Holtsmere End Infant and Nursery School

Hazel Class

Autumn Term 1

Yr 1 - W/c 04.09.23

This week Year 1 have loved exploring their new classrooms. We began our Geography topic ‘My World’ and looked at the key features of an address. We also practiced writing our addresses on envelopes. In Maths we looked at positional language and ordinal numbers. We began reading our focus text ‘Stanley’s Stick’ for English and came up with lots of different adjectives to describe the sticks we found outside.

Oak Class

Year 1 - W/c 04.09.23

This week Year 1 have loved exploring their new classrooms. We began our Geography topic ‘My World’ and looked at the key features of an address. We also practiced writing our addresses on envelopes. In Maths we looked at positional language and ordinal numbers. We began reading our focus text ‘Stanley’s Stick’ for English and came up with lots of different adjectives to describe the sticks we found outside.

Yr 1 - W/c 11.09.23

In Geography this week we practiced learning our own addresses and used IPads to locate our address on a map. We also had our first Watford Primary Stars PE lesson on Friday witch Coach Burton. In English, we began to write simple sentences about Stanley’s stick. We practiced writing sentences with capital letters, finger spaces and full stops. In Art, we practiced exploring different lines such as wavy, cross hatched, diagonal and horizontal.

Year 1 - W/c 18.09.23

This week we went on a local area walk. We walked around Woodhall Farm and tried to spot key features. We saw the community centre, Sainsburys, the doctors, the dentist and our school. The children were very sensible. In Geography, we practiced our map reading. Geography Georgie left us a map of the school and we had to find out what the different symbols represented around the school. In Maths, we began to look at subitising numbers to 10. We also looked at one more and one less. On Monday, we had our first music lesson with Mr Banks from Herts Music Service. He played lots of different call and response games with us.

Yr 1 - W/c 25.09.23

This week in English we began reading our new text ‘We’re Going to Find the Monster’ by Malorie Blackman. The children found footprints in their classrooms and had to work out who they belonged to. They also drew their own monsters and used adjectives to describe what they looked like. We also went to Radlett theatre this week to see ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’. The children had a fantastic time! We will be writing a recount of our trip to the theatre in two weeks.

Yr 1 - W/c 02.10.23

In English, we have continued to look at the text ‘We’re Going to Find the Monster’. We role-played being Charlie and Eddie sailing in the Ocean. We also explored the word ‘shimmering’. We practiced using adjectives to describe. In Science, we continued to look at our senses and conducted a taste test. We had to use our sense of ‘taste’ to sort different foods into salty/savoury or sweet. In Maths, we looked at adding by counting on using number lines. We found that counting on from the largest number made it easier.

Yr 1 - W/c 09.10.23

This week in Science, we looked at our sense of hearing. We went on a listening walk inside and outside the school. We listened to see what quiet and loud noises we could hear. In English, we learned facts about jungles and practiced writing sentences about them. We learnt that jungles can be wet and hot and many different animals live there. In Maths, we looked at our number bonds to 5 and practiced recording them in our books using the plus and equals symbols.

Yr 1 - W/c 16.10.23

We cannot believe how quickly this half term has gone. This week we made our houses in DT. The children used slot, flange and l-brace joins to construct them. They did such an excellent job following their plans. In Geography, we finished our topic My World. We had to make our own maps of our local areas. We worked in groups of 3 and had to work as a team. The children did brilliantly. We hope you all have a well-rested half term!

Autumn Term 2

Yr 1 - W/c 30.10.23

This week we had our seasonal change day. We learnt all about the season of Autumn and spotted different signs of this season. We went pond dipping, we went on a colour hunt and we made some artwork using the natural objects outside. The children had a great time. We will be having more seasonal change days throughout the year so children can compare the seasons.
We also had Sparkly Friday this week. The children were given a sparkler to celebrate Bonfire Night and practiced making patterns and writing their name. In History, we began to learn about Guy Fawkes and why we celebrate Bonfire Night. We will continue to look at him and The Gunpowder Plot next week.

Yr 1 - W/c 06.11.23

This week we welcomed a very special visitor. We took part in a dance workshop to celebrate Diwali. We had a great time learning about the Hindu Festival of Light. In English, we began to look at our new book 'The Lonely Beast'. We had to look at an illustration in the book and create a freeze frame. Thank you to all of our Holtsmere Families that joined us for our reading breakfast on Friday morning. The children loved listening and sharing stories with you.

Yr 1 - W/c 13.11.23

In English, this week we continued to look at our new book 'The Lonely Beast'. We focused on an illustration in the story. We used chalk pastels to draw how the jellyfish were swimming when the beast went under the water. We then thought about adjectives to describe the jellyfish. In Art, we looked at shade. We found out that when we add black to a colour it makes it darker. In Music with Mr Banks, we went on the IPads and explored composing our own music. We found out that each symbol made a different sound. In RE, we have looked at the religion Christianity and have learnt about The Christmas Story. We then tried to remember what happened and sequenced it with our partner.

Yr 1 - W/c 20.11.23

In Science, we conducted a science experiment. We explored the question 'Do all materials float?'. We tested out lots of different materials and then recorded our results in a table as a class. In Art, we began to look at the artist Jackson Pollock. We looked at his painting Autumn Rhythm and in small groups made our own versions of the painting. We used Autumn colours that we remembered from our seasonal change day. In Computing, we began to look at algorithms. We had to follow an algorithm to paint a picture so they were all the same.

Yr 1 - W/c 27.11.23

This week we continued to look at the artist Jackson Pollock. We looked at his artwork Fireworks and practiced using his drip technique. In Science, we conducted another experiment. We explored the question ‘How far does a curly wurly stretch?’ We recorded our results in a table as a class. 

Yr 1 - W/c 04.12.23

We have had a very busy week in Year 1. The children finished their writing unit in English based on The Lonely Beast and produced some fantastic stories! In Art, we created our own firework Jackson Pollock artwork using his ‘drip’ technique. On Wednesday, we celebrated St Nicholas Day and the children had a special chocolate coin in their shoe they had left out the night before. A big thank you to all our Holtsmere families who joined us for our Year 1 Learning Celebration on Thursday. The children loved showing you their learning!

Spring 1 Term

Y1 - WC: 08.01.24

It has been lovely to see all the children back after the Christmas holidays. This week in English, we began looking at our new text 'Beegu'. We practiced using adjectives to describe her. In Music, with Mr Banks we started to learn how to play the ukulele. We learnt a song to help us remember all the different parts of the instrument. In Maths, we looked at 2D and 3D shapes. We named them and started to describe their properties. We played a game called 'guess the shape'. This week in Computing we learnt about algorithms and debugging. We used the programme '2Go' on purple mash and practiced making different algorithms. 

Y1 - WC: 15.01.24

We have had another busy week in Year 1! This week was our seasonal change day. We went outside to see what signs of Winter we could spot. We looked at our class tree to see how it had changed since Autumn. We found out that in Winter, on some trees there are no leaves. We also had a yummy cup of hot chocolate to warm us up! We went over to the forest school area and looked at the pond. It had frozen over! We still managed to spot some minibeasts underneath the logs. We had an excellent day!

WC: 22.01.24

This week in our English we composed our own group poems based on the book Beegu. We used feeling words and phrases from the book. In Maths, we practiced sequencing the months of the year and the days of the week.

Here are the songs we listened to in class to help us remember them:

Days of the Week Song

Months of the Year Song

WC: 29.01.24

In Art this week, we looked at the artist John Adams and his painting 'The Titanic'. We practiced using tints and tones of blue and green with water colours for our background. The children did an excellent job and created the most fantastic paintings!

In English, we used freeze frames to respond to an illustration in our book Beegu. We worked in groups of 6. We focused on our facical expressions and our body language. We then had to guess as a class who the different characters were from the freeze frames.

WC: 05.02.24

This week in English, we finished our writing unit on the story 'Beegu'. The children produced some fantastic stories! We were very impressed with their writing.

We also finished learning about the Titanic which was part of our 'On the Move' topic. On Wednesday the children 'boarded' the Titanic as first class passengers. They experienced what life on board the Titanic would have been like. They went to the swimming pool, the gym and the library. They also visited the first class dining room where they listened to live music and had food such as French vanilla ice cream! The children thoroughly enjoyed being a first class passenger on the Titanic!

WC: 12.02.24

In English this week we looked at the poetry anthology Zim, Zam, Zoom by James Carter. We focused on the poems Funny Faces, Splish, Splash, Splosh, Yum Time and Zim, Zam, Zoom. We concentrated on performing these poems with expression, actions and loud voices. As part of the poem 'Funny Faces' we practiced making funny faces in our own mirrors. For the poem 'Zim, Zam, Zoom' we made our own rockets before acting out the poem. We had so much fun learning these different poems!

This week was also Art Week at school. We focused on the artist Piet Mondrian. We went on a primary colour hunt around the school and couldn't believe how many primary colours we saw. We used the programme '2paint a picture' and practiced using lines to recreate his work. We then created our own final pieces using black tape and primary colours. Our artwork was displayed in our Holtsmere Art Gallery on Friday after school.

Spring Term 2

WC: 26.02.24

This week we began our new topic 'Where in the World?' In this topic we will be focusing on the countries that make up the UK and their capital cities. We began the topic by tasting food from the different countries that made up the UK: soda bread, shortbread, welsh cakes and scones. We loved the Scottish shortbread! We then used atlases to locate England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and created our own playdough maps. We focused on the capital city London and looked carefully at famous landmarks. We used the building blocks to make different Landmarks and then named them.

WC: 04.03.24

This week we celebrated World Book Day. We all dressed up as cowboys and cowgirls. We looked at the book The Wildest Cowboy by Garth Jennings. We began our morning with a drama workshop and we had to take part in lots of activities to see if we could pass the test to be a cowboy or cowgirl. Throughout the day we completed lots of different activities such as wanted posters, creating mosaic cactuses and painting a desert sunset scene. We loved the story and had a fantastic day!

Reception                          Nursery                         Year  2