Topic

We loved our STUNNING START...

We planted bulbs - the start of a plant life cycle. We can watch it grow and change as it ages.

Then we went foraging looking for natural materials to create a circular piece of art in the style of Andy Goldsworthy the artist we will be studying. 

As athletes we will be:

Year One children will have P.E. every Friday for this half term (Spring 2).

Please note we will be doing the daily mile (1 mile run, once or twice per week).

Please ensure that your child has a full P.E kit (white t-shirt, black shorts and pumps) to be kept in school on their peg.

As Scientists we will be:

• Finding out about the basic needs of animals and humans for survival
• Understanding that animals and humans have offspring that grow into adults
• Making observations and suggesting possible answers to our questions
• Identifying and naming animals that are classified as herbivores, carnivores and omnivores.
• Describing how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals
• Developing simple food chains and name different sources of food
• Exploring the difference between things that are living, dead and that have never been alive.
• Identifying and naming a variety of common, wild and garden plants
• Identifying and naming a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees 

• Naming and identifying the location of the seven continents.
• Year 2 will locate the 5 big oceans of the world.
• Locating England and Kenya in relation to their continent position.
• Looking at the climate differences in England and Kenya, what is the weather like and temperature. Considering the effect location to the North and South Pole and the Equator affects the climate in these countries.
• Identifying African animals and how the landscape affects their choice of habitat.
• Using compass directions North, South, East and West, using these to identify location and move around an aerial plan grid. 
• Identifying the different landscapes and environments in Africa.
• Comparing our lives to that of a child living in Kenya.

Miss Rose will share her photos and experiences of her trip to Africa.

As explorers of Religious Education we will be:

• Looking at the big question: 'What can we learn from sacred books?'
• Recognising that sacred texts contain stories that are special to many people
• Retelling stories from different sacred texts and suggesting what they mean
• Asking questions and talking about issues of good, bad,right or wrong.

As Computer Technicians we will be:

• Using iMovie to become storytellers
• Learning how to stay safe online

• Studying the sculptor and photographer Andy Goldsworthy.
• We will learn about our artists work and give our opinions on it.
• We will use his work as inspiration for our own.
• We will be using natural resources to print a class picture.
• We design and create 3D artwork and take photos of them.
• We will evaluate our finished artwork.

As Design Technologists we will be:

•  Learning about healthy snacks.
•  Looking at a range of snacks available to buy in shops and analyse them for taste, appearance and how healthy they are.
• We will then learn food preparation skills ready to design and make our own fruit snacks.
• We will evaluate our final product.

We had a thrilling and delicious start to our topic.

We learnt how to make a camp fire using kindling and toasted marshmallows over the fire. We drank hot chocolate and then sang songs around the fire.

Mathematics

This term we are developing our addition and subtraction skills. We will be working in small steps following the sequence:

Part whole model
Addition symbol
Fact families – Addition facts
Find number bonds for numbers within 10
Systematic methods for number bonds within 10
Number bonds to 10
Compare number bonds
Addition: Adding together
Addition: Adding more
Finding a part
Subtraction: Taking away, how many left? Crossing out
Subtraction: Taking away, how many left? Introducing the subtraction symbol
Subtraction: Finding a part, breaking apart
Fact families – The 8 facts
Subtraction: Counting back
Subtraction: Finding the difference
Comparing addition and subtraction statements a + b > c
Comparing addition and subtraction statements a + b > c + d

Science

This term we will continue to investigate materials. The scientific vocabulary (bendy, bumpy, dull, feel, hard, made, manufactured, material, natural, rough, shiny, smooth, soft, squashy, stiff, stretchy, transparent, flexible, rigid) we learnt the previous term will be consolidated through investigations around the properties of different materials. 

We will find out who is Charles Mackintosh and what was his famous product, we will be emulating his discovery to create our own waterproof material.  

We will be able to:

• distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made

• identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock

•  describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials

•  compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties.

PE

In Street dance and Drama on a Tuesday we will be learning a dance for our Nativity performance. 

On Wednesday we will be continue to work on our key movement skills:

• moving in different ways
• developing our spatial awareness

Geography

In Geography we will be answering the big questions Where do I live?  How do I know?. 

We will be using Google Earth and google maps to locate our position on Earth. 

We are going to locate and name the four countries which make up the United Kingdom.

We will identify and locate Manchester and the capital city of England on a UK map identifying significant landmarks. 

History

In History we will be answering the big questions in relation to The Gun Powder Plot and The Great Fire of London:

 Why do we celebrate Bonfire Night? 

Was Guy Fawkes a hero or a villain?

What can we tell about Samuel Pepys from his portrait? 

How did the fire start?

Why did the fire spread so quickly?

What was the impact of the Fire of London?

We will ask and answer questions about the past using sources

Use role-play to understand about the past

Recognise that their own lives are different from the lives of people in the past

Compare sources of evidence

Use common words and phrases relating to the passing of time

Computing

In computing we will be we designing our own Christmas card.

We will practise our typing skills using a keyboard to write a message. We will learn how we can change the size, shape and font of our text

We will search images using the internet and save them to a folder.

Alter images using the paint programme.

Insert our chosen image into a document, save and edit the document. 

PSHE

In PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) we will be we  looking at how to communicate with others effectively in order to stay safe and understanding that it is okay to tell. 

RE

In RE (Religious Education) we will be we  discussing Muslim beliefs about God. We will re-tell a story about the life of the Prophet Muhammad and recognise some religious significant objects used by Muslims and suggest why they are important.

We will be making  links between what the Quran says and how Muslims behave.

We will be learning the reasons why Christians celebrate Christmas and retelling the Nativity story.

ART

In During our Art lessons we will be looking at the work of the artist Picasso and his use of colour to represent feelings within his art.

We will create portraits in the style of Picasso using water colour paint to portray emotions. 

Our Topic for the First Autumn Term is ...

Toys

We had a very busy and exciting start to our topic - some might say stunning!

Each classroom in KS1 had a different type of game or toy Mrs Peacock and Mrs Bramwell had a selection of board games, Mr Bridge had construction toys, Miss Rose had small world toys, puppets and books and Mrs Walton had games and toys which we could  play with outside.  

Literacy

This half term we will be reading a book of poems written by children called 'The Best Part of Me' and creating our own books thinking about which part of our body we like best and why. A recount of our school trip to Liverpool and finishing the term writing a narrative using the text Kipper's Toybox.

We will focus on using our phonic knowledge to sound out words to write labels and simple captions.

Our focus for this term is:

• To leave spaces between words
• Use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences
• Use a full stop at the end of sentences
• Capital letters for names and pronoun, I
• Write labels, captions and simple sentences

In our phonics sessions we will be revisiting the set 2 sounds and learning set 3 sounds.

Mathematics

This term we are consolidating our number recognition to 20, counting accurately using 1 - 1 correspondence and saying numbers in order to 20 and beyond forwards and backwards. 

We will be working on place value to understand how two digit numbers are made up of groups of 10 and ones using dienes. 

Science

This term we will be investigating materials looking at what toys and everyday items are manufactured from and their properties. Describing what we see and feel using technical vocabulary: bendy, bumpy, dull, feel, hard, made, manufactured, material, natural, rough, shiny, smooth, soft, squashy, stiff, stretchy, transparent, flexible, rigid ... 

We will be conducting an investigation to consider why an object is made from a particular material and what would be the best material to make a waterproof coat.

We will find out who is Charles Mackintosh and what was his famous product, we will be emulating his discovery to create our own waterproof material.  

We will be able to:

• distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made

• identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock

•  describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials

•  compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties.

History

• We are learning about the history of toys and exploring the questions 'What were toys like in the past? How and why have they changed?'
• We will be exploring old toys and comparing them to new ones, as well as having a visitor in to talk about her old toys.
• If any parents or grandparents have their own toys that they would like to share, we would be very grateful!
• We will be visiting the Museum of Liverpool to participate in a toys workshop, tour the museum following a toy trail and visit Little Liverpool a gallery within the museum which is a hands-on fantasy world especially for children under the age of six to play and learn.

ICT

We will use programmable robots to follow and create algorithms and 'debug' our programming. 

Music

We will listen to a piece of music and respond to what we hear and how it makes us feel.  We will learn to sing in harmony developing pitch and timbre. To complete our musical topic we will create our own composition using instruments with control and perform our piece of music to the class. 

Design and Technology

• We will be looking at a range of puppets and talking about what we like and dislike about them. We will establish that some are moving puppets and take a closer look at how they move. From this we will have a go at making a simple moving puppet before designing and making our own slightly more complete moving puppet.  

RE and PSHE

As part of PSHE and RE we will be exploring these questions:

• What are our rules and responsibilities within our school community?
• What are consequences?
• Who is a Christian and what do they believe?
• What do Christians learn about God from bible stories?

PE

In Street dance on a Monday we will be pretending to be toys following choreography to dance in a sequence coordinating our movements as a group.

On Wednesday we will be developing our key movement skills:

• moving in different ways
• developing our spatial awareness