Year 1
The children have had a wonderful start to their first week back after the half term break. They have adapted so smoothly to having a different class teacher and the many changes that we have made to their working environment. We have had plenty of smiles and laughter this week; I am so lucky to have inherited such a happy class!
With the launch of our new topic, Festivals and Light, we began this week learning all about the Hindu festival of Diwali. The children were enthralled by the story of Rama and Sita but most especially with the villain of the story, the ten-headed monster, Ravana. Using puppets to retell the story has been another fun learning task. Working together, the children have supported each other to sequence the events of the story in the correct order and collaborated to generate of lots of adjectives to bring their stories to life.
In addition to this, the children have been very interested to learn about the many traditions associated with Diwali. They have made some beautiful Rangoli patterns in the hope that they will bring luck into our classroom and they have decorated the walls with beautiful paper lanterns. It looks spectacular!
In Mathematics and Phonics this week has been devoted to assessing the children to establish their strengths and next steps. Ordering numbers and playing interactive phonics games have been highly popular with all of the children. I am a big believer that concepts are best learnt when they are both meaningful and practical. Therefore, the children have been helping to lay the table for breakfast and lunch, carefully counting out the number of plates, bowls and spoons, knives and forks they need for each meal. The children have also been learning to use Tally charts to find out the class’s meal choices each day. It’s been a lot of fun!
Finally, our PSHE sessions have been built around the story, Have You Filled a Bucket Today by Carol McCloud. This inspiring story teaches young children about the importance of being kind by explain that we all carry invisible buckets with us wherever we go. We feel happy when our buckets are full and sad when they are empty and the only way to fill a bucket is with acts of kindness and kind words. Ask your child about the things that you can do to fill your bucket and what it means to be a bucket-dipper. They thought of so many wonderful ideas during the week!
What a truly great week we’ve had in Year 1.
