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Summercroft

Primary School

Achieving through care, challenge and creativity

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Year 1 - Cherry & Chestnut

Welcome to Year 1!

31st January 2025

A Feast of Poems

 

Year 1 have been reminiscing about their favourite meals. We thought about how our food tasted, smelt, looked, felt and sounded. Inspired by the poet John Cunliffe, the children wrote their own poetry. We knew that we wouldn’t get it right the first time, so we drafted and improved our poems. The children enjoyed reading their poems to their friends. We have read more of our English text and we were sad to learn that Faruq was told he could not be a cook. The children role-played being Faruq and his grandma (Ajee) and tried to convince Ajee to change her mind. They then used these ideas and feelings to write an impassioned speech to Ajee.

 

Our food theme continued in computing lessons. Mrs Lamb and Miss Borg acted as robots and the children controlled them by giving them instructions. It was not as simple as the children first thought. Mrs Lamb didn’t use a knife to spread the butter and even put butter on both sides of the bread! With some debugging of their instructions, the children were eventually able to control their teachers to make a sandwich.

 

We have been working how to show control of our bodies in PE. The children became champion gymnasts and created their own sequence of wide, curled and narrow shapes along a bench. It was great fun to see the creativity of shapes and movements. The children are now much faster at getting changed for PE too.

 

Finally, in maths, we have been delving into numbers to twenty. We have explored place value by ordering numbers from greatest to smallest. We thought carefully when adding by counting on. We decided that we had a lot less jumping to do when we started with the biggest number. Finally, the children used their number bond knowledge of ten to help solve number problems within 20. Phew! The children have been very busy in Year 1!

 

17th January 2025

History and Maths Detectives

 

In Year 1 we have been learning about Ada Lovelace. Did you know that she wrote the first computer programme? We plotted her life on a timeline. The children made the link that she was born before Josephine Baker and that was over two hundred years ago. Using their new found knowledge, the children wrote and drew fact files about Ada Lovelace and her love of maths.

 

During maths, we have been looking at numbers to twenty. We have investigated numbers over ten to establish how they are constructed. For example, fourteen has one ten and four ones (or four more). We have embedded our learning by playing games with dice and being the first to reach twenty, plus we have sorted representations of the teen numbers. We then looked at one more and one less within twenty, using a number line for support.

 

Large spirals, small spirals, loud spirals and quiet spirals have been spotted during art lessons. The children have been inspired by the work of Molly Haslund. They have listened to music during our art sessions and this changed the size and colours of the spirals drawn. Year 1 have exhibited their artwork in the KS1 hall.

 

We have been talking about all things food in English lessons: lasagne, sushi, burgers, ice-cream, Yorkshire puddings, guacamole and chicken wings! The children drew their family favourites and placed them on a map of the world. Italian food was the most popular. Our new text features food from the Caribbean and Guyana. We watched a video on sugar cake and performed a poem about it. The children came up with a class poem about lime cookies following the rhythm of the sugar cake poem. We are looking forward to finding out more about our yummy new text.

 

20th December 2024

Shining Bright

 

To complete our unit on materials in science, Year 1 have been exploring the words 'transparent' and 'opaque'. We investigated materials by shining a torch on them and seeing if the light came through. After experimenting on various materials, we decided that the black cotton was the best material for a pair of curtains. The children had great fun using the torches around the classroom! 

 

The children have really enjoyed learning Josephine Baker's silly dance style in PE lessons. The Mess Around, Turkey Trot and Charleston were much harder to perform than we thought but we tried hard. All the children could mimic her facial expressions, as you can see in the photos! Drawing all our new found knowledge together on Josephine Baker, the children wrote fact files. She was a star on the stage and in film. 

 

With the excitement about Christmas building, it was great to hear about other celebrations at this time of year.  Year 1 were fortunate to have Mr Aronberg visit us. He shared with us about the Jewish celebration of Chanukah. He brought in the hanukkiah and explained how and why the nine candles are lit. The children really enjoyed the traditional sweet treats! Thank you so much, Mr Aronberg.

 

Finally, the children loved singing and dancing in the nativity. We thought they were absolute stars!

 

The Year 1 team wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah.

 

6th December 2024

Super Scientists!

 

In Year 1 we have been working scientifically to explore materials. The children can sort materials in all sorts of ways. They have grouped materials by whether they are shiny, dull, rough or smooth, and by the type of material. The children have been scouring the classrooms to help them create their own groups of objects and their friends had to work out how they were sorted.

 

Excitement was high when Miss Borg and Mrs Lamb explained that they had frozen some mysterious objects in ice. We decided that we should conduct an experiment to understand which method was best for melting the ice. Towels, gloves and a hair dryer were put to the test. We predicted that the hairdryer would work the fastest and it was fun to watch the ice melt. The toys were set free from the ice by the end of the lesson. The children then investigated which materials could float or sink. The results of the experiment showed that the ball floated but when the ball was made from glass, it sank! When Mrs Lamb and Miss Borg wanted to find out which material would be best for clearing up a spill in the classroom, the children helped out by solving the question scientifically. They tested cardboard, plastic, foil and cotton wool to see if they were absorbent. The children enjoyed using pipettes to drop water on the materials. They made sure the test was fair. The most absorbent material they tested was cotton wool. 

 

During our maths lessons, we have been understanding number bonds within ten and to ten. The children have learnt how to work systematically to ensure that they have all the number bonds. They have worked really hard! They might even sing you the number bonds song .

 

Finally, the children were lucky enough to have Cosimo's dad come in to provide a fabulous Lego workshop. The excitement caused by Lego being poured onto the carpet was high! The children listened carefully and enjoyed the Lego games that Mr Querini led. Thank you Mr Querini!

 

Rehearsals are in full swing for the Nativity. We look forward to performing our songs and dances next week!

 

15th November 2024

Ahoy There!

 

We started our mini topic, Never Eat Shredded Wheat, with a splash! The children became sailors on HMS Chestnut and HMS Cherry. They learnt that navigating the seas required them to use compass directions. We played a game of following directions using north, south, east and west. The children then understood the mnemonic of Never Eat Shredded Wheat and invented their own versions.

 

Our next geography lesson introduced Mr Wise. He had flags from all four countries of the United Kingdom. The children used his name to help them remember Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. We found the countries on a map of the UK and discovered the capital cities too. The children enjoyed colouring the flags and checked with Mr Wise that they were accurate. At the end of the lesson, the children enjoyed sharing items which they had brought from home. Our treasure included the McClure tartan, fridge magnets, holiday photos, flags, money boxes and shells. Thank you to all the parents who found holiday photos and memorabilia.

 

The children have learnt how to read a key on a map. They could tell their partner that the church was south of the forest. Finally, the children learnt a song about the seven continents. We hope to be able to list all seven by the end of our mini-topic!

 

Fitting in nicely with our mini-topic, the Year 1 children thought French day was magnifique! They enjoyed asking for croissants in French and obviously used their French manners. In our PE lessons, the children honed their skills of flipping crepes (well, plastic discs on racquets). We raced in teams to see who could be the fastest to complete the cooking. Finally, their Suerat-themed artwork of the Eiffel Tower was beautiful. The Eiffel Tower competition constructions have been a wonderful addition to our classrooms!

 

25th October 2024

Sniff, Ouch and Yuk!

 

In science this term, Year 1 have been learning about their five senses. They have been performing experiments just like scientists. Sniffing cotton wool in bowls turned out to be smellier than the children expected. They discovered that the cotton wool was scented with vanilla, rosemary, vinegar, peppermint and coffee. They then sorted the scents into those they did like and those that they did not. Their next experiment used the sense of taste. The children used their tongues to decide if they liked or disliked the items in the experiment. Most children decided that the bitter taste of cocoa powder was "yuk!" and the sweet sugar was "yum". There was much debate about who liked and disliked the salt and sour lemon juice. The children discovered that closing their eyes helped them to concentrate on the taste. Finally, they experimented on their sense of touch. Objects were concealed on trays and the children had to use their sense of touch to decide if the objects were soft, smooth, rough or sharp. They worked brilliantly with their partners and used their school jumpers to ensure that they were only using their sense of touch and not sight. Some children experimented by using the skin on their elbows, cheeks and feet to test their sense of touch. Luckily, Mrs Lamb and Miss Borg did not hear the sound "ouch" very often!

 

In Arts Week, Year 1 were given the colour red. We continued to develop our skill of experimenting. We looked at how red paint was made and then used beetroot juice to paint our observational drawings of watermelon. The beetroot juice made a dull dark red. The results were brilliant! Throughout the week, the children learnt their poems for their poetry slam performance. Cherry class learnt Michael Rosen's poem, Are You Listening?, and Chestnut learnt The Trees on Parade by Valerie Bloom. We were really proud of their performances to the other classes.

 

11th October 2024

Fizz, Pop, Crash!

 

The children were incredibly excited when Mrs Lamb and Miss Borg bought our class book to life and launched rockets on the school field. The rockets soared way above the roof of school and took ages to crash to the ground! Luckily, it was filmed by Mrs Carter so we could replay the moment again and again. Using a comic strip format, the children wrote about what they heard and then described the launch in sentences.

Jabari was cross when his rocket crashed to the ground and he used happy breathing to calm down. The children were able to give him lots of ideas about how happy breathing helps them calm down. The class then  decided to write letters to Jabari to encourage him to try again! We had lots of good ideas. Some suggested that he gave it one more try and another suggestion was to tell him to work in a team. 

 

Year 1 had their first Design and Technology lesson. Using all of the cardboard that had accumulated outside the classrooms, the children built freestanding structures. They learnt how to join materials and the importance of a strong base. Did you know that triangles are used in lots of freestanding structures because of their strength? We saw creativity, resilience and teamwork in this lesson. Thank you to all the parents who bought in boxes to enable this project to occur.

 

The phrase 'one more’ has been our mantra in maths. We have had one more dinosaur, one more bear and one more pom-pom. The children can tell us that one more than 6 is 7. We have also been practising counting backwards from 10. The children have been singing songs, listening to stories and watching rocket countdowns to help the learning stick.

 

The excitement was high when Year 1 had their first computing lesson on Chromebooks. The children have listened carefully to instructions, been respectful and supported each other with the tricky task of logging onto Chromebooks and Purple Mash. We are very proud of them!

 

 

20 September 2024

Tumbling Towers

 

Determination, cooperation, problem-solving, excitement and competitive spirit have been spotted in abundance in Year 1. Cherry and Chestnut Class were challenged to build the tallest tower from sponge bricks. The children worked in groups whilst their classmates cheered them on. At first, Cherry Class seemed to be the victors as their tower was taller but sadly it fell to the ground. Chestnut Class learnt from their mistakes and realised that the tower needed to have a good base and be two bricks wide. The children were able to use their tower building experiences to write a report of the event. 

 

In our English lessons, we have been thinking about Jabari, who is  the main character in our class text. The children wrote descriptions of how Jabari looks and how he feels. The illustrations in the book show Jabari building an amazing ramp to launch a flying machine. When the children discovered a huge pile of cardboard in our outside area, we decided to work together to build ramps just like Jabari. The children were inventive with their creations and even tested their ramps out with vehicles. Since, the ramps were so good we decided that we should write instructions for building a ramp. The instructions that the children wrote were very bossy but we decided that even Jabari's little sister could follow them.

 

In maths, we have been practising counting accurately to ten. The children have been counting just about everything in the classroom. They have counted paintbrushes, cars, dinosaurs, fruit and even empty milk bottles!

 

It was been wonderful to see the children working collaboratively during PE lessons. They enjoyed listening carefully to instructions using the parachute. Playing 'Around the World'  tested their listening skills and reaction times. We have been very impressed by the children changing independently into their PE kits. They even remembered to fold and place their clothes on a chair.

 

During PSHE lessons, we have been learning about how to be a good friend. The children have enjoyed the discussions but really enjoyed watching how smiles can be passed on. The children have been fabulous in looking after their classrooms and following the class rules that they agreed upon.

 

Our science lessons are focused on the human body this half-term. The children had a fun time learning Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. It became great fun as we sang the song faster and faster and our actions became faster and faster!

 

 

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