In Maths lesson this week we have been learning about the importance of place value in numbers up to twenty. Using practical resources to help us, such as dienes, we've been working on our understanding of recognising the numbers and then creating pictorial representations on tens frames. We then moved onto partitioning numbers using part-whole models. We really enjoy our maths learning and are becoming more confident with our numbers up to twenty! 

In science we were learning about the weather in different seasons. We talked about how it gets colder in the winter and might be frosty or even snow. In summer it is hotter, and it much sunnier. We found it trickier at first to talk about the weather in spring and autumn but soon learnt about the weather in these seasons too.

We then got to be weather presenters. In a group, each person focused on a different season, and we sorted weather cards for our season. One person then filmed the presenter talking about the weather in that season. We took it in turns to be the cameraman and the presenter.

In this week’s science lesson, Cherry class took a journey through the year... tree-style! Our young scientists have been learning all about deciduous trees and how they change across the four seasons.

Spring:
We discovered that spring is a season of renewal for trees. The children noticed how buds and blossoms emerge, promising new leaves. We drew pictures of trees bursting with pink and white blossoms!

Summer:
When summer arrives, deciduous trees are at their fullest. The class observed how the trees provide shade with their lush, green leaves.

Autumn:
Autumn brought a splash of colour to our lesson! Everyone loved exploring how the leaves changed to shades of red, orange, and yellow.

Winter:
Finally, we reached winter, when deciduous trees shed their leaves and stand bare.

The lesson ended with each student creating a “Tree Through the Seasons” poster, showing how deciduous trees transform throughout the year.

Year 1 had so much fun exploring the trees through the seasons!

We have been really enjoying exploring a range of traditional tales in our English lesssons. We particularly loved the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff! To help familarise ourselves with the story, we worked in small groups and acted out key parts of the book. You can see how much fun we had from the smiles on our faces! 

In computing today, we were recapping what all the different paint tools did. As it is Remembrance Day soon, we drew poppies in today's lesson. We used a brush to create the shape and then the filler tool to make it all red. Finally, we added some detail such as the black middle and the stem. We had great fun and are looking forward to next week’s computing!

This week, our creative Year 1 children have been hard at work in their Design and Technology lessons, learning all about habitats! To bring their learning to life, each student got the chance to build their own miniature habitat, carefully designed for specific animals. From hot and sandy deserts to the freezing arctic, the class explored the materials and conditions that animals need to thrive.

Working with a variety of materials—such as cardboard, cotton wool and paint the children carefully planned, constructed, and even added finishing touches to make their habitats look as real as possible! Not only did they have fun crafting and building, but they also gained a deeper understanding of the natural world and the importance of protecting these special spaces.

We were very lucky to have a visit from Safari Stu! He brought a range of animals for us to see, we were very brave and even held some of them too!

We thought that the lesser tenrec was the cutest animal he brought. They look a bit like hedgehogs but we found out that they live in trees in Madagascar. The animal we were most nervous about was the tarantula but we stroked and maybe even held it! We discovered that it was a bit tickly and not as scary as we first thought.

We had a super time with Safari Stu and are still talking about it now!

Year 1 are very keen scientists! We're really enjoying our 'Animals' topic and have been keen to find out more this week.

 We learnt that animals can be divided into five distinct groups. These are mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Using this knowledge, we worked together to compare differences between the animal groups and shared the knowledge we gained with one another.

Did you know that birds have beaks, lay eggs and are warm blooded whereas mammals produce milk to feed their young and have fur or hair on their body. 

This week, Year 1 had a fantastic time diving into the book Puffin Peter by Petr Horáček. The children were captivated by the adventures of Peter, a little puffin searching for his friend.

As part of our lesson, the children practiced their neatest writing by describing puffins—focusing on their black and white feathers, their bright beaks, and their ability to swim and fly! The class also made wonderful predictions about what might happen next in the story, using clues from the pictures and text.

To add more fun, the children put themselves in the characters' shoes, imagining what Peter and the other animals might say. We had some brilliant ideas, with lots of creative dialogue shared with the class.

It was a brilliant way to bring the story to life while practicing our reading, writing, and predicting skills!

We've really been enjoying our new top for this half term 'Animals.' We began our art lesson by naming as many animals we could think of that live in the sea. How many sea creatures can you name? 

We then used oil pastels to create drawings of different sea creatures. I wonder if you can spot a Jellyfish, Turtle, Pufferfish, Clownfish, Starfish or even a Blue Whale in our artisic creations!