Year 1 - Butterfly Class - Mr Hancox and Mrs Slusarczyk

Friday 4th October 2024

 

Meet the Teacher

Thank you to all those who were able to attend the Meet the Teacher Event for the start of the year.

If you were unable to attend, the slides used in the presentation have been uploaded to this webpage, including all the important information for the coming year.

 

P.E. Days and Forest School

P.E. days will be Monday and Thursday for the new term; can children please come in wearing their P.E. kits on these days.  Long hair must be tied up and any watches, earrings or other jewellery removed.  Children should have shorts for P.E. sessions; for safety reasons, only children wearing shorts can be allowed to use the P.E. apparatus.  Children should also wear a hoodie and jogging bottoms in case of cooler weather.

 

Forest School sessions for Year 1 have now finished for this term.

 

Phonics Word Wall

We go through all the words on our Word Wall every day as part of our Phonics lesson.  The borders are colour-coded to indicate which book bands the words will appear in (Pink/Red, Yellow/Blue, Green/Orange), mirroring the order in which the different Phonics sounds and phases are taught.

Age-related expectation is that children should be reading Orange books by the end of Year 1, and should therefore be able to read, recognise and understand all the words down to the bottom of the board when they appear in a text.  They should also be able to start using them in their own writing, utilising the Word Wall in order to help them with their spellings.

You can watch a video of Mr Hancox guiding you through the Word Wall by clicking here.

 

Internet Safety and Parental Controls

There have been instances of children across a number of year groups discussing inappropriate Internet content they have viewed at home.  Please ensure that your Internet-linked devices at home are suitably supervised and protected using the parental controls available.  For advice on how to keep your child safe online, including the use of parental controls, click this link to the NSPCC website.  If you'd like to know how to set up parental controls specific to gaming - limiting game time, in-game communication or setting spending limits for instance - click on this link to the EA Games website.

 

Home Learning

English:  Make time to read with your child for approximately 5-10 minutes every day.  Children are encouraged to change their reading books regularly, however you can find extra reading material on the Oxford Owl website.  Our Library Day is every Tuesday, so children can also bring their library books back and exchange them for new ones then.

You don't need to record each daily reading session in your child's Reading Diary, but do make an entry at least two or three times a week; whenever they finish a book; or just to say that they enjoyed a particular story you've shared. 

​The Reading Diary also contains lists of our Phonics sounds, along with Learning Tools to compliment your child's reading, and get them thinking, talking and sharing their opinions about the books they've read.

At the front of the Reading Diary is a list of Non-Negotiables for Year 1 - these are learning targets we are hoping to achieve by the end of the year.  From time to time, specific targets will be selected that you can focus on at home, so please check the Non-Negotiables list for any notes or annotations that will help to focus your home learning.

At the back of the Reading Diary, there are also Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates for them to earn too, which are awarded upon completion of 5, 10 and 15 of the Learning Tools respectively.  House Points are also on offer to those children who earn their Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates.

Phonics:  Following the Smart Kids: The Code Phonics scheme, this week we've been focussing on the sounds ay (play), ea (sea), oy (boy) and ir (girl).  Look out for words containing these sounds in your daily reading and when you're out and about.  The Phonics Play website has some excellent free resources and games for extra practise, and there are some "Alien" word flashcards attached to the bottom of this page.  We also sing along to the Alphabet Song on the Super Movers website.

Handwriting:  We're teaching the children cursive letter formation, using the Teach Handwriting scheme of work.  The website, which includes animations featuring correct letter formation along with worksheets, can be accessed by clicking here.

Maths:  (20-30 minutes per week)  Following the White Rose Maths scheme, we're beginning with number and place value up to 10.  Can your child recognise the numbers 1 to 10 in words and numerals?  Can they write the numerals the correct way round?  Using objects around the house, try sorting them into groups and counting how many objects are in each group.  Can they tell you which numbers are greater, equal or less, or even write them down using the correct symbols (> = <).

Number recognition is also important in Year 1, and the children frequently struggle to recognise the tricky teen numbers between 10 and 20.  I've attached some number recognition flashcards to the bottom of this page if you'd like to practise at home.  The 'Out and About' cards on our maths page also have some great ideas for exploring numbers in everyday situations.

Geography:  This term, we're learning about our local area.  Can your child discover any fascinating facts about Petersfield and its surrounding towns and villages?

Personal P.E. Challenge:  How long can we balance on one leg?  Can we improve our times with practise?  What is our record time?

​Extreme Reading Challenge

For our reading wall display, we want to prove that Langrish children love to read anywhere and everywhere!  

What's the most unusual place your child has read a book.  Up a tree?  In a hammock?  On the beach?  Bouncing on a trampoline?  Email us a photograph of your child reading a book in an unusual place (nothing dangerous of course!) and we'll put it up in the 'Extreme Reading' display of our new book corner.

I look forward to seeing the unusual places you've been reading your books!

 

This Week's Story Time Selection

We read a range of books in our daily story time.  This week, one of them was 'The Princess and the Presents' by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton.

It tells the story of Ruby, a spoilt princess who gets everything she wants...but does she have too many presents?  And are there some things that are more important than gifts?

Ask your child what happened in the story.  Can they remember the different gifts that Princess Ruby received?  How did Ruby behave and what lesson did she learn at the end of the book?  Perhaps your child can draw a picture of something that happened in the story.

This Week's Primary Picture News

​Primary Picture News is a child-friendly and age-appropriate look at fascinating events that are going on in the wider world.  This week, the children heard about a book vending machine in Scotland.  Ask your child about this week's news story using some of the conversation starters above.  

 

A Taste of Our Learning

Week 5 - Staggering science, amazing acrostics and super structures

In Science, we were continuing our look at everyday materials and their properties by performing an experiment.

The children looked at some objects to see what materials they were made from, then made some predictions about which materials they thought would float or sink when they were dropped into water.

We then put the items into our water tank one by one and recorded the results, some of which surprised the children.

Ask your child about the experiment.  Which results did they correctly predict, and which results did they find surprising?

In English, we've been getting ready for next week's Harvest Assembly by writing some acrostic poems about harvest time.

First, we looked at how acrostic poems work, and learnt a little bit about the Harvest Festival to build up the vocabulary for our poem.

We then wrote and learnt a simple acrostic poem together as a class, which the children then rewrote and adapted to add in extra details and make their sentences more interesting.

Can your child tell you their acrostic poem?  Maybe you could write one together at home.

In Design & Technology, we were experimenting with different structures.

Having examined playground equipment the week before and noted which shapes made the strongest structures, the children were then challenged to fold a piece of paper into a shape that would stand up by itself and be strong enough to hold the weight of a pencil.  They came up with lots of different ways of doing it, and were further challenged to see how many pencils their structures could support.

Ask your child which shapes they found were the best ones for the task.  How many pencils did their structure support?

Week 4 - Fabulous Forest School, glorious gods and genius geography

This week saw our final Forest School session of 2024.  The children have had three fantastic weeks in the copse enjoying all the activities it has to offer, including bug-spotting, climbing trees, wood whittling, den building, making clay animal prints and whipping up some "delicious" concoctions in the mud kitchen.

They've loved the opportunity to be outside exploring (or just chilling out in the hammock!) and even learnt some songs about caterpillars and gorillas which they might like to share.

Ask your child what they got up to during our Forest School sessions.

Our first World Faith and Philosophy unit of the year was all about the concept of gods.

We began by looking at the Christian concept of a single God, asking the children what they thought God might look like (which always elicits some interesting answers!) before hearing some stories from the Bible.

Later, we explored the Hindu culture, where many different gods represent the different roles and aspects of a supreme being.

Can your child name any Hindu gods, or tell you why they think the concept of god is important to both Hindus and Christians?

Our Geography unit this term is all about our local area.

We began by learning that, at its heart, Geography is the study of people and places.  We then went on to explore the difference between 'human geography' (geographical features that are built by humans, such as towns, bridges and dams), and 'physical geography' (natural features such as hills, valleys and rivers).

Can your child give you some examples of human and physical geographical features?  Can you spot any when you're out and about?

Week 3 - Marvellous materials, cracking Christmas cards and a recreation ground recce

We began our new Science topic this week, looking at 'Everyday materials'.

The children explored a wide range of objects that had been placed around the room, all made from different materials with different properties.  The children were easily able to identify the materials - including wood, plastic, metal, fabric, rock and paper - and soon got used to describing them using scientific terminology such as 'hard', 'soft', 'flexible', 'transparent', 'waterproof', 'absorbent' and 'stretchy'.

Which common everyday materials can you see around you?  Can your child identify the material and describe some of its properties?

No, that wasn't a mistake in the heading!  Despite it still being September, we've been fabulously festive in Year 1 this week by creating some eye-catching Christmas cards.  With a backdrop of Christmas music to get us in the festive mood, the children finger-painted around stencils to create relief images of stars, reindeer and Christmas trees,

The children's Christmas cards will be coming home this week, giving you plenty of time to order cards, tags and other goodies featuring your child's design in time for Christmas.  Click here for more details from the Cauliflower Cards website.

 

Our Design & Technology unit this term is all about playgrounds, so there was really only one thing we could do this week to kick it all off - go to the one next door!

The children were tasked with examining the play equipment to see how it was made, what types of shapes made sturdy structures and, to tie in with our Science, which materials had been chosen as the best ones for the job.  Obviously, there was plenty of time for playing on the equipment as well!

Can your child tell you about their trip to the park?  What was their favourite piece of equipment?

Week  2 - Super sorting, crazy crocodiles and amazing algorithms

In Maths, we've begun our work on number and place value by sorting and counting groups of objects.  We talked about the different ways we could sort objects (by shape or colour for instance) and the children then had a number of challenges to complete using different objects around the classroom.

They've also been honing their number skills in other ways, from jigsaws and dot-to-dot puzzles to matching activities and cut-and-stick games.

Ask your child about their favourite maths activities this week?

Our first English story this year has been 'The Enormous Crocodile'.

It's been a great jumping off point to get the children used to writing in their English books and they've done an amazing job of getting used to all Year 1 English routines.  Not only have they used slips of paper to construct and write sentences, they also used drama and role-play to come up with a new ending for the story in which the eponymous crocodile - rather than being sizzled up like a sausage - is given a chance to change his ways and become a better crocodile.

Ask your child about their new ending for Roald Dahl's classic tale.

In Computing, the children programmed each other to create LEGO models this week.

Using only a few LEGO bricks, the children made a simple model, taking a clear photo at each step using the iPad.  This created a picture algorithm, and they then challenged a friend to follow the algorithm - one step at a time in the correct sequence - in order to create the same LEGO model they had made.  It was a great way of demonstrating what an algorithm is, and why it needs to include clear instructions in a specific sequence.

Maybe you could try this activity at home.  Can your child create a picture algorithm for you to follow?

Week 1 - Welcome Back!

We've had a busy first week back!  First, we created our Year 1 Class Charter based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).  After going through the Articles that were most appropriate for Year 1, the children chose the Rights they felt were most important to them and included them in our Class Charter.

These included the Right to be heard (Article 12), the Right to an education (Article 28), the Right to play and rest (Article 31), and the Right to nutritious food and clean water (Article 24).

Ask your child about the UNCRC.  Which Rights did they think were most important, and which Right did they draw a picture to illustrate?

As this week was all about settling in and setting expectations for the coming year, that also included learning about how to keep ourselves safe online.

The children heard the story of Smartie the Penguin and we talked about what to do if we ever see something online that makes us feel sad, scared or worried.  This message was backed up by a video featuring Jessie and Friends, and enabled us to create and sign our own Year 1 E-Safety Charter, which you can find alongside the Class Charter at the bottom of this page.

Can your child tell you how they can keep themselves safe online?