Weekly Blog

This week July 18th!

What a great year we have had in Meadow 1 - it has flown by!  Your children have been a delight to teach this year and have grown in so many ways.  I think they are ready for Year 2 and I know they are very excited to be taught by Miss Wittman again!

Mrs Beasley and I would like to thnk you for all your messages, cards and gifts - it was very kind of you all.  

Have the most wonderful summer break!

Mrs Keys

This week July 11th!

I has been very hot in the classroom this week!  

I can't believe this year is almost over!  

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Keys

Stay and...

Thank you for coming to stay and sketch  - I can see where they get their artistic talents from!

This week June 20th!

A very hot and busy week!  

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Keys

This week June 13th!

Another packed week this week!  Don't forget the Year 1 Sports Day at 2pm next week!  It is going to be a hot day so sunhats and suncream and a water bottle are essential!

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Keys!

This week June the 6th!

What a FANTASTIC week!

Have a look at what we have been up to! 

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Keys

This week May 16th

In Maths, we practised ordering the days of the week and months of the year. These songs have been helping us remember the order.Months of the Year Song | Song for Kids | The Singing Walrus

Days of the Week Song | The Singing Walrus

In Geography, we explored different types of houses. We used fieldwork skills to look closely at types of houses near our school. The children created their own street full of different types of houses. Please ask your child to use their new skills to find out what type of house they live in!

We also chose two characters to star in our own Yeti and the Bird stories, ready to write in Literacy next week! 

Meadow and Skipper had a fabulous time on their Welly Walk to Poundbury Hillfort, collecting and scattering buttercup seeds with Miles King from People Need Nature. Grayling are looking forward to their turn on Monday. 

Stay and….

Thank you for your support at this half term’s Stay and spot alien and real words session. Phonics continues to be an important part of every day in year 1. Successful decoding of all word types increases reading confidence and accuracy. 

Have a wonderful weekend

Mrs Keys

This week May 9th

In Art we explored spirals!

Fun in PE with balls and rackets!

In Literacy we read more of our Yeti and the Bird book and found out that the bird was lost in the Himalayas. We then wrote postcards to the bird’s family using the word ‘but’ to link two ideas. 

On Friday we had a street party to mark the 80th anniversary of VE day! We enjoyed a snack and a drink with the rest of the children in Meadow Strand and had lots of fun listening to music from the 1940s. 

This week May 2nd

Our Big Question this half term is What is special about where we live?  In Geography the children explored the local area from above using aerial photographs and Google Earth.  

In maths we are working with numbers up to 100 and recapping counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.  There is a great online game to support this learning called Nutty Numbers!  Click here to find it.  Select 2, 5 or 10 and help the squirrel find the right acorn in the tree!

This week April 25th

This week April 4th

Over the past two weeks we have been taking part in the Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel. Each day we have counted how many of us have walked, scooted or cycled to school. Some of us who had to drive to school decided to park a little further away than normal so we could still take part. Well done Meadow 1! 

This week we are learning about the Christian celebration of Easter. We are looking especially at the first part of the story, Palm Sunday when Jesus was cheered as he rode a donkey into Jerusalem. We will be tasting Hot Cross buns,  and Easter eggs too!

In literacy, we wrote our own version of The Sea Saw and imagined what would happen if we lost our own favourite toys at the beach. We focused on using the days of the week and the joining word ‘and’ in our writing. 

In Maths we have been sharing and grouping objects to find a  half and a quarter of an amount. We used these sentences to help us talk about our learning.

• 1 whole is equal to ___ halves.

• 1 whole is equal to ___ quarters.

• 1 half is equal to ___ quarters.

In Science we had great fun thinking about the senses again, this time focusing on taste!  The children enjoyed trying to work out if the popcorn in the bowls was sweet or salty.

The scooter treat was enjoyed by everyone this week  - well done Meadow 1!

Have a wonderful Easter - I hope you love the Easter cards as much as we do!

A quick reminder that school doesn't start back until the Wednesday after the Easter weekend.

Mrs Keys

This week March 24th

This week March 21st

Highlights of this week included a senses walk in science, growing the code in phonics, exploring division in maths, completing a tentacle art sculpture and learning to be Switched On at the railway station!

Science

The children identified which senses they used as they walked around the school grounds. 

Phonics

Please see below to find out which graphemes, tricky words and spellings have been the focus of our daily phonics sessions this week. 

Maths

The children were challenged to see how many ways they could group 12 cubes equally. 

Switched On!

We participated in an online assembly to learn about how to stay safe. Can your child remember the important railway station signs?

We have been learning this helpful song to remember how to stay “Switched On”. 

Ready, Check, Go! Song | Switched on Travels with Suzi | Ages 3-6

The children have also enjoyed continuing to bake in groups - we are now enjoying learning how to make soda bread!

The children had a good laugh on Comic Relief Day - thank you for all your kind donations!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Keys

This week March 14th

It was lovely to see you all at the Stay and build a lighthouse this week!  Thank you so much for coming the children really enjoyed it and the models you made together were brilliant!

Later in the week the children found out about the brave rescue that Grace Darling did with her father.  They were able to sequence the events in groups.

Today your child is bringing home some maths homework on additiona and subtraction.  Please help them to spot if it is an addition or a subtraction and to use the numberline to find out the answer.

They are also bringing home the words to the Octopus Garden song that we will be sharing with other classes in the school soon.  They have learnt some great moves to the song - ask them to show you!

Thank you so much for your chocolate contributions today!  The PTA are very grateful!

Next week we are looking forward to Miss Whitman returning to the class!  It will be so lovely to see her again!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs Keys

This week March 3rd

What a great week!

It was lovely to see some of you at the Beach Clean with Oly Rush on Sunday!  At first sight it didn't look like there was much rubbish but we did indeed end up finding lots!  What a great thing to do and teach our children about.

The trip to the Sealife centre on Monday was fantastic and the children had a wonderful time - a hugh thank you to all of you who were able to come.

In science this week we have been learning about outside body parts  and the children had fun drawing around each other and labelling!

We have been continuing with equal groups in maths and next week will start division as sharing.

Our new literacy text is a beautiful story  by Tom Percival called The Sea Saw.  The children have enjoyed thinking about a special toy that got lost and have written letters to the sea asking him to help return the precious teddy,

There were some great "words" that walked into school on Thursday to celebrate World Book Day - many thanks for your support.

Have a wonderful weekend

Mrs Keys

This week February 28th 

This week we were thrilled to meet Oly Rush who works for Project Planet Earth.  He came in to talk to the children about plastic pollution and the things they could do to help!  Oly is running a beach clean at Ringstead Beach on Sunday - the children are very keen to go if you are able to!  See the poster below for more details.

In Geography we made some super posters about keeping our oceans clean too!

In art we looked at the work of artist Yayoi Kusama and started to make our octopus tentacles!  To find out more about the artist please take a look at the video below. 

In Maths we have continued to look at early multiplication skills.  The children loved bringing their favourite toy into school to write about in literacy!

We are very excited about our trip to the Sea Life Centre on Monday and the weather looks perfect!

Have a wonderful weekend 

Mrs Keys

This week February 14th 

A super final week!

The children have finished their octopus leaflets and they are brilliant.  Next half term we have a visit from Oly Rush talking to the children about plastic pollution in our seas so the children thought of some fantastic questions to ask him!  

In maths we have started our multiplication topic and have been focusing on creating equal groups.

Science this week was very exciting as the children had to work out which poo came from a herbivore, a carnivore and an omnivore!  I had great fun the night before making the poo out of oats and cocoa powder!

Meadow 1 also thought about what makes a good friend in RE with Mrs Godfrey and had a fun morning!

Today we got the big equipment out and also had a visit from Trevor Mrs Lewis's tortoise!

Coming home in your child's reading diary is their latest reading assessment.  They have made so much progress and we are only half way through the year! 

After half term we will be asking the children to spell the words from their spelling journals to see how they are getting on.

Have a wonderful half term!

Mrs Keys 

This week February 3rd

Another busy week in Meadow 1!

In maths this week we have been thinking about length and height.  The children have had great fun comparing their height and the length of fish!  We have also been measuring using non standard units so have used cubes and our handspans.

In science this week we have been focusing on animal structure  and how different animals have different body parts depending on what they do.  The children loved making animals out of playdoh to help with this discussion.  We also sorted animals based on their body parts too.

In Geography we studied the wonderful wildlife in our oceans and found out that the temperature of the sea is linked to the animals that live there.

Number day was brilliant and we enjoyed doing some fun number PE in the hall and lots of measuring in class!

On Thursday we attended a virtual author workshop on Thursday and got to me the brilliant author and poet Joseph Coelho.

It was lovely to catch up with you all at parents evening this week and share the progress your children have made.

Have a wonderful weekend

Mrs Keys

This week 31st January

What a week of different types of weather!  The children have changed our weather chart many times during the day!

In maths this week we have been thinking about 2D shapes, 3D shapes and pattern and have had lots of fun!  We even got outside to do a shape hunt in the sunshine!

In geography we were thinking about physical features and created our very own models showing a beach, the sea, a cliff and the coastline.  We had a fantastic conversation about the Jurassic Coast and how lucky we are to live where we do.

We continued to find out about animal groups - this week focusing on fish and amphibians.  The axolotl was everyone's favourite amphibian!

We have also planned our octopus leaflets and are excited to find out the answers to all the questions we have thought of.  Meadow 1 are rapidly becoming octopus experts!

A letter about the sealife centre should have made it home to you this week - if you are able to help don't forget to email the year1 email here...year1@damers.dorset.sch.uk

Finally I look forward to seeing you all at parents evening next week - if you haven't booked please do so by Sunday as the booking system closes then.  I am fully booked on Thursday but have several spaces on Wednesday still.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Keys 

This week 24th January

Another busy week for Meadow 1!

In science we have found out about two more animal groups - reptiles and birds.  Your child should be able to tell you about what is the same about these two groups and what is different.  We used our classification skills to sort animals into the two groups.  Some of the children told me about a great song to help remember the different groups - another catchy number!  See below if you want to sing along too!

This week in maths we have moved onto 2D shapes and the children have been busy naming, grouping and thinking about the properties of different shapes.

Our literacy continues to focus on octopuses and we are starting to become quite the experts!  We are looking forward to planning our information leaflets next week.

Our underwater collages are coming on a treat too.  This week the children have been cutting out fishy shapes from the rubbings they did last week - they are going to look great on one of our display boards!

We have continued to think about the earth this week and have learnt the names of the 5 oceans.  The children have enjoyed having a quick look at Google Earth and that could be a lovely thing to do at home too where you can zoom to different continents and oceans!  Of course we also sang an ocean's song too.

We had a fantastic music lesson in the music room this week and the children are enjoying learning about pulse and rhythm using some of the percussion instruments.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Keys 

This week 17th January

This week has been very busy and I am afraid I forgot to take many photos! 

In geography the children are continuing to learn about the continents and have learnt a great song to help remember the names - see the video below - it is, I should warn you VERY catchy!

Cooking started up again and the children are learning some cutting, spreading and rolling skills to make their delicious jammy snails!

We have been very busy in maths working with numbers up to 40 and representing them in different ways and ordering them too!

Our new literacy book is Leo and the Octopus and the children will be learning so much about these fascinating creatures over the next couple of weeks.  

In science the children learnt about mammals and should be able to tell you what is special about this group of animals.  There are some great BBC bitesize resources to support this - see the link below.

Have a wonderful weekend

Mrs Keys

This week 11th January

Happy New Year!

The children have settled back into school well and have had a busy first week back.

Our new big question is "How can we make sure our oceans stay amazing?"

In science this week we have been thinking about animal groups and the children have learnt how to classify mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians (which is tricky to say!).

In art this term we are thinking about patterns in the oceans and this week we spent some time sketching shells.  Whilst we were doing this it started to snow so we just had to go out and have a run around!

In maths we have been thinking about fact families and how subtraction and addition  are linked.  There is a great game on the top marks website your children can play to help reinforce this learning as it can be a bit tricky.  Please select addition and subtraction to 10 or 20 .  Scan the QR code below  to access the game.

We also had fun doing some pirate dancing this morning ask them to show you some of their moves!

Some home learning is coming home today from Mrs Bearwish linked to our school values - please check in your child's bag.

Have a wonderful weekend

Mrs Keys

This week December 16th 

We have had such a lovely last week! 

Lots of our Christmas crafts will have come home today including our gorgeous Christmas cards!

We have had fun in science with our investigation into which material would make the best waterproof hat!  Plastic was definitely the best and most of the children predicted that!

We learnt that children used to make their own toys including simple pop up puppets - this week in DT we made our very own pop up penguins!

The children looked fantastic in their Christmas jumpers and enjoyed their lunch too!

Today we said goodbye to Miss Wittman who is off to another school next term - we are already looking forward to her returning in the Summer Term.

A huge thank you for all the gifts and cards that have been sent in this week - it is very kind of you all.  We all hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family and look forward to seeing you in 2025!

Mrs Keys

This week December 13th 

Well it really is beginning to feel like Christmas!  We are all so proud of your wonderful children - they were AMAZING this morning!  Most of this week has been spent rehearsing and it really paid off! 

We have also thought about the Christmas Story and the meaning behind the gifts Jesus receieved.  Today was time to get the knitted nativity that my mum knitted out!

During Busy Bee time some children chose to write a letter to Father Christmas!

Have a wonderful weekend

Mrs Keys

This week December 2nd

Well this week has certainly flown by!  Now the stage has gone up we have spent a lot of time rehearsing the play .  Thank you so much for helping your child learn their lines at home and practice the songs it has made such a difference.

We were so lucky to have another special visitor into school linked to our history learning.  Sam Peacefull-Day came in to talk to the children about her very special job.  She repairs old bears and makes them look special again.  Sam talked to the children about the bears she brought in and also showed some before and after photos of her work.  Not only does Sam repair bears for customers she also sells them in a shop in Lyme Regis called Sam's Lazy Bears.  It really was a fascinating talk and we all learnt so much!

In computing this week the children explored programming a robot bee called a Bee Bot!  

The children were excited to visit the Christmas shop today - a huge thank you to the PTA for organising this amazing opportunity for us.   We also started to make a few Christmassy things in class which will come home at the end of term!

If you haven't managed to send a costume in this week please send it in on Monday!

Have a wonderful weekend

Mrs Keys

This week November 25 th 

This week November 18 th 

Linking to our History topic of toys, the children this week have  had a go at making their very own peg doll!  They will be coming home soon!

In this week's Jigsaw session we have been thinking about what makes a good friend and the children all made a friendship token for another classmate.  They thought hard about what to draw and some wrote a kind message too!

In geometry the children had a go at using the Fibonacci spiral to create their own characters showing how inventive they can be!

We have started rehearsing our play and you are all in for a treat!

The reading suitcase is very popular in Meadow 1!  Please remember to send a photo in of your child reading the book they have chosen to take home, they love to show the class and we put them up on a display in the classroom.  Email any  photos to Year1@damers.dorset.sch.uk

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Keys

This week in Geometry the children learnt about the Kintai Bridge in Japan!  It is such a beautiful bridge and the children had a go at sketching it!  They also used the bricks to try and build it too!  

We had a wet but wonderful Welly Walk this week.  The children were fantastic!  Thank you so much to all of you who could help.

Linked to our history topic on toys we had a very special visitor this week who talked to us about the toys that were special to her when she was a child.  The teddy bear in particular was very well loved - most of his fur was gone, an eye and even his arms!  She told us how she didn't have as many toys as children have now and the ones that she did have were super special!  

In science we discussed materials and their properties and sorted items from around the classroom deciding if they were hard or soft!

What a wonderfully wintery day it was on Thursday  - the children loved having a go at making snowmen and throwing snowballs!  Watch out Mrs Beasley!

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Keys

This week November 11th 

In Science this week we have been sorting objects by identifying  what material they are made from.  

In Geometry this half term we are exploring architecture and the Golden Ratio, this week we looked at The Parthenon.  The children worked hard to draw it and did a fantastic job.  We also used bricks and tried to build it too!

In Art we mixed primary colours to make secondary colours!  Ask your child about it!

Today was Bling up your bike or scooter day and it was lovely to watch the children parade around the playground with so much sparkle in the sunshine!

Have a lovely weekend - I hope the weather stays sunny for our welly walk on Tuesday morning!

Mrs Keys

This week November 4th 

The children have settled back into school well after the half term break.   Our new big question this half term is "How have toys changed?"  This question has a big history focus and we started the topic off by thinking about toys the children have now and ones they had when they were younger.

In Art and Geometry we looked at work by the artist Mondrian and created our own versions using the primary colours.

We also put our rain gauge outside that we made last half term so that we can measure the amount of rainfall this half term and compare with six weeks in the Summer Term in order to answer the question "Does it rain more in the Autumn or the Summer?"  

This half term the new science topic is Materials!  The children were really good at identifying different materials in the school playground!  See what they can find at home!  Click on the button below if you want to try out some fun quizes on BBC bitesize that link to our learning.

Our new literacy text will involve a character and a missing hat!  This week we had fun trying on lots of different hats and thinking of questions we could ask about them!  We learnt that all questions end with a question mark when written down!

We also thought about Remembrance Day and made some poppies this afternoon.

It was lovely to see so many of you at our Stay and Spell this week.  Please keep the purple books at home and have a go at using some of the ideas in the front of the book to help your child learn the pink sets of words by Christmas.

This week October 23rd

It has been a very short week but there is no doubt that the children are ready for a break!   

Today they enjoyed their treat in the afternoon where we watched a short film and had some popcorn!

This week the children enjoyed using their plans to make their playground equipment and did a fantastic job at problem solving to find the best way to make them.  They looked fantastic - well done Meadow 1!

They also enjoyed making some smelly potions in the school grounds as inspiration for their own spooky potion poems!

Have a wonderful half term and I look forward to seeing you in November!

Mrs Keys

This week October 18th 

The children have had another busy week!  We have been learning all about hot and cold climates and they have made a fantastic paper plate showing the North and South pole and the equator!  

There were lots of excited gasps as they went into the hall today and used the BIG equipment!  

We made some super cute pumpkins this afternoon which will be coming home for the half term holiday.

It was good to see so many of you at parents evening and talk about how well your children are getting on in Year 1.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Keys 

This week October 12th 

The children have had a busy week - they started writing their own versions of the Naughty Bus story  set at Damers First School.  The bus has been up to no good after the children have gone home!

This week the children have started cooking - each week a different group of 6 children cook with two of our wonderful volunteers.  At the moment they are making ginger bread men.  If you would like the recipe please see the link below!  

Thank you so much for sending in photos of your child playing in a playground.  The children loved sharing them in class.  This week we also went out and explored the playground equipment in the KS2 playground and observed what they were made of and of course tried them out!  Next week the children are looking forward to designing and building a model of their own piece of playground equipment!

In maths we have been thinking about doubles to ten.  There are some great games on "hit the button" including one on doubles that would support your child's learning at school.  Please see the link below.

We have been challenging ourselves to build the tallest tower out of large dominoes in Busy Bee time - look at the concentration on the faces of two of the children in the photo!

Finally a huge thank you to one of the class bringing in a wasps nest that was found in his grandad's garden - it was amazing to see up close!

See you next week - don't forget to sign up to parents evening if you haven't yet!

Mrs Keys

Start of term

The children have settled in so well to Year 1 and we have enjoyed getting to know them.  Our big question this half term is "What is outside our window" and we are thinking about the seasons and how things change outside.  The class created a wonderful collaborative display for the classroom using lots of different media.

The children have also enjoyed getting to find out what a very naughty bus has been up to.  They have noticed that every morning the bus has caused mischief in the classroom.  They have written notes to him asking him to behave!  They have loved discovering the book "The Naughty Bus" by Jan and Jerry Oke.  

In art we have been busy painting portraits and learning how to mix skin tones using water colour paints.    We now have a lovely display out in the corridor, showing all the different languages the children in class speak.   

In maths we have been busy thinking about the composition of numbers to 10.  We made the most of the glorious weather and went outside to find ten things to add to our egg box ten frames.