Welcome to the our Key Stage 1  (Years 1 and 2) website page. Please check this page regularly and you can find out what your child has been learning about in class and see the fun they have been having whilst learning.

Key Stage 1 staff

Miss Caitlin White - Class teacher

Mrs Deborah Currans - Head teacher

Mrs Emma Hargreaves - Higher Level Teaching Assistant

Mrs Karen Redden - Classroom Assistant

Mrs Emma Robertson - Classroom Assistant

Please make sure all your child's clothes and belongings are labelled otherwise we will get into a big muddle! Please also make sure that your child has a water bottle, their book folder and a coat every day.

PE lessons will begin during the second week of term and will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On these days your child must come to school in their PE kit.

If you have any concerns or questions please talk to a member of staff.

The children had great fun designing and making their own special Easter bunny. Each child gave
their Easter bunny a name and we hope you enjoy looking at these over Easter. The children all have
now an understanding of why Easter is so important to Christians and that they believe Jesus is their
saviour. We hope you all have a very Happy Easter!

In art this week, the children have looked at the work of Clarice Cliff and created their own designs
of Clarice Cliff’s ‘Circle Tree’ plate. The children had to use bright colours to paint concentric circles
and then finished their designs by using black ink to draw their tree and finish their design.

The children have been practising their musical performance this week with May, ready for their
performance next week on Wednesday at 9.30 am. Year 2 children have also enjoyed learning about
how to play a violin and are looking forward to playing the violin in future years.
The children have enjoyed their PE lessons outside this week and next term they will be practicing
their athletic skills in preparation for Sports Day.

Year 2 children have continued to learn about measuring in maths and are able to measure
accurately in centimeters and metres as well as talk about and compare their measurements using
the right mathematical language. Next week, year 2 children are going to learn to measure
temperature, capacity and mass using the right units of measurement.
In art the children looked at the secondary colour green and they made different shades and hues of
green using the primary colours blue and yellow. We could not believe how many different types of
green we managed to make.
The children continue to enjoy their PE and music lessons and are all very enthusiastic. In music the
children have played their own percussion instruments and enjoyed watching a violin being played.

Finally, we ended the week by taking part in a danceathon for Red Nose Day.

On Thursday, Sally came to visit the class from the Hirsel farm in Coldstream. Sally came to
work with the children and spoke to the children about what is happening on the farm as the
seasons change. The children also enjoyed making chocolate and bananas muffins with Sally, made
from all British ingredients and they were delicious.

In Picture News this week the children learned about the portraits the young royals George,
Charlotte and Louis had been drawing with their mum, Princess Katherine. In art the children drew
their own very special portraits of one member of their family.

The children started the week learning about Shrove Tuesday and why it is a tradition to eat
pancakes on this day. The children were lucky enough to make pancakes with Lucille and enjoyed
eating them with a range of toppings.
The children have started to learn new songs in music and are learning to use percussion
instruments to accompany their singing. They have been learning to keep the beat and start and
stop together.
We have also had a busy week based around World Book Day beginning with a virtual meeting with
the author Joseph Coelho. The children also met the author George Webster through zoom too and
enjoyed a football book quiz. The children designed and made their own bookmarks to take home
and use as well as dressing up and making individual books in a jar. 
In art the children have been printing with primary colours and printing pictures of their own where
they explored different colours they could make and patterns they could create.

The children in key stage 1 have worked hard to design, build and complete their fairground wheels. The children have selected the right materials and have made sure their wheels rotate correctly and their designs look appealing.

In maths in year 2 the children have been learning about division and working hard to solve simple division equations and are learning to understand how division and multiplication are linked.

In PE the children have been working hard with the coaches in both lessons. This week, the children have been focusing on working as a team to solve problems in their Commando Joe sessions and use teamwork when playing ball games together.

Children from Year 4 came to read the stories they had written in class to all the children in key stage 1. The younger children loved the stories and all the children enjoyed reading some of their favourite stories together.

The children in key stage one have also loved a new story they have been reading called, 'The Pet Potato' by Josh Lacey. We decided we all wanted our own pet potato to look after.

The children in key stage one are enjoying their new science topic where they are learning about
different types of animals and looking for similarities and differences between different animals. The
children will be learning about different types of animals and over the next few weeks we are hoping
the children will be able to meet and learn about a variety of different animals first hand.

In music this week the children have learnt to read a piece of music and play the correct notes in
order to play the tune , ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’. The children in year 2 have also learnt how to
sing a song in a round successfully.

In art, the children have painted paintings using only primary colours and if they needed a secondary
colour in their painting, they had to make this secondary colour independently. The children thought
carefully about the colours they required and how they would make this colour successfully.
On Thursday the children were extremely lucky to work with a ballerina from the Northern Ballet
company who have been performing at the Maltings. They enjoyed telling the story of Hansel and
Gretel through dance and music.
 

The children loved meeting the author, Toby Glover and hearing the stories he had read. Toby also talked about how he came up with the ideas for his stories about Mark the shark and how his stories were illustrated. The children especially like the story Mark Shark 3, where Mark the shark goes to visit a farm.

In Music the children in have been learning songs about different garden birds and have tried
singing in a round with Frances. With May on Wednesday, the children have continued to learn how
to read and follow a piece of music using the right notes at the right time.

In PE this the children have started to learn about the sport of golf! They have been learning to
hold the golf clubs correctly and practising hitting the golf balls into the holes. The children will be
developing their golf skills over this half term. The children who attended football club on Tuesday
after school had great fun.
In art key Stage one have started to look at colour and in particular primary colours, red, yellow and
blue. The children have had an opportunity to explore what happens when these colours are mixed
together in order to make secondary colours. The children have also planned paintings they are
going to paint using just the primary colours and secondary colours that they will make from these.
In maths in year 2 the children are continuing to learn about money and have been working out how
much different things cost together and the change they will get from larger amounts.
In Music the children in Year 2 have been learning songs about different garden birds and have tried
singing in a round with Frances. With May on Wednesday, the children

The children in Key Stage 1 were very happy to see each other after the holidays. The children have worked since their return to school and quickly got back into normal school routine. 

In PE this week the children have been practicing their ball skills and also taking part in some new Commando Joe challenges.

In Picture News last week the children enjoyed learning about the Big Bird watch run by the RSPB. The children took time to observe and record the different birds they saw in our garden. The children saw sparrows, magpies, robins, blackbirds and blue tits.

In Music the children had great fun learning how to play different notes with the boomwhackers and they also started to learn a geographical song based on the oceans and continents of the world.

A very busy last week! The children have read Christmas stories and played Christmas games with children from Tweedmouth Middle, made festive crafts with Rebecca from Northumberland Museums and helped to plant trees on the school field. 

The children started the week thinking about why we celebrate Christmas and how it all began. The
children have been reading the Christmas story and we have begun our countdown to Christmas
with our Advent calendars in class. The children all enjoyed talking about their own advent calendars
that they have at home and we discussed how advent calendars have changed over the years. Every
day we have been enjoying Christmas stories and the children are getting very excited!
The children have all written their letter to Santa and they have made sure that they have told him
where they live and any other special instructions that he may need for a smooth delivery!

The children had a fabulous time at Paxton House with Year 1 on Thursday to learn about Christmas
in years gone by and to look at how toys have changed over the years as well as learning about the
history of stockings. The children enjoyed a tour around Paxton House and we thought about how
Christmas would have been celebrated in the years gone by. The children also had a very special
visitor.

Key stage one children enjoyed using the big apparatus during PE lessons this week and we are
hoping to use it again before the end of term. They have also enjoyed learning how to play tag rugby
with Jack.

In Art this week the children have continued to create their own abstract art based on maps they
have looked at and in the style of a stain glassed window.

The children in Key Stage one began their week thinking about why we stop and remember the past
on the Remembrance Sunday and on the 11th November. The children have talked and thought
about what the soldiers in the past sacrificed for us and how important our soldiers are today. The
children have learnt about the importance of the poppy and what it symbolises for us all. The
children enjoyed making their own poppies and medals in class which they went home wearing with
pride.
In Art this week the children have looked again at map drawings and art and began to think about
how they can create their own stained glass style artwork based on maps and how they look. They
have looked at lots of examples of abstract art and are going to create their own abstract art next
week.
All children have worked hard in PE and are enjoying learning new gymnastic skills and persevering
when learning new skills and not giving up.

The children worked hard this week to finish making their chairs both in terms of structure and
design. They had to make sure their chair was stable and appealing to the eye. The children were
very pleased with their end products. Next half term the children are going to looking at different
mechanisms and how they work.
On Thursday the children enjoyed their taster Taekwondo session and listened and watched
carefully so that they could recreate the correct moves.
 

On Thursday Key Stage 1 visited the Hirsel Estate in Coldstream. We had so much fun looking for seasonal signs of autumn and looking at the fields to learn about where our food comes from. The children then used the local vegetables to cook delicious easy peasy soup and crunchy oatcakes.

This week the children in Key Stage 1 were lucky enough to attend a storytelling event as part of the
2024 Berwick Literary Festival. Nikky Smedley was the storyteller and she was the original yellow
Teletubby Laa-Laa who may parents may remember. Nikky told the children four stories which they
loved. The stories were about a monster tree, packing a suitcase to visit Great aunt Bicycle and Uncle
Spoon, a spacegirl and an inventor. The children were able to ask her questions about being a Laa-
Laa and part of the Teletubby gang. There were 365 episodes of Teletubbies, one for every day of
the year!
The storyteller told the children she believed stories were everywhere around us and she taught the
children the rhyme, ‘I will pull it out of the air, into my brain, out of my mouth and into your ears’ to
say every time they wanted to tell a story.

In science the focus this week has been on investigating our sense of smell. The children had to use
their sense of smell to identify a range of smells, some they liked and some they did not.
In art the children have continued to look at maps and how different artists create their own
interpretations of maps. This week they have worked together to create three dimensional maps
using a variety of different materials and objects. They had to work collaboratively in groups to
create a three dimensional map and talk about what they had created and what it meant. The
children also looked at Emma Johnson’s map art and what made her map art unique.

In science the focus has been on the sense of taste and what this is. The children have explored how
our sense of taste works and how we distinguish different tastes and what we like and do not like.
The children tasted a range of foods including chard, spinach, lemons and limes. The children were able to taste and describe the foods they tasted and some they liked and others they did not!

In local history week this week the children have been learning about Grace Darling and the amazing rescue she was part of. The children also looked at lots of historical artefacts and tried to work out what they were used for.

In PE the children in Key stage 1 are really enjoying their lessons with the NUFC coaches, Jack and
Regan. The children are developing their physical skills as well as learning to work well as a team and
listen to each other. The children also had great fun in a one off cricket lesson with Peg.

This week the children have continued to think about how to design a chair for Baby Bear. The
children have experimented with lots of different 3D shapes to find out which shapes are the most
stable to incorporate into their own chair design. All the children modelled their own 3D shapes and
then tested their stability on a raised surface.
The children have enjoyed fantastic music lessons this week with Frances and May. The children
have learnt a new Autumn song and are quickly learning new actions to go with the songs.

This week in Art the children have been looking at lots of different maps and used these maps as a
starting point for their own map design. We looked at maps made of people, hands. Food and even a
dress made out of maps. The children thought carefully about the colours they were using and the
detail they wanted to include on their maps.
Autumn is here and the children have been looking for signs of autumn outside and what the season
of autumn looks like. The children have been on an autumn walk and gathered autumn leaves to
create autumn pictures outside. The children have also been practising their autumn song which
they are going to sing at the Harvest Festival next Friday.

The children in Key Stage 1, years 1 and 2, have settled very well into their new class and have
quickly adapted to new routines and work expectations. 
This term the children have two NUFC coaches, Jack and Regan working with them every Tuesday
and Wednesday. The children are focusing on improving their ball skills and this week they have
focused on improving their underarm and overarm throwing. The Year 2 Dodge ball Club starts next
Tuesday after school and the children are looking forward to this club.