Key Stage 1

Well, what a first half term we have had!

Welcome to Year 1. The team kick starting Key Stage One is Mrs Curl, Miss Hall, Miss Muir, Miss Grimes, Mrs Lynch and Miss Roberts. We are on the lower corridor just past Reception, before the year 3 stairs and are always around to say ’hi’ and would love for you to tell us something great about your day! Pop along on your way to lunch to see us!

This half term we have been busy settling into our new year group, exploring all the new subjects that KS1 have to offer and reading lots of new texts. We have been making artwork using only line, we have been writing stories, lists and sentences including adjectives! In addition to this, we researched our local area and popped to our local park as well as working like a scientist and setting up experiments, measuring rainfall and making shadows.

This week we have been learning about Guy Fawkes and made our own sparklers and firework pictures using chalk and glitter … our night skies lit up!

One of our highlights has been making our special things in PSHE and learning what is special to different people. We have been practising giving and receiving compliments and sharing the love in Year 1.

We have just begun to research windmills and will soon be making one of our very own! In PE we have been gymnasts … working on balance, rolls, stretch and jumps. We have grown so much already but are excited to see what Autumn 2 has in store. We have Christmas plans just around the corner.

We have some new toys in our quad area, thank you to everyone who has donated, please keep them coming! We love to explore in the Year 1 quad and look out for the new additions out there.

We are really enjoying our extra reading sessions in class and have been teacher swapping, as well as sharing book reviews and setting challenges to find books with animals, or that are set at night to name just a few! Next weeks challenge is to find a book that has bears in it. Can you name one? Come and tell us!

Here are some of the children’s highlights this half term:

‘I love the quad, the dinosaurs roar!’ Archie

‘I like gym the best, I can do cartwheels’ Amie

‘Science is the best, we measure the rainwater in a jug’ David

‘I like our maths, counting and subitising and making lots of part part whole models, we do it every day!’ Arthur

‘I love the new reading books in our reading groups, they are long and we are reading big words … chunk them!’ Buddy

Year 2 have had a super and busy start to this academic year! Since September, we have been learning a broad range of topics. Last half term, as artists, we explored a unit called 'Map it Out' where we learned a range of artistic skills themed around maps. A highlight for the children was exploring printing by creating their own polystyrene tiles showcasing a section of their map and then using ink to create prints. In Autumn 2 we have moved onto Design and Technology and have been learning about why different 3D shapes are best suited for chairs, themed around the story 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' and baby bear's chair. We have discovered that a cylinder is stronger than a cuboid and triangular prism as it has no vertices.

Last half term, as historians we explored a unit on 'The Great Fire of London'. Mr Ashby, Mrs Roach and Mrs Wingate were blown away by how engaged the children were with this unit and the recall of key historical facts was phenomenal. We are currently learning about 'Kings and Queens' and have focused on some key monarchs from different periods, including William the Conqueror, Bad King John and Henry VIII. This week, we visited Hampton Court Palace to learn more about Tudor life under the rule of Henry. The children particularly enjoyed some of the more gory facts about Tudor life, including how Henry beheaded two of his six wives!

Currently, in our Whole Class Reading sessions we are reading non-fiction texts. 2W and 2R are reading 'The Big Book of Blue' and 2A are reading 'Your Body'. The children have been fascinated by some of the facts we have been learning. Did you know that if a jellyfish is cut in two it will become two jellyfish?

In PE, we are currently learning gymnastics with our class teachers and have been practising our skills of travelling, balance and rolling. We have lots of skilled gymnasts in our year group who have now perfected their 'teddy bear rolls' and arabesque balances. The children are loving the additional PE sessions with the specialist coach on Thursdays and there is always a real buzz about these lessons! Last week, 2W and 2R were lucky enough to visit St. Martin's church to participate in 'A Christmas Journey' (unfortunately, due to adverse weather conditions 2A were unable to attend). During this visit the children participated in a workshop learning about the true meaning of Christmas. We are incredibly impressed with the children's behaviour and how they represented Aragon at this event.

Finally, we have started to learn our songs for our upcoming Christmas performance 'Hey Ewe', so you may hear your children humming or singing away at home- but no spoilers allowed, we are saving that for the big day on the 21st December.

Last half term, as historians we explored a unit on 'The Great Fire of London'. Mr Ashby, Mrs Roach and Mrs Wingate were blown away by how engaged the children were with this unit and the recall of key historical facts was phenomenal.  We are currently learning about 'Kings and Queens' and have focused on some key monarchs from different periods, including William the Conqueror, Bad King John and Henry VIII. This week, we have visited Hampton Court Palace to learn more about Tudor life under the rule of Henry. The children particularly enjoyed some of the more gory facts about Tudor life, including how Henry beheaded two of his six wives!

This year's focus is on the significant contributions of Black females in the UK who have been catalysts for change in various domains, including politics, the arts, technology, science, and literature.

Throughout the week, the children immersed themselves in the stories and achievements of extraordinary women. They explored the legacies of Black artists such as Alma Thomas and Betye Starr, finding inspiration to create their own artwork. Additionally, the children paid tribute to the Windrush Generation, learning about the brave individuals who crossed the Atlantic to help rebuild the U.K. in it's time of need. We looked at the lasting impact that incredible nurses had upon the formation of the NHS and considered the stories of children who came to England.

Year 5 and 6 students enjoyed a special online meeting with Kandace Chimburi, the author of 'Windrush Child.' Chimburi shared her insights and motivations behind writing Black history narratives for children, leaving a lasting impact on the young minds. Year 3 and 4 students had a fantastic time in a Malorie Blackman workshop, learning about the renowned author's life and her literary contributions. Years 1 and 2 were so excited to welcome a visit from Aragon parents, Mr. and Mrs. Maunganidze, who inspired the young learners to become their own heroes.

What a busy term Year 2 have had! In English we have been writing setting descriptions based on the story ‘The Story Machine’. We have created comic strips based on the story of ‘Mungo and the Spider from Space’. We then used our imaginations to create a new adventure for Mungo.

We had so much fun celebrating maths day with lots of fun maths activities, we started off by playing snakes and ladders, then creating our own board games - this was very popular! Children had to solve number problems to find the correct key to open the padlocks. We were great at using our estimation skills to estimate how many gems were in the jar. There were many more maths activities and we are sure the children would love to tell you all about them.

    
Our science learning this term has been about Living Things and their Habitats. We have been looking at micro-habitats and are good at explaining the difference between a habitat and a micro-habitat. We made bug hotels and had to think carefully about the different layers, using our science knowledge about mini beasts. We were extremely excited when the caterpillar kits arrived at school and it has been amazing using our observational skills to watch the life cycle of the butterfly. They are now at the chrysalis stage, and we cannot wait to see the butterflies.

In DT, we have been learning about seaside snacks and designed a savoury and sweet snack for a picnic. We made our products and evaluated them. To celebrate the end of term we had a picnic on the field eating the yummy picnic food we made in our DT lesson.
We are extremely proud of how hard all the children have been working and they are all superstars!

Year 1 had a fantastic time on the beach at Littlehampton, after studying the seaside in their History lessons. They walked along the promenade, played on the beach and of course - ate delicious ice creams.