Year 1/2 - Topaz

Welcome to Topaz

Class Teachers

Mrs Sharma & Mrs Young

Teaching Assistants 

Mrs George & Mrs Cooper

Our PE days are: Monday & Friday 

Curriculum Update

Spring Term 1

Next term:

English 

• Silly Poems 

• Traditional Tales, The Three Little Pigs

• Postcards and Letters,  John Patrick Norman McHennessey

• Poetry,  The Owl and the Pussycat

Maths 

Y1 

• Place Value (within20)Addition & Subtraction (within 20)

• Place Value Length & Height Weight & Volume

Y2

• Money
• Multiplication & Division
• Length and Height
• Mass, Capacity & Temperature

Science 

• Materials 

History 

• Toys - Old & New
• Local Area- Windsor Castle 

Music 

• Football
• Who stole my chickens and my hens?

Computing 

• Online Safety
• Making Music 
• Animated Story Books

DT

• Baby Bear's Chair

Art 

• Painting and mixed media – Colour Splash

RE

• Is it important to celebrate the New Year?
• How should the Church celebrate Easter?

PSHE

• Computer safety – Image sharing Internet safety day Mental health week
• Staying healthy – Healthy eating Hazard watch – Is it safe to eat or drink?

PE

• Gymnastics 
• Hockey 

Autumn Term 2

English

This term we are focusing on writing list poems and diary entries. In poetry, our focus text is Ten Things Found in a Wizard’s Pocket, we will learn about expanded noun phrases and features of a list poem. When writing our diary entries, we will focus on the text Oh no George. We will learn to use correct punctuation and sentences with different forms.

Maths

In Year 1, we will focus on addition and subtraction. We will read, write and interpret mathematical statements involving addition (+), subtraction (–) and equals (=) signs and represent and use number bonds and related subtraction facts within 20. Add and subtract 1-digit and 2-digit numbers to 20, including zero. In Geometry, we will recognise and name common 2-D and 3-D shapes. In Year 2, we are recalling and using addition and subtraction facts to 20 fluently and deriving and using related facts up to 100. When learning about shape we will Identify and describe the properties of 2-D shapes, including the number of sides, and line symmetry in a vertical line. Compare and sort common 2-D and 3-D shapes and everyday objects and identify and describe the properties of 3-D shapes, including the number of edges, vertices and faces.

Science

This term we’re learning about seasonal changes. We will focus on the similarities and differences and the changes in our environment.

Art

We will be exploring mark making to understand and use different line types and mark-making techniques in drawing. We will experiment with different materials and media.  

Geography

We are learning about the world around us through the topic ‘Why is our World so Wonderful?’. We will identify and locate characteristics of the UK on a map. Identify human and physical features. Explain the difference between oceans and seas and name and locate the five oceans on a world map.

Religious Education

In RE, we will discuss the question, do religious symbols mean the same to everyone? We will look at religious clothing and symbols worn in Christianity & Judaism.

Personal Social Emotional Health Education

This term in PSHE we will learn about keeping safe and discuss the topics of fire safety, hoax calling and road safety.

Music

In Music we will explore Colonel Hathi's March, from The Jungle Book we will be moving and counting in time to march music and composing our own marching music. Our next piece of music will be ‘Aquarium’ from The carnival of the animals by Camille Saint-Saëns. We will be responding to music through moving, exploring the sound of instruments, listening and singing.

PE

In PE, we will focus on developing and applying our jumping and landing and seated balance through focused skill development. 

Geography Fieldwork 

During our Geography lesson this week we carried out some fieldwork to investigate the enquiry question – why are natural habitats special? We collected data from our woodland walk by having a closer look at a small area to see the types of plants and animals that live there. 

Owls Visit

The Night Owls team visited Homer on Wednesday. It was a fantastic opportunity for the whole school to get up close to some amazing Birds of Prey!  It was a great experience for the whole school to see and learn more about these beautiful creatures. We watched the owls fly across the hall and afterwards the children had their photograph taken with Dottie the barn owl. 

Reindeer Visit

Topaz Class really enjoyed meeting the reindeers today. The children learnt about the reindeer’s native habitats, evolution and how the reindeer have adapted. They learnt some interesting facts about their antlers, hearing, vision, smell and moulting.

Curriculum Update

Autumn Term 1

Maths

In Year 1, we are focussing on place value within 10, identifying and representing numbers using objects and pictorial representations including the number line, and the vocabulary “less than”, “greater than” or “equal to” alongside the symbols <, >and =.

In Year 2, we are revisiting place value within 20 before moving on to look at numbers to 100. We'll be focussing on representing and estimating numbers using different representations, including the number line  and recognising the place value of each digit in a 2-digit number (tens, ones). When learning about addition and subtraction the children will consolidate their learning of bonds to 10 and use their knowledge of related facts to find bonds to 100.

English

In writing, we follow the Talk for Writing approach. This term in writing we have focused on the 'losing tale' Dogger by Shirley Hughes. The children have learnt to retell the story through our class model text, we hope they enjoyed sharing the 'text map' with you at home. We've focussed on using capital letters, full stops, finger spaces and past and present tense. Finally,  the children wrote their own 'losing tale' with new characters and settings. We really enjoyed reading their stories. 

Science

Our topic this term is looking after plants. Throughout our learning we have identified and named a variety of common wild and garden plants including deciduous and evergreen trees. We have described what plants need to grow and stay healthy. We have used our scientific enquiry skills to observe a bean plant growing and recorded the results in a bean diary. We enjoyed working scientifically when setting up a test to understand the difference between leaves from deciduous and evergreen trees. 

Geography 

Our focus this term has been learning about our local area, our key question has been What is it Like Here?

The children have learnt about human and physical features in their local area and located these using an aerial map. We used directional language to describe the location of objects in the classroom and playground and drew a  map of the school and used pictures and symbols to represent features.

Design Technology 

We had lots of fun making smoothies in our DT lessons this term. The children described fruits and vegetables and explained how to identify fruits, including the places that fruits and vegetables grow. They described the basic characteristics of fruit and vegetables and prepared delicious smoothies. 

Religious Education 

Our key question this term has been, Who Should you Follow? We have been finding out about religious leaders and how and why they are followed. We have listened to stories of Moses and how he was a leader and discussed leaders in our school and wider community.

Computing

In Computing, the children have learnt to log into Purple Mash safely and navigate their way round. They have recognised the purpose of a digital avatar and had lots of fun creating their own avatar.

Music

This term in Music, we had lots of fun learning the Menu song. This was a fun song about a series of tasty dishes served over the course of a week. The children learnt to sing a song from memory remembering the order of verses and play instruments to the beat.