Happy half term Y1!

Wow Y1, we've made it to half term! You have all been superstars and I'm so proud of each and every one of you. We've had a fantastic week singing to pumpkin heroes, going on autumn walks and starting our study work.

In English this week, we have concentrated on writing our letters to Mrs Chesters to explain why we were late for school. You told Mrs Chesters all about your journey on the hundred decker bus and the adventures you went on. You all included the main parts of a letter: address, date, greeting and closing of the letter. We were so proud of our letters so we decided to write them up onto posh paper for our study work book. We then finished the week with concentrating on writing questions. We understood that when we ask a question we want to find out information so we expect an answer back. We then understood that all questions need a question mark on the end.

In phonics, you have been continuing to learn your new sounds and reading your weekly books. My favourite part of the day is listening to all of your beautiful reading. We have also had a focus this week on alien words and what fun we have had reading absolute nonsense!

We have been adding all week in our new topic of addition and subtraction. You have been working really hard to answer number sentences by adding the parts to then find the whole. You have used number lines, part-part whole models and tens frame to help you work out the answers. Since the start of term you have become real independent learners in maths and it is amazing to see how many of you are using your maths skills in your choosing time. You were even measuring me in the garden this week so that you could find items that were the same size or taller than me.

In our afternoon learning you have been working really hard. We have focused a lot of our learning on completing some pages on our first ever Y1 study work book. I am so impressed with our pages so far. They really are going to be amazing!

In Geography, we have been learning about our local area of Wybunbury and we have been comparing this to London. We found out that London and Wybunbury have lots of similarities and differences. Did you know both London and Wybunbury have towers, churches, pubs and parks? Did you know that London has a river called the Thames but Wybunbury has a brook? In our activity we created a map of Wybunbury using tissue paper, string, wood slices and we then created physical and human features on a piece of paper to put on your map. Your creations were amazing!

In science, we looked at the season of autumn and we thought about what we already knew and what we want to know. We learned that there are two types of trees: evergreen and deciduous. Did you know that the leaves on a deciduous tree change colour because there is less sunlight in Autumn and they start to fall off because winter is coming. This means it gets colder! We then finished our learning with going on our own Autumn walk and what fun we had! We found all different types of leaves, harvested some of the fruit from the orchard and then thought about our five senses. We sat quiet and still whilst we carefully listened to what we could hear around us. We also wrote about what we could see, smell and touch. We will continue to learn about our season of Autumn after half term but whilst you are venturing out this week think about what else you can see around you during Autumn and if you want to share any photos please do on seesaw.

In art we finished our clay tiles off and we painted them using the colours that we see on canal art. We were so proud of our beautiful artwork so we decided to create a study work page out of it.

This week we celebrated Black History month. You learned about the wonderful and inspirational Rosa Parks. Whilst we read a book and watched a video about her story, you were horrified to hear about the mistreatment that she had suffered in America. As one of you said 'This is silly, why couldn't people just be treated the same. We are all different from each other but we all have a heart. These people were not kind.' To hear you all openly speak about your views and opinions on this matter just showed how much your voices should be heard. You are the next generation and it is so important for you to be aware of inspirational people who changed history. Well done Y1 for being so mature about a serious matter and for discussing your own feelings.

As well as Black History month, we have been celebrating pumpkin heroes. You have been singing from the rooftops 'Share God's love, Shine God's light' and we even got time to carve our own pumpkin.

Well Y1 you are the light that shines so brightly in our classroom. This term has been very busy and I know you were all feeling very tired. You have settled into the Y1 routines beautifully and you have all created some very impressive work over the last two months. You now deserve a weeks rest before we dive back into more learning. You are my superstars and thank you for making me so proud.

Have a lovely half term and enjoy your time with your families.

Stay safe and take care,

Miss Haynes