This week in science, we’ve been thinking about how we can look after the Earth. We talked about why our planet is special and how everyone can help to take care of it.

To start our learning, we explored the school grounds to look for ways our school is already helping the Earth. The children did a brilliant job spotting lots of positive things we’re doing, including:

• putting litter in the bins

• recycling different materials

• planting and looking after plants around the school

  

Next, we talked about bigger ideas and the small actions we can all do every day to help care for the planet. The children came up with some fantastic suggestions:

• turning the lights off when we leave a room

• turning the tap off while we brush our teeth

• using reusable water bottles

We also compared our local area, Wetherby, with the capital city, London. The children noticed that London has many more people which means it’s often much busier and has a lot more traffic. Wetherby has fewer people and quieter roads which helps keep it calmer and cleaner. However, we talked about how this also means it’s our responsibility to help protect and look after our local area so it stays a lovely place to live.

We finished by thinking about how everyone can make a difference. Even small actions can help when we all work together to care for our Earth.

Help at home by looking out for Earth helpers. How many Earth-friendly actions can you spot this week?

Philosophy is thinking deeply.

Every Friday, we start our day with some time to wonder and ponder.

We’ve a different question each week – there’s no obvious right/wrong answer and no underlying moral message. All children are given the opportunity to contribute their ideas and give reasons for their thoughts.

The children had some lovely responses.

Children won’t be happy anymore and they wouldn’t have fun things to talk about.
– Eleanor

Boring!
– Eli

Children and adults won’t learn anything.
– Scarlett

It would be hard to learn how to read.
– Savannah

It’d be really sad.
– Mia

Everyone would be grumpy.
– George

Help at home by discussing this week’s Philosophy Friday question with your child.

We’ve had a fantastic World Book Day in Year 1 and there was such a lovely buzz around the classroom all day!

To start the morning, we welcomed our adults into the classroom to share our favourite books. It was so lovely to have so many people join us and it really helped create a special, celebratory atmosphere. Thank you to everyone who came along – we loved sharing stories with you.

Next, we showed off our fantastic costumes! The children enjoyed talking about who they’d dressed up as, why they’d chosen their character and what they love about their favourite books. We saw so many brilliant ideas.

One of the highlights of the day was our crayon hunt around school. Lots of adults around school had dressed up as crayons of different colours, inspired by The Day the Crayons Quit. The children had to search the school to find every colour. It was lots of fun and the children were very determined to track them all down!

Later in the morning, we joined a live story time and drawalong with Alice Hemming, the author of The Flower Thief. The children loved following along and learning how to draw Squirrel.

In the afternoon, we got creative. First, we drew our favourite book covers and talked about what makes a book exciting to look at.

Then we created some artwork inspired by How to Be a Lion by Ed Vere. We used chalk pastels which were a bit tricky at first, but the children showed fantastic perseverance and kept trying even when it was challenging.

We were also very lucky to welcome Year 4 into our classroom to read with us. They were so enthusiastic and the children really enjoyed sharing books together. Thank you, Year 4!

To finish our day, we visited the Reading Café, organised by our fantastic Reading Ambassadors. We enjoyed a biscuit and a cup of hot chocolate while sharing books together – the perfect end to a lovely day.

Throughout the day, there were so many opportunities to celebrate reading and our love of books. It was wonderful to see the children so excited about stories.

Help at home by continuing to celebrate our love of reading!

This week in Living and Learning, we’ve been thinking about the different things that can go into our bodies and onto our skin, and whether they’re helpful, harmful or sometimes a bit of both!

We started by sharing our ideas about:

• What might go into our mouth

• What might go into our nose or ears

• What might go onto our skin

 

The children had some brilliant ideas! We talked about things like:

• Food and water

• Medicines

• Fresh air and smoke

• Creams and sun cream

• Plasters

• Fizzy drinks and sweets

• Insect bites

 

We discussed how these things can change how someone looks or feels. For example:

• Fresh air and water help us feel good.

• Too many sweets can make us feel poorly.

• Sun cream protects our skin.

• Smoke and exhaust fumes can harm our bodies.

 

The children were fantastic at recognising that some things can be both helpful and harmful. It often depends on:

• How much we have

• How we use it

• Whether we’ve asked a trusted adult

 

We talked about how we know if something might be harmful. The children suggested:

• Looking for warning labels or hazard symbols

• Listening to what a trusted adult says

• Not touching things we don’t recognise

• Telling an adult if something feels wrong

 

We finished by thinking about who can help us in different situations. The children know it’s important to always tell a trusted adult if:

• They feel unwell

• Something gets in their eyes

• They spill something they shouldn’t touch

• They hurt themselves

We reminded everyone that we should never put something into our body or onto our skin if we don’t know what it is or if we don’t have permission.

Help at home by:

• Looking at labels together on food, medicines or cleaning products.

• Talking about whether the item is helpful, harmful or could be both.

• Reminding your child who they should tell if they’re unsure about something.

This week we celebrated Safer Internet Day and had a special visit from Dave at d:side who helped us learn how to stay safe when we go online. We found out that the internet is something that connects all our phones and computers together and that more than 6 billion people around the world use it. We also talked about the different devices we can use like computers, phones, tablets and games consoles.

Dave reminded us that the internet is a fun place to learn and play but we’ve always got to make safe choices. We learnt three very important rules:

• Ask your adults first before going online or downloading anything

• Only speak to people you know in real life

• Stick to places that are just right for you like YouTube Kids and games with the right age limits

During our  Safer Internet Day activities, we explored some big ideas about being safe online. We learnt that:

• some things online may not be true

• we shouldn’t share personal information online

• it’s important to check with a trusted adult before sharing anything about ourselves

• asking a trusted adult helps keep us safe and make good choices

The children showed fantastic listening skills and shared thoughtful ideas about what they’d do if something online didn’t feel right.

Help at home by asking your child to teach you our three internet safety rules? Talk together about which apps, games and videos are ‘just right’ for them.

In RE this half term, we’ve been learning about new life and how babies are welcomed in different religions. It’s been so interesting to learn about lots of different cultures. Here are a few ideas we had about how we might welcome a new baby:

• get their bedroom ready
• get everything they need
• sing them a special song
• give them a cuddle
• be kind and gentle
• give them a name
• read them a story
• get them a present

I felt really touched listening to the children’s ideas and reflections and it reminded me just how kind and compassionate they are. The thoughtfulness, empathy and care they demonstrate every day reminds me that no one’s too small to make a difference. Well done, Year 1!

This week, we started our new class novel, The Bog Baby, and the children did a fantastic job right from the start! First, we hid the title and carefully studied the front cover so we could use our retrieval skills to say what we could see.

The children looked closely and shared thoughtful ideas. Here’s what they retrieved from the front cover:

• a big tree – Arlo

• a blue guy – George H

• flowers – Ella M

• blue scales – Scarlett

• pink in the trees – Avery

• a baby dragon – Ella D

• white daisies – Imogen

Using these clues, the children then suggested their own titles for the book, thinking carefully about what the story might be about. Their ideas were creative and imaginative:

• The Baby Dragon in the Pond – Joey

• Forest Monster – Darcey

• The Baby Dragon in the Forest – Charlie

• The Lost Baby – Louie

• Sparkle Dragon – Ella D

The children were brilliant at explaining their thinking and listening to each other’s ideas. We’re already really enjoying The Bog Baby and we’ll continue to do lots of reading, writing and learning linked to the story.

Help at home by looking at book covers together and talking about what you can see. Ask your child what they think a story might be about because of the pictures.

As part of our Design and Technology learning, the children get three opportunities each year to prepare food and this week was one of them!

This time, we made fruit salad using lots of different skills. We started by reading the recipe together and chatting about what we might change to make it our own. We also talked about the importance of good hygiene and how to stay safe in the kitchen.

We stayed safe by following instructions and pointing sharp knives away from our bodies.

Help at home by trying the recipe at home.

This half term, in Topic, we’re historians. That means we’re leaning about the past. We’re exploring the history of toys and games in living memory.

This week, we’ve been thinking about the words:

old – having existed for many years, from the past

modern – new, up to date, things we see today

We looked at a range of toys spanning living memory and considered whether they were old or modern. We thought about:

• What material is it made from?
• Does the toy need batteries or charging?
• Are their buttons or electronics on it?
• Does it look worn our or scratched?

Help at home by exploring toys with your child. Can they tell whether it’s old or modern, explaining their answer?