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Welcome to life in Year 1 at Lowther from Mr Agarwal, Mr Gradidge, Mrs Sandeman and their team of learners |
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Please see below for some examples of the amazing work we've been doing! |
| Curriculum PDF |
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We have had a busy half term studying our Animals around the World topic. In English, the children have been using non-fiction books to investigate endangered animals. In Science, we have been observing life cycles and Animal Kingdoms. We have been caring for some American Robin Moths which have laid their own eggs. The caterpillars have hatched and are now growing fast! In P.E., the children have been working with Miss. Kiri to create a spectacular animal dance which we have shared on google classroom. In Maths, the children have been working on Fractions. They have been developing an understanding of cutting objects, pictures and quantities into halves and quarters. In addition to these busy activities, we also had an amazing visit from some real birds of prey this week. The children were able to find out about British birds of prey, watch how their handlers use whistles to call for them and watch as they swooped over our heads! In cooking, Chef Sarah and Chef Claire have been taking the children in groups to cook lots of wonderful cakes and biscuits. As part of our R.E. learning this half term about celebrations, we have looked in depth into how people celebrate Ramadan and Eid. As a Key stage we showed what we had learned by having a spectacular Eid party in school. |
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With great excitement over our return to school, we have got straight into our Space topic. In English, the children have been investigating famous astronauts and their day to day life in space. The children have been learning to write in the first person and write diary recounts of events. We have been continuing with teaching phase 5 phonics and are now really using and applying their reading skills. We have been trying some comprehension questions and really enjoying daily group guided reading as well. In Maths, the children have been working on measurement. They have been comparing and measuring lengths in non-standard measurement (hands or string) and in cm. They then moved to measuring mass non-standard measurement (blocks) and in g and kg. Finally we moved on to measuring capacity and using comparative language. In Art the focus has been paint and colour. The children have been exploring block colour work in the style of Kandinsky and recently tried some self portraits in the style of Picasso. In Science, the children have been investigating materials. They have been aiming to build boats and so had to test waterproof materials, floating and sinking, boat shapes and even how to propel their boats. We ended this unit of work with a very exciting boat race between the two classes. In RE, the children have been learning about Special Foods. This led them through discussions about their own celebrations and events at home. We spent time learning about Jewish event Pesach and the special foods used, we then discussed the events that take place during Lent and the Christian celebration of Easter. This ended in a final end of term Easter fun day with egg hunts, races and arts and crafts. What a busy and fun half term!
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This month in Year 1 in Maths, we have been primarily learning about place value. The children have been identifying patterns on number grids, comparing numbers and amounts, discussing place value and numerical order, and working hard on some problem solving and reasoning challenges. They have also been developing skills in counting in twos, fives and tens which led to many children playing shops and trying to solve problems using coins. In English, both classes have been exploring the story 'Charlie's Super Hero Underpants'. This was a vehicle to work on some picture sequencing challenges, verbal retelling of the story in the correct order, planning and finally retelling the story as a written narrative following their plan. The children are continuing to work on Phase 5 phonics and are developing skills segmenting more challenging words now in their writing. It is great to see children using their word mats and toolkits to help them with reading and spelling trickier words. In R.E., the children have listened to the story of Saint Valentine and discovered why and how people celebrate today. This ties into our over-arching R.E. question this half term, "What makes a special day?". The Children were then making their own Valentine's crafts and cards to post to family or friends. Our P. E. also links closely to this 'Special Day' theme as we have developed our skills in dance. The children have been finding out how to do a Chinese Lion and Dragon Dance as part of our Chinese New Year celebrations. The children have also been listening to some Chinese music, thinking about the beats and the speed of the dance and learning a sequence of movements put together with music. Year 1 have been super busy in many other areas of the curriculum too, including looking at seasonal changes and the effects of the current season on plants in Science; learning about rhythm, un -tuned percussion instruments and reading crotchets, quavers and rests in Music; and studying colour wheels and use of colour in Art. Yet again, we have been so impressed by the children's perseverance during this tricky time and we look forward to the challenges and excitement of the new term together. |
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This has already been a very busy half term for everyone and the children have adjusted to home learning like 'Superheroes' - which also happens to be the title of our new topic!. Our curriculum is still jam packed and it's been incredible to see the quality of work being sent in to us. In English, we are very excited to remain part of the Screen your Story competition through home learning this year. The children have been working hard to develop their skills in writing adjectives, using tenses and suffixes to really make their stories shine! Last term, our English focus was letter writing. We wrote to No. 10 Downing Street to express our concerns about the environment and at the start of this term we actually received a hand-written response from the Prime Minister himself! In Maths the children have been working on developing number skills. They have been practising number bonds to 10 and 20, comparing number sentences (e.g. 4 + 7 and 19 - 6) to find which is greatest and working on our problem solving and reasoning skills. In P.E. our theme for the half term is Dance. The children have been working on choreographing their own Super Hero dance. They have been exploring different styles of dance/music from around the world and developing skills to make their routine fluid using canons and counting the beats/actions in the song carefully. In Music, the children have been creating their own percussion instruments and we have seen a great array of shakers being designed at home! In R.E. the children have been exploring 'Special Days' and discussing which days are important to their family and why. The children have been exploring calendars and building up their computing skills by making word clouds. In Science, the children have been very busy out and about exploring and investigating the flora around us; Finding out about wild plants in the area, recognising plants which grow in winter and will be developing their identification skills of the parts of a plant as well. Through our online learning provision, we have been posting daily video extras such as a chapter a day of Roald Dahl's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', arts, crafts and cooking videos to fill any extra time through the days at home. We have been so proud of how all of the children have adapted to this difficult time and we are constantly amazed at the work we are seeing on Class Dojo. Thank you for all of your incredible efforts! |
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| (A little something different) |
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Each year group has prepared a performance for you and recorded it. We hope you enjoy watching our Harvest Assembly. You can also watch the full (All year groups) version here. |
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In Year 1 this term we have been extremely busy with winter festivities, We have been learning about religious and non religious celebrations which we share in our class and have had some children acting as wonderful guest speakers sharing their experiences from home. We have been learning about celebrations such as Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day, Hanukkah and Christmas. This has also led to learning about special places of worship in R.E. and talking about places they feel at peace and calm. In History, we have been investigating the great London Frost Fair of 1684. The children have been discussing the incredible events that occurred such as bringing an elephant down to the frozen River Thames, roasting a whole ox and celebrating with the King and Queen. Following our formal letters written to the Prime Minister and the Queen, some of the children were invited onto the Pod Save the Queen Podcast. We recorded the podcast this week and we look forward to airing it and sharing it with you. In Maths, the children have been deepening their understanding of addition and subtraction. Practising their number bonds and mental maths skills. In English we have been working on fractured fairy tales and the children have greatly enjoyed arguing their points of view from the wolf's perspective! Finally, we have of course been working extremely hard on our Nativity. We have had so much fun planning, rehearsing and filming the scenes for our first ever Nativity movie - we can't wait to share it and we hope you enjoy it too!
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In Year 1, the children have been busy engaging with their new topic 'The Enchanted Forest'. In English, we have been learning about different styles of writing by becoming immersed in our topic and retelling traditional fairy tales. We are excited to begin exploring fractured fairy tales next week. As part of this topic, we have had some very exciting provision activities available. We have had Lowther Fairies who came to visit. The children were busy writing messages to the fairies and even receiving tiny messages back to read! In Maths, the children have been working on their understanding of number bonds. Children have been learning to work systematically to solve a missing number problem and developing mental maths skills. We are now building up to the end of term with rehearsals for a very special Nativity show - It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! |
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