Hello and Welcome to Year 1.
There are two class teachers in Year One. Mrs. Mandel teaches the class on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Miss Moles teaches the class on Wednesdays. Mrs Masterson is the teaching assistant. In Year 1 lessons are balanced between child-initiated learning, as well as more formal lessons. A good transition from Reception into Year 1 is paramount and we ensure that all children gradually and successfully adapt to the new expectations.
Throughout the year we focus on reading, phonics and simple sentence structure in English. In Maths the initial emphasis is on counting up and
down, as well as recognition and place value. In Science, the children focus on seasonal changes, animals including humans, and
materials.
All subjects are fun, relevant and interactive. We believe that in order to learn, children must gain as many first-hand experiences as possible, and everyone should enjoy what they are doing.
Learning is great fun in Year 1!
- Home learning 2018 letter (112KB)
- Year 1 Spring Newsletter 2019 (175KB)
- Brilliant Book List Y1 (123KB)
- New to Year 1 (1MB)
19th July 2019
LO: To compare hot and cold climates.
As part of our learning in Geography we looked at a range of animals and sorted them into those that came from hot and cold climates. We then thought about how the animals were adapted for their environments.
11th July 2019
LO: To make fruit kebabs.
This week we made our fruit kebabs. We washed our hands and put on aprons. Then we worked in groups to prepare and cut the fruit. After that we looked at our designs to see what fruit we needed. We then followed our designs carefully and tried to copy the patterns. Then we got to eat them!
5th July 2019
LO: To compare a U.K. town to a locality outside of Europe.
We thought about the features of the homes, shops, leisure and weather in Stevenage and wrote our ideas on post-it notes. We then looked at photographs of a village in Kenya and wrote down what we found. We thought about what was the same and what was different.
28th June 2019
LO: To design a healthy fruit kebab.
In design and technology we have been tasting different fruit. We have selected our favourite fruit and designed our own fruit kebabs. We have thought about the ingredients and equipment that we will need.
21st June 2019
LO: To write.
Someone broke into year 1 last weekend! They left a bowl of porridge and a purple bow and they broke one of our chairs! The police came and dusted for fingerprints and took away the bowl and bow for forensic testing. We found out that the culprit was Goldilocks! We have written crime reports, wanted posters, questions for Goldilocks, and a letter from Goldilocks to apologise. We hope she doesn’t do it again!
14th June 2019
LO: To write a poem.
In Design and Technology we have been tasting a variety of fruit in preparation for designing our own fruit kebabs. In English we have written poems to describe what different fruits smell, look, feel, sound and taste like.
7th June 2019
LO: To find half and quarter.
In maths this week we have been finding half and quarter of shapes and quantities.
23rd May 2019
LO: To learn about the Tudors.
Year 1 enjoyed a trip to Knebworth House. We made a timeline to show the Kings and Queens of the Tudor period, played Tudor instruments and learnt a Tudor dance, visited Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom and dressed up in Tudor clothes, looked at armour and wrote our names using Tudor lettering. After lunch we completed a Tudor treasure trail around the gardens before looking at the dinosaurs before we came back to school. It was a busy fun packed day!
16th May 2019
LO: To learn cricket skills.
In Year 1 we have been lucky to have specialist cricket teaching from ‘All Stars Cricket.’ This week we played a game of volcanoes and craters to warm up. We then competed in relay races moving the ball between the cones then we learnt how to use the bat to hit the ball. It was lots of fun!
10th May 2019
LO: To retell a traditional tale.
In English we read the story of Little Red Riding Hood. We then retold the story, using traditional tale openers and endings and repeated phrases.
3rd May 2019
LO: To draw a portrait.
We have started to learn about Queen Elizabeth I. In art we looked at portraits of her and of her father King Henry VIII. We looked at their clothes and then created a portrait of ourselves wearing Tudor clothes.
26th April 2019
LO: To multiply.
In maths we have been learning to multiply using repeated addition and arrays.
4th April 2019
LO: To create a moving picture.
In Design and Technology we have been learning how to create moving pictures using sliders and levers. This week we applied what we have learnt to create a moving Easter card.
26th March 2019
LO: To find out about a place of worship.
On Tuesday this week we visited St Nicholas church. We listened to John who told us what it meant to belong to a church. He then showed us what happens in a baptism and Holy Communion. We then had some time to investigate the features of the church before asking John questions about the church and the Christian faith.
22nd March 2019
LO: To understand historical emblems and markings
In History we looked at the coats of arms of the Lytton and Cobbolt families from Knebworth house. We read about the meanings of the symbols used. We looked at photographs from Knebworth house that showed coats of arms in various places. We then designed a coat of arms to reflect our own family.
15th March 2019
LO: To make a sliding mechanism.
In Design and Technology we have been learning how to use sliders to make a moving picture. This week we created a character and made their hat go up and down.
8th March 2019
LO: To describe a character
As part of World Book Day we dressed up as a book character and wrote a description. We tried to include adjectives to describe our character and our costume. We also listened to audio books on the World Book Day website, shared our books with Year 5 and took part in a class quiz.
1st March 2019
LO: To write a list
In English we are learning to write instructions. Today, as part of healthy eating week, we made our own fruit smoothies. We chose our own ingredients and wrote them in a list. Next week we will write recipes for making our smoothies.
15th February 2019
LO: To order events in the year.
In maths we have been learning to order days and months of the year. We made seasons wheels to show different events that happen throughout the year.
8th February 2019
LO: To print
In art we have been investigating printing with different materials. This week we each printed a scale for the Rainbow Fish. We used sponge, corrugated cardboard and bubble wrap to make our prints.
1st February 2019
LO: To write a poem.
In English we read lots of poems based on winter. We found the adjectives and added some of our own. We then created our own free verse poems about snow.
25th January 2019
LO: To add
In maths we have been learning different methods for adding. We have re-grouped numbers into tens and ones and used ‘think 10’ and ‘think 15’ methods. We have used tens frames, bead-strings and Base 10 equipment to help us.
18th January 2019
LO: To draw patterns to represent textures.
In art we have begun to look at the textures of different materials. We put a sample of a material in a square and then tried to copy the pattern. We drew textures of bubble wrap, netting, wood grain and paper.
10th January 2019
LO: To understand belonging.
In R.E. we have been discussing the different groups we belong to. We shared all the different clubs and activities that we do. We then wrote sentences to describe the groups we belong to.
30th November 2018
LO: To write a traditional tale
We have been using Talk for Writing. We learnt to retell the story of The Enormous Turnip using actions. Next we cut out characters and acted out the story in groups. This week we created story maps and wrote the story using story language like ‘once upon a time’ and ‘happily ever after’ Some of us created our own version of the story. For example ‘The big potato’, ‘The giant carrot’ even ‘The big present’.
19th October 2018
LO: To find out about warm and cool colours and how they make us feel’
We found out about warm and cool colours. We then looked at paintings that used those colours. We thought warm colour paintings were happy, sunny and cosy. Cool colours paintings made us feel sad, cold, chilly and wintery. We used the work of Robert Delaunay to create artwork separating cool and warm colours.
12th October 2018
LO: To write in the past tense
We have been reading Farmer Duck in class, acting out the story in our sharing assembly to the school. In groups we made story maps to show the key events. We used these to help us write as Farmer Duck to Auntie Goose telling her all about what has been happening on the farm. We tried really hard to use time connectives and sequence our writing.
5th October 2018
LO: To edit and publish our writing
We have been listening to the story ‘Where’s my Teddy?’ about a boy who has lost his teddy in the woods. We have written in the first person writing as the boy and about our own experience of losing something. We then learnt how to edit and improve our writing, looking for capital letters, full stops and using our phonic knowledge to spell.
21st September 2018
LO: To identify key events in a story
This week we have been listening to the story Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. The book is about four different voices (characters) who tell the story of a walk in the park. We have been discussing how the characters feel and how to order key events in the story.
14th September 2018
LO: To explore art work using primary colours.
Year 1 created collages in the style of Mondrian.
