2023-2024

Welcome to Year 1

Welcome to our Year One page. We are excited about this year and we have lots of exciting activities planned  so please keep checking this page for updates!  Here you will find all the information that will be relevant for children in this year group. You will be able to see our learning on the weekly blog as well as Twitter.

If you have any questions please contact your child's class teacher or the Year Group Lead. For more details regarding the year group's content for English, Maths and foundation subjects, please take a look under the 'Curriculum' tab.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Who are the Year 1 teachers?

Indonesia Class: Mrs Bhambra

India Class: Miss Jivraj

Cambodia Class: Mrs Patel

Japan Class: Miss Mohamed

Our PE days in Year 1

Indonesia Class: Tuesday and Friday

India Class: Tuesday and Thursday

Cambodia Class: Tuesday and Friday

Japan Class: Monday and Tuesday

Year 1 Curriculum Overview 2023-2024

Half Termly Topic Webs

Weekly Blog

Please do visit this page, each Friday, for our weekly blog. You will find useful information, including what we have been learning during the week and important dates. There will also be links to Phonics videos.

Another school year has come to an end. Once again, we have had a jam packed year and made the most of every minute. It is fantastic to see how much the children have learned, enjoyed and achieved throughout the year. Their positive and enthusiastic attitudes are superb and we thank you as parents and carers for the vital role you play in this.  We would like to thank you for all the support you have given us, your kind words and gifts.

Wishing everyone a restful summer!

Summer Term 2

Our final week of school was jam packed. We have had so many activities to celebrate the end of the school year!

We started the week by having an Olympics afternoon to celebrate the event in Paris. Each Year 1 teacher hosted a game which all children took part in, including gymnastics, tennis, Karate and races.

Activities week also saw our children enjoying a bouncy castle and disco!

What a wonderful week we have had in school. Firstly, all classes visited Shree Jalaram Mandir & Community Centre in Greenford, where they looked at what is inside a Mandir and what takes places there. We were also visited by Freshwater Theatre and classes took part in a Neil Armstrong workshop...it was fun time travelling!  The children in Year 1  showed off their amazing sports skills today during Sports Day. They had fun running, jumping, throwing and even doing the obstacle course! We can't wait to see who has won the Sports Day trophy for our year group when all the scores have been counted. Thank you to all the parents who supported their children and joined us for the picnic, the children had a lovely day.

Our Year 1 children  enjoyed time in their new classrooms this week. This period of transition can bring a range of emotions and we will continue to support the children in enjoying their final two weeks and preparing for the new and exciting challenges ahead of them.

Well done to all children were ever so sensible when they found out that sports day was cancelled due to the rain. They did have a good time completing activities in the hall instead!

This week children have been learning about capacity in maths. They also designed, made and evaluated a free standing platform for Beegu.

As we write this afternoon, the sky is blue and the sun is shining - the perfect setting for this week's learning.

Children in Year 1 have been lucky enough to have Freshwater theatre visit us to teach us about Neil Armstrong's journey to the moon in space. Indonesia Class and Japan class visited the Nest and experience rock climbing...what a wonderful experience they have. In DT children have been practising different joining techniques! 

We have had a very busy week, especially with our Eid Performance. Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended. The children did ever so well and we are so proud of them. This week was also music appreciation day and Year 1 learnt about Benjamin Britten. They listened to his music and drew how they were feeling!

This week, the children had an excellent time discovering new and fascinating things.  

 
Wednesday was World Environment Day. The children had a blast coming up with designs and making t-shirts and posters to encourage alternate approaches to lowering air pollution. They discovered how important it is to maintain a safe and clean earth. They also created some beautiful nature bracelets.  
 
This week in maths, we have been adding and subtracting various sums of money. The children were able to put the big number in their head and small numbers on their fingers. Excellent work! Don't forget to keep practicing at home.  

Welcome back to the last half term of Year 1. We cannot believe that we are coming towards the end of the academic year. It was a strange star to the week as the children in Year 1 found a strange scene on Tuesday. They went out to investigate and have predicted that perhaps it's a spaceship. 

In DT we have started to learn about free standing structures. Children soon discovered that we need a base for a structure to be secure!

Children at Minet have been celebrating Soccer Aid this week by doing the daily challenges in the playground and dressing up in their Sports Clothing to raise money for UNICEF. 

This week we also had many parents and carers who attended the Maths Family Friday - we hope you found this beneficial!

Summer Term 1

It's hard to believe that we are at the end of another half term. We have been working ever so hard preparing children for the Phonics Screening Check which will commence week beginning 10th June. 

This week, we were ever so lucky to be visited by Olympian, Chad Miller, who came into school to deliver a workshop. Children joined in with various activities and participated well. We also wrote the setting description of 'The Cloudspotter,' with some children using the talking tins. Geography has been a lot of fun, collecting information about the weather. Child quickly learnt that the weather in the UK is very unpredictable. We did however get to enjoy some time in the sun at the beginning of the week.

The weather has finally caught on to the fact that it is May and we are hopeful that the brighter weather continues. A reminder: to help keep the children safe in the sunnier weather, children should bring a sunhat to school to wear when outside; please ensure that this is named. Children should come into school wearing sun-cream. There are lots of 8- hour protection varieties available, which are perfect for protecting your child throughout the school day. Staff are unable to apply sun-cream to children.

On Tuesday we celebrated International Day. The children were very excited to come to school dressed in clothes from their culture. They took part in a dance workshop where they learnt to dance to  music from around the world. We learnt facts about our class country and completed art work and other fun activities. The children had a lot fun! It was lovely to see all the parents at the end day so we could share learning with you.  

In Art the children have been learning about Vincent Van Gogh. The children completed their oil pastel art on ‘The Starry Night’. They used different oil pastel techniques to create the different effects like in the original piece. This week we also visited Botwell Library where we met Emma and learnt all about what the library has to offer.

We hope you all enjoyed the long weekend and the glorious weather we have had - children have been looking super cool in their sunglasses! 

In English this week we have been learning the new vocabulary for our new text map. The children enjoyed coming up with different actions to help them remember the model text. They have written great sentences using the new vocabulary words, well done! 

We all had lots of fun making rain gauges to help us measure rainfall. Keep an eye out for any rain and make sure to check the rain gauges outside our classes for the exact measurements! 

The children got a little messy using the oil pastels in art as they were creating their own version of “the Starry Night” inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. They all look amazing so far!!

This term is a wonderful opportunity for the children to reflect and be proud of the progress they have made this year and also enjoy more time outside! It was a delight to see children outside with their scooters for scooter safety training. Thank you to 'For2Feet' for visiting us this week.

In maths children have been partitioning numbers to 100 and in Art we were sketching in the style of Van Gogh!

We've had a busy, fun filled week this week! There's been a range a weather for us to discuss in our Geography lessons - it's been sunny, windy, cloudy, hot, rainy and cold, all in one week. In the main focus of this week's Geography lesson, the children learnt about wind. The went outside with windmills, scarves and bubbles to find out if there was any wind. The children then made streamers.

In maths the children have learning about fractions. The children found halves and quarters of shapes using bread. After the children found halves and quarters of amounts.  

In art this half term the children are learning about famous artist, Vincent Van Gogh. At the end of the term the children will recreate one his famous art work. This week the children have learnt how to use oil pastels to create different techniques such as colour blocking and blending.  

Welcome back to school Year 1, we hope you had a restful half term! It has been a wonderful week filled with lots of new learning.  

Thank you to Hillingdon Council, for delivering an incredible workshop that was all about regulating and understanding our emotions. The children were very excited to see Gerald the giraffe again!  

In maths children have been using different non-standard and standard units to measure different objects! They had lots using their hands as a measurement!  

Make sure to look out for any unique shaped clouds. Happy cloud hunting!! 

Spring Term 2

The children have a had a busy but fun week to end the term! 

In RE the children learnt about Hindu and Christian ceremonies. They learnt how the different cultures celebrate the birth of a child and their weddings. The children drew pictures and wrote facts. 

In English the children have been learning about poems. Over the last few weeks the children have learnt what rhyming words are and how they are commonly used in poems. They then had a go at writing their own poem about the story Room on the Broom.  

The children took part in the attendance Easter egg hunt. They made baskets and then went outside to find the hidden the eggs. The children were very excited! 

There has been some amazing learning taking place and we are ever so proud of the children. In Maths, we have been learning to find the difference with cubes and number lines and in English we have been practising our poem, 'In my Pot.' 

Our Year 1 pupils have been learning about a healthy diet and as part of their DT learning they designed, made and evaluated a heathy fruit salad. They enjoyed eating their creations at Minet Country Park!

The Year 1 Rights Respecting Ambassadors also received their badges this week!

It's been a very busy week in Year 1 - so much fun and excitiment, especially with Red Nose Day!

In English this week we have been learning about rhyming words. The children really enjoyed creating their own rhyming wheels and making different words using playdough! 

Maths: We have been learning to compare and find the difference between numbers. The children were able to use cubes to help them find out the difference.  

We also had a very fun workshop this week, 'The Life Bus, it was all about making healthy choices. The children were excited and eager to list and group different foods to the correct food groups.  

It was also British Science Week and we were very lucky to have volcano workshops!

This week, we enjoyed another fantastic World Book Day. Reading at Minet is a priority and an enormous amount of focus goes to ensuring that our children “learn to read” as we truly believe this enables them to “read to learn”. 

Also thank you to Tim Knapman for visiting us - we loved listening to your stories!

In DT we were learning all about different fruits. We had the chance to predict what the fruits would taste like and then we were able to try the fruits. 

It's the end of another week in Year 1 and the weather has not been good. Please do sent in rain jackets and welly boots!

History – the children have been learning about the Wright Brother and their plane. This week we made a propeller like the one on the first plane. We learnt how propellers work and how it moves in the air.  

Fairtrade Day – The children spent the day learning about fairtrade products and what fairtrade means. We made banana milkshake using fairtrade bananas. Then we wrote a recipe using our time words. In the afternoon we played fairtade themed games where we practised how to take turn. Finally we made a poster to promote fairtrade and why it is important. 

It was lovely seeing the children back on Monday - we cannot believe we are half way through the year. This week we have started our new English Unit on Room on the Broom and children made their own wands. In Maths we have introduce bar modelling which children used to help with addition. The science topic this half term in all about materials and children were sorting this week.

Thank you to Hillingdon Council who provided some pedestrian training to the Year 1 children.

Spring Term 1

We've had a lovely last week of this half term. So many fun filled activities.

Mindfulness

Children took part in a Mindfulness session. We practised how we can breathe to keep calm. We talked about that no feelings are bad but our actions can be. We then laid down with a eye mask on and listened to calm music as a way to calm down when we are angry. We then made breathing wands using pipe cleaners.

UK Day

In Geography we have been learning about the United Kingdom and it’s four countries. Each year 1 class was a country where the children completed different activities related to the country. The children had a go at Irish dancing, playing Rugby, made tartan weaving patterns and made a dragon. The children had a lot of fun.

Animals

In science the children have been learning about different groups of animals and their food groups. The children had a visit from some animals. They could touch and stroke the animals if they wanted too. We saw a tortoise, millipede, tarantula, meerkat, python and owl. The children thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Have a wonderful half term holiday!

English: 

In English this week we have been focusing on grammar. Children have been using different pronouns in their sentences.  

Maths: 

This week the children have been learning to read and write the time (o’clock and half past). They had a lot of fun doing it practically!  

Computing:  

This term children have been using the Bee-bots to follow a set of instructions. This week they were coming up with their own algorithms to move the bee-bot around the story mat of The Three Little Pigs.

Thank you to Father Wheeler who joined us for RE day and shared what Christians believe about the 'Ideas of God.'

It has been a very busy week for our Year 1 children. We started the week by having a music specialist come into school to teach us about different instruments. We also visited Windsor Castle as part of our English and Geography Learning. It was an amazing trip and we were able to see the changing of the guards, walk through the state apartments and visit St. George's Chapel. On Friday the parents came into school and joined our English lesson, where we introduce the children to the model text and text map of the recount of the visit. 

This week we celebrated Martin Luther King Day. We learnt about equality, and we held hands together as a class to show how united we are.  

English  

We have been learning our new text map on the Queens handbag.

Author visit  

This week we had an author come to visit us. His name was Banji Alexander. The children were very excited to learn all about his book and to ask him lots of questions.  

Topic

We have enjoyed learning about algorithms in Computing using the Beebots! We understand that they are robots and we can give them instructions. 

In geography, we have been locating countries of the UK. It was fun finding the UK in an atlas! 

Happy New Year to you all and a warm welcome back to the start of the Spring term. It has been lovely to see how positively our children have settled. We have enjoyed seeing how the children have dived straight into their learning and are excited to start their topics in their curriculum and begin reading the texts which will drive their learning this term.

English: 

To start our new book ‘The Queens Handbag’ we had a go at drawing Queen Elizabeth II. We also participated in Hot Seating - the children came up with some very good questions.

Maths: 

This week the children have been learning about addition and subtraction stories. The children say the equation by using key words such as first, now and then.    

Art:  

This half term we learning about the British artist, Bridget Riley. She is famous for creating optical illusion art. She uses different line shapes to create the illusion a picture is moving. We also had a go at drawing different line shapes. This will help us when we create our own optical illusion art.  

Please do remember that we have our author visit next week - please place all orders for books as soon as possible! Banji Alexander, who teaches at a school in south-east London with a large number of students and staff from minority ethnic backgrounds, started writing Lockdown Looms: Reggie's Birthday Party, a book detailing a child's experience of the pandemic, during the second lockdown.

Autumn Term 2:

It's been a lovely last week of 2023 at Minet! We've has a Santa visit, Songs for the Season performance, singing at Triscott House and attendance assembly!

It's been a fun week at school. We have been doing many Christmas activities as well as our learning. It was Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper day. We have also been practising for our 'Songs for the Season,' and enjoyed singing to Reception children this week. We have also been making our crafts to sell at the Winter Fayre. In English we learnt about the features of a letter and wrote one to Santa. In Maths we have been learning about our numbers to 20 and place value. We are getting very good at recognising the tens and ones in a number. Children...and Teachers are excited about next week!

It's been a busy week in Year 1. We started the week with a Pantomime Visit. Children enjoyed watching Jack and the Beanstalk - they joined in with lines, singing and dancing.

We also walked to St. Mary's Church and met Father Wheeler. It was lovely hearing the Christmas story in the oldest building in Hayes. 

We have continued our English Unit on Stanley's Stick. We have been using colourful semantics to help with our writing.

Well done to everyone who took part in the Hayes treasure Hunt!

We started this week by sorting old and new toys in our history lesson. The Year 1 Children then had a visit from Chertsey Toy Museum. They were able to explore toys from the past with a range of real and replica toys from 120-60 years ago. They also looked at how different toys work and how they have changed over time.

We've also been getting ready for Christmas by decorating our classrooms!

Children have had a fantastic World Children's Day, learning about their rights! We wrote speech bubbles about our rights, played games without toys, e.g. fox and rabbit, Simon says, rock paper scissors. We made instruments using recyclable instruments and designed our own trainers.

Autumn Term 1:

It is the last week of the half term but the children have still be ever so busy. 

In English we have been using the text map to retell our explanation list on how to look after our world. Children have really enjoyed our science lessons where they have been exploring their senses. This week we explored our sense of smell and taste!

In art this week we completed our Picasso style art portraits and then evaluated them! 

Geography Day in Year 1 this week where we have been exploring Minet Country Park - thinking about both human and physical features of the park.

In math this week we have been comparing numbers. We have been finding out what numbers are greater than and less than and using the symbols. In English we have been practising our text map so we can retell the story ‘I love you Blue Kangeroo’ independently. In science we have been learning about our senses. This week we learnt about our sight and how we see. We then labelled an eye. Our map work continued in geography, were we drew our own maps of the classroom.

Thank you to all the parents and carers that attended the 'Meet the Teacher' event. We do hope you found it informative. 

The Year 1 children impressed their teachers with their wonderful learning. They have been learning about the importance of presentation and are understanding how to take responsibility for their belongings, including their books. 

Geography has been fun this week; we went on a walk around the school grounds and found the features on our maps. We were able to read the key! 

Year 1 children have settled into KS1 brilliantly. They are enjoying being in their new classrooms and have been impressing their teachers with their wonderful learning. This week, children have been learning about the names of body parts and labelled their own photograph. Tuesday was a fun day as the Year 1 children participated in toy day - bringing in their favourite toys from home. In Art we are beginning to learn about portraits and this week created our own! Geography was full of fun as children were learning about what an aerial view picture is and created a class messy map!

Year 1 - 2022 -2023

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Year 1. We are looking forward to working in partnership with you this academic year!

Classes and Teachers

Indonesia Class: Mrs Bhambra

Cambodia Class: Mrs Bull

Japan Class: Mrs Bangard and Mrs Rehmanji

India Class: Miss Jivraj

These are our PE Days:

Indonesia Class: Wednesday and Friday

Cambodia Class: Wednesday and Friday

Japan Class: Wednesday and Thursday

India Class: Monday and Wednesday

Year 1 Curriculum Overview 2022-2023

Half Termly Topic Webs

Weekly Blog

Please do visit this page, each Friday, for our weekly blog. You will find useful information, including what we have been learning during the week and important dates. There will also be links to Phonics videos.

2021-2022