Autumn Term 2016
W.C 19.12.16
Well, what a wonderful end to a great half term! We all had so much fun at the panto in Boston yesterday and have had a wonderful time celebrating with Year 2 today playing Christmas games and doing lots of dancing. Miss Cragg and Fiona would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, we hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating with your family and friends and enjoy playing with all of your new toys.
We look forward to seeing you back at school on Wednesday 4th January 2017 to start all over again!
W.C 12.12.16
Harder working than the elves in Santa’s workshop is how Miss Cragg and Fiona could have described the children in Year 1 this week. Two wonderfully brilliant performances of Wriggly Nativity under their belts, they didn't let that stop their focus, oh no. Those donkeys, sheep, stars, chickens and cows have worked even harder to produce some great writing about Inuit people whom we have been learning about since last week. Year 1 love themselves some non-fiction writing! They’ve also done some lovely art featuring Inukshuks, stone monuments made to look like people which Inuits used to help guide their communities around the area, pointing out good hunting and fishing areas.
Weren’t our assorted animals and stars fantastic? They worked really hard to learn all of their songs and positions for the nativity and that wriggling just stole the show! Well done everyone, all of the grown-ups at school were very very proud of you
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As well as some super writing we’ve also written some letters to Santa and managed to squeeze some Maths lessons in, carrying on the good work we’ve been doing learning about money. We also have had the chance to do some Christmas themed art, creating snowman and wreath cards. Look out for those coming home soon! In Science this week we learned about how different animals cope with the winter weather. Miss Cragg sometimes wishes she was a hedgehog so she could hibernate and Fiona would like to be a bird so she could migrate away to find warmer weather!
Another exciting feature of the week was our visit to the Billy Branston Potato Bus! All of Year 1 got to experience a visit, talking about healthy foods, learning about how potatoes are planted and how they grow as well as sorting potatoes into their groups ready to go to the shops.
W.C 05.12.16
Only one more full week left at school before we break up for Christmas! We’re all very excited in Year 1 but we know that now is crunch time – are we on the naughty list or the nice list?! The elves came to install the “Santa Cam” in our classroom so we’re on our best behaviour, just to make sure! The finished Emperor Penguin Big Writes were amazing, Miss Cragg and Fiona were blown away by how many facts everyone remembered and the quality of writing is brilliant. We remembered our capital letters, full stops and finger spaces! This week we started learning about Inuit people who live in northern Canada, we watched videos on how to build an igloo as shelter and made our own using sugar cubes.
Then we found out about Inukshuks which are stone monuments which look like people, the Inuits used them for directions and as markers to point to good hunting or fishing grounds. They are symbols of friendship and community. We created some Inukshuk art with paint and sponges, first we painted an arctic background then sponged on the Inukshuk.
In Maths we carried on working with money, this week looking at change. It’s a tricky concept so we’re going to continue to work on this and go back over subtraction next week to make sure its really set in our heads! Don’t forget, we put the number in our heads and count back on our fingers, we can also use objects and we know that when we’re taking away the numbers get smaller.
In Science we looked at the changes between autumn and winter, thinking about what has happened to the trees and the sort of clothes we are now wearing. We know that the leaves have fallen off the trees and (apart from the little mild spell we’ve had this week!) we’re now wearing hats, gloves and scarves with our coats.
We’ve spent lots of time this week rehearsing for our Wriggly Nativity and have been practicing really hard. Please can anyone still missing a costume bring it in to school as soon as possible ready for our dress rehearsal on Monday morning. The performances for grown-ups are Monday 12th at 1:30pm and Tuesday 13th at 6pm. We hope to see you then! Another date for the diary is Friday 16th which is Christmas jumper day. We’ll be going to church that afternoon so everyone needs to wear school uniform on their bottom halves, party on top and business on the bottom so to speak. Fiona and Miss Cragg are raiding their wardrobes in anticipation!
W.C 28.11.16
Another week flown by and we’ve been as busy as the elves must be in Santa’s workshop! More work on Penguins in English this week as we’ve been working on our Big Write, we know lots of facts about what they eat, where they live, what they look like, their chicks and even their predators. We can label pictures and write captions and write some great sentences with capital letters, finger spaces, full stops and interesting penguin facts. Next week we’re going to assess our own writing and read each others work then we’re going to move on to finding out all about Inuit people who actually live in the Arctic. We’re going to do some Inuit art and maybe even build an igloo!
In Maths this week we’ve been learning all about money which lots of us are using on a daily basis at the Year 5 Tuck Shop. We’ve learnt about the different coins we use, have begin to recognise and name them and are starting to combine them to make different amounts. We’ll continue to work with money next week too making change and solving money word problems. Lots of us are very good with money already, much better than Miss Cragg who does not know where most of hers goes!
In Science we have been looking at seasonal changes, focussing in particular on Autumn and Winter. It seems like Winter has well and truly made its mark this week and lots of Year 1 told Miss Cragg and Fiona that the seasons had changed when the frost and ice made an appearance! We went on an Autumn walk on Monday around the school grounds looking for the signs of Autumn and managed to spot brown, red, yellow, orange and green leaves, berries and seeds. We also looked at pine cones and conkers and talked about the changes in the weather as well as the clothes that we wear in these seasons and how that differs throughout the year.
We had the chance to play with different learning games on the iPads in our ICT session and have done lots of practicing for our Wriggly Nativity which is on the 12th December at 6pm and the 13th December at 1:30pm. Thank you to all the grown ups who have brought in costumes in labelled bags already, if you haven’t please could you do this as soon as possible. We had a wonderful time at the Christmas Fayre today, thank you so much for your continued support of Church Lane. The next date for your diary is Friday 16th December which is Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day. Miss Cragg and Fiona are VERY excited!
W.C 21.11.16
The end of week 3 already and Christmas is fast approaching, get ready for Miss Cragg and Fiona to start moving in a tinsel covered blur around school in the weeks to come! Plenty to keep us busy this week, mostly to do with penguins which everyone in Year 1 are currently obsessed with. We’ve done lots of guided writing this week gearing up to a massive Big Write next week where we’re going to show off all of our amazing knowledge about Emperor Penguins to the world! All of the adults in the class are really excited to see just what the children know (which believe us is a tremendous amount). We’ve been writing about Antarctica, the penguins diet, we’ve labelled and described the penguin’s body and written all about penguin eggs and chicks. We are so ready!
In Maths this week we’ve been really trying our best to suss out subtraction. We’re getting really good at counting backwards and know that when we take away the numbers get smaller. We can subtract with objects, pictures, number lines and in our heads now, we have lots of strategies to help us. Some of us can even stand up in front of everyone and explain how to do it! Next week we’re going to move on to money as everyone is really enjoying buying things from the tuck shop, using money and getting change. Don’t forget though that children in Year 1 get fruit for free so don’t need to buy it from the tuck shop, it is already provided at no cost.
In Science we’ve been really observant of the weather and the changing of the season. We can identify Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and can tell you what clothing you’d need to wear in each as well as what happens to the trees in each season. We drew some lovely Autumn/Winter posters in pairs this week. Speaking of art, the finished penguin pictures look AMAZING! Come and have a see in our Arctic area if you haven’t already, we’re all very proud of them. We’ve been continuing to practice our Wriggly Nativity and are beginning to learn the words to all the songs. The lyrics have been sent home to Year 1 children this week so everyone should know all the words when it comes to performance time, adults included!
We’ve been busy making some lovely tea light jars ready for the Christmas Fair which is next Friday (2nd December) and hope that all the grown ups can come to support us.
W.C 14.11.16
Another week, gone in a blur! It’s been all systems go this week learning some of the songs for our Nativity play which is coming up soon. The children have found out what parts they’ve got so we’ve been learning words and getting to grips with the great songs we’re going to perform for all the grown ups. We’ve also said a great big NO to bullying as it’s been anti-bullying week. We’ve done role-plays and discussions, talked about what bullying is, what to do if we see or experience it ourselves and how to be great friends in the classroom and on the playground. All of the adults at school hope that this improves our already brilliant behaviour even more and gives us an increased awareness of what’s right and wrong.
In English we’ve continued writing about Emperor Penguins as they have really grabbed our interest. We’ve learnt how to label a drawing and write a caption as well as start to build up interesting penguin facts in sections on a spider diagram. We even pretended to be penguins and passed an egg to each other using our feet, being careful not to leave the baby on the ice for too long! Next week we’re going to start to write a non-chronological report which will give us lots of opportunities to share all of the information we have learnt – and we know a LOT about penguins!
In Maths we’ve continued to look at addition. We’re getting really good at combining objects and numbers, counting on and jumping on a number line. We have also been looking at missing number calculations and have worked out some great strategies to help us. As well as all that we also started to look at word problems and pick out the language that helps us know if it is an addition or subtraction sum. Next week we’ll be concentrating more on subtraction again, whilst recapping number bonds to 10 and 20 and partitioning numbers into tens and ones.
In Science we’ve continued to look at seasonal changes, concentrating on the current season of autumn. We know that the leaves change colour and fall off the trees, and we know that it gets a bit colder so we have to wear our coats. We wrote our own weather report this week and next week we’re going to begin gathering our own weather data using a rain gauge, wind vane and thermometer. Children in Need day has been a great success, thank you to everyone who came to school in spots and donated a pound. We’re all full of cake from the bake sale and feel a little sick after the sponsored forwards roll competition, well done to everyone who took part! A date for the diary is next Friday 25th November which will be a non-uniform day, please bring a donation for the school Christmas fair of either sweets or chocolate for the tombola. Thank you in advance.
W.C 07.11.16
A very warm welcome back to Year One from Fiona and Miss Cragg! We hope that the wintery weather didn't stop you from having lots of fun over your long half term break. We’ve hit the ground running this week with the introduction of a new topic, affectionately known as “Baby its cold outside”…! We’ll be covering the Polar Regions and embracing all the snow and exciting wildlife that goes with it. Speaking of wildlife, this week we’ve got really excited about penguins – Emperor penguins from Antarctica to be exact. Our English work has quite literally knocked Miss Cragg’s socks off, it’s been very exciting! We’re getting so grown up and our writing is really improving all the time. We’ve written some wonderful facts about penguins, if you get chance then come and see the work on our Wow Wall in our Arctic Area in the classroom. We even pretended to be a colony of penguins!
In Numeracy we’ve been concentrating on addition, we’ll carry that on into next week along with missing numbers and building up our confidence in counting on and writing number sentences. As well as that we’ve been consolidating our knowledge of repeated patterns and number names as well as partitioning numbers into tens and ones. We’ll also be practicing our 2, 5 and 10 times tables continuously.
It’s been a busy week but we’ve also managed to squeeze in our first rehearsal for our Nativity play which will take place in December, it’s called a Wriggly Nativity. The letters advising parents of our parts will be out before the weekend so there is lots of time to get costumes sorted! We have a new topic in Science too, we’ve been looking at seasonal changes, particularly Autumn and Winter, we can see lots of the changes when we’re out and about on the playground and in the clothes we’re having to now wear to cope with these chilly temperatures! With Sophie we learnt lots more about Remembrance Day, we made poppies to wear into the special assembly on Friday and we made biscuits with poppies on them to eat. We know how important this day is and the sacrifices the soldiers made for us all.
Next week is Anti-Bullying week so we’ll be doing some work around that topic as well as celebrating Children in Need on Friday 18th November.
W.C 10.10.16
A busy week in Year 1 but we’ve worked so hard and all the grown ups in the classroom are really pleased with the great attitudes to learning that are being shown. In English we’ve been writing instructions on how to get ready for bed, using imperative verbs and time openers to our sentences. Next week we’re going to do our first independent Big Write – wish us luck!
In Maths we’ve been doubling and halving using various strategies including games, puzzles, using objects and sorting hoops as well as working with single and double digit numbers. We’re still practicing our number bonds to 10 and 20 and any help that you can give us practicing our 2’s, 5’s and 10 times tables at home would be great. Next week we’ll be working on odds and evens as well as reflecting on how much we have learned this half term.
In Science this week we continued with our work on investigating our senses, this time our focus was on our sense of smell. We did a smell test on some mystery scents and used our olfactory system to great results! We learnt about the parts of our noses and smelled some interesting smells.
In History we carried on our work looking at famous nurses from the past. This week was our chance to reflect on the changes that these nurses made to medicine and to see how they would be remembered in the years to come. We made posters detailing the interesting facts about Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole and Edith Cavell and took part in some great discussions about the legacy they have left us. In our ICT time this week we used the BeeBots again and are getting to be experts at programming them to move around the classroom. We also used the iPads to play on lots of different learning games. Some of us even got the chance to play on Maths Whizz. Please see Miss Cragg if you need some help getting logged on at home, we need to win that trophy back!
One more week left until a very well deserved half term break, don’t forget it's the Halloween Disco next Friday, on the 21st October, 6-7pm for Year 1.
W.C 03/10/16
October has hit and brought autumn with it! We haven’t let the cooler weather slow us down this week though, oh no. In English we’ve carried on with our instructions work, we can identify and use verbs and have even been using imperative (bossy) verbs in our writing too. The grown ups in our classroom have been very impressed with the sentences that we have been writing which are beginning to include capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. Next week we’re going to carry on writing instructions using bossy verbs to tell people how to do things right!
In Maths we’ve been partitioning and subtracting this week and are starting to know that when we take things away the numbers get smaller. Our number bonds knowledge is really coming along, a lot of us know our number bonds to 10 now and some of us have moved on to knowing them to 20 too! Any practice that can be done at home would be really great. Next week we’re going to move on to look at doubles and halves as well as odd and even numbers.
In Science this week we did a taste test! As part of our investigation into our senses this week we focussed on taste. We learnt about the food types of bitter, salty, sweet and sour and all about the parts of our mouth. We tried unsweetened dark chocolate, lemons, salty popcorn and jelly beans and talked about what our favourite tastes are. We had a History lesson and compared all of the nurses we have learned about so far, Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole and Edith Cavell. We looked at the similarities and differences in their lives as well as how nursing has changed today.
In our ICT lesson we used the beebots again, this time we programmed them to navigate themselves around mazes Miss Cragg created on the tables and the carpet. We had fun thinking about how many moves forward they would need to do and the turns they would need to make to get to the finish line.
Harvest Festival was a great success, thank you to all of the parents that made it to help us celebrate. Year 1 showed off the baskets we made as part of our story, “The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch” and we filled them with fruits and vegetables to make a healthy lunch for Mr Grinling. We also helped to make a CD at school this week, we were visited by a recording company who recorded us singing some lovely songs. We sang with the rest of the school then teamed up with Reception too. Look out for more information soon to tell you how to buy it.
Only two more weeks left at school before the half term break, please don't forget it is Parents Evening on Tuesday 11th October and the Halloween Disco on the 21st October, 6-7pm for Year 1.
W.C 26/09/16
I think we’re all feeling the effects of being half way through the term, we’re all feeling a little sleepy and ready for another break – or at least Miss Cragg and Fiona are! We’ve had some fun in Year 1 this week focusing on instructions in our English lessons and starting to really look at imperative verbs. We helped Miss Cragg make mustard sandwiches for the naughty seagulls from “The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch” and then wrote about how to do it. Next week we will continue with instruction writing so we know how to write about what is needed and write our own instructions including some bossy verbs. We also wrote acrostic poems about the seaside, Miss Cragg and Fiona were very impressed with how hard we are working!
In Maths this week we’ve carried on with partitioning and are getting really good at knowing how many lots of 100, 10 and 1 are in a number. We can add on using a number line, we can find one more and one less and have even started to find 10 more and 10 less. We’ve also begun working on our number bonds to 10 and to 20 using the numicon and lots of other resources in the classroom including making number bond rainbows and number bond kites. Next week we will continue to work on this as well as our 5 and 2 times tables.
In Science we learnt about our eyes this week and all the amazing things they can do. If you watch someone’s eyes very closely after they close them for 10 seconds before opening them, what do you see? We can identify the parts of the eye including iris, pupil, eyelid and eyelashes and had some wonderful questions about why we have eyelashes and eyebrows. Can you remember why? In ICT this week we got the Beebots out again and had great fun making them turn and move to a partner. At the end of the lesson some of us were able to navigate a maze! In History we carried on learning about nurses who have changed the lives of soldiers and helped nursing to become a more modern practice. This week was the turn of Edith Cavell who treated soldiers from both sides during World War One. We used drama to act out scenes from her life, caring for the soldiers as well as helping allied forces escape from the Germans.
Have a wonderful and safe weekend!
W/C 19/09/16
Time certainly flies when you’re having fun! Another exciting and fun week in Year 1. This week in our Maths lessons we’ve put our focus on counting on using a number line, as well as partitioning numbers into tens and ones. Some of us can even partition numbers to hundreds, tens and ones! We know that addition means the number gets bigger and we can use jumps on the number line to show this. We’ve also been doing lots of practice on our ten times tables so that we can use the 100 square more effectively. Please keep practicing these at home so we can all get really really good at it! As well as all this we’ve been writing and forming numbers in digits and in letters in the sand, with chalk, on peg boards and on whiteboards.
In our English time we’ve been writing letters. In our story, ‘The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch’ Mr Grinling is a lighthouse keeper so we decided to write a letter to ask him some questions about his very important job. We also decided to change the story, and use our innovation skills to make it different. Instead of the seagulls stealing Mr Grinling’s lunch there was a shark, a terrible storm, some dinosaurs and even a tornado that took not only his lunch but his boat too!
In Science this week we carried on our investigations into our senses, focussing on our sense of hearing. We went on a listening walk inside and outside of school and heard lots of interesting sounds. We also talked about how we hear sound and the parts our ear is made up from. In History we continued our Nurturing Nurses topic and this week looked at another famous nurse, Mary Seacole. We learnt about her life in Jamaica, the prejudice she experienced and how she didn't let anything stop her fulfilling her dream of helping soldiers get better.
We had a very special treat in our ICT lesson this week …we were joined by Mr Barratt, and he brought iPads and Beebots with him! We were learning how to programme the Beebots to move and began to use a coding game and a Beebots on the iPads. We had lots of fun watching them travel around the carpet and gave Mr Barratt an interesting introduction to KS1! Thank you for your continued support in ensuring your child has their PE kit for Tuesdays and Fridays, and for observing our request to stay out of the outside area before and after school, its very much appreciated.
W/C 012/09/16
Another busy week in Year 1, we thoroughly enjoyed Roald Dahl day on Tuesday and learnt all about “Matilda”. Everyone looked absolutely amazing! In our English lesson that day we talked about horrible teachers (thank goodness Miss Trunchbull doesn't work at Church Lane!) and what our super powers would be if we had some like Matilda.
In Maths this week we’ve been continuing to count to 20 forwards and backwards, and we’ve pushed ourselves to count to 100 too. Some of us know our 2’s, 5’s and 10 times tables, it would be wonderful if these could be practiced at home too so that we know them inside out and back to front. We’ve also looked at tens and units, been practicing writing numerals and one more and one less.
In English we’ve done more writing about the Lighthouse Keepers Lunch, sequencing the story, acting it out with role play masks and small world puppets, writing speech bubbles for the naughty seagulls and writing shopping lists for the characters. We’ve been practicing our reading and our handwriting too and been continuing our Music lessons with Sophie.
In Science this week we’ve started to look at our senses and can name all five – see if you can remember! We can name things that we can do with them all too. We’ve carried on with our History topic, Nurturing Nurses, and have learnt about Florence Nightingale, the lady with the lamp, and the impact that she had on soldiers health and nursing in general.
Please don't forget we have PE on Tuesdays and Fridays so ensure your child has their PE kit in school. We also ask that you wait outside the gates to the outside area (outside the classroom) in the morning so that we can set up items for continuous play in that area. Then the things that we put out are exciting and new, and all in the correct places ready for the children to play with them to further their learning.
W/C 05/09/16
Wow, what a week! All of the children are settling in well to life in Year 1 though I think it has come of a bit of a shock to some! We’re working hard in our lessons and are sitting beautifully on the carpet during our learning time. We still have plenty of time to play, but in a more structured setting.
We’ve been learning more about our story, ‘The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch’ and are getting really good at saying what happens next, identifying emotions in the main characters and putting the story into the right order. We’ve also done some great writing this week, writing about a picture from the story, writing sentences to explain the sequence of the story and writing a shopping list for Mrs Grinling.
In Maths we’ve been focussing on counting, to 20 and back again and to 100. We’ve been counting objects and putting numbers into order on the washing line, writing numbers in sand and in our books and playing number games, we’ve also done some running races to look at first, second, third and so on.
The children have enjoyed their PE lessons this week which are on Tuesdays and Fridays. Please ensure your child has their PE kit at school and practice dressing at home so that the children have more independence at school, this will help especially on Fridays when we have to get changed quickly before Phonics starts at 9am.
In Science this week we’ve started our new topic about our bodies. We have been labelling body parts and are beginning to discuss our senses. We also started a new History topic, Nurturing Nurses, and this week began to look at significant people in our lives and in history. In D&T we are beginning to look at the problem of the seagulls getting Mr Grinling’s lunch in our story ‘The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch’ and are going to begin designing a new basket to send his food to the lighthouse in.
Roald Dahl day is on Tuesday next week (13th September) to mark his 100th birthday celebrations. Please come to school dressed as your favourite Roald Dahl character and bring £1 which will go towards school resources. Miss Cragg and Fiona have their costumes ready! Have a wonderful weekend!
W/C 01/09/16
A very warm welcome back to Church Lane, and welcome to Year 1! We hope you had a wonderful summer filled with adventures and made lots of memories. Miss Cragg visited Lake Balaton in Hungary and went to Portugal, Fiona toured several cities in China!
This week we’ve been settling into life as very grown up Year 1’s, learning all about the rules for the classroom and creating our own class charter. We are kind friends who keep the classroom clean, safe and tidy, we try our best to listen well and always try our best.
From next week we will start lessons and follow our usual timetable. In Maths we will be learning about place value and number. Any practice that you can start doing would be wonderful – this could include counting forwards and backwards from a variety of numbers, writing numbers down in numerals and in words or counting in 2’s, 5’s or 10’s.
In English we will be starting a new topic based around the Seaside and oceans. Our first book to look at in depth will be The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch by Rhonda and David Armitage. This book will be used to help us sequence the story and say what happens next, we will also be using it for drama to help us act out the story with the use of role play masks and for our Design and Technology lessons where we will be designing and making new lunchboxes for Mr Grinling.
In Science we will be focussing on the human body and looking at each of our senses in depth, and in Computing we will be getting to grips with coding and data as well as using Maths Whizz. It’s sure to be an exciting week! Thank you for your cooperation this week with the new drop off and pick up procedures, it’s working really well and the children seem to be settling quickly. If you need to speak to Miss Cragg or Fiona at any point please just ask!
