We have talked a lot this week about the fact that we are loved by God and that He loves us know matter what. In our very hectic lives it is worth just taking a moment to be still and feel that God is always with us - no matter what.

English - this week we have been continuing to work in our three RWI groups, lead by me, Miss Evans and Miss Connolly. All children have been working on their set 1 and 2 sounds, learning to recognise the special friend, how to read it, how to write it and how to find it in an unknown word. The children are being asked to ‘have a go’ and their own writing and they are all making good progress with this.

We are also working on the formation of our pre-cusrive letters and learning how to read and write the common exception words for Year 1.

Maths - this week we have been working on how to show number as a drawing, a digit and as a word. We have also started to use ten frames to show numbers up to ten and recognise the pattern that they make. Being able to recognise pattern is a very powerful tool in Maths and enables the children to ‘see’ the number rather than count the amount.

RE - we have continued with our topic on Creation by looking at the Creation story as a symbol of God’s love and care for us. We have examined different parts of the story and thought why it was good - as God states throughout the story.

History - no History this week due to our assembly from Mr Bloom all about milk! Great fun had by all of the children.

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 continued our new topic on the human body by focusing on our senses - this week the senses of sight and touch. We did this through looking at conkers through our magnifying glasses to draw some careful observational drawings. The children LOVED doing this, particularly touching and holding all the very spiky cases I had collected! We had so many conkers the children even got to bring one home and I still had loads left…we might try planting some of them!

Art - the children been working on examining the effects my be various paper types when the mark making

On WEDNESDAY 8th OCTOBER in History we will be examining our memories and how photographs help us to remember important events or celebrations that have taken place. For this lesson I would like the children to each bring a photograph from home of a special memory. This could be from a holiday, a special day out, a birthday or of a special family memory. All I ask is that the children can talk about what is happening in the picture and why it is special to them.

Your child can bring the photogragh to school with them OR you can email one to year1@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk but please ensure you do this BEFORE the end of the day on MONDAY 6.10.25 as I will need time to print them all out and get them ready for the lesson on the Wednesday. Many thanks.

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

Golden Award - Etta for being so kind and caring to a classmate and putting their wishes above her own. Etta, your kindness melted my heart.

Writing Award - Heidi for persevering with her writing this week and not giving up when it got a bit tricky.

Maths Award - Quentin for super work showing number of his ten frame

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 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 and 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

Please take a look at what the PTFA have planned this term….

Autumn disco: 10th October for both key stages (4.30-5.30 KS1, 6-7 KS2) There will be a payment option on parent pay for tickets (£2.50 inc a drink and snack)

Family bingo night: 14th November

Christmas movie nights: KS1 - 28th November, KS2 - 5th December

Christmas Fair: 12th December (after school)

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 & Educators Need to Know about Snapchat This updated online safety guide examines Snapchat’s latest features, including AI tools, Snap Map, and subscription content, and the potential risks they pose to young users, from screen addiction to sextortion.

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.

Thank-you for support our European Day of Language today….we had a great day!! See if your child can say a few words to you in Italian and what they have learnt about Italy today.