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Year 1 2023-2024

Welcome to Year 1!

2023-24

In Year 1, our teachers are Mrs Clouter, Mr Tagarsi, and Miss Norman. We are also supported by our dedicated Learning Support Assistants (LSAs): Miss Cameron, Miss Purdy and Mrs Kirkup.

If you have any questions, please speak with your child's class teacher. You can speak to your child’s class teacher by phoning the school and requesting an appointment if they are not around at pick up.

Keep referring back to this page for regular updates about the children's learning. 

Curriculum Newsletters

Updated - Friday 12th July 2024

This week in year 1 we have finished looking at our maths topic on 'time', we have been able to tell the time to o'clock and to half past and relate these times to things we do in the day. In English we have completed our final pieces of writing on the story 'The Great Fairytale Disaster'. We have applied everything we have learnt throughout the year and made our own newspaper reports. In science we went up the forest school area to hunt for worms! We then identified their body parts, learnt about what they ate and discussed which animal group they fit into. In PSHE we shared our thoughts and feelings about moving up to year 2. Our teachers explained that it would be a great adventure and we learnt that change was a good thing. In DT we looked back at some of the pictures we took whilst making our sandwiches. We reflected on whether they tasted good and if we had met our design criteria, we finished with giving them a rating out of 5. 

Updated - Friday 5th July 2024

In year 1, we had an exciting week. In maths we have continued to look at our maths topic 'time' where we have learnt about hours, minutes and seconds. We have also begun looking at the minute and hour hands on our clocks. In English, we have continued with the story 'My Great Fairytale Disaster', where we have included contractions and the suffixes -ed and -ing in our writing. In DT, we have made our very own sandwiches, which have included some healthy ingredients, and we tried as hard as we could to make them look appealing. We then also ate them afterwards; they were delicious! In history, we recapped everything we learned in 'The Victorian Era,' creating posters with images and facts that we could remember. In science we have continued to look at animal parts, this included looking at our pet woodlouse and deciding which habitat is best for them. 

Updated - Friday 28th June 2024

What an exciting week we have had in year 1! This week, we have continued with our maths topic, 'time,' looking at the days of the week and learning lots of new languages. We have been looking at the story 'The Great Fairytale Disaster' in English. We have retold the story to our peers, and the Big Bag Wolf has even been to visit us in our classrooms! We asked the Big Bad Wolf all of the questions we wanted to know about his travels to different fairytales in our book.  In DT, we have been looking at different sandwiches, their ingredients, and some packaging. We have also designed our own sandwich, which we will be making next week. In history, we have been on a trip to the Milestones Museum! We had a brilliant day consolidating everything we learned in our topic, 'The Victorian Era'. We also had a workshop with a real Victorian teacher, writing on slate boards and following the school rules from this time. In the afternoon, we had a treasure hunt around the museum to see what we could spot, visiting some Victorian shops. 

Update - Friday 21st June 2024

What an exciting week we've had in year 1! This week, we have started looking at money in our maths lessons, identifying coins and notes, and comparing their values. In English, we have been finishing our learning on the story Meerkat Mail, writing our final pieces that included exclamation marks and the suffixes -er and -est. In science, we have been discussing our pets, putting them into the various animal groups and sharing information about what they eat and where they live. In R.E., we looked at the Christian story of creation and drew some of our own stories to show our understanding. In DT, we made salads, sliced, slicked, mashed, and chopped the ingredients needed. We thought about the safety needed to do this, and we could eat our salads afterwards!

Updated - Friday 14th June 2024

What a week we have had in year 1! During our English lessons, we have been using exclamation marks in our sentences. We have also completed a longer piece of writing where we applied these exclamation marks correctly and added the suffixes -er and -est to compare places and people. During maths, we finished our place value to 100 topics and moved on to looking at money. We discussed what the different coins looked like and their worth. In science, we continued to look at animals, putting them into 6 different groups and discussing their characteristics. Chop, Slice and Mash is what our new DT topic is called; our first lesson on this taught us to think about the food we eat and whether it comes from plants or animals.  In history, we looked at how a place changes over time; for this, we investigated a variety of maps of Basingstoke from today and the Victorian Era. We discussed what was still the same and what was different, recapping our geography knowledge of human and physical features. 

Update - Friday 7th June 2024

In year 1, this week, we have been busy! We have started our new maths topic on place value to 100, counting on a number line and identifying the 10s and 1s in these numbers. In English, we have been looking at the story 'Meerkat Mail', using adjectives to describe meerkats and looking at where they live in the Kalahari Desert on Google Earth. In computing, we have been looking at data and putting this into pictograms. During science we have been looking at animal parts using a variety of animals, we used some of our own animal toys to label the different parts which was fun! We also reminded ourselves of what the human parts are. Finally, during PSHE, we have been looking at the life cycles of various animals and then the life cycles of humans and how they all change over a period of time. 

Update - Friday 24th May 2024

This week in year 1, we completed our final writing pieces for our features of instructions unit in English, giving instructions for how to plant a plant. These were really fun, and we substituted things like the soil, water and the pot for more exciting ideas! Some of these included slime, glitter and orange juice. In maths, we completed our position and direction unit, ending the week by trying to remember everything we had learned over the last few lessons in a mini quiz. In art, we created our final piece, Murial on Street Views, inspired by some of James Rizzi's work. For this, we layered pieces of cardboard into various-sized houses, cars, different birds, and the sun. These are now up in each year 1 classroom on a big display. In history we continued to look at schools in the Victorian Era, comparing some objects from what we have today and what there was at this time.  In science we completed our assessment on everything we have learnt on plant parts, we really enjoyed this topic! 

Update - Friday 17th May 2024

This week in year 1, we have continued to look at our History topic, 'The Victorian Era.' We have had a look at some Victorian artefacts and had a look at a school day at this time. In Science, we have moved on to looking at trees as part of our plant parts. We rubbed the bark on trees, drew the trees, and looked at some of the features of the leaves on the trees. In maths, we have finished our fractions topic and moved on to position and direction. We have enjoyed looking at forwards, backwards, left, right, and above and below. In our English sessions, we have continued to look at features of instructions and prepositions to support and extend our writing.  In Jigsaw, we looked at road safety, going out onto the year 1 playground to act this out as a class. We then discussed some of the important rules for crossing the road and being safe around any type of road. 

Update - Friday 10th May 2024

This week in year 1, during our maths lessons, we have been continuing to learn about fractions, looking at quarters and halves. We have also been identifying features of instructions in English through the story Jack and the Beanstalk. Then, we sequenced the important events in the book and put actions together with the words! In our science lessons, we have learned a lot about plants and asked questions about how they grow. We then found the answers to these questions in books and using the internet. During geography we had a look at the importance of picking up litter, in our classes we walked around our school grounds to locate any litter and thinking about the importance of looking after our environment. In art, we had another look at some of James Rizzi's work and reminded ourselves of the primary and secondary colours we could use to produce some of our own. 

Update - Friday 3rd May 2024

This week in Year 1 we started a new topic in maths and English. In maths, we have been working on fractions, recognising and finding the half of numbers. In English, we completed our final pieces for the story 'The Lonely Beast', where we have been looking at prefixes and suffixes. We then started our new topic by looking at instructions and reading our focus book 'Jack and the Beanstalk.' In science, we have been looking at the plants we grew in class, labelling the parts of leaves and comparing bulbs and seeds. In Art, we have been looking at the artist James Rizzi, comparing some of his pieces and having a go at drawing some of them for ourselves. 

Update - Friday 20th April 2024

This week in Year 1 we have been very busy! In maths, the children have been continuing with multiplying and dividing, looking at equal groups, adding equal groups and understanding what arrays are. In English we have been looking at words ending in -ed, using the prefix -un and finishing the week doing a longer piece of writing including these words. In science we have looked at wild and garden plants. We have planted our own sunflowers and wildflowers so we can compare how these grow. We have also discussed what we need to do to help them to grow. In history, we have been looking at important events on a timeline and closely investigating what happened when the middle building in our school was built. Mrs Cameron even came and did an interview for this as she was there! During our Art sessions we have looked at various landscapes in thumb sketches, drawing different buildings that we could see from our school playground. 

Update - Friday 19th March 2024

This week, we started our new topic, multiplication and division, in Maths. We began by looking at counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. We use our 100 squares to help us count and spot any patterns with the numbers.

In English, we looked at our new book, The Lonely Beast. We started by making inferences about what we thought the book would be about without knowing the title. We had a picture from the book and used Post-it notes to make inferences. Later in the week, we also looked at using the prefix 'un-'.

In Art, we went outside to draw some sketches from memory, looking at different structures. This was from our topic called Street View. In Science, we looked at plants and what they need to stay alive. We had two different mind maps to show our original ideas and what we learned in the lesson. 

This week, during history, we looked at timelines and specifically studied the history of our school. We tried ordering different events that are a part of our school's history. In computing, we tried creating our own stories by looking at having a beginning, middle, and end. We used a storyboard to help us see the steps in making a story. We made sure our stories were clear and concise so that they would make sense if someone were to look at them. 

Update - Friday 22nd March 2024

This week, we wrote our final pieces in English. We made sure that we included contractions, used and joined clauses and were able to retell the story effectively. 

In maths, we did our Place Value 50 assessment and then began our new topic, Mass and Volume. We used scales to help us measure whether an object was heavier or lighter. 

In art, we did some collagraphy and used a printing technique to transfer our art onto some paper. We had so much fun.  

In PSHE, we talked about personal space. We also discussed who we may allow into each layer of our bubble. We all understood that this would be personal to each child and that everyone's bubble might look different. 

Update - Friday 15th March 2024

This week in maths, we have looked at measuring length and height. We started by comparing people and objects in terms of who was shorter, taller, and longer. We then tried measuring objects with paper clips and blocks. We discussed that the object needs to be the same so our measurement is accurate and fair.

In English, we looked at exclamation marks. We talked about using them when excited, trying to get our point across or shouting. 

In geography, we helped Marley, the meerkat, with his visit to London. We had a booklet to fill out so Marley could know what to wear, what to do and the opening times of London Zoo. 

In PSHE, we looked at asking for help. We discussed who we can ask, when to ask and how it can make us feel when we receive help. 

Update - Friday 8th March 2024

This week, we continued with a place value of 50. We looked at one more, one less, and the number line to 50.

In English, we wrote our final pieces retelling our story. We also began our new unit by examining contractions in our book This Isn't My Hat. 

We also had our World Book Day. We had so much fun looking at poetry and even trying to perform it. We also had to guess who these mysterious readers were by listening to them read a book.

In Geography, we compared Kuala Lumpur and London, looking at what we might see there. We also had to give directions to our little friend to different landmarks. This was lots of fun. 

Update - Friday 1st March 2024

In Maths this week, we finished our unit on addition and subtraction and have moved on to place value (up to 50). We looked at missing numbers to 20 on a number line. We learnt to use a hundred squares to help us. 

In English, we read our new book 'What to do if your house is a zoo?' We verbally rehearsed the story and added actions. We also started to look at plurals. 

In Science, we have started to investigate the weather. We investigated how to stay safe in the sun using UV beads. We noticed that the UV beads changed colour when exposed to natural sunlight. We learnt that sun cream was very effective when out in the sun. 

In art, we have started our new unit. We learnt about transient art and had fun making our transient art using beads, pom poms, art straws, and pipe cleaners.

We have also really enjoyed listening to stories this week. One of our favourite stories was 'Our class is a family', which linked with our PSHE discussions around being a good friend to others.

Update - Friday 9th February 2024

This week in English, we made fact files about the country Wales. We looked at the welsh flag, landmarks you can see, the symbol of wales and what sports they are known for. 

In maths, we continued working on addition to 20. We used counters to help us when completing questions. We also looked at doubles and near doubles. 

In computing, we programmed Bee-Bots to go to different points or landmarks. We all took turns having a go and it was so much fun. 

In geography, we had an art lesson where we had to draw from memory. We decided to draw famous London landmarks. We also practised holding our pencil with the proper art grip. This made the movement of our wrist and hand flexible, so we could draw more effectivley.

Update - Friday 2nd February 2024

This week in maths, we have looked at adding to 20. When doing this, we added the ones first to help us with the bigger calculations and ensured we didn't forget to put the ten in front at the end. We also consolidated place value by using the dienes to see what a ten and a one look like. 

In English, we started a new unit around fact files. We looked at various fact files and then began creating a fact file poster about Scotland. We had to select the appropriate information and present it clearly on an A3 piece of paper, We also added some pictures and some of us added a title to make it look more interesting. 

During geography, we looked at the city of London and had to write some sentences about what London has and describe what it is like being there. Connected with our science unit around seasonal changes, we have also been recording what the weather has been like this week. 

Update - Friday 26th January 2024

This week, we have looked at human features and walked outside school to see what is around us. We saw houses, parks, shops, and underpasses. We enjoyed this trip so much. 

In DT, we designed our taxis and had a go at creating prototypes again. We created a chassis, axles, and wheels to make our prototype resemble a taxi.

In English, we did a shared write about our book, There's an Elephant in my Kitchen. We then wrote our final pieces, retelling the story. 

In maths, we finished placing the value to 20 by looking at estimating and ordering numbers. We then began looking at Addition to 20 and used double-sided counters to help us answer calculations. 

In science, we looked at the weather and how it feels. We went on a walk around the school grounds to look at what seasonal changes are taking place. 

Update - Friday 19th January 2024

This week in maths, we have unpicked the numbers 11-20. We looked at how many tens and ones each number has. We used 20 frames, beads, dienes and part-whole models to aid our understanding. 

In English, we wrote our apprentice piece. In our pieces, we talked about what the animals were doing and using 'and' to join two clauses together. We also looked at re-reading a piece of work and using a green pen to edit the piece of work. 

In computing, we had a go at inputting data into a graph. The data we looked at was from a rocket experiment about how far the rockets went. 

In DT, we continued to look at chassis, axles and wheels. In pairs, we had a go at creating a prototype vehicle. 

Update - Friday 6th January 2024

This week, we have been looking at our new English unit around There's an Elephant in My Kitchen. We have read the story and examined the different animals' actions. We also looked at creating actions which could help us retell the story. 

In computing, we used drag and click computing skills to design some rockets. Some of us were able to label our rockets to see what we might need to make them. In geography, we discussed different types of landmarks. We then had to sort pictures into different categories. During science, we have started our topic around seasonal changes. As a class, we talked about the seasons and made two mind maps of what we already knew and what we had learnt in the lesson. In DT, we looked at axles, chassis, and wheels. 

In maths, we have been exploring place value to 20 and have used different mathematical apparatus like counters and dienes to aid our understanding.

Update - Friday 8th December 2023 

This week, we have been rehearsing for our Nativity. We have worked so hard, and we are proud of what we have achieved. We also had the amazing opportunity to watch the Year 2 Nativity. We all enjoyed watching something they had worked so hard on. 

In maths, we completed our end-of-term assessments. We all tried so hard. In English, we have looked at poetry. We had a go at reciting a poem all about Christmas. In the next lesson, we are going to have a go at making it more exciting. We are going to add actions to go along with what we are saying. 

Update - Friday 1st December 2023

This week in English, we did our final pieces, writing a postcard to our friends explaining what we did when we went wild. In Maths, we looked at making patterns with 2-D shapes and identifying what shape comes next in the sequence. 

In history, we worked on a project with a partner to consolidate what we have learned this term. In Science, we investigated using our sense of touch. We talked about the importance of having a sense of touch and exploring using it in various ways. We drew a picture with our eyes closed and even tried to make a tower with blocks without looking.

In computing, we had a go at making a list of what we might need to make a rocket. 

Update - Friday 24th November 2023

This week, we made our pet shelters. We used various materials like cardboard and toilet roll tubes. Our shelters needed to have walls, a roof and a door. We had so much fun doing this. 

In science, we talked about why we need our senses and what it might be like if we lost one of our senses. We discovered that there are things like hearing aids and guide dogs to help us if we have lost a sense. 

In maths, we looked at identifying and sorting 3-D shapes. As a class, we discussed what 3-D shapes we can stack and why shapes like a sphere can't. In English, we had a go at writing a postcard to our friends pretending to be Mr Tiger. We discussed catching tuna fish, chasing birds and jumping into water fountains. 

Update - Friday 17th November 2023

We have been looking at funny faces in Art these past two weeks. We used collage to make our facial features look different. We had so much fun. We also looked at portraits and picked out all the colours and features we could see. In RE, to celebrate Inter-Faith Week, we designed a hand showing a celebration we have experienced. In science, we use our senses to determine what an object is. For example, we smelt different pots and had to guess what we were smelling. This was very Interesting.

During English, we have continued to look at using and joining two words together. For example, this made our writing more detailed and exciting. Mr Tiger ran and jumped into the pool. We also wrote our apprentice pieces, which involved us writing what Mr Tiger did on his wild adventure.

In Maths, we finished our work on subtraction. We looked at and combined our knowledge of addition and subtraction number sentences to write our 8 related number facts. This was tricky, but we all worked so hard to stay focused, and we all persevered. 

Update - Friday 3rd November 2023

This week in Maths, we have been looking at answering addition word problems. We used a variety of maths resources to help with our learning. We used number lines, beads and part-whole models. In English, we looked at our new book called Mr Tiger Goes Wild. We began by having lots of tiger pictures stuck up around our classrooms, and we had to infer what the book was going to be about. We then read the story and had a go at acting out being posh animals, just like in the book. 

In Geography, we continued to look at aerial photographs, and we went on a walk to look at the features of hedgerows, meadows and woodlands. In History, we looked at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and had a go at matching sentences to their picture. Some of us even had a go at writing historical sentences about what we could see. 

In Art, we looked at our topic called Funny Faces and Fabulous Features. We had a go at comparing different portraits and even created our self-portraits. In DT, we have been discussing different shelter materials and their properties. 

In Science, we labelled the different body parts and discussed what makes something a living thing. We discussed that humans, plants and animals are all living things. Because of the weather, some of us in Outdoor Learning had to create a shelter for our friend Pete the squirrel. We had to choose the size carefully, ensure it looked nice and, most importantly, get it to stand up. We had so much fun!

Update- Friday 20th October 2023

This week in maths, we have been making number bonds to 10. We used our knowledge of number facts, to help us to find all the number bonds. We used a tens frame and counters to work out systematically all of the related facts. In English, we have looked at the book Coming to England, where we talked about Floella Benjamin's journey to England and how she felt. This is connected to our Black History Day, where we created Gees Bend quilts in art. 

In Geography, we looked at aerial photographs. We looked at a variety of maps and looked at what we could spot. In DT, we went on a walk to see the different shelters around the school. We decided that shelters keep us safe from the wind, rain and cold. In science, we looked at hedgerows, meadows and woodlands. We went around the school and used our observational skills to see what we could see. In history, we observed different photographs and wrote historical sentences about what life was like in the 1950s.

Update  - Friday 13th October 2023

This week in maths, we have continued consolidating our knowledge of related number facts. One lesson involved us working with our partner and making related number facts from various number cards.

We completed our apprentice piece in English, writing a letter to our mum pretending to be Beegu. We also looked at adding the suffix -ing to add more detail to what Beegu was doing in the story.

During science, we were given a challenge by Miss Charman. We had to create some bunting to brighten up the playground. To do this, we tested different materials to see whether they were waterproof and bright.

In geography, we looked at different types of settlements. This included cities, villages, and towns. We then drew maps of these different settlements and ensured they included some features you would see in each settlement. 

We also went on a fact hunt in history. We had some facts split into different categories about living in the 1950s. With our partner, we collected facts to fill up our bubble map. 

Update - Friday 6th October 2023

This week, we looked at addition and partitioning numbers with a part-whole model. 

In English, we continued to look at Beegu and how she felt throughout the book. We then wrote some great sentences about what Beegu could see. 

In Art, we completed our final pieces and consolidated our knowledge of mixing primary colours to make secondary colours. During History, we ordered events on a timeline looking at the different decades. 

Update - Friday 29th September 2023

In Maths, we have been looking at comparing numbers and objects and exploring the use of number lines. When using the number lines, we consolidated our knowledge and explored questions about finding numbers greater, less than, one more and one less than another. 

We wrote our final pieces in English by retelling The Three Little Pigs. The final pieces were all amazing. We also started our new book called Beegu. We looked at the cover and read the first few pages. We then made predictions about who Beegu is, how she feels, and what might happen next when she hears someone calling her. 

We used Venn Diagrams in Science to sort objects depending on their material and properties. During History, we drew our own family trees, and in Geography, we learned about the world's five oceans and seven continents. We also looked at whether a country is a hot or cold place, depending on where it is in relation to the equator. 

Update- Friday 22nd September 2023

This week, we have been looking at comparing objects and numbers in maths. We used mathematical language such as more, fewer, less than, and greater than. In English, we have been using capital letters and talking about where we use them. 

In science, we have talked about materials and their properties. We even learned what transparency meant! We enjoyed experiencing different materials to consolidate our learning. We also gave each other directions and pretended we were robots. The programmer had to use words like forwards, backward left, and right. 

In history, we talked about important events and the different stages of life. The most exciting part of the week was when the children got to experience printmaking using primary colours. We used sponges and also folding a piece of painted paper to transfer the paint to the other side. We were mesmerised that this then created the secondary colours. 

Update - Monday 11th September 2023

In Year 1, we have been at recognising numbers and sorting objects in Maths. We have also been looking at numbers in words. In English, we have looked at The Three Little Pigs. We have retold the story, acted out and sequenced the events in the book. 

In History, we have looked at artefacts and went around our classrooms with mini magnifying glasses. The children were great historians. We also did a hunt in science, looking at man-made materials. We also looked at what objects are made out of different natural materials. 

 

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