Year 1's Learning Blog
2024 - 2025
What are Year 1 up to?
2023-2024
What are Year 1 up to?
3.1
In English this half term we will be exploring rhyming words and sentences using ‘Oi Frog’ as our stimulus. We will be focusing on perfecting our sentences using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops, as well as using -s and -es within our writing to make plurals. Later on in the half term we will be tasting different exotic fruits from the story ‘Handa’s Surprise’ and will be forming our own short narrative of the story using adjectives to make our writing more exciting.
We will be consolidating our knowledge and understanding of measurement in maths by looking at length and height and mass and volume before moving onto multiplication and division. We will learn to count in 2s, 5s and 10s, be introduced to using arrays and will learn to make equal groups. Towards the end of the half term we will look at fractions and learn how to recognise and find a half and a quarter of shapes and quantities.
Our Science topic this half term is ‘Introduction to Plants’ where we will identify a variety of plants, name their parts and their uses and discover that water is a requirement for growth. We will be conducting an experiment using beans to investigate what will happen when they are planted using different variables.
This half term in Geography we will be answering the question ‘What is it like to live in Shanghai?’ We will be learning about human and physical features within our local environment, drawing a sketch map of our local environment including the features we have discovered, locating and naming continents in the world and comparing China to our local area in Birmingham.
2.2
In English this half term we will be using the text ‘Jasper’s Beanstalk’ as inspiration for writing a set of instructions on how to grow a beanstalk. We will be using time conjunctions, imperative verbs and remembering our five finger check.
This half term we will be finding and making number bonds to 20, counting in 10’s, partitioning numbers into tens and ones and using number lines for numbers up to 50.
Our science topic is ‘Comparing Animals.’ This will explore naming groups of animals, looking at similarities and differences between groups of animals and collecting data using scientific methods.
In History this half term we will be answering the question ‘How have toys changed?’ We will be discussing our favourite toys, learning about the difference between toys from the past and toys from the present and looking at the kinds of toys our grandparents played with.
2.1
English- In English this half term we will be reading 'The Smartest Giant in Town' and will be using this stimulus to help us write a thank you letter to the giant using 1st person. We will also be completing a re-write of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' incorporating the days of the week and the use of adjectives.
Maths- This half term we are consolidating our knowledge and understanding of 2D and 3D shapes. We will also be introducing tens and ones when looking at numbers up to 20, addition and subtraction using number lines, doubles and comparing numbers.
Science- Our Science topic is 'Everyday Materials.' We will be identifying different materials and their properties, and discussing why certain materials are used for different objects.
Geography- In Geography we will be asking the question 'What is the weather like in the UK?' We will be locating the UK on a map, naming the 4 countries in the UK and will be discussing seasonal changes throughout the year.
1.2
English: This half term in English we we will be focussing on punctuating our sentences correctly using capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. We will also be using the stimulus ‘A Cloudy Lesson’ to help us make our own cloud blowers followed by writing a set of instructions for these using time connectives and ‘bossy verbs.’
Maths: Our focus in maths this half term is addition and subtraction within 10. We will be using part-whole models to help us solve addition and subtraction problems. We will also be looking at number bonds to 10, fact families and subtracting using a number line.
Science: Our topic ‘Seasonal Changes’ will explore naming and describing different seasons, identifying changes in weather and looking at how humans and animals are affected by seasonal changes.
In English we followed a set of instructions and made our own cloud blowers. We then practised orally composing these instructions to our partners.
In art this week we have used a variety of materials to create a textured surface which we will be painting on next week.
In safety week we learnt how to cross the road safely and practised this using the zebra crossing.
In computing this week we have created our own abstract artwork using lines and primary colours inspired by the artist Piet Mondrian.
In PE we have been looking at how to throw and catch different sized balls.
In provision we have been working on our fine motor development to make Christmas decorations.
1.1
English- In English this half term we are focussing on remembering our ‘5 finger check’ when writing simple sentences. We are also exploring writing about our emotions using ‘The Colour Monster’ as one of our stimulus.
Maths- In Maths this half term we are looking at place value (within 10). We are learning to sort objects, recognise numbers written as words, find 1 more and 1 less and to count on from any given number.
Science- In Science this half term we are learning all about ‘My Body.’ We will be looking at the different body parts we use for different activities and learning about the 5 senses.
- In maths we learnt all about sorting objects different ways. We worked together as a whole class to sort lots of our maths resources into colours
- We have been out and about around school looking for tricky red words that our teachers had hidden around school. We worked in pairs to collect all of the words.
- In Geography, we created our own 'Messy Maps' of our classroom. We used lots of different resources to create a birds eye view of this.
- As part of our outdoor learning, we collected different sized and shaped leaves. We brought them back to the classroom and traced around them before adding in the detail.
- In computing, we have been practising our mouse and keyboard skills. We used the keyboard to type our names and then used the mouse to create a drawing of ourselves.7. In PE we have been learning the skill of defense and attack. We used balls and hoops to try and score into our opponents goal.
2022-2023
3.2
This half term our topic is ‘Kings and Queens’ where children will learn about monarchs throughout history. We will also learn about animals; identifying, classifying and understanding how they grow and survive.
Literacy and Phonics
Children will deepen their phonic knowledge to read and write sentences and labels independently. They will be encouraged to identify ‘special friends’ including those that are split vowel digraphs, such as a-e in lake, e-e in eve, o-e in hope and i-e in drive. They will receive targeted sessions along with daily top-up interventions, to support the development of their phonic knowledge and reading skills, ready for the Phonics Screening check in June. We will also focus on basic grammar and punctuation including nouns, verbs, adjectives and will continue to learn the spelling rules for suffixes, prefixes and plurals including –s, -es, -ing, -ed, -est and –un (e.g. well = unwell and changes the root word). Children will continue to receive handwriting practise sessions daily to improve formation, pencil control and size of letters when writing.
Maths
This half term, children will continue to develop their understanding of Number through, all four mathematical operations, addition, subtraction division and multiplication. We will use the mathematical language children have previously learned to deepen their understanding of number through both written and practical activities. We will also continue to learn to identify fractions of an object/quantity including ½ and ¼ along with basic terms for time, money, position and simple directions. Children will learn to answer simple worded-problems using a range of methods using all of the above mathematical knowledge.
Times Table Rockstars (TT Rockstars) allows children to practice answering multiplication questions using their 2’s, 5’s and 10’s times table knowledge and children should be encouraged to log on to this weekly. There are many different challenges and modes they can access including the weekly ‘Challenge a Teacher’ competition.
PE
PE is every Tuesday morning for 1S and every Friday morning for 1H. This half term, children will be developing their posture, body position and co-ordination skills in Sports Day themed activities. They will learn to complete all the challenges that will take place during their Sports Day so they can actively participate and have fun. Please ensure your child has their PE kit on when they arrive at school on this day and that their name is clearly labelled for each piece of clothing. It should contain:
-t shirt
-shorts
-jogging bottoms
-jumper
-black pumps and/or black trainers
Topic (History, Geography RE and Science)
Children will be learning about significant British monarchs including Richard 111, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. They will learn how to place events on a timeline using chronological order and make comparisons of their lives in each period. Children will learn about how family trees work and will be encouraged to complete one of their own, to understand and identify their own family’s chronology. We will look at the different homes Kings and Queens from the past have lived in and look at the key features of castles that kept them safe and warm.
In Science, children will learn about animals, including how to identify, classify and care for them. They will learn the terms herbivore, carnivore and omnivore as well as vertebrate and invertebrate. We will also learn the 5 different types of animals; mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians and what they need to live and reproduce.
3.1
This half term our topic is ‘Africa’ where children will learn about the physical and human features of the continent. We will also continue to learn about plants; identifying, classifying and understanding how they grow.
Literacy and Phonics
Children will deepen their phonic knowledge to write sentences and labels. They will receive targeted sessions along with extra top-up sessions daily to support the development of their phonic knowledge, writing and reading skills. We will focus on basic grammar and punctuation including nouns, verbs, adjectives and will begin to learn the spelling rules for suffixes, prefixes and plurals including –s, -es, -ing, -ed, -est and –un (e.g. well = unwell and changes the root word).
Maths
This half term, children will continue to develop their understanding of Number through, all four mathematical operations, addition, subtraction division and multiplication. We will use the mathematical language children have previously learned to deepen their understanding of number through both written and practical activities. We will also learn to identify fractions of an object/quantity including ½ and ¼ along with time, money and position and simple directions. Children will learn to answer simple worded-problems using a range of methods using all of the above mathematical knowledge.
Times Table Rockstars (TT Rockstars) allows children to practice answering multiplication questions using their 2’s, 5’s and 10’s times table knowledge.
PE
PE is every Tuesday morning for 1S and every Friday morning for 1H. This half term, children will be developing their posture, body position and co-ordination skills in movement games. They will learn to change direction and vary their speed to deceive an opponent. Please ensure your child has their PE kit on when they arrive at school on this day and that their name is clearly labelled for each piece of clothing. It should contain:
-t shirt
-shorts
-jogging bottoms
-jumper
-black pumps and/or black trainers
Topic (History, Geography RE and Science)
Children will be learning about the 7 continents, 4 oceans and how to locate Africa on the map. They will research the climate, landmarks, food, music and cultural traditions as well as understanding how a day in an African country compares to a day in England. In Science, children will continue to identify and sort plants by key features such as, deciduous and evergreen and flowering and non-flowering. They will also monitor the plants they planted last half term to understand the growing process further.
2.2
This half term our topic is ‘It’s good to be green’ where we will look at the seasonal changes that take place in the weather as we move from Winter into Spring. We will also learn about plants; identifying, classifying and understanding how they grow and even planting our own.
Literacy and Phonics
Children will deepen their phonic knowledge to write simple sentences and labels. They will receive targeted sessions along with extra top-up sessions daily to support the development of their phonic knowledge, writing and reading skills. We will focus on basic grammar and punctuation including nouns, verbs, adjectives and will begin to learn the spelling rules for suffixes and plurals.
Maths
This half term, children will continue to develop their understanding of Number through, three of the four mathematical operations, addition, subtraction and multiplication. We will use the mathematical language children have previously learned to deepen their understanding of number through both written and practical activities. We will also learn to identify and describe objects by height, weight and length and answer simple worded-problems using a range of methods.
Using the new website, Times Table Rockstars (TT Rockstars) at home, children will practice answering multiplication questions using their 2’s, 5’s and 10’s times table knowledge.
PE
PE is every Tuesday morning for 1S and every Friday morning for 1H. This half term, children will create movement patterns and sequences to music through dance by focusing on the beat, rhythm and tempo. Please ensure your child has their PE kit on when they arrive at school on this day. Please ensure their name is clearly labelled for each piece of clothing.
It should contain:
- t shirt
-shorts
-jogging bottoms
-black pumps and/or black trainers
Topic (History, Geography RE and Science)
Children will be learning about the Geography of weather. We will discuss and describe the four seasons and identify the changes in weather as we experience Spring. Children will create a weather forecast by observing and predicting weather patterns. In Science, children will identify and sort plants by key features such as, deciduous and evergreen and flowering and non-flowering. Children will also get to understand the growing process, in a practical way, by growing their own plant.
2.1
This half term our topic is ‘Toys’ where we will be looking at how toys are made, what they are made of and how they have changed over time. We will also be having a go at creating our own games too.
Literacy and Phonics
Children will continue to use their phonic knowledge to write simple sentences and labels. They will receive targeted sessions daily to support the development of their phonic knowledge, writing and reading skills. We will be focusing on basic punctuation including exclamation marks and question marks as well as learning about word types such as nouns, verbs and adjectives.
Maths
This half term, children will continue to develop their understanding of Number through, two of the four mathematical operations, addition and subtraction. We will be using the mathematical language children have previously learned to deepen their understanding of number through both written and practical activities. We will also be learning to identify and describe 2D and 3D shapes, identifying and adding different coins and answering simple worded-problems.
PE
PE is every Tuesday morning for 1S and every Friday morning for 1H. Please ensure your child has their PE kit on when they arrive at school on this day. Please ensure their name is clearly labelled for each piece of clothing.
It should contain:
- t shirt
-shorts
-jogging bottoms
-black pumps and/or black trainers
Topic (History, Geography and Science)
Children will be learning about the history of toys. They will compare toys from the past to those available now including how they look, the materials they are made from and how fun they are to play with. Throughout the year we will discuss and describe the four seasons and identify the changes in weather as each one passes.
1.2
This half term our topic is ‘Our Community Rocks’ where we will be looking at our families, local businesses and the area we live in. Children will explore different careers in the community and how they help us to stay safe and healthy.
Literacy and Phonics
Children will continue to use their phonic knowledge to write simple sentences and labels. Children will receive targeted sessions daily to support the development of their phonic knowledge, writing and reading skills. We will be focusing on the basic foundation of including capital letters, finger spaces, sounds and full stops. We call this the 5 finger check! We will be ensuring we form our letters correctly according to the handouts provided in our Inspire session, making sure that they are facing the right way and learning about how to control the size of our letters on the page.
Maths
This half term, children will develop their understanding of Number through, two of the four mathematical operations, addition and subtraction. We will be using the mathematical language children have previously learned to deepen their understanding of number through both written and practical activities. We will also be including daily ‘Number Sense’ sessions to encourage number fluency skills.
PE
PE is every Tuesday morning for 1S and 1H. Please ensure your child has their PE kit on when they arrive at school on this day. Please ensure their name is clearly labelled for each piece of clothing.
It should contain:
- t shirt
-shorts / jogging bottoms
-sweatshirt
-black pumps and/or black trainers
Outdoor Learning
Outdoor learning will take place every Thursday. Wellies can be sent into school in a clearly labelled bag for children to keep on their pegs. We will send these home every half term, unless you need them sent home weekly. Due to the changing weather, please ensure children have a warm coat, gloves and trousers where possible on this day so that they can take part in our outdoor sessions regardless of the weather.
1.1
This half term our topic is ‘Inside and outside’ where we will be looking inside ourselves to celebrate our uniqueness, similarities and differences and importance in the world and outside by looking at seasonal change.
Literacy
Children will continue to use their phonic knowledge to write simple sentences and labels. We will be remembering to include our capital letter, finger spaces, sounds and full stops. We call this the 5 finger check! We will be focussing on forming our letters correctly, making sure that they are facing the right way and beginning to control the size of our letters on the page.
Maths
This half term children, will develop their number sense through counting forwards and backwards, recognising and ordering numbers, matching numeral to quantity and investigating numbers to 20 and beyond. We will be using the mathematical language children have learned in Reception to deepen their understanding of number through exciting and practical experiences.
PE
PE is every Tuesday morning for 1S and 1H. Please ensure your child has their PE kit on when they arrive at school on this day. Please ensure their name is clearly labelled for each piece of clothing.
It should contain:
- t shirt
-shorts / jogging bottoms
-sweatshirt
-black pumps and/or black trainers
Outdoor Learning
Outdoor learning will take place every Thursday. Wellies can be sent into school in a clearly labelled bag for children to keep on their pegs. We will send these home every half term, unless you need them sent home weekly. Due to the changing weather, please ensure children
3.2
English- We will be using the story 'Winnie the Witch' as a stimulus to help us to write instructions for our own magic spells. We will also be using our knowledge of past and present monarchs to help us write about what we would do if we were a King or Queen.
Maths- We are looking at fractions by finding half and quarters of shapes and quantities. We will also be focussing on geometry and learning how to describe turns and positions of objects. Finally, we will be looking at recognising and counting money and looking at measurements of time.
Topic- Our topic this half term is ‘Medieval Magic.’ We will be learning about past and present monarchs in History. We will also be looking at different types of castles and their features and will be designing and creating our own castles.
3.1
English- In English this half term we will be focussing on writing our own poetry. We will be looking at rhyming words, structure of poems and incorporating the different senses when writing our own poems about Australia.
Maths- In Maths this half term we will be looking at weight and volume, counting in 2s and 10s, making equal groups and learning about using arrays.
Science- In Science this half term we will be looking at identifying and describing different garden and wild plants, naming and labelling different parts of a plant and we will also be planting our own seeds to make observations about the growth of the plant.
2.2
English- This half term in English we will be focussing on writing our own fact files about dinosaurs! We will also be getting creative by writing our own dinosaur stories.
Maths- This half term in Maths we are looking at place value within 50. We will be representing numbers to 50, counting forwards and backwards and also learning to count in 2s and 5s.
Science- In Science this half term we are looking at every day materials. We will be naming a variety of different materials, looking at their properties and finding out why some materials are better suited to certain things than others.
2.1
English: This half term in English we are focussing on reading, understanding and writing instructions. We will also be writing our own character descriptions.
Maths: This half term in Maths we will be learning about 2D and 3D shapes, place value and subtraction using number lines.
Science: We will be learning about identifying and naming different common animals, looking at different animal groups and comparing them between each other.
1.2
English: In English we will be looking at a range of books about different cultures, linking in with our topic 'Black History.' In our writing we will be focussing on using adjectives and using these to write descriptive sentences.
Maths: In Maths we will be focussing on addition and subtraction within 10. We will be looking at using part-whole models, number bonds to 10 and fact families. We will be using a variety of concrete, pictorial and abstract methods to deepen our understanding.
Science: In Science we will be looking at seasonal changes. We will be exploring the different types of weather, appropriate clothing and physical changes throughout the different seasons.
After all of our really hard work we finally did our final Nativity performance! We were all so proud of ourselves and were really excited for all of our grown ups to watch it!
During our forest school session, we collected twigs together to create some beautiful hanging Christmas decorations!
We were so lucky and got to go on a special school trip to the farm! We saw lots of really cute animals and were allowed to hold them and help feed them too!
As part of our 'Black History' topic, we learnt all about Marcus Rashford and the amazing things he has done to help children. We thought carefully about what message we would like to send to him and then wrote them down and created this display for him!
Individually we carefully planned, designed and then created our own Kente Cloth design. Once they were finished we put them altogether to create a beautiful year group display!
To go alongside our topic 'Black History', we read Handa's Surprise and then tasted the different fruits from the story and decided whether we liked them or disliked them.
Together we created our class charter display for Rights Respecting Schools.
1.1
English: We have been continuing to learn new sounds in our RWI lessons and have been applying these to our reading and writing. This half term we have been focussing on writing simple sentences with basic punctuation.
Maths: This half term we have been focussing on place value and number within 10. We have learnt to use greater than, less than and equal to signs to compare numbers and objects, counting forwards and backwards to 10 and have introduced tens frames to help us with our number work.
Science: This half term we have been learning all about our bodies, to fit in with our 'All About Me' topic. We have been focussing on our 5 senses and the different parts of our bodies and their uses.
1.1
1W carefully painted their pebbles to go into our Allens Croft Rocks Mental Health garden. Aren't they beautiful!
In Year 1T we carefully painted our rocks as part of a mindfulness activity during PSHE. We discussed how this activity made us feel (calm, relaxed, fun). We will place these rocks in our mental health garden. We also discussed different feelings that we can have (happy sad angry tired calm scared worried) and different scenarios that make us feel different feelings
In Year 1T during Drama and Arts we explored diversity through Drama and Music. We read the story Something Else and discussed how it’s important to include everyone, every if they’re not the same as us. We had lots of fun acting and role-playing different characters.
'All About Me' self-portraits. We enjoyed creating our own self-portraits and these have been put together to make a beautiful display.
The Colour Monster Emotion Jars. We learnt all about our feelings and emotions through reading the book 'The Colour Monster.' We created a piece of art using splatter painting to show the different emotions and their colours.
Outdoor learning family trees. During our outdoor learning session, we discussed different families and each created our own family trees.
In Computing, We practised logging onto the computers independently and went onto seesaw to create a family portrait.