Welcome to Year 1
Welcome to the Year 1 class page. Here you will find out about some of the activities which we do in school. Recent news will be shown first, so please scroll down to see previous posts about our learning and activities in Year 1.
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Ark Farm Visit
Our last trip of the school year was to the Ark Farm in Newtownards. Our guide for the day, Melinda, was super at giving us information, answering our questions and letting us stroke a rabbit, bearded dragon, a chameleon and a chick. We also got to feed a lamb and see baby rabbits (called kittens), piglets and kid goats. Mrs Price had to check Lou-ann's handbag in case the kid goat had climbed in. Look at the fun we had!
Our last trip of the school year was to the Ark Farm in Newtownards. Our guide for the day, Melinda, was super at giving us information, answering our questions and letting us stroke a rabbit, bearded dragon, a chameleon and a chick. We also got to feed a lamb and see baby rabbits (called kittens), piglets and kid goats. Mrs Price had to check Lou-ann's handbag in case the kid goat had climbed in. Look at the fun we had!
FMS Fun Sports Morning
Claire Rea, who coaches our pupils on Wednesdays on ball skills, treated the whole school to a fun morning. Year 1 had a great time with toe tapping balls, scoring goals, dribbling balls around cones and playing mini matches. We were busy!
Claire Rea, who coaches our pupils on Wednesdays on ball skills, treated the whole school to a fun morning. Year 1 had a great time with toe tapping balls, scoring goals, dribbling balls around cones and playing mini matches. We were busy!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
We have been learning all about the lifecycle of a butterfly. We re-created the story of the hungry caterpillar by Eric Carle into a huge wall display. Year 1 boys and girls wrote about a piece of the story in their best handwriting and detailed illustrations for our wall display.
We have been learning all about the lifecycle of a butterfly. We re-created the story of the hungry caterpillar by Eric Carle into a huge wall display. Year 1 boys and girls wrote about a piece of the story in their best handwriting and detailed illustrations for our wall display.
School Trip to Quality Time
Look at the photographs from our trip to QualityTime in Banbridge and read about how our day trip went.
On Friday 11th May, 22 Year 1's and 4 adults boarded a luxury bus for their first school trip to QualityTime, in Banbridge. Although the weather wasn't very good (torrential rain!), nobody minded (especially the adults) as we were off school for the day! The journey to Banbridge flew by with lots of chat and the usual chant, "Are we nearly there yet?"
QualityTime had just opened in January and has a different theme every month. On arrival, we were given a warm welcome by Natasha, the owner and manageress of QualityTime. We quickly dodged the rain, went inside and split up into 2 groups. One group went into the farm playzone to dress up, buy items from the farm shop, re-enact stories using props, e.g. The Little Red Hen, engage in farm related imaginative play - we really were spoilt for choice! The other group had a 'messy play' farm related workshop. This included putting shaving foam onto wall sheep (Lou-ann was great at this!), having fun in a duck pond, imaginative play with tractors in fields made from green rice, clay and shredded wheat! We had to walk animals through mud and then wash them clean!
The highlight, however, was the glow in the dark paint and glo-sticks. Each group received a healthy snack of grapes, breadsticks, rice cakes, pancakes, cheese and oranges. Mrs Price has never seen food vanish so quickly!
The groups swopped over before having a well-deserved lunch. Unfortunately the outside area was a wash-out due to heavy rain, but nobody minded as we got extra time in the farm playzone.
Finally it was time to go back to Dromara. The journey back was filled with stories about our special day and no one, not even the adults, fell asleep on the bus!
Many thanks to Lou-ann, Pamela and Laura for all their help and good humour throughout the day. We all had a marvellous educational trip and we all had LOTS OF FUN!
Look at the photographs from our trip to QualityTime in Banbridge and read about how our day trip went.
On Friday 11th May, 22 Year 1's and 4 adults boarded a luxury bus for their first school trip to QualityTime, in Banbridge. Although the weather wasn't very good (torrential rain!), nobody minded (especially the adults) as we were off school for the day! The journey to Banbridge flew by with lots of chat and the usual chant, "Are we nearly there yet?"
QualityTime had just opened in January and has a different theme every month. On arrival, we were given a warm welcome by Natasha, the owner and manageress of QualityTime. We quickly dodged the rain, went inside and split up into 2 groups. One group went into the farm playzone to dress up, buy items from the farm shop, re-enact stories using props, e.g. The Little Red Hen, engage in farm related imaginative play - we really were spoilt for choice! The other group had a 'messy play' farm related workshop. This included putting shaving foam onto wall sheep (Lou-ann was great at this!), having fun in a duck pond, imaginative play with tractors in fields made from green rice, clay and shredded wheat! We had to walk animals through mud and then wash them clean!
The highlight, however, was the glow in the dark paint and glo-sticks. Each group received a healthy snack of grapes, breadsticks, rice cakes, pancakes, cheese and oranges. Mrs Price has never seen food vanish so quickly!
The groups swopped over before having a well-deserved lunch. Unfortunately the outside area was a wash-out due to heavy rain, but nobody minded as we got extra time in the farm playzone.
Finally it was time to go back to Dromara. The journey back was filled with stories about our special day and no one, not even the adults, fell asleep on the bus!
Many thanks to Lou-ann, Pamela and Laura for all their help and good humour throughout the day. We all had a marvellous educational trip and we all had LOTS OF FUN!
The Amazing Journey
We were treated to a presentation of 'The Amazing Journey'which uses creative storytelling, colourful displays and Bible characters to introduce children to the key stories and message of the Bible.
Imagine the excitement of meeting people like Noah, Goliath, Mary and even a Roman Centurion and hearing the amazing stories of how God changed their lives! As part of the experience, Year 1's also had the chance to participate in 2 exciting activities. Every child was given the opportunity to try on a Bible-time costume and to taste some Bible-time food!
We were treated to a presentation of 'The Amazing Journey'which uses creative storytelling, colourful displays and Bible characters to introduce children to the key stories and message of the Bible.
Imagine the excitement of meeting people like Noah, Goliath, Mary and even a Roman Centurion and hearing the amazing stories of how God changed their lives! As part of the experience, Year 1's also had the chance to participate in 2 exciting activities. Every child was given the opportunity to try on a Bible-time costume and to taste some Bible-time food!
John the hedgehog
Miss Briggs brought in 'John', the hedgehog for Year 1 children to see. John was very cute and we watched Miss Briggs feed him catfood. Thank you Miss Briggs!
Miss Briggs brought in 'John', the hedgehog for Year 1 children to see. John was very cute and we watched Miss Briggs feed him catfood. Thank you Miss Briggs!
World Book Day
This year on World Book Day, school was closed due to the snow. However, all the older classes still became 'reading buddies' on the first day back and read to younger pupils. Year 6 boys and girls read to Year 1 and we all enjoyed this very much.
This year on World Book Day, school was closed due to the snow. However, all the older classes still became 'reading buddies' on the first day back and read to younger pupils. Year 6 boys and girls read to Year 1 and we all enjoyed this very much.
Number Day x 2
Year 1 actually participated in two Number Days. We had one day linking up with Pre-School children and another day in which we dressed up in onesies and number tops. We engaged in number activities throughout the two days and had fantastic fun. Look at our activities:-
Year 1 actually participated in two Number Days. We had one day linking up with Pre-School children and another day in which we dressed up in onesies and number tops. We engaged in number activities throughout the two days and had fantastic fun. Look at our activities:-
Phonics fun!
Our sound for the week was 'Ff'. We learn the sound, letter formation, a writing rhyme and a song. Here we are making the capital letter 'F' and small letter 'f'.
Our sound for the week was 'Ff'. We learn the sound, letter formation, a writing rhyme and a song. Here we are making the capital letter 'F' and small letter 'f'.
Learning through Play
We have been very busy with our topic of 'water' and investigated floating and sinking in the water tray. Our imaginative play corner has been turned into 'Mrs Lather's Laundry' and we made Noah's Ark using bricks and lego animals.
We have been very busy with our topic of 'water' and investigated floating and sinking in the water tray. Our imaginative play corner has been turned into 'Mrs Lather's Laundry' and we made Noah's Ark using bricks and lego animals.
Shape pictures
Great fun and lots of discussion has been had while making our 2D shape pictures. Year 1 children made these carefully using hammers and nails!
Great fun and lots of discussion has been had while making our 2D shape pictures. Year 1 children made these carefully using hammers and nails!
Christmas
Following our Concert, Year 1 pupils had the opportunity to complete lots of Christmas craft. Look at our Christmas trees - the glitter went everywhere!!
Our First Nativity
I hope everyone really enjoyed watching our 'First Nativity' in the Year 1 - 3 Concert. The children were all fantastic and I was very proud of them. Please look at our photographs of angels, stars, shepherds, kings and not forgetting Mary, Joseph and our donkey!
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Classroom Displays
Here are some of the displays around our Year 1 classroom.
Here are some of the displays around our Year 1 classroom.
Bear Biscuits
With a lot of help from Lou-ann, Laura and Mrs Price, Year 1 pupils made bear biscuits. They were really yummy and Mr Armstrong liked his so much, we had to write a list of ingredients and a 'bear biscuit recipe' during our shared writing sessions.
Some wonderful happy (and scary) images from our Hallowe'en party!
Bear Hunt
After reading 'We're going on a bear hunt' story by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, we donned our bear ears and hunted high and low for teddy bears around the school grounds. It is safe to say that the story was well and truly re-enacted with Masie getting lost in the snow storm and Tyler pretending to get stuck in the mud. The Year 1 pupils followed instructions expertly in order to recover all our bears.
After reading 'We're going on a bear hunt' story by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, we donned our bear ears and hunted high and low for teddy bears around the school grounds. It is safe to say that the story was well and truly re-enacted with Masie getting lost in the snow storm and Tyler pretending to get stuck in the mud. The Year 1 pupils followed instructions expertly in order to recover all our bears.
Bear Sorting!
We had a lot of fun sorting out teddy bears in the hall. We sorted for large/medium/small bears, bears wearing clothes/no clothes and brown bears/not brown bears.
The smallest bears belonged to Joel and Paige and the biggest bears belonged to Amelie and Niamh.
We finished our sorting morning with a teddy toss - Mrs Price and Lou-ann had to run for cover as 22 bears went flying. Jack H and Ben's bears went the furthest.
We had a lot of fun sorting out teddy bears in the hall. We sorted for large/medium/small bears, bears wearing clothes/no clothes and brown bears/not brown bears.
The smallest bears belonged to Joel and Paige and the biggest bears belonged to Amelie and Niamh.
We finished our sorting morning with a teddy toss - Mrs Price and Lou-ann had to run for cover as 22 bears went flying. Jack H and Ben's bears went the furthest.
Teddy bear's picnic
In connection with our 'Bears' topic, we had to 'retell a story' to the bears before we had our snack - please note this picnic was by invitation only. At one stage it looked like no adults were being invited!
In connection with our 'Bears' topic, we had to 'retell a story' to the bears before we had our snack - please note this picnic was by invitation only. At one stage it looked like no adults were being invited!
Eat, Play, Live Well Week
We certainly did pack in a lot of activities - healthy eating workshop, hip hop dancing, Evo Soccer and Taekwon-do sessions with instructors and finally our Sponsored Walk. Have a look at some of our photos over our week -
We certainly did pack in a lot of activities - healthy eating workshop, hip hop dancing, Evo Soccer and Taekwon-do sessions with instructors and finally our Sponsored Walk. Have a look at some of our photos over our week -
Musical Madness
We had great fun with musical instruments and played some rhythms to the refrain of the song 'Miss Polly had a dolly'. As well as finding out the names of the instruments, we had to vary the pitch (soft/loud) in order that Mrs Price and Lou-ann wouldn't end up with a sore head!
We had great fun with musical instruments and played some rhythms to the refrain of the song 'Miss Polly had a dolly'. As well as finding out the names of the instruments, we had to vary the pitch (soft/loud) in order that Mrs Price and Lou-ann wouldn't end up with a sore head!
Patterns
Year 1 pupils have been making patterns using 2 colours. Look at our hard work with threading beads and pegs. We will be going on to do picture and number patterns soon.
Year 1 pupils have been making patterns using 2 colours. Look at our hard work with threading beads and pegs. We will be going on to do picture and number patterns soon.
Fun with dough
Each week in Year 1, we learn a new sound, the formation of the letter symbol, a writing rhyme and a song which help us remember it all! Here we are making the letter sound 't'.
Each week in Year 1, we learn a new sound, the formation of the letter symbol, a writing rhyme and a song which help us remember it all! Here we are making the letter sound 't'.
Play Based Learning
Play is an important activity within Year 1. Children are given opportunities to explore, to discover, to create, to question, to imagine and to work in co-operation with one another.
We always have lots of fun in our play sessions and rotate around several activities which involve literacy, numeracy, I.C.T., art/craft and social and emotional development. Have a look ....
Play is an important activity within Year 1. Children are given opportunities to explore, to discover, to create, to question, to imagine and to work in co-operation with one another.
We always have lots of fun in our play sessions and rotate around several activities which involve literacy, numeracy, I.C.T., art/craft and social and emotional development. Have a look ....