Year 1
Autumn 1
This term the children have been reading the story of the Three Little Pigs. The pigs had left their building materials in our garden area and the children were very excited to explore these. They worked in teams to build houses from the materials which linked to our Science topic. They discussed which material was the best to build a house for the little pigs and why. Keeping in theme with the three little pigs in Art, the children made houses from clay. They used a technique called slabbing to flatten their clay and used a number of tools to carve shapes into their houses. The children were inspired by houses around the world and the different materials that they had been built from. In Maths, the children learnt to compare numbers and quantities using the symbols greater than, less than and equals to. In PE, they practised their throwing and catching skills using a 'tick-tock' and over arm throw. They also put together a dance to a piece of music from the three little pigs sound track.
Autumn 2
This term the children have been reading the story 'On Sudden Hill'. A story about two best friends who love to play and be creative with their cardboard boxes. For their writing journey, the children learnt how to use adjectives, conjunctions and wrote letters. At the end of the unit, they made their own cardboard creations and wrote a set of instructions.
In Art, the children learnt how to weave and sew. They made a hand puppet as part of our unit on Toys from the past. Although they found threading a needle and sewing tricky, they all persevered and made lovely puppets.
In Geography, we learnt about seasons and weather. The children were able to name all 4 seasons and say what weather we experience in each along with how we might dress for these conditions.
In the lead up to Christmas, the children learnt about Advent and made their own Christingle candle. OpenBox theatre came in to perform a pantomime show which the children found hilarious!
Spring 1
The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the life of Florence Nightingale this term. We learnt about her life in three stages, and the children were very engaged and interested to find out more. They had opportunities to become researchers and find out more about her life at the beginning of the term through iPad, books and pictures. We explored the conditions of the hospital in Scutari and how Florence made positive changes there and also to the nursing world. The children enjoyed role playing as nurses and soldiers. OpenBox came in to deliver a workshop for the children which they dressed up for and had alot of fun.
This term, our topic for Art has been about painting. The children have learnt about primary and secondary colours by creating a colour wheel. They also learnt about tint and shade and explored this using white and black to make colours lighter or darker. We found making colours darker trickier as the black paint was very pigmented. We have also learnt about the artist Piet Mondrian and his famous style of painting, neo-plasticisim. The children were able to explain that the main things that make up this style of painting are bold line, shapes and primary colours.
In P.E, we have been focusing on football . In football, we have been learning to pass the ball with the inside of our foot and with our laces. We have also been practising our toe taps and stopping the ball when it is coming towards us.
Spring 2
This term, the children have been exploring our text 'The big book of beasts' in English. They have learnt what a non-fiction text is, the features of one and have created their own fact files on their chosen animal. We had some wonderful examples of alliteration such as 'caring mother carries cubs carefully' and 'busy bears brushing the bark'.
In Art, we learnt about the technique of collage. The children had a go at tearing, scrunching, ripping and cutting a range of materials. We used the top of plastic milk bottles to make our own Elmer the Elephant and then used these techniques to make our own animal collage, taking inspiration from different artists. The children enjoyed this very much and created some beautiful pieces.
For PE, the children have enjoyed exploring the wall bars and apparatus in the hall. They practised their basic shapes on these and worked hard on their balancing.
In Maths, we have been learning about measurement of length, height and mass. The children learnt how to measure using standard and non standard units of measurement in our learning environment. They explored how to measure using rulers and scales and comparing the length and mass of different objects.
Summer 1
Jack and the beanstalk
This term, the children have been reading the traditional tale Jack and the beanstalk. They have been rehearsing the story, story mapping and re-writing the story by adding in adjectives, sentence openers and speech marks. They have also explored alternative stories of Jack and the beanstalk, with the main focus being on how the giants' character is portrayed. The children debated on whether they thought the giant was always the villain in these stories, supporting their argument with evidence from the texts.
Oceans and continents
Pupils learnt about the names of oceans and continents this terms, learning where they are on a globe and having a go at making their own world map on paper plates. They really enjoyed learning the continents song too!
Art - printing
We had a whole art day this term, and the children had a wonderful time. They were learning how to print using different mediums such as Styrofoam, vegetables and leaf rubbing. They had to work hard to apply the right pressure on their Styrofoam so that it didn't break. They also designed and painted their own t-shirts using fabric paint.
Maths
This term, the children have been learning how to split objects and quantities into halves and quarters. They also have learnt how to talk about positions and describe turns. We have learnt to identify left and right, forward and backwards and above and below. We also had Maths week where the children enjoyed having parent visitors come in to talk about how they use Maths in their jobs. They also had a to research a Mathematician and present this information to the school during assembly.
