Welcome back to the first week of the new half term. I trust you had a good half term week.
We have been talking a great deal this week about hope and what it means to us. fr Frank has helped us with this tricky concept through the stories of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. In school we are talking a great day about hope due to this year being the Jubilee Year set by Pope Francis on the theme of Hope. Fr talked to the children today about knowing that Jesus will always be with us, through the good days and the babd, just as Piglet was there to support Pooh through his day day. This story worked really well this the childen - as it did me too. Hope is more than a wish; it is the knowledge that we ARE loved by God and Jesus walks with though through all our days - good and bad. I sincerely hope that this knowledge brings us all a lillte comfort through our tricky days.
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 working on two digit number, how to read them, how to write them in digits and words and how to show them using our ten frames and our tens and ones. It is really important that the children recognise each digit and the value it has in the number either a ten or a ones number.
RE - this week has been all Jesus and the time He spent in the desert.
Science - this week we started our new topic on Seasons. We started by reviewing the four seasons of the year and what each one looked like. We were also weather watchers - seeing if we could describe our weather!
Topic - this half term our topic theme is History focusing on Toys - Past and Present. This week we started by playing with a range of toys, some old, some new and discussed our own favourite toys with the class.
Art - this week the children have begun their new sculpture topic with Mrs Debowska
Many congratulations to this week’s winners…
Golden Award - Patrick for always being a respectful member of our class and a true role model to all.
Writing Award - Isabella for working hard to become an independent writing - I am so impressed to see you applying your RWI knowledge to your own writing.
Maths Award - Bella for super work with tens and ones in our Place Value work this week.
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
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)
Just a few important dates coming up for you to know about….
Thursday 6th March - World Book Day. We are inviting all of the children to come to school on this day dressed as a book character and to bring their favourite book to share. (Please make sure these are clearly named with your child’s name)
Monday 17th March - Parents Day - chance for us to catch up and discuss your child’s learning at the midpoint of Year 1. Please ensure you make an appointment.
Please ensure you see Mrs Mannix’s email with dates that apply to the whole school.
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.
I am delighted to announce that Our Lady’s are taking part in the Young Seasiders Blackpool Art Competition! Each teacher was asked to put forward two pieces of work from their class into the exhibition which will take place at Blackpool and the Fylde College from 4-28th March. From others pieces of work one KS1 and one KS2 winner which chosen. In Year 1 Henry and Alix’s work was selected to be in the exhibition! Please support them by going to see the exhibition - see flier on the link below for details.
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 WhatsApp. This guide details the risks associated with popular messaging app WhatsApp, and lets you know how to safeguard younger users.
What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Marvel Rivals. This free guide breaks down the risks associated with the popular multiplayer title Marvel Rivals and lets you know how best to safeguard children and young people playing the game.
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.
As you all now know, we will say goodbye to Mrs Debowska next Friday, 7th March. A very sad time for us at Our Lady’s, particularly for us in Year 1. But I am sure you will join me in wishing Mrs Debowska all the success in the world for her future endeavors - she goes with our love and blessings for the future.
The children have been working with Miss Evans for a couple of days this week, getting to know her, as she will take up the Year TA role on Monday 10th March. I hope you will join me in welcoming Miss Evans into the Year 1 family.
And finally…have a lovely weekend. Mrs Hollingurst, Mrs Debowksa and the Year 1 team.
A few photos of our week…….
