In Year 1, we have been studying our village and the surrounding local area(s). 

To kickstart this topic, we began studying our own school. This allowed us to develop our knowledge, understanding and vocabulary of 'place' and geographical features in relation to a very familiar space. We used technology to create an interactive tour of our school which was shared with our grownups. We used an aerial photograph of the school and created interactive buttons/links to key rooms that we wanted to explore. When one of the interactive buttons/links was clicked on, a video of us appeared in the chosen room, explaining what the room is/what it is used for and it's position in the school. 

We then expanded our newly formed knowledge, understanding and vocabulary of 'place' and geographical features and applied these to a wider study of our village; Distington. We went for a walk around the village - using key locational language as we went to explain and explore key features of the village in comparison to others that we had already seen/passed. We took lots of photos along the way and used these in class; placing them in the correct areas on an aerial photograph of Distington. We really enjoyed seeing some of our own houses and the places we visit regularly; such as the shop and the rugby club. 

To conclude our topic, we widened our knowledge even further and explored our neighbouring town of Whitehaven. We linked this in with our literacy book 'The Naughty Bus' and our maths unit of 'Money'. We caught the bus at the local bus stop and paid for our fares individually, counting out the appropriate coins and receiving change if necessary. When we arrived at Whitehaven, we visited the local park, had lunch and then went into B&Ms to spend some more money. We each had £3 and had to pay careful attention to the prices on the shelves, calculating what we could and couldn't afford. On our way back to the bus stop, we made some comparisons between Whitehaven and Distington and highlighted ways in which they were also different. 

We had lots of fun during this unit of work and learnt lots of key, valuable skills!