Year 1 Blog 15.06.26

Date: 5th Jun 2026 @ 8:24am

We hope you all had a wonderful (and slightly warm!) half term. It has been so lovely to welcome the children back and to hear all about their adventures. They have been super keen to share their news, and we absolutely love to see their enthusiasm and confidence when speaking.

We have also been so impressed with the amount of home learning taking place, thank you for your continued support. With the phonics screening check taking place next week, it is more important than ever to practise reading at home. This week, your child has brought home a non-fiction book tailored to their reading level. Please try to spend up to 10 minutes each day listening to your child read, gently correcting any mistakes and giving lots of praise for their efforts.

This week, we introduced our new topic, Beside the Sea. The children have loved exploring our new text, The Storm Whale by Benji Davies, we will be using this story as inspiration to write postcards this term. In our writing, we will be focusing on the prefix “un” and what it means.

In maths, we have spent time revisiting previous learning before moving on to time and money this term. These are areas that children often find challenging without regular practice, so any real-life experiences you can provide at home such as telling the time or handling money will be incredibly beneficial.

In PE, the children worked brilliantly on their teamwork skills, moving a hoop around a circle without letting go of each other’s hands! Teamwork is such an important skill in Year 1, and it was wonderful to see the children encouraging and supporting one another.

In history, we explored how British seaside holidays have changed over time. The children were fascinated to learn that people once travelled mainly by train and used bathing machines to enter the sea! We compared this to holidays today, with planes and modern conveniences. Of course, we all agreed that some of the best parts have stayed the same, like building sandcastles and enjoying ice cream! The children particularly enjoyed looking at black and white photographs from the past and had thoughtful discussions about how we can protect our beaches for the future. Any conversations at home with older relatives would be incredibly useful to the children to discover first hand how beach holidays have changed across generations. 

On Wednesday, we had an eco assembly which sparked some fantastic conversations about littering and reducing waste. The children shared such thoughtful and caring ideas, they really do show a wonderful awareness of how to look after our world.

We are so proud of how the children have started their final term in Year 1. We are looking forward to another exciting week of learning ahead.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!