Welcome to Year 1!
Opal Class:
Class Teachers : Hayley Gorman & Rene Tucknott
Class Teaching Assistant: Anna Gruszecka
Topaz Class:
Class Teacher: Rebecca Malkin
Class Teaching Assistant: Katie Wrigley
If you have any queries, please contact the Class Teacher or the Learning and Teaching Leader for this phase, Connor Chughtai-Skillen, or email the Year 1 team:
year1@rockmount.croydon.sch.uk
Please read our half termly curriculum letters for more information.
Year 1 have had an exciting 'Journey Around the World' where we have learnt about different countries and cultures. We have also linked our learning to 'Cultural Diversity Day' where we tasted a range of foods from around the world to help us write fact files about different foods. We have also read 'Mirror' by Jeannie Baker which compares two different family lives, one in Morocco and the other Australia. Mirror is a picture book so we used the beautiful illustrations to make predictions about each family. We also produced our own image of Morocco using collage and layering to replicate the pictures from the book. We have also read 'Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain' which led to us retelling part of the story. In science, we grew cress seeds and kept a diary where we observed the changes daily and recorded our findings.
Children in Year 1 had a great time embracing everything to do with Mexico. They learnt all about Mexican culture, food, music and art. They even managed to pick up a few useful Spanish phrases along the way.
Children enjoyed a range of stories set in Mexico. They wrote postcards, letters and even stories of their own! In Geography, we compared the human and physical features of the UK and Mexico. In DT, children learned about the indigenous Huichol people and had a go at creating their own Huichol-style masks. To end the term, we celebrated Mexico Day, and children loved sharing their homemade food, drink and dances with friends and family.
Spring Term 1
This half term, children in Year 1 have become enthusiastic space experts! They have learned all about the planets, the Solar System and the continents and oceans on Planet Earth. Children were transported into space during an exciting visit from the Wonderdome Planetarium. Many children were inspired to create their own fact books with their new knowledge. In Science, children have learned to name and describe everyday materials, even suggesting which materials would be most suitable to create a rocket ship.
The children really enjoyed an interesting trip to the South London Liberal Synagogue. We were taught some special Hebrew phrases and songs, and we were lucky to explore some different Jewish artefacts such as a kippah and shofar.
Autumn Term 2
We had an exciting start to our topic which involved a visit from ‘Mary Seacole’. Mary told us all about her life and achievements, including the importance of her work during the Crimean War. The children thoroughly enjoyed the visit, particularly having the opportunity to ask questions to extend their understanding. Continuing with our learning about Mary Seacole, we also participated in some outdoor learning which enabled us to learn more about how Mary used plants and herbs to make medicine. We loved making our own medicines using a range of natural items that we sourced from the outdoor classroom.
Autumn Term
This past half-term, we had a blast exploring various fairy tales such as Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel. One of our favorite moments was reading "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig," which involved a classroom crime scene where the wolves' house was destroyed by dynamite! We even created a wanted poster to capture the Big Bad Pig. In addition, we had a chance to delve into the world of castles, learning about their construction, inhabitants and interiors. To put our knowledge to the test, we used recycled materials to design and build our very own castles.
Our first literacy focus was on poetry. We explored 'Hey, Let's go!' - a fairy tale poem by James Carter - and were fortunate to have him visit us. As a class, we wrote our own poems, which we recited and recorded for all to hear.
