7.3.25

Hello all,

Well, world book day was a great success. The children were very excited, and there were lots of stories read to them throughout the day. Thank you to the parents that came in to read a story. 

This week in phonics the new sounds learnt are; 'tch'- match, patch,  'ture'- adventure, picture, future, 'al' (ar)- half, calf , 'a' (ar)- father, mask, craft, and the tricky words this week are 'once, our, laugh, because & eye. Please check that your child can remember the tricky word spellings. I am still holding on to their little red books for handwriting practice. 

In topic, we have been looking at first hand accounts from a Victorian teacher and a student and comparing their point of view of an incident. We have also been looking at pictures of artefacts and drawing portraits of Queen Victoria. Thank you to Mrs Clarke, who came in to talk to the children about what it was like here at Chiddingstone School when she attended as a child. 

In maths we continue place value up to 40, looking at number patterns in ones, twos and tens and looking carefully to see if they are counting backwards or forwards. For example 39, 38, 37, 36 or 40, 30, 20, 10, or 32, 34, 36, 38, 40. We have also been looking at 1 more, 1 less, 2 more, 2 less, 3 more and 3 less. 

Do look at 100 squares with your child and see if they can see patterns. It really helps them. 

Have a good weekend.

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team.  

Happy Friday all and hoorah, spring is on its way!

This week the children have delved into the Victorian School Days topic. We have looked at some old film footage of Victorian life and compared it to how we live today. The children have really been enjoying this topic, so we look forward to learning more about that era.

In phonics we have learned new sounds, 'or' - word, world, worth, 'u'- awful, playful, octopus, 'are'- share, dare, scare, 'au'- author, 'aur'- dinosaur and 'al'- walk & talk. 

In maths we have been doubling and halving, as well as looking at numbers up to 40, rounding the tens and counting on the ones. 

In RE this term,  we are looking at the Easter Story. In PSHE we have talked about our own star qualities.

Sadly, today we said au revoir to Mrs Nicholson. Thankfully, she will pop in to see us now and again. She has been a great helper in our class and the children and staff will miss her. 

Have a good weekend. Enjoy the photos. 

Regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team.

14.2.25

Dear Parents,

Here we are at the end of another term. This week we have been recapping what we have learnt this year, so far. We have looked at the photos on the class page  to remind ourselves of all the topics and activities the children took part in. 

On Tuesday we had great excitement when Mr Maddy brought in his taxi to talk to the children about his job as a London Cabby. They were very excited when they were allowed to sit in it and have their photo taken. This brought the topic Taxi! to life for them and the experience linked in well. Thank you Mr Maddy!

For internet safety week, the children have been reminded of how to stay safe if they are using, computers or tablets- the message is, STOP, CLOSE, TELL! 

Next term the topics are School Days, Street View and Seasonal Changes (forest school). 

In the School Days project, your child will have the opportunity to take part in a traditional Victorian class and will learn about the differences between schooling in the Victorian era and schooling today. They will learn about objects found in a Victorian classroom and how they were used. They will research Samuel Wilderspin, an important figure in the development of schooling for young children in the Victorian era, whose ideals are reflected in schooling today. They will learn to describe the passage of time through study of past, present and future tense vocabulary.

Street View

This project is linked to School Days. 

This project teaches children about artwork depicting streets and buildings and focuses on the work of the American pop artist, James Rizzi. They create a 3-D mural based on Rizzi's work.

In the Seasonal Changes project, your child will learn about the four seasons. They will go out into the local environment to experience the weather. They will examine the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees, observing trees in the local environment. They will learn about how the seasons affect animals and make comparisons between them. They will find out what the weather is, what types of weather there are and what causes the weather. They will learn about what the weather is like in each season and discover why the lengths of daytime and night time change in different seasons. They will learn about the Sun and how to protect their skin from the Sun’s rays. They will observe and measure the wind, recording their data on a bar chart. They will learn how to read the temperature from a thermometer and record temperatures over a series of days. They will measure rainfall and carry out an investigation into the rain. They will learn about weather forecasts and symbols.

Uniform- If you are passing on uniform to a younger sibling, please could you write their first name in the garment, as if the item is misplaced it will go to the wrong sibling and then one of them does not have a coat to wear outside in the cold. Please check and label all clothing, snack boxes, water bottles, PE kits, forest school kits, socks, shoes etc etc

Thank you

Have a good half term.

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team.

7.2.25

Dear Parents,

This week we have been growing the code in phonics. For example looking at all the graphemes so far, that make the 'oo' sound, such as ew, ue, u-e &u. 

In maths we have been practising part, part, whole with numbers up to 20. 

In PSHE we have been looking at dangers around the home, such as cleaning fluids, medication and cosmetics that children should not go near.

The children really enjoyed forest school this week and watching their landmarks burn to cinders. After learning about the Great Fire of London, which started in Pudding Lane, the children baked their own bread roll to taste at home. 

Finally, please could you check that all labels remain in clothing, including all forest school items and anything that is not part of the uniform. It is so easily returned if named. 

Thank you

Kind regards

Mrs Clare

31.1.25

Dear Parents,

Here is an overview of the learning that has taken place in class 1 this week. 

In phonics the new sounds we have learnt are; 'se' (z)- cheese, noise, 'se' (s)- Mouse, house, 'ce' (s)- fence, dance & 'ey'- donkey, money.

Please go over these tricky words with your child- people, your, their, thought, through, friend & work.

I will be keeping the handwriting books in school for handwriting practise. 

In maths we have been recapping what we have learnt so far, adding and subtracting upn to 20. 

This week the children have enjoyed building London landmarks, ready to take to forest school next week, where the adults will burn the models for the re-enactment of the Great Fire of London. 

In PSHE we have been talking about keeping ourselves clean- washing our hands and brushing our teeth. 

Have a gret weekend.

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team. 

24.1.25

Dear Parents,

This week in phonics we have learnt the new sounds, 'le'- apple, gentle, beetle, 'al'- petal, pedal, equal, 'c'- ice, mice, success, & 've'- give, live & solve. 

The tricky words are 'ask, Mr, Mrs, Ms, school, call & different'. 

The words 'ask, school, call & different', are in your child's spelling book if they have remembered to bring it into school for me to add the new words in. Please remember that this is not just for learning spellings, but also for handwriting practice. This means making sure that your child forms their letters starting and finishing at the correct point, and going in the right direction. Are the letters written on the correct lines with stalks going up and tails going down? 

In maths we have been recapping what we have learnt so far. 

In PSHE, we have been learning about having a healthy balanced diet and how everyone has different likes and dislikes, or chooses to eat or not to eat certain foods.  

In our topic about London, the children were looking at the artist, Stephen Wiltshire, who draws landmarks from memory. The children had a go at looking at a picture of a landmark and then drawing it from memory. 

Here are some computer game sites that might be of use for maths and phonics;

https://ictgames.com/, 

 https://www.timestables.co.uk/happy-burger.html , 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting, 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b08bzfnh/numberblocks

This week I have noticed that some uniform is not named. Anything that is not named or claimed will go in the lost property box. If you are missing uniform, you can find the item there. 

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team.

17.1.25

Hello everyone,

This week in phonics our new sounds are, 'y'- fly, reply, sky', 'ow'- snow, grow, follow, 'g'- giant, danger, magic & 'ph'- phone, photo, elephant. 

The tricky words are; could, would, should, who, whole, where & two. Putting these words around the home would help the children to remember them.

In maths, we continue to add and subtract up to 20, by making ten and adding the ones. 

In PSHE, we continue to learn about keeping healthy through exercise, sleep and healthy eating. 

We have finished our Taxi! topic and the children are thrilled to bring their models home. Can they remember 'axle, wheels and chassis? 

Last week we started computers. If you have a key board on a laptop or computer at home, please encourage your child have a go at typing their name, in capitals and lower case. If you do not have access to a key board, I have added a keyboard picture to print off at home, that they can practise on. 

Next week we will begin our Bright Lights, Big City topic, which focuses on London. We will be building some landmarks with cereal boxes, so please could you make the boxes flat again, as you did for the taxi and send the box into school by Monday. No bigger than large cereal box size please.

Some children have not remembered to bring in their reading books on time. Please could you remember to send them in every Monday, so that other groups can have their turn to read them. The Big Cat books are read in order, and if we don't have them back it is tricky to pass them on to the next child, as we have a limited amount of books. 

Thank you for being considerate. 

Have a great weekend,

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team. 

10.1.25

Happy New year, everyone and welcome back to routine!

This week has been very cold and icy, so please make sure you keep warm and drive carefully to school.'ea 

In phonics we have learnt some new sounds; 'y'- funny, baby, happy, 'ea' - head, bread, breakfast, 'wh'- wheel, whisper, whimper, 'oe'- toe, goes, 'oul'- shoulder & boulder.

The tricky words - 'want, water, many, any & again'

In maths we are learning to subtract up to 20, by rounding the ten, counting on to find out the largest amount, then counting back  to take away. 

In the topic Taxi!, we have been looking at 'wheels, axles and chassis'. We have designed our taxi ready for making next week. 

In PSHE we have been talking about 'Our Bodies, Our Business' which teaches children to look after themselves. 

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Kind Regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 Team

19.12.24

Dear Parents,

Here we are at the end of term 2. This week we have been busy with many Christmas activities to round up the term. 

The topics next term are Bright Lights, Big City, Taxi and Rain and Sunrays.

In the Bright Lights, Big City project, your child will learn the story of a local landmark. They will recap the countries that make up the United Kingdom, including their location, capital cities and some of their physical and human features. They will have the opportunity to do map work, using compasses and positional and directional language to plan routes around London. They will research the cause and impact of the Great Fire of London and look at some famous London landmarks. 

If you get a chance to go into London over the holidays, please point out any landmarks to the children that you might be passing. In Bright Lights, Big City, we will be looking at Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the Shard, the Gherkin, the Monument in Pudding Lane, the Royal Albert Hall, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and St Paul's Cathedral. Please keep any boxes for building landmarks, no bigger than normal size cereal boxes. I will let you know when to send these in, as we are making our taxis first. Please undo them along the seam and flatten them, so we can turn them inside out.

Rain and Sunrays

This project is linked to Bright Lights, Big City. 

This project teaches children about collagraph printing, including how to develop a motif to make single and repeated prints. Some of this topic will be covered at forest school. 

Taxi!

D&T project (Year 1)

This project is linked to Bright Lights, Big City. 

This project teaches children about wheels, axles and chassis and how they work together to make a vehicle move.

In the first week back, please send in a SMALL box with your child to make a taxi, ie a tooth paste box, hand soap box, mini cereal box, tea bag box etc. Please undo the boxes, along their seam so that they are flat and we can turn them inside out, ready for painting. Thank you.

Here in Y1 we wish you all a merry Christmas and a very happy new year. 

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team.

13.12.24

Hello everyone,

Well it has been a busy week here at Chiddingstone School and now we are on the wind down to Christmas. The children were amazing at the nativity performance. They sang brilliantly. Well done children. 

This week, we have been busy recapping phonics and all the tricky words learnt so far. 

In maths we are looking at, and comparing numbers to 20, by counting forwards and backwards, finding missing numbers and putting numbers in order.

The children are looking forward to Christmas activities. Next Thursday morning we will have our class Xmas party where we will play some fun games.

All the teachers are looking forward to a restful weekend, as are the children. It has been a busy week as you can all imagine!

Have a good weekend

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team.

6.12.24

Dear Parents,

Here we at the wind down to Christmas. This week in phonics we have just recapped all the sounds that we learnt this term. Do keep finding them in their reading books and keep up the tricky words. Also, continue to enjoy the sharing books. 

In maths we have begun to recognise and spell numbers up to 20 and we have looked at a 100 square to find patterns in numbers.

There has been lots of singing in class, ready for the nativity. I'm sure you have probably heard little snippets at home. We are looking forward to seeing you all on Wednesday at the nativity. Please don't forget to send in any costumes by Monday as we have our dress rehearsal on Tuesday. 

Next week we will begin Christmas activities and enjoy a slightly calmer classroom. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team.

29.11.24

Hello Parents,

This week in phonics we have learnt the sounds e-e- these, even, athlete, ie- field, shield, ew- new, chew, & aw- paw & claw.

Tricky words are could, would, should, our, house, mouse, water & want. Please help your child learn to read and spell the tricky words.

In topic we have learnt about Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. You can find the story on You Tube for KS1.

In maths we continue to measure with our hands and feet. 

This week the children took part in our annual prayer stations with their buddies in the church.

On Monday they also enjoyed the Robin Hood Christmas Panto. Oh no they didn't, Oh yes they did!

We are now learning our songs for the nativity, and there are a lot to get through. Please write in your child's diary to let me know if your child is an angel or shepherd. I have ordered some angel headbands. Please provide your child with an appropriate shepherds-like tea-towel (check or stripe) and a stretchy band (leg of a pair of tights will do) to keep the towel on their heads. Angels in plain white or yellow, shepherds in plain brown or black. PE trousers are fine for the shepherds, or white leggings for the angels. Their yellow house t-shirt or a plain white t-shirt is fine also.  We do not need wings or shepherds crooks thank you. Costumes to be named in a named bag and brought in sometime next week. School shoes to be worn with costumes. Hopefully there will be at least 10 of each character if not more. 

Going back to topics, please ask your children which are the capital cities of the UK. Some of them have forgotten. Some children are really good at recalling what they have learnt. 

Thank you.

Mrs Clare

Hello everyone,

Goodness me, the weeks are flying by, aren't they? 

This week in phonics we have been learning about split digraphs. We have started with 'a-e- take, made, make, i-e- time, like, inside, o-e- home, woke, explode and u-e- cute, cube, rude'. 

The tricky words are in the handwriting/spelling books. Please check that your child learns the spellings. 

In maths we are learning about length and height. We are also making our 3D shapes. 

In  our topic 'Human Senses', the children have had fun using their senses to listen to sounds, look at parts of objects, taste foods, feel objects in feely bags and smell aromas in pots. They had to guess what they all were. They have all had the opportunity to taste a variety of apples to test their taste buds and vote for their favourite apple. 

In PSHE, we have looked at how to look after our environment in our neighbourhood and what harms the environment. 

For the nativity, which is speeding up on us, the children will be angels or shepherds. They can choose, but I would like to try and have at least 10 of each, if not more. We are keeping costumes very simple. Brown or black tops and leggings for the shepherds, a stripy or chequered tea towel and a stretchy pop-sock/tights to tie around their head. Angels can wear white or yellow leggings and tops. We are looking at some angel head gear and we will let you know what we find.

Reading- if anyone would like to come into school in the mornings to help with 1:1 reading, that would be helpful. We would really like the children to excel in their reading, and the more practise they have the more fluent they will become. Do let the office know if you can manage even half an hour. Thank you.

Apologies, but reading books will be sent on Monday, to be returned on Wednesday. A busy day was had by all!

Have a great weekend

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team. 

15.11.24

Dear Parents,

This week in phonics we have covered the sounds, 'a' in acorn, baking, 'e' in be, he, we, she, being, 'i' in kind, wild & 'o' in post, over & most. 

The tricky words this week are in the spelling books, 'Mr, Mrs, Ms, ask & oh. 

In maths we have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes and repeated patterns. An example of this is circle, triangle, square, circle, triangle, square; what comes next? Colours were also included in this and finding the missing shape from the pattern.

In our topic, the children have been learning about hot countries near the equator and cold countries further away, as well as the countries and capital cities in the UK. They have looked at the different physical and human features in cities, towns and villages. 

They have been writing post cards to describe far away places and their adventures. 

In RE we are learning about the Christmas story and comparing thoughts about Christmas today and why we celebrate Christmas.  

In Geography, we have been learning about the countries in the UK and their capital cities. Please ask your child which capital city belongs to which country, in the UK. I will ask them on Monday. 

As we have had so much lost uniform to find, I will be doing a uniform check next week, to make sure all pieces of clothing are named. There is a lot of wasted teaching time looking for lost clothing. If it is named, clothing is returned quickly and therefore more time spent teaching, rather than searching. Every item should be named, even shoes, PE kit, Forest school kit and any other clothing worn at school, down to socks and smaller items. You'll be surprised what we have to look for, or how many un-named items go in second-hand uniform. Please do name clothing, it makes more important teaching time. 

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards

Mrs Clare

8.11.24

Dear parents and children,

Welcome back to term 2. I hope you all had a good rest.

In school we are up and running with phonics. This week we have covered new sounds, 'ir (bird, skirt), ie (pie, cried), ue (glue and argue), & u (unicorn & unit). 

Tricky words - here, their, today, people, one, & your.

I have put these words in the handwriting/spelling books which your child will bring home with their reading book on Fridays. The handwriting books are to be returned on a Wednesday, ready for the next set of words to be written inside. Please read the note inside the cover. 

In maths we are learning about position and ordinal numbers, for example 1st, 2nd, 3rd 4th - up to 10th. We are learning to write first, second, third etc Also looking carefully at which direction people are facing in a queue, so that we can tell who is 3rd from the left or 4th from the right. Words such as first, last and in between are also used to describe position. Understanding that the last two letters of the ordinal words are added to the numbers to show their position, eg 1st. 

In geography, for Our Wonderful World topic, we have been learning about the earth's physical features and human features, as well as the seven continents and five oceans. 

In PSHE we have been talking about how we can help our school community and how this links to our school vision, 'going above and beyond together', as well as linking to our theological values and the story of  The Good Samaritan. 

This term in RE we are looking at the incarnation and the story of Christmas. 

Have a fabulous weekend. It will be Christmas before we know it!

Mrs Clare

18.10.24

Dear Parents,

Here we are already at the end of the first term. Didn't it whizz past? 

In the last two weeks we have been going over and over the sounds and tricky words that we already know. 

In maths we have been recapping addition and subtraction. 

We have come to the end of our dinosaur topic, which the children really enjoyed. 

Next term the topics are;

Our Wonderful World

This essential skills and knowledge project teaches children about physical and human features, maps, cardinal compass points, and positional and directional language. They learn about the equator, hemispheres and continents and are introduced to the countries, capital cities and settlements of the United Kingdom. The children carry out simple fieldwork to find out about local physical and human features.

Human Senses

This project teaches children that humans are a type of animal known as a mammal. They name and count body parts and identify similarities and differences. They learn about the senses, the body parts associated with each sense and their role in keeping us safe.

Plant Part (forest school topic)

This project teaches children about wild and garden plants by exploring the local environment. They identify and describe the basic parts of plants and observe how they change over time.

Please keep reading over the holidays. 

Last week we had the firefighters that came to visit. Do enjoy the last of the term 1 photos and have a happy holiday. See you in term 2. 

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team. 

11.10.24

Hello everyone,

This week we have continued recapping sounds and tricky words. Please keep going at home. 

When the children bring home their books, please make sure they read the books a few times so that their reading becomes flowing and fluent.

In maths, we are now using pictures to make subtraction stories. For example, there are 6 animals altogether, 4 are eating leaves. How many are not eating leaves? The children are then using a number line to count back, and find the answer. A little bit of practise at home will help them to remember to count back for subtraction and not forwards to add. We have also been looking at equal numbers.

This week in topic we have found out what scientists think happened to the dinosaurs. Ask the children if they remember. We have been using percussion instruments to make high and low pitch sounds, long and short sounds, and loud to quiet 

sounds, and back to loud again, that sounded like dinosaurs roaring. 

In PSHE we have been talking about being part of a team, such as our own families, sports teams, church, school or after school club teams. We talked about why it is important to achieve together. This is also part of our school vision, 'Going above and beyond together'. 

In the morning the children enjoyed a drama workshop, acting out parts of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. That was a lot of fun!

Can you believe, that we are nearly at the end of the first term already? It's gone so quickly and the children have learnt so much in the three topics; Mix It!, Animal Parts & Dinosaur Planet. How much can they retain and retrieve? Talking about the topics will help their long term memory, ready to progress through school, as other topics follow on. 

Have a super weekend.

Kind regards

Mrs Clare

4.10.24

Dear parents,

This week has been very busy with harvest celebrations, singing and phonics recapping. For the next couple of weeks, we will continue to recap  the sounds learnt so far and the tricky words. Here is a list of the tricky words that the children should be able to recognise, read and spell;

I, and, at, so, no, go, it, in, into, to, do, of, like, the, he, she, we, me, be, are, by, my, out, about, what, when, have, love, pull, push, put, all, one & today. Putting these up around your home for the children to recognise would be beneficial to their reading and writing. 

During extended learning, one activity was to research facts about a dinosaur and write three facts about them. This was an exercise to encourage children to use a capital letter at the beginning of their sentence, finger spaces and a full stop. It's amazing how they remember to do this when writing a sentence in the phonic lesson, but when it's free writing, the rules go out the window. 

Practising this at home by writing stories, or a fact would help them to remember to use the rules of grammar and punctuation. 

In maths, we have continued and reviewed addition to 10, using part, part, whole, number stories, and subitising. Try using a die at home. Throw the die, can they see the number straight away without counting the spots? Use two dice, can they add up the numbers without counting? 

Godstone Farm Trip

What an amazing day! The children were fantastic. They had such a fabulous time. Lovely manners and super listening. We are so proud of them. They loved the dinosaur trail and looking at, and learning about the animals, thanks to farmer Chrissy. They thoroughly enjoyed the adventure playground and hopefully they will sleep well tonight. Well done children. 

A huge thank you to the parents and staff that helped on the trip, we couldn't have done it without you.

Enjoy the photos and the weekend.

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the y1 team. 

27.9.24

Hello everyone,

This week we have learnt some new sounds; 'ay ( play, day, say), ou (cloud, proud, sound), oy (boy, toy, joy) & ea (sea, read, each).

The tricky words this week are; like, do, you, little, says, said, pull, push, put & full.

In maths we have been learning to subitise, which means having the ability to look at an array of objects and know the number without counting. We are also learning to count on from a given number. 

We are coming to the end of the Animal Parts topic. This week we have been learning to use Venn diagrams and Carroll diagrams to sort animals. 

Next week we will begin the Dinosaur topic and we look forward to the trip to Godstone farm on the Friday the 4th October. 

If you are paying for your child to have milk, please check that they still want it, as sometimes they say no thank you. If they don't wish to have the milk, please cancel your order. 

I have attached the curriculum meeting letter and I have added a couple of bits to it. I have also attached the maths power point, which shows you the maths language the children will learn through the year. Please do try and find time to read them and if there are any questions, please email the office. 

Thank you very much

Kind regards

Mrs Clare

20.9.24

Hello everyone,

This week has been extremely busy, along with the excitement about the visit from Emily Craig. The children were very inspired and listened well to what she had to say. I wonder how many children will take on sports for enjoyment? 

This week in phonics we are still recapping phase 3 sounds and the following tricky words; some, come, there, was, they, pure & sure. Please practise these at home. 

In maths we are looking at number stories, for example, 'there are 5 ducks, three more come along. How many ducks altogether'. 

Encourage the children to tell you number stories in the car as you drive to school. Using addition and subtraction. 

In our topic we have been grouping animals into reptiles, mammals, invertebrates, fish, birds and amphibians. We have also been looking closely at their features, how they breathe, have offspring (from an egg or not) and what and how they eat their food.  Next week we will be looking at Venn diagrams and Carroll diagrams, in order to sort in a variety of ways. 

In PSHE we have been talking about limited time on an internet device to be able to stay healthy and to have a calm sleep, not to have a device for at least an hour before bed. The children drew other activities that they enjoyed, rather than tablets and computers. However, we did talk about how we are able to learn and find out many things from the internet and enjoy the occasional game, by staying safe. 

Extended learning ( a more structured continuous provision) has been going well. The activities are linked to the topic and the children are enjoying building, drawing and painting along with craft making. 

Have a great weekend,

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team. 

13.9.24

Dear Parents,

The children are getting on really well and settling in nicely. We are trying to remember that when we talk in class we don't have to shout. A little practise at home would help, thank you. Though it is quite exciting in class 1!

Here is a summary of this week's learning.

In phonics, we are still going over the previous sounds. I have put a sound mat of all the sounds we are learning this year, in your child's bag. There are quite a lot of digraphs and digraphs as you will see. Have them to hand, so that as I inform you on the sounds of the week you can spot them together in their reading books or in stories you read to them. This week we have covered 'ai, ee, igh, oa, ow, ear, air er, sh,zz, ss in words. The tricky words we have covered are; what, when, he, she, we, me, be,  have & love. Having these around the house to play hunt the word would help the children remember them and keep up with our phonic lessons. 

In maths we have been comparing and ordering numbers to 10, using the language 'more than, fewer than, greater, smaller and equal to. The children have also been practising to write number the correct way round. 

In PSHE we have been talking about the use of devices to go on the internet and how to keep safe. Always tell an adult! I'm sure many of you signed in to the safety course on Wednesday evening.

We have begun our science topic about animals. We have started to put animals into their groups, such as mammal, reptile, amphibian, fish, bird and invertebrate. 

For next week:

If you or a family member have a pet, could you please send in a photo, so that the children can sketch the animal. If not, the children can bring in a picture of their favourite animal to sketch. Also, please provide your child with a smooth oval, light coloured pebble, no bigger than 6cm, so that they can paint it to create an animal. 

This week the children are bringing home their reading book and a chosen book from our class library. Please make sure that the reading books are returned every Monday. This is really important as we give the books to the next group for reading. The books from our class library will be changed twice a week, Monday and Friday. If your child is enjoying the library book, they can of course keep it for a little longer. In their bags you will find a book mark to keep at home, with questions you might like to ask your child when reading any book. Just pick 2-3 and talk about their ideas.

Thank you for your help

Have a great weekend

Kind regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team

6.9.24

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the first class page. The children are settling into class 1 very well and they are enjoying the first topic called Mix It!

This week the children have been mixing paints and finding out about primary colours and secondary colours. They have been looking at the colours in paintings by various artists and discussing how they feel about them. In class 1 we also begin the day with 'Extended learning' which means the children enjoy activities to do with their topic. 

In phonics, we are recapping phase 3 sounds, reading tricky words and recognising digraphs and trigraphs in words. 

The sounds we are recapping are; ai, ee, igh, oo (moon), oo (hook), ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air & er. 

The tricky words that we have been reading this week are; no, go, so, my, by, to, into, out & the. 

In maths we have been reading, matching and writing numbers to 10, and counting up to 20 and back again. We have also been finding missing numbers that go between, before or after two given numbers. For example, 5, 6, - ?  7  - 9 ? and so on. 

Do keep practising writing the numbers at home, so that the begin and end at the correct place and are facing the correct way round. 

This week the children are also learning some of our classroom rules, such as using little voices in the classroom and not shouting out, as well as good listening. They are super at tidying up and looking after the resources, which really helps the staff and gives time for more learning. 

Reading will begin on Monday and books will be sent home next weekend. 

Enjoy the first week's photos. 

Have a good weekend

Kind Regards

Mrs Clare and the Y1 team.