Life Bus - Coram Life Education
In Pear Class Helen, from Coram Life Education has come to visit us. We had a fantastic morning learning and reaffirming our knowledge of how to be healthy in body and mind.
Helen and Harold the giraffe helped us to understand the importance of eating a healthy balanced diet, drinking water and exercising but also how to keep our minds healthy. We can do this by helping others, being mindful about our own actions, being kind to others, being active and creative and also keeping in contact with others. Lots to remember but we will keep emphasizing about how important it is to be healthy in body and mind
Geography Day
We spent the whole of Friday finding out about where the Olympic Games is to be held this year.
We have found out about Japan, we have located on a map, 'flown' to it by Google Earth, learnt how to say 'hello, and 'see you' and we have discovered the Mascots for the Paralympics and the Olympic Games.
We we also given the country of Bahrain to discover more about. We have learnt about the flag and we we very amazed to see some of our children dressed in the flag too! Thanks to Mum, Dad and Grandma. We have looked at the location of the tiny country of Bahrain, and it's capital city of Manama. We have compared the Royal Family of Bahrain to our own, looked at the royal emblem and discovered the life-cycle of the National Bird of Bahrain called the Bulbul. What an exciting day!
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm
We had a fantastic time at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm! We saw some amazing animals that we have written and learned about in class, but to be able to see them in real life was so exciting and a real privilege. Many of the animals are endangered in the wild and need our help to sustain their numbers. At the zoo farm there is lots of conservation work which we have talked about and perhaps some of us may even think about working with animals when we are older.
Butterflies
We have been very lucky this term to have some caterpillars in our classroom and we have been avidly making observations about the changes that have happened. They have been a focus for Science, Art, PHSE, Maths (counting them) and giving us the feeling of general well-being knowing that we would eventually release them into our own school environment. We have seen the caterpillars slowly getting bigger and bigger. All was quiet for a time while the caterpillars made their chrysalises and then out hatched these tremendous butterflies.
Sports Day
We were lucky for weather and we were able to conduct our Sports Day yesterday. The children were exemplary and they all competed in each race with great enthusiasm. We missed our parents but we all supported each other and cheered as loud as we could.
We hope you enjoy our photos and videos of the day.
Science and Outdoor Learning
During this half term as part of our Science lessons we have been learning about animals and their characteristics and we have been discovering insects. We have learnt about the structure of insect bodies and trying to identify what are the different parts of an insect, like ants, bees and butterflies. We also learnt that spiders are not insects because they don't have the same number of legs as an insect.
However, in Year 1 we don't just write and draw to learn about insects we can also make them too. We have made individual insects and we were going to make a giant insect outside but as we were leaving class we found a spider who just didn't want to leave and so we decided to work together outside to create a giant spider, but we're not scared! You will be happy to know that the class spider is now happy outside in a suitable habitat.
Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust
We are very lucky in Year 1 that we are being given some expert input in our PE lessons. We have been visited by two Yeovil Town Community Coaches to explore PE activities through the Primary Stars initiative. The children have thoroughly enjoyed their cooperative games. we are looking forward to the next lesson.
Mental Health Week - Feelings
As part of our Mental Health week we have been exploring feelings, our own and the feelings of characters in The Rainbow fish stories by Marcus Pfister.
We have used clay to make our own Rainbow fish characters. We have talked and written about how they were feeling and relating that to times when we have felt different feelings too.
Our Special Visitor
Today we have been very lucky to have a visit from Hayley from the West Hatch R.S.P.C.A. We found out how the R.S.P.C.A. rescue pet animals, farm animals and wild animals if they are in trouble. They are given treatment by a vet or animal nurse and then they can be sent home, re-homed or released into the wild.
We also learned that fish can recognise human faces, that cats have learned to 'talk' to humans and that a horse has more teeth in it's mouth than brains! Thank you Hayley.
North Somerset Birds of Prey
On Thursday we were really lucky to have a surprise treat from Mrs Hodgson. We were able to share with Year Two a visitor experience from the North Somerset Bird of Prey Sanctuary. We saw a European Little Owl, a Tawny Owl, a Barn owl and an American Harris Hawk. We learnt lots about the different birds and were able to see them close up. We thoroughly enjoyed it!
PTA Easter Bunnies
A great big thank you to the PTA for our delicious Easter Bunnies! THANK YOU!
We Have Birthdays!
Congratulations to Bernie for his birthday yesterday (19/4/21). We hope you had a super time and thank you for the sweets (one of Mrs Lowe's favourites!).
Happy Birthday Ava-Grace, for tomorrow, (21/4/21), who just happens to have the same birthday as the Queen. Happy Birthday to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth too!
WE WON!
Well done Pear Class! We won the 'most money collected in our bags' competition run by the PTA that the children filled at home with change. Each child was given an Easter Bunny and Poppy D-K was chosen to receive the extra egg! Thank you PTA. We raised over £100! Thank you so much Mums and Dads and families for donating all your change. Hope the children enjoyed all their Easter treats.
An Easter Egg Hunt
We had an Easter Egg Hunt! There were ten pictures of eggs hidden around the playground, some high up (Mrs Lowe took a safe step with her to put them up!), some were low down (Mrs Lowe didn't need help with those!), some could be seen more easily and some were really tricky to find. The children had to find as many as they could in ten minutes and the winners had to find them all. The rules were no running, no shouting out when you've found one and keep with your team. The winning team finished in 9 minutes and 50 seconds and they found all ten eggs. Well done great team work!
Easter Nests
We made crispy cakes complete with eggs and a chick! Great fun but Mrs Lowe might have bought the wrong chocolate because they didn't seem to be set properly as we left class there were lots of escaping eggs and chicks! Hope some of them got home safely and were eaten.
Year 1 Easter Service
Year 1 have been blessed this Easter because we were invited to St James' church to share our Easter Worship. The children have been learning about the Easter story and we were able to share our own retells of the story.
Pear Class shared our own prayers that we wrote thinking about thanking God, saying sorry and thinking how amazing God is in our lives. We spent time exploring the church after the time of Worship which was great fun.
Here are a few images of our time at the church.
Easter Gardens
This week we have each made an Easter Garden representing parts of the Easter Story. The cross reminds us that Jesus died, the flowers remind us of the garden were he was laid to rest, the little pot on it's side represents the empty tomb with the stone rolled away because we have learnt that Jesus rose on the First Easter Sunday and is alive again. Hallelujah!
It's my birthday!
A very happy birthday to Cohen. Have a great day on the first day of the Easter holiday.
Delicious Cold Desserts
We have been designing and making some cold desserts this week, involving choosing fruit, deciding on which flavour jelly, what flavour custard and then which topping we would prefer?
It has been super fun and they tasted great! (At least the ones that have been eaten.)
We are Superheroes!
It is Comic Relief and we are raising money for people, especially children. who are not as fortunate as ourselves. They may have difficulties in their lives for all kinds of reasons but at the moment it may be due to Covid19, and we want to help!
Look at us! Are we not the most amazing Superheroes you have ever seen!
RUBBISH!
We have been learning more about our rubbish and how we can have less impact on the Earth's resources by finding better ways of dealing with our rubbish: we can reduce, reuse or recycle much of our rubbish and soon there will be new blue bags to go with the brown bin and the green and black boxes so we can recycle even more. We were able to create art work by reusing crisp packets.
Science Day
In the morning we were very lucky to be visited by a Scientist who showed us lots of interesting things, including how to make rainbow solutions, how to make slime and gases that go bang!
In the afternoon we tested some materials to find which ones would be both waterproof and flexible enough to make a raincoat.
A New Sign For The Reflection Garden
The children have been working hard, making a new sign for the beautiful Reflection Garden. Our Reflection Garden is a special place where the children can go to enjoy the natural surroundings, taking in the sights and smells of nature.
Pancake Races
Today, we enjoyed learning about Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Lent. We also liked hearing about Olney in 1445, where a lady ran to church with her frying pan and her pancake because she was late for the Church Service.
We all had a go at racing with a pancake today. Some children were racing against each other on screen, whilst others were racing in the playground. We were all brilliant and had a wonderful time.
Christian Crosses and Prayers
Our children have been working hard, at home and in school. We have produced some wonderful crosses to represent the Christian religion and we have written some thoughtful prayers.
Enjoy
Our Alternative Nativity
Congratulations, we have nearly made it to the end of this very difficult year. The Year 1 Team are very sorry that we have been unable to learn, rehearse and perform a full Nativity for you this year due to Social Distancing and Singing restrictions. However, we hope that you will enjoy our little production, performed by your amazing children. Please appreciate the hours your children have spent out in the cold weather, under the helicopter filled sky, on the local bus route through Abbey Manor Park, to bring you this little film!!
We hope you enjoy watching and we wish you and your Family a very Merry Christmas and a HAPPY New Year.
Christmas Wreaths
In Year One we have been getting ready for Christmas by making our Christmas Wreaths. We carefully selected evergreen leaves and used a candle for the middle of our decoration. The candle in the center is like Jesus, the Light of the World. The evergreen leaves are like God's love for us, always with us
Caterpillar Calendars
In our class we have been learning the days of the week and the months of the year. To help us we have used the Very Hungry Caterpillar story. We have also used this theme to make our calendars and with just a few finishing touches they will be ready to go home.
BBC Children in Need
Today was Pudsey Day, as the children like to call it.
We have learned that BBC Children in Need has been a part of our lives for 40 years! In that time many of us have helped to raise over £I billion for children in the UK.
Pear Class have been very enthusiastic about helping others less fortunate than themselves. We have written about what BBC Children in Need does and we have written instructions for making a moving Pudsey Bear as well as making one for ourselves.
Remembrance Day - Lest We Forget
Outdoor Learning
As part of our Outdoor Learning this week we have collected red leaves and brown or darker coloured natural objects to make a poppy. Both Pear Class and Pine Class took part making sure we were safe without any contact between the groups of children.
We have begun to think about why we wear poppies at this time of year and we have been getting ready for Remembrance Day which we will be observing next week.
Black History Month
In Pear Class we found out about a lady called Rosa Parks. She was a very brave lady and the children were moved by her protest. All of our children were shocked that she was not allowed to sit where she wanted on a bus and that she was arrested for trying to do this just because of the colour of her skin.
All the children agreed that this was not fair or the right way for us to treat one another. We all agreed that no matter who you are you should be given the same opportunities and that everyone should be treated the same.
Mask Making
Although not all our parents are free to come in for family learning we had a go at mask making in the class room and we think we did very well. We have made some fairy tale animal characters to go with our other characters from fairy tales that were made by the other children from Pear Class.
Family Learning
Despite restrictions we have been lucky enough to be able to invite parents in to have a go at mask making with some of our children with Darryl, an Art and Design expert, specialising in working with children. I think great fun was had by all!
Mental Health Day
During Mental health Day we discovered more about how our brains work and how they can affect the way we feel and different ways we can try to keep our bodies and minds healthy. We also thought about how our own behaviour can affect other people and how we can help each other feel better about ourselves.
We have tried some Mindfulness Colouring, this can be a very calming and peaceful activity for some.
Observational Drawing
We have been trying very hard in our Art lessons to look closely at an object, in this case an apple, and try to draw what we can actually see. We were all quite surprised to find that the apples we not very round or not much like a sphere but often odd shaped and not the same colour all the way round.
Number Bonds
Today we have been using apparatus to help use learn and remember our number bonds, Abacuses have been used for thousands of years, and they still work!
Exploring our Environment
We have had a good lesson walking round the school grounds as part of our Geography curriculum looking at our environment and making choices about our favourite part of the school. When we returned to class we drew pictures of our favourite part and wrote about why we liked it.
Field Play
The weather is often warm and pleasant in September, unusually warm at the moment and we can make the most of our playtime using our huge field, Now we must practise lining up!
Welcome to Year One, Pear Class.
Hello and welcome to a new term and a new class. We have had an amazing first week back and all the children have settled in so well, they have been calm and made me feel so happy to be back (if I may have been a bit apprehensive, I'm not now!).
The children have been showing me their Writing, Maths, Art, Science, R.E.. listening and thinking skills and it has been a pleasure to sit near(ish) to them to hear them read. Thank you so much parents and carers for all your teaching efforts over lockdown and in the school holidays.
I hope to see you all in the future but if you have any questions for me please don't hesitate to ask and I will do my best to help. See you in the playground.
Mrs Lowe