Year 1 Class News

Living and Learning: 60 active minutes

Today, we learned that children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day! This can be spread out between school and home, and we discovered that many of the things we already do each day can count towards this.

Some examples we thought of included:

• Wake Up Shake Up

• Playing at break time

• Walking to school

• Swimming lessons

We also talked about the importance of rest. To help our bodies recover and our minds stay sharp, we should aim for 10 to 12 hours of sleep each night. A good night’s sleep helps us feel refreshed, focused, and ready to enjoy a new day of learning and fun!

We discussed how our body needs both rest and physical activity to stay healthy and strong.

🌙 Why we need rest:

• Rest helps us grow. When we sleep, our bodies repair and grow stronger.

• It gives our brain a break. Sleep helps us think clearly, remember things, and feel happy.

• We get more energy. After resting, we feel ready to play, learn, and do our best.

🏃‍♂️ Why we need physical activity:

• Exercise keeps our hearts and muscles strong.

• It helps us stay a healthy weight.

• We feel happier and less stressed when we move our bodies.

• Exercise helps us sleep better at night.

So, getting enough rest and being active every day helps us stay healthy inside and out!

Help at home: Could you make a small change to your routine to help fit in your active time?

Here are a few simple ideas:

• Walk to school or the shop instead of taking the car

• Ride your bike or scooter after school instead of watching TV

• Have a dance party, play in the garden, or go for a family walk

Even small changes can make a big difference to your health and happiness!

Deciduous or Evergreen?

Year One have been learning about deciduous and evergreen trees. We explored different types of leaves, looking carefully at their shapes, textures, and colours. The children enjoyed sorting them and spotting similarities and differences. We now know that deciduous trees lose their leaves in autumn, while evergreens stay green all year round.

Living and Learning: healthy eating

This week in Living and Learning, we’ve been exploring how to stay healthy.
We’ve been thinking about how the food we eat helps our bodies and minds stay strong. We talked about the importance of eating our ‘five a day’ and learned about the Eatwell Plate. We now understand that a balanced diet is key to good health.

Here are some of the important things we’ve learned:

• Eating fruits and vegetables helps keep us strong.

• Fruits and vegetables are especially good for our hearts.

• Fizzy drinks aren’t healthy for our bodies, so we should drink them only occasionally.

• Protein is important—it helps us grow and keeps us healthy.

• Staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water is essential.

We also discussed how regular exercise and staying clean are important parts of a healthy lifestyle. Plus, we learned that looking after our mental health is just as important as taking care of our bodies.

You can support this learning at home by talking together about the things your family does to stay happy and healthy. What healthy meals do you enjoy together? How do you stay active? Do you have ways to relax and feel calm at home?

Let’s keep making healthy choices—together!

Counting in 5s

Today, we practised counting in 5s and made an exciting discovery — the ones digit in each number was always a 0 or a 5! We used a 50-grid to highlight these special numbers and spot the pattern. Then, we played a fun game where we counted fingers and thumbs in groups of 5. Working together, we counted in 5s to find the total number of fingers and thumbs.

Keeping safe in the sun!

This week, we’ve been making the most of the lovely warmer weather! The sunshine sparked some great conversations about how to look after ourselves and the environment when it’s hot outside.

We talked about the importance of wearing sun cream and a sun hat, staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water and finding shade when we need a break from the sun.

We also noticed our sunflowers and spider plants were looking a little thirsty—since there hasn’t been much rain lately—so we made sure to give them a good water!

Year One Forest School Fun!

This term, Year One have begun Forest School and are loving their outdoor adventures! They’ve been learning about May Day traditions and created mini maypoles for an imaginary fairy garden.

In science, they’re exploring how flowers and trees are similar and different. Next week, they’ll be learning about deciduous trees (which lose their leaves in autumn) and evergreen trees (which keep their leaves all year) – which will be reflected in their forest school learning!

Help at home:
– Go on a walk and spot trees – are they deciduous or evergreen?
– Collect leaves or flowers to compare at home.
– Talk about changes trees go through across the seasons.

A visit from Leeds Rhinos!

St James had a very exciting visitor from the Leeds Rhinos in today during our Collective Worship. Ian came in to talk to the children about teamwork and inclusivity – two key skills that help us to be happy and healthy in our school. We got the opportunity to learn about the different teams that Leeds Rhinos have, such as: men’s and women’s rugby; netball; a wheelchair rugby team and many more. The children responded really well when discussing the importance of inclusivity, teamwork and stereotyping, particularly in sport.

Ian also reminded us of the fantastic offer from Leeds Rhinos for pupils to go and see one of their matches! If you/your child is interested in this, discounted tickets can be purchased through school. Here are the details of the match:

Leeds Rhinos vs Hull FC

Friday 16th May

Kick off: 20:00

Trees and Spirituality in Year 1

Daily Poem

This week, we’ve enjoyed reading our daily poem I swept the dog by Ken Nesbitt.

Each week, we have a new poem that we read together each day. Reading poetry is a wonderful activity that offers a ton of benefits—both educational and emotional, such as:

• language development
• listening and comprehension skills
• imagination and creativity
• emotional expression
• bonding time
• cultural awareness and empathy.

Help at home: Take some time to enjoy our weekly poem together as part of your child’s homework routine. Do you have any favorite poems you love reading at home? We’d love to hear them—feel free to bring them in and share with the class!

History Topic – Heroes

We’ve begun our exciting new  History topic: Heroes. Over the next five weeks, we’ll be learning about two inspirational figures: Nelson Mandela and Leonora Cohen.

To kick things off, we explored the big question:
What is a hero?
Here are some of the lovely ideas the children shared:

“Somebody who’s done something very good.”

“Somebody who helps or saves people.”

“Someone who protects you from danger.”

We also discussed the qualities of a hero and how these connect to our school rules and Christian values. These included:

empathy, passion, caring, kindness, honesty, bravery, respect, helpfulness

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be using and exploring this vocabulary in class.

Help at home: Look at the key vocabulary together to support your child’s understanding.