Velociraptor Class Blog - Autumn Term 2

Date: 20th Dec 2024 @ 10:19am

The year is nearly at its end and, can you believe it, the children are one third of the way through their time in Year 1!  Once more they have worked incredibly hard and are certainly in need of a good rest over the next few weeks.

They have continued to make great progress in phonics, reading and writing, learning lots of new ways to make different sounds and becoming more and more fluent in their reading.  It is great to hear them reading along with me in their everyday work in all our subjects!

In maths, we have been learning the different ways of making ten, which is one of the most important things children ever learn as it is a crucial building block for future calculations.  In our main lessons we have covered measuring length, 3D shape, multiplication and division skills, using coins to pay for shopping, comparing mass, finding half of objects, 2D shapes and amounts and, finally, odd and even numbers.

The children loved learning about Guy Fawkes in history and then thought carefully about Remembrance Day and why we wear poppies.  We have been doing lots of fieldwork around our school in geography, starting with thinking about the physical and human features surrounding our school, then using compasses to find north, learning to use a real plan map of school then adding detail to the map, and finally having a go at drawing our own maps of a small area of the playground.

Continuing under our umbrella topic of “dinosaurs”, in our science we have been investigating why animals (including humans) have different teeth, whether there is any correlation between body height/length/size and foot length, and comparing the structure of various animals to think about their similarities and differences.

Mrs Gilligan has continued to teach the children about different religions, their customs and their stories, as well as introducing them to a range of music skills.  The children love these lessons, so thank you Mrs Gilligan!

In PE, the children have been building up their stamina for running around the playground as well as skills in body management, problem solving, team games and jumping.

The last few weeks have been particularly hectic, what with our “special visitors” and the preparations for the nativity performances.  The children really rose to both occasions, impressing the visitors with their confidence and attitudes, and impressing the staff with how they quickly became performers in their roles as busy villagers and lambs in our nativity.  They can’t wait to be Year 2s so that they can dress up in the various costumes and take on the major roles!

So I think we all deserve a well-earned rest!  We will see you in the new year, ready for the next stage in our Year 1 journey!  Have a great Christmas everybody!

Mrs Nolan and the Velociraptor Team