Willow - Year 1

Date: 27th March 2026

What we have been learning this week...

 In Maths this week we completed our unit on place value to 50. We used our tens and ones to identify numbers and place them on number lines. We then started our topic of measure. We looked at the terminology and the difference between measuring length and measuring height. We compared a range of things in the classroom including ourselves and ordered things by height and length.

In English, we have been finishing off our story 'Beegu'. We recapped and sequenced the story together to help us remember what happens. We then created our own alien characters and gave them names. Then with these characters, following the format of the Beegu story, we wrote our own stories.

In computing this week we continued our unit 'Animated Stories'. We learnt how to animate our drawings to make them move when we turn the page. We also learnt how to copy and paste our drawings. This meant that when creating our stories we didn't have to redraw the characters every time.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed DT. The day had arrived for us to have our teddy bear picnic! First we recapped food hygiene and knife safety to ensure that we were safe and prepared. We then set up all of our utensils ready to chop. We chopped our selected fruits and created 2 kebabs each. We also made party hats for our teddy bears to help them celebrate the event! After all the prep was done, it was time for the best bit...the eating! With the sun beaming down on us, we sat on the field with our cuddly toys and enjoyed our fruit kebabs together! We even had a little extra time to play with our cuddly toys with our friends.

How you can help...

After half term, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 20th March 2026

What we have been learning this week...

 In Maths this week we completed two different booklets to check our understanding and retention of the maths knowledge we have gained so far. We all worked really hard and remained focused! We also looked at number lines this week. We explored how to work the values for each of the intervals on a range of different number lines. We also looked at how we estimate numbers and place them on a number line.

In English, we completed a Big Write. This is where we are given a topic and need to write about it independently. This time we had to write a persuasive piece about whether we thought pets should be allowed into school. Surprisingly a lot of us thought that pets should not be in school because they would make a mess everywhere and be very distracting! After planning our arguments we then wrote them out independently using our phonics.

In computing this week we continued our unit 'Animated Stories'. We learnt how to create backgrounds on purple mash using both the drawing and clip art function. We had to remember to follow a clear set of instructions to ensure that we created our background properly, otherwise we would risk accidentally drawing over our characters or deleting previous backgrounds we had created.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed DT. In preparation for our Teddy Bears picnic next week, we learnt how to cut safely. We discussed how a knife is not a toy but a tool that we must use very carefully and safely. We spoke through and practised how to hold knives safely and to hold the food we are cutting in a safe way. We then practised chopping some carrots.

How you can help...

After half term, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 13th March 2026

What we have been learning this week...

 In Maths this week we were introduced to the concept of two tens (twenty), three tens (thirty), four tens (forty) and five tens (fifty).  Practise counting in tens to 50. We then used equipment, to explore how to effectively count within 50 by grouping in 10s. We worked practically to group objects into groups of 10 and then counted the remaining ones. They will then progress to drawing their representations circling groups of 10 and displaying the remaining ones. Finally we looked at range of tens and ones, we had to identify the number that was being shown.

In English, we started the week off by exploring the past tense, using 'ed' to change verbs from present to past tense. We then applied our knowledge of the past tense when creating postcards. We wrote in character as Beegu, we pretended we were writing to her parents to explain what had happened and what Earth has been like.

In computing this week we started our knew unit 'Animated Stories'. We had a discussion about and identified the differences between traditional books and e-books. Then we learnt how to use the paint functions on purple mash to create our own animal character. This character will be the one we will eventually be creating our own e-books about.                

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed a visit from 'West end in schools' who came in to deliver a workshop to us. The workshop was titled 'Our World, Our Future' and was about climate change and what we can do to help the planet. Through movement we explored the changes that are happening to our planet and how it is affecting the animals that live here.   

How you can help...

After half term, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 6th March 2026

What we have been learning this week...

 In Maths this week we have been focusing on subtraction. At the beginning of the week we focused on using our knowledge of number bonds to help us complete subtraction equations (e.g. if they know 8-5=3 they will know 18-3=15).  We used equipment such as ten frames to help us see that the second subtraction answer is 10 greater than the first subtraction answer.  We then progressed to crossing 10. We were also formally introduced to finding the difference as a method of subtraction. This required us to subtract to calculate how many more (rather than counting back). We used bar models to support us to visually see the difference between the 2 numbers

In English, we continued with the story of Beegu. We thought about how Beegu might be feeling on Earth and what she might understand. We discussed that she may have been confused about many objects we would consider to be ordinary. In order to help her understand a bit more about Earth, we described every day objects, focusing on what the look like and what they do. We described objects like a toaster, a kettle and many more. We also looked at adding the suffixes 'er' and 'est' to words in order to compare them. First we did this with a range of different words, and then we applied it to language related to the story. 

In computing this week we learnt about algorithms. We now understand that an algorithm is a set of instructions that we give to a computer. We spoke about how, when giving these instructions we need to be very detailed and specific to ensure the computer understands what we are asking it to do. To test this, we created an algorithm for making a jam sandwich. We then gave our algorithm, step by step, to Robbie the Robot (who was really Mrs Wilson in disguise). We quickly learnt that if we were not specific in our instructions, Robbie would not do what we wanted them to do. For example when we asked them to 'get the bread out of the bag', they started taking the whole loaf out! We adjusted our instruction to 'take 2 pieces of bread out of the bag' to ensure that Robbie understood and took out the correct amount.                        

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed World Book Day. The costumes were fabulous and we would like to thank all of the adults who helped make those costumes happen! We started the day with a wonderful assembly about reading lead by Mrs Wheatman, where we did a costume parade to show off out outfits to the rest of the school. We were lucky enough to have 2 special guest reader this week, who read us three different stories: 'The Book with No Words', 'Mixed' and 'The Day the Crayons Quit'. We loved all of these stories and hoped the readers enjoyed reading them to us as must as we enjoyed hearing them! We also completed a live lesson with the author and illustrator of 'The Leaf Thief' story collection. We heard the story and even learnt how to draw some of the illustrations!

We look forward to more book related activities as our 'Book Week' continues until Thursday 12th March.   

How you can help...

After half term, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 27th February 2026

What we have been learning this week...

 In Maths this week we have been focusing on addition to 20. At the beginning of the week we started by looking at how to add within 20 by counting on. We used a range of manipulatives to support or understanding. We also looked at how we could use our number bonds to 10 to support us when using number bonds to 20. For example if I know 8+2=10 then I know that 18+2=20. Making this link was a little tricky at first, however we have now started to see the connection and we are beginning to apply it to our addition to 20.

In English, we started the week by receiving a mysterious message, however this message was not in English, it was in a different alien language. We worked together to decode the message as a class. We found out that it said 'Help me. I am lost. I want to go home. Where is Mummy?' We thought about who this message could be from and wrote our own letters back responding to them; explaining that everything would be ok and that we would help. As the week went on we saw CCTV evidence of a strange, alien like creature, we decided that this was who the message was from. We looked at the CCTV images and wrote sentences using 'and' to explain what we thought was happening. At the end of the week we were finally introduced to the beginning of the story 'Beegu'. We found out that Beegu was the creature we had seen on the images but she was lost. We then created missing posters to see if we could help find her. We focused on using adjectives to describe and using 'and' to join sentences together.

In DT we have begun our topic on food preparation. Together we spoke about food and why our bodies need it. We looked into different food groups and the concept of a balanced diet. We also distinguished between foods that are 'healthy' and foods that are deemed 'unhealthy'. We then created our own healthy eating posters. See some example below.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

In science we introduced our new topic of 'Plants'. We looked at what plants are and spoke about some of the plants we already knew about. We then went to the nature reserve to see if we could spot any plants or signs of flowers blooming. We found a range of different flowers including daffodils, snowdrops and Ivy. We then came back to the classroom to draw and label some of the plants we have found.

How you can help...

After half term, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 13th February 2026

What we have been learning this week...

 In Maths this week, the children built on their learning about place value by using a number line to 20, helping them to order numbers and develop a deeper understanding of where numbers sit in relation to each other. We also consolidated our understanding of the greater than and less than signs (< >) by comparing quantities to 20 using these symbols.

In English, we consolidated our Phase 5 phonics sounds and used them to help us spell words more confidently in our writing. We also focused on practising correct letter formation, focusing on neat and careful handwriting. Towards the end of the week, we focused on adverbs, understanding what they are and how they are used to describe a verb. We then applied this knowledge to writing about the Three Little Pigs, using adverbs to extend our sentences.

In computing this week we learnt about data collection. We learnt that data means information and that we can show data using a pictogram. We collected data from our classmates, finding out how we travel to school. With this data we then created a pictogram as a whole class. After we had understood what a pictogram was we went of to create our own one independently using 'The Dice Challenge'. Each individual rolled a die 20 times, recording the number that came up each time. After collecting this information we then created a pictogram on purple mash to show which number we rolled the most times and which one we rolled the least.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

In science we enjoyed exploring the properties of materials. On our tables we had a range of different items including: aluminium foil, cling film, steel screws, wooden planks, rubber gloves, copper wire, Lego bricks. After identifying what each of the items were made from, we discussed their properties. We collected a huge bank of adjectives to describe each of the items. This included words like: strong, flexible, transparent, rough, smooth etc.

How you can help...

After half term, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 6th February 2026

What we have been learning this week...

This week has been full of exciting learning across the curriculum.

In Maths, we have been learning about place value, with a particular focus on the numbers 11–19. The children explored how these numbers are made up of one ten and some extra ones, helping them to understand that teen numbers are “ten and a bit”. We used practical resources and discussions to support this learning and build confidence with counting and number recognition.

In English, we read and enjoyed a version of The Three Little Pigs. The children used their phonics skills to help them decode unfamiliar words while reading. We then practised writing our own sentences based on the story, focusing on using past tense verbs to describe what happened. Alongside this, we had a strong focus on handwriting, carefully practising our abracadabra letters: a, c, d, g and q.

In RE, we continued our learning about Judaism, exploring the question “Why is learning to do good deeds (Mitzvot) important for Jewish people?” The children discussed ways people can show kindness and help others, and how these actions are important in everyday life.

In Science, we carried on our topic about materials. We talked about different properties of materials, such as rough or smooth and hard or soft. We also worked together to plan an experiment to test how waterproof different materials are, making predictions and thinking carefully about how we could carry out a fair test.

In History, we continued our topic on the past by looking at old photographs. The children learned how cameras from the past were different from the cameras we use today, and discussed how photographs help us learn about life long ago.

It has been a busy and enjoyable week of learning, and the children have shown great enthusiasm and curiosity in all areas.              

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

One particularly lovely moment this week was during reading time, when the children were all quietly engaged in their books. They showed excellent focus and enthusiasm for reading, using their phonics skills independently and enjoying time to immerse themselves in stories. It was a calm and happy session that really showed how much progress they are making as confident readers.

In Art, we enjoyed creating silhouette scenes inspired by nocturnal animals. The children carefully traced the outlines of animals such as foxes, owls, badgers, hedgehogs and bats. They then learned how to transfer their designs onto black paper by rubbing pencil on the back of their drawings. This activity helped to develop fine motor skills and attention to detail, and the children were very proud of their finished artwork.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 30th January 2026

What we have been learning this week...

This week in Maths, the children have been developing their understanding of place value by learning about tens. They practised counting in tens using practical equipment and number lines, and explored how one ten is the same as ten ones. This helped them to see how numbers are built and supported their confidence when working with larger numbers. In English, we have been retelling the story of Supertato. The children used a story map to retell the story, talked about the characters, and used their phonics knowledge to help them spell words independently. They also focused on forming clear sentences, remembering to use capital letters, finger spaces, and full stops.

In RE, we have been learning about the Jewish faith and exploring our key question: Why is learning to do good deeds (mitzvot) important for Jewish people? The children shared ideas about kindness and helping others, making thoughtful links to their own lives. In Music, we used boomwhackers to explore rhythm and pitch, working together to create simple tunes and keep a steady beat. In History, the children examined photographs from the past and compared them with modern images, noticing differences in clothing, transport, and everyday life. In Art, we learned about nocturnal animals and thought carefully about how to draw them, focusing on their shapes and the textures of fur, feathers, and skin. The children showed great enthusiasm and creativity across the curriculum and have worked very hard all week.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

The children have enjoyed a wide range of hands-on and creative activities this week. One particular highlight was Music, where they loved using the boomwhackers to make sounds and work together to create simple tunes. This was a fun and energetic way for them to explore rhythm and pitch, and it was wonderful to see their confidence grow as they listened carefully and played as part of a group. In Art, the children also enjoyed drawing nocturnal animals, taking pride in their artwork as they experimented with shapes and textures.

In Maths, the children have been especially engaged with practical activities. They enjoyed using equipment such as cubes and tens frames to explore counting in tens, as well as having time to investigate maths resources through play. This hands-on approach has helped them to deepen their understanding while keeping learning enjoyable. The children are also becoming increasingly enthusiastic readers. Many have enjoyed settling down with a book, reading quietly for longer periods of time, and really getting stuck into a good story. It has been lovely to see their growing independence and love of learning shining through this week.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 16th January 2026

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English we have been doing a mixture of different things. At the beginning of the week we wrote about our super vegetables from last week, with a focus on using 'and' to join two clauses together. We used our adjective word banks from last week to support us and wrote down lots of descriptive sentences about our tiny superheroes. Later on in the week we focused on plurals. We learnt that plural means 'more than one' and that we need to make changes to nouns in order for them to become plural. First we looked at the most common way: adding 's'. We then moved onto learning when to add 'es'. We learnt that if the noun ends in a 's, x, f, ch, sh or ss' then an 'es' needs to be added. We then practised applying these spelling rules to a range of words and sentences. 

In maths this week we have been focusing on subtraction within 10. We have looked at using a range of manipulatives and representations to support our understanding of subtraction. We have used tens frames and counters to physically takeaway numbers, playing subtraction games with these. We have also looked at telling subtraction as a story, for example: First there were 10 children in the swimming pool. Then 4 got out of the pool. Now there are 6. We then created our own subtraction stories and recorded them down. We also started to notice that a lot of the subtraction from 10 equations were the inverse of our number bonds, so we started using that knowledge to support us completing the subtractions mentally.                       

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed our computing lesson. After spending time learning about technology in the world and e-safety last term, this term we are getting stuck into learning how to use different programs and apps on the ipads. This week we all got our own Purple Mash log ins. We learnt about how to input our username and password as well as discussing the importance of keeping passwords safe. After successfully logging in we learnt how to create an avatar for our account. We followed a set of instructions that took us through the process step by step. We really enjoyed creating our own individual representations of ourselves. Finally we learnt how to access one of the creating programs on Purple Mash. We learnt how to create a drawing of an animal and decorate it.             

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be focusing on some grammar as well returning to the story 'Supertato'. To start the week we will be looking at what exclamation marks are and how we use them effectively in our writing. We will then move onto learning about proper nouns and how they require capital letters. Towards the end of the week, we will be creating our own story maps for 'Supertato' to help us remember the story and structure our sentences. We will then begin to write the story ourselves.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 9th January 2026

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English we have started a new topic : Superheroes and therefore have delved into a new narrative; 'Supertato'. This week we have really enjoyed beginning to get to know the plot and the characters. We have also enjoyed designing our own super fruit/vegetable to help Supertato fight Evil Pea and even made our creations a reality by actually making our super hero from real fruits and vegetables. After creating our super heroes we created a bank of adjectives to describe them. We will use these next week to support us to write clauses using 'and'.

In maths this week we have been recapping addition to 10. It is evident that we are now about to use our number bonds to add numbers to 10 without having to count. We have also looked at 'commutative law' which is the concept that when adding it does not matter which way around to two addends are, you get the same answer:  e.g. 7+3=10  and 3+7=10. We have used a range of representations to display our addition to ten including a giant tens frame.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed learning about different materials in science. First we discussed the term objects and what objects are. Between us we could think of a huge number of objects that we could see around us and that we knew about. We discussed how objects can be described and sorted. To consolidate this knowledge we played a game. Mrs Wilson asked us to find a specific object around the classroom for example: Can you find something red/ shorter than you arm etc. Below are some examples of what we found:

Find something....

smaller than your hand                          The same size as your foot

After this activity we learnt that objects are made from materials. We looked at a range of different materials including: wood, metal, plastic, glass and fabric. For our final activity we had a list of a range of different materials, we then had to search the classroom for objects made from those materials and record them down onto or recording sheets.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be looking at some grammar related to our Supertato story. At the beginning of the week we will be focusing on using and to join clauses together, and towards the end of the week we will be looking at changing nouns in plurals by adding 's' or 'es'.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 19th December 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English we have continued working on our handwriting. We have been using Kinetic letters to help remind ourselves of how letters should be formed. We have been looking at some more of the letter families this week:

Abracadabra family: 

Window cleaner family:

Special Squirter family: 

Slider family :               

In maths this week we have been looking at number lines to 10. We looked at a range of different intervals and how we find missing numbers on a number line. We identified that when a number line goes up to 10, the centre point is 5 and we used that to help us to work out the location of the other numbers.

This week we have spent some time in science looking at the seasons. We discussed the traits of each season, identifying what happens. We also explored the order of the seasons and how that order is cyclical and does not change. The children then used their knowledge of the seasons to create a seasons calendar to go home.                   

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed our DT project. During the first half of the week we learnt how to make two types of mechanism: a sliding mechanism and a lever mechanism. Then choosing one mechanism type, we designed a moving Christmas card for a person of our choice, thinking about their favourite colours and what they like. After designing, we created a list of equipment we needed to create our cards. Finally at the end of the week, we made our cards, using trial and error the ensure they moved properly and as smoothly as possible. Here are some of our card creations below:

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English next term we will be starting a new story 'Supertato'. During the week, we will be exploring and familiarising ourselves with the story. Learning about the characters and using adjectives to describe them.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 12th December 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English we have been working on our handwriting. We have been using Kinetic letters to help remind ourselves of how letters should be formed. We have reminded ourselves of the 6 movements we use when forming letters:

'up, down, push, pull, slide, flick'.

We have also been looking at some of the letter families this week:

Fisher family:  g, y, j ,f

Jumper family:  h, n, m, r ,b, p

In maths this week we have been looking at making '5 and a bit' (finding and making number 6-10) We have used our part whole models and tens frame to represent all the ways to make numbers 6-10. We have also been working on how to find missing numbers in our part whole models, either through addition, subtraction or counting on. Working on this has really developed our ability to recall these number facts automatically.

This week we have spent a lot of time working on and performing our Nativity show. We really enjoyed experiencing the stage and the lights in full costume. We would like to thank all the adults who have helped us to make the show a success!                       

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed applying our shape knowledge from last week into our play projects. We have been creating our own patterns and designs using the peg boards as well as creating pictures out of 2D shapes. We have also been naming and identifying 2D shapes when creating our own small world buildings.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be continuing with our kinetic letters focus. We will be looking at the following families:

Abracadabra family

Window cleaner family

Special Squirter family

Slider family

Willow - Year 1

Date: 5th December 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English we have been continuing with our story of 'Mr Fraser and the Lost Tie.' This week we have been using our story maps to write the story ourselves. We have also had a focus on editing our work. We have been learning parts of the teacher's marking code so that we know what it means when our teacher gives us marked feedback. We have then been practising responding to this in our books. The end of this week we also started to publish our stories into our own books, focusing on correcting our mistakes and using our best handwriting.

In maths this week we have been looking at shape. We have been exploring a range of 2D shapes and sorting them in a variety of different ways, including by shape name and the number of sides/corners.

In history this week we have been learning about Amelia Earhart. We learnt all about her life and what inspired her to become a pilot. We explored how for the time, a woman flying an airplane was extremely unusual and frowned upon by some. However despite this she had courage and continued with her dreams anyway!                                

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed learning our science learning. We looked at the 5 senses and what they are. We then started to explore the sense of hearing and the sense of touch. We first explored hearing through playing a game 'The Queen's Keys'. In this game one person is sat blindfolded on a chair in the middle of the circle, with keys underneath them. One person has to sneak round the circle and grab the keys without the person on the chair pointing at them. We found this tricky at first and learnt that we really had to focus on our hearing to be able to hear where the footstep sounds were coming from. To explore touch, in partners we play the 'guess what' game. One person was blindfolded, while the other found something in the classroom for their partner to feel. We did quite well at this game however there were a few items that were really difficult to work out what they were just through touching.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be finishing off publishing our books. We will then have a focus on handwriting and letter formation for the remainder of the week.

Next week in science we will be looking at our sense of smell. We will look a little at how the nose works and play games where we have to use only our sense of smell.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 28th November 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week there was an emergency! Mr Fraser had lost his favourite tie and he had a very important meeting coming up. Mr Fraser knew that Willow class are good at finding things so he asked for our help to find it. We went on a hunt around the school, looking at all the places we thought he could have left it. First we looked in the hall. Next, we looked in the allotment. After that, we looked on the book bus. Then we looked by the Willow tree. Finally we found it hiding in the drawers in our classroom! 

As a class we started to create a story map. You can see it below: 

We then created our own individual story maps to help us remember the events of Mr Fraser's lost tie.

In maths this week we were looking positions and positional language. We explored language in relations to turns- half turn, quarter turn, full turn. We also looked at left and right and forwards and backwards. Our favourite part of the week was applying this learning when using the Beebots. We learnt how to programme the Beebots so that they could travel from one place to another. It was a little tricky at first as the left and right turn buttons only turns the Beebot (it doesn't make it move to the left of the right) however by the end of the week we were starting to get the hang of it.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed learning about Neil Armstrong in our history lessons. We learnt that in 1969, he was the first person to walk on the moon. We found this extremely interesting and watched videos of the Apollo 11 take off and of the first steps on the moon. We had lots of interesting questions about how astronauts do things in zero gravity. We learnt how astronauts wash their hair and brush their teeth. We found it funny when the items would start to float away in zero gravity!

We then created a little fact file about Neil Armstrong including a drawing and a few sentences about what he did.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be writing up our story about Mr Fraser's lost tie. We will use our story maps to help us and will be adding in our own adjectives to make the story even more exciting. 

Next week in science we will be looking at how to categorise things. We will be exploring a range of fruits and vegetables and thinking about how we can categorise them. We will then be using our senses to taste some of the food. 

Willow - Year 1

Date: 21st November 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we went back to the story of 'The Queen's hat'. We created a story map together to recall the story and all of the places the hat was blown to. Ask your child to retell you the story using the story map below:

We then used our story maps to write the story ourselves, focusing on re-reading our writing to check it made sense and that we hadn't missed any parts of the story.

In maths this week we were looking at the concept of time. We looked at both the days of the week and the months of the year, making sure we knew then and what order they come in. We also learnt about the difference between seconds, minutes and hours. Understanding that there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. We really enjoyed using stop watches to time ourselves doing a range of different tasks. We saw how long it took us to write our name, hop on the spot 20 times, walk from one side of the classroom to the other and to jog around the playground.                   

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed our history lesson. We began learning about the explorer Christopher Colombus. We learnt that over 500 years ago he went on a expedition to try and find the Indies (what is now India and China). However instead of sailing East he thought it would be quicker to go West. He thought he had found the Indies but he actually found what we now call the Americas. We explored how in Colombus' time, they did not have a lot of the things we have now, for example electricity and bottled water. At our tables we then packed a ship for Colombus' journey selecting items that would have been around in his time.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will innovating the story of 'The Queens Hat' and changing it to 'Mr Fraser's tie. Mr Fraser's tie has gone missing and he needs our help to find it! We will be searching around the school, following where it has been to see if we can catch it! We will be keeping notes of where it has been and where it could be next.

Next week in science we will be looking at how to categorise things. We will be exploring a range of fruits and vegetables and thinking about how we can categorise them. We will then be using our senses to taste some of the food. 

Willow - Year 1

Date: 14th November 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we completed some independent writing. We based our writing on the short video 'Taking flight' which can be found here

First we watched the video up until the boxes fell down in the garage. We then learnt about what a noun phrase is and wrote our own using prepositions e.g: 'A tatty box of photos on the shelf.' Next we worked on using descriptive words to describe a scene. We described the garage as 'dusty and dirty'. Whereas we described the jungle as 'vibrant and mysterious'. After that we had some time to plan our writing, making notes on each part of the story and how we were going to describe it. Finally we wrote our stories about taking flight. We did this completely independently without any support. This allowed us to show off what we can do all by ourselves! 

Maths: In maths we have been continuing our learning on part and whole, however this week we have been looking at a different way to represent it. We looked at the bar model, an example of one is below:

We practised completing our own bar models as well as filling in missing parts of whole models to show all the parts and the whole. We also practised our one more and one less to ensure that is really secure in our knowledge.                                                 

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed our science lesson. We were learning about how humans change over time. We started off the lesson by playing a game. Around the room were photos of 10 different adults in school. We had to go around and guess which baby/child photo belonged to which member of school staff. It was lots of fun and laughs as we guessed who was who! We noticed what had changed about each person, including they had grown, hair had grown and face shapes had changed. We then shared the baby photos of those who had brought them in.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be going back to our book of 'The Queen's hat'. Using talk for writing we will practise retelling the story before we have a turn at writing it ourselves.

Next week in science we will be looking at how humans change as they age. We will be looking at photos of some of the teachers when they were younger and discussing how they have changes. We would love to share some baby photos of the children with the class, so if you would like to send one in for your child to share please bring it into school by Thursday 20th November. Thank you!

Willow - Year 1

Date: 7th November 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we started our new story 'The Queen's Hat'. In the story, the Queen's hat is blown away and she chases it across London to get it back. We started the week by creating missing posters, using adjectives to describe the hat to help people to find it. Next we focused on sequencing the events in the story, recalling the order of places in which the hat flew past. Towards the end of the week we focused on how to structure sentences around the story. We used colourful semantics to support us to ensure our sentence were structured properly. Here are some examples of colourful semantics below:

Maths: In maths we have been continuing our learning on part and whole. We have had a focus on working systematically (in order) to make sure that we have found all of the ways to partition a number. We used counters and part whole models to help us.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed our science lesson. We started off by discussing what a scientist is and what they do. We then found out that Lesley in the office needed our help. She needed to order more gloves and wellies for the school for the colder weather and needed to know what sizes to order. We decided that we needed to collect the data by measuring our feet and our hands. We measured them using non-standard units (multi-link cubes) learning that in order to make the results fair and accurate, everyone needed to measure using the same unit.

After measuring we heard a hypothesis: Do people with bigger feet need bigger gloves? We then made our own predictions about whether we thought the hypothesis was true or not. After collecting and comparing all the data we found that while some children with bigger feet would need bigger gloves, there was not enough of a pattern for it to be consistent.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English after half term, we will be completing an independent write to see what the children are able to do independently. The children will be writing a short narrative around a video stimulus called 'Take Flight'.

Next week in science we will be looking at how humans change as they age. We will be looking at photos of some of the teachers when they were younger and discussing how they have changes. We would love to share some baby photos of the children with the class, so if you would like to send one in for your child to share please bring it into school by Thursday 20th November. Thank you!

Willow - Year 1

Date: 23rd October 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been writing our innovated story of Handa's surprise. We have used colourful semantics and our story maps to structure our stories and remember our sentences. With this being an extended write this has kept us busy all week. In inputs we have also been looking at work that needs to be corrected, spotting the mistakes. This is to help us spot the mistakes in our own writing. 

Maths: In maths we have been continuing our learning on part and whole. This week we looked at part whole models and how we use them to partition numbers. Here is an example below:

In mastering number we have been looking at how to identify even numbers. We now know that even numbers can be split up in pairs or 2s whereas odd numbers cannot.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed completing our art project. We applied our learning about tints and shades from previous weeks to create a sea scape. 

We drew the waves to create sections for our tones and shades. Then, using blue, we added white or black to create lighter and darker waves. We remembered to add only a little bit of white or black each time to ensure the blue only changed slightly.

Next lesson we will be adding our boats and sea animals to our artwork.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English after half term, we will be looking at the story 'The Queen's hat.' We will be learning the story together as a class and using Talk 4 Writing to learn the sentence structure. We will also be creating our own story maps  to support us when we come to write it the following week.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 17th October 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been innovating our story of Handa's surprise. We have kept the same story structure but have added our own ideas. We changed the animals and the fruits to make it a Willow Class version of the story. You can ask your child to retell the innovated story to you at home using our story map below:

Maths: In maths we have been comparing quantities using the < > = signs. We found it a little tricky at first, however once we began to recognise the direction we became more confident in using them. We also started looking at the concepts of part, part whole. We identified the difference between when something is a whole and when it is a part.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed talking about our upcoming nativity performance and beginning to learn the songs. We listened to all 7 songs and have already begun learning some of the words. We already have our favourites and are really excited to perform them to everyone in December.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be writing our innovated Handa's surprise story.  We will be using the same story map we created last week to help us remember the sentence structure and write our stories.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 10th October 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been continuing with our story 'Handa's surprise'. As we learnt the story last week, this week we focused on writing it. We used our knowledge of the story map to help us structure our sentences. We have also been looking at what sentences need, focusing on full stops and capital letters. 

Maths: In maths we have been comparing a range of different things by height, weight and length. We have been using the language of heavier and lighter, longer and shorter, wider, narrower.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed exploring tints and shades in art. We learnt that to create a tint of a colour you add white and to create a shade you add black. We then created our own tints and shades starting with colour blue and gradually adding more white/blue to create different variations. We also looked at some monochrome art to see how tints and shades are used by artists. 

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be innovating our Handa's surprise story. We will be using the same story map structure however the children will be changing the animals and the fruit that is being taken to make the story their own. They will create their own story map of their version ready to write.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 3rd October 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have started our new story: Handa's Surprise. We read the story together and then created a story map to help us remember what happens. We have then spent time this week practising using the story map to retell the story ourselves with actions! We have then began writing the story ourselves. Why not ask your child to tell you the story from the story map below!

 Maths: In maths we have been looking at comparing numbers. We have been using the language of 'greater than' and 'less than' to compare two numbers. We have practised showing this in a range of different ways from towers of lego to rekenreks and dominoes.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed going into the nature reserve looking for signs of Autumn. We spoke about what happens in autumn and how deciduous trees lose their leaves but evergreens don't. We then went on a scavenger hunt in the nature reserve searching for any autumnal signs. We found acorns, pine cones, fungi and lots of different coloured leaves.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be continuing with the story of Handa's surprise, continuing to use the story map to help us retell the story and write it ourselves.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 19th September 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been looking at adjectives to describe nouns. We have played a range of descriptive games including and alien guess who. We also used a range of adjectives to describe an image of our choice: a dinosaur, a tiger, or an image from the Three Little Pigs.                                                           

 Maths: In maths we have been looking at adding on to 5 to make the numbers 6, 7 and 8. We have looked at a range of representations from dice to tens frames to help us recognise the numbers in a variety of different ways. We have also looked at the patterns these numbers create so that we can spot them easily.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed learning about primary colours in art. We spoke about the three primary colours; red, blue and yellow, discussing how they are the three colours that can be made to make a variety of other colours. We also started to talk about secondary colours, understanding that these are the names of colours that are made from primary colours. 

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be looking at what makes a sentence, with a focus on capital letters and full stops. We will be editing sentences as well as writing our own remembering the key elements!

Willow - Year 1

Date: 12th September 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been looking at the story of 'The Three Little Pigs'. We have used our Phase 3 phonics to label different parts of the story, as well as write short sentences.                                                               

 Maths: In maths we have been looking at number bonds to 5. We are starting our maths mastery approach. This approach allows the children to gain a deep understanding of numbers, which will support them throughout their mathematical learning.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed using our new den building equipment to build different spaces and dens. We had to problem solve how to hold up the tarpaulin. We used a range of crates, tires and den clips to make sure our structure was strong!

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be looking continuing the story of the Three Little Pigs with a focus on adjectives. We will be using a range of vocabulary to describe characters and add adjectives into sentences to make our writing more exciting to read.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 5th September 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we read the book Beegu, which is about an alien who crash landed onto earth. In the book she speaks in an alien language, so we used speech bubbles to think about what Beegu might be saying if we translated it into English. We also had a go at predicting what would happen at the end of the story. Many children predicted correctly, that Beegu would find her way home and find her lost family.                                                                           

 Maths: In maths we have been looking at 2D shapes. We have practised naming them, as well as identifying how many sides and corners they have. We have also looked at irregular shapes and how, for example an 8 sided shape is still an octagon even though it doesn't look like a 'traditional' octagon. We made our own shapes using lolly sticks, have a look below!

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed exploring our new classroom and getting to know where everything belongs. In Geography we learnt about different types of weather, so in our play projects the children created their own weather symbols. 

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

In English we will be looking at the story of the Three Little Pigs. We will use our phase 3 phonics to write captions for parts of the story and also sequence the story to ensure it makes sense.

Willow - Year 1

Date: 22nd of July 2025

What we have been learning this week...

We’ve had a wonderful final two days together in Willow Class. On Monday, the children demonstrated impressive enthusiasm for learning, revisiting counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s with great energy. We also enjoyed some light-hearted activities, including musical statues and drawing mammals and reptiles.

Tuesday was a particularly emotional day as we marked the end of our time together. We began the morning with the leavers' assembly, where we gave our Year 6 pupils a heartfelt send-off. A special congratulations to Charlotte, who has been nominated as our next Values Ambassador—an achievement we are all very proud of.

The children enjoyed some bonus COOL time, with some choosing to build creative reading dens. We shared a lovely end-of-term picnic, joined by Mrs. Wilson, and concluded our day with a film and popcorn—an enjoyable and fitting end to a fantastic year.

On behalf of all the staff in Willow Class, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and best wishes to every child. It has been a true privilege to work with each and every one of you. We hope you have a joyful, restful, and well-deserved summer break!

Willow - Year 1

Date: 18th July 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been creating our own animal fact books using the information we have learnt over the past few weeks. We have worked hard on showcasing our best handwriting and taken great care when illustrating.

 Maths: In maths we have been recapping how to count back when subtracting. This method includes placing the first number of the equation in our head and the second number on our fingers. We then use our fingers to count back from the number in our head to find the answer.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed our art lesson. We have been experimenting with colour mixing to design and paint our own plant pots.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 11th July 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been learning more about non-chronological reports. We then learnt lots of facts about three different animals : tigers, bears and sloths. We then decided which animal we wanted to write our own report about next week.

 Maths: In maths we have been recapping how to count back when subtracting. This method includes placing the first number of the equation in our head and the second number on our fingers. We then use our fingers to count back from the number in our head to find the answer.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed our art lesson. We have continued to learn how to manipulate clay and some techniques when using it. We then applied these skills to create a sculpture. We could choose between creating a coil pot or an animal.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 4th July 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been learning about non-chronological reports. We learnt that they are non-chronological reports are non fiction texts that tell us information, however the information does not need to be in order of when it happened. We have been looking at a range of non-chronological reports about animals. We then learnt lots of facts about three different animals : tigers, bears and sloths.

 Maths: In maths we have been learning how to tell the time to the half hour. This concept was a little tricky to understand to start with however after some practise we now feel confident to tell the time.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed our art lesson. We have been learning how to manipulate clay and some techniques when using it. We created a thumb pot, learning how to pinch clay to manipulate it. We then added decorations to the side of our pots. We learnt that we needed to score the clay at the points we wanted to join them to ensure the joins stay strong when the clay has dried.               

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 27th June 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been finishing our stories of 'Where the Wild Things Are.' We have focused on using our story maps and talk for writing to support our sentence structure. We have also focused on using the conjunction 'and' to extend our sentences, whilst remembering that 'and' should not be used too many times in a row.

 Maths: In maths we have been looking at money. We have focused on identifying coins and their amounts. We discussed how the size of a coin does not necessarily tell us about it's amount. We also began to look at word problems relating to money. These problems included addition and subtraction. We could see that adding with money is the same as adding with number just with pounds or pennies added on the end.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we had an amazingly 'wild' time on our trip to Hamerton Zoo. We had a talk about different animal 'species' from one of the zoo keepers. She told us all about how different species have evolved in different ways. We looked at different animal skins, skulls and feathers, comparing how they were different from one another. We then got the chance to see some live animals. We met a fat tailed gerbil, who like a camel stores water to turn it into fat. This fat is then stored in its tail! We then met a very friendly corn snake and a shy but very cute armadillo who walked around the room in font of us!

After the talk we also saw all the animals around the zoo. These included a white tiger, cheetah, bears, gibbons, sloths and much more!

Thank you to all of our parent helpers who made this trip possible!

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 20th June 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been looking at all of the learning we have done so far this year through writing a descriptive story. We look at an image of a forest and listened to a soundscape. From this we discussed our senses and what we might experience. From this we then wrote our own setting description. Next we each created a character that we would encounter in our forest. These characters included ogres, elves, fairies, robots and more. Finally we wrote about what our character would be doing in the forest.

 Maths: In maths we have been recapping a range of learning that we have learnt so far this year, including addition, subtraction, word problems and shape.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have been learning how to use watercolour paints. We explored how to make the colours darker and lighter through adding less or more water, we also learnt how to change colour without contaminating the other paints. Below are some of pieces we created:                                         

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 13th June 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we continued with our story 'Where the Wild Things Are'. We first created a story map together to retell the story in our own words.

We then began writing our stories using capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.

 Maths: In maths we have been recapping a range of learning that we have learnt so far this year, including greater than, less than and identifying numbers on a number line. 

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed continuing our new computing unit. We learnt how to animate our images so that they could move as part of our story. Here are some of our character creations below.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 6th June 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have started our new story 'Where the Wild Things Are. We have been exploring the story and beginning to write sentences to describe what happens. We also noticed the story is written in past tense, so we have been adding the 'ed' suffix to words such as 'sail', 'jump', and 'climb' to write our sentences.

 Maths: In maths we have been recapping our number bonds for all of the numbers up to 10. We are getting really good at finding all the possible ways and we are starting to work systematically. Securing these number bonds will help us when we work with larger numbers.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed beginning our new computing unit. This half term we will be creating our own e-books. We spoke about the difference between printed books and e-books and whether we had accessed any of each at home or in school.

We looked at an ebook that had been created on purple mash called 'The Pirate Cat'. We then created our own character on the ipads using a range of creative tools. We also typed a short piece of text about what we had created.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 23rd May 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been looking at suffixes. We explored how the 'ed' suffix changes words into the past tense as well as how adding er or est to words allows them to become comparative. We played games together and practised adding these suffixes to a variety of different words.

 Maths: In maths we have been learning about quarters. We first quartered a variety of different shapes. This allowed us to understand that quartering means splitting something into 4 equal parts. We then moved onto finding a quarter of a quantity. We used manipulatives to support us to share out quantities into 4 equal groups.

Art: In art we have been continuing to look at the work of L.S Lowry and discuss the stories he might be telling. We then drew our own version of his paintings, which after half term we will paint with watercolour. 

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we really enjoyed coding  in our computing lesson. We gave the computer clear instructions to create a fish screen saver. At points the fish were going the wrong way, so we had to change the programming and at other points we had to create the programming from scratch. We really enjoyed the challenge!

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 16th May 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we created a story map to support us with retelling the story of 'The Gingerbread Man'. Once we created this we practised writing the corresponding sentence to our images. Finally we began to write the story ourselves in full.

 Maths: This week we have been looking at halving. We began with halving shapes and identifying when a shape was and was not halved. We then moved onto finding half of a number. We used manipulatives to help us. We also spotted that doubling and halving are linked and that we can use the opposite to support us.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we enjoyed learning continuing our learning on narrative paintings in art. This week we looked at a piece by L.S Lowry called 'The Elite Fish and Chip shop'. We discussed the figures and what they could be doing. We noticed that the fish and chip shop looks extremely busy so deduced that it must be very popular. We also suggested that some of the other people could be walking to the shop or back to their homes.

We learnt that these are called Matchstalk people, noticing that while we can tell they are people, they lack a lot of detail especially on their faces. We had a go at drawing our own matchstalk people in situations of our choosing here are some below:

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 9th May 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have started our new story: 'The Gingerbread Man'. We explored the story through acting it out using masks and creating a story map. We have also started creating actions to help us remember and retell the story.

 Maths: This week we have been looking at sharing equally into groups of 2, 5 and 10. We have understood that equal means the same and have made sure all of our groups contain the same amount. We have used a range of manipulatives to help us physically share into the groups. 

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we enjoyed learning about narrative paintings in art. We spoke about how many paintings are just images of objects, and while we can make up a story about them in our own imaginations, they are not paintings that tell a narrative. We then looked at the painting 'George and The Dragon' by Paulo Uccello.

We discussed what we saw and asked questions about what might be happening in the painting and what the story being told could be:

-Why does George want to hurt the dragon?          

-Is the lady a queen?

Is the dragon the lady's pet?

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 2nd May 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have started our new book. On Wednesday a strange suitcase arrived in Willow class. When we looked inside we discovered a towel, some shampoo, bubble bath and a comb. We discussed what we thought these items might be used for. Before the end of the lesson we found a letter from the mysterious owner of the suitcase explaining that they needed help to wash a large, furry animal with tusks. On Thursday we found out our book is 'How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth'. We read the book and discussed instructions as a text type. Lastly we looked at time connectives and used them to order the story.

 Maths: This week we have been looking at counting is 5s and groups of 5. We have looked at a wide range of different representations of 5s from hands to number lines and gattegno charts. 

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we enjoyed learning about algorithms in Computing. We explored algorithms being a set of step by step instructions followed by a computer. We then had 'Robbie the Robot' come into our classroom, he wanted help to make a jam sandwich. We gave him instructions, however quickly learnt that if we were not specific enough we would not get the outcome we wanted. In groups we went of to write clear instructions and then came back together to check them with the robot.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 4th April 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been looking at conjunctions and how to use them in our writing. We specifically looked at using 'and' and 'because'. We explored how to use them appropriately in our sentences.

 Maths: This week we have been look at counting in 5s and 10s using a range of pictorial representations including fruit, counters and number lines.

PSHE: In PSHE this week we have been looking at Road Safety. We spoke about how to stay safe near roads and what we need to make sure we do before we cross them. 

STOP.

LOOK.

LISTEN.

THINK.

We the created our own Road safety posters to show others how to be safe when near roads.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we enjoyed the BSA Easter Egg Hunt. We each hunted around the nature reserve for 1 of 30 cards. Once we found all of the cards we had to discover the secret picture to earn our Easter Eggs. We discovered that the cards revealed the Easter Bunny! 

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 28th March 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been completing the second half of our Jack in the Beanstalk innovated stories. We have also been learning about what editing means and how authors edit their writing multiple times before publishing. We then looked at our class' marking scheme and edited sentences based on that.

 Maths: This week we have been look at counting in 2s using a range of pictorial representations including socks, counters and number lines.

PSHE: In PSHE this week we have been talking about kindness. We explored what kindness means to us and what actions are kind and unkind. We then created our own kind hands. We did this by drawing around our hand and on each finger writing down a kind action. We then decorated our hands to display in the classroom.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed doing some planting! Building on our learning of what plants need to grow, we planted our very own cress seeds. After planting them we wrote down a set of instructions of what we did so that others could follow them.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 21st March 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been completing our 'Big Write'. For this we looked at the image of a tiny dragon. We spoke about where the dragon might have come from, what it looks like and why it might be so small. After planning out a description of the dragon using a range of adjectives we wrote our own descriptions. Some of our dragons were sparkly and friendly, whereas other were evil and could shoot burning fireballs from their mouths.

 Maths: This week we have been recapping previous learning and ensuring we have retained the mathematical knowledge we have already learnt this year.

PSHE: In PSHE this week we have been talking the effects our words can have on other people. We spoke about how words can be really harmful even though they don't leave any marks on us. We realised that words can also make us feel really good. We discussed what words made us feel happy and explored what a compliment is. We then wrote our own compliments to our friends in class and read them out. Every one has a compliment written about them and hearing the kind words made us all feel really good!

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed getting out to the nature reserve in the sunshine. We looked for signs of spring, spotting buds on the trees and flowers sprouting from the ground.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 14th March 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English we innovated our Jack and the Beanstalk stories to make them our own. We changed the beanstalk to another type of plant. We had venus fly traps, sunflowers and even a tomato plant! We also creatively changed the story's antagonist. 

 Maths: In maths we have been continuing with numbers up to 50. We have looked at how to estimate numbers on a number line. Learning to find the middle number first to help us with our estimations. This has been a tricky concept but we have been working really hard on understanding it all week!

PSHE: In PSHE this week we have been talking about strategies we can use to calm us when we feel angry. We shared times when we have felt angry and what made us feel that way. We also discussed the signs our body gives us when we feel angry. After discussing strategies to calm ourselves we all created a poster about what calms each of us when we are angry.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have really enjoyed of computing learning. In computing we have been continuing with data collection. This week we collected data to do with a dice. We rolled the dice 20 times, recording the number each roll. We then entered this data onto Purple mash to create our own pictograms on the Ipad.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 7th March 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English wrote our Jack and the Beanstalk story using our story maps. We have been trying really hard to remember our capital letters and full stops as well as remembering to say our sentences aloud before writing to support with structure.

 Maths: In maths we have been looking at place value of number up to 50. We have looked at how to group large number through grouping into 10s and 1s

Computing: In computing we have been continuing with data collection. We looked at tally charts and created our own tally charts to find out the most popular favourite colour in the class. We found that red was the most popular colour!

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we had a great World Book Day! We all came in dressed as a character and shared our favourite books. We looked at the story of 'The Day the Crayons Quit.' We discussed the characters and their characteristics. We then created our own crayons and wrote sentences to describe what they are like.

 We also enjoyed some shared reading time with the children in Rosewood class. We shared books together, with our year 4 buddy reading to us. A lovely time was had by all.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 28th February 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English we have started a new story: Jack and The Beanstalk, to link with our growing topic this half term. We have been sequencing the story as well as creating our story maps to help us retell the story next week.

 Maths: In maths we have been looking at subtraction and using the method of 'finding the difference'. We also explored 'related facts' for example if we know that 5+2=7 we also know 2+5=7,  7-2=5   7-5=2.

Computing: In computing we began to look at data collection with a focus on pictograms. We found out how everyone in the class gets to school and used this information to create our own pictograms. We found out that the most popular mode of transport is car, followed by the bus and scooter. 

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we took a very exciting trip to the 'Life Bus' that visited school this week. In the life bus Louise taught us all about how to keep our bodies healthy and full of energy. We learnt about how food, water and oxygen give us energy and how exercise keeps our body fit. We also met Harold the giraffe who invited us on a healthy picnic with him and his friends. We had a great time and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 14th February 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week in English we have been focusing on ensuring our sentences have capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. We have been editing a range of different sentences spotting what is missing/not quite right about them and correcting any mistakes. We have also been looking at home using sound buttons can help us to identify sounds, especially digraphs and trigraphs in words. Below is an example:

 Maths: In maths we have been subtracting, using the counting on method. This is when we count the difference between to largest and smallest number to find the difference. We have been using cubes as well as visual drawings to support us with our calculations.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed continuing with our Pop Art art work. We chose a fruit to draw, then photocopied it so that we had 4 images. We then painted each of the images using bright colours. This afternoon we will cut them up and add them to our backgrounds we painted last week.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 7th February 2025

What we have been learning this week...

English: This week we have been using our Supertato story mat to write our own story. We have been focusing on capital letters and full stops and ensuring we know when to use them. We learnt about proper nouns and how they need to have a Capital letter when we write them. If you would like to share the story at home with your child, here is the story map for them to retell you the story:

Maths: In maths this week we have been using our number bonds to 10 to support us to calculate addition equations to 20. For example if I know 5+4=9 then I know 15+4=19

History: In history we have been looking at the life of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. We have learnt a lot about how they both, changed the way that hospitals were run and how they made them cleaner, safer places. We spoke about how, although they did not have super powers or a costume, they were real life superheroes!

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we started creating our own pop art pieces of artwork. We have really enjoyed learning about primary and secondary colours as well as experimenting with colour mixing ourselves. We have created the painted back ground for our artwork and can't wait for it to try so we can add the next component to it.

We also really enjoyed P.E this week working on our throwing skills. We worked in pairs using bean bags to work on our aim and accuracy.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 31st January 2025

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed learning about Andy Warhol and Pop Art. We looked at many examples of Pop Art and discussed the bright, contrasting, often unnatural colours. We then created some of our own Pop art strawberries, using bright colours. Next week we hope to use paint to create our own pop art masterpieces.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 10th January 2025

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed thinking about what makes us super and special. We discussed how superheroes have something that makes them special whether that being they are super strong, or can fly. We then discussed that heroes don't have to have super powers, they just have to want to help others. We went on to talk about what makes each of us special and super!

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 10th January 2025

Remembering Mrs. Monks

This week, we have come together as a school community to remember and celebrate the life of Mrs. Monks. In our collective worship sessions, we shared special memories of her, reflecting on the impact she had on our lives. Through a PSHE lesson at the start of the week, the children reflected on their safety circles (trusted adults they can turn to if they ever need support or someone to talk to).

To help the children process their emotions, we created a class worry box, offering them a safe space to express any concerns they might have. Additionally, we reassured them that adults are always available to talk and listen.

The children were also introduced to a beautiful story called The Invisible String, which explores the theme of death and the enduring connections we share with loved ones. After hearing the story, the children participated in an activity that helped them understand this concept better. As part of the ongoing remembrance of Mrs. Monks, we also invited the children to create special memories on heart-shaped cards. These will be placed on a "Memory Tree" at the front of the school, serving as a lasting tribute.

Finally, we took time to explore the children’s emotions, acknowledging how they can change throughout the day or even hour by hour. The Blob Tree activity was used today to help them recognise and name their feelings, fostering a greater understanding of their emotional well-being.

It’s been a week of reflection, connection, and support for one another, as we remember Mrs. Monks.

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed exploring our new topic 'Superheroes'. We have been thinking about what a superhero is and naming our favourite super heroes. The children have also been creating superhero masks in the creative area as well as building superhero headquarters with the construction materials.

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 20th December 2024

What we have been learning this week...

 This week in English we have been writing Christmas lists and Christmas cards. In maths, we have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes. Looking at their names and properties.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Next half term, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 13th December 2024

What we have been learning this week...

 This week in English we have been using our story maps to write the story of Mrs Latham's hat. We have been writing each sentence at a time ensuring we have a capital letter, full stop and finger space.

In maths we have been focusing on addition and subtraction facts. We have also been working on using manipulatives to check our answers.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 6th December 2024

What we have been learning this week...

 This week in English we finally found Mrs Latham's hat! We retold the story using a story map and then created story maps of our own. This week in maths we have moved onto subtraction. We have been using number lines to support our learning. Jumping back on the number lines has helped us visualise the subtraction.

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 29th November 2024

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 22nd November 2024

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 15th November 2024

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 25th October 2024

What we have been learning this week...

In English this week, the children have been practising writing sentences.  They were given a picture and asked to compose and write their own sentence about the picture.  They had a go at sounding out their words and using capital letters and full stops.  We also read a story together, The Making of MIlton, which helped us to think about one of our key values: courage.  In Maths we have been using part whole models to help us add within ten and the children were introduce to the + symbol.  I was very impressed with the children's independence this week, as teachers were completing phonics assessments whilst the children completed their own work.  In RE we continued our work on creation.  We recalled the seven days of the creation story and we learned a little bit about Christian worship. 

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

As it was music week, we have had some very special and exciting music-related activities this.  The children had lots of fun playing with the Junk Orchestra on Monday.  It was great for them to have the opportunity to express themselves musically and to work together as a team.  They also had lots of fun joining in with the dance activity provided on Tuesday.  The dancers running the session helped the children to explore different movements and to enjoy moving along to the music.  

Also this week we have enjoyed some free writing. We have been writing about things we like and enjoy and putting them on our writing wonder wall!

How you can help...

Over the half term please take time to read with your child. We will also be sending home a sheet with the Year 1 tricky words on for you to practise with at home. These are words that the children should be able to read and write by the end of the year.

Congratulations to our' Values award' winner:

Amber for being really empathetic towards others.

Congratulations to our 'Effort award' winner

 Samuel D for challenging himself in his learning.

Next week, we are looking forward to...

 After half term we will be continuing to work on addition, looking at writing and solving equations. In English we will continue with sentence structure and applying our new phase 5 phonic sounds.

NOTICES

There are no notices this week.

You may like to look at the following websites:
For parents | Letters and Sounds (littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk)
Bourn CofE Primary Academy - English (Reading and Phonics) (bournschool.co.uk) 

awilson@bourn.cambs.sch.uk       kvajzovic@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Willow - Year 1

Date: 11th October 2024

What we have been learning this week...

This week in English we have really focused on capital letters. We have looked at the differences between lower case and upper case letters, as well as when we should us Capital letters in our writing. They also worked with an adult to write a sentence about a picture from the story, using a capital letter, full stop and finger spaces. In Maths this week we have been building on our learning of more and fewer by looking at the mathematical signs < > =. In RE this week we learned about Christian worship. 

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

This week we have enjoyed computing! We used the IPads to log onto our own Purple Mash accounts and then edited our avatars.

How you can help...

Please continue to read with your child as often as possible.  We are also now learning new Phase 5 sounds in phonics. Follow the link below to see how the Year 1 sounds are pronounced.

how to say the phase 5 sounds september 2022.pdf

WINNERS OF THE WEEK - Please note: these certificates will be handed out to the children on Monday as we were in church this morning.

Congratulations to our' Values award' winner:

Alana for always having a positive attitude to learning.

Congratulations to our 'Effort award' winner

Colby for working really hard on his active listening.

Next week, we are looking forward to

NOTICES

awilson@bourn.cambs.sch.uk       kvajzovic@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Willow - Year 1

Date: 11th October 2024

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 4th October 2024

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Please continue to read with your child as often as possible.  The children bring home a reading book that they have read in school three times and that they should be able to read fluently.  Please listen to them read this book and talk about what happens in the story.   

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 4th October 2024

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Please continue to read with your child as often as possible.  The children bring home a reading book that they have read in school three times and that they should be able to read fluently.  Please listen to them read this book and talk about what happens in the story.   

Next week, we are looking forward to...

Willow - Year 1

Date: 27th September 2024

What we have been learning this week...

Activities we have enjoyed this week...

How you can help...

Next week, we are looking forward to...