YEAR 1 BATS CLASS PAGE

Welcome back to a new school year. Here you will find all of the class documents that you may need as well as any useful information, and updates and photos to show you all what we have been up to in our learning.

Please feel free to contact me via the class email address bats@watlington.oxon.sch.uk, or catch me at pick up time if you ever have any queries.

For your information PE days will be Monday and Friday this term, so please send children into school already in their full PE kits please.

Useful Web Links for Home Learning

Term 5

Weeks 1 and 2

The first few weeks back after Easter have flown by. We have started our new topic of Under the Sea with Mrs Sterjo and our Science topic Animals including Humans with Mrs Eltham. We have loved learning about birds and mammals this week and enjoyed designing our own animal too.

Our new English model text is 'The Fish who could Wish', so we have been busy learning this with actions, chants, pictures and answering questions about the text. The children have been doing a lot of short-burst descriptive writing using adjectives, and this is really showing in the variety of vocabulary that they now include in their writing.

In Maths we looked at measurement using cm, and this week we have been introduced to the terms capacity and volume. This has involved a lot of water play to investigate both of these concepts in a practical way!

We have had some time with our buddies today playing rounders, which the children all got involved in.

Weeks 5 and 6

We had a great end to the school term. During STEM week we set up our big experiment of growing cress and recording the daily changes in its growth. We learnt how to keep a test fair, record and display results and most importantly, how to care for plants so that they grow! As groups we created big science posters where we wrote up our experiment. 

In DT we designed, made and evaluated our own salads; after we had learnt where we get our fruit and vegetables from; which linked nicely with our Science topic of Plants. I hope the children enjoyed eating their yummy salads, they did look really good. 

In PE we finished our time with WR Sports, doing some fun games to practice invasion skills and ball skills. 

In Maths we finished our unit on addition and subtraction up to 20 and in English the children wrote some wonderful fact files about cheetahs, football or plants. They have learnt so much about writing a non-fiction text, and we all learnt some new and amazing facts that they researched themselves.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter break with friends and family and I look forward to seeing you all in Term 5.

Week 4

This week in maths we started our unit of numbers up to 50, practicing partitioning the tens and ones in part whole models. In English we have been writing a class fact file about sharks, and have just started some research for our own fact files we will be writing next week. Ask your children whether they are going to write about cheetahs, football or plants; and any research they can do at home this weekend will really help them write some great fact files next week. 

In PSHE we learnt about road safety and practiced crossing the road on our own drawn zebra crossing on the playground!

In music this week we played the glockenspiels and Mrs Sterjo even popped into class to hear us play! 

In Science we labelled the parts of a plant and learnt the functions of the main parts.

In Art we created some under the sea pictures ready for our new display for our new topic after the Easter holidays. Our display looks amazing and is there for all to see along the main corridor of the school.

Week 3

What a busy week! The highlight has been World Book Day for everyone. The children's costumes were just amazing and they were so keen to tell me about the character that they had dressed up as.

We spent the morning making story cubes, which the children then used to write their own imaginative stories. The children went on a book hunt in the library and then designed a book voucher.

The children excelled themselves today when performing their 'Pirate Pete' poem in assembly. Thank you for taking the time to practice the words with them. 

This week we finished our Maths unit on addition and subtraction up to 20 and continued to delve into our pirate fact file model text; along with learning about exclamations and some different sentence starters. The children's writing is really developing and they are becoming wonderful little authors.

Have a restful weekend.

Weeks 1 and 2

Welcome back to the new half term. The first 2 weeks have flown by.

We are continuing with our Pirates topic this term and will be looking at a non-chronological report (fact file) about pirates and then some pirate poetry. Please see attached the words and story map for our NCR and the words for our 'Pirate Pete' poem that we are going to learn by heart for World Book Day.

In Science we have started looking at plants, and have already been on two plant hunts around our school grounds. This week we have learnt the difference between wild and garden plants.

In Maths we have been looking at subtraction within 20; with today's lesson being about fact families/facts around addition and subtraction.

In PE we are lucky enough to still have WR Sports running one of our sessions about invasion skills, whilst our other PE session is about fitness and circuits. 

Today we had 'Outdoor Leaning Day' where we went to forest school with our Year 6 buddies, did a scavenger hunt and did circuits in PE outside. Sorry about the mud, but we had a lot of fun!

Term 3

We have had such a busy pirate-themed term which ended in a great way today with our trip to 'Science Oxford', where we got to experience hands-on science explorations and watch amazing experiments. We have also thought a lot about Children's mental health week, and taken part in a fun photo-booth on 'dress to impress day' as well as making gratitude jars, worry dolls and doing some art therapy to help us relax. 

This term we have learnt and written stores about 'The Night Pirates', learnt how to create and read maps in Geography and done some great practical 'pirate-themed' science experiments.

In Art we have learnt shading techniques and used these to draw pirates, and in PE we have started to learn some gymnastics moves as well as doing some ball skills with WR Sports. 

In Maths we are now secure in our place value to 20 and in Computing we have started to look at robots, specifically 'Bee Bots'.

Some of the best moments are summed up in our photos. Have a great rest over half term and we look forward to seeing you for Term 4.

Week 1

We have had a great first week back, showing lots of excitement as we introduce our new topic Pirates. We were very brave this week taking on a hunt for the treasure that a group of evil pirates had stolen from us. We braved high mountain ranges, deep seas and followed the clues successfully to find the hidden treasure. 

In Science this week we created our own pirate treasure by experimenting what liquid would clean our pirates coins the best. We discovered that vinegar and salt made the coins super gleaming, as the acid dissolved the 'dirty' copper oxide that had built up on the coins. 

We have already done lots of writing this week; a recount of our Christmas holidays, an independent story based on a picture of ants stealing some toys ... and a story about our journey to rescue our pirate treasure. 

In Computing on Friday we began our look at robots, and were introduced to BeeBots. We had great fun programming them to create different routes around the carpet.

In Maths we have started looking at teen numbers; we still need a little practice on our numbers 11-20, so ask the children to recite them, write them and represent them at home, as they are keen to practice.

This term our PE days will change to Tuesday and Friday, as we are lucky enough to have WR Sports running our Tuesday PE lessons, being taught balls skills. On Friday we will be learning gymnastics.

Weeks 7 and 8

It has been a hive of Christmas activity in the past two weeks of term. We have had our Christmas dinner with a visit from Santa himself, we had our disco, a fly over from Santa in his helicopter and our special Christmas performance at the church singing Rockin' Robin. Thank you to everyone that attended.

In class the children have written some excellent stories about losing a toy, we have mastered subtraction and 2D and 3D shapes, and in Topic we learnt about Victorian toys.

This week we have made some Christmas gonks for our DT project, with the help of our buddies, as well as making some gingerbread cookies.

Today we ended the term with a Christmas film and some free time to play.

Myself and the Bats team would like to say a huge thank you for all of your lovely Christmas presents, cards and kind messages, and for all of the support you give us from home. Thank you. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope you all enjoy your time with friends and family.

Science with Mrs Sterjo

Our science topic this term has been Materials.  We have explored a range of materials, have learnt about the difference between objects and materials, and have extended our vocabulary through describing properties.

We were given the challenge of ‘how to move a puddle’ where we made predictions, tested materials based on their properties and summarised our findings. 

At home, ask us about materials!

These questions might be helpful,

• Find an object.  What material is it made of?
• Pick a material.  Can you describe the properties?
• What does absorbent mean?  What materials are absorbent?
• What does transparent mean?  Can you find something in your house that is transparent?
• Pick some of your toys.  Can you sort them based on their material?
• What else can you explain about materials?

Week 6

We have been getting in the Christmas spirit this week with practicing our Rockin' Robin song for our church service next week. Thank you so much for helping the children to learn their song at home, they are doing great at remembering the words to such a fast song!

On Wednesday we had an amazing trip to the theatre in Oxford to see Jack and the Beanstalk. It was an exceptional play and the children all really enjoyed themselves, and were impeccably behaved.

In English we have been doing some great writing using adjectives in preparation for writing our own story next week. In Maths we have been finishing up our unit on subtraction.

Weeks 4 and 5

It has been a busy few weeks in Bats class and Christmas has finally arrived!

We have already made some Swedish themed baubals to be displayed at the Christmas Tree Festival in the church and we have begun to practice our Christmas song 'Rockin' Robin'. The words for this are on the class page, so it would be great if you have time to practice this with your child at home.

We have a class Advent tree, where we all wrote our Christmas wishes behind a baubal. Each day we uncover a wish and share it with the class. It is a lovely way to think about the true meaning of Christmas.

We made some advent wreaths with our Year 6 buddies, we loved spending some time with them.

In English we are now looking at the story of Dogger; our model text is on the website and the children are doing really well at learning the actions to help remember the story.

We continue with our Toys Topic, and have been comparing old and new toys and the differences in how they look, how they are made and what they are made from.

In Maths we are looking at subtraction and fact families; this is a difficult concept to grasp, but the children are doing extremely well at it.

Week 3

We had another great week in Bats. Highlights included our weekly cricket session on Monday, science with Mrs Sterjo and football skills with our Year 5/6 PE captains to help us. 

We have been mastering our addition skills this week in Maths so we can be quick and fluent with our number bonds to 10. In English we planned our alliteration toy poems to write next week and in our Reading lessons we continued to delve into the book 'That Rabbit belongs to Emily Brown'.

I have been so impressed with the level and quality of the children's home learning and their dedication to reading at home, so a big thank you to all of you at home for supporting this.

Week 2

In Maths this week we have been learning our number bonds to 10. Ask us if we can remember them!

In English the children have had a go and writing some entertaining alliteration sentences.

This week we have remembered the soldiers who fought for our country by learning about what Remembrance Day is and why we wear poppies. The children wrote some facts they learnt as well as an acrostic poem, and doing some amazing art work with pastels.*

Week 1

The children have settled right back into Bats after a week off. They have amazed me with the phonics sounds that they can remember and how this is reflecting in their reading; thank you for all the work you do with your children at home. Regular reading really does help.

We have begun to learn our new text for the term, which is a alliteration poem about 'My Favourite Toy'. The children will be creating a poem of their own in the first few weeks of term about their favourite toy, so if you are able to discuss this with your child at home and come up with some describing words that all begin with the same letter, this will really help their creativity and imagination.

In PE on Friday we were introduced to the new Sports leaders in year 5/6, who will be helping us with our football skills this term. We had a great time practicing our dribbling technique and then played a mini game of football at the end. 

Our Monday session of PE this term will be cricket, with the 'Chance to Shine' team running the session for us. 

Our Topic this term is Toys; so if you have any old toys perhaps from your childhood that you don't mind sending in for your child to show the class in their 'Show and Tell' slot, that would be amazing, We would love to collect photos of these toys and add them to our display of toys from the past and present. 

Week 7

It has been such a great last week of term in Bats class. We created portraits of the famous Kings and Queens we have been learning about this term, which are now proudly displayed on the board outside of our classroom. On Wednesday we watched an amazing and funny performance of Cinderella, and then we wrote a recount of the story back in class. In Topic we did a quiz about what we had learnt this term and Mrs Eltham was so impressed with how much we have remembered. 

On Thursday and Friday we planned and made our very own royal hand puppets. Most of us had never sewed before but wow we all managed to create an amazing puppet that we are very proud of.

I hope you all have a restful and fun half term and I look forward to seeing you after half term for our new Toys topic. 

Week 6

What a great week in Bats we have had. This week we wrote our own stories based around 'The Queen's Hat'. The children certainly have good imaginations about what they lost and where they chased it around! We went to America, Italy and France!

In Maths we have been ordering objects and numbers from smallest to greatest and greatest to smallest. Can you test us at home?

In Topic we compared Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, we have learnt so many facts about both these queens now. Ask us?

Thank you to all the parents and carers that came in to visit our classroom on Thursday. The Bats really enjoyed showing you their work.

On Friday we had a very exciting assembly from the charity My Vision Oxfordshire as we got to meet two amazing guide dogs as well as some workers from the charity. We learnt what our donations were helping with and how important it is to look after our eyes.

Parents evening slips have been put in book bags this week; we look forward to welcoming you on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Week 5

We have had another busy week in Bats class. We met our buddies on Monday and did some reading to them; look out for their entries in our reading diaries. In PE we learnt some 'Hula Dancing' using hula hoops and our arms to create patterns.

On Tuesday we had an iPad session with the Year 2 class; and played some Maths games, Our teachers were so impressed with how we worked together so positively. We also learnt the parts of a computer and the differences between a laptop and a desktop computer.

In Science with Mrs Sterjo we made rain catchers and wind catchers; have a look out for them when you come into the playground for school pick up. We are very proud of them!

We have loved outdoor learning day today. We made nature mobiles (look out for them hanging under out canopy) and nature 3D shapes this morning, as well as creating some wonderful numbers and words with natural objects. After break we went to forest school with our Year 6 buddies, as well as carrying out a scavenger hunt with them around the school grounds. After lunch we had our PE session on the outdoor gym and then went on a leaf hunt. We collected some beautiful leaves and then did some leaf printing with autumn colours. We were so lucky to have such a beautifully sunny day outside.

Week 4

This week we celebrated European Languages Day  by learning about the country of Ukraine from our TA Miss Lukovska. We even learnt how to say 'my name is ...' , 'thank you' and 'hello'. Ask us if we can greet you in Ukrainian. We showcased our new  language skills in our sharing assembly on Friday.

This week we have created a new story as class based on our Queens Hat model text. Ask us about 'Fireman Bob's trousers'!. 

In Topic we learnt about King Richard III and had a debate about whether we believed the mean stories about him or not.

On Friday we had a visit from a police lady called Sue who showed us the story of PC Ben and talked about how the police can help us. Bats class had lots of questions that Sue answered for us.

Week 3

The children are really finding their feet in Bats class now and becoming confident with their new routines. I am still making sure the children have lots of free 'play' time but Year 1 is a more structured way of working than Reception was.

I thought I would share a few important messages about Year 1:

1. Our library visit day is now going to be either on a Thursday or a Friday afternoon, so please make sure your children have their library books in their book bags on both of these days please.

2. We will do a show and tell session most Friday afternoons. I will run a rota so that all children get a chance to bring something in from home and show it to the class. Please ensure the 'show' is something related to our topic for the term. 

3. I wanted to clarify the choice of reading books that are being sent home in book bags. Your child will have two books each week; one being a specific phonics book that is linked to the sounds we are recapping/learning that week in our phonics sounds, and the other one will be more closely linked to their reading ability/level for them to read more independently. The phonics book is designed to be shared and we ask that you help your child to spot the sounds in the text that they have been learning that week (these will be listed on a slip in your child's yellow reading diary). Sometimes we will point you towards the online version of the book that can be found in your child's account on the Oxford Owl website. Please do ask if you need clarification of your child's login for this; it will be the same one from Hedgehogs though. 

A few highlights from this week include meeting our Year 6 buddies on Friday, learning about timelines in History, dance in PE, continuing with our Reading book 'Prince Cinders', as well as painting the seasons in Science.

Week 2

Bats class have continued to settle in extremely well into their new classroom this week and I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know all of the children. The children have been learning actions for our story of the term, 'The Queens Hat' and have learnt the story so quickly.

In PE this term we are leaning to develop our ball skills; and this week we learnt how to control the rolling of a ball. On Friday we held our PE session on the sunshine gym on the school paddock, so the children could all learn to use this equipment safely and responsibly.

In Maths we have been learning to count on from a given number and how to represent a number in different forms. We started our reading lesson book this week, 'Prince Cinders', which the children find so funny. We talked about what we think might happen in the story (prediction) and then started to look at the language used in the story more carefully. 

In Topic we held a mini coronation and crowned a king and queen to rule our class. We had to think about the role of a monarch and write a job description for them. By the end of the lesson we had changed our mind about being a member of royalty as it seemed like a lot of very hard work!

Week 1

The children have settled really well into Bats class and they have proved to me already that they are ready to be super Year 1's. 

The children have loved exploring their new outdoor space; the paddock on sunny days, and the playground and climbing frame at break times. We spent a lovely afternoon in forest school too, where we were able to stay lovely and cool.

This first week saw the children visit the KS1 library, go on a treasure hunt for Queen Heycock's lost possessions, do yoga in the hall, introduce our topic of Kings and Queens, as well as writing their first story of Year 1. In Maths the children have been exploring the resources as well as sorting objects into groups, and drawing their self portrait in Art. The children have shared their wishes for Year 1 and sprinkled them into our class wishing jar, and they have helped me to create our class rules that they feel will make our class a happy place to be. They have been busy!