Year 1 PSHE: Then and Now
Year 1 thought carefully today about things that we learnt as babies and things that we are learning now. For example, as babies we learn to crawl, talk, eat, roll over and walk. Now, Year 1 are learning, maths, reading, writing, riding a bike, swimming and other sports. To reflect on the past, we played a game of Guess Who with baby pictures of the class (and the teachers). The children thought this was really funny as it shows how much they have changed. Then, they drew themselves as babies, toddlers and now.
Year 1 DT: Testing Blades
Year 1 tested three different types of windmill blades today. They tried rectangle blades, triangle blades and curved blades. We found that the rectangle and triangle blades did not spin well at all. The curved blades span very quickly. Therefore, in our design we will create our windmills with curved blades.
Year 1 History: Off To The Market
Year 1 visited “the market” today and we absolutely loved it. We started off in class by comparing some differences from shopping in the past to modern day. Then, we each wrote shopping lists with 6 items and we had £1 to spend. When we arrived at the market, some of the children became the shopkeepers and some as the shoppers. The shopkeepers had to tell the shoppers how much their items were and count the money and give change. The shoppers could keep their items in brown paper bags. It was lovely to see the children working together, using their imaginations and they have all asked to do it again.
Year 1 DT: Trying Different Bases
Year 1 worked in groups of three to make three different types of bases that we might use for our windmill design. We compared them on their strength, stability and easiness to make. The first design was creating triangle lolly sticks and sticking them up into a pyramid. The second design was using paper plates and cups. The third design was using balls of newspaper and creating a pyramid with them. Year 1 had to create each design in 7 minutes so it was a fair comparison. We decided that the best design was the cups and plates base as it was strong, sturdy and easy to make, with every group being able to make the base in 7 minutes.
Year 1: Darwen Literature Festival
Year 1 were lucky to visit Darwen Library Theatre this morning. The author, Dommy B, told us lots of the poems from his book ‘The Dinosaurs are Back!’ The children loved joining in with the rhymes and sound effects. Some children were even invited onto the stage to say tongue twisters and dance. We couldn’t wait to read the rest of the story when we got back to school.
Year 1 PE: Overarm Throwing
Year 1 have been practising their Overarm throwing skills. Today, we have 3 different types of stations. The first challenge was for Year 1 to throw a beanbag onto a shape. The shapes could either score them 2,5 or 10 points. This also helped us to count in our times tables. The second challenge was to throw three quoits into three hoops that were placed at different distances. This was tricky as the quoits can roll away so Year 1 had to use the correct amount of power in their throw. The final challenge was passing to each other, alternating between overarm and underarm throwing.
Year 1 PSHE: Basic First Aid
Year 1 developed skills in basic first aid. We started by learning about the British Red Cross which is an organisation that responds to disasters, conflicts and personal emergency. We discussed what first aid is and agreed that we would not feel confident to give first aid to someone who needs help. In pairs, we followed the steps to help someone in different emergencies such as an asthma attack, choking, bleeding, burns, someone who is unresponsive and breathing/not breathing and head injuries. Year 1 listened very closely to the instructions and also practiced calling 999. They all felt more confident to know how to help someone or themselves if these emergencies occurred.
Year 1 Science: Live Lesson with Steve Backshall for Oceans Week
Yesterday, Year 1 joined a live lesson with Steve Backshall to learn about the fish that live in the oceans. He was at the National Marine Aquarium and went underwater with his camera! We were able to see lots of different fish, eels, crabs and even small sharks. We learnt lots of amazing facts about the fish and he also told us about the importance of looking after the environment so that rubbish does not go into the oceans.
Year 1 English: Making Predictions
Today, we came to school and found out that a wolf had been sighted on our school grounds! We had a video from Mrs Ham asking Year 1 to help look for clues and eyewitness reports from Mrs Thompson, Miss Kachwalla and Mr Bloomfield which gave us a trail to follow. We found some clues such as a bin bag, packed lunch, honey, a cup, glasses and a red cloak. When we came back to class, we saw the front cover of our new book The Last Wolf and wrote a prediction for the story.
Whole School- Be the Change: Our Kindness Workshop
This morning, Years 1-6 took part in an inspiring 'Kindness Workshop' delivered by Krish, centred on Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote: "Be the change you want to see in the world." The children explored the three pillars of kindness, being friendly, generous, and considerate, and brainstormed simple everyday actions like smiling, sharing, hugging, complimenting, etc. We looked at powerful, real-life examples from 52 Lives, a charity founded by Jamie in 2013, including Clare from Australia and Andrea from Romania, whose £5,000 operation goal was doubled to £10,000 by kind strangers. This sparked a wonderful discussion about how fortunate we are to have the NHS in our country compared to places where healthcare is very expensive. After watching a video of a young boy comforting an upset football fan after Portugal beat France, the children learned that kindness is actually scientifically proven to make us happier, give us healthier hearts, slow down ageing, and help us live longer. Best of all, kindness is contagious; a single act can spread to 125 people! During the workshop, the children had the opportunity to share kind words with their peers in pairs. They mentioned that giving and receiving compliments felt anywhere from a bit "weird" to really "joyful". At the end of the workshop, the children had a quiz with a series of questions. Arlo, Jack, Molly, Beau, Sophia, Phoebe, Elijah, Eden, Isaac, James, Desmond, Chay, Declan, and Archie did a brilliant job answering the questions, showing great listening skills, and everyone demonstrated our 4 school rules exceptionally well. Afterwards, the children went back into their classrooms to complete their kindness activities. They had a fantastic time making chatterboxes, bracelets, letters, poems, and posters. Lots of kindness has been shared today, and we will definitely continue to share it. We must remember that kindness doesn't cost anything, so we should all use it more.
Year 1: Making Kindness Cards and Bracelets
Year 1 loved learning more about kindness from 52 Lives. They learnt about empathy, friendliness and generosity. In class, they designed cards and bracelets for each other to spread kindness. It was lovely to see them all making things for their friends and the smiles on their faces when they received a card.
Year 1 Phonics
Year 1 have had a longer phonics session today to help them prepare for the upcoming Phonics Screening Check. We played two games. The first game focused on words including split digraphs. The children had to pick a word, read it, write it and draw a picture to match. They were extremely pleased when they could read some trickier words like ‘ice cube’ and ‘fireplace’. Then we played another game focusing on trigraphs. Similar to the popular game Headbandz, the children had to pick up a short sentence and put it on their headband. Partner A had to read the sentence and help sound it out so that Partner B could write the sentence on the whiteboard. The children all worked really well together and tried very hard.