Welcome to Year One 9.9.22

Wow what a lovely start to Year one we have had. It's been a fantastic week getting to know you all and what super learner you already are. I'm so pleased to be your teacher.

On Monday we had a settling in day where we got to know our new classroom. You were given your carpet spaces and tables spaces and we were so excited to learn our new table names. We had a mindfulness morning where we read the story of 'How to catch a rainbow'. You went on a rainbow hunt to discover the rainbow colours we have around our school. You then used petals and natural resources to create your very own rainbow sun catcher. In the afternoon, you discovered that our new topic was....Transport! How exciting. You spoke about your favourite transport and why they were your favourite. You were then introduced to our art topic of canal art. We understood that our local canal is Nantwich and many of you discussed your adventures to the canal and what canal art you had seen on the narrow boats.

In English this week, we have wrote sentences about our favourite transport and the transport we had been on over the summer. We thought about adjectives we could use to describe our transport. You also completed your baseline assessment so that Miss Haynes could see what amazing writers you are. You were very good at remembering to use your 'Fred fingers' to help you spell.

In phonics this week, you have recapped your set 1 special friends and read these in lots of words. You also did some fantastic spelling. I know Mrs VR and I were very proud! I have completed all of your assessments and next week we will start phonics in our little groups. All reading books will be given out next week now that assessments have been completed.

You have shone so brightly in maths this week as we started our Y1 power maths journey. You have been learning all about your numbers to 10. You have wrote your numbers to 10, counted objects within I0, shown numbers to 10 in many different ways whilst using ten frames, your fingers and objects to help you and you also learnt how to count backwards from 10. You are all maths superstars!

We have been very busy in our afternoon learning by being canal artists, musicians and animal home makers.

Art has been our main focus this week as we created our big art. You learnt all about the history of canal art and how narrow boats were used to deliver food and products to towns and villages before trains were invented. We then realised that narrow boats were not needed for this after the invention of trains so the people who lived on these boats wanted to make them all bright and colour by painting roses and castles onto them. You created your very own rose using oil pastels. You learnt the skill of creating secondary colours by mixing our primary colours together and you used this skill on your roses. You have also started to create your own castle paintings and we can't wait to finish these next week and display them in the classroom. You focused on the skill of holding your paint brush with great control and painting by going side to side so that your strokes were neat.

In science this week you were introduced to your topic of materials. You explored different materials and thought about how we could describe what they looked like and felt like. You came up with some brilliant properties such as shiny, dull, squashy and shimmery. You then went on a material hunt to find different materials around school. We were shocked to find out how many different materials we had in our school. In computing, you put your skills together to create a pic collage during choosing time of different materials in our garden. You learnt the skill of taking a photo on an iPad and uploading it onto pic collage.

On Wednesday, there was a real buzz in the classroom as we arrived in our forest school clothes. What fun you had in our first ever forest school session. You learnt all about a woodpecker who had created a little home in a tree trunk which Mr Hadfield had brought in. You then created the largest nest in the world which belonged to a golden eagle. You then role played being a mummy and daddy bird in a nest whilst the rest of the class were eggs. You thought about the lifecycle of a bird and how they start off as an egg and once hatched their mum and dad will go out and collect food to feed you. I mean we definitely had some noisy baby eagles squeaking and squawking! You learn about natural materials we can find our forest school area. At the end of the session you learnt how to create your own fire using a dragon sneeze and then you finished off with roasting marshmallows in a huge fire. Year one I was so proud of your enthusiasm and your listening skills in this session. I can't wait for next week's session already....

During choosing time, you have been transport explorers, cafe workers, construction workers and digging experts. It has been lovely to hear your conversations flow and your imagination run freely.

We have took part in many worships across the week including a special one today to remember our Queen who sadly passed away yesterday. You shared your beautiful messages and prayers to our Queen. I was so proud. One I would like to share from one of the children was this 'We don't need to worry about her as God will take her hand and she will be able to have a palace on a cloud. Jesus and God will look after her just like they look after us'. Wow, I was left speechless.

Well done Year one for settling so well into your new rhythm and routines. I know Year One is a tricky transition at times but you have managed it superbly and have left your teachers feeling incredibly proud.

Have a wonderful weekend.

See you on Monday,

Miss Haynes