Year 1 Blogs

w/b 15th December 2025

What a truly wonderful final week of the year we have had together! It has been a week full of joy, celebration and special moments that really showed how much our children have flourished together.

We are so incredibly proud of all of the children for their fantastic Nativity performance. Their confidence, enthusiasm and teamwork were a joy to watch. We also had great fun at our Christmas party and Christmas dinner. There were lots of smiles, laughter and festive cheer as the children celebrated together.

Thank you so much for all of your continued support this term. It is very much appreciated and is evident in the children's great progress and engagement with all of their learning. Wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful Christmas; we look forward to seeing everyone in the New Year.

Please enjoy our photos from this week, which capture some of the lovely memories we have made together.

Miss Roxburgh and the Year One Team

 

w/b 8th December 2025

What a fun-filled week it has been in Year One! The classroom has been buzzing with excitement as we continue preparing for our KS1 Nativity. Most of our time has been dedicated to practising and polishing the performance. We now know all the songs and actions incredibly well and it has been wonderful to see the children growing more confident on stage each day. We are so proud of every single child and cannot wait to see them shine next week during our dress rehearsal on Monday and both performances on Wednesday. It promises to be a magical moment and we’re excited to share it with you all.

In English this week, we have been busy writing instructional sentences using time adverbials such as first, next, then, and finally, in preparation for creating our own trap instructions next week. We also had fun writing our own ingredients spells, making sure to include the conjunction and to join our ideas.

In maths, we have completed two assessments this week: Paper 1 (Arithmetic) and Paper 2 (Reasoning and Problem Solving). The children worked incredibly hard and we are very proud of them all.

In DT, we have continued our project of making a friend for Rapunzel. This week, the children worked hard to cut out their felt pieces and carefully staple them together. It was a little tricky at times but everyone showed fantastic perseverance and supported one another brilliantly. We’re looking forward to adding the finishing touches next week!

On Thursday we enjoyed a fun and festive Elf Run to raise money for St. Luke’s. Thank you for your support! We also had a wonderful time at the theatre on Friday, where we enjoyed a fantastic performance of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Key dates for next week

•  Monday 15^th December- KS1 Nativity (Dress rehearsal)
• Wednesday 17^th December- KS1 Nativity performances (2pm and 6:15pm)
•  Thursday 18^th December- KS1 Christmas party and Christmas dinner 
•  Friday 19^th December- Our final day in school

I hope you have a great weekend!

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 1st December 2025

What a wonderfully busy week we’ve had in Year One!

Most of our time has been spent in the hall, practising for our upcoming KS1 Nativity performance on Wednesday 17th December. The children have been working incredibly hard, learning the actions, practising the songs, and growing in confidence each time they step onto the stage. It has been such a joy to watch them shine. Their enthusiasm is infectious and we are all so proud of the effort they are putting into retelling a very special story. 

A little reminder:
Please could all costumes be sent into school in a labelled bag by next Friday (12th December) so that everything is ready for our dress rehearsal on Monday 15th December. Thank you!

In English, we have been exploring some exciting new vocabulary from our model text, Instructions on How to Catch a Witch. The children enjoyed discovering words and phrases such as ‘a cunning creature’, ‘tips’ and ‘cast spells’. We talked about what these words mean and how they help to make our writing more interesting. The children then had a go at using this new vocabulary in their own sentences.

In maths this week, the children have completed their end-of-unit check for our addition and subtraction topic and so we have now begun our new unit on shape. In our first lesson, we explored a variety of 3D shapes, including spheres, cubes and cylinders. Some of these were a little tricky to remember at first, but the children showed great teamwork and perseverance as they worked together to identify and name each shape. Well done, Year One!

In PSHE, we spent time thinking about the special people in our lives — those who help us, care for us, and make us feel safe and loved. The children shared some lovely ideas during our discussions. They then created thoughtful cards to give to their special person, taking great care with their drawings and messages.

In science, we had great fun investigating height. We began by making predictions about who we thought might be the tallest and the shortest in our class. The children shared their ideas and explained their reasons, just like real scientists! We then enjoyed measuring everyone and putting ourselves into height order. The children were excited to see whether their predictions were correct and loved comparing the results.

As we will be on the theatre trip next Friday, our Forest School session has been moved to Wednesday morning next week. The weather has been very wet lately and lots of children have needed to change their socks. It would be great if you could pop a spare pair of socks into their bag for Forest School days. Thank you so much!

I look forward to seeing many of you this evening for our Christmas fair!

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 24th November 2025

We have had a wonderful week in Year One.

One of the highlights has been our Nativity song learning. The children have truly enjoyed practising their songs and it’s been lovely to see their confidence grow as they learn the words and actions. The classroom has been filled with beautiful singing and we are so excited to share their hard work with you soon! Both KS1 Nativity performances will take place on Wednesday 17th December at 2pm and 6pm. Our dress rehearsal will take place on Monday 15th December and costumes should be in no later than Friday 12th December.

In English, we have continued to plan and write our traditional tale narratives. The children have been working hard to include important writer’s knowledge in their work, such as using the suffixes –er, –es, and –s correctly. They’ve shown great care in their writing, thinking carefully about their characters, settings, and the structure of their stories.

In maths, the children were introduced to subtraction as “taking away”, first exploring this concept without using the subtraction symbol. They then moved on to recording their work in simple number sentences, supported by familiar “first, then, now” stories. For example: First there were 5 birds. Then 2 flew away. Now there are 3 → 5 − 2 = 3.
The week ended with the children using a number line to subtract by counting back, helping them build confidence and understanding.

In computing, we learned how to access and complete tasks in the 2Dos area on Purple Mash.

In geography, we identified the human and physical features around our school grounds and used these to create our own maps. The children then added a key to clearly show the different features they included.

In RE, we learned that Jesus was not a Christian – he was Jewish. As a boy, Jesus went to school at the synagogue, the Jewish place of worship. We explored the event in Luke 4:15–17, where Jesus, as an adult, visits the synagogue in Nazareth and reads from the scroll of Isaiah.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 17th November 2025

What a wonderfully busy and exciting week of learning it has been!

In English, we have begun planning and writing our own narratives inspired by the story of Rapunzel. The children have been working on their ‘octopus openings’—the first part of their stories that introduces the main character and explains why the good character becomes trapped.

In maths, we focused on using number bonds to identify missing parts before introducing formal subtraction. The children were then introduced to the subtraction symbol (–) for the first time and explored how it connects to their existing number bond knowledge. Now that they understand both addition and subtraction, they have begun working with fact families, using three numbers to create all eight related addition and subtraction facts.

In geography, we explored our school grounds using a map and worked with a partner to add in human and physical features. For example, Mr Simmons’ hut is a human feature, while the trees are a physical feature.

In PE, we completed our assessments, which included sprinting, throwing and catching, and the standing long jump.

In Science, we continued our Animals Including Humans topic by investigating who might have the biggest feet in the class. The children made predictions using what they already know—for example, they might assume someone has the biggest feet because they are the tallest. They enjoyed comparing ideas and thinking scientifically about their predictions.

In RE, we learned about weddings and listened to the story of Jesus attending a wedding in Cana, where he turned water into wine. The children really enjoyed role-playing the story in groups.

In PSHE, we discussed some of our important school rules and talked about how these rules help keep everyone safe. The children shared great ideas about why rules matter and how they help us look after ourselves and each other.

In computing, we continued to explore Purple Mash. The children learned how to open an activity and save their work to the ‘My Work’ area, building their confidence with using digital tools independently.

Today we also said goodbye to the wonderful Miss Griffiths. We have loved having her in our class and have learned so many new things from her. We wish her the very best of luck in her next steps and will miss her greatly.

I hope you all have a great weekend!
Miss Roxburgh

 

 

w/b 10th November 2025

We have had a wonderful week of learning in Year One! The children have enjoyed learning new things, especially our Nativity songs! It was great to speak with many of you during parent consultations this week to discuss your child’s fantastic progress. I am so proud of each and every one of them!

I’d also like to share that Miss Griffiths will be leaving us next Friday. We are so grateful for her care, commitment and support in Year One. She will be greatly missed in our team and we wish her he very best of luck for the future!

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 3rd November 2025

What a brilliant first week back of learning it has been! The classroom has been full of excitement, curiosity and creativity as we have settled back into our routines. A huge thank you to all the families who joined us for our Bonfire Night celebration. It was wonderful to see so many of you there enjoying the fireworks!

In English this week, we had quite a surprise! When we arrived on Tuesday, we discovered a mysterious spell book, a few strands of blonde hair and even a cauldron in our classroom. Working together, the children became detectives by sharing ideas, making predictions and discussing who these strange items could belong to. After much excitement and teamwork, we discovered that the hair belonged to Rapunzel! From there, we explored the new vocabulary in our model text, learning the meanings of words like ‘riches’, ‘explore’ and ‘trapped’. The children then used these new words to write sentences of their own.

In maths, we have continued with our Addition and Subtraction (within 10) unit. This week, we have been focusing on number bonds to 10. We have also formalised the idea of addition as bringing two or more parts together to create a whole.

In science, we have started our ‘Animals Including Humans’ unit. The children have enjoyed identifying and labeling parts of the human body, such as the knee, elbow and toes and look forward to learning about our facial features next week.

In geography, we have been focusing on the physical and human features around our school. The children learned that physical features are natural parts of the environment, such as seas, mountains, and rivers, while human features are things that people have built or created, like houses, roads, and bridges. They then explored which of these features can be found in and around our school environment.

In RE, we enjoyed learning about the Passover and the story behind this important Jewish celebration. The children created their own Seder plates, learning about the meaning of each item. During choosing time, we enjoyed a special Passover meal with our friends.

In PE, we focused on developing our ball control skills, practising how to dribble carefully and with control around cones.

I look forward to seeing everybody next week for parent consultations on either Wednesday or Thursday!

I hope you have a great weekend.

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 20th October 2025

As we come to the end of this half term, we want to say how proud we are of all the children. They’ve shown such enthusiasm for their learning and it has been wonderful to see how much they have learnt in such a short time. The classroom has been full of creativity, questions and lots of smiles!

Here are a few photos from our last few days.

Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable half term break. We look forward to welcoming the children back on Tuesday 4th November.

Miss Roxburgh and the Year One Team

 

w/b 13th October 2025

We have had another wonderful week of learning in Year One!

We began by diving into our model text for the book ‘Old Bear’ by Jane Hissey. The children were captivated by the story! To check our understanding, we answered some thoughtful questions about the text. Later in the week, we turned our attention to vocabulary. We explored a variety of new and exciting words from the story and to help us remember them, we created actions to go along with each word.

In maths, we have started to explore our new unit ‘Addition and Subtraction (within 10)’. We discovered that a whole group of objects can be composed of two or more parts and we can represent this visually using the part-whole model. We also learned that the addition symbol (+) is used to show how two or more parts are combined and the equals symbol (=) shows that the total (whole) is equal to the sum of its parts. It’s been brilliant to see how quickly the children are picking up these new ideas!

In music, we explored American Hip Hop. We listened to "It’s Like That" by Run DMC and used our bodies to find the pulse while answering questions on the screen. The children showed great listening skills and had a little dance too! Afterwards, we enjoyed our class performance of ‘Hey You!’.

In PSHE, we explored what it means to be a good friend. We met characters Harold, Kiki, and Derek, each showing different qualities of friendship. Together, we created a ‘recipe for friendship’ and a ‘recipe for making up’, using ideas like sharing, saying sorry and including others.

On Wednesday, we had a very special day to enrich and celebrate our learning about the Victorians- a full Victorian Day experience! We dressed the part and stepped into the shoes of Victorian schoolchildren. For writing, we used slate and chalk and our lessons were very strict. We had to listen carefully to Miss Roxburgh without asking any questions! We practised handwriting, counting and even took part in a traditional drill, just like Victorian children would have done. We had fun learning and playing Victorian games such as charades, hoop and stick and blind man's bluff. Later in the day, we learned all about Victorian Christmas traditions. The children were fascinated to discover that many of the festive traditions we enjoy today, like Christmas trees, decorations, cards, crackers, and more, were popularised during the Victorian era. Finally, we enjoyed working together to make our own gingerbread. It was a truly unforgettable day and the children loved every moment. A huge thank you for your support with costumes, the children all looked fantastic!

I look forward to seeing everybody next week for our last three days in school before our half term break.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Miss Roxburgh

 

 

w/b 6th October 2025

We've had a fantastic week full of curiosity, creativity and collaboration!

In English, we were met with a surprising scene at the start of the week as some stuffing, a bear, and a ribbon mysteriously appeared in our classroom. This sparked lots of excitement and discussion as we tried to work out what this meant. Year One did a brilliant job working together to make thoughtful predictions about what could be happening in our new story. We then listened to an extract that revealed it was Bramwell Brown's birthday and he wanted to celebrate with his best friends Duck, Rabbit, Little Bear and Old Bear. However, there was a problem, Old Bear wasn't there. Bramwell Brown remembered that Old Bear had been packed away in the loft, and this led to a big discussion about how the characters must be feeling. We then wrote sentences using ‘and’ to explain the characters' feelings in that moment.

In maths, we have been busy recapping our counting skills and working with number lines. The children practised counting forwards from 0 to 10 whilst labelling a number line. They also explored counting backwards by reading the number line from right to left. This helped them clearly understand the concepts of 1 more and 1 less, spotting that 1 more is the next number to the right and 1 less is the number to the left.

In art, we took inspiration from the work of William Morris. The children really enjoyed carefully filling in the missing sections of his beautiful artwork.

In science, we described and sorted seeds based on appearance and basic structure.

In RE, we learned about how Christian organisations put their faith into action.

In PE, we worked hard to perform a sequence with control, a strong body and a clear starting and finishing shape.

It was great to see so many of you at our Learning Exhibition on Wednesday. We loved sharing the exciting things we have learned this half term with you. A big thank for joining us at our Harvest Service at church on Thursday too. It was a special moment for us all to come together, reflect, and celebrate all that we are thankful for.

Just a reminder that it is our Victorian Day next Wednesday (15^th October). We are all very excited!

I hope you all have a restful weekend!

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 29th September 2025

We’ve had another exciting week of learning in Year One!

In English, we continued reading Dragons Don’t Share and uncovered a new twist in the story. A mysterious object was spotted bobbing towards the animals, and we all put on our thinking caps to predict what it might be. There were some fantastic ideas shared, full of imagination and careful thought. The very next day, the mystery was solved — it was Ruby’s rule book. This discovery sparked a big conversation when we received a letter from the animals asking for our help. They were unsure whether they should return Ruby’s book so she can continue following her dragon rules, or keep it, since many of us feel her rules aren’t very fair. After a deep discussion, we all wrote our own response to the animals, explaining what we thought should happen next and why. Now we’re all wondering… what will the animals decide to do?

In maths, we have continued with our place value unit. We have focused on the following:

• Comparing numbers of objects. It is important to ensure that children have clear understanding of new vocabulary such as “fewer”, “more” and “same”.
• Comparing numerical values using the vocabulary “less than”, “greater than” or “equal to”. Number tracks are particularly useful in this step and children have started to see that smaller numbers are to the left of greater numbers.
• Ordering three groups of objects

In science, we began by recapping the structure of a tree, and then explored the basic parts of a flower. I was absolutely blown away by how much the children could remember from last week!

In PE, we’ve been working on our coordination. This week, we practised performing a bunny hop across a mat, keeping our hands flat on the floor and our arms straight. It was a fun challenge!

In RE, we learned about different Sukkah shelters. These are special places of shelter and refuge just like the Hebrews made when they arrived in the Promised Land many years ago. We enjoyed learning about this Jewish harvest tradition of Sukkot still celebrated today in many Jewish communities.

In art, we created a polyblock print in a style influenced by the work of William Morris.

Well done to all the children for their hard work and enthusiasm this week. We’re excited to see where our learning takes us next!

Key dates coming up

• Learning exhibition at 2:00pm on Wednesday 8^th October
• KS1 Harvest Service at 9:30 on Thursday 9^th October
• Year One Victorian Day on Wednesday 15^th October

I hope you have a great weekend!

Miss Roxburgh

 

 

w/b 22nd September 2025

We've had another exciting and imaginative week of learning in Year One – filled with creativity, curiosity and mystery!

In English, we had quite a surprise when Mrs Sant suddenly appeared in our classroom with an unusual story to tell. She explained that she'd heard a strong gust of wind in her office, and when she looked up, a mysterious letter had appeared on her desk. Strangely, the letter was too hot to touch at first, so she waited for it to cool down before bringing it to us. The letter was from Ruby– our fiery dragon friend. She gave us an update on her life in the cave and thanked us for all the wonderful letters we had sent her. However, Ruby had a little problem, her cave was a mess! She asked for our help to organise her treasure, so we quickly got to work, sorting everything into a neat and tidy list for her. Ruby explained that she had also lost her precious rule book and she needed our help once again. So, we put our thinking caps on and wrote letters back to her, suggesting some possible locations where the book might be hiding. We really hope she finds it soon!

In phonics, each group focused on a variety of sounds. This will be reflected in next week’s homework which will be sent home on Monday.

In maths this week we have focused on the following:

• Counting backwards within 10
• Learning that 1 less is the number before. Children should use their counting skills or a number track to help them.
• Matching one object with another to compare groups. This is sometimes referred to as one-to-one correspondence, where children check if, for example, there are enough presents for everyone to have one each.

In science, we’ve been exploring the different parts of a tree. We learned about the roots, trunk, branches, leaves, bark, and crown. The children enjoyed investigating how each part of a tree plays an important role, and we had some great discussions about why trees are so important to our planet.

In history, we continued our topic on life for Victorian children. The children were fascinated (and a little shocked!) to learn about the types of jobs children did back then, including working as bird scarers, textile workers, and even coal miners. We also linked this to the history of our own school, which opened way back in 1830. One of the most surprising facts we discovered was that the windows down in Year 5 and 6 were high so children couldn’t look out and get distracted.

In art this week, we created detailed observational drawings of leaves.

In PE, we’ve been focusing on balance. The children explored how to balance on different parts of their bodies – hands, feet, knees, and more – and practised holding each balance for three seconds. It’s been brilliant to see them challenging themselves!

In RE, we’ve been learning about harvest – a time to be thankful for the food we have. We thought about who we can thank for the harvest and we have also had important discussions about how in some countries, harvests can fail due to climate change. This helped us reflect on how lucky we are, and the children came up with thoughtful ideas about how we can help others, such as reducing waste, donating food, and being kind to our planet.

Well done to all the children on another fantastic week of learning!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Roxburgh

 

 

w/b 15th September 2025

It has been a great week of learning in Year One, filled with exciting activities and new discoveries.

In English this week, Year One were thrilled to receive a surprise letter from Goose, who wrote to tell us that Ruby had given him such a fright that she had scared the feathers right off him! Goose explained how sad this had made him feel and asked us if we could help by writing a letter to Ruby, kindly asking her to stop scaring him and to be more thoughtful. The children took on the challenge with great care and empathy. Later, we discovered the third dragon rule: do not let anyone enter the dragon cave. To help Ruby follow this important rule, we decided to create signs for her to place outside her cave as a reminder. The children loved helping both Goose and Ruby!

In phonics we have focused on the sounds qu (queen), th (thank you), ng (thing on a string) and ch (choo). Our spelling homework therefore will reflect this teaching and gives the children a further opportunity to embed their learning with you at home. Thank you again for your support encouraging your child to practise these at home and to use them in sentences with the common exception words of the week.

In maths this week, we have focused on the following:

• Recognising each numeral as a word
• Counting on from any number while staying within 10 using ten frames and number tracks
• Learning that 1 more is the number after. Children have used their counting skills and a number track to help them.

In art, we have continued exploring the beautiful work of William Morris, taking inspiration from his patterns and designs. This week, we created our own artwork using a variety of line styles, including wavy, zigzag, and straight lines.

In our gymnastics lesson this week, the children practised a range of rolling techniques, including the tuck rock, tuck roll, and log roll. They focused on performing each movement with control, using a strong body position and remembering to keep their toes pointed.

In history this week, we learned about various aspects of Victorian schools, including the types of lessons taught, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. We also explored the punishments, large class sizes, and the formal uniforms that children were required to wear. Additionally, we looked at the basic equipment used, like slates and chalk, and compared school life back then to what our school is like today.

In science, we explored the leaves of a variety of evergreen and deciduous trees. It is great to see the children observing the different shapes and sizes of the leaves on the playground at break time too!

In music, we listened to ‘Me, Myself And I’ by De La Soul and enjoyed having a dance and finding the pulse. Next, we performed our song 'Hey You' as a class. We had so much fun dancing and singing along!

Well done on another fantastic week Year One! Enjoy your weekend and I will see you all on Monday for more fun and learning!

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 8th September 2025

We have had a week full of surprises and adventure in Year One!

On Monday morning, we were shocked to find a letter addressed to us from a dragon named Ruby. She told us that she would like to send us a special book, but first, we had to agree to one important rule: read the book slowly. Of course, we all agreed, and then spent some time writing letters to Ruby, promising that we’d follow her rule. Later that evening, Miss Roxburgh took the letters to Brereton’s post box hoping that we would hear back from Ruby. On Wednesday, we were so excited to receive a package containing Ruby’s book! However, around the same time we spotted lots of missing posters as Cinderella had lost her precious orange coach. After starting to read the book, we realised that Ruby had taken the coach. To help Cinderella, we decided to create our own ‘found’ posters to let Cinderella know where her coach was.

In phonics, we have focused on the sound sh (says the horse to the hissing snake).

In maths, we have continued with our place value unit. We have focused on the following:

• Fluently counting to 10 when counting objects
• Counting a specific number of objects from a larger group
• Representing real-life objects such as apples, leaves and sweets using manipulatives such as counters and cubes. We have also matched numerals to a set of objects.

This week in science, we explored two types of trees: evergreen and deciduous. We learned that evergreen trees keep their leaves (or needles) all year round, no matter the season, while deciduous trees lose their leaves in the autumn and grow new ones in the spring.

In PE, we performed a variety of jumps with control, a strong body and pointed toes.

In RE, we learned more about the harvest by looking at a variety of beautiful artwork. The children were really inspired by the different ways artists have portrayed the harvest. We also really enjoyed getting creative with watercolours, painting our own interpretations of harvest.

This week in history, we took our first step back in time to explore the Victorian era (1837-1901), the period when Queen Victoria ruled Great Britain. We investigated a variety of Victorian artefacts to find out about the past and used clues from the artefacts to make reasonable predictions.

On Thursday afternoon, we had a blast taking part in an orienteering course. I’m so proud of how the children approached the challenge with determination and teamwork.

Having experimented making rubbings last week in art and spotting where the patterns were, this week we tried printing patterns. We enjoyed rolling paint onto everyday objects to print patterns.

A big well done to all the children for another fantastic week of learning! We’ve had so much fun exploring new topics, taking on exciting challenges, and working together as a team.

We were delighted to welcome Miss Griffiths to our Year One class on Monday. Miss Griffiths will be joining us as a student teacher through to the end of November. We have all loved getting to know her this week and we are excited to have her as part of our learning journey this term.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 1st September 2025

We have had a wonderful first week in Year One! I have really enjoyed getting to know the children and hearing about their exciting holiday adventures- thank you for the photos! We're starting to settle into our new routines, and it's been lovely to see the children reconnecting with their friends and enjoying being together again.

One of our favourite activities this week was a scavenger hunt around the classroom. It was a brilliant way for us to explore our new space. There was lots of excitement as we searched high and low to tick everything off our list! We’ve also really enjoyed spending time in our new provision areas. We have been busy getting stuck into all the activities whether it is writing about our summer holidays, making play dough self-portraits or designing our own tree. We have had lots of fun!

In maths, we started our first topic of the year ‘Place Value (within 10’). In our first lesson, we learned that collections of objects can be sorted into sets based on attributes such as colour, size or shape.

In art we were introduced to a new artist, William Morris. We learned that Morris was a talented designer, artist, writer, and socialist. He is famous for his beautiful patterns and designs, especially for wallpaper and textiles, and for starting the Arts and Crafts movement. Many of Morris's designs, like the famous "Strawberry Thief" pattern, are still popular and used on wallpaper and fabrics today. After learning more about our artist, we used wax crayons to capture the relief of a range of textures around school.

In science, we were introduced our new topic ‘Plants and Seasonal Change’ and looked at the four seasons and thought about what happens to a tree during autumn.

In PE, we enjoyed our first lesson of gymnastics. We practised a variety of shapes (star, pike, tuck, arch, dish, and straddle) and made sure to have a strong body, control and pointed toes.

In RE, we were introduced to our harvest topic and we looked at a selection of food from Miss Roxburgh’s cupboard at home. Within her box there were the following:

• a few items that were sourced locally
• items that, although were bought locally, are actually sourced from all around the world
• finally, a few items that may have been made and produced in the UK but traditionally come from another part of the world

Our food is harvested all around the world and the Harvest Festival is all about celebrating God’s good gifts to us.

Thank you for returning your reading books from the summer term. Our phonics and guided reading sessions will start next week so we will hand out our new reading books next Thursday. Our spelling homework will then begin the following Monday after our week of phonics.

Well done Year One for a brilliant first week — I am so proud of how you’ve settled in and can’t wait for a wonderful year together!

I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing everybody on Monday.

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 21st July 2025

Wow.. what a special year it has been! We are so incredibly proud of all of our Year One children for their hard work, resilience and achievements this year. It has been a joy to watch them flourish!

We would also like to say thank you for the beautiful cards and generous gifts – your thoughtfulness is truly appreciated by us all.

Wishing you all a restful summer break!

Miss Roxburgh, Mrs Coles, Mrs Ball, Miss Moran and Mrs Marshfield

 

w/b 7th July 2025

Well done Year One on another super week!

In English this week, we have started to plan and write our equipment, ingredients, and steps for our recipes for a bear. It is wonderful to see a variety of exciting language features such as adjectives, time adverbials and imperative (bossy) verbs. Next week, we are looking forward to writing up our ‘top tip’ section. We have also written a recount of our trip to the Catalyst Museum. It was lovely to hear how much fun the children had (and how much they had learnt!).

In phonics, we have focused on a variety of tricky sounds within our groups. Our How to Help document will focus on reading longer words with the ure sound and writing days of the week and common exception words.

In maths we have been looking at money. We were introduced to the idea that groups containing or representing the same number of things can be treated as ones. For example, a 5 pence coin represents five 1 pence coins. One item does not need to represent a value of one – this is called “unitising”. Later in the week, we began recognising the value of different denominations of coins. We also discussed equivalence and looked at how a 20p coin is equivalent to twenty 1p coins and also two 10p coins.

In art, we continued to look at Chris Gryder’s work and this gave us lots of inspiration for our own clay tiles. We carefully etched seaside patterns into our clay, making sure to add lots of detail. The clay tiles look incredible and the children are very excited to bring them home soon!

In PE we focused on throwing a ball underarm and catching a ball with control.

In geography, we completed our end of unit quiz for our unit ‘Seas and Coasts’.

On Tuesday afternoon, we enjoyed watching Year Six’ performance of High School Musical. They were absolutely fantastic!

On Monday, Year One will enjoy a transition day in the Year Two classroom with Mr McAulay. I have heard he has some very exciting things planned so I am sure the children will love this day!

I look forward to see everybody for our last full week together in Year One!

Miss Roxburgh

 

 

 

w/b 30th June 2025

What an exciting week we have had in Year One!

Our favourite part of the week was our trip to the Catalyst Museum on Wednesday. When we arrived, we explored the hands- on learning galleries. We enjoyed using solar energy to make planes fly and thermal imagery to experiment which were the hottest parts of our bodies. We also made bulbs light up and fans turn on in the electrical circuit section and was a TV star in our own weather reports. We really enjoyed creating our own miniature films using sequence photography. Later on, we used our problem- solving skills to create a track for a ball to travel through tunnels and over obstacles and used air speed to make materials travel and thought about how to block the tunnel to make them change direction. Next, it was time for a well- deserved tasty lunch before our afternoon workshop. In the afternoon we participated in a bath bomb making workshop. We investigated why we need to wash, explored the science behind our favourite bodywash products and found out how surfactants work before making our own bath bomb. What a fantastic day of science learning we had!

In English, we received a letter from Little Red explaining that she is in trouble because she can’t find any food that is suitable for wolf, lynx and bear and she wants our help. Little Red asked if we could create a yummy recipe for the bear. Luckily, Little Red sent us an example recipe for a lynx to give us some ideas. We discovered new vocabulary from the text and used this to write our own sentences. Later in the week, we analysed the structure and language features of a recipe. We are looking forward to planning our own recipes next week!

In phonics, we focused on the sounds er (better letter), ow (brown cow) and ear (hear with your ear).

In maths, we finished our position and directional unit where we focused on ordinal numbers. We recorded positions using numerals and the endings “st”, “nd”, “rd” and “th” as well as the words “first”, “second”, “third”, “fourth” and so on. Later in the week, we moved onto place value within 100. We focused on counting to 100, building on our knowledge of place value to 50 from the Spring term. We also extended our knowledge of multiples of 10 from the Spring term to include 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100.

In geography, we travelled around the UK and the world using compass points. It was quite difficult so we worked as a team!

In science, we identified and named a variety of common wild and garden plants.

Thanks for another wonderful week Year One!

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 23rd June 2025

Well done Year One on a wonderful Sports Day; I am so proud of each and every one of you. Thank you to everybody who came to watch!

In English this week, we have finally finished our hunting narratives and wow… we are blown away! The children worked incredibly hard to include a variety of structure and language features such as alliteration, questions and speech marks, to their writing.

In phonics, we have focused on the sounds au (Paul the astronaut), ire (Fire fire!) and ure (sure it’s pure). Our ‘How To Help’ document will focus on reading longer words with the ire sound.

In maths this week, we have focused on position and direction. We have focused on the following:

• Describing the position of an object using the vocabulary “left” and “right.”
• Developing our precision when describing positions by introducing “forwards” and “backwards”.
• Building on the directional language developed in previous steps, extending to include “above” and “below”. We used this language to firstly describe the position of objects in relation to each other, for example, “The is above/below the ”. We then followed and gave positional instructions and clues to others, for example to build a tower of cubes.

In science, we explored the school grounds with Mr Simmons and identified an oak tree, sycamore tree, silver birch tree and an ash tree. We then sketched our chosen tree and created a fact file.

In geography, we compared a British beach (Gower in Wales) with one from another country (Navagio beach in Greece). We then identified and discussed the different human and physical features of each beach. After this, we were challenged to work out if the beach was British and explained our reasoning. Finally, we had the opportunity to say which beach we would prefer to visit and why.

In computing, we went on a minibeast hunt on the school grounds and used a tally chart to present this information. After this, we used ‘Kids Zone- Create a graph’ to create our own bar charts. It was very tricky but we soon got the hang of it!

Just a reminder that we will be going to the Catalyst Museum on Wednesday next week. We are really looking forward to it!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 16th June 2025

Well done Year One on another super week!

In English, we have started planning and writing our hunting narratives, making sure to include structure and language features such as paragraphs, alliteration and repeated phrases. I look forward to seeing the finished product next week!

In phonics, we have focused on the sounds e-e (Go Pete and Steve!), ur (nurse with a purse), ai (snail in the rain) and oa (goat in a boat).

In maths this week, we have continued with our fractions unit. We have been focusing on the following:

• Finding a quarter of an object or a shape
• Recognising a quarter of a quantity
• Finding a quarter of a quantity

We have also completed our summer term assessments.

In science, we recapped our plants and seasonal changes unit from the autumn term and identified and named a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees.

In geography, we discussed what an island is and thought about what being an island means for the UK. We then used a compass rose to locate the seas around the UK, before finding out about some of the human activities that take place in them.

In RE, we placed the life events of Joseph in order.

In PSHE, we found out that the body gets energy from food, water and air (oxygen) and recognised that exercise and sleep are important parts of a healthy lifestyle.

We have also recapped the PANTS rule:

Privates are private

Always remember your body belongs to you

No means no

Talk about secrets that upset you

Speak up, someone can help

Here is link to the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lL07JOGU5o

In art, we continued looking at the work of Chris Gryder and used this to design our own clay tiles.

In PE this week, we have been getting Sports Day ready! We practised sprinting, relay races and our suitcase race. We are very excited!

I hope you all have a great weekend,

Miss Roxburgh

 

 

w/b 9th June 2025

We have had a very busy week of learning. This week, the children completed their phonics screening check with Miss Witham and I just want to express how incredibly proud we are of all of the children. Thank you for your wonderful support at home!

In English this week, we have listened to more of our story ‘The Last Wolf’ by Mini Grey, looked at the structure and language features of our model text and started to plan our hunting narratives.

In phonics, we have focused on the sounds i-e (nice smile) and reviewed other tricky sounds. This week’s helping at home videos will focus on reading longer words with the oo sound.

In maths, we have been working on fractions. We have focused on the following:

• Recognising half of a quantity
• Finding half of a quantity
• Recognising a quarter of an object or a shape
• Finding a quarter of an object or a shape

In PE, we focused on throwing underarm and catching with control.

In geography, we found out more information about the United Kingdom, the countries that it includes and its geographical location in the world. We then looked at British beaches and named and located human and physical features we could see.

In RSE this week, we thought about the difference between a secret and a nice surprise, identified situations as being secrets or surprises and finally thought about who we can talk to if we feel uncomfortable about any secret we are told, or told to keep. In the next lesson, we identified parts of the body that are private and described ways in which private parts can be kept private. We then thought about who are five trusted adults are that we could talk to if we felt uncomfortable about a situation we are in. Here is a link to NSPCC’s Pantasaurus video that we watched- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lL07JOGU5o

In science, we identified and described the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees.

In art we made careful observational drawings of a variety of shells and made sure to add patterns and texture.

In RE, we focused on the story of Joseph and thought about what Joseph might say to his father, Jacob, if he could have written a letter home.

Today was Mr Beattie’s final day with us. I want to say a huge thank you to Mr Beattie for everything he has done for us in Year One and wish him the best of luck in the future! We may be seeing him very soon for a visit!

Our Forest School session will be changed to Thursday morning next week (19^th June).

I hope everybody has a great weekend!
Miss Roxburgh 

 

w/b 2nd June 2025

We have had a wonderful first week back!

On Tuesday morning, we were very surprised to see some wolf wanted posters on the windows, a red cloak, a tree stump and a black bin bag. We thought about where these items may have come from, why a wolf would be missing and what sneaky things the wolf might do. After making some fantastic predictions about what our book might be about, our book was revealed as The Last Wolf by Mini Grey. Later in the week we used new vocabulary such as slung, lurked and slithered, in our own sentences and answered some questions about our vehicle text.

In phonics, we have focused on the sounds a-e (make a cake) and o-e (phone home). Next week the children will complete their phonics screening check. The children have worked incredibly hard in preparation for this and I am very proud of them all!

In maths this week, we have started our new unit ‘Fractions’ where we have focused on recognising and finding half of a shape or object.

In geography this week, we have been naming and locating the five oceans and seven continents on a world map. We especially enjoyed listening to the continents song and have been singing it all week!

In PSHE, we sequenced personal hygiene routines such as washing our hands, having our breakfast and brushing our teeth, into a logical order.

In PE, we have focused on rolling a ball with control and stopping the ball using two hands.

In computing, we used our specific instructions from last lesson to make a rocket with our partner.

In science this week, we sketched the apple tree in the school garden and discussed the differences to when we first sketched the tree in the autumn term. We noticed how green the leaves were and look forward to visiting again soon to see if there are any apples.

In RE, we focused on the old testament and listened to Joseph’s journey from being a dreamer, to a prisoner, and finally to a ruler.

As you may have seen on our topic web, Year One will be going to St Oswald’s Church on Thursday 12^th June. We will be leaving at 10am and you are welcome to join us!

Next Friday will be Mr Beattie’s last day in Year One. I would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Beattie and wish him the best of luck for the future; we feel very lucky to have had him as part of our Year One class for the last couple of months.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Roxburgh

 

 

 

w/b 19th May 2025

We have all enjoyed our last week of learning before the holidays.

In English, we finished our diary entries. The entries expressed Erin's feeling after she heard that the adults were plotting to destroy Black Rock and gave reasons as to why we should save him. The children were all very persuasive!

In phonics, we have focused on the sounds ear (hear with your ear), ow (brown cow, are (care and share) and ur (nurse with a purse). After the holidays, we will be revisiting those trickier sounds before our phonics screening assessment which starts the week commencing 9^th June.

In maths this week we have finished our multiplication and division topic. We have been focusing on the following:

• Exploring doubles. We have progressed from describing doubling as the addition of the same amount to describing it as 2 equal groups.
• Building on our knowledge of recognising equal groups to beginning to explore division through grouping.
• Exploring division in the form of sharing. We explored this practically using concrete resources and physically shared them into groups. For example, “There are ___ counters shared equally into groups. There are ___ in each group.”

In RE this week, we explored the different ways in which people of world faiths celebrate birth and welcome new babies.

In PSHE, we explored the eat well plate. We thought about which foods we need to eat more of and which we need to eat less of to be healthy. We especially enjoyed designing our own packed lunch!

In PE, we continued to work on relay races and throwing bean bags successfully into hoops. We agreed that the further away the hoop, the trickier it was for us to throw our bean bag accurately into it.

In DT, we worked together to finish our playground models and wow… these were very creative! It was wonderful to see a variety of playground equipment made with different resources.

In science, we asked scientific questions based on our learning from this half term to identify the animal Mr Beattie was thinking of. After discovering that the animal was a guinea pig, we were very lucky to have the opportunity to visit Preschool to see their guinea pigs, Candy and Coco. We asked questions to find out what they eat and where they live before labelling our guinea pig with features. We are now guinea pig experts!

It was so exciting to have our history day on Thursday focusing on Mary Seacole. We had lots of fun and interesting activities to complete during the day such as placing the events of her life in chronological order, painting a portrait of her, sorting facts and lots more. We took lots away from the day about what a fantastic role model she was and how she was a true inspiration helping many people in need.

On Wednesday 2^nd July we will be going to the Catalyst Museum to enrich and inspire our science learning. The cost of the trip will be £26.50 and this includes entrance to the museum, a workshop and the coach journey. More details of this trip will be explained in a letter after half term. We are all very excited!

Year One, I am so proud of you all for your hard work this half term! I hope you all have a restful break and I look forward to seeing everybody on Tuesday 3^rd June.

Miss Roxburgh and the Year One Team

 

w/b 12th May 2025

We have enjoyed another week of the summer term!

At the start of our week, we were very surprised and excited to receive a diary and posters from Erin from the Secret of Black Rock. We soon discovered that Erin really needed our help to save Black Rock as the adults were plotting to destroy him. We found out the definitions to some interesting words and phrases such as damage, untruthful and jagged, and used these in our own sentences. Later in the week, we looked at the structure and language features of Erin’s diary entry before starting to plan our own diary entry written by Erin.

In phonics, we have focused on the sounds ai (snail in the rain), oa (goat in a boat), air (that’s not fair) and au (Paul the astronaut). As a reminder, to replace our look, write and check spelling homework this half term, we are sending home real and nonsense words for your children to practice reading. This will be good practice for the phonics screening assessment starting the week commencing 9^th June. Children will read some words on sight but for others please encourage them to recognise ‘Special friends, Fred talk and say the word’. This is the language we use in school so to reinforce it at home will be useful. Please revisit words/ special friends your child finds tricky throughout the week.

In maths this week we have been working on multiplication and division. We have been focusing on the following:

• Counting on and back in 5s using a range of different representations such as arms on a starfish or a dice showing 5
• Using stories that link to pictures and concrete resources to help support us to recognise equal groups
• Adding equal groups together to find a total
• Arranging objects in columns and rows as arrays

In science this week, we made close observations of a woodlouse (an invertebrate animal).

In history, we focused on Florence Nightingale’s later life and discovered that in 1860, she established the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. This was the first official training school for nurses and was the founding of modern nursing.  Next week, we are looking forward to our history day where we will be learning all about Mary Seacole.

We worked hard as a team in computing to design our own rockets on Sketchpad. We had so much fun!

In PE, we enjoyed taking part in relay races with Miss Roxburgh and throwing activities with Mr Beattie. What a lovely morning we had in the sunshine!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing everybody on Monday for our last week before the holidays!

Miss Roxburgh

 

 

w/b 5th May 2025

We have had a great week of learning in Year One.

In English we have continued to write more of our return narratives and wow… these are very impressive! It is great to see the children taking such care with their handwriting and presentation.

In phonics this week we have focused on the sounds u-e (huge brute) and ai (snail in the rain). Our how to help document will focus on reading longer words with air and are sounds.

In maths, we have finished our mass and volume topic and have started multiplication and division. We have been focusing on counting both forwards and backwards in 2s and 10s.

In DT this week we decided that the main construction materials we would use to create our model playgrounds would be: card/paper, straws, string and tape to join structures together. We spent time looking at the best ways to create different pieces of playground equipment before creating our playground designs.

In RE this week we explored the Islamic faith and how Muslims welcome a new child into the world. We had three wonder questions to explore in depth today:

• I wonder what words you think should be the first that a baby hears?
• I wonder what sweet tasting thing you would give to a baby?
• I wonder why names are so important?

We discussed this in depth as a class and then the children worked in groups to present their ideas to the rest of the class on their posters. The children had some interesting and lovely ideas.  

On Thursday 8^th May it was VE Day and we took part in a variety of activities to celebrate 80 years since the end of the Second World War. We enjoyed a lovely picnic on the field at lunch time, made our own VE day book marks and drew poppies.

On Thursday we were very fortunate to meet Mr Foster and his friends Lunangpoh, a Buddhist Monk, and Mae Chee, a Buddhist Nun. It was interesting to listen to how they live their lives in Thailand and how they believe that everybody should live in peace.

Thank you for coming to our learning exhibition on Tuesday! We really enjoyed sharing the wonderful things we have been learning already about this term.

The school photographer will be in next Friday 16th May, all the children need to wear full school uniform please. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the sunshine!

Miss Roxburgh

 

w/b 28th April 2025

We have enjoyed another busy week of learning in Year One and playing outside in the sun with our friends!

In English this week, we have started to plan and write our own return narratives based off the story ‘The Secret of Black Rock’ by Joe Todd-Stanton. We have focused on adding adjectives to describe the character and location and the suffixes -er and -est to our writing. These plans are looking fantastic so I am looking forward to seeing the writing process next week!

In phonics this week we have focused on i-e (nice smile) and o-e (phone home). As a reminder, to replace our look, write and check spelling homework we will be sending home real and nonsense words for your children to practice reading. This will be good practice for the phonics screening assessment starting the week commencing 9th June. Children will read some words on sight but for others please encourage them to recognise ‘Special friends, Fred talk and say the word’. This is the language we use in school so to reinforce it at home will be useful. Please revisit words/ special friends your child finds tricky throughout the week.

In maths this week we have come to the end of our mass and volume unit.

We have been focusing on the following:

• Making basic comparisons between different sized containers to see which has the greater capacity. We have been describing the volume in a container using phrases such as “empty”, “nearly empty”, “nearly full” and “full”.
• Comparing volumes using the language of “more than” and “less than”
• Measuring the capacity of different containers using non-standard units of measure. Children formalise their understanding that the capacity of a container is how much of something it can hold. This can be cups of water or sand, cubes or marbles and so on.
• Comparing more than two containers, putting them in either ascending or descending order of capacity

In DT this week, we used the knowledge we gained from our park visit last week to begin to look at construction equipment that we could use to make our playground equipment from. We looked at how to make strong shapes out of the construction equipment and thought about ways to join materials.

In history, we looked at how Florence Nightingale improved the conditions at the Scutari hospital. One of the ways that Florence improved the conditions was that she insisted that wounds were washed with a clean cloth and that the cloth must not be used for more than one soldier without being washed in between. We were interested to find out that Florence was nicknamed ‘the lady with the lamp’ because she would walk around the ward at night, caring for the soldiers.

In PE, we focused on performing a long jump with balance and control. We particularly enjoyed competing in a race to see which team could jump the furthest. What great fun we had!

In RE, we focused on the baptism of Jesus. We found out that Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.

In science, we learnt about vertebrates and invertebrates. Vertebrates are animals with a backbone, while invertebrates are animals without a backbone. Vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, while invertebrates include a vast array of creatures like insects, spiders, worms, and jellyfish. 

I hope you all enjoy the weekend!
Miss Roxburgh