Class Blog for Foundation/Y1

12th March - Learning about aeroplanes and watching our tadpoles grow!

Learning about aeroplanes and watching our tadpoles grow!

We’ve had another great week in Foundation/ Year 1.

We have been particularly excited the past few weeks as Mr Liddiment has set up our own tadpole tank in the classroom! We have learnt a little bit about the life cycle of a frog and how they change and have enjoyed watching these changes ourselves.

In the curriculum this week, Year 1’s History has been focused on the Wright brothers and the first aeroplane flight. We have been creating freeze frames of the first flight, with one of us being Wilbur Wright, one of us as Orville Wright, one of us as the plane and then an eyewitness. We focused on how the eyewitness would feel to be witnessing something so important. We then talked about what makes an event significant and how certain events have changed people’s lives. Foundation have also joined us by creating their own aeroplanes out of bricks outside. We then used our role play skills to pretend to fly the aeroplanes.

In English, Year 1 have begun to write their own versions of Jack and the Beanstalk, using the features of a traditional tale. I can’t wait to read them when they have finished. Foundation have started learning about adjectives and have begun writing different adjectives in their books to describe the characters in Jack and the Beanstalk.

Well done Foundation / Year 1, another great week of learning.

Foundation / Year 1 Team

7th March - St Piran's Day and World Book Day!

St Piran's Day and World Book Day!

We’ve had a very busy week in Foundation / Year 1.

On Tuesday, it was Pancake Day! Foundation made pancakes in the afternoon and talked about the process of making them, and what toppings they would have.

On Wednesday, we celebrated St Piran’s Day. We learnt about the history of St Piran and what it means to be Cornish. We had a wonderful singing assembly where we sang Sea Shanties, and our favourite, Looe My Home. We then had our St Piran’s afternoon and did lots of activities like: crimping pasties out of playdough, making Cornish bunting, collaging Cornish flags and more. Thank you to those of you who came for our afternoon, it was lovely to see you and spend time celebrating Cornwall together.

On Thursday, it was World Book Day, one of Miss Bolger’s favourite days of the year! We dressed up as our favourite book characters and did lots of reading. We read The Tiger Who Came to Tea, The Smeds and the Smoos, The Gruffalo’s Child and more books! We also used our crafting skills to complete book-related activities. We made puppets, collaged Rainbow Fish, designed a cover and more. We had a really great day celebrating reading and it was lovely to talk about our favourite books as a class and get the children excited about reading!

What a great week.

Well done Foundation / Year 1 for being absolute super stars.

Foundation/ Year 1 Team

26th February - Who made these footprints?

Who made these footprints?

We have had a lovely first week back in Foundation / Year 1.

We have begun our learning on our new big question which is: ‘Who made these footprints?’ We have set up a palaeontology lab for our role play and we have been working as fossil hunters! We have been brushing fossils and using magnifying glasses to take a closer look.
In our big question this term Year 1 will look at the idea of ‘footprints’ as who has had an impact and made significant change in society. In History, we will focus on the first plane and the Wright Brothers as well as looking at Neil Armstrong and the moon landings.

In Maths, Foundation have been combining two groups to make number. They have used lego bricks to help them. Year 1 have started their new unit: Addition and Subtraction to 20. We have begun our learning by using base ten and numicon to add together numbers within 20.

In English, our new learning journey is focused on Jack and the Beanstalk. We have started our learning journey by learning the story through actions. We have also begun to sequence the story and write key words or sentences linked to the pictures!

Some messages:
Our PE days are still Tuesday and Wednesday for this half term.

Please remember to order lunches on a Thursday for the next week.

Please make sure your child has their book bag/book on a Friday for book changes.

Thank you!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

5th February - Learning all about Chinese New Year!

Learning all about Chinese New Year!

We have had a great week in Foundation / Year 1.

We were very lucky to have Eva come and talk to us all about Chinese New Year. We listened to songs and learnt about traditions and Chinese food. We then made lanterns out of card and paper. We loved making the lanterns so much we made them all week! As it is the year of the snake, we made snake puppets, coloured in pictures and used our cutting skills to cut out a snake. We learnt lots and felt very lucky to have such a special visitor!

In our learning, we have been focusing more on minibeasts this week. Outside, Foundation labelled different minibeasts and talked about how they are similar and different. We have been learning about growing plants too, and what we need to grow a plant. Foundation have also been writing initial sounds using their phonics that are focused around our gardening story Christopher Nibble. Year 1 have begun planning their own gardening stories and will begin writing these next week.

We have had another wonderful week and I cannot believe we only have one week of half term left. This half term is really flying by!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

29th January - Growing and exploring!

Growing and exploring!

This week, we have focused our big question ‘What can I explore today?’ on exploring minibeasts and things that grow.

In English we have started a new learning journey focusing on the gardening story ‘Christopher Nibble.’ The Year 1 will be writing their own stories at the end of the journey and Foundation will be focusing on writing CVC words and captions.

We have also had an assembly this week all about climate change and what we can do to help the Earth. This has linked in well with our growing plants conversation and we have talked about eating a little bit less meat, and growing our own plants. We have even started this with carrots this week!

We have been exploring vegetables and minibeasts this week too. We have used our funky fingers to create minibeast pictures, we have matched the vegetables to their names in a garden patch puzzle and lots of other activities. The children have been brilliant at discussing what they know already, and what they would like to learn.

In Maths, Year 1 have begun exploring numbers up to 20. We have been practising counting forwards and backwards as well as where the numbers belong on a number line.
Foundation have been exploring the numbers 6,7 and 8. They have been identifying these numbers but also identifying numbers that are not 6, 7 or 8.

It has been another great week. Well done Foundation and Year 1.

Foundation/ Year 1 Team

22nd January - Royal Cornwall Workshop!

22nd January – Royal Cornwall Workshop!

We were very lucky to have the Royal Cornwall Workshops this week. We learnt all about seafood and where it comes from. We then explored lots of activities all about farming and how to use the land. We filled in puzzles, dressed up as farmyard animals, looked at the life cycle of a flower, talked about healthy eating and lots more! We had so much fun.

In our learning, we have continued finding out about Emperor Penguins. Foundation have been exploring penguins in their choosing time. They have labelled penguins, talked about where they live and made penguins on our playground out of chalk! Year 1 have started writing their non-chronological reports about Emperor penguins. We have gathered our facts together and now we have started writing our sentences. We are going to share our information with Foundation at the end of the week.

In Computing, we have been learning more about algorithms. We were talking about bugs in algorithms this week and how with a bug, our algorithm won’t work properly! We have explored this through a dice game making monsters and seeing what happens when we roll the same number. Lots of our monsters ended up with two heads or four arms! We then talked about the importance of getting our algorithms right.

Well done Foundation / Year 1, another great week!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

15th January - Welcome back Foundation / Year 1!

Happy New Year! We have had a great start back to school in Foundation/Year 1.

We are focusing on the big question ‘what can I explore today?’ in our curriculum this half term. We have begun our Geography lessons working as explorers and geographers to find human and physical features in our local environment.

We have also started our new English Learning Journey focusing on the book ‘The Emperor’s Egg’ by Martin Jenkins. The children have really enjoyed learning facts about the Emperor Penguins. Our favourite fact is that the Daddy penguin has to look after the egg and keep it warm for two whole months before it hatches! We all agree that this would be a tricky job. We have been developing our English skills by sequencing the story, role playing as penguins and Year 1 have even begun to write a recount of how a baby penguin is born.

In Maths for Year 1, our focus is shape. We have been exploring 2D and 3D shapes and sorting them based on their properties. We have also been making our own 3D shapes using stickle bricks and making 2D shapes using peg boards.
Foundation have been focusing on representing 1,2,3,4 and 5! They have been using five frames to find the numbers and also been practising their number formation.

We are set for a very good term. Well done for a great start Foundation and Year 1.

Foundation/ Year 1 Team

The end of term and Happy Christmas!

The end of term and Happy Christmas!

The children have been absolutely amazing this term and have worked so hard. We have had special visitors in our class this December! We found the elves under the tree at the start of December and they have been up to mischief ever since! We have had to keep a close eye on those cheeky elves, and the children have definitely been keeping them in check!

We have also had our Christmas performances. Foundation were absolutely brilliant in their first Nativity. They sang beautifully and the performance was wonderful. Year 1 performed in our Christmas play ‘The Fleece Force.’ They worked really hard to remember all the songs and the play was brilliant. Thank you all for coming along and supporting.

We have done some lovely Christmas activities to end the term, including our Christmas crafternoon! We have also been making Nativity stick puppets, decorating Christmas trees, using our cutting skills to decorate baubles and many more!

Thank you for all your support.

I hope the children have a very well deserved break. Happy Christmas and I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Autumn 2, Week 4: Toasting marshmallows and outdoor fun!

Toasting marshmallows and lots of outside fun!

We haven’t let the storm stop us this week. We finished our learning journey in English through toasting marshmallows. Our learning journey was all based around following instructions. Year 1 learnt about time conjunctions and imperative (bossy!) verbs, whilst Foundation sequenced different sets of instructions and used their phonics sounds to read bossy verbs. We then wrote our instructions to toast marshmallows and had so much fun following them outside. Mr Liddiment lit the fire and the children told each other the instructions. They were very tasty!

Year 1 have also been writing some fantastic number sentences in Maths. We have been using part-whole models to add together, and to take away. Year 1 have worked really hard to get the right numbers in the sentence and remember their + sign and their = sign!

Foundation have been recognising the numbers 4 and 5 this week. They had two different coloured hoops on the floor with the numbers 4 and 5 in them and they had to recognise these numbers on different pictures and sort them into the correct hoops. They have also been testing each other on recognising the number super quick when someone holds it up!

We have been having lots of fun outside this week. We have used our building blocks to build a town. The children told me that they had built Looe! We have also been using peg boards and other resources to make our favourite toys.

Well done Foundation / Year 1. What a lovely week.

Foundation / Year 1 Team

Autumn 2, Week 3: The rain won't stop us!

The rain won't stop us!

We have had another lovely week in Foundation / Year 1.

In English we have been learning about the features of instructions and what we need to write them. We have written instructions as a whole class for making edible chocolate sparklers and we have now written our instructions for toasting marshmallows! The children have really impressed me with their understanding of imperative verbs and time conjunctions. Year 1 have also written brilliant sentences. We were so proud we showed them to our Deputy Head Mrs Marshall!

In History, we have continued our learning on toys from the past and present. We brought in our favourite toy and discussed why it was our favourite. We then had Miss Hughes come in and talk about her favourite childhood toy. We compared how our toys were different to our adults.

In Maths Foundation have been subitising numbers 1, 2 and 3. They are recognising numbers without having to count! We have been playing lots of different games to practise this. Year 1 have been solving addition problems. They have really shown how determined they are with their problem solving skills; what super stars!

We have also been exploring our big question ‘What can I play with today?’ through building our favourite toys with lego. We have been building boats, action people and lots of different things to explore our favourite toys.

We also haven’t let the rain stop us this week! We have been out exploring and using brilliant vocabulary to discuss the weather. We may have got a little muddy too with all the fun we were having!

Well done Foundation/Year 1, another brilliant week.

Foundation / Year 1 Team