St Joseph'sCatholic Primary & Nursery School
Year 1 / Year 2
Welcome to Year 1/2
Mr Fisher
Welcome to Mr Fisher's Class!
This Year we will be supported by; Mrs Cook, Mrs Lock, Miss Cooper and Mrs Crenol.
Below is some key information that you might find useful.
Our Summer Term Topics are
'How did we learn to fly?'
and
'What can you see at the coast?'
In our Topic lessons the children will …
- Explore the story of the Wright brothers.
- Know when the first flight was.
- Investigate why Bessie Coleman is historically significant using photographs.
- Know why Amelia Earhart is significant.
- Investigate why the Moon landing was a significant event in history.
- Place significant flight events on a timeline.
- Locate the seas and oceans surrounding the UK.
- Explain what the coast is.
- Identify the physical features of the coast.
- Identify human features on the coast.
- Investigate how people use the local coast.
- Present findings on how people use the local coast.
Our science work will focus on :
Year 1
(Animals, including humans and Plants)
The children will learn:
- How to identify common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
- How to identify a variety of common animals that are carnivores, herbivores or omnivores.
- How to describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals.
- How to identify and name common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees.
- How to identify the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees.
Year 2
(Living things and their habitats and Plants)
The children will learn:
- How to compare things that are living from things that are dead or alive.
-How animals are suited to the habitats they live in.
How to identify a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats.
-How animals get food from plants and other animals and naming different sources of food.
-How a simple food chain works.
- How to observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants.
- How plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy.
Homework
Weekly Homework Choice Grid
Children to complete 1 activity from the Homework Choice Grid below.
Homework can be recorded using writing, pictures, drawings etc. appropriate to the task.
Each task can only be completed once.
Books will be collected in on a Friday.
Spellings
Spellings are also handed out on a Friday ready for a test the following Friday. Please make sure the children are practicing their spellings every week. 'Little and often' is definitely the best way for your child to learn how to spell new words.
Share a story journal
Every week on a Friday, one child from the class will bring home the 'Share a story journal'. This is a further opportunity for you to read with your child while enjoying a nice cup of 'hot chocolate' (provided by the school). If it is your turn to complete the journal, we ask that it is returned on the Monday so that teachers have a chance to look over any work that has been completed.
PE
PE will be on a Wednesday (Tennis) and a Friday (Games). Please ensure your child has the correct kit (including daps or trainers that fit) as there is sometimes the opportunity to go outside.
Reading Books
We are continuing to improve children's reading fluency and comprehension. Please continue to hear your child read as often as possible and use the question based bookmarks to support this process. We encourage children to change reading books as regularly as possible. Please ensure you record any reading that takes place at home with a simple comment inside the small blue book (Reading Record). Finished books can be placed inside the classroom crate on a daily basis but they will not be changed unless the reading record has been written in.
Over the course of the term I will continue to update this class page with all the different things that are going on in Year 1/2.
If you have any questions please feel free to email me on the contact details below:
mfisher@sjbos.thedcet.com
Best wishes
Mr Fisher 
HOMEWORK CHOICE GRID
Weekly Spellings (for year 2 spellings please scroll for group 2)
Science - After 4 weeks of watching our caterpillars eat, grow and spin a cocoon, this week they finally emerged as butterflies!! This morning we took them into the field to release them!
Science - This morning the children have been searching for a variety of animals in their local habitat! We found some really interesting creatures including a Daddy long legs and a Spittle bug!
EASTER BONNET PARADE 2025!!
Today, the Year 6 children delivered the ‘Stations of the Cross’ to the rest of the school. The children were asked questions at each station and showed a good level of understanding and focus throughout the carousel.
Year 1 Football Festival Fun! This morning all the Year 1 children from St Joseph's travelled on an adventure to Bridgwater College where they enjoyed two hours of football skills delivered by the Young Sports Leaders. Participating in a carousel of 8 activities, the children worked their way around each of the stations with a smile on their face! The quality of coaching on offer was exceptional as was the behaviour and focus displayed by all of our children participating. It was great to see interaction between schools and everyone I observed throughout the morning appeared to be having a huge amount of fun! It was a pleasure to see so many children active in what was an extremely well-organised and enjoyable event.
Science - Today the children worked in small groups recording all that they have learnt in their Spring Science topics.
Geography - Today the children investigated the season we are in by following a route around the school grounds and collecting seasonal objects along the way; they created a journey stick.
WORLD BOOK DAY 2025 - The children have had great fun today celebrating World Book Day 2025! They either dressed up as book characters or wore their bedtime clothes into school. We enjoyed watching an author (Laura Baker) read her book ‘The Full Stop That Got Away.’ This included an illustration activity where she was able to lead the children through drawing some of the key characters from the story! Back in the classroom, the children made a ‘Split Pin Gingerbread Man’ with moving body parts. They made bookmarks, created book character selfies, completed word searches and drew pictures to illustrate their favourite book! They completed ‘I Spy’ activities linked to traditional story characters such as ‘Goldilocks, the Big Bad Wolf or Little Bear’ just to name a few! All the children in the class had brought in their favourite book. The day ended with each child pairing up an older child in the school who read their book to them. What an action packed brilliant day!
Art - Making our Mothering Sunday Cards!
PE (Dance) - Today the childe used a scarf to help develop twisting and turning movements as well as light floating movements in Dance.
History - Today the children have been looking at pictures of toys from over the last 100 years. They spent time chatting about the toys before using post-it notes to record their thoughts; whether the toys were old or new; what the toys were made of etc.
English - Today the children have been using their planning sheets to help them retell the story 'Journey' to a partner.
English - National Storytelling Week! Today the children enjoyed a live on-line workshop with an author who talked all about a book they had written; where the idea for the book came from and how they developed it. We imagined ourselves as authors and created a hidden, magical world as a setting for a story we would like to tell. We thought about what we could see, hear, feel and smell in our magical land before thinking of a creature that lives there! We used our ideas to make up a story to tell to a friend.
PSHE - This week we are celebrating World Mental Health Week with a focus on 'Know Yourself, Grow Yourself.' We started the week with a Whole School Assembly and for the rest of the week our Class are going to be keeping a diary and completing an activity every day. The activities will be linked to thinking about ourselves; what we're good at and what we want to get better at; people that are special to us; things that make us smile and something that make us special.
History - Today we worked in small groups to think of questions that we would like to ask an older adult about the toys they played with when they were our age. We then got to ask our questions and listened to the answers that were given.
PSHE - In JIGSAW we have been making coins to illustrate things that we are good at!
PE (Games) - Today the children have been playing simple games where they can run, chase and dodge! The have been demonstrating increased control when travelling with, sending and receiving a ball.
History - Today we had a visit from Taunton Museum who delivered a history session based around 'toys'. The children had great fun handling and playing with a real selection of old toys. They dressed up in Victorian costumes and even made their own Thaumatrope!
RE - This morning the children have been thinking all about 'Building a better world' as part of our Jubilee celebrations. We thought a lot about the problems we face in our local community as well as globally.
History - Today the children brought in their favourite toys from home. We spent discussing our favourite toys and why we like them.
Art - Observational drawing!
English - Today we have been thinking about stories that we know really well. We chose our favourite one and retold it to a friend.
PE - Today we had great fun dancing to the theme of 'Space'. We visited a planet when we had to stretch out a shape at different levels!
Art - Today the children have been using the wax crayons to explore and experiment with mark making to create texture.
Maths - Today the Year 1 children made 2D shape tiles and created some repeating patterns.
Computing - Today the children have been using the Bee Bot program on the ipads to practice entering instruction and commands.
RE - Today, the Year 2 children have been learning all about John The Baptist. They had to work in small groups and decide whether the statements referred to John or the prophet Isaiah.
Art - Today the children have been developing their mark making techniques. They had great fun using the charcoal this afternoon!
Science - With so many things happening in the last week of term before we broke up for Christmas, the children did not get a chance to work in small groups and record all that that we have learnt in our topic 'Materials'. This first week back has been a busy one and today we caught up with that Science work!
Geography - Today the children ventured out into the cold and have been mapping out the playground. We took time to draw symbols on a blank map and record what we could see!
Grinch Handprint Pictures!
Christmas Dinner!
Christmas Maths! Reinforcing our addition and subtraction!
Christmas Performance!
Designing our own Christmas Trees!
Dressing Father Christmas (and working on those all important cutting skills)!!
Christmas Tree Decorations!
Christmas Cards!
PSHE - In our JIGSAW lessons we have be celebrating our differences. The children have been looking at how we may be similar in many ways but ultimately we are all different and unique! We designed our own shorts and a t-shirt for a blank character. All of our designs were different (a little bit like us).
Art - Christmas cards!
RE - The children made a hand print advent wreath for our Advent display.
Geography - In Geography we have been looking at aerial views of the school. Today we thought about what an aerial view of the classroom would look like. We made 'messy maps' to illustrate an aerial view of our classroom.
Art - Today the children have been learning how to weave!
Science - Mr Fisher's umbrella has a hole in it and he keeps getting wet! Today we looked at four materials (cling film, newspaper, cloth and tin foil) and tested their properties in a small bowl of water. Next week we will investigate which material is best for mending the hole!
Anti-Bullying Week. This week in school we are celebrating 'Anti-Bullying Week' which this year focusses on respect. Today the children wore odd socks into school in recognition that we are all different and may have different views, opinions and beliefs. In class we worked through a Power point all about bullying before designing our own pair of odd socks!
Robin Hood - Today the children were treated to a fantastic live performance of Robin Hood!
Science - In Science today, the children have been looking at a range of objects (cubes, paperclips, drawing pins, rubbers, newspaper, coins and drink cans). They had to predict whether the object would be magnetic (or not) before they tested each object with a magnet and recorded their results in a table.
English - Mr Fisher read us the story ‘Rain’ and we spent some time discussing with our ‘Talking Partners’ what we already knew about rain.
PSHE - Today we had a visit from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. They spoke with the children about fire safety in a whole school assembly before our Year 2 children were lucky enough to participate in a further workshop.
GOLDEN TIME FUN TO END OFF A HARD WORKING HALF TERM!
History - Making History! In History today we made a time capsule which we are going to store in the school loft with clear instruction not to open until 2044! We drew objects that could tell children in the future about our class and children of our age. We thought about the toys we play with, the food we eat, our favourite sweets and our best holiday.
Maths - Today the Year 1 children have been making up their own number sentences using the two sided counters for support.
Maths - The Year 1 children have been using the rekenreks in their Mastery of Number lesson to help with their understanding of how numbers are made up.
Science - Last week in Science the children were incredibly animated using the magnets! For our lesson this week, I decided that rather than asking the class to complete a structured Science lesson, I would let them have some more time exploring how magnets work. For the majority of the children, they have never seen or used one before and there is still a huge amount of curiosity surrounding them. With this in mind, I filled the centre of each table with magnetic material and the children spent the lesson exploring the materials using the magnets. Sometimes you just have to let the children learn through exploration!
PE - Multi-Skills Carousel!
Computing - This afternoon we have been learning how to log onto the Chrome Books independently. We used the art program 'Paintz' and practiced using the tracking pad to create marks on a page or in some cases a picture!
PE - Gymnastics fun and learning our Key Steps routine!
Science - In Science the Year 1 children have been looking at the properties of everyday materials and the Year 2 children have been looking at the suitability of everyday materials. Today we watched a Science video all about magnetic metal. We went outside with the magnets and tested different objects in the playground to find out if they were magnetic or not. The year 2 children discussed why the objects were made out of metal.
History - Today the children worked in small groups to think of questions to ask Mrs Crenol about what her childhood was like growing up.
Art - This afternoon the children have been developing an understanding of mark making. The have been drawing objects using their observation skills. The pencils had a piece of cardboard around them so that the children could not see what they had done and really had to think about the shapes and line in what was in front of them.
PSHE - World Mental Health Day 2024 - Across the School, the children wore their own clothes into school with a focus on the colour yellow! In our class, we discussed the importance of maintaining a healthy body and mind and as an activity, the children designed their own posters on how to be healthy!
Maths - The Year 1 children have been ordering numbers from greatest to smallest or smallest to greatest. We used number cards to practice practically before completing a written activity in our books.
History - We have been thinking about special events that take place across the year and placing them on timelines. The children thought about ways that they celebrate a special event such as a birthday. We all wrote down our birth months and year of birth on a small white board before making a human timeline of all our birthdays!
Maths - Mastery of Number is in full flow! The Year 1 children have been using the counters to help them understand how we compose numbers using two parts!
English - Today in English we have been reordering sets of muddled instructions for 'making a marmalade sandwich'.
Maths - Today the Year 1 children have been using the numicon to practice ordering objects from biggest to smallest.
National Poetry Day 2024 - This Year the National focus is Number! We read a poem called 'Trees' by Harry Behn and made our own leaves decorated with numbers!
English - In English this term we have been looking at the story of Paddington Bear. We have just started a new strand of learning all about instructions and what better way to start but by following a some ourselves! This morning we followed the instructions Mr Fisher gave us and made Paddington's favourite meal; marmalade sandwiches!
PE - Year 1 Multi-Skills fun using the large balls while the Year 2 children swim!
English - Reading our Paddington Bear character descriptions to a partner.
Maths - Today the Year 1 children have been comparing objects (numicon) using vocabulary such as fewer than, more than and the same as.
Science - Today the Year 2 children have been looking at how we can change the shapes of materials through processes such as squashing, bending and stretching and the Year 1 children have been looking at the properties of different materials. We had great fun playing around with socks, envelopes, foam balls, paper clips and rulers before recording our findings on a chart in our books.
Maths - Today the Year 2 children have been comparing objects using the equality signs.
Art - Today the children had lots fun creating pictures using a range of media.
Science - This morning in Science we spent a little time handling four different objects (Blu-tac, Pebbles, Cotton wool and Sand Paper). After twisting, squashing and squeezing each object, we had to think of words to describe their properties, e.g. the cotton wool was soft, fluffy and downy.
Big Art - Today the children were exploring lines and mark making to draw water.
RE - God's wonderful world made with play dough.
Friday's Golden time reward after a hard week of work!
RE - We made binoculars today and used them to look at God's beautiful world.
Music - Using the glockenspiels to practice simple scales. Very noisy but lots of fun!!
NEW YEAR 2024-25