Spring 1

We have had an action-packed start to the spring term!

This term, our Year 1 students have been on an incredible journey through stories, letters, and the wonders of the sea!
Our young authors began the year exploring The Wizard of Oz. We created an immersive Wizard of Oz space complete with sound buttons, dress-up, and role-play opportunities, bringing the story to life in a magical way! Using story maps, children retold the tale with beautifully punctuated sentences, extending them with adjectives, joining words like and, and the word because. They also explored settings and character emotions, developing both their writing and storytelling skills.

Next, we focused on writing letters inspired by Dear Greenpeace. To inspire creativity, we built an immersive post office space with plenty of writing opportunities. Children learnt about formal and informal writing, sentence punctuation (questions, exclamations, and statements), and using facts effectively. They are now creating their own letters about sea animals, sharing important messages and demonstrating what they’ve learnt about protecting our oceans and the work of Greenpeace.

Our Year 1 students are not just learning to write—they’re thinking creatively, expressing themselves clearly, and making real-world connections in ways that are fun, engaging, and memorable!

In Maths this half-term, we have been busy exploring place value, addition and doubles. We have had lots of fun learning in practical and interactive ways! The children have used hands-on resources to build numbers, represent tens and ones, and explore how numbers are made.

We have practised addition using concrete resources and pictorial methods to help us really understand what is happening when we add. When learning about doubles, the children enjoyed spotting patterns and using real objects to find double amounts. There has been lots of partner talk, reasoning and problem-solving, with the children showing growing confidence in explaining their thinking.

In PBL, we have also begun our exciting new project, We Are Food Explorers!

The children started by drafting beautiful fruit basket designs, thinking carefully about shape, colour and detail. We have explored food from the past and compared it to the foods we see in our local area today, discussing how food choices and availability have changed over time.

The children created their own healthy eating passports, learning about balanced choices and different food groups. One of the highlights was our “supermarket sweep” activity, where the children had to select items thoughtfully and discuss whether they were healthy options. It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm and curiosity about food and where it comes from!

In P.E., the children focused on developing their dance skills and came up with pirate-based dance routines.

We are so incredibly proud of how well our children have done this half-term. They have come back into Year 1 with curiosity, enthusiasm and excitement. We can't wait to see where the rest of Spring term takes us!

Autumn 2

Year 1 have continued to work incredibly hard throughout Autumn 2, showing growing confidence, independence and enthusiasm in their learning. The children have taken part in a wide range of engaging, hands-on activities across the curriculum, and it has been wonderful to see them applying their skills in new and exciting ways.

In Maths, the children developed their understanding of early multiplication and division by counting in jumps of 2s, 5s and 10s, sharing objects into equal groups, and spotting patterns on number lines. They also explored time by comparing short and long activities, ordering the days of the week, and sequencing events from their own lives. Later in the term, they investigated 2D and 3D shapes, learning to describe their properties, build models, and spot shapes in the world around them. Alongside this, children continued to explore money through our finance lessons, learning about spending, saving and donating.

In English, our focus was poetry and instructions. The children immersed themselves in winter poetry, using their five senses to explore and describe the season. A highlight was our magical immersive grotto, which inspired rich discussion, descriptive vocabulary and creative sentences. Towards the end of the term, the children completed an instructions unit, learning how to sequence steps clearly and beginning to draft their own sets of instructions.

In P.E., the children focused on developing their gymnastics skills. They practised balances, rolls, travelling movements and linking actions together to create short sequences, building strength, coordination and confidence.

We also enjoyed a well-earned circus reward, where the children had great fun trying activities such as hula hooping, diabolo, plate spinning, ribbon dancing and stilt walking.

As we look ahead to the spring term, we are really excited to begin Project-Based Learning (PBL), where the children will take part in meaningful, real-life projects that bring their learning together across the curriculum.

Autumn 1

Year 1 have made a fantastic start to the year and have transitioned brilliantly from Reception! Our free-flow learning continues to play an important role in the classroom, giving children the freedom to explore, imagine and express their creativity.

In Maths, we’ve been working on addition using Numicon, counting forwards and backwards, recognising coins, and exploring part-whole models. We’ve also been learning about wants and needs, helping children understand how to make thoughtful choices in everyday life.

In English, we’ve loved reading Where the Wild Things Are — the children designed their own “wild things” and even held a lively school rumpus! We also enjoyed Stick Man, describing our own stick characters and writing imaginative sentences and alternative endings.

In P.E., our focus has been on developing coordination, teamwork and confidence through a range of fun activities.

Through our Project-Based Learning, we’ve been celebrating Black History Month, learning about British trailblazer Walter Tull and his incredible achievements.

In Geography, we’ve been discovering the seven oceans, while in Science, we’ve explored weather and autumnal changes. A highlight of the term was our first trip to Ainslie Wood Forest, where we observed seasonal changes first-hand.

In R.E., we’ve been learning about The Creation Story, thinking about how the world began and the beauty of the world around us.

It’s been a busy and exciting start to Year 1 — we’re so proud of how engaged, curious and enthusiastic the children have been in their learning!