This half term, Year 1 have been on an exciting art journey exploring spirals. We began by investigating different spiral patterns and discussing where we might see them in the world around us.

The children then looked closely at mandalas, carefully observing and replicating the intricate patterns and shapes they could see. This helped them develop their observational skills and introduced them to the idea of repeated patterns in art.

Next, we explored Vincent van Gogh's famous painting, Starry Night. The children paid particular attention to the swirling spirals and movement within the sky, discussing how the artist used line and shape to create energy and emotion in his work.

Inspired by the artists and artwork they had studied, the children designed their own spiral-themed pieces, incorporating the patterns, movement and creative ideas they had discovered throughout the unit.

To complete their final pieces, the children used scratch art paper and cocktail sticks to create intricate spiral designs. They carefully scratched away the black surface to reveal the vibrant colours hidden underneath, producing some truly stunning effects and incredible detail.

We have been so impressed by the creativity, perseverance and artistic skills shown throughout this project. The finished masterpieces are absolutely fantastic and showcase everything the children have learned on their spiral art journey.

Amazing work, Year 1! 🌟🌀🎨

To complete our learning, we focused on using directional language and simple compass directions. The children practised giving and following instructions to navigate around the school grounds and used words such as north, south, east and west. They also investigated different areas of the school to identify where plants grow best and considered why some locations are more suitable for plant life than others.

We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm, curiosity and growing geographical knowledge shown by all of our Year 1 children. They have developed valuable mapping, observation and navigation skills and have loved becoming explorers within their own school environment! 🌿🗺️📍

Our Year 1 children have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in our My School Grounds Geography unit. Throughout the topic, they have developed their geographical skills whilst exploring the familiar environment around them in a fun and engaging way.

We began by taking a walk around our school grounds to identify and discuss the different features we could see. The children worked brilliantly as young geographers, spotting areas such as playgrounds, buildings, gates, grassy spaces and areas where plants grow. They enjoyed talking about what each area is used for and sharing their observations with their friends.

What an exciting day for Year 1! 🎉

Today, we joined readers from across the world to take part in an incredible reading challenge organised by the National Literacy Trust and the British Council.

Our children helped take on the challenge of setting a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the most people reading online in 12 hours! 🏆📖

Year 1 loved being part of such a special event, sharing in the joy of reading alongside thousands of other readers. It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our love of books while showing the children that reading can connect people all around the world. 🌎❤️

We are so proud of how enthusiastically everyone joined in and how engaged they were throughout the challenge. Reading is such an important part of our learning, and it was wonderful to see the children enjoying books as part of a worldwide event.

Well done, Year 1! Fingers crossed we helped make history! 🤞🏆📚✨

This term in RE, Year 1 have been exploring the question, "How might some people show that they belong to God?" through their learning about Christianity. We began by thinking about what it means to belong to a family and discussing how families care for, support and love one another. This helped the children understand the importance of belonging and being part of a community.

The children then started to explore infant baptisms and learned why this special ceremony is important to many Christian families. Through discussion, stories and photographs, they discovered some of the symbols and actions involved in a baptism and considered how these help Christians show their faith and their belonging to God. The children have engaged thoughtfully with these ideas and have shown great curiosity throughout their learning.

This term in PSHE, Year 1 have explored a range of important topics that help them understand themselves and the world around them. We have learned about different feelings and emotions, discussed ways to express them appropriately, and thought about how setting goals can help us achieve our best. The children have also explored the meaning of respect, learning how to show kindness, consideration and understanding towards others in our school community.

We have spent time learning our Boundary Promises and discussing how they help keep everyone safe and happy. The children have also developed their understanding of basic hygiene, including how to look after themselves to stay healthy. In addition, we explored protected characteristics and celebrated the fact that everyone is unique and special. To finish the unit, Year 1 learned about democracy and took part in voting for our School Council representatives, gaining first-hand experience of how everyone's voice matters.

Year 1 have loved starting their Guided Reading journey this term. The children have enjoyed exploring a range of exciting books and are working hard to apply their phonics knowledge to their reading. It has been wonderful to see their confidence and enthusiasm for reading grow already! 📚✨

Year 1 have been focusing on developing their fundamental movement skills in PE. We have been exploring a variety of ways to move around the hall, including walking, jogging, skipping and changing direction, all while maintaining control of our bodies.

A key focus of our learning has been staying safe by using our eyes to look where we are going and being aware of the space around us. The children have worked hard to move confidently and carefully, showing good control and listening skills throughout each activity.

It has been wonderful to see the children growing in confidence and developing their coordination as they practise these important skills. Well done, Year 1! 🌟🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Year 1 have been working hard on comparing numbers using the mathematical symbols less than (<), greater than (>) and equal to (=). Over the past few days, the children have developed their confidence in recognising and using these symbols correctly.

We have explored comparing numbers in a variety of ways, including using concrete resources, pictorial representations, and abstract numbers. The children have enjoyed investigating which numbers are greater, smaller, or equal, and explaining their reasoning using mathematical language.

We are incredibly proud of how confidently the children are now using comparison symbols and applying their understanding in different contexts. Well done, Year 1! 🌟📚➕

Over the last two weeks, Year 1 has been learning all about democracy and the Five British Values. The children explored what democracy means and why it is important that everyone has a voice and can share their opinions.

This learning marked the beginning of our Student Council elections. As part of their Reading into Writing lessons, the children wrote their own manifestos, sharing the ideas and changes they would like to make if they were chosen to represent their class. They worked hard to think of ways to make our school an even better place and practised presenting their ideas clearly and confidently.

Some children then chose to put themselves forward as candidates and bravely stood in front of their classmates to read their manifestos aloud. We were incredibly proud of their confidence, enthusiasm, and willingness to take on a leadership role within the school.

This week, the children took part in a democratic vote to elect their Beech Class and Hazel Class councillors. Each child had the opportunity to cast their vote and experience the election process first-hand. It was a fantastic way to bring our learning to life and help the children understand how democracy works in our community.

We would like to congratulate our newly elected class councillors and thank all of the children who took part. We look forward to seeing the positive contributions they will make as members of the Student Council this year!

This week in Reading into Writing, the children have been enjoying the wonderful story Handa’s Surprise. They have loved listening to and discussing the book, as well as exploring the different characters, animals, and fruits featured throughout the story.

To begin our learning, the children sequenced the events of the story, helping them to develop their understanding of what happens first, next, and at the end. They worked hard to recall key events and put them in the correct order.

Building on this, the children had a go at retelling the story in their own words. They focused on applying their early writing skills by using capital letters at the beginning of sentences, leaving finger spaces between words, and remembering to finish their sentences with full stops.

We have been very impressed with the children's enthusiasm and growing confidence in both reading and writing. Well done, everyone! 🌟

Year 1 have been enjoying developing their handwriting skills through the Kinetic Letters handwriting scheme.

We began by recapping our knowledge from Reception, reminding ourselves of the different writing positions that help us sit comfortably and hold our pencils correctly. The children have worked hard to remember how good posture and pencil grip support neat and fluent handwriting.

More recently, we have been learning about the Jumper Family. The children have explored the family feature and practised forming a range of letters, including h, n and m. We have been focusing on starting each letter in the correct place, forming it carefully and using the family feature to help us remember the correct movements.

It has been wonderful to see the children's confidence growing as they develop their letter formation and handwriting skills. We are looking forward to continuing our Kinetic Letters journey and learning more letter families throughout the year!

Beech Class have enjoyed some extra playtime today after achieving the highest attendance in school last week and winning the attendance award! 🌟

We are incredibly proud of all the children for their commitment to being in school every day, ready to learn and take part in all the exciting opportunities on offer. Excellent attendance helps children make the most of their learning, build strong friendships and create wonderful memories together.

The children thoroughly enjoyed their reward and showed great enthusiasm throughout their extra playtime. Keep up the fantastic effort, Beech Class. We can't wait to see if you can hold on to the attendance trophy next week!

Well done, Beech Class! Every day counts! 🎉👏💜

This half term, Year 1 have begun their RE learning by exploring Christianity and learning about God. We started by thinking about our own families and discussing who is special to us. The children enjoyed sharing stories about their family members and talking about the people who care for them.

We then linked this learning to Christianity by exploring the idea of God's family. The children learned that Christians believe everyone is welcome in God's family and that the church community is an important part of this. They shared thoughtful ideas and made connections between their own families and God's family.

More recently, the children have been learning about baptism. They discovered that baptism is a special ceremony for Christians and explored the different features that can be found during a baptism. The children enjoyed labelling and discussing the key parts of a baptism, including the font, water and special symbols used during the ceremony.

Year 1 have shown great curiosity and enthusiasm throughout our discussions and have been respectful when learning about the beliefs of others. We look forward to continuing our journey of learning about Christianity over the coming weeks.

Well done, Year 1! 🌟✝️