Whats on in 1 Blue
Religion
We are fortunate to be a part of a Catholic School. At St Mary’s we engage in daily prayer and learn about the life of Jesus during our Religion lessons. In Year 1 we are currently enjoying learning about the Old Testament and the adventures of Moses. The Year 1 children had the great privilege of leading our recent whole school Mass for Grandparents Day where we celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Year 1 children, accompanied by their family members, confidently read the prayers of the faithful, the daily readings and the offertory. At the conclusion of the Mass the children performed a liturgical movement, which is a simple movement sequence which is a form of prayer.
English
English lessons in Year 1 are a combination of many different learning experiences. Each day the students participate in “Mat Time”, where they are explicitly taught digraphs. trigraphs, spelling rules and tricky words. The students use white boards during these lessons to display their understanding, providing Mrs White the opportunity to give on the spot feedback on student learning. During daily English lessons the students participate in Literacy Groups with Mrs White and Mrs Butler. This is an absolute highlight of the day as the children work in small groups, completing a variety of reading, writing and spelling activities. 
Maths
During Maths lessons in Year 1 we enjoy a combination of hands-on learning experiences and our direct instruction lessons. In Year 1 we use a variety of materials to consolidate our understanding of learnt concepts. During our Connecting Maths Concepts lessons we are currently learning how to vertically add and subtract two digit numbers. During investigations the children are using MAB blocks to represent their learning. We are currently learning about 3D shapes as a part of the Stage 1 Measurement strand in Mathematics. The children have used a variety of materials to create real life models of these shapes, identifying vertices, faces and sides of pyramids, cubes and prisms. The children took great pride in teaching their Kindergarten friends about the shapes they had created.
Sport
As we prepare for the upcoming St Mary’s Athletics Carnival the Year 1 children have been participating in a variety of modified games, where they are learning the necessary skills to participate in long jump, shot put and discuss. Breaking these skills down for young students is important as it teaches them correct technique. The students made connections between the field events of discus and shot put and the iconic book character Miss Trunchbull!! The Year 1 children are looking forward to the upcoming athletics carnival.
Science
This term Year 1 have been learning about different types of materials during their weekly chemistry lessons with Mrs Ziegler. The students have observed how materials change when they are heated and cooled. A highlight of the term was the week the children made their own candles, observing the changes in the wax as Mrs Ziegler heated it. “It started as a solid, became a liquid when heat was added and then it turned back into a solid once more, AMAZING” a student observed.
Investigations
In Kindergarten and Year 1 we learn by investigating! Each afternoon the children work collaboratively in pairs or small groups at learning zones in our classrooms. The zones are set up based on our current units of work that are being taught throughout the day. The students are all given an opportunity to be “THE FOCUS STUDENT” (a crowd favourite). The focus students have the privilege of wearing a special sash and are given specific tasks to complete which are personalised to student learning outcomes.
Mrs Jessica White
1 Blue Teacher