We have talked about the wonderful world that God created for us to live in this week and how He has pleased with what He had done. We have read and discussed the Creation story and even joined in with bits of it too! This is all part of our work on New Beginnings.

English - this week we have been working on the set 1 RWI sounds, recapping how to speak in ‘pure sounds’ so no ‘er’ at the end of each sound. We have also been working a lot on correct pencil grip (which should be between the thumb and first finger with the other fingers behind in support, with the pencil resting on the hand between the thumb and first finger) and have made a start with learning how to write in pre-cursive style. We have just been looking at the letter ‘a’ this week. We have also started our RWI group work this week, which is how the children will be taught English. This covers reading, writing and phonics. The children have been assessed and then split into three groups taught by me, Miss Evans and Mrs Connolly. RWI stands for the programme that we use - Read Write Inc

Maths - this week we have been working on making 5 and all the different wys this can been done. We have practiced with lots of ‘stem sentences’ and the children have done lots of making, doing, saying and writing of the numbers.

RE - we have continued with our new topic on Creation by listening to the Bible story of Creation and making our own story boards of the Creation story.

On Thursday the whole school went to Mass for our Welcome Back to the new school year Mass. Year 1 behaved very well and took part in the Mass brilliantly. A great start.

History - we have continued with our topic all about Our History by looking at timelines and starting to order events that happen during our day and think about things that have happened to us that we remember and those that we don’t.

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.

Thank-you for all those that have come in already - either through the children or through email.

Science - we have started our new topic on the human body by naming the parts of our body! We did this through singing, playing games and labeling a body picture.

Art - the children started their painting unit by examining thick and thin lines, paint and mark making.

I am delighted to announce this week’s winners….

Golden Award - Sienna for showing super behaviour for learning and the independence that is required in Year 1. Sienna is always ready to learn, to listen, to watch and to do her best - a great start to the year!

Writing Award - Leo for applying his knowledge of phonics and special friends to writing unknown words in RWI

Maths Award - Samuel for super work making 5 in different ways, speaking his stem sentences to his partner and explaining what is the same and what is different about several patterns of 5.

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 Connolly and Miss Evans and is also when the children will have Music with Mrs Watson.
Party Invitations - I am afraid that Miss Evans 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 School (squarespace.com)

MONDAY 15.9.25 - Meet the teacher meeting in the hall at 2.50pm for all Year 1 parents/carers/grandparents. Please come along if you can for a quick chat and a hello and a chance for me to talk about our year ahead. For those of you who can’t make it, all info will be shared on this site next week.

FRIDAY 26.9.25 - European Languages Day - a day filled with learning about other countries and their languages. Year 1 will be looking at Italy - we are asking for all children to come dressed in the colour of that flag for the day - so for Year 1 red, white and green please! We are also asking parents to make a £1 contribution to PTFA funds for this day - please see your parentpay account and pay through that. Thank-you in advance.

MONDAY 29.9.25 - Introduction to Phonics parents session. Miss Heim-Sarac and I will be delivering a session to all Reception/Year 1 to discuss our phonics scheme, how we teach reading at Our Lady’s annd how you can support your child at home. PLease join us if you can. 2pm in the school hall.

TUESDAY 14.10.25 - Year 1 class liturgy in the hall 9.05am. We would like to invite you to a short liturgy (10 mins) lead by the children. Pease support our daily act of worship by joining us, if you can.

FRIDAY 24.10.25 - school closes for half term. Children return 4.11.25

Catholic Life of our school.

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

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/

Reading Books - this week Miss Evans has begun her Guided Reading groups so the children will have read their GR books, applying the skills they are developing in RWI, and will have had their books changed. This will happen once a week, on the same day for your child that it did this week. Please ensure your child’s reading things are kept in their bag and are in school each day - but particularly on this day. The children will be heard reading to an adult EVERYDAY in their RWI lesson where they are taught the skills of reading, this GR session is to develop, practice, apply and refine these skills.

Please ensure that you sign your child’s reading records as they can have a sticker on their book mark for each day that they read to an adult at home. Once the book mark is full the children will receive a certificate. Also Miss Evans will give out a Golden Ticket every third time your child’s record is signed. These will be added to a draw done at the end of the half term with the chance to find a book themed prize. The more tickets you have in the draw, the more chance you have of winning a prize!!

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 and Educators Need to Know about conspiracy theories. The latest update to the DfE guidance document, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSIE) identifies the safeguarding concerns posed by conspiracy theories. This guide will help you to understand the risks, spot the signs, build children’s resilience and safeguard against the harmful effects of conspiracy theories.

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.