Hello and welcome back to term 3! It has been lovey to hear all about the children’s Christmas experiences. It has been really cold recently so this is a gentle reminder to dress your child(ren) for winter weather and to label their clothing so it can be easily reunited with them – 2 gloves are better than 1!

Our PE days this term remain on a Tuesday and Friday. The children can come to school dressed for PE on those days (no football strips please).

With Seesaw in suspension, we will aim to keep you updated on class activities and achievements via email until a suitable alternative is in place. Please see below for an outline of this term’s learning.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch should you wish to discuss anything further, Mrs Balmer and Miss Harrison.

 

Numeracy

In Numeracy this term pupils are continuing their work on number, focusing on strategies for addition and subtraction within 10, 20, 100 and beyond. Some are working on different strategies for multiplication and division and the link between these functions. We are learning through a mix of written work and active stations.

We are also learning about money this term. We will be working on recognising coins and notes. The pupils will get opportunities to practice what they have learned by adding and taking away amounts and playing in our shop area.

 

Literacy

Primary 1-4 are continuing to develop their knowledge and understanding of new sounds and spelling rules. We are looking at how we can apply our sounds knowledge to help us spell unfamiliar words in our writing. Primary One are beginning to use their sounds knowledge to read and write short words and sentences.

We will be looking at various texts for our writing including poetry, imaginative and report writing.

The boys and girls have received poems to choose from and learn for Burns. Please help your child(ren) to learn their chosen poem and to recite them aloud thinking about pace, expression and using a nice clear voice.

 

Other Curricular Areas

We are using the beginning of this term to wrap up our Fairy Tales topic before moving onto our next topic Scotland. We will be learning all about Scottish Landmarks, Inventors, Lochs and Mountains.

In PE we are learning how to kick and control a ball, as well as passing between partners to be able to apply these skills to different ball games.

In Health we will be exploring what it means to have a healthy bodies and healthy minds.

 

Ways to support at home You can support your child at home through reading and homework activities provided. Encouraging them to read any signs when passings or menus if out for meals. Reinforcing learning around money by helping count any change or totals and identifying different coins if shopping.

The following websites have a range of learning games that can help consolidate learning from this term.

www.topmarks.co.uk

www.doorwayonline.org.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

www.foodafactoflife.org.uk

 

We have been very busy in P1-4 this term! Working hard in class and preparing for our Christmas Show!

In literacy we have been continuing to learn new sounds and spelling patterns to help us with reading and writing. We have had a focus on writing letters and sequencing stories through our Fairy-Tale topic. P1-4 enjoyed writing a letter to the Three Bears as if they were Goldilocks apologising for her actions!

In numeracy we have been focusing on methods for addition and subtraction. The pupils have enjoyed working with concrete materials to help them when adding and subtracting, as well as accessing active maths stations. We have been working on all aspects of measure with lots of practical activities to learn about length, weight, volume and area.

Our topic this term has been Fairy-Tales. We have learned about the structure of Fairy-Tales and created many art pieces relating to the stories we have read. The children have enjoyed creating prints with various materials and constructing moving Pinocchio pictures. We will continue with this topic into Term 3 as we investigate other areas of the curriculum through a Fairy-Tale lens.

P1-4 have thoroughly enjoyed preparing for this year’s Christmas show. We are very proud of the commitment and effort the children have shown to their parts and performance. They have continued to impress us with their dancing and singing and how supportive they have been to each other during rehearsals.

Mrs Balmer and Miss Harrison wish you all a very Merry Christmas and look forward to continuing with lots of fun learning in Term 3!

Literacy

We have been revising sounds and spelling rules we have already learnt. We are getting good at remembering the different spelling rules but must now use these correctly in our writing.

 

Maths

The class are learning about money. A lot of work had to be done on recognising coins as some children have never used, or seen, a range of different coins.

All children have been adding different amounts together and some have been looking at what change should be given when paying with coins that have a bigger value.

 

Health and Wellbeing

All children in the school have joined together to play board games on a Thursday afternoon. Children have enjoyed having the opportunity to work with other children and play games they have never played before. It has been great to see the older children teaching the younger children how to play some games and, in some cases, the younger children teaching the older ones.

Literacy

Primary 2s, 3s and 4s are beginning to look at writing Reports. They are looking at different kinds of Reports and then writing their own, considering the different elements that create a successful report.

Primary 1s are now creating short words and trying to put these into simple sentences.

 

Maths

We have started looking at the tricky topic of Fractions. The children have been taking part in lots of active games to embed the fact that Fractions must be equal and are part of one whole. The class have looked at halves and quarters and some have even been learning thirds and fifths.

 

Health and Wellbeing

The children have been enjoying weekly sessions of Rugby with James from Stonehaven Rugby Club. They have been learning a range of different skills including dodging, passing and catching,

We all had a fabulous Sports Day. It was lovely having everyone back in school together again 😊.

Literacy

We are looking at how to write instructions. We have looked at the different elements that make a set of instructions effective and easy to follow. Some children are now looking at ordering instructions correctly and some are looking at using imperative verbs within their own writing of instructions.

 

Maths

The whole class have been looking at shape and now symmetry. The class are looking at making symmetrical patterns using paint, peg boards and various materials. Some are including one line of symmetry whilst some are including 2, 3 or even 4 lines of symmetry.

 

Health and Wellbeing

The children are looking at Road Safety and how we can stay safe when out and about in our local community. With the help of ‘Super Cat’ we are learning how to stay safe when crossing the road. The older children are making posters to remind the younger ones how to stay safe.

 

Super Cats Road Safety Rap

Super Cat’s here, so say ‘meow’!

Want to cross roads, safely? I’ll tell you how!

First, you stop and look from side-to-side.

Then you listen and think; that’s the Super Cat guide!

Literacy 

Children have been recapping what vowels and consonants are.  They have then been identifying when to use a or an. They have also been using their knowledge of the alphabet to put words in alphabetical order.   Some pupils have been working really hard on reading and spelling 3 letter words.  They have been listening carefully for the 3 sounds.

Children have used different stimulus to develop a range of comprehension skills. We have looked at short videos without words so we can imagine what the characters would be saying.

 

Numeracy 

Children are continuing to develop a range of strategies for being able to complete subtraction sums.   We also looked at how we can collect data. We used both pictures  and tally marks.  We then created a pictograph about our favourite flavours of ice cream.  Some of the children were learning to read bar graphs.

French 

We have been developing our confidence in speaking in French.  We have been learning colours and days of the week.

Literacy

We are continuing to develop our writing skills and have created some great writing pieces.  We have reminded our self of the alphabet and how to put things  into alphabetical order. For some we are continuing to learn all of our sounds and are  trying to blend them together.

Numeracy

Children are going to be looking at subtraction for the next few weeks.  Thinking about their knowledge of numbers to help complete sums.  They will also be learning about division and how it means to share out a number equally.  If you see any opportunities at home to show this practically, please do.  Share out lego pieces, toys, sweets between 2 people etc. Some of us are going to be moving on to addition within 10.  Looking at both the symbol and being able to complete sums.

 

ICT

We are improving our confidence and knowledge of how to use ICT effectively.  For the last few weeks we have been looking at Word and how to insert text, change the font and insert a picture.  Some of us will develop our ability to work independently and will begin to use the internet to research information.

Literacy

We have been doing some fantastic writing this last week.   We are looking at adjectives and using interesting words. Some of us are learning more new sounds and what words begin with these sounds.  We are also all developing our reading skills.  We are using a range of different strategies.  Children who are more fluent in their reading are looking at different punctuation to add expression into texts.  This term for our speaking and listening focus we will be doing our Scots poems.

 

Numeracy

We are continuing to learn about different strategies to carry out addition sums.  Some of us are learning to complete chimney sums.  We are continuing to practice our times tables – both speedy recall and how we can use this in real life situations. For some the focus is learning different maths language one more/one less than. We are also learning about patterns.

 

Topic

We are carrying out an Enterprise project this term. The children have come up with super ideas about how to make us some money!! You will hear about this in due course. The children are also learning about the United Kingdom.  They will be reading maps, learning about different places and learning about Scottish traditions.

 

                                     

Literacy

In Literacy we are continuing to work on new sounds.

Some of us have been looking at dictated sentences using all the technical targets we have been taught – capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.

 

 

Numeracy

In numeracy we have been looking at addition.

Some children have been concentrating on addition within 5, some within 20 and some within 100.

We are looking at different mental strategies to help us with this.

 

Singing

We’ve been super busy learning our Christmas Songs for our School Christmas Performance.

We hope you enjoy the show.