Year 1 - Bananas, turnips and recorders

Happy New Year!

A very warm welcome back to school and the start of the Spring term. We have been extremely busy during our first week back with plenty of exciting learning going on!

In maths, we have been recapping on our understanding of number and place value. Using the 100 square and Dienes, we have been learning to find 1 more and 1 less than a given number, moving on to 10 more and 10 less. To do this, we have used the Dienes to make our number in tens and ones, then adding or subtracting a ‘one’ or a ‘ten’. We have used the 100 square to see how our number has changed. We have used this knowledge to order consecutive and non-consecutive numbers and to problem solve.

In English, we have started a unit of work exploring traditional tales, starting with The Enormous Turnip, which links to our new topic of ‘Go Bananas!’. We have enjoyed ordering the story and learning about comparatives (comparing 2 things using the suffix ‘er’ – smaller, lighter, darker etc.). Next week, we will continue to work on our grammar, including superlatives (comparing more than 2 things using the suffix ‘est’ – smallest, lightest, darkest etc.) and expanded noun phrases. 

We have started to learn about the different classifications of animals in science (mammal, insect, bird, fish, amphibian etc.), whilst naming common animals. We will build on this next week by learning about the diets that different animals have. 

In geography, we will be learning about where animals as well as fruits and vegetables come from, and to start this learning journey, we have been looking at the continents of the world. 

The children have started their recorder lessons – these will be on a Tuesday afternoon. If your child has a suitable recorder, they are very welcome to bring it in on a Tuesday (clearly labelled please), but if not, each child has been allocated a recorder for the duration of the recorder lessons which they will be using exclusively. 

As always, we continue with our daily phonics and reading lessons. 

We have just introduced ‘Early Morning Work’ (EMW) to our Year 1 children. When the children come in in the morning, they will have an activity based at a table, which they are able to complete independently. This may include activities such as targeted letter or number formation, reading and spelling common exception words, ‘spot the difference’, consolidation of maths or writing skills etc. We have been very impressed at how quickly the children have settled into this new routine! There will not be an EMW activity on a Wednesday due to our parent reading/maths sessions.

We are having a few timetable changes which will be confirmed within the next week, but as things stand currently, Year 1 PE lessons will be on Tuesday and Fridays. 

As always, please do come and speak to your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns. 

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