We are continuing to work hard on the Jesuit themes of love and compassion this half term through our actions and through our words. I thought this quote perfectly summed up the importance of these themes - without them we would be lost.

This week we have been learning……

English - our focus has been our RWI lessons where we concentrate on phonics, spelling, reading and writing. In class we continue to work hard on our pre-cursive handwriting, spelling of the common exception words and our independent sentence construction.

Maths - this week we have focusing in on subtraction of a one digit number that crosses the ten boundary, for example 12 -4 =. We have looked that these questions through partitioning and asked ourselves, what do we need to subtract from 12 to get back to ten (in this case 2) and then partitioned the 4 into a 2 and a 2. We have first subtracted 2 from 12 to get to 10 and then 2 from 10 to get to 8. This has taken a while to understand but it is all abut the children’s flexibility with number and ability to partition number in different ways, depending on the question. At this stage it seems confusing when we are dealing with such small numbers, but the principle remains the same when dealing with larger numbers - this is an essential skill so we HAVE NOT been tempted to just counting back on our number line - we have tried to work through it!!

RE - this half term our focus topic is The Resurrection’ - this week we looked at how the disciples reacted to the news that Jesus had risen.

Science - we have continued our new Plants topic by planting our own seed potatoes and planting some flower seeds to brighten up the outside of our classroom. We have also examined the parts of a plant and what important jobs they do.

Topic - we have continued our UK study on London, this week focusing in on the physical and human features of the landscape.

Art - the children completed their own sculpture based on the work of Andy Goldsworthy which they started to examine last week. This week they have used his style for the inspiration for their own work. Please see phots for more details.

Many congratulations to the following children who are our certificate winners this week…..

Golden Award - Layla for supper phonics work and for always having a smile on her face!

Writing Award - Luna for a huge improvement in letter formation and handwriting

Maths Award - Albie for super partitioning and subtraction work this week

Year 1 Phonics Screening will take the week of MONDAY 6th JUNE - this is the first week back after the two weeks half term break. PLEASE ENSURE YOUR CHILD IS IN SCHOOL THIS WEEK. The screening will take place over the course of the week, with me taking each child out individually to complete the assessment. I have just this one week to complete the assessments - they CANNOT be completed BEFORE or AFTER these dates. I will judge when to take each child, whether at the start of the week, the middle or the end, depending on how they come through the door in the morning - hence the reason why they must be in school all week - obviously if they are ill we will complete the assessment when they return, as long as it is within that first week. As I will be taking children out of class each morning, I will not be in class during the mornings this week - Mrs Veasey will remain in class with another TA to support.

Each child will bring home an information pack today with more information about this screening and a few practice words for you to do at home. The children are very familiar with alien words and real words as we talk about them each RWI lesson in class. We have been doing a little extra practice to get the children ready - but all they actually have to do is look for the ‘special friends’ and read the word - it is simply a reading activity. The assessment consists of 40 words and the pass rate is 32. You will be informed of your child’s result in their end of year report.

In the information pack I have put another copy of the Set 1, 2 and 3 sounds and it would be really helpful if you could ensure your child is confident with each of these sounds and how to find them in a word. We will continue with this daily practice in class. Once you have had chance to read the information, if you have any questions, please just ask. I have added a couple of the letters below, but you will find it all in your information pack. Many thanks.

Phonics Screening Information Letter A Guide for Parents

Despite the legal rules on Covid changing, we still ask parents NOT to send their child to school if they suspect they have covid or have any covid symptoms. We know that children are mildly affected by this virus, but that is not always the case for the adults who teach them and the virus remains highly contagious. We have a number of covid cases throughout school at present - so PLEASE do a test if you are not sure and keep your child at home. Many thanks

IF YOUR CHILD IS OFF SCHOOL WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE THEY MUST TAKE A COVID TEST BEFORE THEY CAN RETURN TO SCHOOL.

We ask you to remain mindful of this when considering whether your child is well enough for school. We must still do all we can to keep each other safe. Mrs Veasey and I will continue to wear visors in class and masks in shared spaces to do all we can to keep each other and your children safe - we ask that you do all you can to keep our class a safe space for everyone. Many thanks for your continued support with this matter.

WE ASK THAT PARENTS INFORM THE OFFICE IF THEIR CHILD, OR ANYONE WITHIN THE HOUSEHOLD HAS TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID - PLEASE INFORM THE OFFICE AND NOT JUST THE CLASS TEACHER. It matters to how your child’s absence is recorded and also allows us in school to keep an eye out for symptoms in your child, or inform other parents that there has been a positive case within the class.

If your child is isolating from school due to Covid 19, or any other illness and they are well enough to work, you can find their work on the HOME LEARNING page of the Year 1 section of the website. I have been using Oak Academy units as they all contain a little video and a task for the children to complete that does not require you to print anything - your child just needs a piece of paper and a pencil!! And maybe some colours for the art activities! https://www.ourladyassumption-sch.co.uk/yr1-home-learning

Please DO NOT send the work into school with your child on their return, but send photos of it through Class Dojo and add work to your child’s profile. You will each get an invite to this through the email you gave to school when your child was in Reception.

If your child is off school, please inform the office and NOT the Year 1 email or Class Dojo. Many thanks

Any questions or queries either catch me or Mrs Veasey at the gate or email using year1@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Things to note…

Children should have their water bottles each day. Water bottles must be taken home and washed daily. Children can only have plain water in their bottles, not juice or flavoured water.
PE is Monday and Friday
Earrings cannot be worn for PE
Nail varnish cannot be worn for school.
Earrings should only be small, plain, gold or silver studs
Children should have long hair tied back for school
School bags should just be the red book bags you were given in Reception
Please keep reading folders in the children’s school bags so that they have them on the right day - many thanks.
Homework Expectations for Year 1 can be found on the Homework page. https://www.ourladyassumption-sch.co.uk/yr1-homework/2022/1/3/year-1-homework-expectations-spring-term
Please take a look at the attached letter about the achievements of the Shakespeare Programme within school and the award we have received! Many congratulations to all those involved. Award Letter