Thomas Willingale School and Nursery
Summer Term
18.7.24
We have had another busy week in Year 1. We were lucky enough to watch the Year 6 production, which was incredible. In Maths, we have been learning to tell the time to the hour and half past the hour. We know that the long hand is the minute hand and the short hand is the hour hand. In English, we learnt about plurals. We know that we have to add s to most nouns but we add es to nouns that end in s, x, z, sh or ch. Last term, Year 1 worked very hard making delicious treats from around the UK to sell to the school. With the money we made, we decided to spend it on a summer party. We listened to music, played in the sand pit and played with water toys. We also played with beach balls, bouncy balls and other games. We cooled down with a delicious ice lolly!
Summer Party!
12.7.24
This week in English we have finished writing our Three Little Pigs story. We use interesting adjectives and exclamation marks! We also re-read our work to check that the story makes sense and edited our story if we needed to. In Maths this week we have been learning about coins and notes. We practically added coins together to work out the total value. We also sequenced the months of the year. In DT we made tasty egg sandwiches! We really enjoyed making and eating them. 
Next week in Maths we will be learning to tell the time to the hour and to the half hour.
DT - Making Egg Sandwiches
5.7.24
This week in English we have been writing the story of The Three Little Pigs. We used good story language and interesting adjectives. Next week we will continue to write our fantastic stories. In Maths we have been learning about money. We learnt the value of each coin and practically sorted them. We also had lots of fun on Aspiration day! We had a visit from a dental nurse and oral health educator. We also got to meet Danger a friendly pup who came along with a doggy daycare service.
Aspiration Day!
28.6.24
This week in English, we have been re-telling the story of The Three Little Pigs using actions. We then created a story map showing the beginning, middle and end. Next week we will use our story maps to write our own versions of the story.
In maths this week, we have been exploring numbers from 50-100 and partitioning numbers into tens and ones. Next week in maths we will be comparing numbers.
This week we also spent the day in our new Year 2 classrooms and met our new teachers. We enjoyed our day, it was lots of fun!
20.6.24
Year 1 went on an exciting trip to Epping Forest. We searched for insects in two different habitats, in long grass and in the forest. In the long grass we used nets to catch the insects and in the forest we looked under logs and used spoons to dig in the soil. The staff taught us lots of interesting facts about what we found. We also identified the different trees by looking at the trunk and the leaves. We even found an Oak tree but sadly didn't see a Spruce tree! We then played a fun game about what plants need to survive and grow. We had a super fun day and were very tired on the way home.
Epping Forest School Trip
14.6.24
This week we retold and sequenced the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We then re-wrote the story in our own words. We used adjectives and we learnt how to spell words ending in the suffix 'ed'.
In Maths we used the terms “full”, “half”, “quarter” and “three-quarter” to describe turns. We also described the direction of movement and used the language, forwards, backwards left and right.
In RE we have been learning about the Hindu creation story. We wrote ‘I wonder’ statements on a lotus flower template based on our own reflections on the Hindu creation story. We then decorated our lotus flower.
Next week in English we are going to explore another traditional tale, The Three Little Pigs. We will be describing the Big Bad Wolf character in the story.
7.6.24
This week in maths we have been revising skills we have learnt this year and we have been solving word problems. We have also been practising our addition, subtraction and we have been solving missing number calculations.
In geography we have been using simple grid references. We wrote grid references for different symbols on a map and we used directional language. In PSHE we have been learning about how relating to other people helps us to get along with them. We learnt that we are all different and when we take the time to learn how we are different, it is easier to get along or relate to others.
Next week, we will be describing quarter turns and half turns in maths. We will also be learning to describe position (left and right).
24.5.24
On Monday, we dressed up as a Shakespearian character. We learnt all about Shakespeare's life and his work and then we created a fact file about him. We watched one of his plays called 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and then made stick puppets of our favourite characters.
In maths we have been learning all about quarters. We found quarters of a shape and quarters of a quantity.
In Science we learnt about deciduous and evergreen trees and we went on a tree hunt around the school grounds. We learnt that deciduous trees lose their leaves in the autumn, whereas evergreen trees keep their leaves all year round.
Have a great half term everyone!
Shakespeare Day
17.5.24
We have had a busy week in year 1! We worked hard making delicious treats from around the UK. On Thursday we sold them at break time and the children really enjoyed them! Thank you to everyone who supported our enterprise!
We have also been researching England. We retrieved information from non-fiction texts and then we wrote our own reports about England. We used a heading, caption and picture. Also, we joined sentences using 'and'.
In maths, we have started our new maths topic about fractions. We recognised and found half of shapes. We drew around 2D shapes and could split our shapes into halves. Then we found half of a quantity. We used counters and concrete resources to help us halve quantities.
In DT we looked at pictures of the Severn Bridge in Wales. We then made a replica of the Severn Bridge by making a structure using paper. We used joining techniques and we combined paper together using glue to strengthen it.
Next week in maths we will be learning about quarters.
Year 1 Enterprise!
10.5.24
This week we have been learning about Northern Ireland. We learnt some interesting facts about places in Northern Ireland, such as Giant’s Causeway and the Carre-a-Rede bridge. In English we wrote our own reports about Northern Ireland including a heading, picture and caption.
In Maths this week we have been learning about equal groups. We have been recognising when groups are equal or unequal and adding groups of 2s, 5s and 10s together.
In our History lesson we learnt about Mr Thomas Willingale. He was a local hero who protected the right for poor people to collect firewood in Epping Forest.
In our P.E. lesson, we started to learn some tennis skills. We balanced beanbags on our rackets and practised throwing and catching the beanbag with the racket. We also practised balancing tennis balls on our hands.
Next week in maths we will be recognising half of an object or shape.
PE Lesson - Tennis skills
3.6.24
This week we have been learning all about Wales. We researched Wales and we wrote our own reports about Wales. We used a heading, picture, caption and we wrote sentences.
In maths we have been recognising equal groups and we have been adding equal groups. We used our knowledge of counting in 2s, 5s and 10s to help us add equal groups.
In geography this week, we named and located the countries and capital cities of the UK on a map. In our reading lessons, we started to read a book called Beegu by Alexis Deacon. It is about a creature from another planet who is lost on planet Earth. We have been reading for fluency and answering inference questions about the story.
In computing this week, we learned more about programming and we programmed the Bee-Bots to travel around the mat.
Next week in maths we will be learning to double numbers.
Computing - Programming lesson
26.4.24
In English this week, we have been learning about the features of non-fiction texts. We read all about Scotland and made a mind map of interesting facts. We also researched Scotland and then we wrote our own reports, including a heading, picture and caption.
In maths we have been counting in multiples of 2s, 5s and 10s. We have been looking at patterns, for example multiples of 5 end in 5 or 0. In our reading lessons we have been reading a non-fiction text about dolphins. We have explored vocabulary in the text and retrieved answers from the text.
Next week in maths, we will be recognising and adding equal groups.
19.4.24
Welcome back to school, we hope you have all had a lovely Easter break!
This half term our new topic is Amazing Places and Spaces in the UK. In English we have been writing our own versions of Traction Man using our toilet roll character villains.
In Maths, we have been learning about volume and capacity. We learnt that capacity means the maximum amount a container can hold. We also learnt that volume means how much a container has in it. We used dried pasta to find out the capacity of different containers. We used the language empty, nearly empty, half full, nearly full and full to talk about the volume.
In Geography, we have been looking at human and physical features in aerial photographs. We then labelled an aerial photograph of our own school and surroundings.
In Computing, we have been exploring a virtual Bee-Bot and programming buttons to make it move in various directions.
Next week in maths, we will be learning to count in multiples of 2, 5 and 10.
Computing lesson
