Seriously, it was a very good day today! We had the Chinese New Year assembly (go here to read about it and see photographs). The children all sang beautifully (we're sorry that Cool got there late and wasn't able to sing, but he joined in with the other activities immediately on arriving). They all looked fantastic in their Chinese and Korean clothes, and we had a very fun assembly. At the end of it, they were all presented with red enveloped with money inside and, on opening, them, they found it was chocolate money! A big thank you to Mrs. Bingham and the Chinese teachers who organised the assembly, and Miss Helen Bai, who taught the children to sing their song. 

After the assembly we went back to class where we celebrated Cherry's birthday. Her grandmother brought a huge cake, some oranges and candy, and we all had a fun time. I hope that Cherry's parents, who are in Australia, will enjoy hearing about this and seeing these photos.

In the afternoon, we had a Design and Technology lesson. The children worked in groups to make model castles. They did some really creative work, cutting and gluing, colouring, decorating, and practicing sharing and teamwork skills. Their model castles are nearly finished. On Monday they will finish decorating them and evaluate them..

The children have all been working very hard on their projects at home. I think this has been an excellent piece of homework to help them with their reading, writing, spelling and science. Today, I collected in the projects and was very impressed with their quality. Mrs. Bingham came to the class and gave prizes to the four children who had produced the best projects (it was very hard to choose the best because they were all so good). The three were Sarah, Grace, Eunice and Lisa, and they chose fans and a teddy bear (Eunice was not here today). All of the children also received two housepoints. Good work, Year 1!

If you want to enjoy some delicious dumplings, please bring in 10 RMB on Friday 28/1/11. Children who do will enjoy some Chinese dumplings on Monday, at snack time. Other children will eat their snacks as normal at this time.
Additional note - if you like, you can still bring in 10 RMB on Monday, if you haven't already.

If you are finding it difficult to download the Cool School game, I apologise. I just tried it, and found some problems as well. I feel a bit embarassed about it, and I'll let you know more soon. In the meantime, there are still lots of excellent educational games on the site for children to practice on at home. Sorry!

Hello again! I want to try using a poll, and I thought you would like to join in. Click to tell me what you think of the website. If you want to, you can add comments as well. Thank you for your opinions!

Hello! This will be another exciting week, In Year 1, we will:

The children will learn what science fiction and fantast stories are. We will read stories and have fun acting them and writing about them. The children will learn about characters and settings and how to describe them. We will read stories like Sleeping Beauty (a roleplaying game book), Dr. Xargle, and will read the online books The Princess and The Dragon and The Cold Planet.

This is linked to our work in Science, using materials like cardboard, plastic, glue and sellotape. And it is linked to our English work, reading magic stories about castles. the children will begin their castles this week, working in groups. I would be very grateful for any cardboard or plastic - boxes, bottles, etc. - you could donate for the children to share and use.
 Click here to watch a video of how to make a castle.

This week we will learn a song to practice English and learn about Chinese New Year customs. You can watch a cartoon of the song here (click on the picture).

Our maths topic this week is measuring - fun with clocks, rulers and weighing scales.

Yesterday, the Literacy class wrote recounts of the Assembly. Today, they completed them. You can see and hear them here.

Today, the children brought in the Projects they have been working on. I was so pleased with how hard they are working, and I want to thank you for your help with them. A great help to their writing, reading and Art skills. I loved how they have worked so hard on them - finding samples, drawing and writing about them, and all so creative - it's very exciting!

Today, we also started our new Design and Technology topic. The children are going to learn about how to make model homes. We got out the cardboard boxes and scissors and practiced ways to make models that stand up, joining cardboard with no glue or tape!

Last week, the children made some beautiful paper weavings. Today Miss Lulu kindly made them into a display outside the classroom.

We had a treat at the start of this term, as Lisa brought in a book to read to the class. She read beautifully, and should be proud of her English speaking and reading. If any of the other children wish to bring in a book to read to the class, or bring in something special to show and tell their friends about, I am happy to make time for them to do so.

Year 1 are working on a homework project - a long-term piece of homework on Materials, which is our topic for Science and Art lessons this term. They will end up with a booklet full of pictures, diagrams and writing about things made from plastic, wood, paper, metal and other materials. Today, we had a look at the work the children have done, and I was very happy to see how hard they have been working at home - colouring, drawing, cutting, gluing and writing. Well done, Year 1!

Question: When does the Project have to be finished by?
Answer: By the Spring Festival holidays.

Question: Is there a prize?
Answer: The best projects will be sent to Mrs. Bingham and Mr. Owens for them to see; children will be rewarded by the amount of effort they have put into their work, with housepoints.

Question: What is the "best work?"
Answer: Lots of different items made of lots of different materials - samples glued in, and neatest possible drawing, colouring and writing.

Question: Can the children do extra work?
Answer: Yes! If they like, they can add their pages, write on the backs of their pages, and do some work on the computer if they wish. They can also add stickers, stories and photos cut out of magazines. But all work done must be on things made out of plastics, glass, metals, fabrics and other materials.

Here are some online resources that children can use to find out more about materials to add to their Projects:
Link to Science Games.

The photos of your children are now online (at individual websites with password protection) for you to see and download. The website addresses and passwords will be sent out on Monday.

So far there are photos from the autumn term - one website for each child, and one website for photos of Year 1 as a whole.  

I hope you will all enjoy seeing them! New photos for the spring term will be uploaded at the end of term.

How time flies when you're busy and having fun! I think it's safe to say that we were very busy this term, and we did have a lot of fun. Here are a few of the things that stand out most when I look back on the autumn term:
(1) The children! They have been a delight to teach and to work with. Curious, fun, engaging and friendly. We have been sad to lose four of them, but happy to welcome Grace, Cool, Cherry, Woo Bin and You Bin.

(2) Fun learning games in class - computer games at school and at home, like Tutpup and Education City; playing card games like twenty-one, to practice adding maths. We've had fun telling stories, including some like the one in the photo where the children chose what they wanted to do in the story. 

(3) The Christmas play. Especially considering how young they were, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 made us all very, very proud. They worked hard and gave excellent performances that were a credit to the school.

And now Spring Term is here! I'm certain it's going to be as busy and full of fun as last term. I hope you will enjoy looking around the new Year 1 website, and find it of use for you and for your child or children.

Happy New Year!

Mr. Kohll.