Year 1/2 | Christopher Pickering Primary School

Observation over time

By Mrs K SMITH12th June 2022

In science this week Year 1 have started our observation of a seeds grow into a plant.

We are all very excited to observe each stage of growth.

We talked about what a plant needs to be healthy and chose a place in the classroom to put our plants that had those things.

Plants need the correct temperature, light and water to grow into a healthy plant. We placed our plants near the window and decided we needed to make sure they are watered regularly.

We have placed the seeds at the side of a see through plastic cup so we can observe every stage.

Our observations so far can see a seed ready to grow. We can’t wait to see if it starts to germinate and develop shoots next week!

Life cycles

By Mrs K SMITH7th June 2022

This week in PSHE Year 1 have been looking at life cycles and how things change.

We started our lesson by finding our partners. 1 partner had a baby animal and the other partner had an adult animal.

Year 1 then talked about how the baby animal they had changed to become an adult animal. We found out some just grow bigger like cows but others change completely like frogs.

We looked at what a life cycle is and put some pictures of different animals in order to create a life cycle. We looked at chickens, butterflies, frogs and people.

Boomwhackers

By Mrs K SMITH27th May 2022

In music this term Year 1 have been exploring the use of boomwhackers to make different musical sounds.

We were able to hear the different notes as each one was struck and we even made a scale from the highest to the lowest notes.

Year 1 are looking forward to playing a piece of music with the boomwhackers now we have identified their individual sounds and how to play them.

Queen Portrait

By Mrs K SMITH25th May 2022

As part of the platinum jubilee celebrations Year 1 created a large collage of Queen Elizabeth II using different materials.

We looked at different pictures of Queen Elizabeth II from the 2000’s and chose a picture we liked to copy from.

We used paint to colour the background of the picture before we use lots of different paper and card to create her dress, hat and flowers.

Year 1 were very happy with their finished piece of art work for the Jubilee.

Celebrating my special relationships

By Mrs K SMITH24th May 2022

In PSHE this week Year 1 have been talking about people who are important to them.

We started our lesson by playing spin the bottle.

We span a bottle and the child it pointed at told us who was important to them and why they are important.

Jigsaw Jack had a special balloon and label today. Jigsaw Jack’s label told us why he though the children in Year 1 are important to him.

Year 1 then told each other how their important people make them feel safe and good about them selves.

Features of a letter

By Mrs K SMITH22nd May 2022

In English this week Year 1 have been looking at letters.

We discussed when and why people send and receive letters, before we discovered that ‘The Rainbow Fish’ had sent us a letter.

Year 1 were very excited to read the letter ‘The Rainbow Fish’ had sent. The letter asked us some questions and told us how the fish was doing after he had given all of his scales away.

Year 1 talked about the features letters contain.

We found out that letters can contain:

an address
a date
dear
a question
information
from

Year 2 have been learning about Mental Health Awareness this week. They discussed different emotions such as loneliness and anxiety. Then they created a bank of suggestions to help them when they feel lonely or worried.

Year 2 Science

By Miss P STATHERS17th May 2022

Year 2 have started a new unit in Science. They are now learning about habitats. They learned what a habitat is and looked at some different habitats. Then they sorted animals into different habitats including; oceans, African plains, beaches and the Arctic.

Making friends

By Mrs K SMITH3rd May 2022

This week in PSHE Year 1 have been talking about their friends and how we are kind to them.

We started our lesson by giving each other compliments and saying the things we like about each other.

We like each other because they ‘have a nice smile’, ‘make me laugh’, play with me’ or ‘kind to me’.

We did a circle time talk about how we think we are good friends.

The children in year 1 think they are good friends because they play together, are kind to each other, care about each other and make each other happy.

We also talked about things we do to be good friends such as playing with others or making friends feel better when they are sad.

Year 1 know lots of different ways in which to be good friends to each other.

Bug hotels in Design AND TECHNOLOGY

By Sophie Dale7th April 2022

Investigate

First we needed to understand what the need and purpose is for a bug hotel. Our first enquiry was ‘What are bugs/insects and why do we need them?’. We then looked at a variety of insects and why they are important for nature. We discussed how without them nothing would be able to survive (even if the children did not like them!).

We then focussed on ‘What is a bug hotel?’. From the design brief the children were excited but were still not sure what one might look like. We looked at lots of different bug hotels that were all manmade and freestanding (stands up by themselves). We thought carefully over the following questions: How the parts have been joined together? What materials have been used? and why have those been chosen? We then drew two of the structures we explored and labelled it.

Focussed Practical Task

The children loved exploring how to build a variety of freestanding structures using different materials.

They made the base bigger! This made the structure stronger.

This was not a strong freestanding structure. I asked the children how could you make it sturdier?

We folded paper in different ways so it would stand up.

We used tape to build joins.

We practically explored putting straws/hay into a plastic bottle.

We practised using a hammer and nails.

Design

The children could not wait to become designers. Before we could start designing we went on a walk around the school grounds to source natural resources. We had already collected manmade resources such as yogurt pots, milk bottles etc. Once the children knew what to use they worked in small groups to design their bug hotels sharing ideas on what materials would be best/ the purpose of each section. Finally, the children picked their favourite design and explained why.

Make

The children had so much fun putting their knowledge from the focussed practical task into action.

Using a variety of materials.

Using a hammer and nails (supervised by an adult).

The final outcome.

Evaluate

Finally the children evaluated the end product thinking about what they liked, disliked and whether they stuck to their design brief.