Blackfell Primary School

Our First Week in Year 1

We’ve had a fantastic start to the year in Year 1 and have settled into our new classroom really well. During our first week, we spent time getting to know Mrs McMeiken and Miss Brooks, and taught them lots of things about us! We drew self-portraits, discussed our families, shared our likes and dislikes, and even had time to complete some phonics and maths activities. We are looking forward to a brilliant year ahead!

Science - Material Hunt!

Our first Science topic in Year 1 is ‘Everyday Materials’. In our first lesson, we explored lots of different materials including: wood, plastics, glass, metal, water, and rock. To help us identify which materials are around us in the classroom, we went on a material hunt. When we found an object, we discussed the material we thought it was made from and why we thought it was this material by discussing its properties. We then stuck a label on the object to identify what it was made from. 

Handwashing

Year 1 and 2 had a visit from the school nurses who came to talk to us about the importance of handwashing. They explained all about why we must wash our hands, and showed us pictures and models of germs and viruses, such as flu, that can live on our hands. We also discussed where on our hands germs can live - everywhere! They asked us when we should wash our hands and we came up with lots of excellent suggestions. These included: after using the toilet, when we cough or sneeze, after we touch animals, and before we eat. They then showed us how to correctly wash our hands following some simple steps. We also learnt it is important we do this for at least 20 seconds! 

Music - The Fresh Prince!

We listened and appraised the song The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air by Will Smith. We listened to the song and moved our bodies to the pulse. We learned that the song was an old school hip hop style. We discussed the on screen questions. Did we like the song? What could we hear? What style of music was it? We were able to explain why we liked or did not like the song. We also discussed how many voices we could hear and decided if  they were male or female. We decided which instruments we could hear and learned about the use of synthesizers and decks that would be used to mix

different songs together. Finally we listened to both songs again and discussed what was the same or different in ‘Hey You’ and ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’. Read some of the comments about the similarities and differences that the children noticed in the songs.

RSHE - Gender Stereotypes

Our first RSHE lesson began by discussing important rules for our lessons. These include: to listen respectfully; join in and help others to join in, there are no wrong answers; the right to pass; it’s ok to disagree; it’s ok to change your mind; be careful with what you share; and you might want to share private and personal information with a trusted adult only. Next, we met Yasmine and Tom, who will be with us during our RSHE lessons to help us talk about things like our bodies, our relationships and feelings, and how to stay safe online. We then went on to discuss things we think some boys like and do, and things we think some girls like and do. After that, we discussed Yasmine and Tom and the similarities/differences between them; you can see our answers below. We used this information to help us sort children’s toys into those we thought were for girls and those for boys; we discussed how all toys can be for anyone. Finally, Mrs McMeiken asked us, ‘Is there anything you cannot do together because one person is a boy and person is a girl?’ we all agreed the answer was NO! We can all do anything!

Art - Mixing Colours

In Art this term, Year 1 are learning all about primary and secondary colours. This lesson, we used the primary colours - red, blue and yellow - to create the secondary colours - green, orange and purple. We mixed two primary colours together, e.g. red and blue, to create a brand new colour. 

Anti-Bullying Week 2022 - Reach Out

We completed lots of activities during Anti-Bullying Week. We all coloured in our own pair of odd socks, and coloured pictures displaying important messages such as, ‘Be Kind’. We spent some time discussing what bullying is, and how we can spot bullying taking place around us. We also discussed the theme of this year’s anti-bullying week, ‘Reach Out’, and how we can reach out to those around us who might be struggling with bullying. We completed a circle time activity where we looked at images of different forms of bullying and identified what was taking place and why it was bullying. We also discussed the significance of these things happening repeatedly, and not just as a one-off incident. Then, we thought about different adults who could help us if we were ever being bullied or knew someone who was, and looked at images of some of these adults. We discussed the word ‘trusted’ adult and the importance of going to someone you know you can rely on to help you. Finally, we used what we had learnt to create some helping hands pictures, with the names of those we could reach out to written on the fingers. These included parents, teachers, teaching assistants, other school staff, extended family, and family friends.

Christmas Dinner

Year 1 enjoyed their delicious Christmas dinner. They listened to lots of Christmas songs, ate yummy food, and celebrated alongside their friends. Year 1 were all gifted a selection box at the end of the meal! 

Christmas Cards and Calendars

Year 1 have made some wonderful Christmas cards to send home for their loved ones, and used what they had learnt about the artist Kandinsky to create some calendars inspired by his work. 

Science - Sorting Properties of Materials

For our final Science lesson looking at Everyday Materials, we sorted materials based on their properties. We began by discussing ways in which we can organise objects, using what we had learnt in our Maths lessons to help us. We decided we can organise objects by colour, size, type, e.g. material they are made from. We then sat in a circle and Mrs McMeiken explained we would be using labels to help us organise the objects. We then sorted a range of objects based on their properties. First, we organised the objects by the material they are made from: wood, plastic, metal or glass. We then sorted the objects based on whether they were waterproof or not waterproof and discussed how we could tell, and then finally based on whether they were transparent or opaque.  

Music-Hey You!

We listened and appraised the song Hey You! By Joanna Mangona. We learned that the pulse is a steady beat that doesn’t change and is the heartbeat of the song. We all had our own opinions and reasons why we did or did not like the song. The children told me they liked the rhythm, it made them feel happy and it had a good beat. We listened to the song again and decided which instruments we thought we could hear. Some of the children were able to name the instruments. We also tried really hard to use the correct musical language that we have been introduced to such as pulse, beat, rhythm, tempo, and genre. We enjoyed doing vocal warm up activities, finding the pulse, using different parts of our bodies and copying the actions of the animals. We did some facial exercises and clapped back rhythm patterns. We enjoyed beginning to learn the song ‘Hey You’.

Music-Me Myself And I 

We listened and appraised the song Me, Myself and I by De La Soul. We learned that they were an American hip hop trio that were formed in 1987 in New York. We revisited the word rap and some of the children were able to tell me it meant someone was talking. We established that it was a rap song like our previously learned song Hey You. We discussed how the song made us feel and what instruments we could hear throughout the song such as drums and an electric guitar. We also established how many singers we could hear and if the voice was male or female. We tried hard to remember what the word tempo means and discussed if the song was fast or slow. The children thought the lyrics to the song were funny. Look at some of the comments that they wrote to describe the song. Well done year 1.

Black History Month

October is Black History Month and this year's theme is based all around Black individuals in History who have made a change and stood up for what they believed in. Year 1 have been focusing on Rosa Parks. We listened to the story of Rosa's life and learnt about how she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus, meaning she was arrested. We also learnt about the impact of this being the bus boycotts lead by Martin Luther King Jr. After we had learnt about her life, we created a human timeline of important events. We then spent some time writing acrostic poems all about Rosa Parks; you can see some of our fantastic writing on the photographs above! 

Music-Rapper's Delight!

We listened and appraised the song Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang. We listened to the song and we were able to find and move our bodies to the pulse. We learnt The Sugarhill Gang were an American hip hop group during the late 1970’s. The songs opening lyric says “I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip, hip, hop’ which is world famous. We discussed the on screen questions. Did we like the song? What instruments can you hear? How many voices can you hear? We revisited the style indicators of ‘hip hop’ and the children wrote down what they could remember using previous knowledge of ‘hip hop’ songs... ‘Hey You’, ‘Me Myself and I’ and ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’. We practised the song ‘Hey You’ and the children are becoming familiar with the lyrics and the ‘hook’ in the song. They are looking forward to performing it at the end of the module. Year 1 even created their very own composition as a whole class to the song ‘Hey You’ using the given notes. We decided which notes sounded the best then reshuffled the notes until we were happy with the tune. We played the song again along with our composition and the children were so pleased that they had been able to contribute something else to the original song and enjoyed listening to it whilst finding the beat. Great work everyone!

Halloween Disco

Year 1 had a fantastic time at the school disco. Some of us dressed up in our Halloween costumes - we looked very scary! We enjoyed lots of dancing and even took part in a dance competition, before we stopped to enjoy some hot dogs, drinks and sweets.

RE- Is every person valuable?

We listened to a story from the Bible called ‘The Lost Coin’. It taught us how God cares for everyone and that we as Christians should do the same as ‘everyone is valuable’. We then used an outline of a book to write or draw pictures of why people feel happy in the Bible. We also thought about what makes us happy such as being looked after or having someone that cares for us and all the jobs they do to make sure we are cared for.

Computing - Exploring Purple Mash

In our first unit of Computing in Year 1, we have been learning about how to use a computer securely and how to access and use Purple Mash safely. We began the unit by learning how to log in to the computer using our class login, and Purple Mash using our own login. We then created our own avatar and learnt why they are used instead of a real photograph. After that, we created our own pictures using Purple Mash and some of us practiced writing our names on them using the keyboard. We also practiced saving our work into the My Work folder in Purple Mash and learnt that this is a private saving space just for our work. 

Christmas Performance - The Nativity

Year 1 and 2 put on a fantastic Christmas performance of 'The Nativity' for their families. The children sang and performed brilliantly and we are extremely proud of all of their hard work putting this wonderful performance together. Merry Christmas everyone! 

Christmas Party!

Year 1 and 2 had a fantastic time at their Christmas Party! We played lots of party games including corners, pass the parcel, and musical statues. We also did lots of dancing and singing to Christmas songs, before we stopped for some refreshments. It was a brilliant afternoon shared with all of our friends!

A visit from Santa

Year 1 got a big surprise when we were visited by Santa! We were all working hard when we heard bells jingling up the corridor and Santa appeared at our classroom door. We were able to spend some time talking to him and telling him what we would like for Christmas this year. Santa told us to continue working hard and that he would see us on Christmas Eve (as long as we are sleeping!)

Maths - Sorting Objects

We had an exciting first Maths lesson in Year 1, sorting objects. We began the lesson by thinking as a whole class of how we could sort apples, pears and bananas. We decided we could do this by the type of fruit, the colour of the fruit, and the shape of the fruit. We then repeated this activity using different coloured circles, squares and triangles. Mrs McMeiken then asked us, ‘How many different ways can you group yourselves?’ and we grouped ourselves by hair colour, glasses/no glasses, trousers/skirts, and short/long hair. We then worked together to practise sorting objects into groups using hoops to clearly show the choices we made.

The Discovery Museum

Year 1 have been on a fantastic trip to the Discovery Museum in Newcastle. In the morning, we visited ‘The Newcastle Story’ exhibit and took a journey through the ages, learning all about the toys that were around in each decade. We also took part in a toy bingo activity where we had to find toys from different time periods located around the exhibit. We then visited ‘The Science Maze’ and had fun using the interactive equipment to light up bulbs, learn about gravity, work pulleys and levers, and see how magnets interact. In the afternoon, we took part in a workshop all about toys from through the decades. We spent time looking at toys and discussing how they worked, before we were asked to sort them into old and new toys, and then by the material they were made from. We learnt lots of new facts and information, and were able to put some of our learning from History lessons at school into practice. It was a great day!

Maths - What are part whole models?

We have begun a new unit of Maths focusing on addition and subtraction. In our first lesson, we were introduced to part whole models. To help us understand what they are a bit more, Mrs McMeiken created a big version on the carpet using hoops. She filled the whole with 10 cubes, and then we took turns to separate the whole into two parts. We worked out there are many ways we can make 10 e.g. 6+4, 7+3, 5+5, but the whole always stays the same. We completed this activity a few times with different numbers within 10. Once we had practiced this in the classroom, and to reinforce what we had learnt, we went outside and used ourselves as the ‘whole’, we then organised ourselves into the parts in as many different ways as we could think of. The next lesson, we completed some further work on this in our books to reflect on our learning and demonstrate our new knowledge.

Maths - Writing Number Sentences

This lesson, we have been learning how to write a number sentence. We began the lesson by reading the story, ‘Mr Gumpy’s Outing’ by John Burningham. Then, just like in the story, built a boat and created our own, 'first, then, now' story as different groups climbed aboard! We counted how many altogether as more children joined the boat. On our whiteboards, we had a go at writing the number sentence to match what we were acting out. You can see some photographs of number sentences we created above. Our main focus was ordering the number sentences correctly, including where to place the addition and equals symbols. In tomorrow’s lesson, we will apply what we have learned today to complete some number sentence work in our Maths books.

R.E- How do Christian and Muslim people show they belong?

We looked at a range of religious symbols that show how Christian and Muslim people belong. We learned the names of the symbols and discovered how they are used and why they represent ‘Christian’ and Muslim people. We discussed the similarities and differences between both religions. Finally we thought about how we belong. Well done year 1!

Anti-Bullying Week - Odd Sock Day

To kick start Anti-Bullying Week, we came to school in our odd socks to demonstrate that it is ok to be different and to look different, and to show the importance of self-expression and being ourselves. We will be completing lots of activities throughout the week to further support our understanding of what bullying is, and how we can stamp it out. 

DT - Moving Pictures

We began the lesson by discussing how a seesaw works: the seesaw has a lever which both children sit on. The lever is attached to the base on a pivot. The pivot allows the lever to move up and down. As one child pushes up, the other child goes down. We then identified that levers and pivots can be used to make interesting moving pictures. We looked at a moving picture of a giraffe. The picture had a lever for the bottom part of the mouth which attached to the rest of his face by a pivot. This means the mouth can move up and down. We also looked at a picture of a man having a drink. The man’s arm is a lever. Using the pivot, the man’s arm can move up and down to make it look like he is having a drink. Finally, we looked at a scene from Little Red Riding Hood and decided that we could make the wolf’s hat move with a lever and pivot so it looked like he was taking it on and off. We decided this would make the picture more exciting as it would bring the scene to life. Finally, we created our own moving pictures with levers and pivots. You can see our work on the following pictures above.

Chocolate Tombola!

Year 1 really enjoyed taking part in our whole school chocolate tombola. We each selected a raffle ticket from the bag and then found the chocolate that corresponded with the number we had chosen. We were all really happy with the chocolate surprises we won! 

Science - Which material should I use?

Year 1 have been investigating materials. We carried out an investigation where we were asked by Paddington Bear to see which material would be the best to make an umbrella out of. We laid a teddy bear in a box, and were given 4 materials - towel, cling film, paper, and kitchen roll. One at a time, we covered the box with a material and poured on 4 drops of water, before observing what happened. We found out that if the material let the water through and got the teddy bear wet, it was not waterproof and therefore not a good material to make an umbrella out of. We discovered the best material was cling film because it is made out of plastic which is strong, and does not absorb water. 

Well done, Pine!

Congratulations to the children in Pine who were not only this half term's team point champions, but also achieved the highest score in the school reading challenge.