2023 - 2024

Summer 1

Week 4

English

This week we will be continuing to look at non-fiction books and using them to look at how we write captions and labels.

vocabulary: label, caption, nonfiction, picture

Week 3

English

This week we are looking at a non-fiction book called 'Lions and Tigers' by Katy Pike.

We will be looking at how the information is presented and learning how to write lists.

vocabulary: lion, tiger, non-fiction, lists, paws, whiskers, stripes, fur, teeth, savannah, forest

Week 2

English

This week we will be continuing to look at the 'Tiger Who Came to Tea'. We will create a plan for our own version of the story and then spend some consecutive days writing it up. We will be practising reading sentences through to make sure they make sense and checking to see if we have included the correct punctuation. The children will be encouraged to add a question into their story and use a question mark.

Vocabulary: full-stop, capital letter, question mark, sentence, plan

Topic

In geography we will be learning about some of the hot and cold places on earth. We will begin to understand that places near the equator are warmer and the further you are away from the equator the cooler the climate becomes. We will look at what the continent of Antarctica is like and learn about some animals that live or visit there. We will also look at the Sahara desert. The children will locate it on a world map and find out what it would be like if you were to visit it.

At the end of the week we will be doing some design and technology. We will be looking a can labels and thinking about what makes them successful. A letter will be coming out to you soon about this. 

In computing we will use a computer program to sort objects. 

Vocabulary

equator, climate, cooler, warmer, iceberg, design criteria, attractive

Week 1

English

This week in English we will be using the book 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea' by Judith Kerr. We will be learning the story using actions and relating what happens in the story to our own experiences. We will also be learning about the prefix un- and how this changes the meaning of words when it is added. We will practise writing sentences using words which contain un-.

Vocabulary: prefix, story, word, sentence, full-stop, capital letter

Topic

In geography we will be learning about the 7 continents. We will find out that we live in Europe. We will look at the coldest place on earth (Antarctica) and some of the hottest places.

In computers will use a plan to make a computer program.

vocabulary

freezing, population, landmarks, adaptations

Spring 2

Week beginning 25.3.24

English

This week we will be using the book 'The Whispering Palms' which can be found at the web address https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRYfZPpQtFo

We will be using this story to write our own version thinking about using adjectives to describe and using 'and' to extend our sentences. We will also be introducing the suffixes -er and -est.

Vocabulary:

Suffix, extend, sentence, adjective, story.

Topic

This week we are finishing off our Easter/spring cards. In computing we will be be continuing to look at creating simple codes and finding mistakes in codes.

In music we will know what a national anthem is. We will learn to sing our national anthem. 

Vocabulary:

national anthem, gracious, noble, victorious

Week beginning 18.3.24

English

This week we be continuing to use 'Nini at Carnival' to support our writing. We will be thinking about how to write a letter and writing a reply to Nini who has asked us to go to carnival with her. In our reply we will be including a question and an exclamation mark.

Vocabulary:

Exclamation mark, question mark, letter, reply, sentence, capital letter

Maths 

This week in Maths we are finishing our learning on measure. We will be learning to use different classroom objects to measure e.g cubes, paperclips and rubbers before learning to use a ruler. The children will be encouraged to ensure they use cm within their answer and the importance of lining the object up at 0. It would be really useful if the children could practice this skill further at home.  

Topic

This week we will be inviting you into class. We will be making Easter cards. 

In Design and Technology we will look at masks. We will look at how, where and why masks are used. We will understand what masks need for them to work properly. We will then look at masks used in Rio de Janeiro's carnival. We will design our own mask and then make it!

Vocabulary

Easter, chicks, mask, fastening, eye holes, colourful, attractive, hide

Week beginning 11.3.24

English

This week we will be continuing to use the story of 'Nini at Carnival'. We will be looking at how we can include exclamation marks at the end of sentences to add excitement or surprise. We will be writing our own Nini story so that we can practise putting together sentences to make short narratives.

Maths 

This week in Maths, we will be finishing our unit on place value within 50. We will start the week by estimating where numbers would be on a numberline and to identify one more and one less than any given number. Towards the end of the week, we will start to look at measurement. The children will learn to use the vocabulary longer, shorter and taller than. 

Topic

In geography we will be comparing Milton Keynes and Rio de Janeiro. We will look for similarities and differences. 

In art we will be learning to print using everyday objects. In the next lesson we will use our new printing skills to create a parrot by printing using everyday objects. 

In music we will be learning about pitch and will introduce to the children SO (representing the note G )  and MI (representing the note E). We will use this new knowledge and skill to sing simple songs.

Vocabulary

pitch, high, low, similar, difference, print, parrot, beak, wing, feathers

Week beginning 4.3.24

English

This week we will be looking at the story 'Nina At carnival' by Errol Lloyd. We will be thinking about writing questions and using a question mark. We will also be thinking about how stories can start and how they end.

Vocabulary

story, starter, ending, question, question mark

Maths 

This week in Maths we will continue to look at place value with a focus on numbers to 50. We will be learning to count from 20- 50 forwards and backwards, count in tens from 10- 50, count by making groups of 10 and begin to recognise how many tens and how many ones make up a particular number. e.g in 26 there are 2 tens and 6 ones. We will start practically using concrete objects before moving on to pictorial images.  

Week beginning 26.2.24

English

This week we will be revisiting poetry. We will be looking at how words rhyme and using the ending sounds to make up our own rhyming words. We will be using the form of an already existing poem to create our own version.

Vocabulary

sounds like, special friends, rhyme, poem, poetry

Maths 

This week in maths we will be finishing our unit on addition and subtraction of numbers within 20. We will be finding related facts/ fact families and solving missing number problems. A fact family is a combination and addition and subtraction number sentences. e.g if we know that

2 + 5 = 7 then 5 + 2 = 7 

7 = 2 + 5  and  7 = 5 + 2. Then we also know some subtraction number sentences 

7 - 5 = 2 and 7 - 2 = 5

5 = 7 - 2 and 2 = 7 - 5

 Topic

We start a new topic called, Rio de Vida. Detailed information will be found in the topic newsletter that will go out later this week. 

In geography we will start off by locating Brazil and then Rio de Janeiro on a world map and a globe. We will compare the size of UK to Brazil and think about how we could get there if we went on a visit. 

We will then learn more about the city of Rio de Janeiro both in physical and human geographical features.

In computing we will begin to develop an understanding that computer programs work by following instructions called codes.

Vocabulary

country, boarder, coast, city, beach, mountain, tourism, transport, weather, climate, language, portuguese, codes , instructions

Spring 1

Week beginning 12.2.24

English

This week we will be looking at the story 'Awesome Dawson' by Chris Gall. We will be thinking about writing our own story with Dawson and using all that we have learnt over the half term to do it unaided. This will be part of our on-going assessments and will inform us of the next steps we need to make in order to support the children and monitor their progress.

Maths

This week we will be learning to find the difference. for example If Jack has 5 flowers but Jo only has one- how many more flowers does Jack have than Jo? The answer would then be 4. This could also be a subtraction style question. Kim has 4 blocks but Mo has 9. How many less blocks does Kim have than Mo? We will then end the week by getting the children to recognise that addition is the opposite to subtraction and begin to find related facts only using 3 numbers. e.g 12 8 and 4.  4 + 8 = 12   8 + 4 = 12   12- 4 = 8   12 - 8 = 4. 

Topic

In history we will continue to learn about Mary Seacole. We will learn some of the ways historians found  out more about her. We will also look at how people treated the sick in Mary Seacole's time and compare it to how we treat people now.

In science we will be assessing the children's understanding of materials and their proprties. 

Week beginning 5.2.24

English

This week we will be continuing using 'If I was a superhero' to help us with our learning. We will be thinking about plurals and how to spell words with -s or -es on the end to make them plurals.

Vocabulary: suffix, noun, plural, singular

Maths 

This week is maths we will start by recognising what is meant by a double and near double is  and developing our speed at recalling these facts. We will then learn how to subtract using  a number line . This is a tricky skill as they have to recognise that when we subtract we always start with the biggest number and count backwards. 

Topic

It is safer internet day on Tuesday. We will be learning about how we can talk to trusted adults if something on the internet makes us feel uncomfortable. 

In history we will be learning about the amazing life of Mary Seacole. We will then find out about why she is historically important. Have a look on the bbc bitesize site to find out about her too!

In science we will explore a variety of fabrics and their properties.

Vocabulary: over 200 years ago, war, historians, disease, cholera, soft, stretchy, jumper, wool, weather , suitable

Week beginning 29.1.24

English:

This week we are making our superhero sandwiches. We are using this to help us think about writing instructions. We will be thinking about how important it is to write instructions in the correct order. We will be going over how they can start with a bossy (imperative) verb and also the fact that they can use time connectives such as first, next and finally.

vocabulary: instructions, time connectives, imperative, verbs

Maths 

This week in Maths we will continue to add numbers within 20. The children will be practising adding  using number lines to support their counting. We will then move on to recognising number bonds within 20 and then use these to help us with adding ones. 

vocabulary: tens, ones, number bonds, __ + __ make __       20 is made from ___ and ____

addition, add, equal, number sentence 

Week beginning 22.1.24

English:

This week we will be looking at a poem 'If I was a Superhero' by Sally Gray. We will think about what makes a poem and look at rhymes. We will practise writing sentences using our sounds and then think about expanding those sentences with 'and' and using adjectives. We will also be starting to look at what the word 'tense' means and how this might look in different spellings of verbs.

Vocabulary: adjective, past tense, present tense, future tense, expand

Maths 

This week in maths we will be using the language greater than, less than and equal to, in order to compare numbers within 20. We will also be learning to order numbers from smallest to biggest and biggest to smallest. The children will be encouraged to look at how many tens there are in each number and how many ones. The children will be making the numbers practically first so that they can visualise what each number is made up of. e.g 12 1 ten and 2 ones. 

Topic

This week we will be learning about food in preperation for sandwich making next week! We will learn that food comes from plants or animals. We will learn that we eat the leaves, stems, nuts and roots of different plants. We will then learn some simple principles of healthy eating and then move onto designing our sandwiches.

In science we will learn how to explain that glass is a suitable material for windows and why other materials may not be. 

Vocabulary: fruit, vegetable, plant, root, leaves, stem, animal, glass, transparent, waterproof, opaque

Week beginning 15.1.24

English:

In English this week we will be looking at recounts. We will be thinking about how they are written in the past tense and how you have to add -ed to the end of some past tense verbs to spell them correctly.

Vocabulary - past tense, verb, recount, time order

This week we will begin to bring spellings home to learn. They will be from the common exception word list which you can access above.

The children are encouraged to practise spelling the words by looking at the word first, then saying it, then spelling it and then checking it. 

Maths 

This week in maths, we will be learning to understand about the number 20. The children will learn how to write it in number form,  words and how to represent it in picture form. We will  then move on to identifying one more and one less than a given number within 20 and plotting numbers on a numberline. They will finish the week by estimating where numbers should be placed on a numberline using information they already know. 

Topic

In art we will be looking at the artist, Roy Liechtenstein. We will use his ideas as inspiration to design and then paint a superhero logo! 

In science we will look at materials that are waterproof. We will conduct experiments to test different materials.

Vocabulary- artist, pop art, waterproof , absorbent, experiement, fair, dry, wet

Week beginning 8.1.24

Welcome back! We hope you have had a lovely break.

This week in English we will be thinking about writing non-fiction texts. We will be looking at everyday superheroes and in this case the police. We will be thinking about how to write a report on the police and how we would set out a piece of writing like this. We will also be concentrating on using full-stops and capital letters.

Vocabulary:

title, subheading, facts, full-stops, capital letters, chunks

Maths 

This week in Maths we will begin looking at place value within 20. We will learn to count within 20 and then move on to looking at numbers to 19 and how these are written and represented. The children will understand how many tens and ones make up each number and how to write each number correctly in words and numerals. 

Vocabulary 

place value, numerals, words, tens, ones, order, teen, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. 

Topic

This week we will be looking at the season of winter. We will look at the weather we expect in winter and how the season affects nature.

In art we will use primary colours to make secondary colours. 

In science we will identify and name some common materials used in building a house. We will then look at why these materials are suitable for houses.

In computing we will introduce the term 'alogrithm' and begin to understand the need to follow and use precise instructions. 

Vocabulary

object, strong, wind, clay, algorithm, instruction, primary , secondary

Autumn 2

Week 8

English

This week we will be exploring the story of 'The Enormous Turnip'. We will be looking at how we use capital letters to write names and how we can add interest to a story by adding adjectives. We will be using sounds to spell and extending sentences with 'and'.

Vocabulary:

Full-stop, capital letter, adjective, name

Maths 

This week in Maths we will practice the skill of subtracting using the crossing out method and using concrete resources. We will then finish with some consolidation work on 2d and 3d shapes. 

addition, subtraction, missing number, number sentence, repeating patterns, sort, group, similarities, differences

Week 7 

In English this week we will be looking at writing letters. We will be looking at how they are set out in their simplest form. We will practise spelling with our Fred fingers and using full-stops and capital letters.

vocabulary: full-stops, capital letters, letter, dear, from

Maths

This week we will be revisiting addition and subtraction within 10. We will be looking at our part part whole models are try to find missing parts. We will be learning to recall all the bonds within 10 and write 4 addition and subtraction number sentences. 

vocabulary: part part whole, missing, ___ + ____ make___, number bonds, addition, subtraction.

Topic

In topic we will continue to sew our stockings. In R.E we will be sequencing the story of Christmas. We will be practising and then performing our play, 'The Big Little Nativity'

vocabulary: running, stitch, needle, nativity, manger, 

Week 6

Maths 

This week we will be looking at making repeating patterns using 2d and 3d shapes. The children will begin to recognise that a pattern may be done on colour, size or shape. We will then be looking at what the children have learnt over the shape unit of work.

Vocab: repeating patterns, sequence, shape, size, orientation, 2d shape, 3d shape 

Topic

This week we will be looking at the artist Stephen Wiltshire. We will see how he uses lines to create texture and pattern to his pictures. We will use his technique to create our own pictures of Milton Keynes landmarks. We will be using sketching pencils with different blackness strengths!

In design and technology we will be learning how to do the running stitch to create a christmas stocking!

Vocabulary

sketching, sew, running stitch, needle, thread

Week 5

This week we will be writing a recount. We will write about a series of events in chronological order and carefully choose some time connectives. 

Vocabulary: fd ird st, then, next, after that, after a while, lastly, finally

Maths 

We will be continuing to look at shape this week. We will move onto naming 2d shapes and practise using the vocabulary to ensure children can name all of the common 2d shapes. We will then move on to sorting 2d shapes and recognising similarities and differences. 

Topic

In computing we will be adding sound effects to  our animated ebooks.

In science we will predict and identify if an object will float or sink!

In history we will look at what Milton keynes was like in the past. For our Art lesson we would like to invite you, parents and carers, to come and get involved! We will be using the technique of collage to make a picture of the concrete cows. A letter has been sent out for details.

Vocabulary: float, sink, surface, predict, collage

Week 4

This week we are using the story 'Hetty’s Day out' by Pamela Allen. We will be thinking about how the story uses repetitive language and how that draws in the reader. We will be thinking about writing our own version of the story and using adjectives to describe the food that Hetty eats. We will be using a plan to form our ideas before writing our own story.

Vocabulary: Plan, repetition, adjective, full-stops, capital letters

Maths 

In maths this week we are beginning to look at shape. We will start by exploring 3d shapes and begin to name these. The children will begin to understand that 3d shapes are all around us whilst on a shape hunt. We will then begin to sort shapes based on their similarities and differences. 

 vocabulary: 3d, fat, flat, face, round, cube, cuboid, cylinder, cone, prism, sort,  same, different

Topic

In computing we have continued to work on our animated ebooks.

In Geography we have looked at an aerial photograph of the playground and identified the different parts of our playground from it! We looked at the school environment and thought about why and how we should look after it.

In History we looked at who Liz Leyh is and why she is important to Milton Keynes- she is an artist who created the concrete cows!

In science we looked at the difference between natural and man made materials. 

Vocabulary: artist, natural, man made, aerial photograph, environment

Week 3

English

This week we are looking at writing instructions using imperative verbs. We will be thinking about how to write instructions using bossy verbs at the beginning of the sentence.

Vocabulary:

instructions, directions, bossy verbs, imperative verbs

Maths 

In maths this week, we will be consolidating our learning on subtraction. We will be learning to recognise the vocabulary subtract, minus, takeaway, add, less/ fewer than and more than. We will be using concrete objects to solve problems before moving on to the number line method. Whilst we acknowledge that some children will be able to solve problems mentally, it would be useful for them to practice the above methods for when numbers become greater. 

Topic

In geography we will be learning about what makes Milton Keynes special. We will learn to name and recognise important greographical features of our city. In history we will begin to understand the Milton Keynes was very different in the past. We will write a letter to people who might know more about what Milton Keynes was like in the past. We will think of interesting questions to ask them!

In computing we will begin to make a simple animated book on Purplemash.

In science we will be describing the properties of everyday materials

Vocabulary

geographic features, river, factory, park, wood, football stadium, past, town, village, hard/soft, stretchy/stiff, shiny/dull, rough/smooth, opaque/transparent

Week 2

English

This week we are looking at the story of 'The Magic Bed' by John Burningham. We will be learning a version of the story and then looking at how we can plan our own version of the adventure. We will be thinking about adding adjectives to make the story more exciting.

Maths 

This week we will consolidate our learning of using a numberline to help us subtract. The children will then begin to add or subtract one or two. It is important that children read the number sentences correctly to ensure they use the correct operation. 

Topic

In geography we will begin to look at maps and aerial photographs. We start off by recognising objects from a birds eye view and then go on to making a plan of the classroom . We end the week by learning that we live in Milton Keynes, a city!

In music we will sing short solos and learn some christmas songs.

week 1

English

This week the children will be learning how to spell the days of the week. They will be practising using capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and how to form capital letters correctly. We will also read the classic Shirley Hughes story, Dogger where the main character Dave loses his toy dog, Dogger. The children will think of and write their own scenarios in which Dogger gets lost using adjectives to describe how Dave feels.

Maths

This week we will continue to look at subtraction. We will become familiar with using concrete objects to solve problems and begin to move towards drawing pictorial images. We will finish the week by using numberlines. It is important the children begin to recognise that we don't count the number we start on as our first jump.

Topic

In computing we will be looking at how we use technology outside of school. In geography we will begin the topic, 'Street Detectives' by learning how to describe different types of homes. Then on Friday we will be going on a walk around the local area to find and name simple geographical features.  In science we will be learning what a 'material 'is and will be naming everyday materials.

Vocabulary

wood, plastic, material, metal, fabric, house, home, roof, detached, semi-detached, cottage, flat, stream, bridge

Week 7

16th October - 20th October

English

This week we will be looking at the poems, 'Excuses' by Alan Ahlberg and 'Now We Are Six' by A.A. Milne.

We will be discussing rhyming words and how we can make some of our own. We will be thinking about our handwriting and especially correct letter formation. There is a document below that guides you as to the formation of each letter and which letter family they belong to.

Letter formation families

Maths 

In Maths this week we will be recognising related facts (fact families). We will be learning to use known facts to record up to 8 sentences and how a range of number sentences can be written. We will then move on to looking at subtracting (taking away). Taking away is often the structure of subtraction that children are more familiar with as they can physically take things away to support their understanding. They can then move on to crossing out on diagrams and pictures. 

Week 6

9th October -13th October

English

This week we will be looking at the book 'Beegu' by Alexis Deacon. We will be learning to repeat a version of the story and then use this to look at how stories are broken down into the beginning middle and end. We will write a plan for the story, broken down into three parts, then use our own words to rewrite the story. We will be concentrating on thinking about the difference between tall and small letters, forming letters correctly and using sounds to spell.

Vocabulary: sentence, full-stop, capital letter, story, beginning, middle, end

Maths

In maths this week we will be continuing the addition topic. We will learn that addition can be adding more. We will learn how to solve addition problems and also  find the missing part of an addition sentence, eg 5 + _ = 7. We will use counters, part whole models and our rekenreks to help us.

Topic

This week in computing we have been exploring the Purplemash site, learning about the 'To do' file. 

In science we have been exploring the sense of smell. We will be smelling a variety of different food items and tryin to guess the food and descirbe the smell.

At the start of the week we will evaluate our sliders for design and technology. We will use the design critera to think about what we have done well and then think about how we can improve them.

In geography we will start to think about what weather is. 

Vocabulary

Weather, air, wind, precipitation, cloud, temperature, evaluate, listen, improve, base part, moving part, component, smell, nose, nostril, odour

Week 5

2nd October - 6th October

English

This we we will be looking at the book 'What I like about Me' by Allia Zobel-Nolan. We will be using this to write sentences about ourselves. We will be revisiting how to use 'and' to extend sentences and writing sentences with full-stops and capital letters. We will be practising saying our sentences out loud before we write them and then reading them back to check they make sense.

Vocabulary: sense, full-stops, capital letters, read aloud.

Week 4

25th - 29th September

English

This week we will continue to use the story of 'La Luna' to think about writing. We will think about rewriting the story but changing the main character. The children will be continuing to practise saying their sentences out loud before writing. They will also be thinking about using the phonic sounds they have been learning, to spell simple words.

sounds, sentence, full-stop, capital letter

Maths

This week we will introduce the part-whole model (sometimes referred to as the cherry model). This helps the chidlren to see taht a group of objects can be composed of two or more parts and that the group can be split in a variety of ways. E.g. 5 is made of 4 and 1 but can also be made of 3 and 2. We will use cubes and counters to practise splitting the whole into parts and then putting it back together.

Vocabulary: whole, part

Topic

In history we will compare life in the 1950s (when Mrs Hopkins was a child) to now. We will also look at who our monarch is. In science we will look at our sense of touch. Please return the permission forms for the taste experiment that will take place in next weeks science lesson! In computing we will continue to practise logging in to purple mash and exploring the app. In RE we look at what makes an event special.

Vocabulary

special, touch, rough, smooth, cold, warm, skin, brain, organ, monarch, royal family, king, queen, prince, princess, coronation 

Week 3

18th - 22th September

English

This week we will be using the Disney story of 'La Luna' to write sentences. We will be learning that we should compose sentences and say them out loud before we write them down. We will be thinking about making sure we use capital letters to start sentences and full-stops to finish them.

vocabulary: full-stop, capital letter, phonemes, sounds

Maths

In maths this week we will be comparing numbers using the phrases "less than", "greater than", or "equal to" and the corresponding symbols <, > and =. Number tracks are a useful resource to support children with this concept as they will begin to see that smaller numbers are to the left of greater numbers.

Vocabulary: greater than, less than, equal to, fewer, more

Topic

This week in music we will be continuing to work on following a steady pulse while listening to and singing songs. In computers we will learn how to login in to purple mash and create an avatar. Keep practicing this skill at home! In history we will be looking at toys from the past and think about how toys have changed. In science we will look at our sense of hearing. 

Vocabulary: pulse, avatar, worn, rusty, metal,plastic, wooden,technology, battery, remote control, hearing, ear, sign language, vibration, deafness

Week 2

11th - 15th September

English

This week we will be following the story of 'Harry and the dinosaurs: Go on holiday' by Ian Whybrow. We will be thinking about the letters of the alphabet and things that Harry could pack starting with letters of the alphabet. We will be learning that we must remember to add a capital letter and a full-stop in sentences. We will be looking at resources that could be used to scaffold learning and modelling to children how this could be done. The children will also be learning how to add 'and' to sentences.

Vocabulary:

and, sentence, full-stop, capital letter

Maths

This week we will be practising counting forwards and backwards, as well as finding one more and one less. This is a good skill to practise at home. Use a collection of objects (no more than 10) and ask your child to count the objects. Add one more object and work out how many you have now. Repeat with taking an object away.

Vocabulary: more, less, forward, backwards, before, after

Topic

In topic this week we will be learning about what history is. We will think and talk about our own past. Using memories and photos we will put events in order and create our own timelines. At the end of the week we are going to have a visitor in ( a great grandmother!) who will tell us about her childhood. 

In science we will look at the sense of sight. We will learn the basic parts of the eye and their functions. As a class we will look at the different colour our eyes are. We will gather and record the information as a tally chart. 

In computing we will be learning about internet safety. 

Vocabulary

history, earliest, eye, eyelash, sight, brain, login, safe, private

Week 1

4th September 2023

Topic

In topic this week we be spending time establishing routines and learning the rules of the class. 

In art we will be learning about portraits. We will be practising drawing facial features using mirrors and pencils. We will then be drawing our own self protraits. 

In music we will be learning new songs and practising keeping a steady pulse.

Vocabulary

portrait, self portrait, eyes, ears, eyebrows, neck, pulse

English

In English we have been looking at writing on the lines, simple sentence writing and getting used to being more independent.

Maths 

 In maths this week we will introduce our continuous provision in the Year 1 shared area. This is an opportunity for the children to learn through play, similar to how they accessed learning in Foundation. Each week the children will be able to visit the shared area during maths time. When they are in the classroom the children will be using practical equipment to practise key maths skills and answer questions. Our focus for the week is on counting within 10.

Summer Term 2023

Week beginning 17.7.23

We have really enjoyed getting to know and working with your children over the year. We wish you a lovely summer holiday and all the best for year 2!

In the meantime.....

English

We will be looking at a different version of Little Red Riding Hood. We will be discussing what to do if you meet the wolf in the woods. We will be asking the children to write some instructions on how to avoid the wolf and be thinking about using correct spellings as they write.

Vocabulary: story, time connectives, firstly, after that, next, full-stop, capital letter

Week beginning 10.7.23

English

This week we will be continuing to look at rhyming by looking at the book 'Oi Dog!' by Kes Gray. This week we will be concentrating on writing our own version of the book using the same format. We will also be looking at spelling plural words. We will be thinking about how many syllables are in the plural words. If there are two syllables we add -es and if there is one syllable we just add -s.

Vocabulary: syllable, singular, plural, rhyme

Topic

This week we will be looking at making free standing structures that are strong, stable and stiff. We will be exploring different construction materials. We will look at how some shapes are stronger than others. We will use this knowledge to design and then make a free standing tower out of paper to carry our class mascot. 

Vocabulary:

Free standing, stiff, stable, strong, construction

Week beginning 3.7.23

English

This week we are looking at the book 'Oi! Frog' by Kes Gray. We will be looking at how it rhymes and making up our own sentences that would work in the book. We will be learning how to rhyme words by listening to how the ends of the words sound and matching them with another word with the same sounding ending. eg log, dog and goat, boat. We will also be looking at contracted words this week such as can't and don't. We will be looking at how they are created using the apostrophe and removing some letters.

Vocabulary: contraction, rhyme, rhyming words

Topic

In topic lessons this week we will be mapping the trees that we can now identify and name. We will also be looking at flowers and naming the different parts that make them up. We will be naming some common and wild flowers.

Vocabulary: petal, root, bulb, stem, leaves, map, key, birds eye view, 

Week beginning 26.6.23

English

This week we will be reading the story 'Where the Wild Things are' by Maurice Sendak. To start the week we will be looking at spelling homophones. These are words that sound the same when you say them but have different spellings and meanings. eg. Where and wear. Following from this we will be looking at the different things that happen to Max and the wild things and then thinking up our own idea for a game that they could do and writing about it. We will be thinking about extending sentences and spelling words using our sounds.

Vocabulary: homophone, spelling, extending

Topic

This week we will be finishing off our history topic by looking at how historians look at evidence and find clues about the past.

We then move on to science and look at the structure of trees. We will then begin to identify and name some trees in our playground.

Vocabulary: evidence, clues, bark, trunk, leaves, veins, roots, broad, pointy, fruit, flat

Week beginning 19.6.23

English

This week we are having art week. We will be learning about Romero Britto a celebrated Brazilian artist. We will be thinking about his life and his works and writing a fact file about them to continue our learning about non-fiction writing.

Vocabulary: facts, fact-file

Topic

We are devoting the whole week to art! We will be looking at the artist Romero Britto and learning to give our opinion on his work. We will be comparing his work with Steven Brown's work (we looked at his work in our last topic). We will be painting our own pictures inspired by Britto's work, using paint and telt tip pens. 

Vocabulary: compare, opinon, bright, patterns

Week beginning 12.6.23

English

This week we are continuing to use 'Beware of Girls' to write our own version of the story. We will using our planner to guide us and thinking about what needs to go at the beginning, middle and end of the story.

Vocabulary: fairy tale, goodie, baddie, happily ever after, once upon a time, adjective

Topic

This week we will be going back in the past and finding out about holidays at the seaside over 100 years ago! We will listen to a diary entry of a little girl in 1890 who goes to the beach for the first time. We will find out how people travelled to their holiday, what they did there and what they ate! We will then write a postcard about a seaside holiday as if we lived in the past. 

We will also be making Father Day cards!

Vocabulary: bathing machine, pier, penny lick, steam train, parasol, Punch and Judy show, over 100 years ago, Queen Victoria

Week beginning 6.6.23

English

This week we are beginning to look at the book 'Beware of Girls' by Tony Blundell. We will be focusing on changing characters and adding our own adjectives to make a plan for a similar story ourselves. We will be looking at how it is a fairy tale and the common components of all fairy tales

Vocabulary: fairy tale, goodie, baddie, happily ever after, once upon a time, adjective

Week beginning 22.5.23

English

This week will be thinking about writing instructions. We will be continuing to link our work to our topic and therefore will at how to look after a hamster. We will be thinking about including bossy verbs and extending our sentences.

Vocabulary: imperative verb, bossy verb, verb, sentence, instruction

Maths

This week in maths we will be looking at position and direction. We will be describing turns and using language such as forwards, backwards, right, left, above and below.

Vocabulary: forwards, backwards, right, left, above, below, direction, turn, position

Week beginning 15.5.23

English 

After our visit to Woburn Safari Park, we will be looking at how to write a recount. We will be thinking about how we show time is passing by using time connectives and improving our writing by expanding sentences and using adjectives.

Vocabulary: time connectives, before, after, next, after that, first, finally

Topic

This week we will be creating new labels in our Design and Technology lesson. We will use the design criteria we created last week. We will evaluate our labels.

In art we will be looking at the artist Steven Brown and we will look at  his work. We will also be investigating how we can paint different lines with paint brushes. We will then paint a picture of a lion using Steven Browns style as inspiration.

Vocabulary: label evaluate think thick wavy straight zig zag  design

Maths

This week we will be looking at finding half and quarters of quantities. We will be thinking about sharing equally in two and four parts.

Vocabulary: half, share, amount, quantity, equal, quarter

Week beginning 9.5.23

English

This week we will be continuing to look at non-fiction books and using them to look at how we write captions and labels.

vocabulary: label, caption, nonfiction, picture

Week beginning 2.5.23

Topic

This week we will be starting to look at how to group things on a computer. 

On Friday we will be celebrating the King's coronation by taking part in a special assembly and enjoying a whole school picnic. In the afternoon we will be designing and painting a new stamp, featuring our new king!

Vocabulary

venn diagram, sort, coronation 

English

This week we are looking at a non-fiction book called 'Lions and Tigers' by Katy Pike.

We will be looking at how the information is presented and learning how to write lists.

vocabulary: lion, tiger, non-fiction, lists, paws, whiskers, stripes, fur, teeth, savannah, forest

Week beginning 24.4.23

English

This week we will be continuing to look at the 'Tiger Who Came to Tea'. We will create a plan for our own version of the story and then spend some consecutive days writing it up. We will be practising reading sentences through to make sure they make sense and checking to see if we have included the correct punctuation. The children will be encouraged to add a question into their story and use a question mark.

Vocabulary: full-stop, capital letter, question mark, sentence, plan

Topic

In geography this week we will be looking at continents- what they are and finding them on a globe and atlas. We will then look at very cold parts of the earth and what animals we can find there. Then we will move on to finding very hot parts of the world and what animals we find there. 

Vocabuary: continent, sea ice, freezing, desert, sand dune, 

Week beginning 17.4.23

English

This week in English we will be using the book 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea' by Judith Kerr to write a similar story. We will be learning the story using actions and relating what happens in the story to our own experiences. We will also be learning about the prefix un- and how this changes the meaning of words when it is added.

Vocabulary: prefix, story, word, sentence, full-stop, capital letter

Maths

We are starting our multiplication unit this week. First we will practise counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s using a rote counting method. Please help your child to memorise their 2s, 5s and 10s by practising at home. They do not need to say 1 x 2 is 2, 2 x 2 is 4. We simply say 2, 4, 6, 8...etc. Towards the end of the week we will be looking at equal groups.

Vocabulary: multiplication, count in ... , equal groups

Topic

We are starting a new topic called, ' Paws, Claws and Whiskers'. It is based around science. We start off by identifying animals parts, then move on to grouping animals based on their parts and how they move. We will also have a lesson sorting animals according to what they eat. 

Vocabulary

fins, scales, fur, skin, eyes, paws, claws, gills, feathers, beaks,  whiskers, tails, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore

Spring Term 2023 

Week beginning 27.3.23

English

This week in English we will be looking at 'Mr Gumpy's Motor Car' by John Burningham. We will be using the story to reiterate to the children how we extend sentences with 'and'. We will also be looking at it to identify how stories have a beginning middle and end. 

Vocabulary: Beginning, middle, end, story, extend

Topic

This week we will be making Easter Cards, using our imagination and scissor skills. In computing we will be continuing to learn about creating simple codes.

On Friday we will be having a treat afternoon becuase the children have earnt enough 'People in a Jar'. We will be going on an Easter word hunt in the playground (hopefully the weather will be knid to us!) and then  watch Rio which is set in Brazil- where our topic has been set this term!

Vocabulary

Easter, code, flap, beak, wing

Week beginning 20.3.23

English

This week we will be using the book 'The Whispering Palms' which can be found at the web address https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRYfZPpQtFo

We will be using this story to write our own version thinking about using adjectives to describe and using 'and' to extend our sentences. We will also be introducing the suffixes -er and -est.

Vocabulary:

Suffix, extend, sentence, adjective, story.

Maths

This week we are finishing our unit on height and length. Then we will start learning about mass and volume. We will use the terms heavier and lighter to compare the mass of objects. We will move on to measuring mass using cubes.

Vocabulary: heavier, lighter, mass

Topic

Last week we designed a mask to wear at a carnival and this week we will use them to make the masks. We will learn how to safely make eye holes and shape card. We will display them on our topic board in class and then the children will take them home at the end of term. 

In science we will be looking at the season of spring. The children will observe the changes in nature- what happends to plants/trees, animals and the weather!

In computing we will be using code to make a computer program.

Vocabulary

design, sturdy, colourful, blossom, daffodils , bluebells, frog spawn, code, spring, season

Week beginning 13.3.23

English

This week we be continuing to use 'Nini at Carnival' to support our writing. We will be thinking about how to write a letter and writing a reply to Nini who has asked us to go to carnival with her. In our reply we will be including a question and an exclamation mark.

Vocabulary:

Exclamation mark, question mark, letter, reply, sentence, capital letter

Maths

This week we will learn about measuring length and height. We will compare two objects using the language taller, longer and shorter. Then we will use non-standard units to measure objects. Finally we begin to use a ruler to measure objects in cm.

Vocabulary:

Longer, shorter, taller, centimetres, long, measure, measures

Topic

This week we will be thinking about how wonderful our mums are. We will be making a card for them!

In computing we will be learning about what coding means and we will make up short and very simple 'codes' - instructions for our friends to perform simple tasks and then for some imaginary fish.

In design and technology we will be thinking about masks. We will look at a variety of masks, and asking the question, why do people wear them. We will then think about designing a mask for a carnival. We will think about what the mask needs to do and then think about how we will make it.

Vocabulary

Mothering Sunday, code, instruction, flowers, stem, petal, mask, fasten, design criteria, sturdy, colourful

Week beginning 6.3.23

English

This week we will be continuing to use the story of 'Nini at Carnival'. We will be looking at how we can include exclamation marks at the end of sentences to add excitement or surprise. We will be writing our own Nini story so that we can practise putting together sentences to make short narratives.

Vocabulary

exclamation mark, sentence, capital letter, full-stop, story, excitement, surprise

Maths

This week we are using number lines to become familiar with the order of numbers to 50. After filling in missing numbers on number lines we will then move on to using blank number lines to estimate where numbers should be placed. To do this we need to be confident at finding the half way point. For example the half way point on a number line with 30 at the start and 50 at the end would be 40 and we can then estimate where 32 or 43 might be. We will also practise finding one more and one less with numbers up to 50.

Vocabulary: greater, smaller, half way, more, less, number line.

Topic

This week we will be looking at geographical features of Rio de Janeiro and think about what it might be like to visit the city. We will then compare Milton Keynes and Rio de Janeiro, finding similarities and differences. 

In music we will learn what a national anthem is and when we might sing it. We will learn the United Kingdoms national anthem and sing it with pride.

Vocabulary

beach, coast, harbour, forest, carnival, Portugues, language, settlement, tempo, pitch, gracious, nobel, regin

Week beginning 27.2.23

English

This week we will be looking at the story 'Nina At carnival' by Errol Lloyd. We will be thinking about writing questions and using a question mark. We will also be thinking about how stories can start and how they end.

Vocabulary

story, starter, ending, question, question mark

Maths

This week we are starting to look at place value in numbers to 50. We will practise counting in 10s

Topic

This week we will be drawing a parrot and then we will use our printing technique to decorate it. 

We will be enjoying World Book Day on Thursday by dressing up as a favourite characher from a book. In the afternoon we will take part in book related activities with our you!

On Friday we will take part in a drumming workshop!

Week beginning 20.2.23

English

This week we will be revisiting poetry. We will be looking at how words rhyme and using the ending sounds to make up our own rhyming words. We will be using the form of an already existing poem to create our own version.

Vocabulary

sounds like, special friends, rhyme, poem, poetry

Maths

This week we conclude our addition and subtraction unit. We have spent time exploring addition and subtraction separately but we now look at how they are related to each other. We will find four related number facts e.g. 5 + 4 = 9 , 4 + 5 = 9 , 9 - 5 = 4 , 9 - 4= 5. We also discuss how the = can be at the beginning of a calculation e.g.  9 = 5 + 4. Finally we will look at missing number problems and how we can use our knowledge how addition and subtraction are linked to solve these.

Vocabulary: inverse operation, addition, subtraction, number fact

Topic

Our new topic is Rio de Vida.

In geography we will begin the topic looking at atlases and globes. We will find  the United Kingdom, Brazil and then Rio de Janeiro.

In art we will be exploring priniting. Next week will use this method to create pictures of parrots.

In music we will be exploring making different sounds with drums. Each class will take part in  a drumming workshop on Friday.

Vocabulary

print, dab, lift, sea, coast, city, country, globe, atlas, beat, rhythm, 

Week beginning 6.2.23

English

This week we will be looking at the story 'Awesome Dawson' by Chris Gall. We will be thinking about writing our own story with Dawson and using all that we have learnt over the half term to do it unaided. This will be part of our on-going assessments and will inform us of the next steps we need to make in order to support the children and monitor their progress.

Maths 

Our focus this week is subtraction. We continue to work with numbers smaller than 20 e.g. 17 - 3 and practise different subtraction strategies including counting back and finding the difference.

Vocabulary: subtract, subtraction, take away, count back

Topic 

This week we will be exploring our 5 senses. We will be using magnifying glasses to help us! 

It is internet safety week and we will be thinking about what to do if we see something on the internet that makes us feel worried/scared or strange. 

In history we will learn about how historians know about Mary Seacole and then move on to exploring how there are similaries and differences as to how we treat sick people in the past and now!

Week beginning 30.1.23

English

As part of our on-going assessments the children will be carrying out their latest RWI assessments so that we can group the children accurately for when they return to school after half term. They will also be practising their handwriting skills and letter formation.

Maths

This week we are learning how to find doubles of numbers up to number 10. Then we will practise using this knowledge to find near doubles. This is another great mental strategy to use when adding. "If I know that 2 + 2 makes 4 then I can work out 3 + 2 by adding one more."

At the end of the week we will move on to subtraction. We will look at the ones in a calculation like 18 - 5 and use our knowledge of 8 - 5 to help us find the answer.

Vocabulary: double, near double, add, total, subtract, ones, tens

Topic

In science we will be drawing and labelling the body. On Wednesday Dormouse Class will be using making their healthy sandwiches and the following day Squirrel Class. The children will be taught how to prepare the vegetables- washing, cutting or grating. They will then make their sandwiches! The children will take them home to eat. 

At the end of the week we will start our history lessons on Mary Seacole. We will listen to and think about her amazing life story.

Vocabulary

grate, spread, hygiene, neck, wrist, shoulder, elbow, fingers, toes, knee, a long time ago, over 200 years ago, brave, nurse, battle 

Week beginning 23.1.23

English

This week we will be continuing using 'If I was a superhero' to help us with our learning. We will be thinking about plurals and how to spell words with -s or -es on the end to make them plurals.

Vocabulary: suffix, noun, plural, singular

Maths

In maths this week we will be looking at addition within 20. We will practise adding by counting on and then we will learn how to use our number bonds to help us add. For example, if we know 3 + 2 = 5 then we can solve 13 + 2. We will also start learning our number bonds to 20. Please support your child with learning pairs of numbers that make 20 e.g. 19 +1, 18 + 2 etc.

Vocabulary: add, addition, count on, number bond, total

Topic

In topic this week we will be learning about where food comes from. We will sort food into 2 sets-  food from plants and food from animals. We then will look into thinking about how we can make a healthy sandwich. We will learn about some basic healthy eating  principles and design our own sandwich that we will make next week!

We are going to be listening to some superhero muisc and then try and create some superhero music using percussion instruments. 

At the end of the week we will have a visitor who will talk to the children about their job as a doctor. This will prepare the children for our work on Mary Seacole later on this term. 

Vocabulary

stem, root, fruit, leaves, nuts, fish, meat, percussion instrument names, healthy, wholemeal, protein, vegetables, hummus

Week beginning 16.1.23

English

This week we will be looking at a poem 'If I was a Superhero' by Sally Gray. We will think about what makes a poem and look at rhymes. We will practise writing sentences using our sounds and then think about expanding those sentences with 'and' and using adjectives. We will also be starting to look at what the word 'tense'means and how this might look in different spellings of verbs.

Vocabulary: adjective, past tense, present tense, future tense, expand

Maths

This week we continue our work on place value. We will use number lines to 20 to help us fill in missing numbers, estimate where numbers sit on a number line, compare numbers using "greater than" and "less than" and order 3 numbers.

Vocabulary: greater than, less than, greatest, smallest, estimate

Topic

This week the children will be exploring colour mixing in art. They will be name the primary colours and mix primary colours to make secondary colours. The children will look at the work of the artist, Roy  Lichtenstein and then be inspired to create and paint their own superhero logo.

In geography, the children will be looking at life on the Isles of Scilly. The will explore the difference between a city and a village. 

Vocabulary

primary colours, secondary colours, mix, village, quay, coast, island, beach

Week beginning 9.1.23

English

This week we will be revisiting how to write a recount. We will be thinking about using sounds to spell, using full stops and capital letters and extending sentences with and.

Maths

We are working hard in maths this week to ensure that we understand teens numbers. We will use practical resources to make numbers to 20 and start to use the language of tens and ones. We will also find one more and one less than teens numbers and use different pictorial representations to help us.

Vocabulary: tens, ones, teens number, 10 and __ make __, more, less

Topic

We will be learning how to create some simple algorithms in Purplemash- giving basic directions and debugging any mistakes!

We will be learning about the season of winter in a cross curricular lesson- geography and science. We will begin to understand that there are less hours of daylight in winter compared to summer. We will think about the weather we would expect in winter and how it affects nature. 

Vocabulary

winter, season, snow, cold, freezing, temperature, debug, direction, undo, delete, direction, challenge

Spring Term

Week beginning 2.1.23

English

In English this week we will be continuing to practise our recognition that all sentences need full-stops and capital letters. We will also be thinking about spelling using sounds and spelling key words correctly.

The children are going to start bringing home spellings to learn. The children will have a test to see how they have got on with learning the spellings and will then be able to bring this home to share with you.

Maths

We start the new term with a new unit on place value with numbers to 20, focusing particularly on the teens numbers. This week we will practise counting forwards and backwards to 20 and looking at how is made of ten ones but we can also call it 1 ten.

Vocabulary: tens, ones, forward, backward, next, before, after

Topic

We are starting a new topic, 'Superheroes.' This week will be sending out a topic overview for you to see what we will be learning this half term!

We start the term off with a series of computing lessons. We will learn the importance of clear instructions in computer programs and the importance of the order of them (algorithms). We will also be learning about different tempos in music. We will introduce rhythm names- 'Ta' for crochets and 'Te-Te' for 2 quavers and use these to play simple musical games.

Vocabulary

rhythm, pulse, tempo, Ta, Te-Te, direction keys, order, debugging, instructions, algorithms

____________________________________________________________________________

Week beginning 12.12.22

 English

 This week we will be assessing the children's ability to write independently. We will be looking for full-stops and capital letters and using sounds to spell. We will be using letter writing as our basis for this work.

Topic

This week we will continue with our sewing and then we will evaluate our work. We are also going to be making Christmas cards, using our scissor skills and using recources imaginatively! In art we are going to look at the artist Stephen Wiltshire. We will be inspired by him to create our own drawings of Milton Keynes!

On Thursday it is our Treat Afternoon. 

Vocabulary

evaluate, artist, thicker, lines, darker, dots, hatching, crisscross

Week beginning 5.12.22

English

This week we will be carrying out our RWI assessments during our English lessons. However, the children will be continuing to practise their writing in the form of letters to Santa Claus. They will be thinking about using their sounds to spell words for different presents. They will be practising writing sentences with the correct punctuation and finally writing their own letter to Santa using all that they have practised.

Vocabulary:

Santa Claus, letter, dear, from, phonics, full stops, capital letters, spelling, sounds

Topic

In Design and Technology we will be learning to sew Christmas stockings using the running stitch. We are going to be retelling the Christmas story in Religious Education. In science we will looking at deciduous and evergreen trees. 

Vocabulary

evergreen, deciduous, needles, flat, broad, leaf, sew, needle, stable, wise men, a long time ago

Week beginning 28.11.22

English

This week we will be looking at how to write a recount. We will be thinking about time connectives such as:

first

next

after that

then

Finally

We will be writing using Fred fingers and our sounds, that explain what we could do in a day. We will be continuing to highlight the use of full-stops and capital letters.

Maths

This week in maths we will be concluding our work on addition and subtraction, before moving onto our shape unit next week. This week we will be practising solving a mixture of addition and subtraction calculations to ensure that the children can perform the correct calculation (addition or subtraction) by looking at the symbol in the number sentence.

Topic

We will be looking at different features of family life, including what families do and enjoy together.

In Religious Education we will learn the important Jewish story of Hanukkha. We will continue to practise the Christmas performance! 

Vocabulary

Jewish, menorah, Maccabees, lamp, oil, 

Week beginning 21.11.22

English

This week we will be reading the book 'Hetty's Day Out' by Pamela Allen. We will be looking at how it uses repetition to draw in the reader. Using the pattern of the story, we will be writing our own version. We will be continuing to focus on using known sounds to spell and full-stops and capital letters.

Maths

This week is all about subtraction. We will be using real objects to take away to begin with before moving to using the more abstract number line for subtraction. To use a number line the children must place their pencil on the number they start on and then count back to subtract. Please see this video for an explanation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUwZfxggYaQ 

Vocabulary

Number line, count back, minus, take away, is equal to

Topic

We will be thinking about how we can find out about what Milton Keynes was like to live in, in the past. As a class we are going to write to residents in an elderly care home and ask questions about what life was like in the past in Milton Keynes.

We will be spending time learning songs and lines for our Christmas production. Please look out for any lines that your child needs to learn in their book bags. Not all children have speaking parts. We will send home a letter this week saying what part your child will be in the play and what they will need to wear. 

Vocabulary

in the past, what, where, when, how

Week beginning 14.11.22

English

We will be learning about instructions this week. We will be thinking about directional language and imperative verbs (bossy verbs) and how they describe something that you do. We will also be thinking about beginnings and ends of sentences and full-stops and capital letters.

Vocabulary

Forwards, backwards, right, left, imperative verb, bossy verb

Maths

We will be learning about subtraction in maths this week. The children will begin by using their knowledge of number bonds by finding 8 number sentences to create what we call a 'fact family'.

Here is an example of a fact family. 

If I know 5 + 1 = 6...

5+1=6

1+5=6

6-1=5

6-5=1

and we also  practise putting the equals sign at the beginning...

6=5+1

6=1+5

5=6-1

1=6-5

We will then move on to looking at subtraction by taking away. We encourage the children to use real objects that can physically be taken away or to cross out the right number of pictures if they are working with a pictorial representation.

Vocabulary: fact family, addition, subtraction, is equal to, minus, number sentence

Topic

In science we will be learning about the properties of different materials. We will explore stiff and bendy,  hard and soft and transparent and opaque materials. We will also be helping to mend a broken umbrella by  conducting a simple science experiment to find materials that are waterproof!

We will learn about different types of trees-deciduous and evergreen and find the differences between them.

Open Afternoon

We will be looking at the Canadian artist Liz Leyh. We will learn that she created the iconic concrete cows in Milton Keynes. We will use her work to inspire our own art work. We will use a collage technique. We look forward to working alongside you!

Vocabulary

materials, stiff, bendy, hard, soft, transparent, opaque, experiment, waterproof, damp, deciduous, needles, evergreen

Week beginning 7.11.22

English

We will be looking at the book 'The Magic Bed' by John Burningham. We will be practising learning a version of the story and then thinking about how we could write a story similar but with a few changes. We will be thinking about adding interest to our stories by adding adjectives. We will be imbedding our learning of simple punctuation and using sounds to spell.

Vocabulary

Story, adjective, full-stop, capital letter, Fred fingers, sounds, special friends

Maths

The children will first look at addition as bringing two or more parts together to create a whole. At this stage, the focus should be on bringing two parts together, rather than adding more. We encourage children to use correct mathematical language to explain, for example “3 cubes plus 5 cubes is equal to 8 cubes.” The use of “is equal to” rather than “makes” will support children in later learning. We  will use practical equipment to help the children visualise addition. We then move on to help children build on their understanding of addition as they explore the structure of “adding more”. The focus is on increasing one quantity by a given amount, while continuing to work within 10. Concrete resources will be used to support children’s learning and “first, then, now” stories can help to build their understanding. For example,
“First Rosie has 3 pencils. Then she is given 2 more pencils. How many pencils does she have now?” While exploring with physical pencils will help children with initial understanding, moving towards representations such as ten frames and counters will support when working in the abstract. 

Vocabulary: add, equal to, altogether, plus, more.

Topic

We will continue to study where we live. We will look at simple geographical  features of Milton Keynes. We will look at how we can look at places from a birds eye perspective. We will create a plan of the classroom using different shapes to represent the furniture and then will add a key. The children will also be looking at an aerial photograph of the playground and identify features on it.

Vocabulary

river, city, settlement, factory, birds eye perspective, key, map, aerial photograph, 

Week beginning 31.10.22

Please remember that the school is closed for staff training on Monday 31st October.

English - This week the children will be learning how to spell the days of the week. They will be practising using capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and how to form capital letters correctly. We will also read the classic Shirley Hughes story, Dogger where the main character Dave loses his toy dog, Dogger. The children will think of and write their own scenarios in which Dogger gets lost using adjectives to describe how Dave feels.

Vocabulary - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, capital letter, sentence, Dogger, Dave, adjective.

Maths - We continue our addition unit this week. We will focus first on finding different ways to make numbers. We call these "number Bonds". E.g. 1 + 5 = 6 is a number bond for 6.

vocabulary - add, addition, equal to, altogether

Topic - This half term we are starting a new topic called Street Detectives. We launch our topic with a walk around the local area to look at the different types of houses and other geographical features we can find in Emerson Valley. Please make sure you have returned your child's permission slip.

vocabulary - detached house, semi-detached house, shop, hill, restaurant, lake, stream, bridge, roundabout

OCTOBER HALF TERM

Week beginning 17.10.22

English - This week the children will be having a go at writing the story about Beegu independently. They will be encouraged to use the sounds they have learnt in RWI to help them spell and look out for full-stops and capital letters. They will then go on to look at the poem 'Please Mrs. Butler' by Alan Ahlberg. They will be thinking about rhyming and learning some poems by heart.

Vocabulary - poetry, poems, rhyming, full-stops, capital letters

Maths - This week the children are continuing their learning about part part whole models . They will be using these to think about how to write addition number sentences using the plus sign. 

Vocabulary - plus. equals, number sentence, part, part whole

Topic - This week the children will be finishing off their sliders they started last week. They will then be looking at how they did when making their slider and what they could do to improve it next time. They will also be looking at how to enter commands into an APP in order to move an object to a desired place.

Vocabulary - slider, improve, forwards, backwards, right, left

Week beginning 10.10.22

English - This week we will read the story Beegu by Alexis Deacon. We will learn a simple version of the story and then write our own plan for the story. The children will need to think about what happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end.

Vocabulary - beginning, middle, end, adjective, extend sentences, sentence, full stop, capital letter

Maths - We are learning how to record number sentences (sums) using a part, part whole model. We will see how we can use the same 3 numbers to write number sentences in different ways e.g. 4 + 2 = 6, 2 + 4 = 6 or 6 = 2 + 4. We call these "fact families."

Vocabulary - number bond, fact family, part, whole, number sentences

Topic - Science. In our science lesson this week we will be labelling the external boy parts of girls and boys. Part of our science curriculum includes teaching the external genitalia. We will therefore be using the words, vulva, penis and testicles. We will also be discussing which parts are private.

Music - in music we will be learning songs from the past

PSHE – Children will be discussing different emotions and how they are all normal but need regulating

Vocabulary - testicles, penis, vulva, leg, arm, head, shoulder, stomach, foot, toes, knee

song, pulse, beat, old, past, 

Happy, sad, cross, angry, anxious, worried, excited, surprised, scared

Week beginning 3.10.22

English - In English we will be reading the story What I Like About Me by Allia Zobel-Nola. We will write sentences using adjectives to describe ourselves, just like in the story. For example, I like my curly hair. We will also work on extending our sentences using 'and'.

Key vocabulary - adjectives, describe, sentence

Maths - This week we will be consolidating our understanding of one less with practical activities and we will be introducing the number line (different to the number track that children are already familiar with).

Key vocabulary - less, smaller, less than, one less, count back, jumps (on the number line).

Topic - We are going to find out about the season of autumn in Topic. We are going to observe changes to the natural world now that autumn has begun. We will compare what we can observe to summer.

Key vocabulary - autumn, weather, summer season, tree, leaves, clothes, temperature, colour, observe

This is Mrs Scally (Amara's great-grandmother) who very kindly came to talk to the children about her childhood. The children enjoyed being historians and finding out about the past by listening to Mrs Scally's memories.

Week beginning 26.9.22

English - This week we will continue to use the animation "La Luna" to inspire our writing. The children will learn to retell the story orally and then they will plan their own version. They will then begin to write simple sentences to retell the story. You can support your child with writing at home by asking them to say their sentence out loud before they write.

Maths - In Maths this week we will practise putting objects in order from smallest to greatest and greatest to smallest. You can practise this skill at home by ordering groups of objects. We will also be consolidating our understanding of one more with practical activities and using the number track.

Key Vocabulary - smallest, greatest, order, smaller, greater, one more than, one less than

Topic - We will be learning about the late Queen's coronation this week as our history learning focuses on the 1950s. We will also be looking at the season of autumn.

Key Vocabulary- Queen, monarch, reign, throne, crown, coronation, in the past, crowds, golden carriage, ceremony, significant, autumn, weather, cooler, shorter days, temperature

Week beginning 19.9.22

English - This week the children will watch "La Luna" which is a short, silent animation. (It is available on YouTube if you would like to watch it with your child at home.) We will use this animation to inspire our writing this week. Our writing focus this week is practising saying our sentences out loud before writing them which helps us to remember what we are writing.

Maths - We are comparing amounts this week using the language greater than, less than or equal to in order to describe and compare two sets of objects. For example "I have 8 cubes and 5 counters. I have more cubes than counters because 8 is greater than 5."

Topic - We are very lucky to have a grandparent visitor this week who will talk to us about their own childhood and the children will have the opportunity to ask some questions about the past. We will then move on to finding out about the 1950s and different aspects of life in this decade.  

Thank you for sending in photographs of your child at different stages of childhood last week. The children enjoyed putting these into the correct order.

Week beginning 12.9.22

English- We will continue to use the book, 'Harry and the Dinosaurs go on Hoilday' and use it to think about creating sentences using the word 'and'. We will also be learning to recite the alphabet. 

Maths- We will learning to find one more and one less with numbers up to 10. We will use objects and number tracks to find the answers. At the end of the week we will be comparing groups of objects by matching them up. We will use the words- 'more than', 'fewer than' and 'the same as' 

Topic-In science we will be looking at naming different materials, such as wood, metal, plastic and glass.  In music we will be learning to use different body parts and tapping percussion instruments to keep a steady pulse. On Friday we will be creating our own history timelines. We will use the photos that have been sent in, put them in chronological order and using words relating to the passing of time to describe their lives!

Week beginning 5.9.22

English - The children will be listening to a Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs book about going on holiday. We will be talking to each other about what we did in the holidays and writing sentences about our experiences. We will be thinking about letter formation and using sounds to spell the words.

Maths - We are looking at sorting objects this week. We will be using our knowledge of shape, colour and number to sort a variety of objects and explain how we have sorted them to someone else. We will also be looking at counting accuratley using numbers to 10.

Topic - We are beginning our new topic of 'Childhood' this week. We will be thinking about drawing self portraits. We will look at tones of colour using pencil crayons. We will also be looking at how we care for living things.

The children will also be introduced to our shared area activities where they will have the opportunity to access continuous provision as part of our transition to year 1.

Look out for notification regarding our information meeting next week

Summer term 2022

Week beginning 18.7.22

We have really enjoyed getting to know and working with your children over the year. We wish you a lovely summer holiday and all the best for year 2!

In the meantime.....

English

We will be looking at a different version of Little Red Riding Hood. We will be discussing what to do if you meet the wolf in the woods. We will be asking the children to write some instructions on how to avoid the wolf and be thinking about using correct spellings as they write.

Maths

This week we will be beginning to look at time. We will be using the words before and after to describe time. We will then be looking at telling the time to the hour and half hour.

Topic

We will conclude our topic learning this week by building towers. We will have looked at what makes a stable tower, now we will be thinking about how we could design and build our tower.

Week beginning 11.7.22

English

We have loved using the story 'Oi Frog' in our English lessons so far. We will continue to use this book this week to inspire our own rhyming poems.

Maths 

In Maths we will be continuing to learn about money. This week our focus will be on "counting in coins" to find out how much money we have.

Topic

This week we will be learning about plants. We will name and discuss the parts of a plant including the stem, leaf, petals and roots.

Week beginning 4.7.22

English

This week we will be looking at the story 'Oi Frog'. We will be reminding ourselves of what rhyming is and using the story to help us make up our own rhymes. We will be working really hard at remembering that sentences need a full-stop and capital letter. Finally we will be looking at contracted words such as can't and I'll and learning what they mean and how they are spelt.

Maths

This week we will be looking at money. We will be thinking about what the coins and notes look like and will be counting different amounts.

Topic

In topic this week we will be visiting Howe Park Wood as part of our science learning and looking at different types of trees.

Science

Trip to Howe park wood- I can spot and name different trees and plants and animals.

Computing- I can follow instructions and sort out problems as they occur.

Week beginning 27.6.22

This week we will be looking at 'Where the wild things are'. We are going to use the story to write our own part. We will in particular be thinking about homophones, stamina in writing and checking sentences back to make sure they make sense.

Maths

This week we are continuing to look at numbers to 100. We will be talking about the place value of each digit. We will then be using this to compare numbers. We will be using words such as greater than and less than. We will be using the symbols to represent these words and then moving on to ordering numbers.

Topic

This week will be looking at Summer and discussing weather associated to Summer, what people wear and how it affects plants, trees and animals. We will also be asking the children to name common animals and name their habitat in school grounds

Week beginning 20.6.22

English

This week is art week. We are using this time to learn about fact files and how to organise facts in a coherent manner. We will be learning about Georgia O'Keefe who is the artist we will be studying over the week

Maths

This week we are looking at counting to 100. We will be making our counting easier by grouping objects in to 10s and then adding on the ones. The children will be starting with practical resources and then be moving on to using pictures. We will be thinking about counting forwards and backwards and then 1 more and 1 less.

Topic

This week we are giving over all our topic time to art week. We will be looking at Georgia O'Keefe and in particular the flowers she painted. We will be looking at using different medium to create art and how to create different shades.

Week beginning 13.6.22

English

This week we will be using our book 'Beware of Girls' to write our own version of the fairy tale. We will particularly be looking at description and having the stamina to write more content

Maths

This week we are starting to look at position and direction. We are looking at using the correct vocabulary in particular, forwards, backwards right and left. 

Topic

This week we are looking forward to our summer and thinking about holidays. We will be looking at how Victorians took their holidays and comparing what they did and what we do now. We will be particularly be asking the children to use the correct historical vocabulary.

Week beginning 6.6.22

We will be welcoming the children back on 8th June.

English

This week we will be looking at writing fairy tales and what they traditionally need to have included in them. We will be thinking about changing the characters and using adjectives and punctuation for effect. We will be using the book 'Beware of Girls' by Tony Blundell to help us.

Maths

We are beginning our learning about rotation and position this week and using terms like a quarter turn, half turn, three quarter turn, full turn, left, right, next to etc. We will be doing this very practically to begin with using a variety of resources including ourselves.

Topic

We will be introducing our topic of 'The Enchanted Woods'. During this topic we will be thinking about woods, their animals and their plants. We will be naming and identifying different plants and animals and growing our own plants from seeds.

Week beginning 23.5. 22

English

This week we will be looking at writing recounts. We will be using our recent trip to the safari park as inspiration. We will learn to write in the past tense and use a variety of time connectives such as, First, Then, After a while, Lastly.

Maths

In maths we will continue our work on fractions. This week we learn about finding a quarter of a shape and move on to finding a quarter of small amounts.

Topic

This week we will be evaluating our can labels and then we will be thinking about the Queen's Jubilee. We will be inviting you in on Thursday afternoon! More details will be sent to you. On Friday we are going to enjoy a whole school lunch, eaten in the playground, followed by 'Royal' themed games. We will be learning and singing the 'Jubilee Song' 

Week beginning 16.5.22

English

This week we will be continuing to look at non-fiction texts. We will learn about specific features of non-fiction texts, focusing on captions and labels. We will look at examples and then practise writing our own captions and labels about lions and tigers.

Maths

In maths this week we will start our new unit on fractions. We begin by looking at what a whole is and what a half is before moving on to find half of different shapes. At the end of the week we will begin to find half of small quantities. 

Topic

Week beginning 9.5.22

English

This week we will be starting to look at non-fiction texts. We will be considering how they differ to fiction books and how they are set up. We will then be learning how to find information from a non-fiction book and use this to write lists about what we have discovered. We will be using books that are related to our topic 'Paws, Claws and Whiskers'.

Maths 

We will be moving on to look at the first form of division this week. We will be looking at how we can share into equal groups by giving objects out one at a time and then by grouping objects into equal amounts.

e.g. 15 will be shared out into 3 groups one at a time. The children will discover, once they have finished sharing, there is 5 in each group. When grouping the children will have 15 and have to make it into 3 equal groups. They will discover there are 5 in each group.

Topic

We are learning about the artist Stephen Brown in our topic work this week. He is a Scottish artist who creates colourful pictures of animals. We will learn how to create straight and wavy lines like he does in his artwork and then we will recreate one of his famous paintings - a lion.

Week beginning 2.5.22

We hope you have a lovely bank holiday weekend and look forward to welcoming the children back on Tuesday this week.

English

We will continue reading the story 'The Tiger who came to Tea' this week and will use this to inspire our own stories. The children will write similar stories but will choose a different animal to come to tea and also change the food that the animal eats. They will practise writing in sentences using full stops and capital letters and will be encouraged to use exclamation marks and question marks where appropriate.

Maths 

In maths this week we will be learning about repeated addition which is a first introduction to multiplication. We will look at objects that have been put into equal groups and find an efficient way to count them. 

E.g. there are 5 bananas in a bunch. There are 3 bunches. This can be written as 5 + 5 + 5 and then the children will count in 5s to find the answer.

Topic

We will be learning about continents in our topic lessons this week.. We will learn the names of the 5 continents and find them on a map. We will also be learning about hot countries and will look at which types of cats call these countries home. 

Week beginning 25.4.22

English

This week we will be reading the story 'The Tiger who came to Tea'. We will be looking at how the story is structured and thinking about how we can relate it to our own experiences in our own homes. We will also be looking at the term prefix and in particular the prefix un-.

Maths

In maths we will be starting to look at multiplication and division in the first few weeks of this term. We will begin by counting in 2s, 5s and 10s forwards and backwards and finding missing numbers when counting in these amounts.

Topic

We will be launching our new Topic this week with Paws Claws and Whiskers. We will be looking at different types of animals and in particular looking at the differences between pets and wild animals.

Week beginning 4.4.22

English

We will continue looking at the story 'The Whispering palms'. We will be thinking about the structure of the story and how we can use this to write our own version with some changes.

Maths

In maths we will be focussing on subtraction.  We will revisit some of the strategies we learned earlier in the year to consolidate our learning and then move on to solve problems involving subtraction.

Topic

This week we will be making 3-D Easter cards. In computing we will be creating short musical compositions using an ipad app. We will be learning how to edit and save our work. 

If the children have earnt enough 'People in the Jar', we will have a treat afternoon! This will invlove an Easter hunt in the school grounds- looking for words to make a hidden sentence! 

Week beginning 28.3.22

English

In English this week we are going to read a story called Whispering Palms about a young girl called Mori. We will use the structure and ideas from this story to help us write stories of our own. Learning the story orally will help us to remember what we are going to write . We will also practise spelling words with the suffixes -er and -est

Maths

This week we will be learning all about volume and capacity. We will be learning to measure capacity and volume and compare different containers capacity.  At home you could have fun doing this in the bath!

Topic

We have a Design & Technology focus in topic this week. Our topic has a focus on Brazil, and Rio de Janeiro in particular, which is the home of the world famous carnival so we will be designing and then making a carnival mask! We will think about the type of colours that will be suitable and look at the available materials before making it ourselves.

Week beginning 21.3.22

English

In English this week we will be using the story of 'Nini at the Carnival' to write letters. We will be learning how to set out a letter and remembering when to use capital letters and full stops. We will continue to use Fred Fingers to spell words and also our knowledge of how to spell common exception words correctly.  

Maths

This week we are focusing on addition in maths. We will revisit some of the strategies we learned earlier in the year to consolidate our learning and then move on to solve problems involving addition.

Topic

This week we will be thinking about Mothering Sunday. We will be making cards to people who help mother us and thinking about why they are so special to us. We will also be thinking about the season of spring. When you walk to school can you spot any signs of spring?

Lastly, in geography we will be comparing Milton Keynes to Rio de Janeiro. We will be using everything we have learnt about both places to find similarites and differences. 

Week beginning 14.3.22

English

In English this week we are continuing to enjoy the story of Nini at the Carnoval by Errol Lloyd and will use this to inspire our writing. We will practise planning our story before starting to write, making sure we put the events in the right order. When we begin to write our stories we will try to extend our sentences with exciting adjectives or by using 'and' to link two ideas together. We will also need to remember to use capital letters and full stops as well as using our best handwriting. What a lot to remember! 

Maths

We are continuing our measurement topic in maths but this week we move on and introduce weight and  mass. We will be comparing and measuring mass and then will go on to solve problems involving mass.

Topic

We will be learning more about Brazil this week by looking at different geographical features of Rio de Janeiro and also learning about what it is like to live there. Weill will also be learning how to make our own carnival music using different percussion instruments. 

Week beginning 7.3.22

English

As our new topic is Rio De Vida, we will be looking at a book called Nini at the Carnival By Errol Lloyd. It is all about a young girl going to see the carnival and all about what she can hear and see. We will be thinking about lots of grammar this week and looking at the use of question and exclamation marks and then also at words that are singular or plural and how to spell them.

Maths

We will be continuing to look at length and height this week. We will be looking at using a ruler and also adding and subtracting length.

Subject curriculum (topic)

We will be continuing to talk about Brazil and in particular this week be thinking about the music and instruments of carnival. We will listen to the National Anthem of Brazil and also learn to use instruments to create a feeling of carnival. We will also be having our second drumming workshop which Squirrel class experienced last week and thoroughly enjoyed!

Week beginning 28.2.22

English

We will be returning to look at poetry and using a format to create our own poems. We will be thinking about rhyming words and how to follow the ending sounds in words.

Maths

We will be thinking about length and height in maths this week. We will be looking at how to compare lengths and height and then how to measure using non-standard measures.

Topic

We will be launching our new topic Rio de Vida with a drumming workshop to get us in the carnival mood! We will also be using brushes to make patterns and create our own parrot picture.

Spring Term 1 2022

Week beginning 14.7.22

English

This week we will learning about questions. We will think up questions, use question marks and learn some useful words to start questions off- where, what, when, who, and why. We will also be learning about exclamation marks. How to read sentences that end in one and when and how to use them in our own writing. Can you spot any question marks or exclamation marks in your reading book?

Maths

In maths we will finish off the place value topic with counting in 2s and 5s. Can you count how many pairs of socks or shoes are in your house? Count in 2s, it is so much quicker!

Topic

We will be learning about the main features of rivers in geography. In science we will be looking at and naming the different parts of trees. On Friday we will be celebrating everything we have learnt in our topic Superheroes! 

Week beginning 7.2.22

English

This week we will be writing our own stories using our plans that we made last week. Our stories will be similar to the story of Awesome Dawson by Chris Gall which we read last week. We will practise saying our sentence out loud before we write it to make sure it makes sense. We will also look back over our work to check for anything that can be improved.

Maths

In maths this week we will continue to learn about numbers up to 50. This week our focus will be on finding one more and one less, as well as comparing and ordering numbers up to 50. You can help your child practise recognising numbers up to 50 at home by playing games. For example, why not write some numbers on pieces of paper and lay them on the floor around the room. Then challenge your child to jump to the number you say.

Topic

This week we will be learning about coasts and rivers as part of our geography work. We will also be doing science this week and we will be naming the parts of the human body.

Week beginning 31.1.22

English

This week we will be looking at the story of Awesome Dawson. We will be thinking about how the story is made and in particular be thinking about story starters and story endings. We will then be using a plan to fill in ideas of what we could write about for a similar story ready to write up next week.

Maths

In maths we will be moving on to look at place value with numbers up to 50 this week. We will learn how to group larger numbers into tens to make it easier to count. We will use tens and ones resources to represent numbers to 50 and we will practise counting forward and backward using a 100 square.

Topic

In topic this week we will be planning and making our healthy sandwich for a superhero. We will be learning about our senses and which parts of our bodies have which sense. We will then be using our sense of smell to smell different types of herbs.

Week beginning 24.1.22

English

This week we will be using the poem, 'If I was a Superhero' to write our own poems. We will also be learning how to make plurals by adding s or es to words. Finally we will be learning what a noun is.

Maths

This week we will be finding the difference between 2 numbers using subtraction. We will then move on to comparing 2 number sentences using the mathematical language- 'is greater than' or 'is less than' or 'is equal to' and the symbols <  > =  For example: 13 - 2 < 19- 2

Topic

This week will be printing our superhero pictures in bright colours just like Andy Warhol.

We will also be going back in time to learn about Mary Seacole. We will learn her story and think about why she is historically significant. We will act like  historians and think about what clues we can find to tell us more about her. 

Next week we are planning to make superhero healthy sandwiches or wraps. Please look inside your child's book bag for the letter. We need the permission slips returned by Friday!

Week beginning 17.1.22

 English 

This week we will be reading the poem, 'If I was a superhero' by Sally Gray. We will also practise extending our sentences using 'and' and adding detail using adjectives.

Maths

We will be continuing to learn different addition strategies. This week we are learning how to make ten to help add two one digit numbers. E.g. 9 + 6 can be thought of as 10 + 5. We will use counters to physically move the numbers which will help us visualise this process. Later in the week we will begin learning about subtraction and will focus on counting back to find the answer using practical resources and then moving on to use number lines.

Topic

This week we will be learning about Internet safety in our computing lesson. We will be learning about mountains in geography, including naming the highest mountains in the four countries of the UK. 

Week beginning 10.1.22

English

This week we are reading and writing recounts. We are going to learn how to add the suffix 'ed' on to some verbs to show the past tense.

Maths

We are thinking about addition in maths. We will be using our number bonds to 10 to solve addition sums up to 20.

Topic

This week we will listen  to 'superhero' music. We will learn how to talk about the pace, pitch and dramatic parts. We will then use percussion instruments to compose some superhero music of our own. 

In science we will explore magnets. We are going to learn to think scientifically- ask questions, observe what happens when we explore magnets and talk about what we find out. 

In geography we will be finding out about the season winter. We will look for signs of winter outside and then create a winter picture using paint. 

Week beginning 3.1.22

Welcome back. We hope you all had a lovely Christmas break and are looking forward to returning to school.

English

This week in English we are starting to think about our new topic 'Superheroes'. We will be thinking about everyday superheroes i.e. the police, and writing a non-chronological report about them. We will be thinking about how to set the information out and in particular emphasise the correct use of full stops and capital letters.

Maths

This week in maths we will be looking to identify and represent numbers using objects and pictorial representations including the number line, and use the language of: equal to, more than, less than (fewer), most, least.

Topic

We will be looking at introducing the new topic 'Superheroes'. We will especially be looking at computing this week and asking the children to use an iPad to find a picture and save it. We will then be asking the children to find the picture again and make some changes to it by editing it.

Autumn Term 2 2021

Week beginning 13.12.21

English

This week we are continuing with learning about how to write letters with writing to Father Christmas! We will think about what a sentence is. We will learn that a sentence has to make sense, it must start with a capital letter and end with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark!

Maths

We are thinking about comparing groups of objects and numbers  up to 20. We will use the language- is greater/more than, is less than/is fewer than, is equal to. For example, 12 is greater than 15.

Topic

We are busy getting ready for Christmas. We are learning how to sew in design and technology and creating a piece of art for a Christmas card and a calendar. We are thinking about the Christmas story in Religious Education. 

The Year One team would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a fabulous New Year. 

We will look forward to seeing you all in 2022

Week beginning 6.12.21

English

This week we are looking at writing letters. We are going to look at the format of a letter and reply to a letter written to us from an alien called Beepop who lives on the planet Boogie! He has asked lots of questions which we are going to answer in our letter. This will be an independent piece of work and will form part of our assessments to judge where the children are with their writing.

We are also continuing to carry out our RWI assessments in order to move groups ready for next term.

Maths

In maths, we have been looking at numbers above 10 and how to count on from ten. We are using the vocabulary tens, ones and place value. The children will be looking at the importance of where the numbers are placed eg 12 not 21. We will also be looking at how to pronounce and spell the numbers correctly.

Topic

In topic we are considering the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees. We are also getting underway with our Christmas present to take home and also our Christmas cards.

We are looking forward to recording our Christmas play for you all and hope you enjoy the show!

Week beginning 29.11.21

English

This week we will be looking at writing a recount. We will be thinking about making our writing more interesting for the reader by using a variety of time connectives- First, then, after that etc.

Maths

We continue to name, recognise and sort 2-d and 3 -d shapes. Can your child help you sort the weeks shopping into cuboids (eg packets of cereals) cylinders (tins etc) and  spheres (satsumas, onions etc) ?

Topic

In science we will continue to look at everyday materials and think about their properites. We will use this knowledge to design a house and think about what materials we will use. The children will be encouraged to justify their choices by thinking of the materials properties!

In geography we are talking about the school environment and thinking about how and why it is improtant that we look after it.  We will design and name posters to remind the whole school community to look after the school environment. 

Week beginning 22.11.21

English

This week we are looking at the format of stories and how they can use repetitive phrases to make the story more interesting and memorable. We will be listening to the story 'Hetty's Day Out' and using it as a basis to write our own version with some changes.

Maths

This week we are combining thinking about addition/subtraction with greater than and less than. We will be revising the signs and their meaning. We will then move on to 2d and 3d shapes. We will be naming them and talking about their features.

Topic

This week we are going for a local walk and thinking geographically about the features we see. We are also going to be naming the external parts of the body including external genitalia as agreed in our school policy. This is a scientific labelling exercise only.

Week Beginning 15.11.21

English

We are continuing our stories based  on The Magic Bed. This week our focus will be on editing and improving our work to produce a final draft of our work which will be displayed in the school.

Maths

This week in maths the children will be continuing to develop their understanding of subtraction. They will be working on finding the difference between 2 numbers. They will use objects and numicon initially to see that the difference between eg  9 and 5 is 4 and then move on to solving the problems by using subtraction - 9 subtract 5 is equal to 4.  

Topic

We have a design and technology focus this week and we will be making sliders. These will be linked to our work on Milton Keynes as they will show a person or vehicle moving through Milton Keynes when the sliding mechanism is used.

Week Beginning 8.11.21

Maths 

This week in maths the children will learn about the signs for subtraction and equals. They will be learning different methods for solving subtraction problems which will include crossing out numbers and then counting how many are left. They will be learning to solve missing number problems using practical resources.

English

This week we will be thinking about the story of 'The Magic Bed' by John Burningham. We will be learning the story and then writing our own version of it. While the children are writing they will be encouraged to use magical language and include adjectives to make the writing more interesting for the reader. They also have a number of everyday things to remember, these include:

• full-stops and capital letters
• Small and tall letters
• Spelling words how they sound
• spelling small common words correctly
• correct letter formation

Topic

We will learn about Milton Keynes in topic this week, looking at aerial photos of how the town has changed over time and learning about some of the well-known landmarks. We will be learning about directional language and using this to direct our friend to different points on the playground. Finally we will be investigating different materials to find out which ones are waterproof.

Week beginning 1.11.21

English- This week we will be reading the story 'Dogger' by Shirley Hughes. We will be learning to spell the days of the week and learning that we need to use capital letters for them. We will be using the story to extend our  vocabulary by finding and adding interesting adjectives. At the end of the week we will be writing our own alternative ending to the story. 

Maths- This week we will continue to work on addition using numbers up to 10. We compare addition sentences using the language and signs, 'is greater than' > and , 'is less than' <. 

We will work on finding the missing part of a sum and continue to develop our knowledge of number bonds to 10

Topic- We start our new topic, 'Street Detectives.' In this topic we will be studying where we live.

This week we start off by looking at materials in science. We will be describing, naming and sorting a selection of different materials. We will also begin our understanding of maps by creating a plan of our classroom. At the weekend you could make a plan of your bedroom!

Autumn Term 1 - 2021

Week beginning 18.10.21

English - This week we are looking at the poem 'Excuses' by Allan Ahlberg. We are thinking about how words sound when they rhyme and what part of the word stays the same. We are looking at creating our own sentences to explain why we haven't done our work and thinking especially about our letter formation and spelling. We will then use a frame to create our own poem using simple rhyming strings.

Maths - This week we are looking at being systematic when creating number bonds. We are creating systems to help us and noticing any patterns within the number bonds. We will then be comparing number bonds and using the vocabulary of more than and less than again. We will be using the symbols + and = within number bonds and also using these to solve problems.

Topic - In topic we will be bringing together all we have learnt about our topic by creating our memory boxes and using our memory to think about what events in their past could go into it.

Week beginning 11.10.21

English - This week we will read the story Beegu by Alexis Deacon. We will learn a simple version of the story and then write our own plan for the story. The children will need to think about what happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end.

Maths - We are learning how to record number sentences (sums) using a part, part whole model. We will see how we can use the same 3 numbers to write number sentences in different ways e.g. 4 + 2 = 6, 2 + 4 = 6 or 6 = 2 + 4. We call these "fact families."

Topic - Thank you for sending in the shoe boxes for the children to make a memory box. This week we will start to design our memory boxes.

Week beginning 27.9.21

English -This week we have continued to look at La Luna. We have been learning the story off by heart using actions and then using this to write our own version of the story with one of our own changes.

We will be looking at the difference between small and tall letters and writing on the lines.

Maths - This week we have been using 'greater than' and 'lesser than' to compare numbers. We will be using number tracks to 10 and numicon to support our learning.

Topic - This week we have been comparing changes in geography since the 1950's. We will be looking at changes in housing, shops and transport. We will also be thinking about playground games and the coronation of the queen to compare life in the 1950's to now.

Week beginning 20.9.21

English - This week the children will watch "La Luna" which is a short, silent animation. (It is available on YouTube if you would like to watch it with your child at home. We will use this animation to inspire our writing this week. Our writing focus this week is practising saying our sentences out loud before writing them which helps us to remember what we are writing.

Maths - We are comparing amounts this week using the language greater than, less than or equal to in order to describe and compare two sets of objects. For example "I have 8 cubes and 5 counters. I have more cubes than counters because 8 is greater than 5."

Topic - We are very lucky to have a grandparent visitor this week who will talk to us about their own childhood and the children will have the opportunity to ask some questions about the past. We will then move on to finding out about the 1950s and different aspects of life in this decade.  

Thank you for sending in photographs of your child at different stages of childhood last week. The children enjoyed putting these into the correct order.

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Week beginning 13.9.21

English- The children will continue to use the book, Harry goes on Holiday, to spot sentences with the word 'and' in them. We will then have a go at writing our own sentences using the word and. 

We are also learning letter names and practising reciting the alphabet.

Maths- We are practising counting forwards and backwards. We are solving one more and one less problems.

Topic- Thank you everyone for sending in photos of their children. The children will use them to talk about their own history. We will look at family trees and talk about how all family are unique. The family trees will be sent home for you to complete together. At the end of week we will explore how people change as they get older. 

We look forward to seeing you at our Year 1 information meeting on Wednesday 15th September at 2.40pm. 

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Welcome back everyone to the start of a new academic year! The children have come in well and are learning the new routines and expectations. Every week we will publish information about what they have been learning at school. I hope you find the information useful.

Week beginning 6.9.21

English - The children will be listening to a Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs book about going on holiday. We will be talking to each other about what we did in the holidays and writing sentences about our experiences. We will be thinking about letter formation and using sounds to spell the words.

Maths - We are looking at sorting objects this week. We will be using our knowledge of shape, colour and number to sort a variety of objects and explain how we have sorted them to someone else.

Topic - We are beginning our new topic of 'Childhood' this week. We will be thinking about drawing self portraits. We will look at tones of colour using pencil crayons. We will also be looking at how we care for living things.

The children will also be introduced to our shared area activities where they will have the opportunity to access continuous provision as part of our transition to year 1.

We look forward to seeing you at our Year 1 information meeting on Wednesday 15th September at 2.40pm.

24.5.2

This week we are learning.....

English

We are looking a recounts. We will read the funny story, 'Grumpy Cat' and then use it to write a recount. We will be thinking of sequencing past events in the correct order and use interesting words to talk about the passing of time- next, then, after a while, a long time ago etc

Maths

We are finishing off our topic Fractions by making quarters in shapes and finding a quarter in an amount of objects. 

Topic

We are looking at what algorithms are and writing a simple (non computer based) algorithm to draw a crazy character!

We have enjoyed our P.E festival.

We are also finishing off our 'Paws, Claws and Whiskers' topic by thinking about everything we have learnt and using it to categories animals.

Enjoy the half term holiday!

17.5.21

This week we are learning....

English

We are looking at instructions this week. We have been using instructions on how to look after a hamster to identify bossy (imperative) verbs that come at the beginning of the instructions to tell people what to do. 

The children are then going to be writing instructions in different forms remembering to use bossy verbs and write each new instruction on a new line.

Maths

This week we are looking at simple fractions. We will be looking at half. We will be finding half of shapes and identifying that 2 halves make a whole. We will be making sure we understand that when finding half both sides have to be equal. We will then be looking at finding half of different amounts and again making sure that there are 2 parts and that both these parts must be equal.

Topic

In topic this week we will be making music. We will be singing an animal song and thinking about the different volumes we can sing it at and the effect that this has on the music. We will then be adding percussion instruments to the song that reflect the types of animal. We will also be finding out about Mary Anning. We will be thinking about her contribution to history and where she fits into a timeline compared with Mary Seacole.

This week we will also be recording our song for the Milton Keynes Music Festival and look forward to hearing the finished result.

10.5.21

This week we are learning.....

English

We will continue to look at non- fiction books. We will look at captions and labels and then write our own caption about big cats. We will also label a picture.

At the end of the week we will be looking at adding the suffix 'ing'  'er' and 'est' to some words. We will look at how the meanings of words change when we add them. 

Maths

We will be ending our topic on Multiplication and Division this week and starting a new topic on Friday, ' Fractions' . We start this topic off by looking making a half in objects.

Topic

We will be looking at what is important in the design of food labels. We will then design a label for a can of 'big cat ' food!. Just in case a tiger comes to tea at out house!

We are practising our song- ' Believe' Ask your child to singing it for you.  I'm sure you will be very impressed. 

3.5.21

This week we are learning ....

English

We will be looking at Non-fiction books. We will be thinking about what the properties of a non-fiction book are and how to recognise them

We will be using the book to gather information and write notes. The children will then use these notes to understand how to write lists.

Maths

In maths we will be continuing to think about the early stages of multiplication. We will revisit arrays and making equal groups. We will then be moving on to looking at equal sharing and the beginning stages of division.

Topic

In topic this week we will be using a different medium to draw and paint something that is familiar to us. The children will choose their favourite animal. They will then draw it showing the detail with pencil. They will then be using a medium to show colour.

26.4.21

This week we are learning.....

English

We have continued to use the story, 'The Tiger who came to Tea' . This week we have used the story  to make our own version. We are going to write up our story in our best handwriting and display it for the whole school to read.

Maths

In maths we have been using objects to make equal groups. We move on to talking about and making mathematical arrays, identifying the rows and columns and finding the total amount.

We end the week by looking at doubles of numbers up to 10. 

Topic

In topic we will be finding out where animals live. We will explore globes and world maps. We are going to find out what a continent is and name and locate all 7 of them.  

We are also having an exciting visitor in the class. A pet will be joining us (in a cage) and we are going to learn some facts about them and how to look after them.

 19.4.21

This week we are learning...

English

We have been reading the story of 'The Tiger who came to Tea'. We have been linking this to our own experiences of being at home and the food we have. We have been revising our learning about expanding sentences, adding adjectives and using exclamation marks and question marks. We will be planning our own story based on this book and making some changes to make it our own. This will lead in to our work next week where we will be writing our own 'Tiger who came to Tea' story.

Maths

In maths this week we will be revising our ability to count in 2s 5s and 10s. We will be thinking about how to count objects and objects to make counting quicker. We will also be thinking about making objects in to equal groups and exploring how equal can be shown in different amounts.

Topic

In topic we are looking at sorting animals. We are thinking about observable features and how this can be used to sort. We will be thinking about wild and domestic animals and how they have different needs. We will also be using the words carnivore. omnivore and herbivore to reinforce their learning in this area.

12.4.21

This week we are learning in...

English

We are reading a book called  'The Whispering Palms'. It is all about a family who think about the environment they live in and how to look after it. We will be thinking about the suffixes -er and -est and how they change the meaning of the word. We will then be beginning to plan our own story changing some of the elements. We will particularly be working on including questions and exclamations.

Maths

We are using all that we have learnt about addition to continue our consolidation of the concept using counting on. We will be using dice patterns and number lines to support this learning. We will also be looking at number bonds to 10 and how these relate to number bonds to 20. Within this we will be thinking about the commutativity of additions. e.g. 6+4= 10, 4+6=10.

Topic

We will be introducing our new topic of Paws, Claws and whiskers. We will be using lines to draw pictures of pets and thinking about shading and line direction to show how the fur lies. We will also be learning about the terms carnivore and herbivore and using these terms to sort animals in to different groups.

Spring Term

2020-2021

22.3.21

This week we are learning in...

English

The format of letters. We will read a letter that Nini, a character in the book, 'Nini at the Carnival', has sent us and look at how it is set out. We will then reply to it and include a question and an exclamation mark!

Maths

Squirrel class- We are looking at comparing the mass of objects using balance scales. We then move on to measuring the mass of object with cubes. We are using the words heavy, heavier, heaviest, light, lighter and lightest. 

Dormouse class- We are looking at measuring the length and height of objects, initially using cubes and paperclips and ending the week by using rulers. 

Topic

We are learning about the story of Easter in R.E . We will be making Easter cards.

We will also be introducing the children to the topic we will be studying next term, 'Paws, Claws and Whiskers' We are going to be looking at the world of animals and begin to think about how we can sort them into groups.

We hope you have a lovely Easter break. 

15.3.21

This week we are learning in.... 

English

To use ideas from the story 'Nini at the Carnival' to create and write our own story. We will be working on checking our work to make sure it makes sense.

Maths

Squirrel Class has been working on measuring length and height. This week they are using rulers to measure the length of objects. They will also be working on solving simple addition and subtraction measuring problems.

Dormouse Class has been working on comparing the mass of objects. This week they are finding the mass of objects using cubes. They will then move on to the topic of measuring height and length.

Topic

To look at aerial photographs and finding simple human and physical features of the environment. 

We have been enjoying learning Samba dance moves in our indoor P.E lessons!

To make a carnival head dress. We will use our designs from last week to create a colourful and creative costume piece! 

Autumn Term 2

2020 - 2021

14.12.20

This week we are learning in...

English

We are continuing to look at letters . We will be reminding ourselves of the key features of a letter and then we will be writing a letter to Father Christmas!

Maths

We are working with numbers up to 20. We start the week by ordering groups of objects and then will move on to ordering numbers. We will be using the language of greatest, least and smallest to compare and order.

Topic

We are going to be very busy this week finishing off our Christmas craft, making Christingles, enjoying our treat afternoon, watching a pantomime and thinking about the Christmas story in RE!

7.12.20

This week we are learning

English

We are looking at letters this week. We will be comparing letters and how they are written to how stories are written. We will be identifying the key features of writing a letter then having a go at creating a letter ourselves. We will also look at how to identify questions and the use of question marks.

We will be continuing our RWI work and particularly be assessing how many more sounds your child has learnt over this half term. Please continue to practise the sounds as much as possible at home as these go towards improving your child's confidence in both reading and spelling.

Maths

In maths we will be looking at how numbers are made up using tens and ones (we no longer use the term units at this stage). We will then be using these numbers to go over our comparative vocabulary of greater than, lesser than and equal to. We will also be using the numbers to work out 1 more and 1 less.

Topic

In topic we will be continuing our Christmas theme. The children will be decorating their Christmas jars and finishing off their calendars, they will also be beginning to create their Christmas cards all ready to bring home in the last week of term.

30.11.20

This week we are learning

Maths

We begin a new topic- Place Value. In this topic we will be counting, reading and writing numbers to 20. We will be looking at how we can show numbers 10-20 in double ten frames, with straws and cubes. The children will begin to group the ten and then count on the ones. 

English

We are learning to write a simple recount. First, we will identify time connectives such as , first, then, next, and finally in texts. Then, we will think about what we did over the weekend. Finally, we will use the time connectives to write an interesting recount!

Topic

We start the week off with thinking about how we can look after our immediate environment. We will be making making posters to encourage other to do so too.

We then move on to creating some exciting Christmas crafts using a range of art techniques.

23.11.20

This week we are learning

Maths

We are looking at 3d and 2d shapes. We are recognising and naming them. We are spotting them in our environment and we are sorting them into groups according to their properties. We are also looking at patterns. We are seeing if we can spot the pattern being made using shapes and then continuing it.

English

This week we are looking at the book 'Hetty's Day Out' by Pamela Allen. We are noticing that the book has repeating phrases. We are using the pattern of the story to produce a story map and using this to create our own Hetty story. We will be also thinking about spelling the common exception words this week and so any practising of these at home would be greatly appreciated.

Topic

In topic this week we are looking at how to look after our immediate environment and making signs to show the sorts of things that we need to be doing. We will also be looking at landmarks in MK and using directional language to navigate our way around maps.

Finally, the children have brought home words to learn for the Christmas plays so please practise these with them so they can be comfortable and confident as they perform. Thank you!

16.11.20

This week we are learning

Maths

This week in maths the children will be continuing to develop their understanding of subtraction. They will be working on finding the difference between 2 numbers. They will use objects and numicon initially to see that the difference between eg  9 and 5 is 4 and then move on to solving the problems by using subtraction - 9 subtract 5 is equal to 4.  

English

This week we will be looking at reading and writing instructions. The children will be learning directional language and then using it to give each other instructions on how to move around the school.

We will be spotting and using bossy verbs and learning how to set out instructions in numbered sentences.

Topic

We will be learning what a plan perspective is in geography. We will be looking at a  birds eye view of our classroom and playground and making our own plans of the classroom.  We are learning about how Diwali is celebrated by groups within our community. 

We are also learning the songs, actions and lines for our Christmas production!

9.11.20

This week we are learning

Maths 

This week in maths the children will learn about the signs for subtraction and equals. They will be learning different methods for solving subtraction problems which will include crossing out numbers and then counting how many are left. They will be learning to recognise this within a number sentence.

English

This week we will be thinking about the story of 'The Magic Bed' by John Burningham. We will be learning the story and then writing our own version of it. While the children are writing they will be encouraged to use magical language and include adjectives to make the writing more interesting for the reader. They also have a number of everyday things to remember, these include:

• full-stops and capital letters
• Small and tall letters
• Spelling words how they sound
• spelling small common words correctly
• correct letter formation

Topic 

We have started our new topic 'Street Detectives'. This week we will be looking at how houses have changed over time. They will be using their detection abilities to see the changes by looking at photographs. They will be encouraged to discuss the changes and substantiate their answers by using the evidence from the pictures.