Friday 5th January, 2024
Happy New Year. It has been lovely to welcome back the boys to School and to hear all about their exciting holidays. Over recent weeks I have enjoyed receiving some incredible photographs of Lego models, painstakingly built, of the infamous sea vessel, RMS Titanic. There is without doubt enormous ingenuity, creativity, and initiative amongst 1P. It has been a busy couple of days, and the highlight for the boys was coming together as a School community and enjoying our first whole school assembly of 2024.
Next week we will begin our learning, on the journey of RMS Titanic. We will be stepping back in time to the conception of this ship, and follow its maiden voyage, right to the moment tragedy struck in the freezing waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The boys will be introduced to the terms ‘timeline’ and ‘chronology’ and will be sequencing pictorial representations of key milestones in the boat’s very short history.
In English the book ‘Hello Lighthouse’ by Sophie Blackall will be our stimulus.
This is a very engaging book, with incredibly powerful illustrations, which young eyes are always drawn to. The boys will be identifying verbs and synonyms. They will also be writing short descriptive pieces, employing adjectives and a range of sentence starters to enhance fluency and cohesion. We will of course be revisiting our learning on capital letters and full stops. Now we are in the Spring term, boys are expected to be using the joined handwriting script curriculum-wide, so we will be certainly encouraging its application.
Subtraction will be our focus in mathematics. We will of course be revisiting the associated vocabulary (take, take away, less, subtract, minus) and various strategies to tackle the equations including counting back and subtracting ones. Here are some examples.
I hope the boys enjoy the weekend ahead, before we embark on the first full week of school for 2024. Please do remember activities begin on Monday afternoon. Do be aware I will be out of School, first thing on Wednesday morning, but the children will be in good hands with Miss Payne and Mrs Curran at the helm. Please be assured that I should be back on site, shortly after morning break.
Miss Paynter
The final few days of the Autumn term
It seems incredible that we are coming to the end of the children’s first term in Year 1. This has been a hugely festive week. We began with a pantomime performance from a visiting theatre company; there was certainly plenty of audience participation from 1P. Wednesday saw the boys don their festive attire. Sporting their Christmas hats, the boys thoroughly enjoyed a Christmas lunch; the crackers undoubtedly proved to be a real hit! In the afternoon a magician entertained the boys; there was an absolute sense of awe and wonder, with 1P completely captivated. A visit too from Father Christmas brought enormous excitement and palpable magic. And tomorrow, a final and special end of term assembly will bring together the Pre-prep, Early Seniors, and Seniors, with us showcasing one last performance of the song ‘Everyone Join in the Party’ from our Christmas show!
This has been a fantastic term for the boys, and they have made brilliant progress. It has been such a pleasure to be part of their learning journey. I look forward to seeing everyone again on Thursday 4 January, when we will begin our learning on a most incredible sea vessel, RMS Titanic. Over the holidays, keep reading boys; do use Oxford Owl to access online reading books. Keep practising too, your joined, small handwriting script. I also challenge you to build from Lego, your own version of RMS Titanic. Please do upload photographs of your endeavours to Seesaw, or email them over to me.
Finally, thank you all for your ongoing support and kindness, and your wonderful festive gifts. I am hugely grateful and inordinately touched. If you are celebrating at this time, ‘Happy Christmas’.
1P have a wonderful holiday and remember to recharge those batteries!
Miss Paynter
Week Ending, Friday 8th December
Unbelievably we have now completed the final full week of the Autumn term. This blog entry cannot go without celebrating the incredible performances in the Christmas shows. The boys danced and sang with confidence, enjoyment and it was such a privilege to see them thrive as they hit the Lochinver stage. I shall cherish my memories of my 22 innkeepers!
This week has as always, been a busy one in the classroom. The boys have been consolidating their knowledge of rhyme. Next week, our literary stimulus will be the text ‘Hoorah for Mary Seacole’, by Trish Cooke. The boys will be focusing on fact and fiction and discriminating between the two. I shall be sharing statements on both Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale, and they will be using their knowledge of these famous nurses, to identify the fact, and the fiction. The boys will also be writing non-fiction texts, producing fact files on Mary Seacole. We will be consolidating our learning on sentence demarcation, revisiting the importance of capital letters, full stops and where appropriate, question marks. Please do keep encouraging their accurate use in any writing activities the boys may engage in outside School.
In maths the boys have successfully solved some challenging number sequences in ascending and descending order, involving counting in 1s, 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s. We have also revisited the concept of addition and recapped on the following vocabulary: add, addition, plus, total, increase, more than, sum. Next week we will be consolidating our learning over recent weeks, and using the sessions to revisit some of the trickier concepts covered.
The boys enjoyed their final humanities lessons of this unit. There was some interesting debate on who was more important; Florence Nightingale or Mary Seacole? The discussion from the boys showed their excellent knowledge and understanding of the incredible work of these two ladies. There will be no humanities next week, but come January we head to the seas of the Atlantic Ocean, to learn all about the incredible sea vessel, RMS Titanic.
Next week will be an exciting one to close the Autumn term. Monday, we welcome a visiting theatre company, who will be performing a pantomime for the boys. On Wednesday it is Christmas jumper day, so boys don’t forget to don on your Christmas top with your school trousers. We will be enjoying a Christmas lunch together, followed by an afternoon of entertainment from a magician. It will be a fun day. Parents, term ends at 12 noon on Thursday, with collection from the classroom door.
Have a wonderful and happy weekend.
Miss Paynter
It’s December already …. Friday 1st December
Well, we are now into December, and today saw the first door of our class Lego advent calendar opened. It seems incredible that the end of term is racing upon us. Next week will be a special week, as the 1P innkeepers set to the stage to perform in ‘Everyone Loves a Baby’. We very much look forward to welcoming you to the show at 2.15pm on Monday afternoon, in the Walker Theatre. Doors will open at 2pm. After the performance, boys can be collected early from the classroom door; they will just need to change from their costumes back into their uniforms first.
In English the boys are demonstrating an ever-growing skill in ordering alphabetically. I am now challenging the boys to order words with the same initial letter, and thus they are having to use the second letter to secure the correct order; this is proving a little trickier! Next week we move on to writing letters. So, boys, make sure you know your home address! We will also be revisiting rhyming words and writing non-fiction accounts. The book ‘Thank You Heroes, A Celebration of our Key Workers’, by Patricia Hegerty will be our focus text. It is a tremendous book, published after the pandemic and as its title suggests, really celebrates the significant contribution of the key workers during COVID times.
In maths, over the last few days, we have been ordering numbers, identifying one more and one less and sequencing from smallest to largest/greatest and vice versa. Next week will be exploring number patterns, where the boys will be completing sequences in ascending or descending order, in steps of 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10, as well as revisiting our learning on addition.
Our humanities learning, has explored the work of Mary Seacole as a ‘healer’ and we have investigated the many herbal remedies she used as treatments for those unwell and injured. The boys drew some familiarity with the use of lemon to soothe coughs. They also produced some incredible portraits of Mary and listed adjectives describing her personality. Next week, to close our learning on famous nurses of the past, the boys will be debating ‘Who was more important, Florence Nightingale or Mary Seacole?’. I will be encouraging the boys to justify their thinking, using the word ‘because’ to help frame their ideas.
Don’t forget the Christmas post box opens on Monday. Boys, when you write your cards, please remember forenames, surnames and class names on the envelopes, and no tasty treats are to be slipped into the envelopes! No library books will come home next week, and Thursday evening will be the final day reading books come back in the book bags this term. Friday afternoon brings the Christmas Fayre; parents, please remember (unless you have informed me otherwise), to collect from the classroom door at 2pm.
Enjoy the weekend.
Miss Paynter
Week Ending, Friday 24th November
The week began with a visit from Florence Nightingale herself. The boys were transported back in time to the wards of the hospital in Scutari. The boys relished every moment of this exciting workshop and demonstrated their incredible knowledge and understanding of this hugely inspirational lady.
We have now moved onto learning about Mary Seacole, and have journeyed to Scotland and Jamaica. The boys are now experts in Mary’s family, although still baffled that historians are unaware of her mother’s name. They were fascinated to learn that Mary’s love and care, and desire for healing came from her own mother. Next week, we will be investigating the term ‘healer’ and will be discussing the herbal remedies Mary used as she cared for the soldiers. We will be drawing comparisons with Florence Nightingale’s approach.
Through our shared text ‘Vlad and the Florence Nightingale Adventure’ the boys focused on opposites and synonyms, as well as using time words to support sequencing. Next week our stimulus will be Michael Bond’s ‘Paddington goes to Hospital’. We will be writing lists, consolidating our skills in ordering alphabetically and working on direct and indirect speech.
In maths we have been securing our knowledge of ordinal numbers, and working towards security in discriminating between left and right. A little more work is needed on this front, so do please keep supporting this at home. I share again the visual from last week’s post, as this is invaluable in acquiring mastery.
Next week we will be ordering numbers, counting on and back. Please do encourage your boys to identify one more, or one less than a given number. Also, do encourage them to order a series of up to 5 numbers, from smallest to largest and, largest to smallest. We will be introducing too, the term ‘greatest’, so do encourage the use of this word, in any mathematical conversations you may have.
Next week is a busy week! We have the dress rehearsal of our Christmas play; it’s time for those innkeepers to get singing and dancing in front of an audience. We also have the PTA Christmas shop to look forward to and Sebastian’s mummy is coming in talk to us about being a doctor – it will be an exciting visit. Of course, Thursday is Open Classroom, when we will have all the books out for your boys to share with you – these conversations are very special and hugely powerful. And finally, Friday brings ‘chocolate mufti’ day, so it’s a day for home clothes to be worn to School, in exchange for a chocolate donation to the PTA Christmas Fayre tombola.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Miss Paynter
It’s Friday again…. (17th November)
1P have had a super week; so much focus and learning. They have been demonstrating collaboration, curiosity, initiative, and originality – four of our Lochinver learning powers. Well done, boys.
Our wellbeing breakfast on Monday was a wonderful way to begin our Anti-Bullying week. It was a time to enjoy the company of one another and appreciate the value of friendship.
Over the week in English, we have been working hard to develop the boys’ language. Do continue to support your son’s growing vocabulary – invest in a sand timer, give him a word, and see how many linked words he can write down on a whiteboard within 5 minutes. If you do the same, you can compare lists at the end and the outcomes will be all the more powerful and beneficial. I use the word chocolate as a good example; you could note down words from brown, tasty, smooth, to delicious, sweet, sugary and milky!
In maths we have continued our subtraction focus, and have been working hard on problem solving. In humanities, the boys have enjoyed learning about Jimmy the turtle. They were shocked to hear about the conditions Florence Nightingale and her contingent of nurses faced as they arrived in Scutari, but they understood the benefit of resilience, determination, and hard work. The boys are now absolute experts in the ‘Lady of the Lamp’, and certainly will explain all about her Turkish lamp. They are definitely ready to meet Florence on Monday – I know they will relish this exciting workshop. Following our visit, the boys will begin learning about the life of Mary Seacole. We will be exploring her heritage and making links with both Scotland and Jamaica. It is an apt week to begin learning about such an inspirational lady as Thursday marks 218 years from her birth.
Our shared text next week in English will continue to be ‘Vlad and the Florence Nightingale Adventure’. We will be cementing learning on synonyms and opposites. In maths we will be exploring and sequencing ordinal numbers, as well as focusing on positional language, including left and right. As we secure the knowledge on left and right, please do support us in securing an effective way of discriminating between left and right.
Please remember that I will be out of School on Wednesday, but will be back in as normal on Thursday. And, of course we have the PTA disco to look forward to on Friday – get you dance attire and moves ready boys!
Enjoy a wonderful weekend.
Miss Paynter
Week Ending, Friday 10th November
Well, the end of another week is upon us. It has been a busy one, with the boys working conscientiously in all areas of the curriculum. In humanities, they have relished learning about Florence’s early life and have shown they are budding geographers, as we have investigated maps, old and new, exploring the Crimea and Florence’s journey there. Next week we will be learning all about Jimmy, a very special tortoise, the appalling conditions Florence faced on her arrival in Scutari and investigating the myths surrounding her lamp. I shall be dispelling any misconceptions on genie lamps!
Over the last few days in English, the boys have been focused on writing descriptive texts, supporting our learning on adjectives. They have also been writing in the informal form; sharing messages to a rather unfortunate tortoise with a broken shell. The boys certainly demonstrated empathy and kindness. Next week we will be reading Kate Cunningham’s ‘Vlad and the Florence Nightingale Adventure’. The boys will be working on synonyms, opposites, and time words.
Our maths work this week has targeted subtraction. We have been using the following vocabulary with the boys: subtract, take, take away, less, less than, decrease. We will continue our learning on into next week, with problem solving using subtraction equations, being our core focus. Any support you can give at home will be most appreciated, particularly emphasising the importance of placing the largest number in the equation first. I have been encouraging the boys to draw pictorial representations to support solving the equations, enabling the boys to count back, or cross out, as supporting strategies. An example is below:
Florence Nightingale had 9 bandages. She used 4. How many did she have left?
9-5=4
Over the week, a highlight for the boys, was watching 2WM’s class assembly. It was a super showcase of learning and confidence. We say well done to 2WM!
Boys, keep working on small handwriting, when you are writing at home – I am encouraging, where possible the boys to begin joining their letters now. This will without doubt support a more mature script. Don’t forget too, to target the spelling of your surnames. And, please keep practising the song ‘Please Stop Knocking!’.
Don’t forget to bring your breakfast, and wear your odd socks on Monday, and parents I look forward to our meetings on Wednesday 15th November.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing you on Monday.
Miss Paynter
It’s Friday
Goodness me, where has the week gone? The boys have been so pleased to be back in School with their friends. They have been working hard and enjoying the various experiences across the week.
They have relished the first week of our new topic on Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. In English they have shown a good understanding of rhyme and opposites, and in humanities, a plethora of significant people have been discussed from Queen Victoria to Barack Obama and Tim Peake, as well as Rishi Sunak, King Charles 111 and Prince George.
In mathematics, we have been working hard on problem solving and the boys are now applying their addition skills to solve one stepped problems with growing accuracy. Next week they move onto subtraction. The boys will have exposure to the following vocabulary: subtract, take, take away, less, less than, decrease. The work will begin practical activities to ensure foundations in this concept are secure, before moving onto pictorial and numerical equations.
The book ‘Franklin Goes to the Hospital’ by Paulette Bourgeois, will be the stimulus for the boys’ English work in the coming days. There will be a focus on writing labels and the consolidation of our learning to date on adjectives. The boys will also be writing in the informal form, as they make ‘Get Well Soon’ cards, and including messages demonstrating empathy and kindness. As ever a small cursive handwriting script will be targeted and promoted, curriculum-wide.
In humanities, we will be looking at Florence Nightingale’s early life (and investigating why she was named Florence), her family (including her rather naughty sister Parthenope!) and two homes, one outside London and the other in Derbyshire. We will also be locating the Crimea, the Black Sea, Scutari, Russia, and Turkey on a world map, and discussing Florence’s journey to support the injured soldiers of the Crimean War.
I have one challenge for the boys this week, and that is for them to learn by heart their address. Letter writing comes soon in English, and therefore to know their address would be so beneficial.
Have a lovely weekend boys and well done again. See you next week!
Miss Paynter
The Last Week Before Half Term
And Half Term is here…..!
What a week we have had in Year 1. The boys thoroughly enjoyed 2OA’s class assembly, the Year 3 and 4 Harvest assembly and have been so engaged in their learning, always giving of their best.
In English they have shown a great understanding of adjectives, and their growing vocabularies are evident in their written work. We have worked hard to improve the cursive handwriting script – your support in encouraging smaller letter formation would be much appreciated. In mathematics the boys have worked conscientiously to develop their understanding of addition. We will continue to secure the vocabulary linked to this operation (add, plus, total, increase, more than, sum) after the half term holiday. Humanities saw the conclusion of our topic on Africa. The boys thoroughly enjoyed a talk from one grandparent on life in Kenya.
Our African arts workshop was relished by all. The boys produced some super themed masks from milk bottles, and their awareness of the importance of recycling was also highlighted.
After half term, we begin our topic on Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. In English the first book we will be sharing will be ‘Madeline’ by Ludwig Bemelmans. We will be focusing on rhyme and opposites. Over the holidays, as you share books with your children, please do reinforce the following vocabulary: title, spine, author, illustrator, publisher, blurb, ISBN, and where possible do encourage them to identify these. In mathematics, as mentioned we will be continuing our work on addition, and really targeting the application of addition equations to solve word problems. For example: There are 14 nurses in the hospital, and 5 doctors. How many people altogether? 14+5=19. Any problem solving you can do over the coming days will only be beneficial.
In humanities we will begin our new unit by looking at significant people through history. I shall be talking about Queen Elizabeth 11, Mo Farah, William Shakespeare and Alexander Graham Bell to name but a few. If over half term, you are keen for a day out, may I suggest the Florence Nightingale museum, close to St Thomas’ Hospital?
All that remains is for me to say well done to the boys for a fantastic week. Enjoy the half term, and I will see you on Monday 30th October. Please do remember I am out of School on Tuesday 31st October.
Miss Paynter
2nd-6th October 2023
This week the boys have been incredible! They have demonstrated resilience and worked extremely hard. In English the boys have enjoyed the Kenyan tale ‘Mama Panya’s Pancakes’. There has been a focus on time words (first, next, then, after that, following). We will continue to work on these over the coming months, embeding them into independent writing, giving the boys’ work clear chronology. We have also been looking at instructional writing, with a focus on identifying the imperative verb. If you are cooking with your children, please as you follow the instructions, do encourage them to highlight the imperative verb.
Next week in English we will be looking at the story ‘The Laughing Giraffe’ by Mwenye Haditha and Adrienne Kennaway. We will be focusing on adjectives, with the boys writing descriptions of giraffes. There will also be some work on poetry – we will be dispelling the myth that all poems must rhyme! Instead we will be harnessing the boys creative vocabularies and writing acrostic African animal poems using adjectives. We will also be looking at speech bubbles and talking about direct speech.
Over the last few days the boys have been working on part, part, whole models in mathematics. Some have even been solving part, part, part, whole models. Examples of part, part, whole models are below.
We will also be working on developing the boys’ mathematical vocabularies. We will broadening their knowledge and understanding of words linked to addition. These will include: plus, total, more than, increase, add, altogether.
Next week we will be linking part, part whole models with addition equations. The model above proves invaluable as children manipulate number, to solve missing number sentences. This will be a focus for the boys’ learning over the course of the coming few days. I am hopeful that the below example shares an understanding of our coverage.
In Humanities on Monday we learnt all about the endangered gorilla and African rhinos. There are definitely some budding conservationists in Year 1. On Tuesday the boys became experts on carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. Next week brings an exciting week to conclude our learning on Africa. We will be looking at different African homes including the traditional mud hut, as well as learning about a day in the life of a young child living in the African countryside. In addition the boys will be fortunate to hear from one of 1F’s grandparents on growing up in Kenya. And, of course there is the African arts workshop to look forward to. Those milk bottles will be turned into some incredible African animals and the boys will learn about the traditional craft of beading.
Next week, there will be photographs on the Blog. Miss Paynter apologises for the lack of these this week!
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Miss Paynter