Palm Sunday commemorates the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1–9), when palm branches were placed in his path, before his arrest on Holy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent. (Palm Sunday is Sunday 13th April)

Today we have retold the story of Jesus’ triumphant return to Jerusalem for the rest of the school family to hear. We have focused on the joy of that day an the hope that was felt by all those who witnessed Jesus return that day. Next week we will focus of a different part of the Holy Week story, starting on Tuesday with the events of the Last Supper and how things changed so quickly for Jesus. Next week is a very special week for us in school as KS2 recount the events of Holy Week, with each class taking a different part of the story as their focus for liturgy. I look forward to recalling these stories with the children.

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 doubling and using this information to help us answer near doubling questions. The children have proved to be Maths whizzes at doubling!! We have had a very productive week. To support their learning they have used a doubling mat, filled with facts that are handy to learn…I have attached it here as it would be useful for the children to add these fact to their memory bank.

Doubling Facts

RE - this week has been all about the story of the Last Supper and how this event was so special it is recreated everyday in Churches around the world.

Art - this week’s collage work was inspired by the concern of a bird’s nets, thinking at texture and layering.

Science - our Seasons work continued with a double focus on Winter and a Spring walk around school to look for signs and symbols of Spring in our environment.

No History or ICT this week due to Palm Liturgy practice and the actual event!

Many congratulations to this week’s winners….

Golden Award - Draya fro really applying herself to her Maths learning this week - see what you can achieve when you put your mind to it!

Writing Award - Izzy for being an enthusiastic independent writer and for ALWAYS having a go. I am delighted to see Izzy applying her RWI skills to her writing.

Maths Award - Patrick for super knowledge of doubling this week and applying that knowledge to near doubling too! Great work Patrick!

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 white tops.

I will not be in class on a Thursday afternoon, as it is my release time. This will be covered by Mrs Gilheaney, Miss Simons and Mrs Connolly and is also when the children will have Music with Mrs Watson

Party Invitations - I am afraid that Miss Simons 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’t 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)

Lent Calendar - to share at home

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 Instagram. This free guide breaks down the latest risks on Instagram, including AI chatbots, scheduled messaging, and Threads. It offers practical tips for helping children stay safe on the app.

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.

A huge thank-you to all those who joined us on Tuesday for our Open Afternoon - it was lovely to see so many of you. I hope you found the experience worthwhile - I know the children loved having you in our classroom and sharing their work with you. It touched my soul to see them so proud to show off our classroom and what we have been learning to you. Many thanks.

Tuesday 26th March - please join us IN CHURCH for a Lent Reflection for Rec and Yr1 lead by Fr.Frank at 2.40pm. We would like as many parents, carers, grandparents as possible to join us for this special liturgy.

ON THIS DAY ALL CHILDREN MUST TO COLLECTED FROM CHURCH. EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO COME TO THE SERVICE YOUR CHILD MUST BE COLLECTED FROM CHURCH. ONLY CHILDREN AT AFTER SCHOOL CLUB WILL BE BOUGHT BACK BY SCHOOL STAFF.

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/uk/wednesday-word/faithfulness?pid=MTA101634&v=74.6

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

http://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/parent-newsletter/