Year 1
Welcome to Year 1!
Our Year 1 classes are called Bluebell and Primrose.
In Year 1, we work together to build relationships with each other and to improve our social skills. We build on our phonic knowledge throughout the year, which supports us in developing a love for reading and an increasing ability to share our thoughts in a written way. We try hard to become work logical and imaginative problem solvers, whilst listening to other ideas and thoughts. In Year 1 we work together and begin to use and apply the skills we are taught throughout all our lessons.
Our first topic is ‘Location, Location, Location’. This involves learning about the UK and capital cities. We have some really fun songs which help us remember facts! We also explore our local area when we take a walk to look for different landmarks around our local environment.
Other topics this year include: 'I Have the Power', 'Out of This World', ‘Toys', 'Once Upon a Time' and 'Land Ahoy!” If you would like more information about our curriculum, please get in touch with a member of staff.
What do our children like about Year 1?
Our Classrooms and Outdoor Areas
Police Visit...
2 Police Officers from the Safer Neighbourhood Team came to visit the school to help the children understand the importance of keeping safe. They talked about being safe when out and about, keeping safe near the roads, the importance of safe parking and they also reminded everyone of the number to call if they need help.
The children listened really carefully and really enjoyed trying on some of the police uniform; they even got to sit in the car and set off the siren. The children's favourite part was definitely when one of the teachers was put in handcuffs!!
Visiting Artist
We enjoyed talking about Steven Brown’s Highland Cow pictures with the artist Kim Bodycombe.
She showed us how to mix colours, use different brush strokes and think about the skills needed to create the effects we wanted.
We used a mixture of paints and pastels to explore line and colour to create our own Highland Cow images.
Look at the finished result!
Outdoor Learning at Ghost Hill
Our Year 1 students love using our outdoor area to continue our learning experience. At Ghost Hill, we are lucky to have a wonderful canopy, so that we can explore and learn outside all year round!
Below left, you can see our bespoke obstacle course, growing and digging areas... if you look closely, you may even spot one of our Guinea Pigs in their run! On the right you can see our sensory garden and our wooden story circle where we share stories and have adventures.
Supertato!
We designed our own super vegetable character after reading Supertato during our Talk for Writing session.
Maths is Fun!
"Maths is good. We have learned about taking away and adding." Edward, Primrose
"I like Ghost Hill because I love learning. Maths is the best!" Pearl, Primrose
"I like Maths. I like using Part Part Whole." Leo, Bluebell
What do our children like about Year 1?
Year 1 in Action!
Science Week
During British Science week, we took part in a whole school experiment! Our challenge was to make an egg protector so that our egg did not crack. We worked in groups to design and create our protector thinking about materials and forces. We tested our protectors by dropping them from different heights starting at bronze level all the way to gold, the top of the pirate ship!
Junk Orchestra
We had a visit from the Junk Orchestra and had the opportunity to play some upcycled instruments and to make some wonderful music! We learnt how to keep a beat, copy a rhythm and to join together to become an orchestra to follow the conductors guide.
'When I listened to the music my tummy went boom boom boom!' - Sebastian
'I liked his bow tie' – Scarlett
'I liked how he made instruments out of the rubbish. It was really cool' - Kaitlyn
Fab Science visit!
We had a visit from two members of Fab Science to teach us all about potions and spells. This exciting session was an introduction to chemistry and included colour-changing potions, magically inflating balloons, toothpaste for giants and a truly magical dry ice demonstration.
We had a truly amazing time and WOW was certainly the word of the day!
Morning of Calm
Suzie Brooks from the Sports Partnership came in this morning to share some ways to help us stay calm and to deal with stress.
Outside in the sunshine with the birds singing we listened to our surroundings, learnt some breathing techniques and simple mindfulness. We also took part in some tai chi, making up a sequence of moves.
Everyone really enjoyed the session, felt much calmer and learnt some ways to help us stay calm when we get upset.
Odd Socks Day and Children In Need
On Thursday 18th November we all came to school wearing odd socks to show our support for Anti Bullying Week and to recognise that we are all different and unique and that we all have the right to be who we want to be.
On Friday 19th November, we all dressed up to support Pudsey Bear and to raise money for children who are not as lucky as we are. We posted lots of pennies in the boxes that our School Council representatives made and several Pudsey Bears came to school too!
World Book Day
On Thursday 3rd March we all came to school dressed as our favourite book characters as part of World Book Day. We had fun trying to guess the different books represented and also spoke about why we chose the book and character that we came as.
Red Nose Day!
We had a super Red Nose Day! We came dressed in pyjamas and donated £1 each to help others. We also held a second hand mug sale after school - this was the School Council's idea - to help encourage reducing waste and reusing resources. Miss Sorrell our Green Team leader was very proud of the School Council for their awareness and for their promotion of such an amazing idea
Christmas Jumper and Santa Run
We had a really busy day on Friday 10th December...not only was it our Christmas Dinner but we also all wore Christmas Jumpers and took part in the annual Santa Run! We ran 3 times around the playground wearing Christmas headgear and listening to Christmas Music to help us to keep going! Thank you Mrs Tubb and Mrs Everett for organising it all :)
PE Lockdown Star
A huge well done to Daisy in Bluebell Class for being awarded Ghost Hill's first Lockdown PE award! As part of our online offer during lockdown, Mrs Tubb and Mrs Everett posted a PE lesson and healthy lifestyle challenge every week. Daisy completed EVERY session and even encouraged her little sister to join in too! Well done Daisy, you are a real superstar and look very proud of your award.
Daisy said: "I am really happy that I won it. I was doing really good PE at home. I liked it when I was throwing snowballs at my snowman, it was fun! I think six snowballs hit the snowman. Throwing helped me learn to hit a target. I was really good at throwing because I practiced with the snowman. I could throw socks into pots and pans and mugs. I got five socks in the targets and my little sister got three!"
