This week we have talked about following Jesus and how we can show other people that we love the Lord. We have thought of all the different ways we can show we are followers of Jesus and we are now working hard to do what we say and follow the Lord. There have been so many wonderful examples of this in Year 1 this week…..

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, looking at difference and counting back using a number line. We have used counters and grids to help us the ‘see’ the difference between one number and another.

RE - this week has been all about Jesus getting lost in the temple. We are learning stories about Jesus’ childhood and looking for comparisons with our own life. We have heard lots of getting lost in supermarket stories this week! We have heard how Mary and Joseph found it difficult to understand Jesus, but they understood that He was a special child.

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 a investigated a range of different materials and examined their properties — are they shiny or dull, hard or soft etc?

Geography - our focus for this half term is all about maps and the various pieces of information that different maps provide. This week we looked at aerial photographs and a plans of our school, along with a map of the local area. We looked at how keys help to understand what is on a map and we walked around our school grounds to collect information for our own maps of the local area.

Art - This week the children continued their drawing unit by examining mark making through the story of Hairy Maclary.

Many congratulations to our winners this week….

Golden Award - Esme for demonstrating super behaviour for learning, asking great questions about our learning and always using beautiful manners in class, and around school.

Writing Award - Amelia for impressing Miss Simons this week with your super independent work in RWI, knowledge of our sounds and always showing excellent behaviour for learning.

Maths Award - George for super Fluent in Five work this week and for always being ‘switched on’ in Maths and open to new learning.

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)

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.

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

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