Feast of the Epiphany

It has been lovely to welcome the children back to school this week after the Christmas break - happy new year to you all! We hope you had a joyful Christmas together. The children have been fantastic this week - they have been listening well, making good choices and doing some wonderful work. Their listening skills shone particularly brightly during our visit to Church on Thursday where Father spoke about the Epiphany (the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus).

Our theme in class this week has been: Winter.

Our learning this week

Phonics - we have nearly finished learning all of our set 1 sounds! We will then move on to our set 2 sounds (special friends).

Maths - we have been learning about composition this week, in particular about ‘parts’ and ‘wholes’.

RE - this week has been all about the three wise men and the visit to the baby Jesus.

Expressive Art & Design - the children have created some lovely winter art this week - winter trees, penguins and robins!

Award winners

Golden - Evelyn. For coming back to school with an amazing attitude!

Maths - Etta. For being so enthusiastic!

Writing - George. For working hard on his letter formations.

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 JusTalk Kids This free guide breaks down the potential risks of JusTalk Kids and provides expert advice on how to safeguard young users as they navigate the app.

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.

Catholic Life of our school

The following resources are a great way of keeping you all informed of our current liturgy themes and of the weekly Gospel scripture, with some activities that the children can complete at home. We hope you find these resources useful and that they help you to support prayer and worship in your own homes.

https://www.paperturn-view.com/wednesday-word/baptism?pid=MTA101634&v=159.3

Have a wonderful weekend,

Miss Heim-Sarac, Miss Simons & Miss Sanderson

‘For the Lord delights in his people, He crowns the humble with salvation’ - Psalm 149:4

It was lovely to welcome the children back to school this week after the half term break. We have dived head first into a two week topic about people who help us. The children have loved learning about firefighters, paramedics, dentists, vets and many more! We were super lucky to have a visit from firefighter Tom who told us all about his job. The children thought he was amazing and had lots of questions for him! We also went to church on Friday for a special mass for All Saints Day. The children impressed me so much with their behaviour and listening skills.

Our learning this week

Phonics - this week we have learnt one sound: c - curl around the caterpillar. Please practice this sound in the little green books.

Maths - we have been learning about comparison this week, using language such as ‘more than’.

RE - we have spoken this week about All Saints and how we can be saints too! We are all made in God’s image.

Expressive Art & Design - the children made some super fire trucks!

P.E. - we are practicing our fundamental movement skills.

PSHE - we have spoken about what it means to be happy - what that looks like, what our face shows when we are happy and also how our body moves when we are happy.

Aside from all of the above, we have continued establishing the routines, rules and expectations of our classroom. We have also started dough disco each morning which will help to strengthen the children’s fine motor skills.

Award winners

Golden - Sonny. For being an eager little learner.

Maths - Emily. For always having a go and being enthusiastic.

Writing - Khloe. For super letter formations.

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 Fortnite. This free guide provides expert insight into the risks associated with Fortnite, letting you know how to keep children safe while they play.

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.

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

Please take a look at these Ten Ten resources to support prayer and worship at home.

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

PTFA Events

This term the PTFA have got lots of exciting things planned:

• 15th November: KS2 disco! 6-7pm in the school hall. Tickets are £2.50 and can be purchased via parent pay starting this week. Ticket includes a drink and snack.

• 29th November: KS1 movie night! 4.30-6.15pm in the school hall. Tickets are £2.50 and can be purchased via parent pay starting this week. Children can come to school in their PJs and bring a teddy and pillow/blanket with them. Ticket includes a drink and snack.

• 6th December: Christmas Fair! This will be after school between 3.30pm and 5.30pm. More details to follow. If you would like a stall at the fair, or if you can donate a raffle prize, please email the PTFA at: ptfa@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk

We hope you’ve had a lovely weekend!

Miss Heim-Sarac, Miss Simons and Miss Sanderson

Super duper us!

This week the theme in our classroom was Superheroes. Just like last week, the children loved dressing up in superhero outfits and saving the world! We did also read a lot of lovely books about how we can all be heroes in our own way - for example, by going out of our way to help our friends when they need us.

We have be done some wonderful learning this week - the children are showing me every day that they are become amazing learners.

Our learning this week

Phonics - this week we have learnt three sounds: t - down the tower, across the tower, i - down the insects body, for for his head and n - down nobby, over his net. Please practice these sounds in the little green books.

Maths - we have been helping Stanley the puppet this week with his counting skills.

RE - we have carried on talking about creation, and made the link that because God made Adam & Eve, he made us too.

Understanding the world - we have spoken about the different parts of our body this week. We also played Simon says.

Expressive Art & Design - the children have painted pumpkins this week.

P.E. - we are practicing our fundamental movement skills.

PSHE - we have spoken about what it looks like to be on the rainbow - as that’s where we all want to be each day. When we are on the rainbow we are making the right choice and we are happy.

Aside from all of the above, we have continued establishing the routines, rules and expectations of our classroom. We have also started dough disco each morning which will help to strengthen the children’s fine motor skills.

Our theme this coming week is Harvest.

Award winners

Golden - Leo. For being a fabulous little learner.

Maths - Cody. For always having a go!

Writing - Rosie. For working hard on her letter formations.

Parent Meetings

You will have received notification about Parent/Teacher meetings on MONDAY 14th OCTOBER - please make sure you follow the link to make an appointment. This is an important meeting to discuss how your child has settled into school. I look forward to seeing you all on this date. Thank-you.

Harvest collection

This year we are collecting tinned food for the local charity Street Life. We are asking each child to bring in one tin for our collection. Please donate, if you can, for this very worthy cause. The children can bring their tins into class, where we have a donation box. Many thanks to those who have donated already.

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

Please take a look at these Ten Ten resources to support prayer and worship at home.

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

Important dates

You will have received an email from the office regarding important dates for this half term. Please add these to your diaries. A reminder that we have our reception welcome assembly this Friday the 11th at 9.15am.

Miss Heim-Sarac, Miss Simons and Miss Sanderson

It’s a pirates life for us!

This week the theme in our classroom was pirates. The children have absolutely adored this theme and they have really enjoyed getting into character!

I am so pleased with how well the children are settling into school. They are all wonderful and I am so looking forward to all that the following year will bring.

Our learning this week

Phonics - over the past two weeks we have learnt four sounds: m - Maisie, mountain, mountain, a - round the apple down the leaf, s - slide around the snake and d - round the dinosaurs bottom, up his tall neck, down to his feet.

Maths - we have been learning to subitise (knowing how many objects there are without counting them). This can be tricky but the children are giving it a great go and have been putting this skill to the test in our Maths area too.

RE - we have spoken about Creation through the story of Adam and Eve.

Understanding the world - we have looked at our baby photos and discussed the stages we go through from being a newborn to being a child. We also spoke about how we are different now to when we were babies.

Expressive Art & Design - the children have done some beautiful artwork over the past couple of weeks. From self portraits to family portraits!

Aside from all of the above, we have spent a lot of time establishing the routines, rules and expectations of our classroom.

Our theme this coming week is Superheroes.

Award winners

Golden - Maddox. For being such a loving and compassionate member of our class.

Maths - Adam. For excellent work on number formations.

Writing - Hannah. For working very hard on her letter formations.

Parent Meetings

You will have received notification about Parent/Teacher meetings on MONDAY 14th OCTOBER - please make sure you follow the link to make an appointment. This is an important meeting to discuss how your child has settled into school. I look forward to seeing you all on this date. Thank-you.

Early reading and Phonics

Please join us if you can on MONDAY 7th OCTOBER at 2-3pm in the school hall where Mrs Hollinghurst and I will be going through what we do in school and the importance of early phonics. We will discuss the elements of our lessons, how you can help your child at home and why phonics is so important to your child’s early reading and writing.

Online safety

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 Instagram  This free guide tells you all you need to know about the social media platform Instagram, breaking down its associated risks and how best to mitigate them.

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.

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

Please take a look at these Ten Ten resources to support prayer and worship at home.

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

Important dates

You will have received an email from the office regarding important dates for this half term. Please add these to your diaries.

Miss Heim-Sarac, Miss Simons and Miss Sanderson

A new beginning…

Welcome to Our Lady’s to all of our new families. It has been a joy meeting you all over the past two weeks and getting to know you all a little bit better. The children have now completed three full days in school (and some part time days before that) and I am so proud of how well they have settled in.

Each week, I will write a blog to tell you all about the wonderful learning that is happening in our classroom. As you would expect, the learning in our classroom so far has been about boundaries, expectations and how to play positively with our peers. From Monday, our structured learning will begin in earnest. I think the children are ready and I am looking forward to seeing how they get on.

On a Friday we have a celebration assembly where we hand out certificates in writing and maths, as well as a golden award for the week. This week, our golden award went to Cillian. Well done! Our other awards will start next Friday.

I am also pleased to share with you that Isla and Max P have been chosen as our school council representatives for reception this year. Well done to you both!

I hope you’re having a lovely weekend and I will see you on Monday!

Miss Heim-Sarac

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit!

This week we have been talking about Pentecost, the birth of the Church and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have discussed the signs and symbols of Pentecost and the power that it gave the disciples to go forth and spread the Word of the Lord.

We had a beautiful day of celebration on Friday. The children looked wonderful in their bright clothes and we had a lovely celebration at church with Father Frank. The children were waving their streamers and singing joyfully! We then came back and had a whole school play time which was a nice treat!

Our Learning this week

Our theme this week has been Bees.

Phonics - now that we know all of our Phase 1 sounds we have started our daily reading groups with the children depending on their phonetic ability. The children have adapted to this change so well. These groups will continue for the rest of the year - each term the children will be reassessed and they may move groups. We are also now focusing daily on our tricky words.

Maths - we have been looking at our number bonds to 5 and to 10.

R..E - we have been learning about Pentecost.

UTW - we have learnt about different types of bees and why bees are important to our planet.

EAD - the children have been making bees.

P.E. - we have started to practise our races for sports day.

C&L - we continue to learn BSL with Helen on a Monday. We are both amazed each week at just how many signs the children now know!

We are going to continue with our theme of bees this coming week as the children have been enjoying the topic so much!

Award winners

Our award winners this week are:

Golden - Bella - for becoming such a confident learner who is always willing to have a go.

Writing - Theodore - for always working hard, every day.

Maths - Teddie - for his growing confidence in our Maths discussions.

Congratulations!

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 and Educators Need to Know about Helldivers 2 This free Wake up Wednesday guide discusses the online safety risks of the video game Helldivers 2 and offers advice on how to safeguard younger players.

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

The 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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

Please take a look at these Ten Ten resources to support prayer and worship at home.

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

Key dates

Please see Seesaw for important dates from now until the end of the academic year. This week, we have an own clothes day on Friday (the 24th) to raise money for PTFA funds. Please send your child in with £1 on this day or pay via parent pay. Thank you for your support!

We hope you’re all enjoying the lovely sunshine,

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Sanderson

'After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight' - Acts 1:9

This week our focus has been on the Feast of the Ascension, which we celebrated yesterday with a Mass at church. We have been talking a lot these last few weeks about Jesus appearing to the disciples and preparing them for the task ahead. Now that task is upon them - as it is us. We are now the vessel through which word of God will flow - and what a wonderful job the children are doing!

Our theme this week has been about our planet - Earth. We have spoken in depth about what makes our world so special and how we can look after it. We have spoken about this on many other occasions when we have been discussing that God made our world and therefore we should look after it. We have also spoken about Earth’s position in our solar system and why we can live on it (and not other planets).

Our Learning this week

Our theme this week has been Earth.

Phonics - now that we know all of our Phase 1 sounds we have started our daily reading groups with the children depending on their phonetic ability. The children have adapted to this change so well. These groups will continue for the rest of the year - each term the children will be reassessed and they may move groups. We are also now focusing daily on our tricky words.

Maths - we have been looking at comparison this week, using language like more than and less than.

R..E - we have been learning about the Ascension.

UTW - we have learnt about our planets position in the solar system. We have learnt how we can look after our planet - for example, recycling.

EAD - the children have been making minibeasts.

P.E. - we have been practising our running, hopping and jumping skills.

PSHE - we have been learning about children who live in other countries and how their lives differ from our own. We have spoken about these differences and how we may be able to help those who need it.

Our theme next week is bees.

Award winners

Our award winners this week are:

Golden - Isabella - for being a caring member of our class who is compassionate to her peers.

Writing - Blake - for putting in lots of effort this week in his Phonics group.

Maths - Eleni - for ‘having a go’! Eleni’s confidence in Maths is growing all the time!

Congratulations!

PTFA Design a Logo competition

The PTFA have decided to run a ‘design a logo’ competition as we have never had our own logo before!

Please see the letter that your child brought home last week that explains more. The closing date is Friday 17th May and there is a £1 donation required to enter the competition. Good Luck! (The entries can be handed into me in class.)

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

Please take a look at these Ten Ten resources to support prayer and worship at home.

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Sanderson

'If there was even a little smile...it was Elmer who started it'

It has been so lovely to be back in class with the children this week after being away with our Year 6 children. I had missed them all and I was so pleased to hear how hard they had been working while I was away. We have also seen some sunshine this week which has been glorious! Let’s hope it continues and that we are finally seeing the back of some very miserable weather. With this weather change we have been able to spend much more time outside and have had both of our PE lessons on the school field which was a nice treat.

I hope some of you have managed to have a go at the amazing Elmer trail which is currently happening in Blackpool. We feel very privileged to have played even a small part in such a great event. As you will know, our charity focus this year is Brian House so we are thinking of further fundraising opportunities to support this very worthy cause. If you do take part in the trail, please send any pictures to our school office as we are hoping to collate them and put them on display somehow.

Our Learning this week

Our theme this week has been England/St George’s Day.

Phonics - now that we know all of our Phase 1 sounds we have started our daily reading groups with the children depending on their phonetic ability. The children have adapted to this change so well. These groups will continue for the rest of the year - each term the children will be reassessed and they may move groups. We are also now focusing daily on our tricky words.

Maths - we have been practising our counting skills this week - all the way up to 30.

R..E - we have been talking about how unique we all are and how God made us all in his image.

UTW - we learnt all about St George and heard all about how he slayed a dragon.

EAD - the children have been making England flags this week.

P.E. - we have been practising our running, hopping and jumping skills.

C&L - we learnt ‘London Bridge is falling down’ in sign language. We know lots of signs now thanks to Helen (a teacher of the deaf) who comes in each Monday.

Our theme next week is the royal family.

Award winners

Our award winners this week are:

Golden - Alix - for being an independent learner who is always willing to have a go.

Writing - Avie - for her confident approach to her learning this week.

Maths - Ava - for her effort in counting to 30.

Congratulations!

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

Please take a look at these Ten Ten resources to support prayer and worship at home.

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Sanderson

'He has risen!'

Welcome back to the summer term and to the season of Eastertide! I hope you have all had a Happy and Holy Easter. It is lovely to see the children so eager and keen to get back to work. Our focus this term will be to be compassionate and loving as we work to be disciples of Christ. Last term, we had many discussions about the life of Christ and ultimately his crucifixion. For some children, this was their first experience of these events and they handled it with such grace and compassion. It was joyous to overhear the conversations they then went on to have with one another about how we can remember Jesus and spread the good news.

Our Learning this week

Our theme this week has been animals.

Phonics - now that we know all of our Phase 1 sounds we have started our daily reading groups with the children depending on their phonetic ability. The children have adapted to this change so well. These groups will continue for the rest of the year - each term the children will be reassessed and they may move groups. We are also now focusing daily on our tricky words.

Maths - we have been making 6 and 7 this week.

UTW - we learnt about different animals and the role of a vet.

EAD - the children have been making some lovely rainbow art this week.

Role play - we enhanced our home corner this week into a vets practice.

Our theme next week is beans.

Award winners

Our award winners this week are:

Golden - Izzy - for her beautiful nature and respectful attitude.

Writing - Nevaeh and Teddie - for working hard to learn their set 1 sounds.

Maths - Patrick - for fantastic work on making 6 and 7.

Congratulations!

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 and Educators Need to Know about Township This free information guide breaks down the popular online game Township: highlighting some online safety risks and offering tips on how to help children avoid them.

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

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. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

Please take a look at these Ten Ten resources to support prayer and worship at home.

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Sanderson

We are super learners!

This week we have been learning about different types of transport. From cars to planes, trains to bikes…we have talked about them all. The children have really engaged with this topic and they have enjoyed building vehicles in our construction area as well as spotting different vehicles passing in our outdoor area.

I have really noticed the children’s growing levels of maturity this half term. They came back after the Christmas break ready to learn and with a renewed sense of focus and they haven’t lost that at all as the half term has progressed. This has been amazing to see. They are really growing into super little learners and we will continue to build on their independence ready for Year 1.

Our Learning this week

Our theme this week has been transport.

Phonics - now that we know all of our Phase 1 sounds we have started our daily reading groups with the children depending on their phonetic ability. The children have adapted to this change so well. These groups will continue for the rest of the year - each term the children will be reassessed and they may move groups. This week we have learnt some new special friends sounds - ay, igh, ee, or, ar, oo, oo (look), air and ow.

Writing - the children have been writing ‘I can see’ sentences.

Maths - we have been making 5 this week.

UTW - we compared transport from the past to the present.

EAD - the children have made some beautiful hot air balloons with Mrs Debowska.

Communication and Language - we have been learning baa baa black sheep and happy birthday in sign language.

P.E. - we have been practicing our throwing and catching skills. We have also been having a go at the daily mile - this is technically 13 laps of our playground but we are not quite there yet!

Our theme next week is Lunar New Year.

Award winners

Our award winners this week are:

Golden - Seb - for being so kind and caring, every day. Seb is a joy to have in the classroom.

Writing - Erin - for brilliant, independent ‘I can see’ sentences.

Maths - Briar - for super super work on making 5. Briar also remembered lots of our mathematical vocabulary from the previous week.

Congratulations!

Catholic Life of our school..

The following resources are a great way of keeping you all informed of our current liturgy themes and of the weekly Gospel scripture, with some activities that the children can complete at home. We hope you find these resources useful and that they help you to support prayer and worship in your own homes.

https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/

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 and Carers Need to Know about Persuasive Design Online - This free online safety guide provides insight on persuasive design – highlighting its potential effect on behaviour and providing some tips to minimise its impact.

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

Have a lovely weekend,

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Sanderson