School Reminders – All stages

P1-4

PE is on Wednesday and Fridays. Pupils should come to school in the appropriate PE kit.

Homework will be uploaded to Google Classroom every Monday, if you need a reminder of your child’s login please get in touch.

Due to the changing weather, pupils should make sure to bring a jumper as the windows will be open for ventilation in the classroom.

 

P5-7

PE. is on a Monday and a Friday remember to come dressed for outdoor weather.

Remember a waterproof jacket daily as we will have outdoor learning.

P5-7 Cross Curricular

 

  • We have been covering a range of Health and Wellbeing topics based around respect, making positive decisions, evaluating risk and danger and building positive relationships.
  • During our Science lessons, we have partaken in a range of theoretical and practical experimentation around physics, chemistry and biology and the children have thoroughly enjoyed running a chemical reaction workshop. Our focus has been on the use of scientific language and forming predictions.
  • The children have been developing their understanding of the language of coding and its relevance in the world around us.
  • In PE, we have been developing our basketball skills, teamwork, co-ordination and balance skills.

P5-7 Topic

 

Prehistoric Times – Through a cross-curricular approach, the children have been learning about and creating Neolithic dwellings and have thoroughly enjoyed their outdoor learning experience where they recreated stone age tools and weapons and through research and re-enactments, gained a greater understanding of what life was like back then.

P5-7 Literacy and English

We are continuing to develop our listening, talking, reading and writing skills this term.  Within writing, we have been learning about different styles of poetry and using our knowledge to write our own effective pieces.

We are developing our understanding of spelling graphemes and which ones are connected with which phonemes and the patterns therein – we are then investigating their application within texts.

During our reading lessons we have been developing our comprehension as well as our analytic and evaluative thinking skills through reading for enjoyment and choice. The children have become very enthused for reading and it has been lovely to hear them talk in depth about what they are reading as well as recommending new reads to each other.

To develop our listening and talking skills we have been working in groups whilst using our ‘Prehistoric’ topic to create projects about The Bronze Age and presenting these to our classmates.

Next term – we will have a focus on non-fiction writing linked to our topic.

Ways you can support your child:  Encourage your child to read little and complete their spelling homework each week.

P5-7 Numeracy

 

This term our first focus is on fractions, decimals and percentages – the children have been developing a range of skills including equivalent fractions, ordering and addition with fractions, improper and mixed fractions, converting fractions to percentages and decimal fractions.  The class are also learning how to manage money and through a variety of activities, will continue to develop their awareness of the value of money.

Moving forward into Term 3 we will have a focus on time, develop our understanding of number patterns and relationships and also investigate how maths impacts on the world.

Ways you can support your child: Practice times tables including fast mental recall, this will help with their understanding of number patterns and relationships.

P1-4 Next Term

The focus for numeracy in Term 3 will be Patterns and Relationship, Time and a continuation of weekly mental maths input. In literacy we will be continuing to develop our knowledge of sounds, spelling patterns and developing an understanding of the difference between fact and opinion through reading. In addition to this, we will continue to build on our knowledge of tools for writing. Next term our topic will be Dinosaurs.

P1-4 Health and Wellbeing

This term P1-4 have been focusing on friendships and positive relationships. We have been identifying qualities of a good friendship and simple strategies for making up when friends fall out as well as discussing similarities and differences that we may have. P1-4 have enjoyed using circle time to discuss these topics and practice taking turns to listen, care for and respect what each other have to say.

During PE we have been developing our spatial awareness and looking at different ways to travel around a space. We have focused on running, skipping and hoping in different directions, ensuring we are in a space and looking around us to keep safe during PE.

P1-4 Literacy

 

The ‘Robins’ have been consolidating their knowledge of the initial sounds and introducing new ones. We have been looking at how to form these letters and identifying words that start with them. The ‘Robins’ have been looking at picture books and discussing the stories, sharing what they liked or disliked about them and putting the story sequence in order.

The ‘Bees’ have been continuing to learn new sounds and ‘tricky words.’ They have began constructing sentences, knowing that a capital letter is needed at the start and a full stop at the end.

The Ladybirds and Butterflies are continuing to learn new sounds and using these to read and spell words correctly. They have been looking at using WOW words to make sentences more interesting, along with a focus on adjectives and proper nouns. In writing, we have been looking at creative writing, ensuring that our stories are planned and have a beginning, middle and an end.

The Spiders are continuing to learn a variety of new sounds along with some common words and how to spell these correctly. We have begun to look at alphabetical order and how to use a dictionary, which can help us with our writing. The Spiders have also been planning their writing and looking at how a story should have a clear beginning, middle and an end.

Ways to support learning at home: Playing ‘I Spy’ using the sound your child is looking at in class (these are uploaded to Google Classroom each week). Reading a book with your child and encouraging them to have a go at reading or recognising their sounds and tricky words. Asking your child questions about a story you have read.

P1-4 Maths

 

The Rectangles have been continuing their work on numbers to 10, one more than or less than, and addition within 5. We have used play, videos, and written work to help us explore the different ways we can make 5, some have progressed on to look at number bonds to 10.  In shape, we have looked at the names of 2D shapes and started to describe shapes through counting their corners and sides.

The circles have been continuing to develop their understanding of number and addition within 20. The circles have been working on fractions, splitting shapes or objects into halves and quarters, knowing that all parts should be equal amounts or sizes. The Circles have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes, discussing the properties of 2D shapes using sides and corners.

The Squares have been continuing to develop strategies for addition, subtraction and times tables through weekly mental maths input and interactive games. In addition to this, they have been developing their understanding of fractions as equal parts of a whole. We have looked at halves and quarters of shapes and amounts, as well as starting to use the formal notation of ½ and ¼ when recognising fractions. The Squares have learning the names and properties of both 2D and 3D shapes and are beginning to use corners, edges and faces to describe 3D shapes.

The Triangles have been continuing to develop their mental maths strategies through weekly mental maths activities on iPads and daily challenges. They have been developing their understanding of fractions as an equal part of a whole, looking at the role of the numerator and denominator in a fraction. The Triangles are now beginning to find fractions of whole amounts and will shortly begin to compare fraction sizes using concrete materials.

Ways to support learning at home: Ask your child to show you the number bonds to 5 using ‘bunny ears’ the children have their hands above their heads and display the number of fingers as ‘bunny ears’ to represent the number bond. For example, they may show 3 fingers in one hand and 2 in the other. Ask your child what shapes they can spot in the environment and if they can describe the shapes they have found. Online games such as hit the button (www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button) can be useful for reinforcing number bonds and times tables work.

P1-4 Christmas

P1-4 have been learning about the Christmas Story and the birth of Baby Jesus.

In addition to this, we have been learning about Christmas around the world! Looking at how different countries celebrate Christmas and the traditions they hold.