During this period of Lent we are think every day about how we can ‘walk towards’ Jesus. We have been thinking carefully about our actions, how we speak to others, how we treat other people and how we can always try to do our best. We are also thinking about prayer and throughout Lent Year 1 are learning the words of the Lord’s prayer and thinking about what this prayer means. We are Jesus’ disciples and we His hands and feet on Earth. Our Lent Promises….

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 are continuing to work hard on our common exception words, reading them in class every day!

Maths - this week we have been focused on making two digit numbers on our ten frames and then finding one more or one less. We have been speaking sentences to each other to help us understand one more and one less. On top of all of that we have been thinking about ordering two digit numbers according to their value - a busy week!!

RE - this week we have been focused on Jesus’ return to Jerusalem and how people responded to that, but waving palm leaves and laying down their cloaks - but how some people were unhappy about this.

Science - this week was all about Science with it being Science week!! We have have a visit of Falcons and Owls, along with a reptile visit. In class we stepped away from our class work to do a lesson based on Adaptation - this years theme - and we looked at how animals have adapted to their surrounding over time and why they are suited to their environment.

History - we continued with our work on toys by investigating toys from different decades and how they have changed - or stayed the same. We also made a timeline of toys through the decades.

This week’s winners are…

Golden Award - Eleni for super learning about toys this week and for making her own timeline of toys through the decades.

Writing Award - Alfie for his care attention to all his written work. This is great to see, keep up the hard work.

Maths Award - Ava for super two digit Maths work this week finding one more and one less and using the sentences stems to explain what she has found out.

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 Miss Evans and Mrs Connolly 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

In Key Stage 1, children have common exception words to learn alongside their letters and sounds spellings. Common exception words are words in which the English spelling code works in an unusual or uncommon way. They are not words for which phonics 'doesn't work', but they may be exceptions to spelling rules, or words which use a particular combination of letters to represent sound patterns in a rare or unique way.

In Year 1 we are having a real PUSH on these words this term - to ensure that ALL children can read, write and spell correctly ALL of these words. They really do help support the flow of reading. You can really support your child at home by practicing these words. First of all, can they read them instantly? Not sounding them out, but just read them because they know them. Secondly, can they spell them? Thirdly, can they spell them correctly if they ar writing their own sentence and are not told how to spell the word? These are all things you can help with at home - just 5/10 minutes each day will really help.

I have included a link to the Top Marks web page with a few interactive games which might hep!

Many thanks for your help.

Words and Spelling, English Games for 5-7 Years - Topmarks

Spelling games: Common exception words (spellzone.com)

Little Bird Spelling || Practise spelling Common Exception Words (ictgames.com)

Common Exception Word List - Year 1

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 Roblox. This free guide highlights the potential risks of Roblox, including online encounters, inappropriate content, scams, and in-game purchases, and offers expert advice on how to mitigate these risks.

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.

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/wednesday-word/good-news?pid=MTA101634&v=163.4

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

Please see the following information regarding water safety over the holiday.

Seaside Safety Document

Year 1 has extended a warm welcome to our new Teaching Assistant, Miss Evans, this week who has joined our class from working in KS2. We hope she will be very happy with us!