This week has all been about remembrance, reflection and gratitude. Year 1 have listened very carefully to the reasons why we stop and remember and have responded thoughtfully and with a great deal of love and care for the sacrifices of others. I am very proud of how they have taken all this information on board. Year 6 will lead us in reflection and worship on Monday.

English - we have continued on with our RWI lessons. During these sessions we all focus on phonics, reading, spelling and sentence development. We have also been working on our pre-cursive handwriting in which we focus on how to write our letters, starting on the line. We have also been learning how to spelling because suing the rhyme….big elephants can always understand small elephants. As well as that we are focusing on the tricky words of ’said and ‘you’ - how to recognise them, read them and spell them.

Maths - this week we have started to work on parts and wholes as our introduction to addition. We have been using counters to support our work as well as part part whole diagrams. We have also started to think about how the part part whole diagram can be written with figures and how they match our counters. (The whole is the number of counters you start with, and the aprts are the groups that they are split up into.)

RE - this half term is all about Mary. We have started by beginning to learn the hail Mary prayer, along with thinking about the meeting between Mary and the Angel Gabriel.

Science - our topic this half term is all about animals. We have been observing animals carefully and looking at their features, such as feather, beaks or paws. This week was all about mammals and birds.

Geography - our focus for this half term is all about the world around us, with a focus on continents. We continued this week with looking at the seven continents of the world and then focusing in on Europe and France in particular.

ICT - this have term it is all about algorithms - we have started by looking at algorithms as simply a set of instructions.

Design - this half term is all about sewing! The children will be taking it in turns to sew, or weave as Mrs Debowska can only sewing with a small number of children at one time.

Golden Award - Kian for being a super role model in Year 1. Kian is kind, polite, caring and shows respect to all in Year 1. I am very proud of you Kian!

Writing Award - Blake for improved concentration and application particularly in RWI, but I have noticed this across all subjects this week. Keep up the hard work.

Maths Award - Isabella for super work using the part part whole model to support addition calculations.

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 Debowska and Mrs McCooey and is also when the children will have Music with Mrs Watson.
Party Invitations - I am afraid that Mrs Debowska 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)

Wild Animals – VR Experience!

Supporting Science at Our Lady’s

MONDAY 18th NOVEMBER we will welcome into school a Wild Animals VR workshop from Education Group to work with Year 1, 2 and 3. (Each of these classes is learning about Animals this term, including Humans, so is fits beautifully with our curriculum.) We are really excited to bring to life our Science work with such a wonderful experience for the children. We are keen to bring as many learning opportunities as possible to Our Lady’s to widen the children’s knowledge, deepen their understanding and bring the world of learning to life in a way that will excite and engage them.

To support us with this we are asking for a voluntary contribution of £3 per child from parents. If you are able to contribute, please go to your Parent Pay account where this donation will be added. Many thanks for your support. (The rest of the cost of the visit will be met by school.)

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.

It has been brought to our attention by the Blackpool safeguarding team of an application called Kinemaster. It is similar to Youtube whereby pupils can upload videos and images but also has an editing facility. Though there are no safeguarding concerns with the application directly, it is known that children have been using this to upload images of other children which are then free for people to use on the internet. Please be aware of the potential for misusing this and continue to monitor your children's online activity.

Monitoring tips and strategies for parents of young children (Ages 5-10)

Keep children’s devices in shared spaces: Children should use the internet and social media in common areas, such as the living room, where parents can easily keep an eye on their activities. To that end, set family ground rules that prohibit device usage in bedrooms and bathrooms, which allow opportunities to engage in risky behaviors.Establish clear rules and communication: Set clear expectations about appropriate online behaviour, time limits, and the types of websites or apps they can access. Maintain open lines of communication, so your child feels comfortable discussing any concerns or encounters they may have had.Parental controls and filtering: Make use of the parental control settings available on devices, web browsers, games and apps to restrict access to inappropriate content. Install child-friendly search engines and age-appropriate apps that offer a safer online experience. Top Tips for Using & Reviewing Parental Controls. This free guide provides expert advice on how to effectively activate and maintain parental controls on children’s devices.

What Parents Need to Know about Sharing photos online. This free online safety guide explores sharing photos on social media – and what we should consider in avoiding possible harm.

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.

Friday 15th November - KS2 disco 6-7 in school hall. Tickets available via parent pay at £2.50. Children to come in party clothes. Snack and drink included.

Friday 29th November - KS1 movie night 4.30-6.15 in the school hall. Tickets available via parent pay at £2.50. Children to come in PJs and they can bring a teddy or blanket/pillow. Snack and drink included.

Friday 6th December - Christmas Fair. 3.30-5.30. More details to follow on this.

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/