Year 1 have been busy settling into new routines and have been doing rather a fabulous job of it. In just four weeks I can already see how much more independent, responsible and caring these children have become. They have certainly risen to the challenges of Year 1 and continue to impress with their writing, singing, teamwork, problem solving and all-round determination!
We had a very eventful week last week, which culminated in our first big Children’s House farmer’s market. The children practised twisting their pastry to create cheese straws, and thought about how they could get chocolate to melt with their hands, using friction! The children were so excited to be able to see their culinary creations on sale, and had a wonderful time making them, as well as buying them. It was lovely to see the playground so full after such a long time.
Our little artists have also had many opportunities to showcase their creative pursuits. They been focusing on self-portraits, using mirrors to look closely at the features of their faces. Before creating their portraits the children spent a few lessons mark making using different media. They looked at different styles of portraits from Rembrandt to Frida Kahlo, and used images of their own faces to illustrate the proportions of their features. The children practised their colour mixing skills to create skin tones, and have also been experimenting with charcoal to create larger scale self-portraits. Year 1 thought about different techniques such as cross hatching and smudging to create texture in their pieces. Don’t you think they have just outdone themselves? We can’t wait to turn our classroom into a portrait gallery for you all to see! We also created a large-scale mural, using our hearing sense. We listened to different styles of music, from classical to jazz and beyond, and thought about how colour and line can convey emotions and feelings, and how each of us might have our own ideas about how this looks. What do you think of their piece?
In Literacy our Year 1 writers have been writing about their family, and sharing what they love about being part of one. They have been creating story maps, sequencing texts, and using lots of lots of adjectives in their work! Our writing station, and reading sanctuary are the most popular areas of Year 1, and we love seeing the children so engaged and busy in them.
It has been such a delight to see the children across the school well integrated and spending their lunch and playtimes together. The Year 1 children are really working hard on being super role models for the younger children in the school, particularly our weekly monitors, who wear their badges with pride!
Have a fantastic weekend.
Aisha