Welcome to our Year 1 / 2,

Woodpecker Class page 

Class Teacher: Miss V Bowman

Support Staff: Miss K Fairbrother, Mrs K Tyrrell, Mrs L Clarke, Miss A Wesson, Mrs L Unwin, Miss K Mistry, Mrs T Haghighat

PE Days: Tuesday and Friday 

In Woodpecker Class we love to learn. Every week we enjoy learning new skills in a wide variety of subjects across the curriculum and enjoy implementing these skills in fun and engaging activities.

Please click on the link below for all the information on what we are learning about this half-term. 

This week (20th January 2025 - 24th January 2025) 

Year 1

Year 1 have completed their Big Writes following their story maps based on the Lost and Found story. They have really enjoyed writing a longer story and finished off the unit by watching the film of Lost and Found together.

In Maths, the children have been adding numbers to 20 using their knowledge of number bonds, and learning how to count on.

In Geography they have been comparing the Antarctic to the Sahara Desert and found out that there are lots of things that are the same, but also lots of differences.  Why not ask your child to explain them to you?

They have really enjoyed Music this week, making rhythmic patterns as a group.

Year 2

This week Year 2 have been writing their “lost and found” stories based on The Storm Whale.  They have edited their stories and have begun publishing them, focusing carefully on their handwriting and presentation.

In Maths, we have completed our work on money by finding ways to make £1, finding change from £1 and solving problems involving money.

In Science, we were exploring our school woodland habitat and focusing on microhabitats to see what kind of animals lived there.  We rolled logs, looked under rocks and in the grass and bushes.  Due to the wet weather, we found LOTS of slugs but also found centipedes, woodlice, beetles, hibernating ladybirds, a caterpillar and snails.

In Geography, we focused on comparing weather and climates from here in the UK to Brunei.  We used the terms 'temperate' climate (mild and damp) to describe the UK, 'tropical' (wet and warm) to describe Brunei and we also talked about 'polar' climates (cold and dry).  We located different climates on a world map.

In DT, we have designed a small bag that could be for a child in Kampong Ayer.  The children chose images that represented the water village and we will be sewing together our bags in the next few weeks!

(13th January 2025 - 17th January 2025) 

Year 1

This week in English Year 1 have been continuing to learn the story of Lost and Found, and we are now starting to change the characters to make the story our own.

In Maths we have been working really hard using number lines to help us understand where numbers to 20 are placed in relation to each other.

In Science we have been trying to predict what the best material would be to fix Mrs Taylor’s broken umbrella. Next week we are going to test them out.

In Geography we have learnt about how penguins can survive in the coldest continent on Earth. We have watched some great videos and think that penguins are actually very funny!

Year 2

This week Year 2 have written setting descriptions for their own stories about an animal being lost and then helped to return home.  They have been focusing on adjectives and interesting verbs and even adverbs to describe.  They have begun thinking about planning the structure of their stories.

In Maths, they have been finding ways to make the same amount of money e.g. 70p, comparing amounts of money using < less than > more than and = equal to and they have been calculating problems with money such as how much money has been spent and the difference between amounts of money.  Please continue to practise this at home.

In Science, they have been exploring the school environment looking for things that are living, dead and never been alive.  They enjoyed looking under logs and finding some of the living creatures we have such as centipedes, slugs, beetles and worms.  If you have some wellies that can be brought in from home, they can stay on the children's pegs and means they can explore the environment without getting their school shoes muddy.

In Geography, they have been comparing houses in Kampong Ayer to their own houses.  

In PSHE, the children have been thinking about what makes up their identity.  They have talked about things that they like and things that make them unique.  They have thought about who is in their family and where they were born.  We read Amazing Grace and talked about what we know about her identity from the story.

(6th January 2025 - 10th January 2025) 

Year 1

In Year 1 this week we have started learning the story of Lost and Found by Olivier Jeffers. We are using this fantastic book as a starter for our topic this half term. Our topic is all about the Antarctic and what it is like there.

In Geography we have been looking at the landscape of the Antarctic and what the weather is like. We found out that it is the coldest continent and driest! It doesn’t rain much!

In Maths we are continuing to learn all about teens numbers and how they are made up of tens and ones.

In D.T we have started to plan our puppets which we will be starting to make next week. We will be learning to sew using needles and thread. We are already very excited to bring them home to show everyone!

This weekend you could take a trip to the library in town to see if you can find any other books by Oliver Jeffers! (pictured right).

Year 2

This week Year 2 have begun learning about money in Maths.  They have learnt how much each coin or note is worth and have added amounts of pence, pounds and pounds and pence.  Please continue to practise this at home if you can.  They have been writing amounts as £3 and 42p not using decimals.

In English, they have begun learning the story The Storm Whale using Talk for Writing actions.  They made large 3D story maps in groups.  They have written sentences about the main character, Noi, and have written about how the characters felt during different parts of the story.

In Science, they have learnt about life processes which shows whether something is living, dead or never alive.  They learnt to use the acronym MRS GREN to help remember the 7 processes that tell us if something is living and then decided which category things fit in to.

In Geography, they have learnt about our location the world.  We explored Google Earth (Something you can do at home!) and found their location in Thorpe Acre then thought about their wider location of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, UK, Europe.  They compared that with the place we will be learning about Kampong Ayer, a water village in Brunei, Asia.