Putney Park School

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Our first trip of the year was to Pizza Express where each child had the opportunity to make his or her own pizza. They were encouraged to taste each of the toppings before making their choices and creating their unique pizza. As well as having opportunities to cook with foods from each of the food groups, the children learnt where many of the foods come from. With this in mind we set off for Garsons Pick-Your-Own Farm in Esher. After spending the morning looking at how the various vegetables grow and a picnic lunch, each child was able to choose and pick their own vegetable to take home. This year the carrots were the most popular choice. The challenge of digging in the mud with a large garden fork may have influenced some of the decisions!

Back in the classroom we continued to learn about where the food we eat comes from. The half term challenge was to interview parents and grandparents to discover if the choice of fruit and vegetables we enjoy now is different to that of some years ago. The children discovered that there were indeed some fruits that were not as readily available as they are now. This led us to look at how different fruits favour different climates and how many of the foods that we eat originate in other countries. Each child chose a dish from another country to share at our annual Food Fair. The children were very good about tasting the new and yummy treats prepared by the parents.

As the end of the year loomed, practising for the Christmas concert became a priority. Once again Year 1 joined up with the Reception classes to retell the Christmas story with new and traditional carols. Scarlett and Max were a lovely Mary and Joseph and the finale of “Rocking around the Christmas tree” was a hit. The term ended with the pantomime presented by the upper school girls and the slightly less polished staff pantomime. The classes enjoyed Christmas parties with party food and games.

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One of the challenges of the new term was the introduction of joined handwriting to all areas of learning. Having spent the Autumn term learning and practising the upper and lower case letters, the children were eager to demonstrate this skill in their other learning.

Each year the children wait and hope that snow will fall. This year they were not disappointed! It was with great excitement that we all woke up to a landscape so covered in the ‘white stuff’ and learnt that school would have to be closed. Even on day two many families were unable to get into school. Over the days that followed we were shown photographs and listened to excited tales of adventures with sledges, snowball fights and of course snowmen. It was too good an opportunity to resist using the snow to inspire creativity and the children produced some excellent pieces of artwork and writing about the weather.

We chose the topic of ‘Colours’ for our first school Science Week. The usual timetable was adapted to include a range of experiments and science based activities. We looked at rainbow patterns in bubbles and the challenge was on amongst the staff to create the biggest bubble using the bubble tool. The record was a bubble of about 3 metres. Both Year 1 classes went across to the upper school science laboratory where Mr Hewitt facilitated experiments to explore how different liquids would mix. At the end of the week a selection of favourite experiments from across the school were set up in the hall and the children spent an hour investigating at our own mini science fair.

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Our topic during the Spring term was ‘London’. We began by looking at the area of London in which we live and come to school. We learnt basic map-work skills using our local area. Moving further afield, the children learnt about the river Thames and the various methods of public transport available in the capital. We also looked at some of the important buildings, statues and streets in the city. We headed into London to see first-hand many of the sights we had learnt about in the classroom. For the first time, we used the train to travel up to London. This was a great success. Not only was it an exciting adventure, but it provided a practical opportunity to practise some of the safety rules we had discussed in PSHE lessons. We were most impressed with the children and there were a number of comments about their excellent behaviour by members of the public travelling on the train. From Waterloo, we walked to the river and crossed over Westminster Bridge. We were just in time to hear Big Ben chime. Passers-by were amused by the children counting out the chimes. After choosing postcards, we walked along the Embankment to Hungerford Bridge where we crossed back over the river. We had a picnic lunch on the South bank and then joined the queue for the London Eye. Each class was assigned one of the capsules and we set off on our 40 minute flight to view the city. Some of the children had been on the London Eye before, but this did not diminish the excitement. Faces were pressed against the glass in an attempt to be the first to spot one of the sights we had discussed in the classroom. One sharp pair of eyes spotted the Royal Standard flying over Buckingham Palace. The children marked off the buildings they had seen on a worksheet.

One of the exciting classroom based projects of the Spring term, was designing and making fully working clocks. This was an amalgamation of the maths and DT curriculum. The children were encouraged to consider how they would paint their wooden clocks when planning the designs. The challenge was to keep the final project looking as much like the original design as possible. Once the paint was dry and number had been affixed, the working mechanisms were added. By adding the hands one at a time, the children were more able to understand the difference between the movements of the two hands. The final act of adding batteries brought the clocks to life.

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The summer term is always busy. Our topic has been ‘Living and Growing’. The children have learnt about plants and animals. We have planted bean seeds and monitored their growth and enjoyed our own tanks of tadpoles in the classrooms. The children monitored the changes and growth of the tadpoles into little froglets, who were then returned to a nearby pond. Having the tadpoles in the classroom made the learning experience real and the children found it easy to describe and write about the life cycle.

Our first trip of the term was to Kew Gardens. We were lucky with the weather and spent a lovely day exploring the beautiful Palm House and the recently installed Tree Top Walk. The children were excited to use the cameras, newly purchased by FoPPS, to support their learning. Rather than using worksheets, the children were challenged to find and take photographs of various flowers and plants. They actually managed to capture bee pollination taking place.

The other trip for the term was to Crane Park Island in Twickenham. Once again we were treated with a beautiful hot summer’s day. Each class spent time paddling in the river fishing with nets for creatures. A variety of little fish and other river creatures were caught and examined. Although there were lots of squeals when the children first stepped into the cold water, the warm sunshine meant they were soon grateful to be paddling and splashing. Perhaps some T shirts and shorts became a little wetter than necessary, but they quickly dried in the warm weather. Although not very big, the island is wonderful for exploring. We listened to the changing sound of the wind in the trees and the river bubbling over rocks and over the little weir. Under the shade of a large horse chestnut, the children were encouraged to use their senses and write about what they could see, hear, feel and smell. After lunch, they had a scavenger hunt and sketched one of the large trees in the park.

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Our Summer concert ‘The Ark and the Spiders’, written by Mrs Viney Mitchell was fantastic. The children worked so hard to remember lines and practise the songs. Miss Bonnell and Miss Beach produced a brilliant backdrop, which added to the colour and fun of the show. Noah and Nora played by Dhillon and Natalia deserve special mention, as do our spiders, Alicia and Philip.

The summer term brought something new for Year 1’s, when we made good use of the marquee in the garden and had an end of year party after school one Friday. The sound of laughter and cheers filled the playground as the classes were mixed into colour teams and took part in team games, assault courses and other races. The children had a delicious picnic supper of hotdogs and when pudding time arrived, the sight of a chocolate fountain brought silence to most of the little lips - closely followed by sticky, brown moustaches! The evening was rounded off with camp fire style singing and enthusiastic versions of Nursery Rhymes, followed by a more peaceful ‘Campfires Burning’ which rang out into the night air. This evening was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all who took part.

After such a busy and fun filled year, the children deserve a super Summer holiday. We are really proud of how they have grown during the year and all they have achieved and would like to thank them for the happy memories we will have of this year. The parents have been very supportive and we would like to thank them too. We wish you all a happy holiday.

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