English
The children have absolutely amazed us this week with their writing. We’re so proud of what they’ve achieved! We’ve been continuing our work on Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion by Alex Smith.
At the start of the week, we explored suffixes again. The children already knew about adding -ed and -s/-es, so this time we focused on -est – what it means and how it changes a word. They did a fantastic job spotting and using these in their own writing.
We also worked on sequencing by putting the story back together and mapping it onto a story shape. We talked about how the tension builds before the happy ending, which really helped deepen their understanding.
Then came two big writing challenges! First, the children rewrote the original story in their own words. Then they took on a creative twist – inventing their own version called Little Red and the Very Cheeky Polar Bear. This time, the setting was the Arctic and the ‘baddie’ was a polar bear! The ideas they came up with were brilliant, and it’s been wonderful to see all their writing skills coming together.
Maths
This week we wrapped up our multiplication and division unit. In Year 1, we focus on building strong foundations by spotting patterns in 2s, 5s and 10s.
We also explored sharing numbers equally and had fun finding different ways to split amounts. The children revisited arrays too, using rows and columns to count more quickly.
We were so impressed with how well everyone did in their end-of-unit assessments, it really showed how much they’ve learned!
If you’d like to support at home, you could practise counting in 2s, 5s and 10s together. Even though we haven’t formally introduced times tables yet, this is a great way to build understanding (and you could even have a go at making simple arrays together!).
Phonics
This week we’ve been revising familiar sounds, including some that may come up in the Phonics Screening Check:
- ow /oa/ – snow, window
- u /yoo/ – unicorn, unit
- ph /f/ – phone, elephant
- wh /w/ – wheel, white
- ie /e/ – shield, field
Tricky words: thought, through, friend, once, our
Some children may have brought home a little extra practise in their book bags. This is completely optional and tailored to help build confidence in any areas they may need a bit more support with.
Topic Learning
Art
We finished our fantastic collage unit this week, inspired by Tracey English. The children loved creating detailed nature backgrounds with lots of colours and textures, and then carefully painting and cutting out their animals to add on top.
They were incredibly proud of their final pieces, and we even turned the classroom into a mini art gallery so everyone could admire each other’s work!
Science
We also wrapped up our plants unit. The children made predictions about how our tomato and radish plants might grow next, writing questions and drawing what they think might appear that we can’t see yet.
They’ve been so curious and thoughtful throughout this topic – it’s been lovely to see their enthusiasm shine!
Reminders
We’re excited to share that there will be a Key Stage 1 trip to Shepreth next term on Monday 13th July. Keep an eye on your emails for more details coming next half term! 😊
Wishing you all a wonderful half term - enjoy the sunshine and we will see you back in school for our final term together on Monday 1st June! x