Welcome to the Year 1 Class Page!

Class Teacher: Miss Benson

Support Staff: Mrs Hughes

Email: [email protected]

Hello and welcome to Year 1's class page! Myself and Mrs Hughes are so excited for a year of engaging and fun learning! I am Miss Benson. I was born in Blackpool but have always taught here in Leeds. This is my third year teaching at Armley Park and I love being part of the Armley team. I enjoy shopping, being outdoors and visiting my dog Bear! I am looking forward to meeting my new class this year and learning all about their interests.  

We hope you enjoy looking at our class page. We will update this regularly throughout the year with photographs of what we have been doing and also with key information which you may find useful. If you have any questions, please contact me on the year group email [email protected] and I will do my best to help. 

Our trip to Ponderosa Zoo!
 

Spring 2
Holding the chicks! Reception have been looking after some eggs whilst they hatched into chicks. Now they are little chicks,  we were able to go and visit them and some children even wanted to have a go at holding one! The chicks are getting very cheeky now they are growing bigger. The children loved watching them and discussing which ones were boys and girls. 

Pancake Day!
 

Spring 1
In Writing, we have begun looking at non-chronological reports and decided as a class that we are going to write non-chronological reports about Elephants. The children started by using the laptops to research facts about Elephants, under our key sub-headings 'What do elephants look like?' 'What do elephants eat?' and 'Where do elephants live?' The children worked so well collaboratively and impressed myself and Mrs Hughes with their laptop skills!

Autumn 2

In D.T, we have been evaluating, designing and making our own dips! The children evaluated existing dips, designed their own using a list of ingredients, then finally made their dip using some of the safe cutting techniques that we had learnt! The children enjoyed their dips with crackers during Friday's Golden Time. We will be evaluating our dips next week and discussing how we could have improved our dips as well as what went well. 

This week we began innovating our 'Dear Zoo' story map and making up some new actions! The children are loving using talk for writing and story maps to help with their writing. 

Snow! This week we had some snow in Armley. The children loved playing out in it at playtime. 

In Math's this week, we have been doing lots of number line work. We have been identifying numbers and their position on the number line, looking at 'greater' and 'less' as well as finding one more and one less than a given number. The children were fantastic with the number lines!

For bonfire night, we made chocolate apples! The children were so excited. They enjoyed melting the chocolate, covering their apples and adding sprinkles on at the end. The children enjoyed chatting about fireworks and what they like to do on bonfire night with their families. 
 

Autumn 1 -
This week the children completed some 'pumpkin maths' in the provision. They used pumpkin seeds and the inequality symbols to compare the amounts! The children loved this activity and it began making them excited for halloween. 
 

This week was also 'Wonder of the World' week across Owlcotes. Year 1 have spent the week looking at and finding out information about 'Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The children compared waterfalls in the UK and Zimbabwe, created maps of Victoria Falls as well as producing 'Sponge Art' based on the different types of water that a waterfall has (still water, flowing water, white water). The children were excited to learn about Victoria Falls and were amazed at how big it is. 

This week we have been working hard in the provision on practising our number formation! We used the peg boards in the busy fingers area, as well as online apps and games! The children enjoyed practising their formation in different ways. 

This week we have also looked closely at the changes in the trees and the leaves outside. We have discussed the colours of the leaves and how they have begun falling off now that we are in Autumn. The children had a go at drawing their own Autumn trees in the provision. 

In Geography this week, we have been identifying the United Kingdom on a world map. The children are now really good at identifying the 4 countries of the United Kingdom, especially with the help of the United Kingdom song! The children are enjoying map work and impressed me with their ability to spot the United Kingdom on the map. 

In Art, we have been looking at Claude Monet and his Cityscapes of The Houses of Parliament! We spoke about the warm and cool colours that he chose, as well as how he mixed his colours and shades to create the sky. The children were encouraged to draw the outline of their building before using pastels to create their sky. Myself and Mrs Hughes were impressed by their determination! 

Our Maths focus this week was counting forwards and backwards to 10! We listened to Jack Hartmann songs on Youtube to practise counting and had a go at ordering the numbers, using practical resources such as numicon for support! 

In Writing, we have been focussing on our text 'Katie in London' and have been using Talk for Writing to create actions alongside our story map! The children are learning the story and actions so well and have enjoyed thinking of some of the actions themselves. 
 

This week, we were lucky enough to have Leeds City Council with us to do some scooter training! We learnt about how to stay safe when riding a scooter and what we need to wear to protect us. The children had lots of fun. 

We have had another busy week in year 1! 
In Maths, we have been sorting objects into groups. The children impressed me with their independence and ability to recognise the different ways of putting the objects into groups. 


In Phonics, we have learnt/recapped the following sounds! The children have enjoyed using the sounds in CVC words and sentences. We also looked at 'Phonics Play' online and practised sorting the words into real and nonsense words! The children loved independently accessing this in the provision. 

Here are some pictures of our children accessing the provision really nicely! I have been proud of how well the children have worked on using their indoor voices this week, sharing with their friends and independently having a go at challenges. 

Year 1 have had a fun week getting used to their new environment. They have enjoyed exploring the new areas and resources, We have learnt phonics, practiced reading, writing and making numbers to 10. We have focused on the new routines that come with being in year 1 and the children have loved playing in the big playground at playtimes! I am proud of how well the children have settled in.