Blackfell Primary School

Music-In The Groove!

Over the term we will listen, appraise and learn the song In The Groove By Joanna Mangona in a different style. We will also listen and appraise a well known song in that week’s style. This week’s style is Blues. We listened to 'In The Groove’ and quickly found the pulse. We moved our bodies in different ways to demonstrate. We practised the song and found it quite easy to learn. Next we listened to ‘How Blue Can You Get’ by B.B. King. We learned some facts about the song... It was written in 1964 and came from the deep south of the United States, Blues songs are usually quite sad and they were created by African Americans. We discussed questions. Did we like/not like the songs? Which Instruments can you hear? Is the voice male or female? Is the tempo fast or slow and how do the songs make you feel? 

Art - What is printing?

Our Art unit for Spring term is 'Printing Patterns'. We began the unit by learning that printing is a direct copy of something, just like when we create something on the computer and print it out. We then practiced printing using a range of resources such as LEGO bricks, leaves, wheels of a toy car, 2D shapes, and our fingertips! 

History - Who built the first castles in the UK and why?

We are learning about Castles in History this term. We began the lesson by discussing that the first castles in the UK were built by the Normans, and looked at a picture of the Bayeux Tapestry; we discussed what we thought was happening. We then learnt that Edward the Confessor had been king of England from 1042 until he died in January 1066. Edward did not leave an heir, so four different men decided they should be king next. Harold of Wessex was crowned the king of England as soon as Edward died. William, Duke of Normandy, was unhappy about this. He said Edward had promised he could be king and that Harold had sworn an oath to support him. A legendary battle took place in Hastings between Harold and William and their armies. It is called the Battle of Hastings and took place in 1066. William won and became known as William the Conqueror. England fell under Norman rule. To help us remember all of the important events and key dates from this eventful year in British history, we created a timeline. We worked together as a class to order the dates, using the months of the year to help us as they all took place in the same year.

Art - Where are patterns in our environment?

We are learning about printing patterns in Art this term. To help us recognise patterns around us, we went on a pattern hunt in our classroom and outdoor areas. We found lots of patterns and realised, they're everywhere! 

Drama - How to Trap a Troll

Year 1 have been learning about instructions and have been learning a set of instructions called, ‘How to Trap a Troll’. We listened to Miss Henderson read the instructions, rehearsed the story using our picture map, and discussed each part. Once we had practised, we did a drama performance of each to help us recall the instructions, and to sequence each section/point of the instructions.

Computing - What could happen if you share a picture online?

In our Computing lessons, we have been learning about how to stay safe online. This lesson, we completed an activity where we did some ‘pretend’ sharing. We were asked to imagine a ‘pretend’ mobile phone in our hand. Then, Phoebe came out to the front to pretend to be Tia.  ‘Tia’ had to mime taking a simple portrait picture of herself on her phone. Miss Henderson then gave Tia a cut out. ‘Tia’ shared her picture via text/picture message with three friends - 3 more volunteers. ‘Tia’ then gave three more images to hand to her friends, before we held up the images and counted how many copies of the picture there are. One of the volunteers then shared it with four more friends and we counted how many copies of the picture there are. Finally, we discussed what had happened. 

Literacy - 'The Gingerbread Man' drama

Year 1 have been learning the traditional tale, ‘The Gingerbread Man’. We listened to Miss Brooks read the story, rehearsed the story using our story map, and discussed the 3 parts – beginning, middle, and end, and where the key events occur. Once we had practiced the story, we did a drama performance of each scene to help us understand it better, and to sequence the events that occurred.

Valentine's Day

To celebrate Valentine's Day, Year 1 came to school dressed in red. The staff in school were looking throughout the day for children who demonstrated kindness to others and those children received a 'Caught you Being Kind' card and a special Valentine's prize. We also enjoyed a Valentine's themed lunch, and talked in our classes about being a good friend, and showing kindness to others. 

Science - Planting Seeds

This half term in Science, Year 1 are learning about ‘Plants’. For our first lesson, we discussed what a plant is, what it needs to grow, and what each part of a plant does. We then cut out the parts of a plant and created a plant in our book, before labelling each of the parts. To help us further our understanding of how plants grow, we each planted our own cress seeds. We were each given a pot which we filled with soil. We then added some of the cress seeds, and topped up the pot with extra soil. Finally, we watered our plants. We are going to monitor our plants’ growth for the next 6 weeks and keep a diary which explains what we observe as they grow!   

Year 1's Easter Bonnet Parade!

Year 1 have been learning a range of Easter songs over the past few weeks in preparation for their special Easter performance. The class, practised with great enthusiasm each week and were so excited to get onto the stage to perform the songs in front of their families. In addition to learning Easter songs, the children were supported by their families in making ‘Easter Bonnets’. On the day of the performance the children were so excited, enthusiastic and proud to show off their amazing Easter Bonnets. They entered the hall with such confidence, smiling and waving to everyone. They were an absolute credit to themselves, staff and their families. They amazed us all with their beautiful singing, dancing and their very creative ‘Easter Bonnets’. It was also wonderful to see so many families back in school to watch their children on stage, after so long. The children, thoroughly enjoyed spending time with their families after the performance with a well deserved Easter biscuit and juice. We would like to thank everyone for their support and hard work! Well done Year 1! What a great Easter performance!

PSHE - What is a positive learning attitude?

We started the lesson by discussing what a positive learning attitude is: focusing on the good things, being hopeful and looking for ways to help things work out for the best. Having a positive attitude doesn’t mean ignoring things that make us feel sad, worried or frightened. It just means looking for the good in all kinds of situations. We then discussed that there are certain things that some people find easier or more difficult than others and that is fine. We thought about what we each enjoy learning and what we find more difficult. To help us to practice having a positive learning attitude, we then completed a challenge. We were given a challenge card, and using interlocking cubes, had to make the picture that was shown on each of our cards. At the end of the activity, we discussed how we felt at the start of the activity, and how we feel now it is completed and we can see our finished work. Miss Henderson then told us to remember, we all find different things easier or more difficult than each other. By learning from our mistakes, we can always improve. A positive learning attitude helps us tackle challenges in a positive way and means we are more likely to achieve! It helps us to feel happy too. . Our aim is to make Year 1 full of positive learning attitudes. It will help us achieve all of our goals!

Geography - Where in the world is Australia?

Today, we have been exploring Australia and where it is in the world. We began by locating Australia on a world map in our Geography area in the classroom, and also on a globe. We then looked at how far it is from the UK to Australia – it is over 9,000 miles! We also learnt that Australia is the sixth largest country in the world and is also a continent. Miss Brooks then taught us that Australia is split into states and territories and we looked at these on a map, trying to learn some of the names. Once we had done this, we sat in a circle on the carpet and used a giant map of Australia to correctly place labels of state and territory names. We discussed each one as we placed it, and used our knowledge of direction to help us correctly identify places such as Western Australia and the Northern Territory.  

World Book Day

We celebrated 'World Book Day' in school this year by coming in dressed in our pyjamas with our teddy bears and favourite books! In the morning, we teamed up with Year 5 to do some shared reading, where we read a book to a Year 5 pupil and they read a story to us. It was fantastic to mix with some of the older children in school! Later in the day, we completed some activities based around our favourite books. We created a new front cover for our favourite book, and drew a picture to show our favourite part of a book we enjoy. We are going to display these in our class reading area for everyone to see! After lunch, we had cookies and milk while Miss Henderson read us some stories, and then completed a 'guess the fairytale character' quiz which Emily won! It was a fantastic day and a wonderful celebration of our favourite books.  

PE - Ball Skills

In PE this half term, we have been working on our ball control skills. We have been learning how to dribble using both our hands and feet whilst keeping control of the ball, and attempting to hit a target using the correct posture. We have played lots of games to practise these skills and are really developing our accuracy and coordination!