Miss McLeod – 5M

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope you find the following information useful.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

General Information:

We had a very busy but enjoyable first term in Primary 5. Our Fairtrade topic was interesting and really made us think about how our food gets to our supermarkets.

Thank you for your continued support with homework, particularly the Fairtrade shopping task.

Homework will continue to be issued on a Monday and should be returned on a Friday. Reading homework will be issued separately and should be completed for the following week.

The children will take part in 3 PE lessons per week and these will be on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. PE kit can be kept in a cupboard in the classroom.

The children will continue to earn DOJO points for positive behaviour and choices within the classroom. House Points will be awarded in the playground and when they are lining up.

We continue to add information to our class BLOG and this will be updated weekly. Our BLOG can be accessed via the school website.

Learning focus this term:

This term we will be learning about Body Systems.

Through our topic we will be learning about/to:

• The effect of alcohol, drugs and poor diet on the body
• The function of the major organs in the body
• How tissues and organs formed
• What the sensory organs are and how they help me
• How my body responds to external influences

Core Literacy:

• We will develop our writing by working on the tools for writing, including using paragraphs correctly; identifying direct speech and continuing to develop the use of sentence openers, connectives and punctuation
• We will be using our topic as a stimulus for writing in a variety of different styles, such as report writing, fact-files and posters
• Children will be given opportunities to develop their listening and talking skills through a variety of class based activities, including cooperative group work
• During class reading lessons the children will use Blooms Buttons and Book Detective strategies to check their comprehension
• This term we will be aiming to finish our class novel, War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.

Core Numeracy:

• Pupils apply their times table knowledge to written multiplication and multiplication problems
• Pupils will use written and mental strategies to complete division calculations
• Pupils will develop their understanding of time, including telling the time on an analogue and digital clock; reading timetables and calendars and calculating duration

RME/ Health and Wellbeing

This term our RME focus will be Buddhism. We will be revising Cool in School and positive behaviour as part of our Health and Wellbeing curriculum.

As a Health Promoting school we actively encourage and teach our children to make healthy choices, to enable then to become healthy, active and emotionally resilient young people of the future.

We are delighted to be able to continue to deliver 2 hours of PE a week as well as opportunities for children to be active in our fabulous new grounds.

We would appreciate your support in promoting a healthy and balanced diet, both in your child’s morning snack and in their packed lunch.  We would discourage any type of fizzy juice in school or energy drinks.  Children are encouraged to bring in a water bottle, which they can use during class time and refill during the day.  There are water fountains situated throughout the school for daily use.

Please encourage your child to participate in the Active Sports Clubs that are on offer at lunchtimes and after school, as well as any school based clubs that take place throughout the year.  Keep looking in school bags for further information.

A reminder that all children who cycle or scooter to school must wear a safety helmet and ‘walk’ their bikes whilst in the playground. There are bike racks available.

Class Birthdays

We always celebrate if a member of the class has a birthday however we would request that birthday cakes are not brought into school to share with the class. In school, we have children with allergies who may be at risk from some ingredients. The cutting up and distributing of birthday cake also cuts into valuable learning time.

Playground toys:

We have a playground equipment for children to play with during lunchtime.  Please do not bring in your own toys – except for Golden Time on a Friday – so that we can be sure that all toys in the playground belong to the school.  Many thanks for your support.

Golden Time toys:

Children can bring a ‘toy’ to school on a Friday to play with during Golden Time. Please remember that the school cannot take responsibility for the safety of these toys and therefore we request that your child does not bring in expensive/ electronic items without your consent.  We appreciate your support with this matter.

Mobile Phones:

Children may bring a mobile phone to school however these will be stored in a locked classroom cupboard until home time and cannot be used during class time.

Book & Blether:

Please look out for further information on the dates and times for  Book and a Blether.  These are a chance for parents/carers to spend time with their children promoting reading.

I look forward to working in partnership with you this session.

Kind regards

Miss McLeod