DATE: 20.03.2026

The Star of the week:    1L - Oliver and Tom and Valentina

                                        1R - Kobe

Congratulations!

The Welsh Speaker of the week/Siaradwr yr wythnos this week:  1L - Amelie

                                                                                                              1R - Laury

Llongyfachiadau! 

This week's news:

Dydd Gwener Hapus pawb!

What lovely weather we've had this week! 

🏰 Castles and Homes in Wales

Our topic work has taken us deeper into castle life this week. We explored the different jobs people would have done in a castle, from cooks and knights to jesters and gatekeepers. The children were interested in the different roles and responsibilities and we talked a lot about what each job involved.

The highlight was definitely the children writing their own job applications for a castle role of their choice. They explained which job they wanted, why they would be good at it, and what skills they have that would make them suitable. Their ideas were thoughtful, creative, and often very funny!

We also continued learning about the key features of a castle—moats, drawbridges, battlements, arrow slits—and why these were important for protection. The children are becoming experts already.

🔢 Maths

In maths, we’ve been using number lines to find the difference between numbers and deepen our understanding of subtraction. We also explored weight using balance scales, comparing objects and estimating whether they were heavier, lighter, or equal to one of our construction blocks.

With the lovely weather, we took some learning outdoors too. In the water area, the children explored capacity by pouring, filling, and comparing containers, using language such as full, empty, half‑full, and nearly full.

✏️ Language and Phonics

Our language sessions have been full of discussion as we explored our ‘big questions’ for the new topic. The children asked thoughtful questions about castles, homes, and how people lived in the past, and it has been lovely to see their natural curiosity. 

In phonics, we’ve been practising our split digraphs: u–e, u–e, and ar, as well as revisiting some of our tricky words and cvc/cvcc words. We practised these through word‑building, sound‑sorting, and becoming phonics detectives, spotting our sounds in our writing, in our reading books and around the classroom. The children are identifying these sounds more confidently in both reading and writing, which is lovely to see.

🗣️ Welsh

In Welsh this week, we’ve been continuing to practice how to say “I live in a…”, ("dw i'n byw yn y..."), introducing both topic‑based vocabulary such as castell, palas, and tyred, as well as modern places to live like flattiau, tŷ, and carafan. The children enjoyed pretending to be different characters and choosing where they might live, from a castell to a carafan!

Best wishes, The Year 1 Team 🌟