Year 1 News

Learning Celebrations  

Literacy 

During our Phonics sessions, the Year One students have been introduced to the grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs) ‘ie’, ‘y’, ‘igh’ and ‘i_e’. Students have been manipulating letter tiles to build words and have practised reading and spelling words that include these patterns.

Students have also been learning about compound words, where two smaller words join together to make a new word, such as seashell, weekend, peanut, daydream and mainland. They will also be exploring word endings such as -ing, -es and -s in words including painting, strings, peaches and rashes.

Students will continue to develop their understanding of base words and plural -s, as well as how base words can be combined to create compound words. For example, milk → milks → milkshake → milkshakes and cake → cakes → cupcake → cupcakes.

It is wonderful to see the students growing in confidence as they apply these skills during reading and writing activities.

Maths   

During our Maths sessions, the students have been introduced to money. They have been identifying, ordering and valuing Australian coins, using concrete materials to demonstrate their understanding. The students have also been solving total and part problems. They read worded problems and identified whether they were required to find the total or a missing part. Students used number bonds to support their thinking and then wrote a corresponding number sentence to demonstrate their understanding.

The students have continued to consolidate their understanding of reading and writing three-digit numbers. They have also been learning about length, including identifying half and a quarter of a length. Students used strips of paper to fold and represent halves and quarters, helping them to develop a concrete understanding of these concepts.

How we Organise Ourselves

The Year One students had a fantastic time celebrating our How We Organise Ourselves unit from last term with a very special Pizza Day! The students loved becoming little chefs for the day as they worked through each stage of the pizza-making process. From preparing the dough and adding the sauce to adding the toppings, there were plenty of opportunities to get hands-on and see how a collection of simple ingredients can be transformed into a delicious meal.

The excitement grew as the pizzas went into the oven and the delicious smell filled the room! It was wonderful to see the students working together, following instructions, taking turns and proudly watching their pizzas come to life. With so much enthusiasm, creativity and careful attention to their toppings, we may just have some future chefs in the making!

A huge thank you to our amazing parent helpers who generously gave their time to assist us on Pizza Day. Your help with keeping everything running smoothly made the day possible and ensured our little chefs could enjoy the experience from start to finish. We really appreciate your support! What a delicious way to celebrate all that the students learned about how things are organised, produced and brought together!

Where we are in Place and Time

The students enjoyed learning about the history of flight and how aeroplane designs have changed over time. They learnt about the famous Wright brothers and their important contribution to aviation. To finish the lesson, the students became little engineers and designed their own paper aeroplanes.

They tested their designs, made predictions and had lots of fun seeing which planes could fly the furthest!

Last week, the students also finished our Where We Are in Place and Time unit by looking towards the future of transportation. Working collaboratively in small groups, they became future engineers and designed and created their own futuristic forms of transport.

It was wonderful to see the students sharing ideas, cooperating and working together to bring their creative designs to life.

They then proudly presented their creations to the class and explained how they imagined their transportation could be used in the future. We certainly have some creative little engineers in Year One!

Wellbeing

Over the past few weeks, the Year Ones have been learning about strategies they can use to help themselves calm down or feel better. The students suggested strategies such as listening to music, taking deep breaths, sitting quietly and reading a book.

We have also discussed what we can do if someone says or does something that upsets us. The students have been learning the three-step strategy ‘Pause, Choose and Act’:

Pause: Take a few deep breaths.
Choose: Choose a different game or walk away.
Act: Tell a trusted grown-up if you need help.

The students also created some colourful posters that demonstrated their understanding.