All the children have made a super start to new Year 1. There is much to get used to and new routines to master, but I have been very impressed with how quickly they have all settled and how hard they are working. It is a MASSIVE change to Reception - it will take time for all of the children to get used to the changes. The expectations have increased, the time working has increased and the need for independence has increased. We have moved in small steps this week, but over the next few weeks I will be asking a little more of the children each day. Please do not be concerned if your child has found this a little tricky, it is not that they don’t like school anymore, it is that they would rather be in a play based environment! It will come….it always does.
Most of our week has been about settling the children, but each week I will give you a break down of what we have been up to in each of our subjects….
English - this week we have been working on the set 2 RWI sounds and have been working on holding a sentence in our head and then independently writing it down.
Maths - this week we have been working on digit/number matching and ensuring that all children are forming their numbers correctly.
RE - we have started our new topic on Creation by listening to the Bible story of Creation and making a wheel for our classroom display of all the God created.
History - we have started on topic on Our Family by drawing a picture of the people who are special to us.
Science - our topic this half term is the body and this week we started by labelling a picture of a body with the name body part names.
To support our History topic on Our Family could I please ask you to send in a picture of your child with their family for our display board. I know it is tricky to get a picture of everyone, but if you have one and our happy to share, please send one into school. We will ensure you get these pictures back. If you don’t have a hard copy you can email one to me at year1@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk Thank-you
I am delighted to announce this week’s winners….
Golden Award - Freddie for being kind and caring to the members of his class, particularly at playtime.
Writing Award - Ruby for super independent writing in English this week, writing her own sentence about our picture card from the story Five Minutes Peace.
Maths Award - Esme for fabulous organisation of her grouping work - I was VERY impressed!!
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.
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 green tops.
I will not be in class on a Thursday afternoon, as it is my release time. This will be covered by Mrs Veasey and Mrs Connolly and is also when the children will have Music with Mrs Watson
Party Invitations - I am afraid that Mrs Veasey 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!! Yr1 Homework — Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School (squarespace.com)
Reading Books - this week Mrs Veasey and I have spent the week listening to the children read and putting them into groups. Next week we will start our Guided Reading sessions where the children will work on reading a book in a small group of 5/6 and will apply the reading skills they are taught in their RWI lessons. This will take the whole of next week to sort - so please bare with us. Your child will bring home a reading record, a guided reading book and a book they they have chosen from the level at which they are assessed to be reading independently. Please sign their reading book each time they read so they can collect stickers and earn a reading certificate. Mrs Veasey and I will take one group each day so your child may bring their books home on Monday or it may be Friday next week as it will take a little time. This will be your child’s Guided Reading Day and their books will be changed weekly, on this day.
The children have settled in really after the holidays and I know that we are going to have a great year. If you have any questions, please just ask. You can catch either me or Mrs Veasey at the gate or just email using year1@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk
And finally……have a lovely weekend…..Mrs Hollinghurst, Mrs Veasey & the Year 1 team.
Welcome Letter all attachments can be found on the Homework Page
