This week in science we have been continuing our work on materials and why certain things are made from certain materials. We experimented to see which material would make a good tent and then at what properties made it a good choice. The children then designed a bed and had to think carefully about which materials to use for each part.

Our favourite lesson this week was DT – linked to our talk for writing lessons too. We have been learning how to write instructions and when we might need to do this. Making soup was perfect as not only was it really tasty, but the children had to think about each step and write them down to create a set of instructions!

This week we have joined in with a whole school anti-bullying picket on the MUGA. The children made posters and we did circle time to understand why we were taking a stand against bullying. It was a wet picket but we really enjoyed taking part!

In Geography this week we have been learning the 4 countries that make up the UK. We looked at an Atlas and used this to help us locate the 4 countries on a map.

On Friday we gathered in the hall with the other Year 1 and 2 classes for a short Remembrance assembly. We had made a large class poppy during the week and Tally read a poem that we had been practicing.

In Science this week we have been learning about the properties of materials. We spoke about hard, soft, rough, smooth, shiny and dull. The children moved around the room and found objects that matched these descriptions.

We have also been celebrating and learning about Diwali this week. It is Diwali on Sunday 29th and Mrs Ajith will be celebrating. We enjoyed learning a Diwali dance.

Here is our recording of the story Handa’s Surprise. We have loved this story this half term and I am sure the children know it off by heart!

This week we also had a very exciting visitor – Jenny York, who is an author of children’s books. We had an interactive assembly and the children had the opportunity to buy one of her books.

On Friday we also had Obi in to visit again. The children have loved having him around and I have loved them tiring him out!

This week we have looked closely at different animals and where they live in the world. We thought about the temperature of continents and what the animals eat to help us locate their habitats and homes.

We also had community police officers Paul and Sarah join us for our Thursday celebration assembly. They were talking to the children (and parents) about road safety around school mainly at pick up and drop off times. This was really interesting and the children loved seeing them.

The children are also loving the vets role play area in 1F at the moment and have been practicing their bandaging skills as well as answering phone calls booking animals in.

This week in DT we have started to sew our own animal print designs. We planned what resources we would need, drew our design and got to work! We are using metal sewing needles with embroidery thread, to make our prints.

Another highlight of our week was when my lurcher (greyhound x whippet), Obi, came to visit. This was partly due to our topic being Animal Kingdom and following on from the Sam’s Safari visit last week – we learnt how to take care of him, walk him, how to manage our noise levels and lots more. Obi joined us for assembly, went for breakfast with a few children, spent time sleeping in class, visited the library, went out for playtime and took part in our daily mile run on the track!!

Sam’s Safari was amazing this morning and so worth the wait. We saw lots of different animals and learnt a lot. We were really brave and touched a lot of these animals very carefully. Enjoy the pictures.

This week we have also enjoyed learning about carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. We sorted the animals into a Venn diagram.

In Art we have learnt how to sketch with art pencils. We looked at bird feathers and made sketches in our art books.

We have loved reading Handa’s surprise in T4W and especially loved tasting some yummy fruit from the story! We waited patiently for our turn and tried each piece of fruit. Then we thought of some adjectives to describe it. Juicy, smooth, soft, crunchy, sour and sweet were some of our amazing adjectives.

We have been working on our original art pieces this week and have added another layer of texture on the top. This time we used oil pastels and crayon to create a texture on our animal prints.

We have enjoyed sharing stories at carpet time with our talk partners. These books are from the library service and are all about our topics. We also thought it was FAB when Talitha’s mum and dad came to be our mystery readers!

In Maths we have been looking at greater than, less than and equal to. The symbols have confused us a little so we stripped it right back and did lots of practical, hands on tasks to get to grips with them.

We have been very busy in Year 1 this week. We have enjoyed some more sunshine as well as some rain, but whatever the weather we still love spending time outdoors. This week in Geography we have been moving around the school grounds looking for human and physical features in our environment. Whilst we were out doing this, we were lucky enough to see butterflies feeding on the apples that have fallen from the trees in the orchard. We got pretty close to them and the children loved having a closer look.

During Art this week we have used rollers and acrylic paint to print our own animal designs. We had to roll the paint onto Perspex plastic before using a cotton bud to scratch out our pattern. Finally we pressed our pages onto the wet paint and when we pulled it back – there was our animal print design!

We have also welcomed Claire to the class who has made a fantastic start and everyone has been so welcoming. The children have enjoyed doing challenges in the classroom and getting busy in the provision.

In Science we worked as a team to sort out the statements relating to groups of animals. ‘Has feathers and wings’, ‘Is warm blooded’, ‘Give birth to live young’.

After a rainy start to the week, the sunshine came back and we have enjoyed spending more time outside. Mrs Whittaker is working with our year 1 children on a Monday and Tuesday – specifically working in the outside area and school grounds. If your child comes home talking about forest schools or outdoor learning at the beginning of the week – it is likely Mrs Whittaker!

We have filmed our first Talk 4 Writing story and the children have been so excited to perform it, and for you to see it! Please have a watch!

We have enjoyed looking at animal prints in Art and even having a go at painting one ourselves.

In Geography this week we looked at a globe and a map of the UK. The children had some brilliant questions and we look forward to learning more in the next few weeks.

We have been grouping animals in Science. Learning the characteristics of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, insects and amphibians. We also drew around Mat and labelled his body parts!