This week we have celebrated the holy day of Candlemas, or The Presentation of the Lord, on 2nd February. As a class we have discussed this information event in the Church’s calendar as the day when Simeon and Anna ‘saw the salvation’ and the words of the prophets came true. This is a day when candles are blessed in Church and taken home and lit to share the Light of the World within our homes. We have discussed how we can Shine our Light for Jesus and the children have all made a little candle to mark this special day.

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 learning all about finding the difference. We have done this through counter and dice games, drawing and counting on a number line. We have looked at how the difference between two numbers can also be found through a subtraction question.

RE - this week has been all about The Presentation of the Lord and the promises that God made to Simeon and Anna. We have read about this story, watched little videos and listened to a song about this very special feast day. I hope that the Light of Candlemas shines brightly on your family and you feel the love of the Lord on this most holy of days.

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 on natural and man-made materials and the children have started an investigation, in small groups, into materials which float or sink. We will finish this next week.

ICT - this week we continued with our programming unit, using the Bee Bots to move according to our plan. Could we move the Bee Bot from one point to another and record its movements?

Many congratulations to this week’s winners….

Golden Award - Mabel for a super attitude towards all aspects of her work and for being a positive role model in Year 1.

Writing Award - Luke for writing super independent sentences in RWI using so and and to join his ideas.

Maths Award - Jacob for super work on finding the difference.

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 - 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.
I will not be in class on a Thursday afternoon, as it is my release time. This will be covered by Mrs Veasey and Miss Sanderson and is also when the children will have Music with Miss Hope
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)
PHONICS Support - take a look at Oxford Owl for information about how you can help your child at home with their phonics and reading. This is is a great site in general but the page linked has a super little video showing how the sounds should be pronounced. See how many sounds your child knows! How can I support my child with phonics? - Oxford Owl for Home

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week we are putting on a Coffee Afternoon for Families and Young at Revoe Children’s Centre Hub on Tuesday 7th February from 2:30.

Services such as Mental Health Support Team (SHINE), YOUTHERAPY, PMHW and CASHER will be present for families to meet and ask questions to explore young peoples mental health and where to get support.

Information Letter

On Tuesday 7th February we will mark Safer Internet Day in school. This is a very important part of our work to keep children safe online. Please spare a few minutes at home on this day to talk about what the children have learnt in school and how they keep safe online - this year’s theme is ‘Want to talk about it?’ and encourages young children to talk about anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. We will use a story to lead us into what upsets a character in the book and what they should do.

WORLD BOOK DAY - Tuesday 2nd March

Advanced Notice -To celebrate World Book Day we will be asking children to come to school dressed as their favourite book character on this day. If you can, bring the book with you and be prepared to talk about why you love this character and the book. Parents, please don’t feel under pressure to buy expensive costumes - the best ones are always the home-made ones.

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/