Year 1 Class News

Reading: Tom Palmer

This year, some children at school attended an online workshop with author Tom Palmer. Tom Palmer has been in touch to let us know about some local events he is attending in half term.

Message from Tom

For children and families – I am also coming to Leeds on Thursday 2 November 2023 :
*       Farsley Book Festival – 10am-11am more here
https://trumanbooks.co.uk/event/flf-kids-day
*       Chapel Allerton Library – 2pm
*       Pudsey Community Hub and Library – 4pm

Geography Fieldwork

For the next park of our Geography learning, we ventured out of school to carry out some fieldwork in our local area.

Before fieldwork, geographers start with a question they want to find an answer to. Our question was “ What is the local ‘green’ space (Sandringham Park) used for and how could it be improved?

Wetherby Town Council owns and maintains most of the parks and open, green space recreational facilities in Wetherby, including Sandringham Park. Sandringham Park is a ‘Field in Trust’ green space which means
that it is protected so that it will be available for the people of Wetherby forever. However, this park is looking very tired and the council are planning to update it.

A green space is open-area reserved for parks and other “green areas”, including plant life, woodlands, water features other kinds of natural environment.
“Our forest school is a green space,” commented Athena.

Together, we mapped the route from school to the park and then we discussed how we would stay safe whilst outside of school.

We will cross the road at the zebra crossing.  Daisy

We will stay with our partner.  Woody

Don’t walk too close to the road.  Ariella

Stay with your group and adult. Poppy

Concentrate and listen to instructions. – Alexa

The children spent some time looking around the green space. Then, in groups, the class asked and answered some questions.

1. Is there a playground? Yes, but it has been damaged. – Millie
2. Are there places to sit down? Yes, but I think there should be more picnic benches. – Oly
3. How many rubbish bins can you see? We counted 5 bins but there was lots of rubbish on the floor. – Ellis

4. Is there an area to walk dogs? Yes

5. Does the park have anything that keeps children and animals safe? Yes, there are railings around the playground and a gate. Dogs are not allowed into the paly area. – Harry

6. Why do you think the council want to change this green space? Because it is very unsafe and there is a lot of damage. People can’t enjoy it now!  Alfie

I think there should be swings for people who have to use wheelchairs. Everybody should be able to use the park. – Freddy

Maths: Less than, greater than, equal to

Today, the children have been introduced to the greater than (>) and less than (<) symbols when comparing numbers.

The class have moved on from describing whether there are “fewer”, “more” or the “same” number of objects to comparing numerical values using the vocabulary “less than”, “greater than” or “equal to” alongside the symbols <, > and =.

Top tip

The open end of the symbol always has the largest number next to it.

Using the images below, the class added the correct symbol accordingly.

Next, using conkers and lolly sticks, the class made up their own statements and recorded them in their books.

Help at home

Children may want to use the word “bigger” rather than “greater”. For consistency of language, encourage children to use the word “greater”. “Bigger” often refers to the size of an object rather than a number, for example a bigger teddy or a bigger slide.
Children may get the symbols mixed up. Using cubes and straws to physically make the symbols can help children to understand them.

Mindfulness Matters

Year 1 began their Friday morning with some mindfulness and yoga. 

Being mindful means having your mind on what you are doing. It’s the opposite of rushing or doing too many things at once. To be mindful, you slow down to take your time, which is hard to do in our busy lives.

The children learnt a breathing technique called ‘Balloon Belly Breathing and were able to demonstrate some basic yoga poses.

We are geographers

Year 1 have been learning about the countries that make up the United Kingdom and their capital cities.

Help at home

Quiz your child on their knowledge of capital cities. Can they tell you the four capital cities of the countries in the United Kingdom?

Today, the children have been locating and naming the seas that surround the United Kingdom.

Help at home 

Using the images below, ask your child to match the body of water to the correct location. The children have really enjoyed using Google Earth to explore scale and size of different locations. Why not go on an exploration at home? By zooming in on planet Earth slowly, the class were amazed by the amount of water there is on our planet.

Finally, we spent some time looking at an atlas. Some of the children were able to locate the UK and the surrounding seas.

How can we look after our world?

This half term, we are thinking all about The Creation Story. We have been learning what happened on each of the seven days that the world was created by God.

This week, we thought about how it feels when people do not respect things we have made. This led us to consider how people do not always look after the world God created. We looked at pictures of pollution and thought about rules God might have for his world.

We then made some fabulous posters about how we should look after the world.

Reading with prosody

Each week, the children are learning a poem. With daily practise, along with added prosody, the class can recall the poem off by heart by the end of the week.

Here is the poem for you to enjoy with your child.

Read by Mrs Freeman

Living and Learning: I know that rights come with responsibilities.

Every Monday afternoon, the children have a Living and Learning lesson with Mrs Bald.

What is Living and Learning and why is it important?

Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) is a vital part of school life and ultimately our children’s future health and wellbeing. Our Living and Learning provision helps pupils to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes they need to live confident, healthy, independent lives now and in the future.  It is embedded within wider learning we offer to ensure that pupils experience positive relationships with adults and with each other, and that those who are most vulnerable are identified and supported. Pupils are encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities and experiences across and beyond the curriculum, contributing fully to the life of our school and community.

Our statement this week: I know that rights come with responsibilities.

As a group, the children discussed that alongside every right comes responsibility. At school for example, children have the right to play and relax, and the responsibility to play alongside others safely and respectfully.

Next, as individuals, the class thought about what they have responsibility for in and out of school.

I have a responsibility to ……

pick up litter – Olly/Woody

look after my friends – Poppy/Esme

look after my dog – Athena

look after my dad – Kupa

look after my sister – Daisy

put rubbish in the bin – Alexa

to look after our family – Arthur

to look after animals – Oscar

to walk the dog – Harry/Freddy

help our friends when they fall over – Alfie

to listen – Vincent

Help at home

Discuss the meaning of responsibility.

Ask your child to name five things they are responsible for. They could draw a picture and bring it into school to go on our Living and Learning display.

Here are some examples.

Forest Friday

Year 1 thoroughly enjoyed their first session in our forest school. This takes place in the woodland area towards the back of the school and it gives the children a chance to learn in an outside, natural environment.

Here are a few snaps from Friday afternoon.

Within these weekly sessions, children will be supported to take risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.

It was lovely to see all of the children exploring different areas within the woodland. The activities included:

• litter picking
• mud kitchen
• art
• exploring the foliage
• hammocks
• swings
• balancing

Please remember to send your child with wellies and long trousers each Friday or waterproofs if you have them.

Geography – Where in the world am I?

We are geographers.

Over the coming weeks, the children will develop their knowledge of location when locating and identifying the four countries that make up the UK and their capital cities. They also learn which seas surround the UK.
The class will be exploring both human and physical features in their own locality using maps, photographs and fieldwork.

To begin with, we used Google Earth to explore our continent, country, city and town. The children were amazed as we zoomed into planet Earth gradually and finally arrived at our school gates.

Help at home by discussing these images with your child. Can they recall which country, city and town they live in?

Next, the children thought about the size of each locality.

The continent is very big!   – Woody

Wetherby looks a lot smaller than Europe!  –  Daisy

Using concentric circles the class were able to compare the sizes of each location giving them a sense of scale.

Below is the geographical vocabulary that the children will be learning throughout this topic.

   atlas: a collection of maps, usually in a book
• city: a large town
• capital city: a city where the government of a country is located
• compass: a tool for finding direction
• locality: an area or neighbourhood
• landmark: an object or feature of a locality that has importance and can be     used to help you find your way
• physical geography: physical geography looks at the natural things in our    environment
• human geography: human geography looks at changes in the       environment by humans
• fieldwork: observing and collecting data in a locality
• map: a drawing of a place, usually from above
• map key: a little box on a map which explains what the
different lines and symbols on a map mean