Autumn 2, Week 6 Parent Blog

This Week in Year 1

English
This week in English, the children have been learning all about instructions. They explored what instructions are and how to sequence them correctly. We looked at commands and learnt about bossy verbs. To make learning fun, as a class we made reindeer food and wrote instructions using bossy verbs. They also learnt about time conjunctions and how to use them in instructions. In continuous provision, the children sorted bossy verbs into Santa’s sack or not Santa’s sack, and ordered picture cards to show the correct steps for making a snowman and cookies.

Maths
In Maths, the children have been working on numbers in words, one more and one less, ordering numbers from smallest to largest, odd and even numbers, and spotting patterns in shapes and pictures. For continuous provision, they ordered numbers using Christmas pudding word sheets, used magnetic numbers to fill in missing boxes, continued patterns, and played a fun “spin the spinner” game to practise odd and even numbers.

School Trip
Year 1 had a wonderful trip to Gracemead Church. The children learnt what a church is and what people do there. They also retold the story of Jesus’s birth and stepped into the roles of the characters, bringing the story to life. It was a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn in a real life setting and take responsibility during the role-play.

Have a lovely weekend!
Year 1 Team

Autumn 2, Week 5 Parent Blog

This Week in Year 1

English

This week in English, the children began writing the build-up and dilemma for their own stories. They focused on making their sentences clear and meaningful by using capital letters at the start and full stops at the end. The children also practised joining ideas together and making their writing flow. For activities, they worked on sorting scrambled sentences into the correct order to make sense and wrote short stories.

Maths

In Maths, children have started learning about money. They explored different coins and the £5 note, discussing their values and how they are used in real life. To make learning fun and practical, the children took part in shopping activities where they used coins to buy items and deepen their understanding of money. They also created a role-play shop where they practised buying festive items using coins, matched amounts to their correct value, and coloured in coins to show which ones matched. In addition, they completed an activity sheet to recognise and understand the value of a range of coins.

Project

Last week, the children explored castanets and designed their own versions on paper. This week, they moved on to a hands-on activity where they used junk modelling to create their own castanets. The children experimented with a variety of materials, tested which ones worked best for making a castanet, and had lots of fun getting creative (and a little messy!) during the process.

Have a lovely weekend!
Year 1 Team

                                                                                 Autumn 2, Week 4 Parent Blog

                                                                                           This Week in Year 1

English
This week in English, the children have been learning about capital letters at the start of a sentence and in names. They explored why capital letters are important and practised using them correctly. The children also learnt about full stops and how to use them to end a sentence. In addition, they were introduced to the conjunction ‘and’ and practised applying it in their sentences to join ideas together. Building on their fictional stories from last week, they added adjectives to make their writing more descriptive. They also practised composing sentences orally before writing them down.
For activities, the children matched lowercase letters with their correct capital letters and edited sentences with names to include capital letters.

Maths
In Maths, children learnt to recognise one half of a shape, quantity, and length. They discovered that half is one of two equal parts of a whole. Activities included exploring halves of shapes and matching them to their correct halves, as well as finding half of a number through practical tasks.

Science
This week in Science, the children learnt that different animals have different features to help them survive in their habitats. They explored what these features are and how they help the animals. The children grouped animals according to where they live: water, cold, hot, and land environments. To finish, they designed their very own animal, which they will bring to life next week through junk modelling.

Project
In Project, the children explored toy mechanisms. They learnt about spring-loaded mechanisms, how they stretch and return to their normal shape, and how resistance works. The children squeezed and stretched different materials to understand which ones have resistance. Finally, they drew their own castanet design, ready to make next week.

Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Gorur and Year 1 Team

Autumn 2, Week 3 Parent Blog

This Week in Year 1

English
This week in English, the children learnt what a fictional story is and explored its structure. They planned and wrote their own stories, creating unique characters and settings, and illustrated their work with colourful pictures. The children learnt the key parts of a story: the title, beginning, build-up, dilemma, and resolution. To develop oracy, they made up stories using minibeast characters in different settings and used colourful semantics to build sentences. These activities helped strengthen their understanding of story structure and sentence building.

Maths
In Maths, Year 1 focused on addition and subtraction facts within 15. Through hands-on activities, they coloured specific numbers in different colours, used scissors and glue to stick the correct missing answers, and practised finding the inverse of operations. These engaging tasks supported their fluency and confidence in working with number facts.

Science
This week in science, the children investigated which materials are most absorbent and which are the least absorbent. They began by writing predictions, then tested each material to see how well it soaked up liquid. Finally, they recorded their findings, learning how to compare results and draw conclusions from their experiments.

Project
In Project, the children explored toys from ancient times, focusing on toys from Ancient Egypt. They compared old and ancient toys, discussing how they look and how they were made. Children brought in their own toys and examined the differences between modern and historical toys. They then picked two toys and described their differences, explaining why one is new and the other old or ancient. This activity encouraged observation, comparison, and historical understanding.

Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Gorur and Year 1 team

Autumn 2, Week 2 Parent Blog

This Week in Year 1

English
This week, the children continued reading The Squirrels Who Squabbled by Rachel Bright. They explored the different settings in the story and focused on the characters Cyril and Bruce. Using descriptive language, they matched adjectives to the correct character and played a fun guessing game: “Can you guess my character?” based on verbal clues. They also added thought bubbles to illustrations, imagining what each character might be thinking during key moments in the story. These activities helped develop their understanding of character traits and expressive language.

Maths
In Maths, children explored positional language such as left, right, across, under, over, and on top. They used BeeBots to practice giving and following directions, programming them to move around. Another hands-on activity involved working with a partner to place a teddy bear around a box and describe its position using the correct vocabulary. Finally, they followed step-by-step instructions to complete a drawing, reinforcing their understanding of spatial awareness and movement.

Science
Year 1 children continued their detective work with a very exciting investigation! They went out onto the school grounds to search for woodlice and learnt fascinating facts about their habitats. They discovered what a microhabitat is and experimented to see whether woodlice preferred apples, potatoes, or twigs and leaves. Children made predictions and observed what their woodlice did once placed in different environments. This hands-on exploration helped them understand how animals choose their habitats based on their needs.

Project
This week in Project, children continued learning about toys. They discussed how toys have changed over time and compared toys from the past with those of today. They learnt about Frank Whittington, the famous toy maker, and explored what his toys were called and when they were made. Children then imagined a toy they would like to see made in a factory, drawing, colouring, and labelling their designs. This activity encouraged creativity and historical thinking.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Gorur and Year 1 team

 

Autumn 2, Week 1 Parent Blog

This Week in Year 1

English
This week, children began exploring a new story: The Squirrels Who Squabbled by Rachel Bright. They were introduced to the lively characters and made thoughtful predictions about what might happen next. As part of their vocabulary work, children explored new words from the story and discussed their meanings. Building on last term’s learning, they began sequencing events using mind maps and writing captions to match. These activities helped deepen their understanding of the story and supported their sentence-building skills.

Maths
In Maths, children explored counting in groups of 2s, 5s, and 10s. They made connections between these patterns and practised grouping objects in different ways. Through hands-on activities, they matched digit cards to the correct quantities, sorted picture cards into groups, and worked together to group different amounts. These activities helped strengthen their understanding of number patterns and grouping.

Science
Year 1 children became nature detectives this week! They searched the school grounds for minibeasts and learnt all about invertebrates. With great excitement, they discovered tiny creatures in different habitats and learnt what makes each habitat suitable for the animals living there. Back in the classroom, they drew pictures of the habitats they explored and discussed what each minibeast needs to survive.

Project
In Project, children shared their favourite toys with the class. They spoke confidently about what they love about their toy and why it’s special to them. This led to a discussion about the concept of target audience, who the toy is for and why it’s suitable for that age group. Children considered what makes a toy fun, safe, and engaging, and began thinking like young designers!

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Gorur and Year 1 team