Year 1 – Computing

By Mrs L READ14th October 2024

In ICT Year 1 have continued to use the laptops – this time to develop their keyboard skills. 

We found out that all keyboards are the same, the letters, function keys and numbers are always in the same place.

We also learnt that using the space bar is like doing a finger space and when you press and hold the shift key, you get a capital letter!

The children were able to use the arrow keys to get the cursor to where we need it to be, also the backspace key proved very useful to delete any mistakes we had made!

All the children were able to navigate the keyword to copy their sentences, using a text box they had made – they used good concentration skills and helped each other out too, fabulous work!

Let’s get plotting!

By Sasha Habbal10th October 2024

In our Geography lesson this week Year 1 have been developing and applying their knowledge of Human features and Physical features. We started by exploring an ariel view map of Christopher Pickering school and discussing what human and physical features we could identify.

Once we had done this we designed our own symbols to represent each of the human features, such as the MUGA, carpark and play area, and also the physical features such as the trees, and school field.

The children then worked together using the view of our school from Google earth, to plot their symbols onto their own maps. They did a fantastic job and even added a key to show what the symbols represent!

Y1 – RE

By Mrs L READ7th October 2024

Year 1 have previously looked at what belonging and faith means to ourselves and others.

We have discovered that there are different religions, with different gods, different places of worship, different festivals and different rituals.

Year 1 have already learnt that Christian’s celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day, so this week we looked at two different festivals from different faiths.

The Hindu festival of Holi –

  • Holi is a festival celebrated by Hindus and it takes place in March.
  • It marks the start of spring and is sometimes known as the Festival of Colour. It celebrates good winning over evil.
  • Everyone chases each other with dry powder paint and coloured water.
  • People sing, dance and have fun together, no matter who they are.
  • Bonfires remind people that the winter days are coming to an end and warmth and light are coming.

The Muslim festival of Eid –

  • Eid is a festival celebrated by Muslims and it takes place at the end of Ramadan.
  • During Ramadan grown-ups do not eat or drink anything while the sun shines.
  • People put on new clothes and share meals with family and friends.
  • Homes are decorated, their sacred text, the Qur’an, is read and they go to the mosque to pray.
  • Some women and girls decorate their hands with mehndi patterns.

Y1 -ICT

By Mrs L READ7th October 2024

Year 1 have continued to develop their trackpad skills and we also thought about what we would use the keyboard for.

We found out that keyboard is used for writing on a computer and that, on all keyboards, the keys will always be in the exact same place.

Our task today was to type our name using the keyboard.

Once on the paintzapp programme, together we were able to click on the tools to draw a text box. The children were then able to use the keyboard to type their name.

Most of the children could do this independently and we learnt that holding down the ‘shift’ key makes a capital letter.

We then had chance to explore all the tools… we found that you could draw a circle/square with one, another enabled us to fill the shape with colour and one gave a spray paint effect … we had fun finding out what all the tools were able to do.

After completing our lesson this week, we were all able to place our laptops in the charging station and carefully plug the lead into the correct hole.

 

I

Are animal bodies the same as ours?

By Leonnie Carrick3rd October 2024

This week, Year 1 were exploring Enquiry 4: Are animals bodies the same as ours?
First of all, we started by recapping Enquiry 1 which was looking at the human body to remind ourselves of our own body parts. The children could remember lots from this lesson. I then asked the question “do animals have any of the same body parts as us?“
Isla- Grey said “Animals have a head just like we do!”
Lottie said “They have eyes, noses and ears so they can sense things”
After we explored all of the similarities we focused on the differences.
The children were given the same pictures from last week of common animals to sort. The children grouped them by what body parts they had. Some of the children realised that once we had grouped the animals by their body parts that they were often in the same animal
groups.
Birds have feathers and a beak – Warran
All fish have fins instead of arms to help them swim underwater- Isabella
We also looked at animals that have tusks, horns, antlers, wings and different types of feet and skin.
Flash the tortoise from the hub cam to visit us too! We felt his hard shell. Forrest said “he has a shell to protect him”
To finish the lesson, we had a go a drawing a variety of animals and labelling their body parts. The children loved this!

Understanding human and physical features

By Sasha Habbal2nd October 2024

Today Year 1 became geographers and got out and about within the school grounds!

We started our lesson by exploring what the terms human features and physical features mean. We learnt that a human feature is anything that is made by people such as buildings, bridges and roads, and that a physical feature is something that is natural such as mountains, rivers and forests.

We then took the information we had learnt and went outside to explore our school grounds to see what human and physical features we could identify!

 

Year 1 – RE

By Mrs L READ30th September 2024

“What is it like to be in a faith family?”

Year 1 looked at ‘a day in the life’ of a Christian and a ‘Muslim’ child.

Then we shared our thoughts on their similarities and differences.

Both prayed but had different places of worship, a Christian church and a Muslim mosque.

Both have sacred texts – the Christian bible and the Muslim qur’an.

We discussed how belonging to our family, school and clubs makes us feel special and cared for, and that being part of a faith would make you feel that way too.

 

 

Y1 – ICT

By Mrs L READ30th September 2024

Year 1 have been working on developing their trackpad skills.

We now understand the main components of a computer – screen, keyboard, mouse, trackpad – so we looked at different mice and how some look different but all perform the same function, such as the trackpad.

All of the children were able to switch on their laptop and find the artist app that we were going to use – with a little help of course.

We explored the tool bar, finding out that as well as changing colours, we could make shapes, fill with colour and use a spray paint effect.

At first, some found it a bit tricky to select different tools and using the trackpads to draw … but all of the children showed determination and perseverance, and were able to produce some fabulous work.

60’s WOW day

By Sasha Habbal26th September 2024

Year 1 stepped back in time into the 1960’s today as part of our topic: My local area.

We started our day by exploring how life has changed within living memory, looking at how furniture, electrical equipment, music, fashion and education has evolved since the 1960’s..

The children loved looking at the household electrical equipment and were shocked to find out that the television only had 3 channels in the 1960’s and that there wasn’t any internet!

The children then spent some time drawing some of the objects/equipment that we had looked at and wrote down some of the facts they had learnt about it.

We then had a circle time and the children shared some photographs that they had brought in of their grandparents back in the 60’s. It was lovely to share special memories of our loved ones.

We discussed how the buildings and cars had changed over time and how the population had grown and we are looking forward to investigating this further!

We ended the day by learning some 1960’s dance moves which we then showcased to each other in groups. Overall it was a fantastic day and the children loved experiencing what life was like back in the ‘swinging sixties’.

 

 

WHY ARE ANIMALS GROUPED IN DIFFERENT WAYS?

By Leonnie Carrick24th September 2024

In Science this week, Year 1 have continued to look at animals (including humans). This week our enquiry was ‘Why are animals grouped in different ways?’

First of all we looked at the ways we could group different animals as a class.

The children were each given an animal to compare and contrast. The children looked closely at the features of the animals and then grouped them together based on their characteristics.

Here is what some of the children discovered:

“Those animals all have wings and feathers so they must all be birds.”

“They all have hair or fur so they must be mammals.”

 

The children then had a go at sorting the different animals independently.