This week we have continued to talk about Jesus and his disciples and just how much they were prepared to give up to follow me. Sometimes we all need to make a leap of faith to follow the Lord. We have talked this week about who we follow and why and what we need to do to follow Jesus.

We have also talked this week about our right to say STOP and NO is someone is doing something that we do not like. We have talked about our right to tell and that it takes courage to do the right thing and stand up for the right thing. Please contiue this conversation at home with your child. Many thanks.

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 continuing our work on subtraction, this week talking about difference. We have used counters in a horizontal line so that we can SEE who has MORE and who has FEWER counters. This has proved to be a very successful image for the children.

RE - this week has been all about the Mission of Jesus, the people He wanted to help and how we can help people too. We have also started to learn about Zaachaeus and how he was changed by talking to Jesus.

PLEASE SEND IN A PICTURE OF YOUR CHILD’S BAPTISM, IF THEY HAVE BEEN BAPTISED, FOR OUR NEW TOPIC BOARD. MANY THANKS.

Science - this week we have continued with our topic all about Materials. This week we have focused waterproof and absorbent materials through our investigation work and also whether materials are natural or human made.

Geography - our focus for this half term is all about maps and the various pieces of information that different maps provide - we went a little off ‘piste’ this week with our Pirate themed day - where all learning was related to mapping of some sort.

Art - This week the children continued with their unit of drawing, exploring different techniques for mark making and using these to draw their own portraits.

Computing - this week we continued with our Bee Bot theme, looking at how we can give and receive accurate directions.

Congratulations to this week's winners…

Golden Award - Louie for showing a very caring and kind side to his nature, working with numerous partners on Pirate Day to do a puzzle - and being delighted by his success!

Writing Award - Dougie for ‘upping his game’ where is handwriting and presentation is concerned and showing what he can do with a little more effort. Keep up the hard work.

Maths Award - Anthony for working with a partner to show difference in subtraction - well done for keeping trying even when it was a bit tricky.

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

13.2.25 - The school council has decided to run 'What I would like to be when I leave school' day in order to raise funds for CAFOD. They are asking children to dress up as someone they would like to be when they grow up on Thursday 13th February 2025. This can be anything so please do not feel like you have to buy a costume for this occasion, props from home or a simple paintbrush in hand (if they wish to be a painter) will do perfectly. A contribution of £1 is now live to pay on ParentPay and will go towards raising money for CAFOD.

ADVANCED NOTICE….

17.3.25 - Parent/Teacher Meetings - please keep an eye out for the email giving you information on booking a slot. These meetings will run from 1-5pm and will be an opportunity for us to catch up on your child’s learning and how you can support them at home.

PLEASE SEE MRS MANNIX’S LATEST NEWSLETTER - THERE ARE LOADS OF DATES ON THE BOTTOM OF THAT LETTER FOR THIS TERM!

Safer Internet Day 2025 will take place on Tuesday 11th February 2025, with celebrations and learning based around the theme ‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online. Please take the time to discuss this with your child and ask them about the learning they have done in school. Resources for parents will follow next week.

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

This half term we will be learning all about Baptism. If your child has been Baptised, please could you send in a picture of their Baptism for our display board. You can either send in a copy or email me one to year1@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk. Many thanks.

Thank-you so much for your support with Year 1’s Pirate Day on Wednesday! The children all looked fabulous and we had a wonderful day filled with maps, co-ordinates, sea creatures, games, puzzles, play and things piratey….and just a little cake! Good fun was had by all - thank-you so much. See pictures at the end of the blog.

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