In computing, Fir Class have been exploring how to use 'Paint'. This week we learnt about the brush tool and the 2D shapes tool. Then, Miss Barber set us the challenge to recreate a piece of Paul Klee's art using Paint. The children were very proud of their creations, particularly because using the mouse pad can be quite a challenge!

In art this term, Fir Class are learning about the artist Paul Klee. In our first art lesson of the new term, we set up an art gallery in our classroom and spent time exploring Paul Klee's work. We thought about the colours and shapes that we could see, as well as how the art made us feel. 

Merry Christmas from Fir Class!

Despite the cold weather, Year 1 enjoyed being Rucstall Geographers for the afternoon exploring Holbein Close. We investigated the learning question, 'What makes our street special?' by identifying what could be found on our street. When we returned to school we looked to see if we could find the same things on a map of our local area. Next week we will compare Holbein Close to our own streets where we live. 

Fir Class have enjoyed learning about 2D shapes. We learnt to recognise and name shapes. As well as to describe them, by counting how many vertices (corners) they have and the number of sides. In addition to describing whether their sides are straight or curved. 

On Wednesday we all took part in Positive Noticing Day. The children all took great pride in saying something about their peers, and making others smile by sharing a positive note with them. 

This week Fir Class completed their hand puppets by evaluating their finished products. We were all super proud of our running stitch as we had to use our school value of perseverance to succeed. Well done Fir Class!

Fir Class had lots of fun engaging with our Autumn 2 'Wellbeing Wednesday'. As a class we explored the key focus question 'How can nature support our wellbeing?'. We then took part in a carousel of activities both in the classroom and outdoors. We finished by discussing the impact the different activities had on us, how they made us feel and what we would use in the future. 

Fir Class were excited to welcome a surprise visitor to school today... a hot air balloon! We enjoyed learning about how a hot air balloon inflates and is launched. We even were able to get really close to the balloon and ask lots of questions. 

In Gymnastics this term, Fir Class have been learning about the different gymnastic shapes. They have been developing their teamwork and creativity skills by thinking about how movements can be linked together smoothly, considering speed and levels. They have composed a short sequence of two or three body shapes considering how to start their sequences, how to travel between them and how to finish their sequences. 

For our DT unit, Fir Class have started to explore different joining techniques for when they make their puppets. We discussed gluing, stapling, use of safety pins, fabric pins and different types of stitches for sewing. 

We all had a go at some of these techniques. We discovered that when you sew you have to use your learning value of 'perseverance'. There were some super resilient sewers amongst us! 

Fir Class enjoyed our Art Day this week to celebrate 50 years of Rucstall! We focussed on developing our cutting skills and our use of colour with paint to create our swan pictures. These were all on display in the Art Gallery so we hope you were able to enjoy our creative work. 

In Science, Fir Class have been learning to identify everyday materials and objects that are made from these materials. This week we worked as a class to begin to understand the different properties of materials. We learnt what it means if a material is transparent and how the opposite of transparent is opaque. 

Fir Class enjoyed bringing in their own toys from home to share with the class as our hook for our new History unit. We talked about the type of toy we had brought in, how they work and the materials they were made from. This week we have discussed the differences between toys of today and toys from the past and sorted pictures into 'old' and 'new'. Thank you to the parents who kindly sent in photos of toys from their childhood, we will use these throughout our topic. 

As part of our PSHE curriculum, Fir Class have been learning to recognise, name and talk about our emotions. As a class, we discussed when we have experienced each of these emotions. We generated our own synonyms for each of the emotions. We had lots of fun using the mirrors and drama to act out how we might behave when experiencing each of these emotions. Finally, we discussed strategies to help with learning to begin to manage our emotions. 

Fir Class have been learning how to program and move a BeeBot in Computing. They have been learning about the importance of being able to give clear, precise instructions and how to test their instructions. This week, they worked in groups to design their own BeeBot worlds and next week their challenge will be to direct their BeeBots around their worlds!

In maths, Fir Class have been developing their understanding of number and place value. They have worked on representing numbers in different ways, both with practical resources and pictures. Matched numerals and number words and started to learn how to read and spell number words. Also, started to compare numbers using key vocabulary. 

In English, Fir Class have been working hard on developing their basic sentence skills. They have been learning to write a simple sentence using their phonics knowledge to help them spell and learning about using capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. 

Year 1 had lots of fun at the scooter workshop! We all learnt how to use a scooter safely and all grew in confidence the longer we spent scooting. We are looking forward to being able to use the scooters at playtimes.