Science: Materials
This term, our Science topic is Materials. Today, we explored a variety of rocks, observing and describing their texture, colour, size, and shape. We also considered how different types of rocks might be used in real-life.
Here are some of the ideas we discussed:
- “We could use this rock to build a house or a wall.”
- “This one could be used to make a table or a bench.”
- “This type of rock would be great for carving a statue.”
- “Some rocks are perfect for kitchen worktops because they’re hard and strong.”
We compared the rocks, noting their similarities and differences. For example:
- Some rocks were smooth, while others were rough.
- Certain rocks were heavier, and some were much lighter.
Finally, we sorted the rocks based on their size and then texture, arranging them from rough to smooth. It was fascinating to see how varied and versatile these natural materials can be!
Help at home: Go on a materials hunt at home! Look around and see if you can find objects made from different materials e.g wood, plastic, rock, or metal. Use the key vocabulary below to help you describe the items you discover. What textures, colours and uses can you identify? Happy exploring!
Gymnastics in Year One
This week in PE, Year One started their gymnastics unit! The children have been exploring how their bodies can move in low positions, thinking about balance, coordination, and creativity. Some brave gymnasts have even challenged themselves to try forward rolls.
To be creative, the children thought about how animals move and worked on imitating these movements. They practiced slithering like snakes, hopping like frogs, and crawling like bears. Everyone worked hard to move with control, especially when traveling in straight lines. What a fantastic start to gymnastics!
Help at Home Tips:
- Encourage your child to practice moving in different low positions at home—can they crawl under a table or slither across the carpet?
- Play a game of “Animal Moves” and guess which animal they’re imitating!
Living and Learning: Odd Socks Day and Anti-Bullying Day
We started anti-bullying day with our odd socks. We wore odd socks to celebrate that we’re all unique and different in some way. This sends an important message that we’re all allowed to be ourselves, free from bullying and helps us to celebrate anti-bullying in a fun and positive way.
We explored our school definition of bullying, created by our junior leaders, by looking at what some of the words meant.
What are the different types of bullying?
Our school definition helped us understand the different types of bullying – physical (hurting our body), emotional (hurting our feelings) or cyber bullying (online).
The children thought about who they would tell if they needed to Start Telling Other People.
Help at home: discuss our school definition of bullying with your child. Do they know the difference between falling out and bullying, and between a one-off situation and something that’s happened more than once?
English: Michael Rosen Day
Today, we celebrated Michael Rosen Day with a live webinar, where we had the pleasure of hearing him read some of his incredible poetry. He also shared inspiring insights and useful tips on writing poetry.
We especially enjoyed his reading of Hot Food. It was fascinating to learn how this poem brings back memories of his family, almost like a photo album playing in his mind as he reads it.
Help at home: Read the poem aloud together and make it interactive by encouraging your child to act out parts of the poem or create movements for certain words.
Me and My Community Theme Week
This week in Year 1, we explored the theme “Me and My Community”. The children learned what it means to be part of a community.
We talked about the different communities we’re part of, like our families, school, and neighbourhood, and shared ideas on how to contribute positively to each.
One highlight was our friendship web activity! We passed around a ball of string, and each child shared why they value their friends, such as, “You’re a good friend because you helped me with my maths.”
By the end, we had created a “web” of connections, visually showing how we’re all linked together.
Help at Home
To continue the conversation at home, ask your child, “What did you learn about being a good community member?” or “What do you love most about your community?”
Me and My Community Week
Wetherby Brass Band
On Tuesday, we were lucky to have a visit from Steven from Wetherby Brass Band. He spoke to the whole school about the benefits of playing in a band and being part of a community within the Wetherby community.
Steven, brought in some instruments and some of us were lucky enough to play some of them – some made hilarious noises.
The band play during many events in the Wetherby community, including the Remembrance Parade. They also play every Sunday at 2.30-4.30pm from the end of April to the end of September.
Bonfire Night Safety
We hope you have a lovely time if you are going out tonight to celebrate Bonfire Night and watch some fireworks.
Please remember the top tips we talked about in class today to help keep you safe:
Living and Learning: Me and My Community Themed Week – St James
Yesterday, as part of our Me and My Community themed week we learnt about St James. We learnt that he grew up as a fisherman with his brother. Jesus went to meet James and he became one of the three disciples who were very close to Jesus, along with Peter and John.
James became the first travelling apostle (an important early Christian Teacher) and the Apostle’s symbol is a scallop shell (the badge of pilgrims everywhere) which is like our school logo. We thought about why there are three shells on our school logo and why they are in 3 different colours and 3 sizes.
We also thought about our school vision ‘We are a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe’ and what the words happy, healthy, achieve and believe mean to us.
Help at home: Can your child tell you something they have learnt about St James? Can they tell you why we have shells as our school logo? Do they remember what our school vision is?
Junior Leadership Team Election
Congratulations to our new Junior Leadership Team representatives for Year One!
The election process was an exciting experience, as all candidates had the chance to speak to their classmates about why they would make a great addition to the team. In the end, two candidates were chosen to represent Year One for the coming year.
This realistic election process not only developed their communication skills but also introduced them to the democratic process, one of our core British Values.
We’re so proud of their hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication—congratulations to our new leaders!
It’s nearly time to elect our new junior leaders
We have recently launched this year’s Junior Leadership Team election process. Our Junior Leadership Team is one of the ways that children are encouraged to take an active part in pupil voice.
The election process allows children to develop an understanding of one of the British Values, democracy, with two representatives from each class, chosen democratically by their peers.
Here are some of the qualities our junior leaders think are needed to be an effective JLT member.
- use the 8Rs for learning
- be respectful and polite
- help others
- be a good speaker and listener (to members of your class and in the meetings)
- share and be confident with your ideas
- let others speak
- accept the views of others even if you don’t agree
- be friendly and approachable
- follow our school rules and make good choices in class and around school
Last weeks’ whole school homework is all about the election and democracy, ready for the elections on Thursday 24 October. For children who want to stand in the election, they will have the chance to share their speeches in class on Wednesday or Thursday this week.
Well done to all our current junior leaders who have represented their class so well this year. Remember, you can stand again in the election.