Welcome to Year 1 

Class Teacher: Miss Argent

Teaching Assistants: Mrs Wilson and Mrs Sowden

A warm welcome to Year 1 children and their grownups. I am beyond thrilled to be the Year 1 teacher this year. I really enjoyed getting to know many of you on our transition afternoon, and I cannot wait to see all your smiling faces eager to learn. I hope this new year is full of exciting stories, cool new facts, and so much fun! 

Welcome to the Year 1 class page!

Dear Lord,

Teach us how to love each other and help us to learn about one another and open our hearts and our minds. 

Kindness is about learning to love. 

Eternal God, Bless our school community that it will be a place of learning, discovery, and joy.

Amen. 

Year 1 thoroughly enjoyed performing their Seasons Class Assembly to the whole school and their grownups.

Using a paper plate, children recreate their own designs of Clarice Cliffs ‘Circle Tree’ plate, using bright colours to paint circles and finishing by using black paint and a straw to blow a tree design.

Year 1 had a wonderful time celebrating VE Day. The children created beautiful artwork using chalk pastels. They also learnt the song ‘You are my sunshine’ with sign language from 1940 to perform in assembly. To finish, the children had a special celebration of the word to say thank you and a two-minute silence.

Children put their understanding of colour mixing into practice to recreate their own versions of the artwork '0-9' by artists Jasper Johns.

The children explored what makes a situation a 999 emergency through watching animated videos, role playing and group discussions. The children learnt the 999 song.

Year 1 loved the opportunity to show off their science learning to their grown ups. They took part in a range of activities and even explored the 'poo' experiment. Well done Year 1!

Look at all our amazing story characters!

Year 1 loved getting the opportunity to learn about and play the percussion instruments. They developed their understanding of rhythm and how to play different rhythms on the instruments. 

The children reflected on our school virtue of ‘Simplicity’. Olivia confidently shared today’s word. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19). The children discussed what God has provided us and wrote these ideas down.

In our Celebration of the Word, Year 1 discussed the virtue ‘Faith’. We read the description and thought about how we can show faith in our day-to-day lives.

The year 1 and 2 children loved having the Riot Act in to deliver a road safety play. They listened and learnt all about how to be safe near roads and sang the ‘Stop, Look and Listen’ song.

Year 1 had a visit from the school nurse. They discussed the importance of safe touch and what to do if they feel worried.

Year 1 loved learning this history unit. They learnt about how to identify toys from the past and modern toys. They also used their science knowledge of materials to reason their decisions.

Year 1 enjoyed their yummy Christmas lunch.

Year 1 are so proud of how beautiful their Christmas cards turned out. They independently used weaving to create a repeating pattern.

Year 1 enjoyed learning the unit of Prophecy and Promise. They learnt about the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Jesus and the Visit of the Shepherds. They reflected how Catholics around the world show honour to Mary, including diverse representations in art, sculpture, and music and how Christians in their local community celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Year 1 loved their last PE session of Autumn term. They played games and used skills they have learnt already this year.

First, we researched different crafts that we could make for the Winter Fair and voted as a class which ones to choose. We decided to make pinecone gonks and angels. We discussed what we needed to buy and wrote a list as a class. All the children wrote a letter to Mrs Barron to ask her to order the resources. We then looked at the coins that would be used to buy our crafts. We had fun using the stamps and identifying the value of each coin. After, we carefully made our beautiful Winter Fair crafts. Finally, we created posters to advertise for our stall. We used our phonics to spell descriptive words to describe our crafts.

The children gathered in a circle and used water to make the sign of the cross on their foreheads.

We read and discussed the word…

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope".

Romans 15:13

The children passed the Bible around the circle and spoke about one of their hopes. We discussed how we can make those hopes come true.

Year 1 held a beautiful and respectful Celebration of the Word to mark Remembrance Day 2024. They listened and reflected carefully and shared a special prayer at the end.

Year 1 explored using counts and used these counts to make a simple routine.

Year 1 really enjoyed listening to the importance of stories in maths. They loved hearing one of the stories and were shocked to see someone from our school ask a question on the live.

The children were excited to welcome Thomas Gibbs, a teacher from Dentaid, the dental charity.  The charity works to improve oral health and delivers the BrightBites oral health education programme. The children learnt about the names and functions of teeth, healthy eating, good tooth brushing techniques and the importance of regularly seeing a dentist. They even were given a toothbrush and tooth paste to take home.

Year 1 used their skills and knowledge from in this art unit to create a beautiful local landmark piece of art.

Year 1 enjoyed exploring this year’s Black History topic. They looked at three different entrepreneurs and their inventions. They also created their own inventions.

Reminders

• School starts at 9:00am, with the school gates opening at 8:35am (allowing extra time for all the children to make their way onto the school playground).
• Please ensure the office staff have your up to date contact details.
• Please ring the office if your child will be absent. 
• Breakfast club starts at 8:00am and the gates will be closed at 8:15am.

If you have any questions or concerns, please see Miss Argent, who is more than happy to answer any queries regarding your child's progress or general well-being. Feel free to approach me after school or contact the office to arrange a meeting.

Reading books

Reading is at the heart of all our learning at Holy Family. To support this at home, please could all children ensure that they read their school reading book every night and that their reading record is signed by an adult. Children need a reading book in school each day. Books are closely matched to their reading ability and will be changed as they improve and can answer comprehension questions about the text.

Homework

All children will be given weekly English and/or maths homework along with weekly spellings to be tested each Friday. All written homework must be presented to the highest standard. Homework is to be completed and returned to school on Wednesdays.

PE 

PE days are Wednesdays and Fridays - please make sure you bring the correct kit (white top, dark shorts and indoor shoes in the Winter term). Please make sure any earrings can be removed or are not worn on PE days. I recommend that children bring their P.E kits to school on Monday, leave it at school and take it home on a Friday to be washed.

Uniform

We pride ourselves on the appearance of our children. Please help us to maintain this by ensuring all children attend in the correct uniform, including school shoes. 

Year 1 joined over 384,000 children from all of the UK for a Picture News assembly about Black History Month. The children learnt about Françoise Shire's life. She is a radio and TV presenter who grew up in East London.

The children used their direction knowledge and vocabulary to navigate the BeeBot or a 'human robot' to find the shape treasure. The children also created an algorithm and predicted where the floor toy will finish.

The children published their autumnal feast menus on a special writing frame.

The year 1s love being in the reading room for book club and sharing stories together.

Year 1 listened to the author event and enjoyed hearing about how the author became an author and an extract from her book.

Year 1 explored the meaning of the Rosary Beads and practised the Hail Mary using sign language.

Year 1 loved dressing up for TT Rockstar day! They also had fun dancing to rock and maths songs.

The children used both addition and subtraction to complete this missing number challenge. They needed to work out which number was missing to make the line add up to 10. 

The children completed a feely bag challenge and used adjectives to describe what they could feel in the bag. They then guessed who the character might be. After, they listened to the new story 'The Squirrels Who Squabbled' and used post-it notes to write down their adjectives for the pinecones.

The children went outside to explore the local area using their senses. 

In year 1, they discussed the idea of love. They looked at the words ‘My command is this. Love each other as I have loved you.’ – John 15 12-13. The children thought of lots of ways to share love like God. The children all shared one and put a precious gem on our cloth. We also practised the ‘Our Father’ prayer.

The children explored different formations in which their ten boats could sail and identifying the part-whole relationships within ten.

The children reflected on how stories can help us to learn or understand things. They completed the ‘Speak Like an Expert’ activity by telling their group everything they can remember about the Creation story, getting a point for each word off the chart that they use.

The children then learnt the ‘Creation Rhyme’ and made actions to remember it.

God made the seas, the land and sky

The plants, flowers and trees so high

He made all creatures big and small

Give thanks to God, he made us all

The children looked at what an algorithm is and devised simple algorithms for their friends to follow.

Year 1 joined a nationwide assembly discussing the riots over the summer holidays. They looked at the question 'How can communities help each other in times of difficulty?' and looked at who is part of our community.

The children learnt about different dance styles like the animals in the story. Animals like the waltzing warthogs, rock ‘n’ rolling rhinos, tangoing lions and chimps that cha-cha.