Year 1: Blog items
Updated COVID Information - Letter to Parents and Carers
Date: 8th Dec 2020 @ 3:20pm
Date: 3rd Dec 2020 @ 8:01pm
Today we came into school to find out our Christmas elf had returned! Not only was he back, but he had also brought something with him...a letter! We discussed why we might receive a letter, or why we might send one, and what information may be included in a letter.
We then compared the features of three different text types, beginning to discuss how we knew which ones were letters, and which weren't. We have done lots of work on invitations and lists over the past couple of weeks, and so we compared the features of these two text types to those included in a letter, beginning to discuss similarities and difference. We found out a letter is always set out in a particular way, and we write a letter when we want to send a message to someone.
We used our phonics skills to segment and blend the information in the letter, and found out we had received a letter from Goldilocks as well as our class Elf!
We then moved on to identifying the features of a letter in greater depth, highlighting the address, date, who the letter is for and who the letter is from.
We will continue to look and read lots of different types of letters and are very excited to eventually write a letter to the Elf that he can take back to Santa!
Date: 28th Nov 2020 @ 3:09pm
Each week our Year 1 children cannot wait for Thursday to come around! They know that Thursday afternoon means it's computing time!
We began our first session of computing by discussing the devices and technology we use both in school, and at home. We discussed how we use each device, and how they can be important in day to day life. We then discussed what we need to remember when accessing online devices, and introduced SMART. We discussed the importance of staying safe, not meeting up, accepting files, reliability and telling someone.
We have then been practising our essential skills. We have learnt how to turn the Chromebook on and off, click and scroll on the mousepad and type with the keyboard. When using the keyboard to type in our personal log in details, we have also had to get used to the fact that some letters look slightly different to the ones we are used to seeing, but we have all been trying really hard to do this independently.
We have also explored the program Paintz App. We spent some time exploring the different tools available, and we found out we could do things like change the background colour, add 2D shapes, and even add text! During our Reading into Writing sessions we have been exploring the book 'Aliens Love Smelly Jelly,' creating invites to an alien tea party from an alien. We then linked this to our computing session, and we designed the alien using the Paintz App!
Date: 17th Nov 2020 @ 8:06pm
In PE this half term we have started gymnastics, focussing on balancing and spinning on points. We have been learning how to perform controlled spins, supporting our body weight in symmetrical balances, and spinning on apparatus.
We initially discussed what is a spin and what parts of our bodies we can spin on. We practised spinning on our front, side, back, and bottom in symmetrical shapes. We really focussed on performing with control and imagination! After we perfected three spins we then added a balance in between each spin. We had to try and hold our balances for 5 seconds each!
We are going to be practising and perfecting our sequence over the next couple of weeks! We will then be working on peer assessment of each others performances, observing and giving feedback to refine our sequences and performance.
Date: 17th Nov 2020 @ 7:51am
Date: 16th Nov 2020 @ 7:48pm
We began anti bullying week by talking about different types of bullying, and how these types of bullying may occur. We then took part in the whole school assembly, which explored this years anti bullying week theme, 'United Against Bullying.'
This afternoon we then designed our own class jigsaw pieces to show how we are going to be 'United Against Bullying.' We thought about what changes we could make to our class and our school to make it a bullying free zone. We then also designed our own odd socks, and took part in an experiment which helped us explore what bullying can do to people on the inside, even though the effects might not be shown on the outside.
Date: 13th Nov 2020 @ 7:41pm
This week we have been thinking about all the brave soldiers and saying thank you.
On Wednesday, we joined the rest of the school to take part in our Remembrance Service. We each planted a poppy in our school Remembrance Garden. Each poppy has the name of a World War One soldier. We thought of these soldiers during our whole school assembly and two minute silence.
We have also painted Poppies, learning about the significance of Poppies for Remembrance Day and why we wear them.
Date: 13th Nov 2020 @ 7:07pm
This week in Science we began our topic on animals by observing animals in our school environment. We firstly discussed what we already know about animals, and then what we would like to find out.
We recapped on the 5 animal groups, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, and talked about what features animals have to have to fit into these groups. We learnt that we fit into one of these 5 groups, and that we are mammals! We also discussed birds have feathers and wings, fish breathe underwater using gills, and amphibians can live on land and in water.
We then talked about what kind of animals we thought we might see/find on our observation hunt. We recapped on our safety rules when we are using the Forest School area before heading outside! We found beetles, worms, spiders and ants and we saw dogs, birds and humans! We looked closely at the animals, before returning them to their natural habitat. We then headed back in to the classroom to record our observations to help us answer questions!
Date: 6th Nov 2020 @ 8:12pm
This week we have been exploring the effects of Autumn! We discussed what we already know about Autumn, for example 'it is a season,' 'it happens before winter,' and 'trees loose their leaves.' We also talked certain celebrations that happen in Autumn and what animals, bird and mini beasts do to prepare themselves for the Autumn season.
We then focussed on the colour of Autumn leaves, and how this colour changes. We explored mixing colours, changing the tone and identifying colours important to the Autumn season. Firstly learning about the primary and secondary colour wheels, we then practised using varying sizes of brush to develop our ability to paint using clear strokes and brush control.
We mixed our own paint to create different shades of Autumn colours. Starting with a base colour of brown/yellow/orange paint, we added small amounts of white paint, to create lighter shades of the same colour. We then focussed on making darker shades of the same colour. Again, starting with our base colour, we added small amounts of black paint, to create darker shades of our chosen colour. We observed what happened each time we added the amounts of white/black paint and made comments/observations about this.
Date: 4th Nov 2020 @ 1:08pm
Date: 2nd Nov 2020 @ 10:44am
Date: 2nd Nov 2020 @ 10:42am
Date: 26th Oct 2020 @ 12:05pm
This week we have been learning about Black History Month. We started the week by reading the story 'Handa's Surprise,' talking about the characters, setting, and key points in the book, before sequencing and retelling the story.
We looked in depth at the illustrations of the setting and how this enabled us to know where the story took place. We also recapped on the use of adjectives, and how we could describe each fruit. We had ideas such as 'spiky large pineapple,' 'green, creamy avocado,' and 'yellow, bendy banana.' Later in the week we then wrote sentences to describe what was happening in a picture from the story, focussing on using capital letters, full stops, and segmenting and blending the words we wanted to use.
We also spent an afternoon creating and designing African masks. We explored a range of masks from countries we have looked at during the week, discussing the features, colours, and emotions the masks portrayed. Children cut out shapes from different coloured and textured paper to create the features of their masks. We discussed the use of symmetry and tried to make our masks as symmetrical as possible!
Throughout the week we have explored lots of similarities and differences, learning that everyone is different, but everyone is special.
Date: 22nd Oct 2020 @ 12:15pm
In Year 1 this week we read the story 'How Full Is Your Bucket?' We discussed what it meant to be a bucket filler and a bucket dipper, and how the choices that we make can impact those around us. We also talked about how different actions make us feel, and how they can also make others feel. The children then sorted a variety of statements, deciding if they were bucket filler or bucket dipper behaviours.
Whilst learning about World Mental Health Day we recapped on being a bucker filler or dipper, and identified something we can do during our every day routine to be a bucket filler. We drew a picture and explained to an adult/wrote a sentence to explain something positive we had done that week that had filled our bucket.
Date: 14th Oct 2020 @ 4:36pm
Year 1 have had a brilliant Design and Technology journey this half term. They have made their own fruit salads! The were told they were going to a Tiger Tea Party. They had to design a healthy and colourful snack to eat at the tea party. They were going to go to the tea party with characters from a book they are reading. One of the characters, Sophie, asked that the children design and make a fruit salad. The children had lots of fun and even got to do some sensory evaluations tasting the food!
Date: 8th Oct 2020 @ 8:09pm
Today for no pen day we have used physical objects to complete part part whole models, practised our number bonds to ten, ordered a set of instructions for our morning routine, and even completed a little experiment!
Germs and hand washing have been involved with a lot of our work this week and we spent some time today looking at how easily germs can spread around our environment, First we used glitter to represent the germs. We put a small amount onto our hand and moved around the classroom for 30 seconds, touching lots of different things. We couldn't believe how much glitter there was around the classroom, representing how quickly germs can spread across everything we touch if we do not wash our hands properly. We then took part in the pepper experiment. Each child had a small bowl of water with pepper in. We firstly observed what happened when we put our finger into the bowl, ''all the germs went all over our finger!'' We then covered our finger with soap, and put this back into the bowl of 'germs.' ''All the pepper moved away from our finger!'' We talked about how the pepper represented germs, and what we need to continue to do to keep ourselves safe and healthy.
Date: 9th Oct 2020 @ 8:00pm
This week in Year 1 we have been looking at instructional texts. We looked at the features of instructional writing, learning about imperative verbs, and how these are used when writing instructions. We then followed a set of instructions to complete a picture, and found out what happens when we don't follow instructions in the correct order! In small groups we ordered a set of instructions to tell us how to do something that is very familiar to us, washing our hands! We followed these instructions carefully, talking about the order things needed to be done, and how many steps we needed to follow. We then received a very important call from Mrs Bunday, asking for our help. We had to create our own set of instructions to help other children learn how to wash their hands. We were the perfect people for the job, and we all tried very hard to each complete our own set of instructions!
Date: 3rd Oct 2020 @ 6:08pm
In Year 1 this week we have been designing and making fruit salads.
We began the week by tasting and discussing lots of different fruit options that we may want to use in our fruit salad. We used our senses of smell, touch, sight and taste to evaluate a number of different fruits, and decide which ones were the best options! We were able to each choose 4 different fruits we want to use, which we then put onto our design. We completed our initial design sheet, where we drew pictures of each fruit and then our fruit salad, looking at the size, shape and colour of each to ensure our design was bright and colourful!
After tasting, choosing and designing our fruit salad, we then got to make our finished product! We began by putting 4 instructions in order that we needed to follow to ensure we created our fruit salad hygienically and safely. We then learnt about the bridge grip, and the claw grip that we needed to use to safely cut our fruit. Finally we washed our hands, and started to create our own, individual fruit salads!
After enjoying our delicious fruit salads, we then completed an evaluation to show our thoughts and feelings about our finished product. We discussed what we liked, what we didn't like, and what we might change if we were to create our design again!
Date: 26th Sep 2020 @ 7:23pm
In PE this half term we are exploring dance through the theme of animals. We have focussed on creating and developing simple movement patterns, moving safely and creatively in space and using different types of travel and levels.
We began by developing our fundamental skills (hopping, skipping, jumping and balancing) to create patterns to music, focussing on freezing in an animal pose when the music stopped. We used examples such as, lion, crouching low with sharp claws, giraffe, standing tall, and snake, flat to the ground, sliding in wiggly shapes. We talked about various animals from around the world, discussing what our favourite animals and are how do these animals move.
We have continued to focus on our agility, balance and coordination to develop 16 counts of motif, using whole group ideas whilst focussing on timing and unison. The children are continuing to develop and perform their dances over the next couple of weeks!
Date: 19th Sep 2020 @ 12:07pm
We have had another busy week in Year One! This week we have made the most of the lovely weather and taken lots of our learning in to our outdoors area!
We began the week by looking at using the words greater than, less than and equal to explore and explain the amounts of different groups of objects. We took part in lots of practical activities to explore what these words meant and how we could represent these words. We then moved on to learning the symbols < > and =. We worked on accurately counting groups of objects and inserting the correct symbol between each group.
We have continued to look at the local area we live in and began to look at human (man made) and physical features (natural). The children took part in a sorting activity to group features into either human or physical, and then record their learning independently on Seesaw. We are continuing to learn how to use Seesaw independently, children take photos of their practical learning, and record their thoughts and explanations. Don't forget to complete this weeks BLT on Seesaw!
Date: 11th Sep 2020 @ 7:09pm
This week in Year One we have been focussing on grouping and sorting a number of objects in different ways. We have explored sorting by different properties, such as colour, size, and shape. We have explored lots of practical sorting activities, and have enjoyed some time in our outdoor areas, making the most of the dry weather! We have also worked on accurately counting the objects we have sorted, and exploring which group has the most, which has the least, and if any are equal.
This week we have also started looking at and learning about the area we live in, identifying key sights and features of local and national locations. We talked about where we live, and looked on maps to identify the location of both Blackpool and the UK! In groups we then looked at a variety of different pictures and decided wether the pictures were photographs of features of Grange Park, Blackpool or London.
We have had another very busy and productive week! We are very proud of how all the Year One children have settled back into school life.
Date: 7th Sep 2020 @ 7:56pm
We have had a fantastic few days back with our new Year 1 classes! We are very proud of how well our children have adapted to the new routines in school. We have enjoyed hearing what the children have been up to over Summer and how much they have been looking forward to coming back to school.
This week we have been getting used to the new routines in Year 1 and settling back into school life. We have practised recognising and counting numbers, naming aliens in our Phonics area, and exploring our brand new 'Curiosity Cubes!'
This week in Year 1 we also started our Forest School sessions. Thankfully, the rain stopped long enough for both classes to enjoy some great time outside, the sun even made an appearance in our afternoon session! This week we learnt about different types of birds, and using natural materials, we made nests for our chosen birds. We had to think about the size of our bird, the types of materials we used, and the type of nest the birds would live in. Using a bird template, we then added detail and pattern to create our own bird. We were even given some string to let our bird fly! Some of our children practised making knots with the string, and tried very hard to master this skill!
We all had a great time during our first session, the children loved being back in the Forest School area and especially enjoyed making their birds fly in the wind!
Changes to Home Time Arrangements
Date: 3rd Sep 2020 @ 4:18pm
Changes to home time arrangements
As we have now been open for a number of days we have noticed a concerning lack of social distancing by parents and carers. Therefore, we are enhancing our COVID Safe rules.
We recommend that face coverings are worn by all parents and carers who are medically able to do so – staff will also be wearing face coverings.
To further ensure safe exiting at the end of the date, we will now stagger the collection times:
Year 3 – finish at 3:15pm
Year 4 – finish at 3:10pm
Year 5 – finish at 3:20pm
Year 6 – finish at 3:25pm
As always, for those parents/carers who have to collect children from Nursery, Reception and Key Stage 1, staff will still wait with your child until you can collect them from their designated zone.
Nursery, Reception, Years 1, 2 and 3
There will be no changes to Reception and Key Stage 1 at this time, however, this situation is under constant review. Please remember, do not call your child over to you, they will be brought to you by a member of staff.
Please follow these new procedures to help keep your child safe.
Date: 2nd Sep 2020 @ 1:25pm
Date: 2nd Sep 2020 @ 1:23pm
