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Our Learning

AUTUMN TERM 2023

Our overarching topic for this term is 'Who am I?'. This will allow the Year 1 team to really get to know the children's individual personalities and ensure they feel a sense of belonging here at Vaynor.

English  

In English, the children have been using actions to learn and retell the story 'The Gingerbread Man'. We have been using our phonic knowledge to spell keywords and write simple sentences with finger spaces and full stops. 

Our continuous provision activities have also linked to our Gingerbread Man topic.

Maths

Our Maths focus this term will be 'Number'. This will include: representing single-digit numbers, ordering and sequencing and counting in different steps. We have lots of fun this term and use practical resources to support our learning. In Autumn 2, we will be moving on to addition and subtraction and using our place value knowledge to support our calculations.

 Art  

In Art, the children have been exploring the artwork of Andy Warhol. The children evaluated various pieces of Warhol's artwork and discussed them with their peers using technical vocabulary, commenting on colour, line and texture and also how the pieces make them feel.

Who's Andy Warhol? 7 Famous Andy Warhol Artworks | The Artist

The children will then practise their art skills before creating their final masterpiece in the style of Andy Warhol's artwork.

Spring Term 2024 

Our Topic: This half term, our topic is ‘Toy town’. During our topic we will be discussing the question ‘How have toys changed over the years?’ Would we prefer modern toys or our Grandparents' toys?

Over the term we will be learning about toys from the past and how they compare with our families. In History, we will be investigating how toys have changed over time and when toys were invented. We will be comparing toys from the past in our own lives and sharing what toys we like to play with. We will also be finding out about what toys our family members played with when they were young, so get ready to share your favourite toys parents and grandparents!

 

In Geography, we will be continuing to find out about our local area. This time we will be exploring landmarks in Redditch such as Forge Mill, Arrow Valley Lake. Morton Stanley Park and Redditch Palace theatre. We have already been on a walk around our local school area and used ariel maps to map out different landmarks. This term, we will explore further and we will walk to Morton Stanley park and map out our journey! We will also be placing Redditch on a map of the United Kingdom and learn and locate the countries England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. 

English:

This term we will focus on retelling familiar stories and innovating these texts to write our own narratives about toys. We have been using the text- Dogger by Shirley Hughes. The children will be describing their own favourite toys and writing character descriptions for their teddies. We will then be retelling the story explaining how the characters in the text feel and why.  

We can’t wait to write our own texts about our missing toys!

Funnybones x 6 - Scholastic Shop

 After half term we will be using the text Funnybones to explore recount writing about our local area and finding out more about landmarks in Redditch. We will write our own journey stories in the style of Janet & Allan Ahlberg. We even scared Mrs Colcombe on our scary funnybones walk! 

 

PSHE

This term, we will continue our learning with ‘Jigsaw’ in PSHE which is a mindful approach to PSHE which brings together Personal, Social, Health Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development.

 

This half term we will explore the topics:

Dreams and Goals: In this topic we will: learn how to set goals and how to set stepping stones to achieve these goals. We will also look at how we can work well with others and how to face new challenges and how to overcome these.

 

Healthy Me: In this topic we will: understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy choices. We will know how to keep ourselves clean and healthy and discuss how to stay safe when crossing the road.

 

 

We will still be doing ‘myHappymind’ sessions which help the children develop their mental awareness and build mental health and wellbeing.  

                             

Maths:

This term we will focus on numbers to 50. This will involve developing a deeper understanding of what makes up a 2digit number. We will be using dienes to build the tens and ones and comparing these 2-digit number. In lessons we will be focusing on counting, developing a strong understanding of each number and using objects and pictorial representations to represent numbers.

 

We will be moving on to learning to Multiply and Divide after half term. We will be learning to count in 2’s and 10s and grouping objects to solve simple multiplications and divisions.

800+ Leapfrog Stock Illustrations, Royalty-Free Vector Graphics & Clip Art  - iStock | Leapfrog school, Leapfrog group, Playing leapfrog

This term we have started Leapfrog. Leapfrog will happen every Thursday and to begin with this is untimed and children will have access to resources to help them solve additions and subtractions. Make sure you bring your red leapfrog book back in on Thursday to record your score in the back of your book.      

Design Technology:

This term we will be designing and making a freestanding structure. We will be exploring what a freestanding structure is and what materials we will need to make it secure. We will be working in teams to design, make, adapt and evaluate a toy garage with a ramp for a toy garage.