Daring Dinosaurs

 During Science week we did activities linked to our diverse planet. Children discovered what it would be like to have a sight impairment and thought about how to be inclusive in PE. We tried to filter dirty water to see which material/ object would be the best. We also had a fantastic science workshop where children made their own sherbet sweet and learnt all about chemicals and reactions! 

We all have fantastic costumes for world book day and could talk about why they are our favourite characters. 

At our trip to The Deep, we learnt about turtles linked to our St.Lucia topic. Children had a workshop and learnt lots of new facts as well as making their own turtle puppet! 

                                                            February 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

This term we are going to be busy learning all about St Lucia, the second largest Caribbean island, through different subjects every day. I had to break the news that it would cost too much to visit, but fortunately we can follow the adventures of Barnaby Bear! See attached Topic Web to find out about what the children will be learning about this half term.   

Science Targets

Our Science topic this half term is ‘Animals - Humans.’ These are the targets that children will be working on.

Phonics

In the Summer term children will be expected to do a phonics screening test which is an official test set by the government. Any work at home on alien words will be a massive support to your child in preparation for this.  If you need any help or support with this please come and see me. We will also be concentrating on this for morning activity this half term as well as doing another mock screening test.

Author

This half term we will be focussing on the author, Nicola Davies. We will look at a range of her nature books in order to help us write our own non-fiction information pages.

P.E

P.E will continue to take place on a Monday and a Wednesday this half term. It is so important that children have their kits in school on these days.

Passport statements

• Understand how to keep safe outside of school.
• Know what I am really good at.

Homework time table.

I am looking forward to talking with you about your child’s progress at parent’s evening this half term. If you wish to discuss anything else with me please feel free to catch me before or after school.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

 Free to be me! Children came to school dressed in a way to show their uniqueness and interests. We also thought about the important things we need to do to stay safe online, what not to share and all about our personal information. 

 During our Great Fire of London topic we had a special visit from the fire brigade! They gave us a tour of the fire engine and told us about some of their life saving equipment. They also let us squirt the hose! Afterwards they gave a talk linked to our enterprise week about their job and what we needed to do if we want to be in the fire service in the future! 

 Children had lots of fun in their cheerleading workshop! 

Children celebrated Chinese New Year by taking part in a Chinese dragon dance workshop. They also had Chinese food for lunch and joined in with Chinese craft activities in the afternoon. During the day children learnt about the story behind Chinese New Year and some of the traditions.  

Dear Parents/Carers,

I hope that you have all had a fantastic Christmas break! As we return back to school our new topic is ‘Fire, Fire’ which will be based around the Great Fire of London. Please see the attached topic web for a breakdown of what we will be focusing on in each subject.

Science Targets

Our Science topic this half term is ‘Seasonal changes - Winter.’ These are the targets that children will be working on.

English

We are continuing to work on joined handwriting. If you would like any information or advice on how to assist your child at home please do feel free to come and see me. We will carry on working towards our Phonics screening test that will take place in the summer.

Author

This half term we will be focussing on the poet, Michael Rosen. We will look at a range of his poems as well as different styles of poetry and will use what we learn to create our own poems.

P.E

P.E will continue to take place on a Monday and a Wednesday this half term. Thank you to everyone for taking earrings out or taping up ears for PE, it is really important for health and safety. Please remember children will need a jumper for outdoor PE.

Passport statements

As part of PSHE this half term we will be working on:

• Understand what is right and wrong
• Always try their best.

Homework time table

Thank you so much to everyone getting homework in on time.

If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to catch me before or after school.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

 As part of our Artsmark journey, the children had the opportunity to visit a local gallery to look at an exhibition and took part in a workshop to make their own machine led by the artist of the exhibition, Martin Smith. 

 During anti bullying week we have recapped the meaning of STOP, START and VIP. 

STOP- several times on purpose 

START- start telling and reporting trouble 

VIP - verbal indirect physical 

                                                                                    November 2019

Dear Parents/Carers,

This is always a fantastic time of year in school with the run up to Christmas! This half term we will be doing lots of festive activities as well as our main topic ‘London Adventure’ I have created a topic web so that you can see what this topic will be covering.

Science Targets

Our Science topic this half term is ‘Materials.’ These are the targets that children will be working on.

English

If you do want to help with your child’s writing at home we are focusing on joining our handwriting this half term. Our writing policy suggests that children should be joining their handwriting by Christmas in year 1.  Please feel free to ask if you need further support or advice.

Spellings

Thank you to everyone that has supported their child with spellings last half term. It really does make a difference in writing and gives children a huge boost when they get them all correct!

Genre

The Genre that we will be focusing on this half term is Traditional tales. We will be looking at a selection of traditional tales and will be building on our own story telling skills. We are happy to display or read any books children have from this genre.

Homework

Thank you for supporting your child with their homework.

This half terms homework timetable:

P.E

P.E will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays. It is really important children have their kits on these days as spare kit is limited. If you do have any old/unwanted kit that you would like to donate to our spare kit box it would be greatly appreciated! A reminder that pierced ears should be taped up or earrings taken out before school, this is for safety reasons, thank you to all that are doing this.

Passport statements

This half term we will be working on:

• Solving problems without arguing.
• Saying sorry when we have done something wrong
• Always doing as the teacher asks.

If you have any further questions or concerns before this please feel free to catch me before or after school.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher

This week we have been learning about significant people as part of Black History Month. We focused on Rosa Parks and how she changed society. We have also looked at Mo Farah and his achievements.  

 Today we made Wonka bars in Literacy, children had to follow a recipe to make the Wonka bar and over the next few days will write instructions to tell someone else how to make one thinking about the features of instructions. Some children also practiced recording skills on the tablet. 

 We have joined in with ' Stand up Derbyshire'. Children have took part in active lessons, self challenges at lunch, an obstacle course, dance workshop and yoga. 

 We have had a party to celebrate being year 1's! This is linked to our RE unit of 'Celebrations'. Children thought about when we have celebrations, celebrations they have been to, what they include and how celebrations make people feel. 

 We had lots of fun during Roald Dahl day! Children joined in with different crafts and made some fantastic 'Mrs Twits eyeball cakes.' Children also linked in their ICT skills by recording each other being TV chefs! Children had some brilliant costumes and we learnt a lot about the different characters! At the end of the day, children invited parents in to give them a surprise cake and to show them what they had done during the day.

                                                                                                September 2019

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back to a new school year, I hope you have all had a fantastic Summer break! Our topic this term is ‘Scrumdiddlyumptious!’ and as many lessons as possible will be linked to this topic. I have created a topic web so that you can see what this topic will be covering.

Science Targets

English

If you do want to help with your child’s writing at home we are focusing on using finger spaces, capital letters and full stops correctly this half term. We will then move onto using ‘and’ to join ideas and a huge focus will be on joined handwriting. Every child is also placed in a phonics group to suit their ability in order for them to progress at their level. They will be learning new sounds and spelling patterns each week, ask them to share these with you, but please feel free to ask if you need further support or advice.

Spellings

Children will get 5 spellings a week; if they correctly spell all 5 then they will be rewarded with a team point. The spellings they receive will initially be the year 1 words and then will be linked to the phonics sound that they have been working on that week and they will be tested on a Friday. Any help you can give your children at home is greatly appreciated and makes a big difference in their writing.

Author

Each half term we will focus on a chosen author or genre. Our first author that we are going to be focusing on this half term is Roald Dahl; he is a very famous children’s author that is loved by adults too! We are happy to display or read in class any books children have by our author.

Homework

Children will have the first few weeks to settle into their new surroundings before homework is given. Homework will be given out on a Friday and is to be returned by the following Wednesday. It is the children’s responsibility to hand it in as we are starting to build up independence. Your child may need support reading the task but as the year progresses they should become more confident at having ago by themselves. You are welcome to work with them and let them know if an answer is incorrect, supporting them to correct it.

  Homework timetable

P.E

P.E will take place on a Monday and Tuesday. Children will require an indoor and outdoor kit. Indoor kits should consist of shorts, t-shirt and plimsolls. Outdoor kit should consist of jogging bottoms, t-shirt, jumper and trainers. As it gets colder children may need gloves and a hat for outdoor PE.

Passport statements

The PSHE areas that we are working on from our passports are:

• Always say please and thank you.
• Share a favourite toy.
• Help tidy the classroom.

A few further bits of information:

• Just a reminder that children with pierced ears should have their earrings removed or taped up before school on PE days.
• We will be taking part in Roald Dahl day on Friday the 13^th September. It is a charity day that promises to be lots of fun. Children can dress up as their favourite Roald Dahl character and we will be doing lots of games and activities. More information can be found on http://www.roalddahl.com/create-and-learn/join-in/roald-dahl-day
• We will be testing children on number facts this year such as number bonds to 10 and 20 and also times tables later on in the year. If any parents are interested in volunteering to come into school to test children then please let me know and I can give you more information.
• Please avoid booking to go away during June as this is usually when the phonics screening check that we have to do in year 1 takes place. I will speak to you more about this during the first parents evening.
• We do not check through book bags for letters in year 1 due to time restrictions. If you have something to hand in please put it in the basket on the front desk.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to catch me before or after school.

Thank you,

Miss T Ward

Class Teacher