacher award for their writing.

In Maths this week the children have been learning all about 3D shapes. We have looked at naming them and their properities. Homework sent home is linked to this. On Thursday the children went on a shape hunt around the school looking for 3d shapes. Well done to everyone who found the shape treasure on their hunt. After learning about shapes all week the children where set a problem solving challenge all about shape shadows. They where given pictures of shadows and had to decide what shape or shapes could have created them by knowing  their properties. They had great fun investigation with the lights off and the whiteboard, testing all the shapes.

In Science this week the children have been learning about what plants need to grow. They have planned an investigation and made their predictions about how they think cress seeds will grow when given different conditions. We will keep you posted with what we find out and who was right with their predictions.  

The children are really enjoying our Modern Forgein Language lessons and are now able to count to 10 in French. Today we learnt how to say thank you and my name is. Mrs White is now going to be called Mrs Blanc from now on! Hopefully Zevin is soon going to be able to teach the class to speak to 20 in Turkish!

Have a great weekend everyone.

See you next week

Year 1 team

Reminders

Thank you to everyone who has sent back in their trip letters. Please can you make sure these are returned as soon as possible.

Next 27th Tuesday at 2:15 is our grandparents coffee afternoon. If any grandparents who haven't returned the reply slip would like to come in please let me know. The children will just be asking questions about school life, food, toys etc when you were little. You do not need to speak to a large group of children it would only be 1 or 2.

W/B 12th January 2015

This week it has been Money, Money, Money week in school. We have been very lucky to have lots of visitors come into school to talk about different careers and some from various charities. Visitors who gave talks to the children included the RAF, Fireservice, Zoe's Place and many parents. In year 1 the children had a great day on Friday as they got a chance to asks the fireman questions about what they did, tried on their equipment and clothing and even got a chance to sit in a fire engine! See the pictures below!

This week the children have been doing lots of activities all linked to money. On Monday the children decided on a craft they could make and sell in our school market on the Thursday. After much discussion the children decided on dream catchers, as they were cheap to make and therefore we could make a good profit. The children designed posters and decided on a suitable price. On Tuesday the children had great fun making their fantastic dream catchers. Thank you to Keiron, Alexia and Riaz from our class for running the stall on Thursday. It was a great opportunity for the children to practise their maths skills by working out the change and dealing with money. We made £21 on the year 1 stall. In our Maths lessons we have been solving money problems, adding prices together and finding change. The children had great fun on Thursday when they were role playing being in a pizza restaurant. The children took it in turns to be the waiter and the customer, taking order and payment for the pizzas. 

In English we have started our new topic traditional tales. The children have loved listening to the story The Three Little Pigs. We have wrote a book review, ordered the story, describe one of the characters and done lots of role play.

A huge well done to all the children for their fantastic Geograpghy projects all about Africa! It was lovely to see how creative the children had been with their topics. All the children received a prize for their topics but below is a list of the winners for Gold, Silver and Bronze. Well done to all the children. 

Gold Award - Matthew 

Silver Award - Zevin

Bronze Award - Aaron 

Check out below all the pictures from this week. 

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Year 1 team 

W/B 5th January 2015

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE!!!!!! I hope you all had a lovely break and enjoyed your Christmas celebrations. It was so lovely to see all the children on Monday telling about about the lovely presents Santa had brought and the activities that they had got up to over the holidays.

We have had a lovely week settling back in. Our SEAL focus this week was for all the children to think about a new years resolution to try and stick to in school. The children came up with some lovely ideas and I am sure they will stick to them! I hope do with mine! The one I really liked from the children was from Zac's who said he was going to be happy everyday and be kind to everyone.   

In English this week we wrote a recount about our Christmas holidays using time connectives. The children tried hard to remember to think before they wrote their sentences and to include capital letters and full stops. Later in the week we went on a walk in the woods to link in with our Science topic "What would Little Red Riding Hood like in our school?" The children collected items they found on the walk and created a piece of outdoor art work just like Andy Goldsworthy. They came up with some lovely creations. (see the pictures) Back in class the children then described the woods using all of their senses. 

In Maths this week we have been looking at 2 more and 2 less than a given number, we are getting much better at doing this mentally rather than using objects and number lines. The children were also set a maths problem to find the missing numbers in a number square by filling in the columns counting in 10's, 5's and then 2's. On Friday the children looked at partitioning numbers and created number sentences using cubes to represent the tens and units of a 2 digit number. The homework this week is linked to partitioning and counting in 10's and this should help to extend their learning. 

We have also started our new exciting history topic called "What was it like 100 years ago?" The children were given pictures to discuss and compare the similarities and differences between the decades. They loved looking at the hairstyles, fashions, machines and schools as they have changed of time. I have asked the children to speak to any family members about what school was like when they were little and to come and tell me and stories next week. 

Reminders

• Next week is Money, Money. Money week! The children will be involved in various activities linked to money and jobs. On the blog next week you will be able to see what we got up to. Just a reminder that on Thursday after school parents are invited to come into school with your child and buy craft activities that the children have made. This will help support their learning in counting money, finding change and to raise money for a charity. 
• Please can you ensure your child has brought their PE kit back into school as we have started our PE lessons for this term. 
• On Wednesday after school next week I will be having a phonics screening meeting for all Year 1 parents. I will be explaining the assessment and giving resources packs on how you can help at home. A letter about it has been sent home this week.  

Enjoy your weekend everyone. 

Year 1 Team. 

W/B 15th December 2014

We have finsihed the last week of Christmas with lots of fun and lovely Christmas activities. Check out the pictures below. Thank you all for the lovely gifts and cards. I really loved all the homemade Christmas cupcakes! We have very talent parents!!!! Thanks again.

Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you have a lovely break. See you all in 2015!

      Pictures of Christmas dinner day, Christmas production and Christmas puppet show and final Christmas week activities coming soon.....

W/B 8th December 2014 

What a fantastic day Year 1 (and the staff!!!) have had at Gulliver's World!!!!  The children absolutely loved the trip and were so excited all day. When we arrived at the theme park we got to do some dancing with the elves and frosty the snowman.  We then went to watch a pantomime show in the theatre about the biggest Christmas tree in the land. The best part of the whole day had to be getting the special train to see Santa in his grotto. The children got on board and sang Jingle Bells all the way to the grotto. The grotto was beautiful and the children spent lots of time walking around the Christmas scenes looking at the models and Christmas tree decorations. Finally we got to meet Santa!! The children all explained what they wanted for Christmas and some even gave Santa some tips on how to get into their houses!!! Santa then allowed them all to pick an early Christmas present out of his toy workshop. After all this excitement the children then got to go on the rides in the park. It was a brilliant day and below are a few pictures.

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W/B 1st December 2014 

Christmas is nearly here and Year 1 have started to get ready! In English the children received a letter from Santa explaining that his elves have been watching all the children in Year 1 and said that all the children are certainly on his good list. Santa was so impressed with the children's decorations in class and playing and creating in the 'Santa's Toy Shop' role play area that he would love the children to write him a set of instructions on how they wrapped their presents and made Christmas cards so the elves back in Lapland could have a go. The children got straight to it and discuss how instructions should be laid out and what type of vocabulary should be used. We then posted the instructions to Santa in our class post box. In Maths the children have been learning how to add three numbers together.

Year 1 were also set the challenge to decorate a Christmas tree for church. We were given the topic of 'Angels.' Year 1 really tried hard and produced a beautiful tree that will be displayed in church. 

Reminders. 

• Children's Christmas Party will be next Friday. Please sign up to our party list if you wish to provide any food or drink. Thank you. 
• Trip next week - Wednesday. If you have chosen to make your child's pack lunch please put it in a carrrier bag with their name on so that we can just throw it all away when we are there. 
• Production Next Week

Tuesday 9:30 - Reception Parents

Tuesday 2:30 - Grandparents and Toddlers.

Thursday 9:30 - Year 1 and Year 2 parents. 

Have a great week everyone. 

Year 1 Team

W/B 24th November 2014

Well done to the award winners this week!

Well done to Molly for gaining her swimming certficate this week.

The weeks are going so fast we are now into the last week of November.!This means only one thing we can start getting ready for all the fun activities in    school over the Christmas period. On Friday our class weather station has been transformed into Santas workshop and the children should have a lovely surprise on Monday to see their new role play area. I will put some pictures up next week, hopefully they like it!

In English this week the children have been continuing to look at stories with repeating patterns. The children listened to a lovely story called 'Not Last Night but the Night Before' and  wrote their own version of the repeating patterns by thinking about who they would like to come and knock on their door. The children's writing is fantastic, they are all trying so hard to achieve their targets. Keep it up year 1. In Maths this week the children have been set a challenge to  add and subtract 1, 2 and 3 from a two digit number. They played games of snakes and ladders and played dice games to help them achieve the challenge.

I met with the school council on Tuesday to discuss with them about the teaching of Geograpghy in our school. They were set the challenge of finding out what their class liked and disliked in their Geograpghy session by creating a questionanire. The feedback from the whole school was brilliant. Children really enjoyed their Geograpghy and wanted more time to learn about other countries and carried out map work. Children in  Year 1  have come up with great ideas about how we could improve Geograpghy teaching and so next week the school council will meet again to discuss what we could implement from the suggestions.

Reminders

• The children will be assessed on their reading next week and so please ensure they have their school books in everyday. Please can you read with your child every night as this has a massive impact on the learning and enjoyment in reading.
• Reception/Year 1/Year 2 Christmas Production dates are

Tuesday 9:30am - Reception parents and whole school

Tuesday 2:30pm - Grandparents and toddlers.

Thursday 9:30am - Year 1 and Year 2 parents.

• Letters were sent home last week about any clothing that your child might need for their part in the play. Please can you ensure these clothes come into school next week and are put in a carry bag labelled with your child's name.
• For the school trip on the 10th Decemember please can you make sure you have informed school about whether your child will be a school pack lunch or whether you would like to provide your own.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Year 1 team

W/B 17th November 2014

It has been a lovely week in Year 1. This week it was anti bullying week in school. In Year 1 we discussed about how we can be a good friend and what we can do when we get upset by others. The children watched the video clip of Toy Story when Woody is jealous of Buzz getting all the attention from the new toys. The children discussed how Woody behaved. (Throwing things, sulking, saying nasty words to others, wanting to get back at Buzz) The children discuss ideas to what they believed each character should of done to make the other person feel better. Some of the children wrote poems about what makes a good friend and other created emotion faces and used these to describe how they feel during different situations happy or sad? The children were amazing at this task and really discussed the issue. We then created a poster of all our ideas. Here our some of the examples about what the children said

"Woody should of let the other toys play with Buzz because they are all friends." Evan

"Buzz should of asked Woody was he ok when he saw him getting upset" Georgia

"The other toys should of asked Woody to come and join in playing with Buzz" Taylor  

In English we have been looking at stories which have repeating patterns. The children listened to my favouirte story book 'Dear Zoo' and had to identify the repeating lines in the story. The children then ordered the story by selecting pictures of the animals and creating a story timeline. The children wrote about the different animals and explain why they wouldn't make a good pet. Later in the week the children  were so exciting when we had a class delievery!! It was a small box which said 'Beware Live Animal Inside' The children then wrote lovely pieces of writing about what type of pet they would like it to be and created their own repeating pattern for the story.

In Maths the children have been learning about vocabulary to describe a size of an object and how to measure using non-standard units. The children were given tasks to measure a variety of classroom furniture and objects and then compared them in size order using the vocabulary of smallest/largest, tallest/smallest, lightest/heaviest.  

In Science this week the children were little scientists. We have been continuing to learn about electricty and on Monday the children were given a variety of equipent to figure out how to make a circuit and get a bulb to light. It was fantastic to see the children problem solving to figure out how to set up the equipment. The children were then given a challenge to change a part of their circuit and to predict whether it would light or not and explain why did it or didn't. Well done Year 1 I was very impressed. It seemed the children really enjoyed it by the number of comments I recieved about the lesson during the parent evening appointments this week!

Thank you to everyone who came to parents evening. It was lovely to discuss your child's progress and how they have settled into Key Stage 1.

This week I can't believe it but we have begun to learn our Christmas production. The children have been learning all the new songs in school. They have all been given a part in the play. A letter has been sent home on Friday to explain about costumes and any lines that your child will need to learn.

Thanks to everyone who brought a bottle into school for the Christmas Fair in exchange for non uniform day on Friday.

Hope you have a brilliant weekend everyone.    

Year 1 Team

W/B 10th November 2014

This week there has been so much going on in school. On Tuesday it was Remembrance Day. In English the children wrote key facts about the day and thought out wish to send to the soliders still fighting in war.  The children also made their own poppies. This week in English though we have continued our poetry topic. On Monday the children used skipping ropes to learn poems that had a rhymth and were repeating. We then read a poem called 'Down behind a dustbin' about a little dog. The children created their  own verisons of the repeating poem with rhyming words.

  In Maths this week we have been looking at coins and the different ways to make the same values. On Friday the children were set a challenge to count all the money the class had brought in for Children in Need.  

In Science we have continued to learn about our electricty topic. This week the children created safety posters and investigated the difference between a variety of bulbs and batteries.

Our Geography topic this week was very exciting as the children got to be weather forecasters. We first learnt about different weather symbols and how we can measure the weather. The children then set up equipment to measure tempertaure and rainfall in the school grounds and will continue to monitor the results over the next 5 weeks. The children then got to watch some clips of weather forecasts to help pick up some tips before they created their own. I think some of the children might have a career ahead of them in television or as a meteorologist!!

On Friday the whole school raised money for Children in Need by coming to school in their pyjamas. Keep checking on Mrs Holfcroft's blog for the full amount raised.  

Have a great weekend everyone.

Year 1 team  

W/B 3rd November 2014

Happy Birthday to Alexia who celebrated her birthday this week!

First of all a huge congratulations to Joe and Zac for trying so hard in their swimming lessons that they have both received certfictaes and badges this week! Well done, keep it up all your hard work. 

It has been a lovely week in Year 1 with so much going on. In English we have been learning all about poetry. We started the week off by performing some counting poems with actions. The performances were judged in an X Factor style competition with three judges (Jake, Ethan and Max) who picked the best performance. Later in the week we then wrote our own counting poems about bonfire night. On Thursday it was very exciting in school as a big digger came to demolish the ground at the front of the school. The whole class went out to see what the digger was doing. The children were so amazing, that we came back into class we wrote about the digger being in school. The children's writing was fantastic! The children also drew pictures and described the digger. In our class construction area made a model of school out of bricks and then used a toy digger brought in by Aaron to recreate the building work.  

In Math's we have been learning about teen numbers and place value. The children used cubes, coins and place valve cards to make teen numbers. 

This week we have started our new Geography topic and the children were asked the question "Where do the leaves go in winter?" We began the topic by discussing the seasons and what the weather is like in each of them. In art we went on an autumn walk to collect items to create an art collage strip. You will see the fantastic display on parent evening. 

Our new Science topic has also started this week "How does it light?" The children will be learning about electricity and safety. We began the topic by looking at appliances that need electricity at home and in school. 

Reminders

• A letter has gone home this week about parents evening and appointments. Please can you get this back into school as soon as possible. Thank you. 
• Children in Need is on the 14th November. 
• Christmas Bingo is on 13th November.

Thank you so much for you patience around school at the minute with all the building work and machinery. It will all be worth it when we get our new look!!! 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Year 1 Team 

W/B 13th October 2015

Happy Birthday to Alicia who celebrated her birthday on Friday! 

Well done to the winners of this weeks merit awards! 

In English this week we have been learning about how to write labels. lists and captions but first we went on a bit of an adventure. The children watched a video clip about a man called Andy who went back in time 65 million years ago to visit the dinosaurs. The children began to image what it would be like to have seen the dinosaurs and learnt key facts about some of them. The children then had to label a picture of dinosaurs using the key facts they had learnt. We then imaged we had gone back in time and the children wrote a list about what they would take on their adventure. Well done Lucas who I think created the best list of objects including water, food, clothing, a map and a information book about dinosaurs to recognise them when we were there. 

The children also wrote some captions for pictures for our new Diwali display. Have a look below. 

In Math's this week the children have been learning about 2d shapes, their properties and repeating shape patterns. The children created shape pictures and could name all the shapes that they used. Later in the week we looked at the properties and about using key vocabulary to describe them (side and corner.)

The children's challenge this week was to be able to name and describe the properties of pentagons, hexagons and octagons. This will be linked into their homework this week.

The children have been very busy this week practising our Diwali assembly. The children are fabulous and have done fantastic to learn their lines or parts in the assembly.

In RE this week the children have been designing mendhi patterns and Mrs White then put their designs on the children hands. They looked amazing!

Children’s weekly targets at home: 

• Please encourage your child to read as much as possible at home using the school books and books at home to support their interests and enjoyment in reading. 
• Try playing games like dominos or going on Education City to create pairs to make a number to 6.
• Practise writing all letters and numbers to 50. Ensure the children are writing 2 digit numbers in the correct order.   

Reminders 

KS1 Diwali assembly will be on Tuesday 21st October at 2:30pm. 

The Year 1 football team training was cancelled this week. As soon as I know when it is going to be rescheduled I will let you know. 

This week we have had a number of jumpers going missing, although all have been found now after other children have found them at home. At times it is very easy for the children to pick up the wrong jumper. If you child comes home with another child's jumper can you please return it as soon as possible. Thank you 

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Year 1 Team

W/B 6th October 2014

Happy Birthday to Jake E who celebrated his birthday on Thursday! 

Well done to the children who have won the awards this week! In Year 1 this week it has been very busy and exciting. In English we have been reading the story The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The children have been creating there own titles similar to the classic story to find words with the same sounds. They came up with some great version, The Parrot Who Came to the Party and The Snake Who Came to Supper. On Wednesday I couldn't believe it when a big, furry lion came into class and took all of Year 1's milk and fruit! The children wrote about the Lion and created their own version of the story the Lion Who Came to Snack. Well done year 1 for trying so hard in your writing this week. There have been lots of children who are already achieving their targets and now need new ones in their writing!!! 

In Math's we have been learning all about matching pairs to make 4,5,6 and 10. The children have been singing songs to help them with their number bonds and used the farm yard and animals in our small world area to help them create number sentences to make pairs to 4,5,6 and 10. This weeks homework is based on learning pairs. Encourage the children to use their fingers and objects if they need support. On Friday the children received a letter from a cheeky pirate. He need Year 1 to help him solve a problem to figure out the code to unlock his treasure chests. The children were given challenges to find as many pairs as they could to make a set number to 10. The children then got to see if they cracked the code by opening a golden envelope with the correct answer. The children worked together to solve the problem. Well done!

Children’s weekly targets at home: 

• Please encourage your child to read as much as possible at home using the school books and books at home to support their interests and enjoyment in reading. 
• Try playing games like dominos or going on Education City to create pairs to make a number to 6.
• Practise writing all letters and numbers to 50. Ensure the children are writing 2 digit numbers in the correct order.   

Again a huge well done to all the children this week who have brought in extra spelling practise and extra reading from home show me. Keep up all your hard work!  

Important Information 

• The children will be doing an assembly for parents all about Diwali on 21st October at 2:30.
• Football for Year 1 on Tuesday 14th October has had to be cancelled.
• Can you please ensure your child brings a coat into school everyday especially now the weather is on the turn for the worse! (The sunny autumn days seemed to     have disappeared)   

Have a great weekend. See you all on Monday

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

W/B 21st September 2014

Happy Birthday to Jake who celebrated his birthday on Thursday! 

First lets start by congratulating the children who have won the awards this week! Well done to  for winning the award for and Zevin for being dance          of the week in PE. This week we also need to say well done to Joe who has got an award outside of school for his fantastic football skills. 

We have not had a great start to our week in Year 1! On Monday we found out the terrible news that our class teddy bear 'Rainbow Bear' had gone       missing. I asked the class the question "What are we going to do to find him?" They came up with lovely ideas about leaving trails for him to find his         way back to the class, going on a hunt around school and to make lost posters to put up around school.  So on Tuesday we all thought about how we would describe him and created lost posters to put up around school. They were fantastic and hopefully Rainbow Bear will get found!! I will keep you informed. 

In Maths we have been learning how to add and take away 1 or 2 from a two digit number. The children have been playing bean bag buckets to create      number sentences for them to solve. 

In our Religious Education sessions we have been continuing to look at Diwali. This week the children made rangoli and mendhi patterns. You will be able        to see them at our assembly in a number of weeks, they are fabulous!! In our Geography sessions we looked at where India is on the world map and        created a fact file including the capital city and famous landmarks. In our play sessions the children then created models of the Taj Mahal, take a look below. Well done Jake for your fantastic model!  

In PE we have continued to learn our Bollywood dance and how we should carry our bodies correctly to perform the dance.

Children’s weekly targets at home:

• Please encourage your child to make sure they are holding their pencil correctly when doing their homework. Put spots on their pencil to encourage     them to hold it in the correct place.  
• Try creating numbers sentences at home using the + and - signs. Thinking about whether you are adding more on or taking some away.
• Practise writing their letters and beginning to try some capital letters.  

A huge well done to all the children this week who have brought in extra spelling practise from home using the words from your reading record book to     show me. I am so proud of you all and I can really tell how your improving in your phonics sessions.  

Important Information

• The children will be doing an assembly for parents all about Diwali on 21st October at 2:30.

Have a great weekend. See you all on Monday

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

W/B 21st September 2014

This children have worked so hard this week! I wish I could pick more than 4 children for the awards this week. Well done to Ethan for being dancer            of the week in PE.

This week in English the children have listened to my favourite story 'Dogger'. It is a great story about a little boy who can't find this favourite teddy.        The children have been ordering the story and finding out what happened in the beginning, middle and end. They have also wrote about a time when they        have lost their favourite toy and how it felt. We concentrated on finger spaces and full stops in our sentences and they all achieve this target in the lesson. We also listened to the story 'Look What I've Got' and we talked about what toys we like to share and those that we find hard. We discussed how important it is to always share. The children have been doing fantastic work in the phonics and have been spelling some very tricky words this week! Don't let them catch you out when you are reading for school book! (Said, have, come.) In Math's we have been identify numbers that are bigger and smaller and     finding 1 more and 1 less.

In Science lessons we have been reading used a variety of books to get information about dinsoaurs and created a fact file about them. The children have    loved learning a song about dinosaurs we describes what they looked like, when they lived and what they ate.

In Geography the children have been using talking tables to discuss what animals live in hot and cold places. We have looked at pictures to describe the       North Pole and then added information to our class Geograpghy display with lots of describing vocabulary. The children watch a video clip of the film     happy feet to look at how a pengiun is adpated to live in a cold enviroment.  

In PE we have started to learn Bollywood dancing and how we should carry our bodies correctly to perform the dance.

Children’s weekly targets at home:

• Please encourage your child to make sure they are holding their pencil correctly when doing their homework.
• Finding 1 more and 1 less of a number in daily activities. (Maybe if your good mum and dad get you some sweets and you could ask for 1 more. How many would you have then?)
• Practise writing all the letters of the alphabet (Just in print this week not cursive)

Important Information

• The children will be doing an assembly for parents all about Diwali on 21st October at 2:30.

Have a great weekend. See you all on Monday

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

W/B 15^th September 2014

First of all it was lovely to meet everyone on Monday evening and I hope the meeting helped with understanding what will be happening as your child goes through Year 1 and answered any questions you had. For those parents who couldn’t make it, I have sent home the welcome packs which covers most of         what was discussed in the meeting, however please come and see me after school if there are any questions.

A huge well done to Ethan, Alexia, Eve and Max for winning awards this week and to Eve for being dancer of the week in PE. I would also like to introduce       our new Year 1 school councillors, who were voted in by the other children in Year 1. Well done I am sure you will be fantastic at getting any ideas from    children Year 1 to Mrs Holcroft to help improve our school.

This week in English the children have listened to a lovely story ‘This is Bear’ which is about a little teddy bear who gets lost at a rubbish dump. In their    writing the children had to describe some of the characters and identify the rhyming words throughout the story. The children also completed a creative writing task on Thursday when they all brought in their own favourite teddies into school. The children loved the activity and enjoyed playing a game of ‘Guess which bear?’ at the end of the lesson.

In maths this week we have been matching numbers to words and using our phonics knowledge to help us read the words. We have also started to learn our number bonds to 10 and have learnt a song all about sheep going missing to help us.

We have continued with our science topic “Why wouldn’t a dinosaur make a good pet?” The egg we found last week has hatched!!!! We now have a little      dinosaur to add to our class called Dan the Dino. The children have been learning about what living things need to survive in particular dinosaurs. We have     been little researchers using reading books and the internet to find out about dinosaurs. Thanks to Matthew for bringing into school his collection of       fossils!

Children’s weekly targets at home:

• Please encourage your child to make sure they are holding their pencil correctly when doing their homework.
• Putting finger spaces between words.
• Our phonics sounds this week are X, W, Y, Z. Children can use Education City at home to learn these sounds. Passwords were given in the welcome packs. When reading their books look for these sounds.

Important Information

• Can you please make sure your child has their PE kits in school, as we have now started our PE sessions and some children still haven’t got them in school.

Have a great weekend. See you all on Monday

Miss Jones and the Year 1 team.

W/B 8^th September 2014

We have had a great first full week in Year 1. First of all a massive well done to Sophie, Zac, Zevin and Aiden for winning awards this week. Well done to        Riaz for being dancer of the week in PE.

This week in English the children have listened to the fantastic story book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl to celebrate Roald Dahl day on Friday.  In their writing the children have used adjectives to describe Willy Wonker's factory and created their own golden tickets focusing on writing the days of the week with capital letters. The children also did some fantastic sentence work, writing about what part of the story they enjoyed the most. We have some great writers in year 1!

In Maths this week we have been counting and writing numbers to 30 using an interactive floor number square and using dominos to identify arrays without counting. Well done everyone for trying so hard!!!

We have started our new Science topic “Why wouldn’t a dinosaur make a good pet?” The children found an egg on the field and brought it back to class. We    all wondered what it could be. Maybe next week we will find out. This week the children have been looking at whether things are living and non-living. This     week we also started our creative topic “Why could a Meerkat not live in the North Pole?” The children have been using maps, atlases and google earth to      find different countries that are generally hot or cold. The children were so excited to use the maps and Google Earth, as they got to find all the countries that they have been on holiday to and who in Year 1 had travelled the furthest.

Children’s weekly targets at home:

• Please encourage your child to make sure they are holding their pencil correctly when doing their homework.
• Putting finger spaces between words.
• Our phonic sounds this week are J, V, W, X. Children can use Education City at home to learn these sounds. Passwords will be given in the welcome packs.

Important Information

• There is an introduction meeting for all Year 1 parents on Monday 15^th September at 5pm. You will be given welcome packs with all the key information about      your child starting Key Stage 1.
• Can you please make sure your child has their PE kits in school , as we have now started our PE sessions.
• The children have got their first piece of homework tonight. Can you please make sure it comes back into school by next Thursday.

Have a great weekend. See you all on Monday

Miss Jones and the Year 1 Team.

W/B 3rd September 2014

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a lovely summer holiday and a rest. It was such a lovely day on Wednesday to meet my new class. The children looked so smart in their new uniforms and they seem to have grown up so much. They came back so excited and enthusiastic about starting in Year 1. It was lovely to see the children walk into their new classroom and get so excited to spot some of their work from the transition days in July. The children's fabulous canvas hand print display is on our classroom ceiling with our class moto "In Year 1 we work, play and achieve together!" We also got to welcome   Miss Kime into Year 1 who will be working with the children. 

The first day the children got to explore their new classroom areas and our new outdoor door which is almost complete. They had great fun in our weather station role play area and getting digging to get our new planters ready for our class garden and vegetable patch. The children created a class charter discussing what they think our classroom rules, rewards and consequences should be. They came up with some fantastic ideas. and all agreed to make our classroom a happy and fun place to be for them and the teachers. Here are some of the rules they came up with.  

To listen and share to others. 

To always use your manners. 

To look after our classroom and resources. 

To help one another. 

To always try our best and support others. 

On Thursday the children also created a self portraits of themselves ready for a new classroom display. They are all fantastic!!!! We certainly have some little artist in our class. In our English sessions we wrote about our summer holidays and created a target for our handwriting to try and sit our letters on the lines.

It will be an busy but exciting week next week. The children have settled into Year 1 very well and we will beginning to adapt a routine from next week.  

Key Information

Please can you make sure that the children have their PE kit in school as we will be starting our PE sessions next week.

If you would like your child to have milk and haven't although requested for it please enquire at the school office. 

Reading books and book bags will be sent home every night from next week. Can you please make sure the children bring these back into school everyday.

Important Dates 

15th September 2014 - Year 1 year ahead meeting for parents. This will be a chance for me to meet you all and answer any questions you have. 

Have a great weekend everyone. Keep looking at the blog for key information, see what we have been up to in Year 1 and photos. 

Miss Jones and the Year 1 Team