English
In English, the children wrote a sequence of sentences about either a worry (like Ruby in Ruby’s Worry) or a roar (like Ravi in Ravi’s Roar) that they had experienced. They focused on remembering full stops, capital letters, and finger spaces, as well as writing in the past tense by adding –ed to verbs (for example: walk → walked, jump → jumped, play → played).
It was wonderful to see how far the children have come and how much resilience they show when tackling longer pieces of writing. We ended this unit by editing a piece of writing about a worry that Mrs Smith had “accidentally” filled with mistakes! The children worked brilliantly together to correct it—and thoroughly enjoyed telling the adults off for making so many errors. This was a great way to build their confidence in spotting and fixing their own mistakes.
We have since moved on to Martha Maps It Out, a beautifully visual book filled with maps that zoom from the universe all the way down to mind‑maps of Martha’s thoughts. The children loved exploring these. We began by drawing our own map of the local area, which we will be labelling next week. We will also be teaching how to make plural nouns using –s and –es, and the rules that go with them. The children will then label their maps using these plural forms (for example trees instead of tree, buses instead of bus).
Maths
In Maths, we consolidated all our learning on addition and subtraction within 20, using number lines and rekenreks to support counting and explaining our answers. We then moved on to Place Value to 50, building on everything we already know but applying it to larger numbers.
By the end of this unit, the children are expected to count forwards and backwards to 50, read and write numbers to 50, understand tens and ones, represent numbers using objects or drawings, and compare, order, and find one more or one less within 50. Any extra practice at home is always greatly appreciated!
Phonics
In Phonics, we revisited some of the GPCs that we found trickiest over the past term. These included:
- ea /e/ – head, bread, ready
- ph /f/ – photo, phone, dolphin
- oe, ou /oa/ – toe, shoulder, boulder
- ui, ou /yoo/ /oo/ – youth, group, fruit, juice
- se, ce /s/ – horse, dance, purse
Topic Learning
Art
We have begun a lovely new sculpture unit, practising how to mould clay using the key techniques of kneading, rolling, pushing, and pulling. The children then experimented with making patterns and textures, building fine‑motor skills and strength. They loved exploring the clay and using natural objects like sticks and stones to create different effects.
Computing
In Computing, we had great fun exploring the Indi Sphero robots. The children worked out which colours created different inputs and outputs, and collaborated in small groups to unlock the “secret” colour codes. I’m sure they will be excited to tell you all about this!
Reminders
- We have two more weeks of Forest School, which the children have absolutely loved with Hannah.
- After half term, PE returns to Monday and Wednesday, and Tuesday goes back to normal school uniform.
- Library day is Tuesday.
- Phonics books must be in school every Friday, please.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend!
Miss D, Mrs Smith & all the Year 1 team xx