Year 1 News 6.6.25

Happy Half Term Team!

In our English lessons, we re-read Erin's diary entry and explored how it was structured by looking closely at the different paragraphs. We also identified key features of writing, such as the use of un- prefixes, -s and -es to show plurals, and capital letters for names and the word 'I'. We spent time role-playing a scene from The Secret of Black Rock, where Erin listened to the adults shouting and then left the house through the window. We discussed how Erin might have been feeling and predicted what might happen next. As a class, we thought of reasons to save Black Rock and recorded them to help us with our own diary writing. We planned and wrote our first paragraph, focusing on our feelings and explaining how the adults were wrong about Black Rock and not listening to the truth.

In our Maths lessons, we explored halves and quarters in more depth, learning how to find the whole when we knew one quarter. We discovered new strategies for finding halves and quarters of quantities and completed our end-of-unit quiz, where we identified halves and quarters in both shapes and amounts. We then began our new topic on Position and Direction, where we learned to describe whole, half, and quarter turns, as well as how to tell left from right. Miss Willis even showed us a helpful trick using our hands to remember which side is left and which is right!

In our RE lesson, we explored a special basket containing different items, including dates, honey, and hair. We looked closely at these objects and discussed why they might be important. This led us to learn about how babies are welcomed in the Islamic faith. We found out that Muslims have some simple but meaningful rites, such as the Adhaan, the call to prayer, being the first words a newborn hears--whispered into their ear by their father. We talked about what we thought a baby should hear first in life and learned that Muslims believe a baby's first taste should be something sweet, like a date, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad. We shared memories of the first sweet things we had tasted. We also discovered that names in the Muslim faith are carefully chosen for their meanings. It was fascinating to spend time finding out what our own names mean and share them with the class.

In our Art lesson, we created our final pieces based on shells, focusing on using spirals in our designs. We used a range of materials, including handwriting pens, colouring pens, pastels, and water to add detail, texture, and colour to our artwork. Real shells were available for us to look at and feel, which helped us carefully observe their shapes and patterns as inspiration for our own work. Once our pieces were finished, we spent time looking at each other's artwork and evaluating them. We talked about the different colours, shapes, and textures we could see. Everyone's work was unique, and it was really exciting to see how differently we had all interpreted the same theme.

In our Computing lesson, we explored the question: Pencil or keyboard? We started by thinking about everything we had learned about using the keyboard and the different tools on the toolbar. Then, we helped fix a sentence written by Miss Willis, editing it with our pencils by adding capital letters and finger spaces. We noticed that it looked a bit messy. Next, we thought about how we could edit the same sentence using a keyboard and discussed which keys would help--like the space bar, backspace, and caps lock. Finally, we talked about which method we preferred. Some of us found using the keyboard tricky because we had to search for the right keys, while others liked how easy it was to fix mistakes quickly.

In our recent PE lesson, we began by warming up with a fun game of Simon Says to get our bodies moving and ready to learn. Our focus was on jumping, where we explored the best techniques to improve our performance. We discussed how rocking on our feet and swinging our arms can help build momentum for longer, more controlled jumps. We then put this into practice by jumping over "lily pads," "tides," and "rocks," working on our technique and gradually aiming to jump further than before. In teams, we competed to see who could earn the most points through accurate and powerful jumps. Alongside this, we continued developing our throwing and catching skills with a focus on precision. We talked about the importance of a good ready position--hands up and standing on the balls of our feet--before practising these skills through a variety of games. We finished the session with an exciting game of cage dodgeball, bringing together our teamwork, coordination, and quick reflexes.

In our DT lesson, we began our new unit by exploring two big questions: How do I know that my fabrics have been joined together successfully? and Can I follow a design to make a product? We talked about some of the key words in these questions, such as 'fabric' and 'designs', and what they mean. To help us get inspired, we watched the story of Little Red Riding Hood and discussed the appearance of the characters, creating a list of their features. We then explored different ways to join fabric, learning how to use safety pins, staples, and glue. After trying out each method, we discussed which would be the most suitable for our final piece, thinking carefully about which joining technique would be the strongest and look the best.

In our History lesson, we recapped everything we have learned about Wybunbury and our school in the 1970s. We completed an end-of-unit check to help us remember all the interesting facts we've discovered. We talked about what Wybunbury Tower looked like in the 1970s, why St Chad's Church was built, and how our school has changed over time. It was fascinating to think about how different things used to be. We are now really looking forward to finding out even more about what it was like to go to school in the past!

In our Science lesson, we were really excited to check on our plants and see how much they had grown over the half term! We also looked at photos of wild and garden plants and tried to remember the names of as many as we could. Then, we learned about the different parts of trees and what each part does. We found out about Deciduous trees, which lose their leaves in Autumn, and Evergreen trees, which keep their leaves all year round. To put our learning into practice, we went on a tree hunt around school to identify the trees by looking at their leaves. We then drew the trees we spotted and labelled them with their names and whether they were Deciduous or Evergreen.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Miss Willis