In Year 1 we have been continuing our learning based around the Gruffalo and Autumn. So this week, we have been thinking about all the animals that live in the deep, dark wood.  The challenge in the creative area was to make a creature that we would find in the woods.  The children were able to recall a range of animals we could find hiding in their habitats. They had to design then create their own animal. After that they had to explain to a friend how they had made it. The additional challenge was to write some instructions using their phonics knowledge and writing skills.

Look at all the amazing creations the children have made!

Can you tell what animals we have made?

What can you make at home? Can you create it then write some instructions to share with the class?

In maths this week, we have been exploring 2D shapes and their properties. We have enjoyed exploring shapes in a range of ways; shape hunting, shape songs, creating pictures using shapes and also sorting shapes according to their properties.

During our shape hunt, we found loads of shapes and recorded them on our clipboards.  What shapes can you see?

We have also been busy making shape pictures and were able to identify all the shapes that we have used.  We then discussed the properties of the shapes too.

Can you tell what we have made?

Which shape has two long sides and two short sides?

The children were then introduced to a sorting method using a Venn Diagram. We really enjoyed sorting the shapes and objects into the correct place. We know that we use Venn Diagrams for sorting!

This week in Year 1 we started our learning based around the Gruffalo. We have been busy making models of the Gruffalo and making our very own stick puppets of the characters. We have used a range of resources, skills and our imaginations to create our puppets. The children then decided to use them to re-tell the story in the forest small world.

We have also been learning to re-tell the story of the Gruffalo off by heart. In order to help us learn the story we have created story maps and as a class come up with actions.

Our class author for the half term is Julia Donaldson. She is the Author of lots of our favourite stories such as The Gruffalo, Zog and What the ladybird heard and many more. We have been discussing our favourite characters and explaining the reason why.  We drew pictures of our favourite characters and wrote sentences using our phonics knowledge.

Who is your favourite character?

This week to celebrate Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday, we have been learning about one of Miss Tsang’s favourite childhood stories ‘The Big Friendly Giant- (The BFG)’. We have been so busy creating and making lots of BFG art work. We have especially enjoyed making our very own dream jars and also an actual life size BFG. He is now sitting in our reading area, ready to help us read!

Today we loved dressing up as lots of different characters from Roald Dahl’s stories! Take a look at what we have dressed as…

Can you guess what we have dressed as?

This is the start of the new school year, and Year 1 have settled in extremely well into their new classroom. The children have really enjoyed the different activities, and have been working really hard to complete the special daily challenges.  The children have been displaying excellent behaviour, and are definitely ready to start their year in Year 1.  This term, Year 1 will be focusing on stories by Julia Donaldson.

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As this academic year is nearly over we have been thinking about what we have enjoyed doing in Year 1. We have been discussing what our favourite parts have been and what we would like to do as we move on to Year 2.

In Autumn term we went to Sutton Park. We fed the ducks and went hunting for sticks. It was so much fun but really hard work!

We observed changes in the seasons and as it became winter we started to explore cold places in our world. We made a penguin display and wrote poems about penguins.

In Spring our topic changed again and we learnt all about different animals. We went on a trip to Twycross Zoo. We touched lots of different animals including a hissing cockroach and a turtle. We saw some bigger animals too, including lots of different kinds of monkeys, giraffes, elephants and even a leopard.

We made sandwiches for a tea party with the Queen. The tea party was so much fun, it was a shame the Queen was too busy to come!

Our parents came in to help us discover all about volume and capacity.

We have really enjoyed doing art in Year 1. Especially, Gruffalo puppets, paper fish and carnival masks.

We were also lucky enough to be part of the Bookshare project. We received 10 free books throughout the year and we went to a special celebration at Heartlands Academy.

Mrs Webster and Mrs Ali hope you all have a lovely summer holidays and can’t wait to hear all about it in September.