Friday 14th March 2025

In English, we finished our diary in role as Peter Pan, describing our adventures in Neverland. These are now proudly displayed on our wow walls, come and have a look! We then reminded children of our Where the Wild Things are story and wrote captions for some of the pictures.

In maths we began our measurement unit, we looked at comparing heights and lengths and then measuring length with objects. We compared our heights, shoe size, hand size and hair length with each other. We practised measuring the lengths of classroom items using cubes. 

In Science, we looked at signs of Spring. We learnt about which months Spring are in the UK, what the weather is like, the day lengths and went for a walk to look for other signs of Spring around school including the magnolia trees blossoming and daffodils. We used our learning to create Spring mind maps. Could you go on a nature walk and find any signs of Spring around Tonbridge?

In RHE, we talked about how some household items may have ingredients that are unsafe in them. We spoke about where they should be kept such as medicine and bleach. The children sorted safe and unsafe items. 

In History, we pretended that someone had stolen the world cup and had to design a new one. 

In Art, we made moving images using a mechanism for the story of The Gingerbread Man. 

Friday 7th March 2025

What a busy and exciting week!

The children in Year 1 really enjoyed our school-wide Peter Pan day on Monday - Year 1 was run by 2 ticking crocodiles, Nana and Tigerlily and they had a blast. The children took part in watercolour painting, listened to stories in Captain Hook's den, made pirate hats, walked the plank, got very bubbly in the Mermaid's Lagoon and had an amazing time on the inflatable pirate ship obstacle course. I think everyone slept well that night!

Year 1 enjoyed meeting the author Andrew Weale and hearing his stories in his workshop. We are very lucky that we now have some signed copies of his books in our classrooms. 

Over at the forest school, the children have been making Dream Cathers and Forest crowns, and searching for the treasure to fee Tinkerbell from her jar.

Pyjama day on Wednesday was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Year 1 enjoyed exploring the reading dens around the school and hearing bedtime stories.

Thursday's costumes for the official World Book Day were absolutely fabulous. An array of Harry Potter characters, super heroes, Paddingtons, princesses, fairies, animals, Star Wars friends and Horrid Henrys (and some more) had to carry their story book around all day ready for when the Reading Bell sounded. When it did, everyone stopped to read - playground, classroom, assembly or even the corridor!

The week concluded with a reading safari with their Year 6 buddies. We also started work on our Peter Pan Wow writing. The children have worked extremely hard this week.

Creating Peter Pan artwork: 

Reading safari:

Friday 28th February 2025

We started a new text in English, Where The Wild Things Are. We have made predictions about the story, enjoyed listening to the story and we wrote descriptions of the wild rumpus, with a focus on using capital letters for proper nouns.

 

In maths, we have looked at counting by making groups of tens, grouping tens and ones, and partitioning into tens and ones. Mrs Upton was very impressed with our reasoning and problem solving skills!

In our reading strands lessons, we looked at a range of extracts from texts by the author Andrew Weale, who will be visiting us next week. We found some of them so funny, like One Newt in a Suit.

In Geography, we looked at globes, atlases and online maps. We looked at when and why each might be used and what are the drawbacks of each one. For example globes are a good model of earth from space, but not easy to carry around, whereas atlases have lots of details but because they are flat the maps are slightly distorted. We looked at some local places on google earth. We also learnt the names of the 7 continents and began to learn this song: Seven Continents Song (Oceania Version)

In DT we began to explore moving picture books. We looked at books with different types of flaps, levers and sliders and discussed how the they worked and why they are effective.

In Science we completed a carousel of activities to review and assess all of our learning from our Animals Including Humans topic. 

Activity 1: Sorting animals into carnivores, omnivores and herbivores using clue cards.

Activity 2: Sorting statements intro true and false, such as all birds can fly, fish are warm blooded, mammals lay eggs etc.

Activity 3: Spot the difference. Look at pictures of similar animals using magnifying glasses to identify what the differences are e.g. toad/frog, alligator/crocodile, sparrow/chaffinch, leopard/cheetah, trout/salmon.

Activity 4: Guess the animal. Pupils work in pairs. One partner selects a picture of an animal. The other partner asks questions about that animal, using what they know about animal groups and diets. Partner A looks closely at the picture to answer the questions so that partner B can guess the animal.

Activity 5: Do animals have five senses like humans? We discussed the question in groups and wrote answers on post it notes. When we discussed our ideas as a class is brought up some interesting questions and we researched some facts. We learnt that snakes can smell through organs in their mouths and that crocodiles have really good senses.

Friday 14th February 2025

In English, we finished our final big write for our Hermelin text. We wrote letters in role as Hermelin which included the suffixes er and est, as well as imperative verbs.

In Maths we learnt to count to 50, and then focused on 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50. We can say how many ones and tens in each of the multiples of ten. On Friday, we rounded up the term by finishing with a carousel of practical activities looking at different areas, e.g. 2D and 3D shapes, doubles, addition and subtraction, part whole models and comparing and ordering numbers.

In Science, we recapped the types of animals and diets. We then sorted animals in different ways e.g. mammals and not mammals, carnivores and not carnivores, live in the sea and live in water, can fly and can’t fly etc.

In Art, we used our own printed photographs to create Pablo Picasso style portraits.

In RE, we discussed why Christians might reflect and pray. We looked at 4 different reasons Christians might pray; to say thank you, to ask for help in times of need, to ask God to help and look after others, and to say sorry for mistakes. We had a go at writing a prayer or note for each of these reasons. Lots of children expressed how thankful they are for their parents and everything they do for them such as cooking and caring for them. It was very sweet to hear!

We hope you all have a really lovely half term, and can’t wait to see you next half term for Spring 2!

 

Maths Thursday:

Art Friday:

 

Maths Friday:

Friday 2nd February 2025

We have had a lovely week this week, our highlight being visiting Rosehill school theatre to watch their year 3-5s perform Alice in Wonderland. The children sat and watched in awe, we were very proud of how they represented our school. Rosehill performers were incredible, they made us laugh, dance and have an overwall wonderful time. We hope they'll invite us back next year!

In English, we have been planning our final big write. We will be writing a letter in role from Hermelin. We will be using imperative verbs, time adverbials and adjectives.

In Maths, we have been continuing with addition and subtraction to 20. We have been finding fact families, finding the difference and answering missing number problems.

In Science, we recapped animal classifications and then we learnt the words omnivore, carnivore and herbivore, and sorted animals by their diets.

In Geography, we learnt the history of the Union Jack and the other flags of the countries in the UK.

In History, we learnt about Charles Dickens who enjoyed visiting Tonbridge when he was young and walking along the river. We wrote a fact book about him. 

 

Friday 31st January 2025

This week we have been continuing with our Hermelin story. We have written instructions on how to find a lost item, lost posters describing Lucky the Goldfish, and we have written in role as Hermelin to tell Bernardo Bosher where to find his gold fish.

In Maths, we have been finding and making number bonds to 20, learning our doubles and using number bonds to work out more complex subtraction problems. We loved going on our number bond hunt outside! If you want to practice doubles, try playing the ‘hit the button’ game.

In art, we continued to learn about Pablo Picasso. We then created our own crazy portraits in his style.

In history, we have started to look at the historical significance of the River Medway in Tonbridge we learnt what people used the river for previously. Ask us about it!

In Science, we started to learn about animals. We learnt that all animals move freely, eat, drink and have offspring. We then looked at birds and fish in more details and their key features. To finish the lesson we made bird feeders so we can see what types of birds we have in our local area.

Friday 24th January 2025

We have spent our English lessons this week writing our own version of Hermelin The Detective Mouse. We have used exciting adjectives and powerful vocabulary. our teachers are so proud of our work, please ask to see your child's story if you would like to!

In maths we have been concentrating on numbers to 20, comparing them using the <>= symbols, ordering numbers and adding using different methods such as counting on using a number line.

In History, we learnt all about Tonbridge Castle including the parts of the castle and who used to live there. We did some role play to act out different roles such as cook, servant, lords and ladies and knights.

In Geography, we looked at some of the famous landmarks of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including the tallest mountains, lakes and important cities. We then split into 4 groups to each concentrate on making a map/collage of each of the countries.

In art, we started learning about the artist Pablo Picasso and looked at some of his famous portraits. We learnt some key facts about him, and discussed what we liked and disliked about his work and then had a go at copying some of them. 

We learnt all about Peace in RE and discussed how Christians feel peaceful and how we can feel peaceful.

 

Friday 17th January 2025

It has been another busy week here in Year 1.

In Maths, we have been focusing on understanding and consolidating our knowledge of tens and ones to form teen numbers. We have also been using number lines and placing the teen numbers in order.

English has seen Year 1 working towards another Big Write. They are really enjoying the story of Hermelin and would all rather like their own detective mouse! We have largely focused on adjectives this week and the children are really extending their vocabulary.

The 5 Senses were explored in Science this week - smelling food, tasting food, trying to throw a ball at a target whilst blindfolded, listening to instruments and working out what is inside the feely bag using their sense of touch. 

In art, the children drew some fabulous self-portraits! A very artistic bunch.

Year 1 have continued to look at the history of Tonbridge, and have been looking at the capital cities of the United Kingdom in geography

 

Friday 10th January 2025

Happy New Year! 

We've had a lovely first week back. In English, we introduced our new text, Hermelin the Detective Mouse by Mini Grey. We have written predictions about the story, a poem about the attic Hermelin lives in using powerful adjectives, we have used role play and pretended to interview Hermelin and written down our questions, and we have answered some comprehension questions about the text, with a focus on vocabulary.

In Maths, we have gone back to look at place value but this time with a focus on teen numbers. The children have been learning how many tens and ones make up each teen number, and have been working on their reasoning and problem solving skills to answer some tricky questions. 

In Science, we looked at the different parts of the human body. We discussed how all humans are different but have similar body parts. We talked about how some people might not have certain body parts or may need some extra help to make their body parts work. We labelled photos of ourselves with as many body parts as we could think of and played some games such as Simon Says. The children tried to rewrite the song 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' using different body parts.

In art, we learnt some new sketching techniques such as stippling, hatching, cross-hatching and circulism. 

In RE, we learnt the story of Jesus and the tax collector. We focused on friendliness and how Jesus showed friendliness to the tax collector. 

Thursday 19th December

We have a lovely festive week this week. The nativity went incredibly, all of the children sung beautifully and we are very proud of them.

We have enjoyed making Christmas cards, meeting Santa in his grotto, eating popcorn around the campfire and eating our delicious Christmas lunch along with crackers. 

We finished the week by singing Don't Worry Mary at the church, and enjoyed a lovely Christmas church service. We had a fun Christmas party and loved playing party games to conclude the term. 

We wish all of the year 1 families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Have a lovely, restful Christmas break and enjoy time with your families. We look forward to seeing you all in 2026!

Friday 13th December

Wow, what a week! Nativity rehearsals were in full swing and the week concluded with a stella dress rehearsal performance in front of the staff and Key Stage Two. Everyone did very well and sang beautifully! We cannot wait for you to see the performances next week!

In English, we planned and wrote instructions on how to catch a cheeky elf! The class elves escaped, and we had to get them back. We had to use imperative verbs and "bossy" language as well as writing a list of needed equipment (ranging from chicken noodles to entice them back to cookies and donuts).

In maths, we spent the week consolidating what we have been learning across the last two terms, including word problems, shapes, addition and subtraction. 

In RE, we thought about thankfulness, especially around Christmas time. We wrote about why Mary and Joseph would have been thankful, and we can be thankful for ourselves at Christmas. The children wrote some very sweet answers, including how thankful they are for their friends, family, and food!

We went on a nature walk around the school to find wildlife, such as worms, toadstools and ants. We liked meeting little friends in the mud. 

 

Friday 22nd November

What a busy week for year 1! The children have started to learn their songs for the Nativity Play and are doing very well. The Christmas feeling is setting in; in RE we have been learning about the nativity story and sequencing the pictures, and have discussed why Christmas is important to Christians.

 

In science this week, the children have been conducting an investigation. We are looking at patterns in the weather and have placed a thermometer and rain gauger outside. Every day, the children take a trip outside to read the temperature, check how much rain we have had and test how windy it is. We are trying to find out what a week of Autumn weather looks like, and so far it has been getting colder and colder!

In maths, the children have been consolidating their knowledge of taking away in a variety of ways: taking away using a number line, taking away using the ten frames and counters, and today they have been working out their take-away sentences from a part-whole model. 

 

Year 1 have been writing their own version of the story Rapunzel by changing the name of the main character and making some adjustments to the story line. It has been amazing to see the knowledge that they have learnt throughout the term come into fruition with sentence building and very exciting vocabulary. 

 

Non-uniform day was great fun, and the overall message of anti-bullying week (to be kind to everyone and celebrate differences) has been taken in well - we also learnt the importance of Speak Out, Stay Safe.

 

 

Friday 15th November 2024

The week began with Remembrance Day,  we spent the afternoon creating some beautiful poppy art work and writing a poem to help us remember those who fought for our country.

In English this week we have been continuing to look at our Rapunzel story. The children had a go at writing noun-verb poems as well as using powerful adjectives such as 'courageous' and 'adventurous' to write a character description of Rapunzel. They have been extending their sentences using 'and' and 'because'.

In Maths, the children learnt how to add on a number line and then we began learning to subtract using manipulatives. The children were able to write their subtractions as a number sentence and fill in part-whole models.

At Forest School in 1PU, we learnt to identify different types of trees such as oak and beech trees. We also played lots of games with our year 6 buddies and also had some free time within forest school to explore and create what we would like. Some of us built a drum kit out of tyres and logs, some children did mud painting and others played in the mud kitchen.

In computing, we learnt about algorithms and how computers can use these to check our answers. We then completed some sorting quizzes on Purple Mash, by sorting shapes by colour, shape, amount of sides etc. You could have another go at home!

We also got to see the gallery of artwork for the competition about The Wise and Foolish Builder. We were so proud of our year 1s who entered! We had a special assembly to hear the winners and we also got to see Miss Atkin's be pied! It was so funny!

Friday 8th November 2024

Wow we have had such a busy week! We started looking at our new English text, Rapunzel by Bethan Woolvin. It is a version of the traditional fairy tale however this Rapunzel does not need a prince to save her, she is a braver, more resourceful Rapunzel! We had some mysterious items delivered to the classroom to give us clues about the text and once we had had read it, we sequenced images from the story and answered some comprehension questions.

In Maths, we have been looking at addition problems, and learnt how to solve word problems by looking for key numbers and words in the sentences. 

We had the church service on Thursday morning and enjoyed seeing the year 6's get their ties, learning about how to be gentle, meeting the church dog and joining in with some songs. 

In the afternoon, we had the amazing Miriam from The Amelia Centre come to deliver a workshop all about toys. We learnt about some toys that were over a hundred years old and the differences between them and the more modern versions. We met a teddy that belonged to a child who was evacuated in WW2, and got to play with Jacob's ladders, thaumatropes, spinning tops, cup and balls, wooden train set, Noah's arc and kaleidoscopes. It was so much fun, we all learnt so much and had such a brilliant afternoon. We wrote recounts of the workshop on Friday using the past tense.

On Friday afternoon, we had a BCS day afternoon where we recorded the song Our Lighthouse for our partner school Matengoro Primary School who we support and raise money for. 

 

Friday 18th October 2024

In English this week, we have been writing letters. We planned our letter and used our notes to write full sentences. We wrote some lovely letters to the toys, pretending that we are stuck in the attic and asking for help. We tried to include some conjunctions in our writing. We have made so much progress in our writing already!

In Maths, we have been continuing to look at part whole models but also introduced bar models. The children have been able to fill in part whole models, bar models and complete number sentences to match them.

In Science, we went on an exciting materials hunt. We found objects made of metal, wood, plastic, glass, paper etc and discussed the properties of these materials that made them right for the job. For example we discussed how the windows in school are made from glass because they need to be really strong to ensure they don’t break, waterproof to ensure the rain doesn’t come in, and transparent to let light through so that it’s not too dark inside.

In PE, we made the most of the beautiful sunshine and went outside to practice our catching skills. We practiced with different sized balls and bean bags, and learnt how to get our body and hands into a ready position (knees bent, feet shoulder width apart, slightly on our toes) to catch. We learnt that if the ball is coming high then our thumbs need to be touching, and if it’s coming low our little fingers need to be touching. Ask us to show you!

In art, we continued looking at colour mixing and relating it to the work of Wassily Kandinsky. We learnt about how he was the first painter to stop painting things and instead paint just using colours and shapes. He believed that this let him paint honestly about his feelings. Often Kandinsky would listen to music while he painted and try to paint what he heard. So this is exactly what we did too. We listened to lots of different moods of music to inspire our paintings. Do you like them?

Friday 11th October 2024

In English, we have been continuing with our Old Bear story and produced some lovely writing, including a missing toy poster. We really enjoyed creating our own ways to get to the attic with our class toys and then writing down our ideas.

In maths, we have introduced the part-whole model, and the children have had a go at working out different parts for a given whole number.

In Science, we looked at the word waterproof, and conducted an investigation to decide what material would make the best rain hat for Old Bear. We poured water on each material to test whether it was waterproof, then discussed out of the ones which were which would make the best rain hat and why. 

In PE, we continued with our gymnastics unit and played a jungle game as well as learning some new positions and balances.

In History, we went back in time to discover 20th Century toys such as My Little Pony, china dolls, a handheld game console, Mouse Trap and many more.

In Geography, we looked at different types of houses and built them with construction toys. 

Friday 4th October

What a busy week! Year 1 have been working hard preparing for the Harvest Service on Monday by practising their lines for The Little Red Hen and making animal masks. 

In Art this week, we continued to explore colour mixing, except this time someone took our paintbrushes away! Year 1 set off exploring the playground to find natural resources to use instead . They found stones, grass, feathers, sticks, ferns, leaves and some dried flowers to explore different painting techniques.

In English, Year 1 concluded writing their own version of Old Bear using the planning circles created last week.  They also thought about the feelings of all the toys in the stories at the different stages of their adventure, and received a letter from another dear toy who was also stuck in the attic. Some big achievements were made with their writing this week. The children also made freeze-frames to capture the toy's feelings.

In maths the focus was on consolidating the understanding of the terms more than, less than, greater than, fewer than and consolidating our number knowledge up to 10. The children also looked at number lines this week to enable them to use them as a helping tool in their independent work.

Science this week saw us experimenting to find out which material works best for absorbing water - the tracing paper didn't do very well, but we concluded that the tea towel was best!

Year 1 has started their History topic of toys this week, beginning with modern toys that they play with today. The children considered the properties of the toys such as what material they are made from, whether they are electronic, whether they make noise or not, and did they fit in their pocket? Next week we are going to start going back in time to explore what children before them used to play with.

 

 

Friday 27th September 2024

This week, the children have written their own versions of the Old Bear story, they have produced some lovely writing using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. Some children have even managed to add in some descriptions.

In maths, our main focus has been comparing numbers using the words greater than, more than, less than, fewer than and equal too alongside the symbols > < =. We have done this practically as well as in written work.

In Science, 1PU did an experiment to see which material was the most absorbent. We discussed the key vocabulary as well as how we could make it a fair test. We decided that the fabric was the most absorbent, and will try to test some different materials. 1A will complete their experiment next week. 

We did a survey in Geography to find out how we all get to school, they recorded these in a table using stickers. 

In Art, we looked at the artist Wassily Kandinsky. He thought a lot about the colours we use and how they make people feel. The children used everything they have learnt about colour mixing, tinting and shading to create their own version of his work 'Squares with concentric circles'.

Friday 20th September 2024

This week we have been carrying with our Old Bear book, the children have been thinking a lot about characters emotions and have began planning their own retelling of the story.

In maths, we have been finding one more and one less than a number and have also been counting backwards within 10. We made some rockets to help us!

In art, we recapped the colour wheel and learnt that adding white to colours makes them lighter (tint) and adding black makes them darker (shade). We experiments with making our own tints and shades by colour mixing.

In PE, we bang our gymnastics unit, we explored different ways to move and balance including high movements and low movements. We created our own routines and some of us showed them to the year group. 

Friday 6th September 2024

Wow, what an incredible first week in year 1! We are so, so proud of how well all of the children have settled in and approached changes and new challenges. We are feeling like very lucky teachers!

In English this week, the children have spent time discussing their summer holidays and have written sentences about them to go on our Wow Writing board, so that every child has something on display in school to feel proud of. We discussed their ideas and how we could turn these into full sentences using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. We were really impressed with how the children were using their phonics to support them with their spellings.

The children have also taken part in some Maths activities and fun games. We have been looking at counting up to 20, matching numerals to pictures and their number formation to 10.

In story time this week, 1PU have been reading Peace at Last by Jill Murphy. They now know the story really well and can join in on key parts, and even started adding actions. 1A have enjoyed reading a range of different stories such as Tiddler and The Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson.

We have been spending some time hearing the children say their phonics sounds and blending words, so levelled reading books should be ready to go out next week.

The children have also been participating in some getting to know you games and activities and also been doing some lovely arts and crafts. They have also had some exploring/choosing time so they can get to know the resources we have in the classroom and to support the transition from reception to a more formal year 1.

We are so excited to welcome the children back for week 2 and look forward to seeing you at Meet the Teacher next Wednesday at 6pm.

Optional activity Science:

In Science, we have begun looking at our new topic – Everyday Materials. The children have learnt the difference between an object and the material from which it is made. We are going to focus on wood, plastic, metal and rock and begin practical activities to sort them next week.

Activity: Find some objects at home. Say what the object is and then decide the material that it is made from and label it.

Week 1 Photos