Year 1

CRC Article 13: All children have the right to express their opinion. 
      CRC Article 28: All children have the right to an education. 

For the first two days back, Year 1 / 2 T have been re-visiting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They are extremely proud to be a Gold Rights Respecting School. They used their pupil voice to create their own Class Charter. They wanted it to be very bright so it stood out.  All pupils looked extremely smart and have settled in well. All of the adults have been very impressed because the pupils have high expectations of themselves. All pupils have returned with a positive and resilient attitude towards their learning.

Article 28 – All children have the right to a good quality education.  

This week, Year 1 pupils have been working on and looking at the subject of Science! But what is Science? Throughout the year we will be looking into seasonal changes. There are four seasons and different places in the world have different types of seasons to ours. Right now, in the UK, we are in Autumn (September 1st until November 30th). As Scientists, we are going to observe the seasonal weather changes throughout the year and observe our local environment and see how that changes over time. On Monday we enjoyed a seasonal walk around our school environment. We looked for some deciduous and evergreen plants. We showed some outstanding observational skills. 

Physical Education 

Article 29: All children have the right to be the best that you can be. Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. 

In P.E. this week we have revisited our passing skills and ability to aim at a target. We then played a large-scale version of ‘pigging in the middle’. The group in the centre had to try and block the ball as it travelled between the two outer groups. By watching each other play, we soon realised that those children who moved and jumped for the ball were more successful when blocking it. 

CRC Article 29: All children have the right to be the best that they can be. Education must develop every child’s talents and abilities to the full.  

CRC Article 24: All children have the right to the best possible health.

Our Year 1 children have enjoyed playing ‘Piggy in the Middle’ in our PE session. They threw the ball to their partner without the person in the middle catching it. All children know that exercising regularly helps their physical and mental health. They practised throwing both longer and shorter distances with a ball. The children were outstanding at reacting to their opponents’ actions. They added more rules to make their game more challenging. Mrs. Dykes was really impressed with some of the children’s dodging and swerving skills. Well done for being amazing PE ambassadors!  

Challenges: 

1. Can you walk or cycle to school? 
2. Can you drink plenty of water and do some form of exercise every day?  

CRC Article 19: All children have the right to be safe.   

CRC Article 29: All children have the right to be the best that they can be. Education must develop every child’s talents and abilities to the full.  

In Computing, the Year 1 children have been working on their iPad skills. They have learnt how to log on and off successfully. All children have created their own Numbots character and name. They have been completing some Maths counting challenges. As they reach the next level, they will earn badges in school. You can access Numbots at home too; your child’s login and password can be found in their homework book. There are eighteen levels to complete. All children are excited to earn their first RUST badge. I wonder who will be the first to earn this! 

Challenge: We have been talking about staying safe online. Ask your child who their five trusted adults are. Children know what they should do if they have an online worry.

Lesson objective: To identify objects by their material properties & to observe seasonal changes over time.

CRC Article 28: You have the right to a good quality education.  

As always, we began our Science lesson by recording the temperature, weather conditions and rainfall. This is part of our ongoing learning of observing seasonal changes. Our rain gauge is collecting a lot of rain at the moment! We wondered this week if when it gets to winter, we will be able to measure the snow in the gauge? We also discussed what would happen to our school field if it rained everyday in Autumn.  

Back in class, we worked as material scientists and were asked to show our teacher we understood the different properties a material can have.  

Our teacher wrote a material property collected from our knowledge organiser and then we had a countdown to find an example of that property using everyday objects we have in our classroom. We discovered that some objects could have more than one material property. We also discussed how funny it would be if some objectives had unusual material properties such as: 

 A chair that was rough; 

A book that was stretchy; 

A cardigan that was rigid. 

Article 14: Every child has the right to their own religion.  

The Year 1 children have been learning about Christianity this half term. They have recently walked to their local Methodist Church. Reverend David explained all of the features of a Church to the children; they all listened carefully and asked him lots of enquiry questions. They confidently recognised the Bible, cross, candles, pulpit, altar and lectern. The children were outstanding ambassadors for our school; Reverend David was impressed with their knowledge of the characteristics of a Church building. 

English

CRC Article 29: All children have the right to be the best that they can be.  

In English, the Year 1 children have been working hard on their poetry skills. They have been looking at the poem called, ‘There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly.’ The children discussed the descriptive language that they read. They were fantastic at finding all of the rhyming words. As a class they read each verse and made up their own actions. To finish our fantastic work, we performed this to each other in small groups.  

PE

CRC Article 24: All children have the right to the best possible health. 

CRC Article 29: All children have the right to be the best that they can be. 

Our Year 1 children have enjoyed their Fundamental Skills session this week. We worked with our coach, Megan, and started by playing corners. She was so impressed with our skills, she moved us straight on to some competitive team games. The children had to sprint and touch a cone; the first team back with their hands on their heads were the winners. The Red Team won five games! For the last game, Megan challenged the children to run backwards. They were all resilient and gave it a go, Mrs. Dykes was very proud. 

Science

Article 28: All children have the right to a good quality education.  

As Scientists, we are going to observe the seasonal weather changes throughout the year. We are observing our local environment and how it changes over time. On Monday, we went on a seasonal walk around our school environment. We noticed the leaves are beginning to change from green to shades of orange, brown and red which we identified as Autumnal colours. We are also monitoring our rain gauge to see which month it rains the most. This week we collected 5cm of rain. 

Article 24  – You have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help you stay well. 

P.E. – To aim for a stationary and moving target

In P.E. this week we developed our target rolling skills.  

First, we played a game where each team had some cones that they needed to protect from being knocked over.  When we saw a ball, we had to get it and then target a cone belonging to another team. They had to defend their cone. The winning team was the team who knocked down all of the opponent’s cones. It was lots of fun and we moved around so much we could feel our hearts working super hard. This is a great way to stay healthy.  

We then focus on our aiming skills by bowling small cones, bowling huge skittles and rolling a ball into target hoops. By the end of the lesson, we understood that we had better control when we lowered the ball to the floor rather than throwing it.  

CRC Article 29: Education must develop every child’s talents and abilities to the full.  

In Art this half term, we have been looking at an Artist called Andy Goldsworthy. He uses​ natural materials to create his artwork. He uses objects like leaves, stones, ​ flowers and sticks to make sculptures. ​ A sculpture is a piece of art that can be looked at from different places; you can usually see all around it and sometimes look at it from above or below. ​ Andy Goldsworthy lives in Scotland where there are fantastic islands, mountains, beaches​ fountains and forests.  

The children collected some leaves and seed pods from our school field. They found a combination of different colours, shapes and sizes. They then arranged the leaves to create different creatures. They made links between Andy Goldsworthy’s sculptural work and their own.

CRC Article 29: Education must develop every child’s talents and abilities to the full.  

This week, Year 1 children explored the art of Andy Goldsworthy, focusing on his use of clay as a medium for creating sculptures. The children learned that clay is a natural material found in the earth, which is malleable – meaning it can be twisted, rolled, and pinched into different shapes. Once it dries, clay becomes hard, and when placed in a kiln (a special oven), it can become even stronger. 

The children had the opportunity to experiment with this versatile material, scrunching, rolling, and shaping it into their own 3D forms. Using a variety of tools and techniques, they carefully constructed their individual clay sculptures. 

To finish the project, the children worked with a partner to evaluate the work of Andy Goldsworthy, comparing his sculptural style with their own creations. They discussed similarities and differences, making meaningful connections between the natural materials he uses and the sculptures they had created. 

Science: 06.01.25 

L.O To identify a variety of common animals 

CRC Article 28: All children have the right to a good quality education.  

 This was our first lesson looking at our focus, ‘animals including humans’. 

Our unit question is:  

Think like a zoologist! ‘If a cat is an animal, a dog is an animal and a bird is an animal, are you an animal?’ 

During class discussion, we all used our prior knowledge to decide that we (humans) are NOT animals. We don’t have big ears like a dog, or sharp teeth like a dinosaur or shark and we most definitely do not have wings like a duck! 

Mrs. Paramore wonders if we will change our minds with this decision as we become experts in this area of knowledge.  

We then spent the rest of the lesson collaborating to identify common animals by their names. We were all very good at this. We were able to identify and sort all the animals given to us.  

We then enjoyed watching a documentary about all the weird and wonderful animals we have on this planet.

English: 13.01.25  

L.O To use descriptive language in discussion 

CRC Article 29: All children have the right to best the best that they can be. Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people. 

Year 1 have been reading the traditional tale ‘The Three Little Pigs’. As an introduction, the children were asked to construct a house using art materials such as lolly sticks, straws, tape and string. They worked in pairs, discussing the parts of a house and describing it as they worked. Finally, they guessed which story we might be reading with a house in it. 

Music 

L.O To look at my audience when performing. To compose my own piece of music.  

 Article 29 

Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities.  

In music this week we appraised a piece of music called Jai Ho by A.R Rahman. 

Some of us enjoyed this music as it reminded us of our P.E learning and made us want to dance. Others did not enjoy the music as they felt it was too busy and loud.  

We then moved on to developing our skills in moving our bodies in rhythm to the music, clapping a rhythm heard and singing a sequence of high and low pitch notes.  

Following this we practiced the class song. The words are repetitive, so it is easy to sing the song without reading the lyrics. This allowed us to dance around the classroom singing the song to one another. This made us smile and have lots of fun.  

To complete the lesson, we each took turns composing our own music on the music software. Some of us experimented with a sequence whilst others chose notes at random. We found that higher notes produced music that felt happier and upbeat.  

LO:  Move spontaneously showing some control, co-ordination and rhythm.   

CRC Article 24: All children have the right to be healthy.  

CRC Article 28: All children have the right to a good quality education.  

CRC Article 31: All children have the right to relax and play.  

The Year 1 children have been learning to dance, Bollywood style! We have discussed that it is style that originates in India, but people dance like this across the world. We have watched videos of dancers and copied their routines, using the same arm, leg and body movements. This week we have worked in pairs to choreograph our own Bollywood dances using the steps we have learned. It was great fun. The children really liked the music too.

LO:   Compose and link movement phrases to make simple dances with clear beginning, middles and ends 

Article 24  – You have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help you stay well. 

We began our lesson by learning some more Bollywood dance moves and then putting these into our partner sequence. We also showed excellent body control with our dance moves when performing a class dance routine together. We know that we need to show clear body shapes and move in time to the music. We loved watching our video back and seeing the improvements we have made.   

LO: To design a picnic blanket suitable for the teddy bears at their picnic. 

 CRC: Article 28: All children have the right to a quality education  

CRC: Article 29: Children’s education should help them fully develop their personalities, talents and abilities 

Year 1 have been designing picnic blankets. They were asked to design a blanket suitable for the teddy bears at their picnic. They sang the teddy bears’ picnic song and considered what they would need to include. 

They tested different materials to check for comfort and how easily it would fold. Next they tried out different joining methods including gluing, stapling and sewing. They have started assembling their blankets today using felt and attached patterns and pictures using these joining techniques.  

They helped and encouraged each other and did a great job of them! We just need a little more time next week and they’ll be ready! 

Computing 

L.O to independently find an app on an iPad. 

Article 19  – You have the right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated, in body or mind. 

In our Computing lessons this term we have been looking at keeping safe online and how to use an iPad. Today we learnt how to find an app that has been installed on the iPad and login to the app so we can access our own specific account. We independently found the Numbots app and entered our login details. When we were on the app we completed a fun challenge and earnt coins for our achievements. Once we had completed the challenge logged out of the app. Next we found EdShed on the iPad. Some of us found logging into EdShed a little harder as we typed in our name instead of our username. However, after being shown the correct details we were able to login. We were able to explore EdShed before logging out again at the end of the lesson.  

We had a lot of fun accessing the iPads today and are becoming more independent each lesson.