Latest Learning 2024-2025

13.12.24 - PSHE

We have had lots of important discussions in PSHE this term; we have been discussing keeping safe in familiar situations, their own personal safety, keeping safe outside their home and who can help them. All the children were able to talk about what they need to do in and outside of school to keep them safe. Lots of the children were also able to recall their learning from Red Base.

 

 

06.12.24 - Science!

We have started a brand new Topic in Science which is Animals including Humans. We are going to learn about... How are animals different from each other; which animals are herbivores, carnivores and omnivores and which parts of the body help us to see, hear, smell, taste and touch. There is lots of new vocabulary to learn!

At the start of our Science sessions we have been learning a song all about the senses; we know there are 5 senses and they all support our understanding of the world around us. Afterwards, we began to learn about different groups of animals. First we looked at fish, amphibians and birds. Then this week we have looked at reptiles and mammals! We are beginning to be able to explain what the key features of the groups are and why the animals wouldn't fit into other groups.

 

 

 

 

22.11.24 - Marvellous Maths!

This week we have been exploring 2D and 3D shapes in maths. We spoke about the differences we could see between 2D and 3D shapes, 2D shapes are flat and 3D are not. We have learnt new vocabulary, such as: side, vertices (vertex if it is just one!) and face. We have been able to recognise and sort shapes as well as creating and continuing repeated patterns. 

 

 

11.11.24 - Anti-Bullying Week!

This week has been a busy week!  We had a focus around Anti-Bullying week, learning all about what is bullying and our school definition - 'lots of times and on purpose'; We had lots of discussions around our Golden Rules, what to do if someone feels unhappy and what is friendly/not friendly behaviour. 

 

04.11.24 Reading!

This week we have received lots of brand new reading books! We were so excited by this and couldn't wait to read them. We all had a chat about how to treat our new books, making sure that we are careful when reading them - turning each page with care, making sure we are not creasing any pages! Then when we have finished reading, putting them back into the correct baskets and not left out. 

 

 

 

25.10.24 - Art. 

As part of our learning about Diwali we used clay to create our own Diays! We looked what Diyas are/what they're used for, the different shapes of Diyas and how they are decorated. We then followed a set of instructions to create our own. We had to make sure that we followed each step carefully and then we were able to decorate them using tools to carve patterns and then when dry painted them different colours! 

 

18.10.24 - History Learning: Neil Armstrong!

This week has been an exciting week in Orange base! We have had a planetarium come to visit us! This is linked in with our history learning all about Neil Armstrong - the first man on the moon! Inside the planetarium we: watched Apollo 11 land on the moon and Neil Armstrong taking his first steps; looking at our solar system, how far away each planet is from the sun and each planet's differences; lastly, we explored star constellations! We will follow this up by writing a recount in Literacy, but in the meantime we used our Art lesson to sketch our solar system, and we also created constellations with marshmallows! 

 

 

11.10.24 - PSHE!

This week in PSHE we have looked at roles and responsibilities; what this means in school and at home. We had whole class discussions about our responsibilities at home; brushing our teeth, getting ourselves changed and tidying away any toys. Some children said they also help out with the washing up and putting away the dishes at home which is fantastic.

 

We discussed our in school responsibilities and one of the main ones we discussed is linked to our Pride cog; keeping our classroom and other areas of school tidy. We all understood that it is a joint effort to make sure every person in class is taking pride in their classrooms. Another responsibility in particular is our Reading Monitors; it is their responsibility to make sure that our reading areas are tidy and each book is in the correct basket.

 

   

04.10.24 Science

In Science this week we have been carrying out an investigation; we placed a water gauge in our Orange base area to discover how much water would fall. Together we measured the guage and discovered it had collected 8cm of water! We have also been keeping a weather diary, we have a thermometer outside of our classrooms and have been checking the temperature every morning!  

 

27.09.24 - Literacy!

This week in Literacy we have been continuing to learn about our writers toolkit. Our toolkit contains everything we need for writing! Our captial letters, finger spaces and full stops. We have also learnt about adjectives and when we use them! We have been putting our learning into practise by describing new settings for our story!

 

20.09.24 - Maths!

This week we have been exploring place value within 10. Looking at one more and one less, comparing groups and counting backwards from 10. The children have loved using the manipulatives to build on their understanding of these steps. They were also using the Resilient Rhino cog as sometimes we found it tricky! As well as the Collaboration Cog as we were working together with a partner. 

 

                                     

 

13.09.24 - Reading!

We love to read in Orange Base! Our teachers and support staff have created lovely reading areas where we can sit with our classmates and enjoy a good book! We are starting to take home our reading records and reading books so we can practise our learning in SoundsWrite at home. 

 

            

06/09/24 - Welcome Back to School!

We are so proud of how our Year 1 pupils have settled back into school! They have been so positive and respectful of our school rules and expectations. They have enjoyed sitting at their tables and completing their independent work. We are really impressed with their independence and resilience. What a great year of learning we have ahead!

            

 

 

 

Archive - Latest Learning From 2023-2024

05.7.24 - Bikeability!

This week we have been learning how to ride a bike! We started with talking about safety on a bike and what we need to wear. Making sure that whenever we're riding we wear our helmets to protect our heads and we are using our looking eyes and listening ears so we are aware of what is going on around us. The children started with no pedals to build on their balancing skills and eventually worked their way up to riding with pedals and no stabilisers! 

We have also had a whole school focus on Road Safety and this has fit perfectly; linking our learning of safety on a bike to what it would be when we are out and about. Just like when we are riding our bikes we need to look and listen when we are crossing the road we need to follow the green cross code. Think, stop, look and listen and when it is safe to cross we can do. 

 

14.06.24 - Team Work!

This week in Topic we have been focusing on Teamwork! First we learnt what this means and how it can be done; we discovered that teamwork only works when everyone is working together towards the same goal. We looked at different examples of teamwork and we now know that in sports such as football, everyone is working as a team to try their best to win! 

We then put our learning into practise, all of the children went out onto our playdeck where there were lots of activities. Each one not only practised the skills of teamwork but it also linked to different areas of learning. They linked to our cogs as they had to be resilient (Resilient Rhino) if they found it tricky, they had to work collaboratively (Collaborative Cat) to complete the activities, lots of the children also used the Enquiry Elephant and Reflective Rabbit cog as they were discussing with the adults how well they worked together as well as what they can do next time to try and complete the activity faster! 

Not only did these activities support the Bankside Cogs it also supported their learning, there was lots of opportunities to use the learning the children have completed over the year. They used their maths knowledge to discuss: comparison, length and height, subitising, addition and subtraction, recognising shapes. They continued to work on their fine motor skills through cutting activities as well as having to connect different resources. One of the other skills they used was their communication skills, they had to make sure they were talking to each other and supporting each member of the team! 

The children thoroughly enjoyed this and cannot wait to do it all again! 

                   

 

07.06.24 - Science!

This week we have been looking at growing. We have explored our outside garden area and the variety of plants there. There are lots of fragrant and scented plants such as lemon balm and rosemary!  We retrieved past learning about what plants need to grow as we moved some sunflowers from their smaller pots into the tyres outside. These plants still need the same care as they would have if they were inside. As we are hoping that these will grow very tall we added some canes and tied them together to support them. 

                         

 

24.05.24 - Topic/Literacy!

This week we performed an assembly to our families! It was based around our Topic/Literacy African Animals. In Topic each class learnt about an animal. First we thought of a range of questions we would like to find the answers to, and then we started to research. We used a mix of non-fiction books and the internet to find out the answers. We looked at where the animals live, what they look like, what they eat and some did you know facts. In our Literacy we learnt all about reports; it is a non-fiction text and has lots of different features. We used the information we have researched in Topic to create our reports. We then created actions to be able to retell it, this supported us with our writing and our performing!

   

 

17.05.24 - Maths!

This week we have been exploring numbers up to 100! We have been learning about... one more and one less of any given number, comparing any number up to 100, partitioning tens and ones, adding and subtracting numbers. We then explored a 100 square through playing games such as snakes and ladders! 

          

 

10.05.24 - Literacy!

Our Literacy topic this term is all about African Animals. We were sent a letter from a Safari Keeper called Andy; he sent us a report about Meerkats and asked us if he were able to write our own about another animal. Each class has been researching a chosen animal and this week we have started to put all of that information together in preparation for writing it ourselves. 

                                        

26.04.24 - Science!

This week Orange Base have been very excited, the Red base chicks have started to hatch! We took children down in groups to see them as they couldn't be out of the incubator for longer than 10 minutes!  We spoke about our own experiences of chicks when we were in Red Base and what we could remember. 

                                     

15.04.24 - Benjamin Zephaniah Week!

This week we have been learning about Benjamin Zephaniah, we have explored his poems, songs and even drew our own portraits!  In Literacy we have created our own acrostic poem which we are really excited to perform in our special school assembly next week.

                 

                                                                                                                                      

 

22.03.24 - Creative Project Work!

We have been looking at the artist Jeff Koons. He creates very large sculptures and uses metallic colours to make them shine! We were particularly inspired by his flower sculptures and decided to create our own. We used paper mache to build the different parts, painted them using metallic colours and then connected the parts together. 

                                                                                                  

 

15.03.24 - Science!

This week we have finished off our growing science topic! We invited all of the parents into school to come and plant their very own sunflower or bean to take home. We spoke about all the things we have learnt during this topic such as... learning what each part of a plant is called and then labelling it, what a plant needs to grow, how to plant a plant and the children also became scientists and we currently have an ongoing experiment in class where we planted 3 beans at the start of the topic and placed them in different areas of the classroom to see where it would grow best! 

                   

                   

08.03.24 - RE!

In RE this week, the children listened to the biblical story ‘Jonah and the whale’. They then used actions to retell the story. Later they worked in groups to sequence the story.

                

          

 

01.03.24 - Art!

This week we have been learning all about Spring and linked this to our art learning! We have been looking at the different parts of a plant and then moved on to create some observational drawings. Our work is incredible!

         

 

23.02.24 - Understanding of the World!

To finish our topic of 'Where are we from?' we had a day celebrating all of the children and their backgrounds. The children came into school wearing their cultural/special clothing as well as the adults in school! In the morning we had our Family Friday session with all of the parents who came to join the celebrations with activities such as Mehendi, creating Romanian bracelets and other exciting activities. In the afternoon we had a party where the children tasted food from different countries that the children had bought in from home. We discussed what country the food was from and whether they had tasted it before. It was a lovely day and the children thoroughly enjoyed discussing themselves and others!

 

    

 

 

 

09.02.24 - PE!

The children in Year 1 have thoroughly enjoyed PE this half term! We have been focusing on developing and applying our ball skills as well as looking at exploring and describing these skills. We have been looking at exploring and describing different movements, selecting and linking movements together. We have also been working on the collaborative cog to work with others to compare movements and skills. 

                                                          

01.02.24 - Understanding the World

This half-term we have been looking at different continents, countries and their capital cities. In our topic this week we have been exploring this further and using our knowledge, alongside finding out more information in atlases, maps and globes. We then used this new knowledge to draw and write about our world!

                                       

 

22.01.24 - Marvellous Maths!

In maths this week we have learnt all about place value to 50. We have been focusing on making groups of tens, partitioning numbers into tens and ones, estimating on a number line to 50 and looking at one more and one less. It has been a very practical week which has supported us to have a stronger understanding of how many tens and ones are in each number! We have also focused on counting forwards and backwards from any number within 50. 

                       

 

15.01.24 - Focus on Literacy!

This week we have been learning all about Bangladesh and Pakistan. In Topic, we spent some time in our corridor reading area looking at books linking to this, some children were able to find the flag of their home country in the books! We also spoke about the different languages in some of the books and whether anyone spoke that language. 

In Literacy, we have been looking at using Colourful Semantics to support us in building and writing sentences; understanding the structure of sentences. We have also been looking at the grammatical features of a sentence, identifying where capital letters, finger spaces and full stops are within a written text and editing the text to add them if they were missing.