Year 1 News 5.12.25

Happy Friday Team!

In English lessons, we have been learning about the past tense and what we add to verbs to show something has already happened. We thought of verbs in the past tense, such as walked, jumped, and talked, and used them to write sentences. We also imagined that we had lost our toys and made lost posters. We started with our own question, like “Have you seen my toy?”, and then described what our missing toys looked like.

In maths lessons, we have been learning how to subtract numbers. We used number tracks and counters to help us count back and find the answers. After practising with the physical counters, we removed them and started drawing the counters instead. We also marked our jumps back on the number tracks to show how we worked out each subtraction.

In our music lesson, we began by practising our Nativity songs. We then listened to a song called Name Song, and we loved it! We even sang our own names and talked about how our names are an important part of our identities.

In our RE lesson, we learned about the Spanish festival Three Kings Day, which is celebrated in January. This day is also known as Epiphany. The Three Wise Men — or los reyes magos — are the stars of the celebration. We found out that they arrive in a parade on the 5th of January. After the parade, children go home and leave water for the camels and food for the Wise Men. They make sure to go to bed early or they won’t get any presents! On Three Kings Day, families eat Roscón de Reyes, a crown-shaped sweet bread filled with cream and topped with dried fruit. When the cake is cut, if someone finds the bean they have to pay for the cake next year, but if they find the king, they get to wear the crown and be king for the day! We all made our own posters about this special celebration.

In our HeartSmart lesson, we looked at a Bible quote: “I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.” (Psalm 139:14). We played a game of “Would You Rather?” to show that we are all different and have our own preferences. No one will ever have exactly the same choices as you. Even if we picked the same answer as someone else in one round, eventually we would choose something different. Being HeartSmart means recognising that we are all unique. There has never been, and never will be, another person exactly like you!

In our D&T lesson, we started making our very own pencil pots. First, we cut out the bases and then made little snips into the cardboard tubes so we could pull the flaps out and tape them onto the base using masking tape. Next, we added clay inside to give the pots weight and make them more stable. After that, we decorated them with paper and paint. We are all super proud of what we have created and can’t wait to take them home!

In our History lesson, we continued learning about old toys. This week, we looked more closely at dolls. We compared a modern doll with a doll from the past and discussed the similarities and differences between them. We talked about what they were made from, the clothes they wore, and how they looked. Then we wrote down everything we noticed about the two dolls.

In our Computing lesson, we learned about the artist Georges Seurat. He lived from 1859 to 1891 and created a style of painting called pointillism, which uses lots of tiny dots of paint. We looked at one of his paintings, Canal at Gravelines, in the Direction of the Sea, before creating our own pointillist digital paintings of a sunflower. We talked about the tools we used, such as the paintbrush tool, which was good for making dots, and the spray can tool, which can also make dots but is harder to control. We didn’t really need the fill tool for this activity. We enjoyed experimenting with pointillism on the computer and creating colourful sunflower artwork.

We have been getting ready for our Nativity performances next week. We have been doing lots of singing and practising in the hall. This week, we had a very special dress rehearsal where Pre-school and Reception kindly became our first audience. It was great fun performing for them, and we are really looking forward to performing for everyone else next week!

We had a special treat where we joined a live webinar all the way from Antarctica! We met a man called Rob and his 42-year-old teddy. They have been on lots of expeditions to the North and South Poles. We found it really interesting, and we loved seeing what Antarctica looks like today.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Miss Willis