Year 1 News

24th April 2026

It has been lovely to welcome the children back to school this week. The children really enjoyed our first session in Forest School. We went over the rules of Forest School and the children enjoyed choosing their activities. They had popcorn and a drink at the end of the session.

Last Week:  

In maths, we started our ‘Multiplication and Division’ topic.  We counted objects in sets of twos, fives and tens and we counted forwards and backwards with these numbers. We completed number lines and number tracks with missing numbers. We also used ten frames and solved some number problems. We coloured 100 squares showing the twos, fives and tens.

In phonics, we focused on the sound ‘oy’, with the spellings ‘oi’, and ‘oy’. We revised the sound ‘u’, in our reading books. We read a mixture of real and alien words every day using all the Year One sounds. We also revised the ‘ew’ and ‘au’ sounds in real and alien words.

In English, we focused on sentence structure and spellings through writing recounts. We particularly enjoyed writing about our Forest School afternoon. We continued our daily handwriting activities.

In science, we started our topic on plants. We learnt about the difference between weeds and garden plants. We went on a walk around our school grounds to identify these. We also looked for signs of Spring and we took photographs of the trees and plants with the iPad. We identified deciduous and evergreen trees.

In history, we completed our topic on explorers. We learnt about Christopher Columbus, and we talked about whether or not explorers make a positive difference in the world. We looked at modern day explorers and we watched some clips of the Artemis II mission to the dark side of the moon.

In P.E, we started our topic on athletics. We took part in many activities to move at different speeds.

In PSHE, we had circle time to talk about how we show respect to others.

Next Week:

In maths, we will continue our topic on ‘Multiplication and Division’. We will revise counting in twos, fives and tens with a particular focus on fives. We will recognise and make equal groups. We will also make arrays and doubles.

In phonics, we will focus on the sound  ‘ar’ , with the spellings ar, a ,al and au. We will revise the sound ‘s’, (with the spellings s, ss, st, c, ce, se and sc) in our reading books. We will write sentences using these sounds.

In English, we will begin our work on non-chronological reports. We will continue our daily handwriting activities. We also write sentences using the Year One Common Exception Words.

In science, we will do some planting activities in Forest school. We will also look at the different types of plants in the woodland area. We will draw and name the different plants and trees in our school grounds.

In geography, we will begin our topic on ‘Our Wonderful World’ by learning about physical and human features through the story ‘Here We are’ by Oliver Jeffers.

In P.E, we will continue our athletics topic. We will explore throwing for distance and throwing for accuracy. 

In PSHE, we will continue our ‘Rights and Respect’ topic. We will demonstrate respect and responsibility for looking after something.

In music, we will match and create pictures/symbols to represent sound.

Important things to remember: 

Reading Books: 

Please bring your reading book and home school contact book to school every day. The children read their books in school, so please can they bring their books in daily. On Fridays they enjoy reading with Year 3. Thank you. 

PE is on Tuesday and Forest School is on Wednesday. Please wear your P.E kits on these two days.