Welcome to year 1- 

The children have settled in well to their new classes and are already working really hard!  Our topic this half term in 'Wonderful Me'.  We will be learning about 'self portraits', our local area, local heroes and much more.  Please see our topic overview for more information.  We look forward to working together this half term and making this half term fun, exciting and engaing for our year 1 pupils.  

Summer 2

This half term out topic was called "fun fever". We learned about holidays and seasons. Children have enjoyed outdoor activities this half term such as sports day, parachute games and looking at the changes in the plants around school. In science when learning about seasons children have looked at the different signs of each season, clothes they would wear and what months of the year are in each season. They have talked about where they have been on holidays and where they would like to go. Children have worked hard completing their phonics screening tests and learnt about warning stories in English. During Maths they have been looking at numbers up to 100 making them and finding them on a 100 square.  Children have also been practising counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. 

English

This half terms topic was all about warning stories.  Children learnt the story of 'Kassim and the greedy dragon'.  They then worked on changing the character and adding their own interesting adjectives to create their own story.  Children have also focused on including capital letters and full stops and looking at comprehension questions in reading.  

Maths 

In Maths children have been learning to count forwards and backward to 100.  They have used counters and diennes cubes to make numbers using tens and ones.  Children have tried to find one more and one less than numbers up to 100 and have played lots of games to practise counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. 

PE

Children have learnt different skills in games and took part in Sports day outside.  They enjoyed target throwing, egg and spoon, running and relay races. Well done to all children who took part. 

Music

Musical adventure outside. 
The children composed and performed music based on a local adventure around the school grounds.  

E-Safety

The children learned all about E-Safety and the Smart Rules; S for safe, M for meet, A for accept, R for reliable, and T for tell. 

RHE

The children heard the story of The Good Samaritan and were introduced to the concept of the Trinity – God as a three in one- The son, The Father and The Holy Spirit.  We thought about what the Trinity means for them.

We also learned about the different local and global communities that they are part of, and what rights and responsibilities come with belonging to these communities.

Summer 1

Our topic this half term was called "Roots, Shoots and Juicy Fruits".

Religious Education

During R.E. the children learned the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. They acted out the story and completed some creative activities around the religious signs and symbols linked to Pentecost. We made a beautiful display to show what we have learned. 

The children understand what people do on a Holy day and why they do it. They can also say how it is different from a holiday. 

They can talk with their friends about what they wonder about the Holy Spirit.

Science 

In Science, the children have enjoyed learning about Plants. We planted our own beans and learned how to take care of them to help them to grow. We have learned about a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees. We went on a tree and plant hunt around our school grounds and found lots of different ones. We also looked at some beautiful gardens and designed our own, choosing some of our favourite, colourful flowers. 

Music

In music, the children have been learning songs about fruit and vegetables that you might find at a farmer's market. They have also learned basic rhythmic notation.

RHE

The children listened to a story about a girl called Lucy and her family. This story introduced them to the concept of the Trinity and what it means to them. They learned that God is love: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit- three in one. 

They also learned through the story of the Good Samaritan who their neighbour is- everyone. They discussed that means to them and their communities.  

English

In English, the children have been learning about how to describe a character. They came up with lots of size, colour and shape adjectives and used these to describe a fantasy character. They learned the story “At the end of the rainbow” and focussed on the description of the character in that story. They then wrote the story independently changing the character from a unicorn to their own fantasy character. 

Maths 

The children have been learning about place values to 50, making numbers using; dienes cubes, tens frames, and drawing and writing the numbers. 

They have also been counting forwards and backwards in tens from 100. 

Design and Technology 

The children learned about what makes a healthy diet. 

They then looked at different fruits and had to decide which ones they would like to use on a fruit kebab. 

They designed their own fruit kebab and then made it. Once they had made it, they evaluated their work and thought about any changes they would make the next time they made one. 

Spring 2 

This half term we have been learning all about 'Amazing Animals'.  Children have written a journey story and an information piece about the life cycle of a butterfly in English; learnt about animal body parts, how to group animals and all about what they eat in science and even got to visit a farm.  In RE children have learnt all about Lent, change and Easter.  Alongside this they have enjoyed music lessons based around animals, made moving pictures in DT and looked at addition and place value upto 20 in Maths.  Children also celebrated World Book Day and Science week with many fun activities taking place. Well done everyone! 

Maths 

In maths children have been learning to name and sort 2D and 3D shapes.  They then moved onto learning about place value to 20 making numbers using diennes cubes, tens frames and draw and writing the numbers.  Children also applied their knowledge to look at different methods of addition to 20.  

English 

In English, the children have learned a journey story called "Little Charlie" The children answered comprehension questions on it and learned the actions to go with it. 

They then changed parts of the story to make their own individual journey story. All the children worked hard and some amazing stories were made. 

Science

In Science children have been learning about 'Animals including humans'.  They labelled body parts and looked at the five senses and even did a senses investigation.  Children looked at different ways to group animals and learnt about what they eat.  Children enjoyed a trip to the farm to see lots of different animals and their young. 

Religious Education 

This half term the children learned about Lent and Easter. They learned that the first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, in school, the children had a cross put on their forehead with the burnt palms that were used on Palm Sunday last year. We learned about Palm Sunday and how when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem the crowds lay palm leaves on the floor. We discussed what the crowd might be saying as Jesus rode through the streets on his donkey. 

We learned about Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We made plasticine models of the different people and props in the Easter story which the children then used to act out the full Easter story. This has been uploaded onto the website for you to watch. 

RHE 

The children have been learning about keeping safe. They have discussed the difference between good and bad secrets and completed various activities around this. They also learned about what is a harmful substance and what is not. They learned some basic first aid and what makes a 999 emergency and what they should do if they are in an emergency situation. 

Design Technology

In design technology children looked at different moving picture books that included wheels, levers and sliders.  Children then made some of these moving pictures and designed their final picture deciding which type of movement to use.  They then spent time making their final product and then evaluated it. 

Spring 1

This half term our topic has been “All Aboard” linking learning to pirates.  Children have written pirates stories in English, travelled around the world to different continents in geography, looked at transport from the past and present in history and even got to build their own pirate ship in DT and art.  In RE children have learnt about special people in their lives and in the church.  Alongside this they have enjoyed music lessons based around pirates and making sea creature sculptures in art.  Children also enjoyed celebrating Story telling week, learning about safety and have learnt lots about friendships and forgiveness in RHE.  Well done “me hearties!”

Geography 

In geography children have travelled the world as a pirate.  They visited different continents and learnt about a different country that belonged to a continent each lesson.  They travelled to Australia, Africa, Antarctica, Asia and back home to Europe.  Children learnt key information about each country such as the capital city, different animals that live there and what the weather is like along with lots of other facts.  Children also learnt what a compass is and how we can use it to travel the world.  

English 

In English the children have been learning about how to describe a setting. They learnt the story “Pirate Tom” and focussed on the description of the setting in the story. In addition, the children learnt about poetry. They learnt what a list poem was and wrote poems about winter using adjectives and nouns. The children have worked really hard and created a lovely poems and stories.

Maths

In maths children have been learning about addition and subtraction.  They have been learning how to use counters, number lines, number bonds and crossing out to help them solve number sentences.  Children have learnt to use the correct symbols and how we can use number bonds to make different addition and subtraction facts.

Art and DT

In art children learnt that sculptures are art in 3D.  They learnt about different sculptors and looked at examples of their work.  Children went on to make their own scultures of sea creatures using bread and a sea monster using recycled materials.  They used many different skills and were able to cut, roll and coil materials to create their sculpture.  We were also very lucky to work with an artist from Z-Arts to create and evaluate our very own pirate ship!

Autumn 2

Merry Christmas!

we hope you have a lovely Christmas with friends and family. Your children have worked super hard this half term and deserve a well-earned rest. Thank you for your continued support and hard work this half term.  

The children are enjoying a fun-filled final week, performing their Christmas Nativity, having their Christmas party and they may even get a special visitor with gifts at the end of the week!

Have a look below to find out what we have been learning about this half term. 

Religious Education

We have continued to develop our understanding of our Catholic faith and have learned how Advent is a time of waiting.  We found out how God sent Angel Gabriel to Mary to tell her that she would have a baby and that he would be the son of God. We learned how Mary had to wait for the birth of baby Jesus. We have had fun making Advent wreaths and Advent calendars. We also made Christingles with year 4 which was great fun. 

We have also worked hard practicing our part in the school Nativity which is now on the school website for you to watch. 

Science 

This half term children have been learning about everyday materials.  They looked at naming materials, understanding properties, and sorting them.  Children took part in experiments to test different objects' properties.  They looked at objects to see if they were bendy or not bendy, opaque, or transparent and they tested to see which material would be best for an umbrella.  Ask your child if they can tell you what different objects around the house are made from.  

D.T.

The children have had lots of fun working on their D.T. project this half term. They looked at different materials and described them. They then designed an outfit for an elf, choosing appropriate materials and using a variety of skills. Once their fantastic outfits were complete, the children evaluated them and looked at how they could improve them. 

Maths

In maths children have been learning to order numbers, make number bonds and learnt different ways to add numbers together.  Children have found different addition facts and even made up their own addition number stories.  

English 

In English, the children have been learning about how to describe a character. They learned the story “How Tiger learned not to be greedy” and focussed on the description of the tiger.  In addition, the children learned about how to write instructions by learning the text "How to trap a tiger". The children have worked really hard and created some great instructions using; time conjunctions, command words, what you need, and some adjectives.  

Music 

In music, we have been learning about the beat/pulse and rhythms in songs. We have been getting the instruments out and playing the beat and rhythms on them. We learned that the beat in music stays the same but the rhythm changes. The beat/pulse can be fast or slow depending on the song. We have enjoyed learning some Christmas songs too. 

Autumn 1

This half term children have settled in well into their new class and routines.  Children have learnt lots already and have been on a local walk and are looking forward to showing our work on local heroes to year 2 in our art gallery this week.  Here are some of the things we have been learning about in Autumn term.

English

Our first topic in English was recounts.  Children learnt what a recount is and learnt the recount of ‘Charlie’s Walk’.  They then went on their own walk around the school and created their own recount from this including time conjunctions and focusing on sounding out, full stops and capital letters.  Their second topic was traditional tales, children learnt the story of the ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff’ using a story map.  After that, children came up with their own story about the 'Three Fluffy Cats'.  

Maths

This half term children have been looking at numbers to 10, number bonds to 5, representing numbers, comparing and finding one more and less.  Children have also made a great start making number bonds to ten and making up their own number stories.  Children have engaged in lots of different practical activities to support their understanding of number. 

Geography

In Geography, we went on a walk around our local area. We looked at the different buildings and discussed what we liked and what we did not like about the area. We also talked about the weather and looked for signs of Autumn and linked this to our Science topic. 

Art

This half term we learnt how to draw self portraits.  We learnt about an artist called Paplo Picasso.  Children learnt how to use colours to show mood, show movement and use different drawing equipment.  We also created our own a start portrait. 

Music 

In music, we have been learning about the beat/pulse and rhythms in songs.  We’ve learned that the beat in music stays the same but the rhythm changes. The beat/pulse can be fast or slow depending on the song. We listened to some music produced by the Manchester band "Oasis" and discussed what instruments we could hear in it. 

RHE

In RHE we learned about the importance of valuing ourselves and why we are special. We learned the similarities and differences between people, including our bodies and the things they enable us to do. We have also explored the importance of being healthy and staying clean. 

RE-

In RE children have learnt about families, how all families are different and about how it feels to be part of God’s family.  Children are now learning about ‘Belonging’ they have discussed different groups they belong to and how they feel being part of a group.  They listened to the story of Jesus and the children, where he welcomes and blesses the children around them into God’s family.  

Reading

Children have been practising and learning phase 2 and 3 phonics in lessons and through a variety of activities.  All children have their own reading book linked to their phonics level.  Year 1 have already listened to a wide range of stories including Fiction, Non-Fiction and poems around seasons.  Here are some of our stories we have heard at read aloud time.