Term 5

English

Spanish Bulls have been working hard during Term 5 learning two new genres of writing. To begin the term, we explored the genre of list poems. We began this unit by exploring our model text, and learning actions to support our understanding of the text. Following this, we began to plan our own list poems about life in school. When we got to write our final piece, we focused on incorporating adjectives and verbs into our writing.

The second genre of writing we explored this term was letters. After learning our model text, we began to delve into the features of a letter. We explored how to write a simple letter opening, and practiced this skill. We also recalled some of the elements of our list poems to include in our writing. In our final pieces, we explained how we can make a positive contribution to the school by improving the playground. Everyone produced fantastic ideas in their writing.

Maths

In our Maths learning, we have been focused on our multiplication and division skills. We began the unit by exploring how to count in groups of twos, fives and tens. To secure this knowledge, we completed various activities including highlighting number patterns on hundred squares.

Following on from this, we explored the vocabulary of ‘rows’ and ‘columns’, and developed our understanding of creating arrays by using these keywords. Everyone enjoyed creating simple arrays, and developing their understanding of simple multiplication.

Finally, we explored the skill of dividing a whole number into equal groups by sharing. We focused on the concept of sharing items one by one to create equal groups. This was a very enjoyable unit of work, and supported a range of interesting discussions during lessons.

Topic

Spanish Bulls began work on their final topic of the year this term - School Days. To begin the topic, we started by exploring life in our school. We were visited by Mrs Biddlecombe, who explained the history of the school from the beginning. We then discussed our favourite areas of the school and how to care for our environment. Finally, we discussed special people within the school, and the roles they undertake to help and support us each day.

Once we secured a range of information about our school, we began to discuss life in the Victorian times. We started by exploring elements of life in this era, such as clothing, inventions and the monarchy. We moved our attention towards Victorian schools, and explored what school life was like in this period of history. We discussed various differences in the school day, and explored a range of classroom artefacts used daily. Spanish Bulls are keen to continue this learning next term, before addressing their key question for the topic, which focuses on comparing school life in both eras.

R.E.

In RE this term, we moved our attention to the study of Judaism. We have been exploring a key celebration in Jewish culture - Shabbat. We began by discussing important days of the week for us, and events we undertake each week. We moved our attention to learning what Shabbat is, and the elements of this traditional celebration. Children had opportunities to discuss items found at a traditional Jewish dinner table during Shabbat and explored accounts of what the event is like. Finally, we discussed the importance of this celebration and questioned whether children could skip this celebration to attend other events, such as birthday parties. Spanish Bulls enjoyed this unit of learning, and it produced a range of in-depth class discussions.

Science

‘Animal Parts’ has been a popular Science unit for Spanish Bulls. Everyone has thoroughly enjoyed learning about animals throughout the term. We began our learning by drawing out our existing knowledge of what an animal is and labelling various animal body parts. We developed this knowledge by exploring the six animal groups, and common features of each group. We secured this knowledge by completing a range of sorting activities to group animals together based on their features. Moving on, we discussed the three main animal diets - carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. To support this, we discussed which animals belong to each diet group, and produced a Venn diagram to display this knowledge. Finally, we discussed animals that could be kept as pets, and how to care for these animals. Everyone was keen to discuss their favourite animals and share details of pets they have at home.

Term 4

Topic

Spanish Bulls have been working very hard throughout Term 4 to finish their ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ topic. To begin the term, we recapped our learning from the beginning of our topic. We discussed human and physical features and what these look like in the United Kingdom. Following this, we explored weather patterns in the UK and created our own weekly weather report, in which we recorded the daily weather each day. We focused on famous landmarks in London, and completed various matching activities to learn the names of these.

To finish the topic, children had the opportunity to write sentences to describe what they have learned about London. Finally, we answered our key inquiry question ‘what information would you give to a tourist visiting London?’. This question gave children the opportunity to showcase all of their learning across the whole unit.

English

In English, Spanish Bulls have been learning how to write a journey story. This began with a model text, which we learned alongside actions to support our understanding. Then we explored the key vocabulary from the text, and discussed various features of the text. Children had opportunities to practice writing various stages of their own journey story to develop their understanding of how to write an opening, problem, resolution and ending. Finally, we planned our own journey stories and everyone produced fantastic writing.

Maths

Following on from their prior learning of numbers within 20, Spanish Bulls have been developing their knowledge of number this term as we have been exploring numbers within 50. Within this unit, we have focused on skills including counting, ordering and comparing numbers. Children have been using various resources including number lines, ten frames and bead strings to support their understanding. Everyone has been working very hard within this unit to apply previously learned skills to larger numbers and number sentences.

Science

In Science, we continued to work on our ‘Seasonal Changes’ unit. We began the term by exploring the weather in our local area and we wrote detailed descriptions of the daily weather – recalling details of the temperature, wind and precipitation. We then focused on the day length and how this varies across different seasons. We explored the differences in day length between winter and summer months. Finally, we planned an experiment to measure the amount of rainfall during a specific amount of time. We discussed what we were planning to investigate, then made a prediction and wrote a list of the equipment we would need. Spanish Bulls have enjoyed developing their knowledge of the seasons.

PE

In our PE learning this term we have been working on gymnastics. Within this unit, we have explored three types of movements – wide, narrow and curled. Using a range of apparatus, children have explored moving in a variety of ways within these three categories. We focused on creating flowing movements, the transition between each of the three styles we explored and linking them together. Spanish Bulls have thoroughly enjoyed working on this unit and are keen to continue developing their gymnastics knowledge.

Term 3

Geography

Across Term 3 and 4 our topic is ‘Bright Lights, Big City’, which is a unit focused on geography learning. To begin this unit of work, we explored the United Kingdom and the four countries that made it up. We discussed the location of each of the four countries on a map and identified the capital city for each. Children created and labelled their own maps to show their understanding of this knowledge.

Following on from this, we began to explore human features and physical features. Children have begun to develop a good understanding of both and can explain that human features are man-made objects whereas physical features are natural elements. To secure this knowledge we completed a range of activities identifying and explaining key features in the United Kingdom.

Spanish Bulls are looking forward to using their knowledge to begin to learn about the city of London next term.

English

Spanish Bulls have really enjoyed their English learning this term. We have been learning about postcards, and creating our own ones. To begin the unit, we explored what postcards are, and why people send them. We discussed that these are often short notes that people send while they are on holiday or in a different location than usual. We began by learning a model text, along with actions to help support our understanding of the layout and structure of a postcard. Our model text was about a trip to the city of London, so children also began to discuss key landmarks at the same time. Once this was secure, we continued to develop our knowledge by examining the key vocabulary used in our model text and learning these.

Once we were confident with the model text and structure, we worked as a class to make simple changes to the text and produced a new postcard. We split this text into smaller sections and wrote individual sections each day. Finally, Spanish Bulls were given the opportunity to use their knowledge to plan and write their own postcards to their own chosen recipient.

Maths

Throughout the term, we have been focused on numbers to 20 in our Maths learning. Within this unit, Spanish Bulls began by focusing on partitioning a given number into groups of tens and ones; and children used this method to identify and count numbers using ten frames. Following this, we returned to the concept of identifying one more and one less than a given number. Children were able to use their prior knowledge of this skill and apply it to larger numbers up to 20. We then explored how to compare groups of objects and identify which group was greater and which one was less. Finally, we focused on identifying and ordering numbers using a number line up to 20. Spanish Bulls have learned key skills this term that will support their learning as they begin to work with numbers beyond 20 later in the year.

Science

At the beginning of Term 3 we began our ‘Seasonal Changes’ science unit, which will continue throughout Term 4. This unit explores the changes that occur across each season and examines how these changes affect the weather, animals and plants. To begin the term, children wrote their own predictions for the changes that they think will happen as the season changes from winter to spring. Children explored the four seasons of the year, and key points about each one.

We then turned our focus onto tress, and we explored the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees. Children examined what changes happen to each type of tree as the seasons changes across the year. We used this knowledge to describe the leaves of both deciduous and evergreen trees. Finally, we considered the changes that deciduous trees go through across the year and wrote sentences to describe the key changes in each season.

RE

This term, our RE learning has focused around a key question: ‘Was it always easy for Jesus to show friendship?’. To begin the unit, we explored what friendship is and sorted various pictures into two groups: things a good friend does and things a good friend does not do. Following on from this, we began to explore three key stories of Jesus: The Story of Zacchaeus, Jesus Stills the Storm and the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Throughout each of these stories, children were able to recognise how Jesus showed friendship to others around him. Following each story, children discussed and explained how he showed friendship to others and if it was easy for him to show friendship to others. Spanish Bulls enjoyed this unit and have had some fascinating discussions about friendship.

Term 2

English

Spanish Bulls have been working very hard this term in their English lessons. We began the term by continuing the riddles unit we began at the end of Term 1. Children used the information they had gained throughout the previous term to write their own independent riddles.

After this unit had finished, we began a unit on non-chronological reports. Children were introduced to a model text, which we all learned, with actions to support. Building on from this, we focused on key vocabulary from within the text, and the structure of the text. We then moved on to plan and write our own reports featuring facts from life in the present day.

Maths

Spanish Bulls have been working hard on developing their part-whole knowledge to support addition and subtraction. Children explored how to use a part-whole model to partition a given number into two smaller groups. Building on from this, we used our knowledge of the part-whole model to begin to learn how to write number sentences and fact families. Once everyone had developed this skill, we began to explore how to use a part-whole model to find a missing part using a range of resources including counters, ten frames and number lines.

Topic

Spanish Bulls have continued their learning within the ‘Childhood’ topic this term. We began the term by exploring and researching various facts about life within the 1950s, including what school was like, how children dressed and what forms of entertainment were available for people. To explore this topic further, we then examined how different childhood was in the 1950s. Children were able to discuss various differences between children in the present day and childhood in the past.

To conclude the topic, children explored how areas have changed between the 1950s and the present day. We explored a given map of an area, and discussed the features we could identify on it. We then compared this with another map, from the same area, and noted all the differences that have occurred over time.

RE

Spanish Bulls have worked very hard throughout this term to prepare for their Nativity performance. We began by learning the Christmas story, exploring the main events of the story and creating a storyboard to sequence them. Following on from this, children were able to write sentences to describe and explain what happened during the beginning, middle and end of the story.

Once we had developed our understanding of the story, we began to prepare the roles and songs for our wonderful performance. Everyone worked hard and tried their best to put on a great performance – they should all be proud of themselves.

DT

Spanish Bulls have been working on their unit of ‘Shade and Shelter’ this term. The focus of the unit has been to gain an understanding of what shelters are, how they are used and which materials they can be made with. To begin the unit, we explored a variety of shelters and discussed which materials would be most suitable to build shelters with. Following on from this, we designed our own shelters using a design criteria and then created miniature models of these using a range of junk modelling resources. Finally, we finished the unit with our school trip to Forest School, where we were able to build larger shelters using a range of natural materials.

Science

Everyone has been very engaged in the Science unit of ‘Human Senses’ throughout the term. Children have been able to develop their knowledge to gain a better understanding of how humans use their senses to function. We began the term by exploring the basic parts of a human body. To do this, we worked in small groups to draw a life-size outline of a body, and each member of the group labelled various body parts.

Building on this learning, we then counted the amount of each body part we all have, and created simple Venn diagrams to compare ourselves with a partner. Children were able to identify various similarities and differences between themselves such as eye colour, hairstyle and height.

Finally, we have been developing our understanding of each human sense by completing various tasks focusing on each sense individually. Spanish Bulls have enjoyed this unit and are looking forward to more Science learning next term.

Term 1

English

Spanish Bulls have been working hard to learn features of two genres of writing this term. To begin with, we explored the genre of autobiographies. Firstly, we learned a model text, with actions to support our understanding. Once everyone was confident with the features of this text, we began to make changes to produce our own versions of autobiography writing. This was a challenging piece of writing, but there were some wonderful pieces produced.

Following this, we began to explore the genre of riddles. We learned two short model texts to support our understanding of this genre. We focused on creating adjective word banks to use when writing our own riddles.

Maths

To begin Year 1, we have been focused on the ‘counting to 10’ unit within our Maths learning. Within this unit, we have focused on securing our knowledge of counting to 10 – children have created number tracks to support this learning.

We have also explored the concept of ‘one more’ and ‘one less’ using numbers within 10. Children have been able to identify one more or one less than a given number using a range of manipulatives to support.

Finally, we explored how to compare numbers, and learnt key vocabulary including ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’. Children have used a range of methods to develop their understanding of comparing numbers – including how to use the correct symbols for this vocabulary.

Science

Our Science learning this term has focused around everyday materials. To begin the unit, we explored a range of materials and began to describe these orally. We then embarked on a materials hunt around the school grounds to observe which materials can be seen in our environment.

Once we had begun our learning journey, we then explored the difference between natural materials and human-made materials. Children have become confident in giving examples of both types of materials, and can identify a range of these.

Finally, we explored how to group materials together based on their type and also based on their properties.

Spanish Bulls have worked hard in their Science learning this term, and have really enjoyed it.

History

To begin our Childhood topic, we first explored a range of historic toys and discussed the uses of each one and how they compare to todays toys. After exploring toys, we then began to focus on families and we learned how to create a family tree. Children were given a blank tree template to assist them in creating their own unique families trees.

Next in our learning journey, we explored the six stages of human life from baby all the way to elderly adults. We create a simple timeline to support our understanding of this life journey. We then were able to put our knowledge of timelines into use by creating our own timelines using photographs from each of our lives.

Finally, we all chose one event that was important to us in our lives and wrote simple sentences to describe why it was important. Spanish Bulls really enjoyed this activity as they were all keen to share their important events with each other.

Art

Our Art focus this term has been on the style of portraits. To begin, we all produced our own portraits using a range of media, including paints, crayons and pencils. We then explored the concept of collage making, and children were given a face template to decorate with various facial features to create a funny face collage. Finally, we explored the work of various artists, and created thumbnail sketches of a range of interesting portraits. Spanish Bulls have been very enthusiastic about this unit of learning.

RE

Spanish Bulls have been learning all about Christianity this term – focusing specifically on the Christian creation story. Children discovered, and discussed the events of each day of the creation story, and why this story is important to Christians. Children have been learning how to re-tell the story, and have created their own creation story wheels to support their re-telling of this story. Finally, we have explored different ways in which people treat the environment – children had to sort scenarios into two groups: positive and negative ways to treat the world. Children have been able to explain how they think God would like Christians to treat the world.

PE

In PE, we have focused on two units this term: running and team building. In the first unit, we have been developing the correct technique used for running, and completing various games to support this learning. Next, we learnt what it means to work together in a team. Children have been given a range of challenges, and they have had to work together in small groups to attempt to solve these. This unit has supported the development of communication, trust and teamwork.