by Year One teacher on May 5, 2012
We were disappointed not to be able to demonstrate our Maypole dancing skills last week. As soon as the weather improves (!) we will let you know the rearranged date for this. The weather has also curtailed our gardening activities as, not only is it too wet to cultivate the plot but it is too cold for anything to grow successfully.
However, in the classroom our beans are flourishing and our grass seed experiment (optimal growing conditions for plants) is also going well. We have read and talked about several versions of the Jack and the Beanstalk story, including some lovely play reading by Daisy, Jessica, James and Holly. The children have used their creative skills to imagine what might be at the top of a beanstalk, other than a castle, and have drawn their ideas in pastels and wax crayon. This week they will be using these as prompts for their own independent story writing.
Maths is still focussed on using our knowledge of numbers to do a range of calculations and problem solving tasks. The children have drawn up their own checklists for doing a calculation and listed some of the strategies which they find useful and could be used by others. The essence of good mathematical understanding is to be able to use mathematical language and describe strategies used; so we are well on the way to being very successful mathematicians in Year One. One of the most important things which you can do to help your child at home is to make sure that they are totally secure in understanding the order of numbers to one hundred, can see patterns in number – odds, evens, counting on and back from any given number in ones, twos, fives and tens and recalling pairs of numbers that will make a given total.
There are some great activities to support this on the BBC schools – Numbertime website and also on ICT Games.
Talking of websites – the children really seem to be enjoying the Reading Eggs. Do try this if you haven’t done so already.
by Year One teacher on April 30, 2012
It has come to our attention that we missed out this week’s swimming on the Parent Helpers Rota.
Mrs Thurlow’s class will be swimming on 1st May and this will put all of the following swimming dates back one week.
Mrs Pound’s Class will be swimming on 8th May with the following families as helpers: Barratt, Batt & Batty.
Many apologies and we will be sending out an amended Swimming dates rota asap.
by Year One teacher on April 22, 2012
It was lovely to see the children looking so well rested and ready to begin the new term.
We had fun making windmills and working out how we could make them spin faster; then testing out our theories.
The children also planted beans in a transparent container so that they can observe and keep a diary on the plant’s development over the next few weeks.
This week we will make kites and test these out. We will also be looking at the parts of a plant and experimenting with conditions for plant growth.
Our Maths focus for this week is calculation using mental strategies and number facts to help us. The emphasis is on describing and perfecting strategies for calculating with single digit numbers that will help us with calculating two digit numbers. We aim for the children to produce a class calculation strategy list which they can use in problem solving situations. We hope that you found the target booklets helpful. If you did not find one in your child’s book bag please let us know.
by Year One teacher on April 14, 2012
Goodness how the year flies!
We hope everyone feels rested and refreshed and ready to return to school.
We begin the new term by completing our work on forces – making windmills and kites and trying them out.
Work on the garden will begin by having a good tidy up and planning what to plant; then we will be sowing seeds to grow on in the greenhouse while the weather is still chilly. Once the weather warms up we will put plug plants in the vegetable garden to grow on and harvest and this will be ongoing throughout terms five and six. We are always grateful for help with this and if you can spare even a small amount of time to work in the garden with very enthusiastic groups of children we would love to have you.
Maths during the next week will focus on counting on and back in ones, twos, fives and tens. Children should be able to do this confidently from any given starting number, not just from zero and back again. Please practice this at every opportunity with your child.
We are sure that in the holiday you will have taken the opportunity to have your child’s feet measured to check if they are in need of new shoes; remember this also applies to wellies and P.E. shoes. Could you please check that all uniform and kit is clearly marked with your child’s name and send their Forest School kit and P.E. kit on Monday morning. It is vital that every child has their water bottle in school each day. Children need to drink frequently and they become anxious if they do not have easy access to a drink and have to rely on an adult in school to find the time to provide them with one.
Thank you to all of those parents and other adults who continue to help in various ways in the classroom and with swimming. You are always welcome, even if you are unable to make a regular committment and we really value your support.
by Year One teacher on March 19, 2012
We were very sad to say goodbye to Miss Crombie and Miss Home on Friday as they have now completed their second school placement and have to return to university. The children have had a great learning experience with them and they made a big contribution to the work of the Year One staff team.
We enjoyed making the rockets and launching them last week. The children were very clear about how to conduct a fair test and what factors might affect the distance which the rockets were able to travel. Mr Coates gave us a lot of help before we actually designed and made our rockets by discussing the tests with the children and demonstrating how the level of water inside the rockets would affect the distance over which they travelled.
Key Stage One winners were – first: Callum Steele and Ethan Barratt
second – Holly Richardson and and Grace Batty
third – Erin Perkins and Greta Carey.
On Friday Mrs Bentata showed the children what happens at a Jewish wedding ceremony which neatly rounded off our learning about family celebrations.
During the next two weeks we are continuing with our science theme of motion – making egg buggies, windmills and kites- as well as finding out about new life in Spring.
In Maths we will be revisiting odd and even numbers and counting in twos, fives tens and then threes – so lots of investigative and problem solving activities to check that we all understand these concepts.
by Year One teacher on March 11, 2012
The children are designing rockets out of plastic bottles to be launched in this week’s Science week competition. The school has invested in some powerful rocket launchers and prizes will be awarded for the furthest distance & best design- it should be fun! We are also starting to design our ‘egg-carrying’ buggies for Mr Hirst’s Easter Challenge. So please can you send in any empty 2L plastic bottles and egg boxes/ junk modelling containers with your children this week.
by Year One teacher on February 27, 2012
Year 1 are walking to Christ the King Church in Sedgewell Road, Sonning Common to learn about Christian places of worship and marriage. We would be grateful if any adults could spare the time on Wednesday morning to accompany us.
We will be looking at marriage and baby welcoming ceremonies in different faiths over the next few weeks. So if the children would like to bring in pictures of wedding ceremonies or baby welcoming ceremonies, either their own family or others they have attended, that would be lovely.
by Year One teacher on February 27, 2012
by Year One teacher on February 5, 2012
The children have written some amazing Three Little Pigs stories. They managed to do these independently and worked hard every day to complete them.
We are now moving on to look at homes. During the coming week the children will be going on a village walk (Tuesday at about 9.30a.m.), weather permitting. We would be glad of some extra adults to accompany us if you can spare the time.
They will be looking at the different types of houses and finding clues about the era in which they were built. We will also be comparing homes of today with Victorian homes.
During half term we would like you to help your child to either draw or make a model of their own home to bring in to school during the first week after the holiday.
Maths ties in nicely this week with a review of what the children know about odd and even numbers as well as some revision of calculation strategies, including money.
Please can you check that your child can order and name numbers to one hundred. There are plenty of interactive games to help with this which you can find on www.ictgames or www.bbcschoolsnumbertime games.
We look forward to seeing you at the Parent Consultaion day on Friday.
by Year One teacher on January 28, 2012
Mrs White came into school last Thursday and took some groups of children bird watching in the paddock. They were excited to see a good range of birds, including – Pigeons, Gulls, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Robins, Red Kites and even a Green Woodpecker. Mrs White has kindly offered to continue with this so that all of the children will benefit from this opportunity.
This week the children will be trying out their story writing skills independently, now that we have done all of the preparatory work together.
Calculation and problem solving is the focus of this week’s maths.
Please can you make sure that your child has their water bottle in school every day. When they don’t have easy access to drinks, children become listless and often develop headaches and it is so much better if they have their own water bottle to hand rather than asking adults to provide them with a drink.
