Willow Class School Blog Summer 1 Week 1

Date: 17th Apr 2026 @ 2:14pm

This week has been full of excitement, creativity and fantastic learning across the curriculum!

In English, we discovered that a tiger had been sneaking into our school, eating our cereals, drinking our water and leaving footprints everywhere. It had even taken some cheeky bites out of the vegetables in our snack station. We became detectives and followed the clues, eventually realising that the tiger from The Tiger Who Came to Tea had been visiting us. We began sequencing the story and learning our story map, and we enjoyed sharing our likes, dislikes, patterns and puzzles linked to the text. https://youtu.be/RjcxZemAxNI?feature=shared

In Maths, Year 1 have started learning about halves. We explored how to find half of a shape and half of a number. Year 2 have been estimating, comparing and ordering weights from lightest to heaviest. We also discussed units of measure and learnt that kilograms (kg) are heavier than grams (g).

During Maths Fluency, Year 1 were introduced to the inequality signs and practised comparing numbers. Year 2 worked on adding to 10 to help them find number bonds to 11, 12 and 13.

In Geography, we explored the compass points and recorded what observations we could see at each direction. We also began recording daily weather patterns to identify key themes, looking closely at the weather forecast and wind patterns.

In Science, we investigated the impact of exercise on our bodies. We increased our heart rate by doing star jumps and explored balance and coordination by seeing how long we could stand on one leg.

In Phonics, Year 1 have been learning the ie sound, as in shield, and enjoyed reading Kit and Sam’s Trip to the Castle. Year 2 focused on adding the suffixes –er, –est and –y to CVC and CCVC words, thinking carefully about when we need to double the final consonant.

In RE, we continued exploring the Easter story and discussed which parts of the story felt happy and which parts felt sad.

In PSHE, we discussed money and looked at how money is stored and used. In Music, we explored rock and roll music. We listened to Go, Johnny, Go! by Chuck Berry and learnt the hand jive. You can listen to the song here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDOWpnBv6cY

We also learnt our new rock and roll song, The Rockpool Rock. In Computing, we looked at identifying keyboards and ways to display information.

During Explore and Learn, we completed a bat-themed play project to celebrate National Bat Appreciation Day on Friday 17 April. We found out about bats by reading books and watching clips, including a BBC CBeebies programme about bats:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00129j7

We built bat boxes, created bat models and silhouette art, practised our phonics tricky words by playing Splat the Bat, and wrote fact files and posters to raise awareness about bats. We even began planning ways to trap the tiger so that next week’s play project can focus on researching tigers.

In PE, we practised our running skills, looking at techniques for jogging and sprinting, and were introduced to relay races. The girls also enjoyed a special PE session practising football skills and drills.

We have had a brilliant week full of curiosity, teamwork and enthusiasm for learning, and we are looking forward to a restful weekend.

We have enjoyed: