BALANCEABILITY

This term, we were lucky enough to have had a visit from Steve from the Balanceability team. He worked with the Reception children over two days to look at how to improve our balance and our skills on a balance bike. We also learnt about keeping safe and how to look after our bikes. Since Steve left, the children have been recreating some of his challenges for each other in the playground.

DT

Today we completed our DT investigation. We had been talking about people who are either allergic or intolerant to different foods. We talked about people who have to follow a gluten free diet, people who are allergic to nuts and prawns and people who are intolerant to milk. We talked about the difference between being allergic and intolerant. I set the children the challenge of making a cheese pizza for someone who can’t have dairy or lactose. Luckily, Finley in our class cannot have lactose or soya so we were able to imagine that we were making it for him (although we all ate it in the end!). We started by looking at, and trying, 8 different cheeses that you can buy in the supermarkets, that are made for people who don’t eat dairy products. We also talked about how some people choose not to eat products from animals and follow a vegan diet. We scored each cheese that we tried out of 5, with 5 being delicious and 0 being disgusting. After trying the different cheeses, Miss Parker added up the scores and we found out which ones were the class favourites. Then we each chose which ones we would put on our pizzas. We started with a piece of flatbread and used the spoon to spread out our tomato sauce. We then added our cheese/cheeses and then Mrs Fletcher took them to the oven for grilling. We noticed that some of the cheese melted but others didn’t. Some of us took our pizzas home to show to our grown ups but the children that tried them in school all liked them.

This term, our DT work is all about food and where it comes from. We have learnt about which foods come from plants and which come from animals. We tried the different fruits that were in the story 'Handa's Surprise' and talked about where different kinds of fruits and vegetables grow. We made Fufu (from The Ghanaian Goldilocks story) and traditional porridge and tried both, comparing them. Our final project will be to make a lactose intolerant cheese pizza. We will be trying different kinds of vegan cheese and choosing our favourites to make a pizza that everyone in our class could eat, even those with special dietary requirements.

SCIENCE

This term in Science, we have been learning all about animals. We started by investigating the plants and animals that we can find in our own local area. Then we learnt about how animals can be grouped into different categories, particularly focussing on mammals and reptiles. We used the stories 'Handa's Surprise' and 'The Hungry Hyena' to talk about African animals and to start to think about features of different types of animals. The Year 1's worked together to create a poster comparing mammals to birds. We learnt that humans are mammals. We also talked about the different foods that animals (including humans) eat and matched the words 'carnivore', 'herbivore' and 'omnivore' to different animals.

We also made the most of the winter weather and have been investigating the ice and the process of freezing and melting.

ENGLISH

For our last 2 week unit in English, we are looking at the poetry of Matt Goodfellow and his poetry collection ‘Caterpillar Cake’. So far we have talked about the rhymes and poems that we already know and had a go at performing his title poem Caterpillar Cake. Here you can hear the Year 1’s, and Miss Parker, turning it into a call and echo poem.

For our second 2 weeks of English this term, we have been looking at the traditional version of Goldilocks. Last week, when we were learning about the author Dr Tamara Pizzoli, we read her story 'The Ghanaian Goldilocks' so this week we compared it to the traditional version. We started by hearing a retelling of the story and then started to plan and write our own versions. We talked about the characters, setting and events in the story before thinking of our own adaptations. We also looked at how we could use exclamation marks or question marks within our story too.

For our first 2 weeks of English this term, we have been looking at the author Dr Tamara Pizzoli. She writes lots of A to Z books so we worked together as a team to make our own. We came up with ideas for a food A-Z and an animal A-Z but decided in the end to make the animal one. The children each worked on a few letters so that between us we had finished the whole alphabet.

ART

This term for our Art and Design, we have been looking at the work of Clarice Cliff and trying our hand at making our own ceramics. We have learnt how to make a thumb pot and also how to effectively roll the clay. Later in the term we will use our new skills to make a cup and saucer which we will then decorate inspired by Clarice Cliff.

COMPUTING

This term, our computing work is all about programming. We have started our sessions by exploring the remote control cars, the Bee Bots and the Botleys. We also thought about how important it is to give instructions to a robot in the correct order. We have also continued our monthly Digital Literacy sessions, thinking about how to safely use the internet and the importance of keywords when trying to find things.

For our final two weeks of maths this term, we have been looking at 'measures'. We started with a week on weight/mass and capacity and then a week on length/height. We have been making sure that we understand the language used to talk about these concepts and have been comparing and ordering objects. We have also looked at using non-standard measures and some standard measures too. We have also been trying to use our knowledge to solve problems about weight/mass, capacity and length/height.

After completing our work on shapes, the Year Ones revisited their previous work on addition and subtraction. They have been practising how they can use the ten frames and the number lines to help them answer these types of questions.

For the first two weeks of our maths work this term, we have been learning about 2d and 3d shapes. We have worked on naming and describing the shapes as well as sorting and making patterns. We have also investigated the shapes by testing whether they roll or slide down a ramp and seeing how many 2d shape faces are hidden in the 3d shapes. We made some simple patterns but also some very complicated radiating patterns that start from the middle and go out.

GEOGRAPHY

For our second geography lesson, we learnt about some of the things that grow in Ghana. Earlier in the year we learnt that Weston Hills grows more pumpkins than any other place in England and we now know that Ghana produces more cocoa beans (which Cadbury’s use for their chocolate) than anywhere else. We simply had to try some chocolate of course!

This term in our Geography work, we are learning about Ghana. We started the lesson by looking at where Ghana is on a map and having a look at the flag. The reception children then had a chance to have a go on the laptops using the BBC ‘Pirate Bunnies’ activities which are all about following directions and finding places on maps. The Year 1 children had to try and use the atlases to find Africa and Ghana and then the Atlantic Ocean, which some children remembered learning about earlier in the year during our topic on The Wright Brothers.