Author: Mr McGriffiths

This half term in PE we having been playing a game called ‘Castles and cannonballs’. The children have to build a castle out of cones and then there job is to knock it down by throwing a ball at it. This is practising their fundamental movement skills that they will need when they start to play more team games as they go through school. The children need to accurate with their throws.

This week we introduced a guard to protect the castle. This made the game much harder and we had to move in order to get past the guard. We will continue to develop this game over the half term with more variations.

Help at home by practising throwing, catching, kicking and hitting balls in order to develop these key skills.

In year 1, we have started out History topic and we are learning all about The Great Fire of London. We will be using a book, Vlad and the Great Fire of London, to stimulate our learning. (This is a YouTube link. Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.)

We have started by talking about the topic vocabulary, which you can see below. We have also talked about how people know what has happened in the past even though no-one alive can remember it. We discussed using paintings, maps, books or diaries and artefacts from the time that have been found.

Help at home by exploring the information on the BBC bitesize website.

At the start of the new school year, in our Living and Learning lesson, the children have been reminded about rules and the importance of rules in our daily life. This also links to the British Value of rule of law.

Before focussing on our school rules, we started by thinking about…

Why do we have rules?

What rules can you think of?

What places have rules?

Who makes the rules?

Rules keep us safe.

Rules stop people doing bad things.

It is a rule to not go too fast in a car.

The police help people follow the rules.

In our school we have three school rules.

Three, two, one, stop is one of the most important instructions the children will hear at school.

Following our school rules will make our school a happy, healthy and SAFE place to learn.

Next week, we will be thinking about our rules about online safety at school. Your child will bring home their Being online – acceptable use agreement for pupils and parents/carers which should be read through, signed and returned to class.

Any questions, please do ask.

Help at home – think about our three school rules and talk with your child about what that might look like or sound like in the classroom, the playground or at lunchtime. Here are some examples the children thought of. Being ready would mean looking at the speaker, being respectful would mean laughing with not laughing at someone and being safe would mean washing our hands before lunch to stop spreading germs.

The children have settled in brilliantly into Year 1 and I am very impressed with how eager and engaged they have been.

I wanted to share some important information about Year  1.

PE days are Monday and Thursday. Children should come dressed in PE kit for these days.

Reading records will be handed out on Thursday and will need to brought in every Thursday.

Collins E-books have updated their interface and app this year so all your children will receive a new log in in their reading record. You will also have to download a new app  (search for ‘Collins Hub) or log in to the new Collins hub website (here).

Our library day this year is on Friday. If you have any library books at home can you please bring them in on Friday.

Any other questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

 

We have finished Year One with a very busy week!

On Monday, we wrote some instructions about how to make a hand puppet in our new Year 2 books! I was very impressed with the progress every child has made with their writing this year and I know Mrs Taylor and Mrs Lake will be too!

On Tuesday, we made a wrap by choosing all the fillings ourselves. We worked really hard and the delicious wrap was the reward!

 

On Wednesday, it was sports day! Everyone tried so hard and I was really impressed with the whole class’s attitude and effort.

On Thursday, we had a last chance to explore the shared area. Lots of the children have been inspired by the Rabbit and Bear books we have read and started making their own!

The final thing to say is that it has been an absolute pleasure to teach your children this year and you should be very proud of everything they’ve achieved. I know they will all continue to do an amazing job in Year 2!

Both Mrs Roth and I would also like to thank you hugely for the extremely generous gifts and kind words. We are very grateful.

Have a brilliant summer!

This week we have been learning all about how to stay safe in lots of different places.

Monday

On Monday we had an assembly about road safety. The children listened excellently and learnt all about how and where to cross the road safely. THINK, STOP, LOOK and LISTEN!

Later in the day we had a talk from a member of the Canals and Rivers trust about how to stay safe near water. We also had a visit from D:Side Dave which the children always enjoy!

Tuesday

We had an assembly about online safety delivered by Louise from West Yorkshire Police. We followed this up in class by discussing our digital footprint and how we use the internet at home and at school.

We also followed up yesterday’s assembly on road safety by talking about how to stay safe on bikes and scooters.

Wednesday

Today, a member of the RNLI came to visit and we learnt all about their amazing work. We also found out about how to stay safe in the water and what to do if we, or somebody else, gets in difficulty. We now all know the importance of floating like a starfish!

In class, we talked about how to stay safe at home and the different hazards there may be. The children were very knowledgeable and sensible during these discussions.

Thursday

On Thursday morning we had a visit from the Dog’s Trust. We spoke about the 5 Golden Rules to stay safe around dogs.

We also spoke about how to keep safe in the sun. The children designed some great posters to help people remember what to do.

In the afternoon, we had a visit from British Military Martial Arts. The children loved getting active and testing out their martial arts skills!

Friday

This morning we had visitors from Catering Leeds who taught all about how to stay healthy and hygienic. We talked about where you might find germs and practised our hand washing technique.

Our final visitor of the week helped us with some first aid! We learnt what to we needed to do if we found someone who wasn’t moving. We practised shouting for help, listening for breathing and doing chest compressions. We all did a fantastic job!

Help at home by discussing with your child all that they have learnt this week and how they can keep themselves safe.