Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy

A miscellaneous variety of learning taking place in Year 1.

Every week we pick a different pair to welcome everyone into class. It's up to them how to say hello - wave, high five, hug, hand shake.... anything to welcome our friends!

Winners of our weekly awards for Literacy Legend, Maths Marvel, Head Teacher Award and Star of the Week.

During our studies on materials in the environment around us we played games where we had to find objects in the classroom made from specific materials; we also explored the properties and compared objects which were hard, soft, bendy, stretchy etc. To link with our Traditional Tales topic we designed a roof for the 3 Little Pigs' house to see which material was waterproof or not. We recorded our answers in written form and on information tables.

In January we had a very successful Stay and Play session. It was lovely to see so many parents come in and play with their child. It was also great to be able to chat to you about how your child is doing and for me to learn some new faces !

Using the Traditional Tale of Little Red Riding Hood as motivation, we had to move around the hall as one of the characters and then hold a balance on a mat for 3 seconds.

Using the Traditional Tale of Little Red Riding Hood as motivation, we had to move around the hall as one of the characters and then hold a balance on a mat for 3 seconds.

Working alongside others and individually to make repeating patterns with our bodies. For instance: roll, roll, jump, jump, jump (and repeat).

In this session we were working alongside others and individually to make repeating patterns with our bodies. For instance: roll, roll, jump, jump, jump (and repeat).

We used tens frames to add numbers past 10. This was supplemented by using number lines to add and to count on.

During our learning about the history of toys, we looked at dozens of photos of old toys, some going back hundreds of years, others from when our parents and grandparents were little. We made our own picture version of a Victorian dolls' house; we did observational drawings of old toys brought in from the museum; we played electronic games where we had to buy toys from a toy shop alongside the toy shop we have set up in class with pretend money; we looked at teddies which were compared to an old one brought in from one of our grandparents.

Here we are with a selection of Traditional Tales, some brought from home and others from our school library. We are familiarising ourselves with all the different stories out there.

In January we had a visit from the birds of prey visitor centre. Some of us were lucky enough to hold one of the birds. Our visitor walked round so we could get a good look at the birds.

Here we are floating to our new setting when the magic bubbles are blown!

We watched a short film clip called "Bubbles" about a girl who finds a bubble-blowing set on a beach. When she blows the bubbles, she goes on magical adventures travelling inside the bubbles. This topic inspired us to do our own writing, including travelling to unknown lands, writing further stories and descriptions and asking questions to the characters.

• Curriculum plans - Autumn 2

Rainbow Factory Visit

On Thursday 13th February we will be receiving a visit from the Rainbow Factory Company who will be showcasing a day of learning to support our topic on Traditional Tales. We can't wait to share our experience with you. Keep watching this space for photos!

Here are the spellings for this half term

• Spelling Lists Editable.doc

The children thoroughly enjoyed dressing up as their favourite Roald Dahl Book characters