KS1 - Years 1 & 2
Hazel, Beech and Elm

Welcome to Hazel, Beech and Elm classes

Mrs Amy Robillard, Mrs Sam Payne, Mr Chris Wightman and Mrs Eloise Marney are pleased to welcome you to Hazel, Beech and Elm. Teaching and learning in our classes is supported by Mrs Laura Bennett, Mrs Katy Balch, Mrs Katie Sawyer and Mrs Lizzie Gibson, where Year 1 and Year 2 work and learn together!


We are mixed Year 1 and Year 2 classes with an engaging indoor and outdoor environment enabling children to continue their learning journey from the Foundation Stage into Key Stage 1.

Learning in Hazel, Beech and Elm

Hazel, Beech and Elm Classes take our children through Key Stage 1. Our Year 1 children begin to learn from the National Curriculum, with the Year 2 children continuing to build upon the knowledge they have already learned, together with practising their growing skill set and being introduced to new skills.


Our aim is for the children to become ‘Ready, Willing and Able' in 'themselves, in their school and in their world', by fostering each child's resilience, curiosity and independent learning. We have a passionate team of staff ready to help each child achieve these goals, all of whom share the belief that our young learners need to access their education in an age appropriate way.


The three classes share the same friendly and accessible characters to help children talk about their learning. They are: Paddington 'the Explorer', 'Keep Trying' Kipper, and Percy ‘the Problem Solver’. See if you can catch your children learning like Paddington, Kipper or Percy at home! We encourage all parents to follow their child's learning journey by using our digital learning platform, Seesaw.

Spring 2 2024

During the Spring term we are studying seasons and changes through the year. In history we are learning about how life has changed in living memory specifically music, toys, food and clothes.

In design technology we are working with and learning about different fabrics and their uses. We are also learning about grouping data in our computing lessons.

March 2022

This week the classes have been collecting, storing and interpreting data. We have been discussing everything from favourite superheroes to our least favourite vegetables!

What fun we have had, combining our DT skills of cutting, spirals in art and measuring length in maths to create our science spinners for science week.

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    World Book Day

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    World Book Day

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  • Slide title

    World Book Day

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January 2022

KS1 have begun 2022 as scientists, exploring the materials around us and learning about their properties!

November 2021

This week Year 1/2 have been exploring the history found at Clyst Heath! We went in search of the Iron Age settlements that are under our field and marked them out with our bodies.

October 2021

Here are some great action shots from our French immersion day with Madame Baguette! We were learning new phrases, songs, dances and trying French foods!

This week has seen us take a disgusting turn… with the arrival of our new text The Disgusting Sandwich! The children have been exploring the new text and expressing what they like or dislike about it and exploring any patterns that they found. In our provision, the children have been learning more about the weather by recording themselves as weather presenters in preparation for a look at weather and climates this week.

September 2021

We have begun a journey as geographers! We started by investigating the planet using a globe, atlases and Google Earth to find key continents, oceans and countries. We also spoke about the equator and what it means - ask us!

In literacy, we started a new text called The Woods and have been learning all about it.

Home Learning

Reading

Reading at home is known to have a positive effect on children’s reading progress. The expectation is that every child reads at home at least three times a week. This doesn’t need to be a long session, little and often is best. Please record all home reading in the yellow reading record provided. Return the reading records to school on a Friday to be checked Three or more reads a week will earn a reading stamp, which go toward increasing house point rewards across the year!

Key Skills

In addition to reading, there is an expectation that KS1 practise key spellings and basic math concepts each week. This is carried out in the classroom via Spelling Shed, NumBots and Times Tables Rockstars (Y2 only). We encourage all children to practise these from home to help improve recall and retention as well. Logins are provided in the yellow reading records for home use and each service can be accessed for free from the links below. The children can earn a range of rewards for consistent practice over the year.

Helpful Links:

Spelling Shed NumBots TTRS (Y2)

5th - 9th July 2021

KS1 have been getting to grips with writing algorithms and testing their coding skills this week using our lovely Bee-Bots! The children had to predict where given algorithms would move the Bee-Bot and also practise writing their own coded commands. Elsewhere, the classes were getting creative on the field letting their imaginations run wild with new ideas for our story writing next week. It is setting up to be a wonderfully descriptive new tale!

28th June - 2nd July 2021

This week year 1/2 started our final literacy sequence for the year: traditional tales. We read a new version of Little Red Riding Hood and had fun making freeze frames of each part of the story. We are looking forwards to writing our own version of some well known stories soon!

21st - 25th June 2021

KS1 had a fantastic time at Plymouth Aquarium learning all about the different sea creatures and their habitats. We took a deep dive in a VR submarine and dissected a hammerhead shark to find out what it had been eating - sadly, it had been mostly plastic...

The children then enjoyed a detailed tour around the aquarium and learned some amazing facts about starfish, sharks and coral reefs to name but a few.

A big thank you to all the parent helpers and aquarium staff.

14th - 18th June 2021

This week 1/2 have been busy working on their vocabulary in preparation for writing poetry next week. The children have been practising using dictionaries and thesauruses to help develop their class word bank - ask us how each one helps us with our writing! Hazel and Beech have enjoyed their 'stay and play' mornings and Ash are looking forward to their turn next week. 

7th - 11th June 2021

This week year 1 and 2 have been scientists, starting our new topics in Jigsaw and science - Life cycles and plants. We have planted our own seeds and begun a bean diary, as well as closely observing our produce which has finally started to grow in our vegetable beds. Thank goodness for some sunshine and warmth at last!

24th - 28th May 2021

This week has seen the children draw upon all of their ‘plastic ocean’ knowledge to create emotive letters and posters highlighting the key issues. The children were able to use the powerful word banks to help support their writing tasks. In Maths, the children have been focusing on answering addition and subtraction questions using mental maths methods, including using number bond and known facts.

17th - 21st May 2021

This week KS1 have been busy planning a series of projects all to do with the plastic problem in the ocean. The children have been exploring animals, their habitats and what they like to eat. We have also been practising our emotive language and persuasive writing in preparation for our BIG Write and digital poster making next week. The children are all very passionate about saving the animals and protecting the ocean!

10th - 14th May 2021

This week KS1 had a visit from our resident arty expert: Mrs Barrett! Mrs B came in to help us begin the process of creating our brand-new sketch books that we will be adding to over the rest of the year. The children had lots of fun working with different media and exploring new ways of mark making!

4th - 7th May 2021

Arr my hearties! This week we have been pirates, exploring plastic pollution in our seas with a visitor from Devon Waste. We have also continued learning about the different levels in the ocean, including the very strange and unusual creatures in the abyss.

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