Year 1
Welcome to Year 1. Ladybird Class teacher is Mrs Gill and Butterfly Class teacher is Mrs Charlesworth. Our year group teaching assistants are Mrs Speight and Mrs Baker. We have two separate classrooms and a shared outdoor learning area where we enjoy working together.
In Year 1, the children begin the year with the familiar topic of The Three Little Pigs. They develop their story telling skills and learn about everyday materials and their uses. This is followed by a local study of Hatfield in the topic titled ‘Location, Location, Location’. During this term they reflect on the Christmas story and the importance of the symbols of light that appear throughout this story. The Year 1 children lead the Christingle Service for the lower school and share their understanding of the Christingle.
In spring, the children learn about different types of transport and especially the history of the train. They visit the National Railway Museum in York. The Year 1 children lead the Easter Celebrations in Church for lower school.
The summer term provides the opportunity for the children to develop their understanding of plants and animals in a science based topic. Finally, in summer term 2 they learn about Pirates and life under and around the sea, with the children taking part in an Educational trip to ‘The Deep’ in Hull. Year 1 is a fun year where we encourage children to develop their independence and a love of learning through first hand practical experiences.
Spring Term
During the Spring Term in year 1 we have been doing a history based topic with a focus on transport and particularly trains. We have linked this with our English and looked at the features of a non-fiction book. The children enjoyed bringing their non-fiction books from home and sharing them with the class as part of our show and tell time. The children have learnt lots of facts about trains and about the designer Nigel Gresley and the links that Doncaster has with the development of trains. They used the information they had learnt to create their own non-fiction text. They included a contents page, index, headings, a diagram, labels, captions and page numbers. We felt like real authors!
In maths the children have been developing their knowledge of number bonds to 10. They particularly enjoyed the practical week exploring 3D shapes. They carried out an investigation to explore which shapes roll, stack and slide. Did you know you can get a triangular prism to stack! The children have been given opportunities to use a hundred square to recognise two digit numbers and have used this tool to count on and back. We have done some recognition of coins and made small amounts using a variety of coins.
Our science work has focused on learning the months of the year and which months belong in which season. We have also talked about the signs that we can see that tell us when it is winter.
Coming up...
Things to look forward to in the second half of the Spring Term:-
On Friday 23rd February it is our trip to York Railway Museum where we hope to see many of the trains we have been learning about.
We will hold our own Rainhill Challenge to find the future train designers and engineers of the future so please start saving bottle tops and empty boxes. Who will continue the link that Doncaster has with designing famous trains?
In maths we will be doing some work on telling the time and introduce the children to simple fractions by cutting shapes into halves and quarters.
The science will be looking for signs that spring is coming.
In RE we will be having a special event day about Jesus as a boy before looking at the Easter story and preparing for our Easter service in church.
Useful Information
PE is still on Monday and Thursday afternoons. Please ensure all children have named PE kit with them. We will be starting to do some PE lessons outside so children will benefit from having track suit trousers, a top and trainers.
Home learning: The main focus is reading and ensuring children read a range of materials including familiar tales, poetry, non-fiction, comics, dictionaries and get opportunities to explore the wealth of books the library has to offer to inspire their love for reading.
Any additional homework goes out on a Friday, usually in the child’s homework book to be returned the following Wednesday. At the end of each maths unit, we also add the relevant maths games onto the active learn platform so the children can access the games on their tablet or laptop at home.
Useful Links
https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk (maths games)
http://www.phonicplay.co.uk (phonic games)
