Welcome to Chestnut - Year 1!

Autumn Term

Settling in

We are so proud of every person in Chestnut class for the way they have settled in to life in Year 1. We have ensured that the transition from Early Years into Year 1 is a smooth one, by creating an outdoor space filled with learning opportunities that link to our curriculum. The children love being able to move from the classroom to the outdoors freely, and this has already proven to be a real success.

Here you will find some photographs that show the children taking part in both their formal lessons, and accessing the continuous provision (learning through play).

Forest school

Chestnut class have now begun their weekly Forest School sessions! Our first visit to Forest School this week was linked to spirituality and maths.

The children used a mix of natural found objects (twigs, leaves and stones) to count groups of objects accurately, and some children took on further challenges to compare quantities.

We then took some time to be mindful and show an awareness of our surroundings. We thought about what we could see, hear, smell and feel around us.

Although the weather was drizzly and our wellies got muddy, we had a fantastic time out in the fresh air!

Topic homework

Thank you to all of the families that have supported their children to create such fantastic topic homework this term. Our role play areas have really been brought to life with the children’s creations.

Spring Term

This term Chestnut class have been taking part in weekly forest school maths sessions, come rain or shine! The children have explored place value in different ways, including using natural objects to represent numbers to 20 on tens frames, exchanging ten ones (leaves) for one ten (stick) and have built upon their team work skills. We love learning outdoors!

Great Fire of London Day!

Chestnut class had a wonderful day exploring what life was like during The Great Fire of London in 1666. In the morning, the children took on the roles of the workers in the City of London, where they experienced the concerns of residents in the path of the fire. Roles included: Barber, Surgeon, Apothecary, Leather workers, Candle Makers, Schoolhouse, Perfumer, Baker, Metal Worker, Seamstress and Weavers. They delighted in taking home all of the creations that they had made. The children also enjoyed working as a team to pass the water buckets along their long lines to stop the fire from spreading. In the afternoon, they pretended that London had burnt down and the children sifted through the ashes of the fire in an archaeological study. They tried to make sense of the items that they found and conclude which shop the items came from. All of the children left school that day discussing their favourite parts and sharing their new knowledge of The Great Fire of London. We want to say a huge thank you to all the volunteer helpers who supported the visit. We couldn’t have run the day without you!

Chestnut class had the BEST morning taking part in a Pop-Up-Play role play session this world book week. Our focus was on oracy, role play and using our imaginations to play creatively- but more importantly, we had so much fun! Katie who runs Pop-Up-Play shared that our Year 1 pupils were especially confident to take part in the role play session, and she was impressed by their imaginative play and great behaviour.