Welcome to Year 1!

Miss Beard (1/2B), Mrs Clarke and Mrs Rhodes (1A) welcome you to year 1. Our teaching and learning assistants are Mrs Ensor, Ms Wright, Mrs Jones and Mrs Parker.

We have lots of exciting learning activities planned for the year.  We make each topic a hands on learning experience and enhance our work as much as possible with trips out and visitors to our school. We are also very lucky to be visited once a week by the team at Yogabugs.

In  Year 1 we feel that it is important for the children to share their experiences with you so we encourage you to discuss their learning with them at home and join in the fun!

We always welcome you into school to see if you have any questions or would like help to support your child.

We hope you and your child enjoy Year 1 just as much as we do!

Important Information:

1A will be having PE on Friday.

1/2B will be having PE on Monday and on Tuesdays. 

2C will be having PE on Monday and Tuesday.

Yoga Bugs will continue on Wednesdays for all year 1 children.

Please remember, children need to take earrings out before they come to school on PE days. If they cannot take their earrings out, then your child will not be able to partake in a PE lesson. 

Please note that children come to school in their PE kits on their PE days - thank you. Remember your white t-shirt!

Please see our newsletters for further information. If you have any questions or queries, please don't hesitate to come in and see us! 

Summer 1 2022

Our theme this term is 'Our Heritage'. We will be linking our topic to The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and answering the key question throughout our lessons:

'What has the Queen done for Great Britain?'  

Spring 2 2022

Saving Our Environment 

Our theme this term is 'Saving Our Environment'. Throughout our lessons, we will be answering the key question 'Do we have the power to make a change?' 

Spring 1 2022 

Social Justice 

Geography

Throughout our geography lessons, we will be answering the key question:' Am I making the right choices?' We will be answering the question through traditional tales helping us to understand what is fair and what is unfair.

During this topic we will be looking at some different countries and where they are in relation to the equator.

Science 

In science, we are continuing to look at seasonal changes but this time we will be looking at winter. We are going to track the weather and make a weather chart and then compare the weather between autumn and winter. 

Next, we are going to be investigating different materials and their properties. We will also be comparing and grouping everyday materials. To build on our material knowledge, we will be testing which material would be most suitable for our umbrella investigation. 

Autumn 2 2021

Peace and Conflict

History

In history we will be answering the key question 'What makes a person a significant individual?' To help answer the question we will be looking at three individuals: Edith Cavell, Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. Throughout our history lessons we will be looking at the history of the NHS and the work the three individuals did which impacted nurses and the NHS today.

Science

Our learning in science this half term is linked to the seasons and the changes associated with them. The children will be observing the weather and recording their observations in charts and tables, developing their ICT skills as they record data. They will learn how the seasons change and identify the weather associated with each season. After finding out about the kinds of vegetables that grow during autumn and how they are harvested, the children will make vegetable soup in their design and technology lessons. 

Autumn 1 2021

Identity and Diversity: Then and Now 'We are Time Travellers.'

Our topic for this half term links to the whole school theme of 'identity and diversity'. Through their learning the children will be answering the question 'What has changed?'

In science the children will be learning to name and write the different parts of their bodies. They will be about taught about the five senses, carrying out lots of practical activities using each of their senses.

Having learnt about their bodies, the children will then learn about where they live. In geography, they will name and locate on a map the countries, seas and capital cities of the United Kingdom. The children will then learn about key landmarks of the capital cities, providing them with facts to enable them to create an information leaflet about one of the cities. 

In history, the children will learn about how life in the United Kingdom has changed since their parents, grandparents and teachers were young children. We will focus on what life was like in the 1960's, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. We will  look at fashion from the 1960's and some of the Pop Art that was famous at the time, created by Andy Warhol.                                               

Summer 2

Our World and Beyond

Our topic for this half term is called 'Our World and Beyond' - life is an adventure. The children will be working towards being able to answer the key question - Are all places the same as Heanor? We will begin by exploring our school environment and the town of Heanor, using geographical vocabulary to describe the physical and human features that we find. 

 'The Mermaid of Zennor' is a traditional story set in the Cornish town of Zennor near St Ives. We will read the book in English lessons as a stimulus for the children's own imaginative story writing. The book will also be used to learn about Cornwall and compare its features with Heanor. 

In science the children will be learning how plants grow from seeds and bulbs, and will be describing the life cycle of a flowering plant. They will also be taught about how the human body needs exercise, a balanced diet and good hygiene in order to stay fit and healthy.                                             

Carl Warner is a famous artist who creates landscapes using food. The children will study some of his pictures and then create their own drawings by carefully sketching fruit and vegetables to create a fantasy landscape.

Summer 1

Our Environment

The topic for this half term is called 'Our Environment'. The children will be working towards being able to answer a key question - How does the behaviour of humans affect the habitats of animals?

In science they will be learning how animals live in habitats to which they are best suited, and we will explore the school grounds to look at micro-habitats. In our topic and English lessons we will be reading the book 'How To Help a Hedgehog and Protect a Polar Bear', which teaches about different habitats and how humans can affect the plants and animals found there.

The children will also be learning about the dangers of plastic and what happens when plastic bottles are recycled.   We will also be recycling our own plastic bottles to make hedgehog plant pots!   

They will find out about the life of Sir David Attenborough and why his work is important to protecting our environment. 

In art we will be using collage to create a garden habitat and outlining our drawings with pen to add finer details. In design and technology we will be using our sewing skills to make felt puppets of animals.   

Welcome to our World- Autumn 2020

 Our new topic this term is focused around a book called 'One Day So Many Ways.' This book will help to compare the lives of children in other countries.

We are really proud of the wonderful work we have achieved this half term and we would like to share it with you.

Book Week: 

As part of our celebrations for Book Week, the children in Year 1 enjoyed sharing stories with children from Year 5.

10.2.2020: Snow Afternoon!

It unexpectedly snowed this afternoon! We decided to go outside and investigate the snow which was covering our playground.

Derbyshire SongBook Sing Song!       7.2.202

The children in Year 1 have worked exceptionally hard. This term we had a specially trained   music partnership teacher come into school over three sessions to teach the children a collection of 4 songs from the Derbyshire Songbook.  The children then joined up with Year 2 children from Corfield C of E Infant School to put on a very special performance to parents!

YogaBugs!

In Year 1 we are lucky enough to have weekly Yogabug sessions taught by a specialist yoga instructor. 

These sessions help the children develop their attention, concentration and listening skills, whilst promoting a positive mindset and well-being. Take a look at some of our photos below! 

27.1.2020:Climbing Frame Adventures:

The children in Flamboyant Flamingos have enjoyed having the coach this term to teach them some amazing gymnastics skills. Many of the children have become brave enough to climb our in school climbing frame!

20.1.2020: Chinese New Year:

In Year 1, we have been learning about Chinese New Year. We found out that in China, it is the Year of the Rat. We used atlases, maps and globes to locate China and we found out that over 1 billion people live in China!

17.12.19: Panto Trip!

Y1 had an amazing time on our trip to see the Panto: Peter Pan at Derby Arena.  The children really enjoyed the show and loved watching Peter Pan fly above their heads.  We are really proud of how exceptionally  well behaved the children were, especially when we had to walk back into school in the dark due to a power cut! 

16.12.19: Team Points challenge:

We joined in with the whole school team points challenge! We had to throw bean bags at the dartboard to score as many points as possible. The points we scored contributed to our house teams!

3.12.19: The Snowman

We had a lovely time on our trip to watch The Snowman in front of a live orchestra. Take a look at some of our photos below from our first Year 1 trip. 

3.12.19: Key Strings

We were really lucky to have the incredible Key Strings performers visit us this morning! The children had an amazing time listening to and discovering a range of different strings instruments.  

25.11.19

The children in R/1A really enjoyed working with a visiting sculptor to help create 'Oliver Twist' inspired sculptures  ready for World Book Day next year.  The children worked really hard and are looking forward to seeing the completed sculptures around school soon!

11/11/2019

The children in the Flamboyant Flamingos class have spent today finding out about why we see so many people wearing a poppy. We went outside to take part in the 2 minute silence at 11am and we have spent the day making our own poppies. 

Autumn 1:

We have really enjoyed getting to know the children as they settle into Year 1.  The children have taken part in lots of fun activities and they have already made good progress in their lessons.  Take a look at some of our photos below:

23/5/19

 We had an amazing day out visiting White Post Farm!  The children got the opportunity to meet and feed lots of different animals, including llamas! We even enjoyed a tractor ride around the farm. Have a look at our photos below to see what we got up to: 

29/4/19

The children have had a fantastic time during our Outdoor Wow Day. They were finding out about the wildlife around our school grounds. They enjoyed pond dipping, bird watching, mini beast hunting and building a bug hotel! Take a look at some of our photos below.

The children had a great time finding out about the different types of animals, the meerkat was a firm favourite with everyone but the tarantula was a bit scary!