Autumn

The theme for our first Special Interest Week of the year is 'We Are Reading' with the aim to encourage every child to read for pleasure. We have had a very busy week and it has been so much fun! To start the week the whole school participated in lots of carousel activities including singing story raps, scavenger hunts and yoga to name just a few. 

On Wednesday a librarian came to visit us to tell the children that Bamber Bridge library will soon be reopening. Year 1 also had a special marble jar party with Year 3 where the children sat together to read stories and enjoy hot chocolate. 

On Thursday morning some of the children attended the 'Books at Breakfast' event with their families. They enjoyed breakfast snacks and snuggled up to read a book. That afternoon it was our turn to visit the Book Bus! Everyone was very excited to buy a new book to take home.

On Friday we had a special visit from an author who read us a lovely story. 

Spring

This term's theme for Special Interest Week was STEM. In Year 1 we have been very busy and linked all our learning to polar explorers. We have been on a journey to Antarctica! 

To start the week we explored floating and sinking. We carried out an experiment to find out which objects float and which sink. The children then picked the best materials to use when designing and making their own boats. They were given an extra challenge of their boat needing to hold the weight of 5 marbles! It was great fun testing our boats on water to see if they floated or sank.

On Tuesday we had a visit from a real-life polar explorer! Mr Hull from Walton-le-Dale high school came to show us lots of photographs, artefacts and clothing and told us stories about his expedition to Antarctica. It was very interesting and the children thoroughly enjoyed dressing up as explorers.

The children then thought carefully about what equipment and clothing they would need to take with them to Antarctica and 'packed' their own bag.

We have also found out how animals stay warm in cold places. The children learnt that they have a layer of fat called blubber. We did an experiment to test this by putting our hands in a bowl of icy water and in a bowl with 'blubber' (butter). The children made predictions to guess which bowl they thought would keep them warm.

Some children were chosen as 'STEM Stars' and they received a special certificate in Friday's achievements assembly. We have also put all of our work from the week on the display in the corridor.

Summer

The children had a fantastic time during our 'Outdoor Learning' Special Interest Week. 

In Maths, we have continued our learning about factions of amounts. The children have  worked in groups in the outdoor area using natural objects to help them count. They have found halves and quarters of amounts up to 20. Some children have found fractions of larger quantities too!

Our phonics lessons have also taken place outdoors this week. The children have enjoyed participating in a variety of activities including relay races on the bikes to read split digraphs, going on sound hunts around the field and using chalk to write on the playground.

Also on Wednesday it was 'Prayer Day' and Year 1 thought carefully about their hopes for the world and created a prayer space for the other classes to visit. During circle time the children shared some very thoughtful ideas and wrote them down on wooden discs to hang from the trees in the school grounds. Everybody also enjoyed visiting the prayer spaces that had been made by the other classes. 

On Thursday Year 1 enjoyed a visit from 'Wildwood Days' which is a forest-schools company. The children had an absolutely brilliant time in the school grounds participating in different adventurous activities, including:

• A rope swing and hammock
• A bug hunt
• A mud kitchen 
• Using a saw to create tree cookies
• Flower pressing using hammers 
• Clay sculpting 
• Den building