A super start to a new half term.

Firstly, thank you for making the morning and home time routine flow so efficiently. I really appreciate how thoughtful you have been, following the new lining up by the side gate system. At last it is good to see children being able to come into school at the same time.

The children have been full of energy and enthusiasm this week. We’ve being further exploring the properties of 2 D shape with a focus on curved and straight edges.

Our new genre for English is ‘Narrative’. The book we are looking at is a story called the ‘Magic Porridge Pot’. We have been learning the story by reading it, saying it out loud and adding actions to help us to remember it.

Topic lessons this week have been focused on Healthy Eating, the children selected items to make up a healthy meal and we’re very sensible with their choices.

Spelling tests went well today. Some children do need extra support to learn their words, please provide them with the time, as it means a lot to them when they get full marks. In phonics we’ve been learning about the trigraph (three letters making one sound) ‘igh’.  The spelling words to learn this week are (light, night, right, bright and might).

If you have any issues accessing Hwb or bug club please let me know and I will endeavour to resolve the issue. The books are on auto renew however, if all of the books in a particular band are read we’ll need to manually adjust the band level. Please keep me posted if you need new books in that instance, I can’t emphasise enough how important reading is to the children.

There is a letter being sent out today about the Christmas concert. Once again, this year the concert will be filmed and available on DVD. The concert is ‘Children of the World.’ Year 1 are representing China and the children will need to wear traditional Chinese style costumes. In class we’ll be making Chinese lanterns and a hat for each child to wear, I hope this helps. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Some of you may already know that Mrs Deering is leaving us this week to pursue a new adventure. She has been absolutely fantastic with the children and a valued colleague to all at Alltwen Primary School. Good luck, Mrs Deering.

We have a new member of the team, Mrs Doolwela, who has already made a positive impact to our class. I know that Mrs Doolwela will add a lot of value to the children’s learning experience.

Stay safe tonight if you’re having a Bonfire night celebration and have a great weekend.

Kind regards

Miss Hughes, Miss Merson, Mrs Deering and Mrs Doolwela

The end of an extremely busy half term.

In maths this week we’ve been looking at Symmetry which the children were fully engaged with.

In English lessons we have been focusing on sentence structure, using a capital letter at the start of a sentence, finger spaces in between words and a full stop at the end. We have also made sure that we sit the words on the line. It would be great if you could support the children with this at home. We are starting to use coordinating conjunctions ‘and’, ‘but’ e.g. The cat sat on the mat and was purring. The party was fun but I was tired.

This week in phonics we have focused on the digraph ‘ee’. I have given 5 new spellings this week (sleep, sweet, sheep, tree, speed), which can be found on J2e. It would be good if you can make sentences at home using the spellings each week.

A big thank you for sending the children in with such fantastic and imaginative costumes for our Halloween party yesterday. The children had lots of fun throughout the day.

I hope you all have an enjoyable half term.

Kind regards

Miss Hughes, Miss Merson and Mrs Deering

Hi All

In maths this week we’ve been looking at 2 dimensional shape (2D shape). We have been using language such as corner and sides to describe circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. We also made beautiful pictures of robots and houses using 2D shapes. The children are becoming shape detectives; maybe you can look for shapes at home and when you’re out and about. There are many different shapes all around us.

During English lessons we’ve been looking at words that rhyme and writing our shape poems about autumn leaves. The children created some beautiful poems which we shared with the whole class.

This week in phonics we have focused on the digraph (where two letters make one sound) ‘ai’. I have given 5 new spellings this week (sail, tail, train, chain, snail), which can be found on J2e. Once again, it would be a great idea if you can make sentences at home using the spellings each week.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes

Miss Hughes, Miss Merson and Mrs Deering

 

The end of another busy week.

In maths this week we’ve been looking at more than (+) and less than (-). It would be great if you can reinforce the learning at home. Use your fingers to ask what is one more than 5? , one less than 6? etc and write the corresponding number sentence to represent the sum e.g. 5+1=6, 6-1=5. I have also put a maths activities on J2e this week.

During English lessons we’ve been looking at similes, using ‘as’ and ‘like’ to describe autumn leaves, e.g. The leaf was as yellow as a lemon. The leaf was crunchy like a cornflake. This is something you can do verbally together and if you’ve got time, ask the children to write down the sentences.

We have completed our science investigation about variation in hand spans and concluded that hands spans are different. In Year 1 the hand spans range from 10-15 centimetres. We have created a whole class pictogram which we have in our books and a bar chart as a classroom  display.

This week in phonics we have focused on the digraphs (where two letters make one sound) th and ng. I have given 5 new spellings this week (moth, bath, path, ring, sing), which can be found on J2e. Once again, it would be a great idea if you can make sentences at home using the spellings each week.

Have a great weekend.

Best wishes

Miss Hughes, Miss Merson and Mrs Deering

This week has been full of lovely learning.

In maths we’ve been looking at doubles up to 10 and 20, e.g. 1+1=2, 5+5=10, 7+7=14 etc. Once again, this is something you can do at home together with blocks and cubes, taking time to write down the corresponding number sentence. I have put two maths activities on J2e this week, I hope the children enjoy them.

During English lessons we’ve had a go at writing sentences about the leaves we have collected using adjectives (describing words) and the conjunction ‘and’. If you could write sentences at home together describing things around the home or garden that would be very helpful, e.g. The bear is brown and soft.  The leaf is red and crunchy.

We have continued our science investigation, measured our hands in cm and are creating a table of results to help us show our findings in a pictogram.

The spelling tests went well today, it is lovely to see the children getting good results as a result of their hard work at home. Some children may need a little extra time at home, please provide them with it, to ensure they do well. It means a lot to them when they get things right. I have given 5 new spellings this week (ship, fish, shop, shut, cash), which can be found on J2e. Once again, it would be a great idea if you can make sentences at home using the spellings each week e.g. The shop was shut. As you write sentences together remember to focus on a capital letter at the start on a sentence, finger spaces in between words and a full stop at the end of the sentence. If your child is reversing their letters remind them to have another look and model how to write the letter correctly.

If you’re unable to access Hwb using the logins please don’t hesitate to ask for help. It is important that the children can access the books on bug club and the maths games on J2e.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend.

Very best wishes

Miss Hughes, Miss Merson and Mrs Deering

This week we’ve been continuing our Autumn investigations and creating a word bank to support our shape poem writing in literacy.

In maths we’ve been focusing on addition and creating number sentences to make amounts e.g.  6+4=10. This is something that can also be reinforced at home. If you have blocks, buttons, beads or even breakfast cereal, give your child 10 items, count them together and discuss how many different ways you can make 10. Separate the 10 items into two groups and record the number sentence. Explore how many different number sentences you can make together, e.g. 4+6=10, 5+5=10 etc… You can build this up in time, using 20 items or more.

The children have completed their self-portraits and produced some very pleasing work which will be displayed in the classroom. It was wonderful to see the children really trying their best as they considered their facial features using mirrors to assist them with their work.

During Science we have been further investigating the differences between humans and discussing ways we can measure the differences in human beings. The children are going to investigate hand span sizes and explore the variation using measure in cm.

The spelling tests went well today, the children really enjoy being challenged and showing how clever they are. I have given 5 spellings to the children this week (quack, quick, duck, clock, chick), which can be found on J2e. There will be a spelling test each Friday. Once again, it would be a great idea if you can make sentences at home using the spellings each week e.g. The duck was quick. As you write sentences together remember to focus on a capital letter at the start on a sentence, finger spaces in between words and a full stop at the end of the sentence. If your child is reversing their letters remind them to have another look and model how to write the letter correctly. The spellings this week will reinforce our work on the digraphs (where two letters make one sound), qu and ck.

It’s really important to get the children used to sitting down at a desk and having a go at writing sentences. Ten minutes a day would be a great start, although I’m sure many of you already do more. The transition from Reception to Year 1 would be easier for the children if they can get used to sitting down and completing a task.

I really appreciate the support you give your children with their learning, as I’ve said before I believe that the children’s learning is a partnership between teacher and parent. If you have any questions or queries about the children’s learning please don’t hesitate to ask.

The children’s Hwb logins were issued this week, please use bug club as a resource, it really is a fun way for the children to learn.

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Miss Hughes, Miss Merson and Mrs Deering

It’s the end of a very busy second week. The first week was all about settling into new routines and a time for assessment to ensure I know where each child in the class is with their learning journey.

I would like to say that I’m delighted to be teaching Year 1 and that I believe the children’s learning is a partnership between the teacher and parent. If you have any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to ask.

At this stage it is really important to keep a focus on the alphabet and recognising the letter name and the letter sound. Letter sounds help the children with their reading and writing skills. Bug club is a lovely resource to use at home too.

Please also reinforce the children’s ability to recognise numbers from 0-20 and understand their position in a number line, also helping your child to write the numbers without reversal, is useful.

The children are eager to learn at this age and will be happy to show you how clever they can be.

I have sent out the termly overview, this will explain what Year 1 will be learning.

This week we’ve been sharing information that we already know about Autumn and creating a spider gram. We’ve also been Autumn explorers in the field looking for the signs of change linked with this season. We have collected an array of leaves which will help us to create a word bank of adjectives to support us as we write shape poems about leaves.

In maths we’ve been focusing on number and place value. We have also been using ordinal numbers in our number story ‘The Quangle Wangle’s hat.’

We have been portrait artists too. As part of our theme ‘Me’ we have been studying the features of our face and created a portrait of our friend in class in preparation for the children to create a self-portrait using a medium of their choice. I’m really looking forward to displaying their self-portraits in the classroom.

During Science we have been investigating variation and discussed the differences between humans and animals. We’ve learned that humans are mammals and we are exploring the many differences between human beings.

I have given 5 spellings to the children this week (Jim, jam, win, wet, van), which can be found on J2e. There will be a spelling test each Friday. It would be a great idea if you can make sentences at home using the spellings each week e.g. Jim got wet so he sat in the van. Focusing on a capital letter at the start on a sentence, finger spaces in between words and a full stop at the end of the sentence.

Have a great weekend!

Kind regards

Miss Hughes, Miss Merson and Mrs Deering

This week we have been learning about time.

In Numeracy we have been finding out about the different times of the day and talking about how time is measured – in years, seasons, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. We have worked out how many different things we can do in a minute, eg. How many times can you write your name?, build a tower of cubes?, do a star jump? We have also found out how many days are in our birth month and started to learn the rhyme ‘ Thirty days has September …’

In literacy we have been working on a class innovation of  the story ‘How tortoise got his shell’. We have decided upon ‘How the Dalmatian got his spots’

In art we have been experimenting with different joining techniques – slotting, sticking, paper clipping, split pinning. This is in readiness for assembling our 3d sculptures which will be made out of cardboard.

 

This week we have had Sports Day. We took part in lots of different races. There was the sprint, the egg and spoon, the balance a beanbag on your head and the obstacle race. We had lots of fun and learned about good sportsmanship and supporting our team mates to do their best.

In English we have been re-telling the story ‘How tortoise got his shell’. We are finding writing for an extended period of time hard. This is something we need to practise in order to build our stamina.

In numeracy we have been learning about ordinal numbers to 20. This is the position or placement of an item – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th …. At the beginning of the week we found this confusing but our understanding has improved over the week. We need to keep practising this at every opportunity.

This week we have been finding out about money.

In English we have been practising our story ‘How tortoise got his shell’ and learning how to spell tricky words in the story.

In Numeracy we have been learning about where money comes from and the different ways of paying for things. We have talked about earning money and the different kinds of jobs people do to earn their wages. We have learned the names and values of UK coins and paper money and developed our addition and subtraction skills using money.

In topic work we have discussed how ‘it’s ok to not be ok. We have made a Peace Corner in our classroom for meditation and mediation and we are learning how to use it effectively.