English - this week we have re-grouped the children according to their latest assessments. The children have been streamed across all of KS1 to ensure that they are in the best group to meet their needs. These groups will be fluid and will change as and when the children are able to close their gaps and apply their phonic knowledge to their independent reading. These groups will be taught by all the KS1 staff.

Each afternoon this week we have now started one-to-one tutoring for children to ensure that they are up to speed with their sounds and give them a little extra support where necessary. These interventions are super speedy – no more than 7 minutes – and aim to provide the children with short boosts of extra sound work. These interventions are lead by Miss Evans in line with are RWI Phonic programme.

We are also working on the formation of our pre-cursive letters and learning how to read and write the common exception words for Year 1.

 

Maths - this week we have been working on knowing the number sentence that matches a number bond image. We have used our ten frames to support our learning and lots of spoken language to ‘say what we see’. We are working hard to learn our number bonds to 5, 6, 8, and 10. The more facts we KNOW the less we have to work out. We are trying to commit these facts to memory.

RE – this week we have been learning all about the story of The Annuciation and the fact the Mary said yes to the Angel Gabriel. We have focused on how Mary might have felt when she said yes to such an important job and how the first words spoken to Mary by the Angel Gabriel, form the beginning of the Hail Mary prayer.

Geography – this week we have continued with our new topic on Continents and Oceans. This week we have reviewed the seven continents and focused on Europe and the country of France.

Science - we have started our new topic all about Animals and how they can be classified. This week we focused on mammals and birds.

Art – this week the children have started their Textiles unit by focusing on weaving.  

I am delighted to announce this week’s winners….

Golden Award – Max for super learning in Geography this week about the seven continents of the world, with a particular focus on Europe. 

Writing Award – Adam for super independent writing across all areas of the curriculum, with a focus on RWI work this week. Super skills on show Adam!

Maths Award – Cillian for excellent focus and enthusiasm shown in Fluent in Five sessions this term - keep up the hard work!

 

General pieces of information

  • PE will be on Monday and Friday so please send the children into class in the PE kits on those days. No earrings can be worn for PE so please ensure that they are taken out at home.
  • Trainers - if your children is wearing trainers with laces for PE they must be able to tie them by themselves. This is a health and safety issue - please ensure your child can tie their laces before sending them in lace-up trainers.
  • Water bottles - all the children were given a new school bottle this week. This will come home each night to be cleaned and re-filled. Please only use the school bottles and ensure your child brings theirs each day. Lost water bottles can be replaced at the school office, but I am afraid you will have to pay for those. Year 1 have orange tops.
  • I will not be in class on a Thursday afternoon, as it is my release time. This will be covered by Mrs Connolly and Miss Evans and is also when the children will have Music with Mrs Watson.
  • Party Invitations - I am afraid that Miss Evans and I will not be able to give out party invitations in class. Please do not send your child into class with them for them to give out - it creates upset and fuss about something that takes place outside of school.Thank-you for your understanding with this matter.
  • Key Rings - please do not put key rings onto your child’s school bag, it create fuss in class and then upset if they are lost.
  • School bag - please continue to use the red book bag that your child was given in Reception, we don not have the room to store large bags. Many thanks for your help with this matter.
  • Homework Expectations - please see the Homework page for what I expect the children to do at home…..don’t worry, it’s mainly just reading!! HOMEWORK EXPECTATIONS - YEAR 1 — Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School (squarespace.com)
  • This year we are introducing the Travelling Nativity to the families of Year 1 at Our Lady’s!  The idea is that a set of simple figures make their way from home to home within the parish on their way to the Church where they will arrive on Christmas Eve. In this limited way we try to replicate the journey Mary and Joseph had to make in preparation for the first Christmas.   

  • Families will be invited to host Mary, Joseph and the donkey for an evening and night each and then pass them on to another family. In the bag you will find, a nativity set, a simple act of worship, a record book and a candle. Please record any reflections in the little book provided or email photos if you wish to year1@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk. Please return the set the next morning in readiness for them to continue their journey. The children will be selected to take home the nativity set at random by placing everyone’s name in a hat and picking one out each day to make it fair. Please do not feel any pressure to follow the service included, or record drawings or take photos – we simply wish to share a little of the true meaning of Christmas with our families at this very special time of the year. If you could just sign and date the book to show your family took part….and then anything else is an added bonus! (The book the children will bring home will be a continuation of the one we started last year, so this should give you some ideas - I know Reception also used this format last year but the set may never have made it to you.)

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    We do hope you enjoy this special activity with your children in to mark the beginning of the Advent season.  (We will start on MONDAY 1st DECEMBER)

     

Please take a look at what the PTFA have planned this term….

Christmas movie nights: KS1 - 28th November, KS2 - 5th December

Christmas Fair: 12th December (after school)


Catholic Life of our school.

We are delighted to be able to share with you the Good News Gospel readings for families. Please follow the link to share the Gospel at home with your family. These are really child-friendly resources to share at home.  Please take a look at these Ten Ten resources to support prayer and worship at home.

https://www.paperturn-view.com/wednesday-word/good-news?pid=MTA101634&v=163.4

Reading Books - Miss Evans continues her Guided Reading groups so the children will have read their GR books, applying the skills they are developing in RWI, and will have had their books changed. This will happen once a week, on the same day for your child that it did this week. Please ensure your child’s reading things are kept in their bag and are in school each day - but particularly on this day. The children will be heard reading to an adult EVERYDAY in their RWI lesson where they are taught the skills of reading, this GR session is to develop, practice, apply and refine these skills.

Please ensure that you sign your child’s reading records as they can have a sticker on their book mark for each day that they read to an adult at home. Once the book mark is full the children will receive a certificate. Also Miss Evans will give out a Golden Ticket every third time your child’s record is signed. These will be added to a draw done at the end of the half term with the chance to find a book themed prize. The more tickets you have in the draw, the more chance you have of winning a prize!!

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Snapchat  This updated online safety guide examines Snapchat’s latest features, including AI tools, Snap Map, and subscription content, and the potential risks they pose to young users, from screen addiction to sextortion.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all. Thank you.

 

And finally……have a lovely weekend…..Mrs Hollinghurst, Miss Evans and Mrs Connolly

Welcome Letter all attachments can be found on the Homework Page.