Year 1 have had another fantastic half-term filled with lots of learning and fun! Everyone has been working really hard and we could not be prouder of you!

We started this half-term on a high, participating in the CUSP Food Festival! We made Cowboy Caviar and Tortilla Cups – they were delicious! We really enjoyed learning new skills and trying new foods, even if we weren’t sure we would like them. It was a huge success!     

In maths, we have been focusing on numbers to 50, partitioning them into tens and ones. This is a very important skill to learn and will help us as we move onto bigger numbers. We have also been adding and subtracting using counting on, number lines and crossing out. We have just started our measurement topic, looking at length and height. We are really enjoying practical maths work and are excited to carry on with this after Easter!

In English, we have written fantastic stories! Our focus was to use adjectives when describing a familiar setting. We have been broadening our vocabulary and now know lots of new words! We have been exploring the book ‘Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth’ in our reading lessons. We have learnt lots of facts and have some brilliant knowledge about the world around us. We decided the main message from the book is to be kind to everyone and that it is okay to be different – everyone is unique! In year 1, this is something we think is very important to remember. We love story time and are developing a love of books and reading!

This leads onto one of our favourite days this half-term – World Book Day! We loved wearing our pyjamas to school and spending the whole day celebrating books and reading! We partnered with Year 5 to share books and read together. This was a lovely experience, and we hope to do it again soon!

In science, we have enjoyed exploring a range of materials. We have been able to identify what material objects are made from and discuss their properties. Our favourite lesson was our practical experiment to see which material is the most waterproof!

In history, we have continued learning about significant people. We found out more about Mary Anning and created fact files about her life. We learnt what the word legacy means and decided that Mary Anning’s legacy was helping us to know more about the prehistoric past. We have just started learning about David Attenborough and showed lots of curiosity about his incredible work. We are excited to find out more about him and his life!

We have been really enjoying learning about hot and cold places in geography! We now know where the equator is and how this affects the climate and temperature of countries around the world. We identified hot and cold countries, finding out where different animals live!

We have spent lots of time learning about different religions and their special celebrations and festivals in RE. We first looked at how people around the world celebrate birthdays, weddings and family occasions, noting how these can be religious and non-religious. We then moved on to learn about Ramadan and Eid, making lanterns and designing our own Mehndi patterns. We also learnt about Passover and the Seder meal. We are now learning about the Easter Story. We are very proud of the mature and respectful discussions children are having.

In DT this half-term, we have been exploring the question ‘how does food affect your senses?’ through cooking and trying new foods! We made rainbow wraps, crudités and vegetable kebabs.

Please remember to keep reading with your child every day. Reading at home and listening to stories has huge benefits for your child’s learning. It accelerates their reading progress, widens their vocabulary and increases their confidence across the curriculum.

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. You should all be very proud of your children, we certainly are. They are superstars! We hope you have a wonderful break and look forward to seeing you back in school for another fantastic half-term.

Miss Watson, Miss Meakin and Mrs Bolton.