Year 1

Year 1

Miss Conroy (Monday-Wednesday), Mrs Pike (Thursday-Friday) and Mrs Gibbs.

Miss Conroy: conroy.e@welearn365.com 

Mrs Pike: houghton.l@welearn365.com

End of year thanks 

All of the Year 1 team would like to say how proud we are of the Year 1s. They are such a kind, hardworking a lovely group of children. Year 1 is a really special year where we get to watch them grow up so much in a year and make huge leaps of progress. We have loved seeing their big smiles each morning and we feel very lucky to have spent the year with them. Thank you to all of the Year 1 parents for your kindness and support this year. Thank you also for our lovely end of year gifts and cards. They are truly appreciated. We hope you have a lovely summer and can't wait to see you all again soon!

Token Reward

A huge well done to Year 1 for showing our school values and collecting so many tokens. They earnt themselves a non-uniform day AND a trip to the park! We are so proud of you!

Year 5

We loved having a visit from the Year 5s! They came to help us with our reading and work with us on our coding project in our computing lesson. It was so lovely to see the children working together and supporting each other. Their kindness and encouragement really showed our school vision statement of 'a family of learners expecting the best'. 

Rocksteady

A huge well done to Kurun, Jenson, Lucas, Carter, Harry, Ruby and Owen from Year 1 for being so brave and performing in front of all of the parents in our Rocksteady Concert! You were brilliant!!

Minibeast hunt

In our science lesson this week the children were hunting for minbeasts. We classified our finds according to how many legs they had which helped us to easily identify which were insects with 6 legs. The children spotted a huge number of minbeasts and were able to identify a large number of them. 

Sports Day 

Wow Year 1! What a brilliant Sports Day! We are SO proud of how well they did in their races and how they cheered everyone on! You were all superstars! We took some photos and managed to record some of the races, which we have uploaded below (apologies that we didn't manage to record them all!). We hope you enjoyed!

Animals at Hatton

Year 1 have had a brilliant day learning all about mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds today at Hatton. The children have learnt lots and had great fun handling the different animals. We even managed to fit in some playtime on the gold rush, inflatable slide and fairground rides aswell as an ice cream and a story in the shade.

RE Day 

We spent RE day thinking about how we should care for others and the environment.

Outdoor Learning Day

To celebrate outdoor learning day we took our learning outside and all enjoyed a change of scene.

Zones of regulation

We tried out a carousel of different activities to help us to regulate our emotions. We tried out yoga, exercising outdoors, massagers, mindfulness colouring in and relaxing on and under the beanbags.

Plant Creations

The children used art and craft materials to create their own plant. They chose whether it was a flowering plant or a tree or perhaps even a combination of the two! The children thought carefully about their plants and as you can see we had a real range of creations. The children labelled the parts of their own plant and spoke confidently about each plant and it's job.

Terrific Trees

Today we learnt about the importance of trees and explored the trees growing on our school grounds. We looked at the structure of trees, used a leaf key to identify some of them, took bark rubbings to compare different trees and even estimated how old each tree was by measuring it's circumference.

Walk to church

After learning about sacred places on RE day, today we were invited to St Nicholas church to learn more about this sacred building and some of the objects inside of it. Reverend Martin showed us and told us all about the lectern, font, organ, crosses, crucifix and much more!

Coronation Celebration Day

We loved celebrating the Coronation on Tuesday 2nd May. We had lots of fun in our iSingPOP workshop. We found out all about King David from the Bible and learnt all about the coronation. We had lots of fun learning two songs and dances! 

Learning Event

Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our Summer Learning Event. We loved sharing our science learning with you and finding out more about plants! 

Scientists!

A huge well done to the children who completed a science project for our competition this week. Each of them did a brilliant job of confidently explaining to the judges what they had done and learnt. We are so very proud of them!

RE Day - What makes a place sacred?

We started RE Day thinking about places that are special to us and the things that are in/at that special place. Then we looked at places that are sacred for believers. We learnt about how the church is a sacred place for Christians. We looked closely at the things found inside a church and what they are used for. We learnt about how the synagogue is a sacred place for Jewish people. We looked closely at the things found inside a synagogue and what they are used for.

Cooking and Nutrition Lessons

Year 1 have really enjoyed their cooking lessons this half term! They have learnt all about healthy eating and have cooked muffins and sausage rolls! Well done Year 1!

Rocksteady Concert

Well done to our amazing Rocksteady band for their brilliant performance this week!

Our walk to the farm

The children in Year 1 had a brilliant time walking to the farm today. We saw lots of signs of spring on the way; the children were pointing out blossom, daffodils, new leaves growing on the trees and we even saw some bees in action. Lots of fun was had jumping into all of the muddy puddles and we saw some lovely little spring lambs. Two of them had actually just been born 10 minutes before we arrived! A huge thank you to Mrs Gibbs and her family for inviting us, and to parents/carers for sending in wellies and appropriate clothing!

Can longer legs jump further?

To celebrate British Science Week, all year groups planned investigations to try to find an answer to this question. The year 1 children had lots of brilliant opinions and ideas when it came to making predictions and had a lot of fun measuring each others legs and jumps. When we discussed our results we decided that lots of things affect how far somebody can jump, such as how often they practise jumping/exercise, how heavy or light they are and how strong their leg muscles are, as well as their leg length.

RE Day 

We spent RE day thinking about what it means to belong to a faith community. We thought about ourselves and different groups we belong to, such as our families, Radford Semele School, beavers, rainbows, swimming and rugby clubs. Then we looked at signs and symbols of belonging to the Christian and Jewish faiths. After learning about a baptism ceremony, we followed instructions to fold and rip a piece of paper to show the church, then a bible and finally the Christian cross. Ask your child to see if they can remember how to do it. Then we shared bread and squash and enjoyed telling each other stories by candlelight, just like in the Jewish celebration of Shabbat.

World Book Day

The children had a great day being word collectors and generating lots of wonderful new vocabulary, from aromatic to zodiac and everything inbetween! Here are a few pictures of what we got up to, apologies there aren't more photos - the adults got carried away finding new words too!

Learning Event

On Monday 13th February, we had our Learning Celebration Event. It was so lovely to invite all of our Year 1 parents in to hear about what we have been up to in maths recently! We really enjoyed showing our books and having our parents help with our new learning all about money!

RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch

This week the children have learnt how to use binoculars and taken part in the RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch. We spotted a few different garden birds, seagulls and even a pheasant! Afterwards, we talked about what we could do to encourage even more birds to visit our school grounds. That's when we decided to make pine cone bird feeders to hang up in the trees.

Are bubbles always round?

The children planned and carried out their own investigation to find an answer to this question. 

The British Motor Museum

On Monday 23rd January, Year 1 had an amazing trip to the British Motor Museum! We had so much fun learning all about how transport has changed throughout time. We got to see (and even touch!) some really cool cars, go on an old bus and even have a ride in a classic car. Year 1 were brilliant and asked so many great questions and really impressed our tour guides. Well done Year 1!

Science -fish race

As part of our 'working like a scientist' unit we have been gathering data to answer the question 'how can we make a paper fish move the furthest?' After decorating our own paper fish we took part in fish races to see which was the best method of moving the paper fish. 

Tokens reward

Year 1 have been working so hard to collect tokens! They earn a token for showing above and beyond 'exceptional' behaviour and displaying one of our six values: respect, responsibility, creativity, forgiveness, perseverance and generosity. As they collected so many tokens, Year 1 earn themselves a non-uniform day and a trip to the park! Great work Year 1!

Show and Tell

Year 1 will be having show and tell on a Friday afternoon this term. Please could you help your child to choose 1 item they find especially interesting and prepare 2 or 3 things they'd like to tell the class about it. 

Bright sparks group - Friday 20th January

Master mind group - Friday 27th January

Whizz kids group - Friday 3rd February

Smarty pants group - Friday 10th February

If your child is unsure which group they are in, please just ask.

Thank you

Space junk competition

We have been able to share lots of wonderful space junk models and designs this week. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard on this challenge and to the adults at home for all of their support. 

Rocksteady Concert

We are really proud of Ruby, Kurun and Harry who performed in their Rocksteady band for all of the parents! They have really shown our school values of creativity and perseverance since they started learning their new instruments! Well done to our little rockstars!

Who is Jewish and what do they believe?

We spent RE day learning about the Jewish faith. 

Thank you

All of the year 1 team would like to say thank you for your lovely Christmas wishes, cards and gifts. We hope you all had a wonderful festive break!

Nature print Christmas cards

After talking about deciduous and evergreen trees in our science lessons, this week we have used evergreen plants to print Christmas cards for our friends and families.

Ted's Umbrella Investigation

We have been testing materials this week to find out which would make the best umbrella for Ted. The children cooperated well in their groups, made careful observations and used these to decide which material would be best.

Lights, Camel, Action

We have had a lot of fun performing for parents and the rest of the school this week. 

Science - winter weather

The children have enjoyed exploring signs of winter this week during playtime.

Advent

Following our RE day earlier this term, we have been talking about advent. We have 'lit' the first candle on our class wreath, begun our own class advent calendar and some of the children have even been creating their own to bring home.  

Learning Event

Thank you so much to everyone who came to our Learning Event! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. It was so lovely to see the children so excited to share their new phonics knowledge and show off their amazing writing! 

Local Area Walk

On Monday 7th November, Year 1 went on a walk around our local area as part of our geography fieldwork. We learnt all about human and physical features and had to spot different features on our walk. We also spoke about the purpose of different areas and what we would do to improve our local area. Thank you to all of our parent volunteers who joined us! 

RE Day

Our big question this half term is 'Why does Christmas matter to Christians?' We have been learning, sequencing and retelling the Christmas Story, as well as thinking about it's importance to Christians.

Maths

In maths, we have been learning all about addition. We have been finding parts and then adding them together to make a whole. Miss Conroy was so impressed to see these children practising independently!

Computing

We have begun our first computing unit! We have been learning all about technology and the different parts of a laptop and desktop computer. We had a go at using a laptop to make a picture!

The Three Little Pigs

This week, in our English lessons we learnt how to retell the story of The Three Little Pigs using a story map to help us and we wrote character descriptions about the Big Bad Wolf! In our busy time, some children chose to act out the story using puppets and masks. Some children chose to make their own story maps, which are now proudly displayed on the wall! Great work Year 1!

Visit from an athlete

On Tuesday 11th October, we had a visit from a famous athlete! Amy Smith is a British swimmer and she did some exercises with us and spoke to us about becoming an athlete! She really shows our value of perseverance as she told us she used to be scared of the water when she was younger! Here are some pictures of us carrying out our very tiring exercises!

English

We have been working really hard on our writing in Year 1! Our writing has been linked to our topic 'Myself, my family and my home'. So far, we have written recounts, poems, captions and this week we are writing a non-chronological report all about our homes. We have been thinking carefully about writing sentences with a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop. We have also been using our phonics knowledge to help us sound out our words. Take a look at this great work!

Science - our 5 senses

The children used their senses of hearing, smell, touch, taste and sight to identify a mystery item. They were very pleased when it turned out to be mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Maths

Last week, in maths, we learnt all about counting forwards and finding one more. This week, we have been learning all about the opposite and counting backwards and finding one less! After our maths lesson, lots of children decided to make rockets to practice counting backwards!

As part of our science learning about the human body, the children have made loose part self portraits. As they made their portraits the children were encouraged to talk about the different body parts they had included, and other facial features they could see in the mirror. Can you guess who is who?

Starting Year 1

We have had a lovely first couple of weeks in Year 1! The children have settled in so well and have enjoyed exploring different areas of our classroom during 'Busy Time', which you can see in the photos below! We have also been impressed by their hard work in group times and completing tasks with an adult!

In maths, we have learnt all about sorting, counting and representing numbers on a tens frame! In theme, we have been learning how to put events from our lives in chronological (time) order. We have also been writing about what we learnt to do when we were younger. In science, we have been thinking about different parts of the body and in art we have been looking at some of Andy Warhol's Pop Art and deciding which picture is our favourite. In phonics, we have been learning a new phonics song, which you may like to practise at home (warning: it is very catchy!). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cg-CRabqyE

Welcome Back

We've had a great first week back and are looking forward to lots more fun learning opportunities. Below are some important pieces of information for you:

• PE during Autumn term will be on a Wednesday and Friday. We will be inside and outside so please make sure you have appropriate clothing for both in school. 
• Please make sure that you are reading (a school reading book, library book, book from home, etc) daily and recording this in your reading record. If you would like to change your book more frequently, please just talk to Miss Conroy, Mrs Pike or Mrs Gibbs. 
• Please make sure that all of your child's belongings are clearly labelled. 
• The weather is quite changeable at the moment so please make sure your child has a waterproof coat in school each day.

If you have any questions or concerns please speak to one of us in the morning, after school or feel free to send us an email.

Photos of our classroom

We hope you are all looking forward to starting Year 1! We are so excited! Here are some photos so you can have a sneak peak at what our classroom now looks like...