Primary 5 are working hard alongside our active schools co-ordinator, Mark Devlin. We are learning how we can support the children in our school with play.

Primary 2 Blog Post 

Hello and welcome to our very first blog post of the new session.  Primary 2 have been very busy settling into our new classroom and our new routines.  Children have been working hard to consolidate previous learning and are enhancing these skills through our novel study and outdoor learning.

Literacy

Our class novel is ‘The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark’ and through this text, pupils will explore our outdoor area and write about why dark is fun!  Pupils will create some descriptive writing pieces, describing our main character, Plop, and using adjectives to describe the people he meets and the things he sees.

Our reading and spelling activities are now underway, and children have been working within groups to revisit previous sounds and texts, ready to use their skills and strategies to tackle new and unfamiliar spelling sounds and reading books.  Our focus in writing currently is descriptive writing and these written pieces will come from our class novel and topic of Houses and Homes.

Homework will be sent out week beginning Monday 4^th September. Please check your child’s homework bag, weekly, for the homework to be completed that week.  Reading books will be attached to pupils’ accounts through our online Bug Club reading programme. I will issue Bug Club login details when the first homework tasks are sent home. Homework will consist of spelling, reading and maths, both mental and worksheet/jotter jobs too. These will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on a Friday.

Maths

Our focus in maths will be place value, with children working on 2-digit numbers, initially to 20 and then to 99. Children will be able to partition these numbers and discuss this in terms of tens (T) and units (u), whilst building on their understanding of number and number patterns. Addition to 10 or 20 will also be a focus as well as word problems to consolidate our strategies within this operation of number.  Children will begin use their ‘Busy Bee’ jotters as the term progresses to develop problem solving skills, applying knowledge of number to new contexts and develop strategies for number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day has now begun, and our Pupil of the Day has been receiving lots of compliments.  All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day.  We will begin exploring emotions, comfortable and uncomfortable and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others.

In P.E, our sessions will happen on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 1 will be on football and basketball.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing their listening skills and awareness of space.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on prayer, their meaning, the routines of the church and the celebration of Mass.  We will also spend some time reading and discussing bible stories relating to friendship and love, whilst considering how each of us are unique and have our own God given talents.

Topic

As the class novel is The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, we will be doing a mini topic which focuses on exciting things that happen in the dark, developing children’s imaginations and ideas in fictional texts.  We will also look at woodland animals as these are a feature in the class novel and will tie in nicely with out term 1 science topic about houses and homes, comparing houses in the countryside to those we find in the towns and cities. Children will explore and develop an understanding of how houses have changed in the last 100 years, comparing it to life as we know it now.

We hope this is the start of a very successful term and that the pupils are enjoying their return to school and seeing their friends and teachers.

Take care,

Mrs Travers

Primary 3 Blog Post (Term 1 Update)

Hello and welcome to our first Primary 3 blog post this term. P3 have been very busy settling into our classroom and learning new routines.  Children have been working hard through carrying out revision activities to consolidate previous learning and are enhancing these skills through our novel study and outdoor learning.

Literacy

Our class novel is ‘Horton Hears a Who’ and through this book pupils will be exploring their curiosity through using their senses during outdoor learning. Pupils will create some descriptive writing by describing the main character, Horton, and using rhyming words and adjectives to describe what he hears and the things he sees. This novel underpins an important message in the story “A person’s a person, no matter how small”. This reinforces to the children that no matter how different we might seem from one another, we are all equal.

P3 have been participating in reading and spelling activities and children have been working within groups to revisit previous sounds and texts, ready to use their skills and strategies to tackle new and unfamiliar spelling sounds and reading books.  Our writing focus is currently descriptive writing, and these written pieces will come from our class novel and topic of Vertebrates.

Homework will be sent out week beginning Monday 4th September. Please check your child’s homework bag, weekly, for the homework to be completed that week.  Reading books will be attached to pupils’ accounts through our online Bug Club reading programme. I will issue Bug Club login details when the first homework tasks are sent home. Homework will consist of spelling, reading and maths, both mental and worksheet/jotter jobs too. These will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on a Friday.

Maths

Our focus in maths will be place value, with children consolidating previous learning on 2-digit numbers, initially to 99. Then moving to three-digit numbers beyond 100.  Children will be able to partition these numbers and discuss this in terms of tens (T) and units (u), whilst building on their understanding of number and number patterns. Addition to 100 and beyond will also be a focus as well as word problems to consolidate our strategies within this operation of number.  Children will begin use their ‘Thinking it through’ jotters as the term progresses to develop problem solving skills, applying knowledge of number to new contexts and develop strategies for number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day has now begun, and our Pupil of the Day has been receiving lots of compliments.  All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day.  We will begin exploring emotions, and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others and learning how to control them.

In P.E, our sessions will take place on a Tuesday and a Thursday and our focus in term 1 will be on hockey and badminton.  Children will have the opportunity to participate in some team working games which focus on developing their skills and abilities as well as their awareness of space.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on prayer, their meaning, the routines of the church and the celebration of Mass.  We will also spend some time reading and discussing bible stories relating to friendship and love, whilst considering how each of us are unique and have our own God given talents.

Topic

As the class novel is ‘Horton Hears a Who’ by Dr Seuss, the children will be participating in activities in different areas of the curriculum including outdoor learning. This will help to develop children’s imaginations and ideas in fictional texts.  Children will explore and develop an understanding of living things as these are a feature in the class novel and will tie in nicely with out term 1 science topic about Vertebrates, children will be sorting and categorising living things into vertebrates and non-vertebrates.

The children are so excited to be back to see all of their friends and teachers. We look forward to term 1 in primary 3.

Thank you,

Miss Grimley

A very warm welcome to the Primary 1 Blog. The children are settling into their new school surroundings beautifully and have already established routines and friendships within their new class.

We have had a lovely start to the term getting to know one another but we are most definitely poised and ready to LEARN! Below you will find an overview of what we will be covering this term.

Literacy

During literacy times, P1 have already been developing their phonological awareness (the ability to hear sounds in words). We are doing this by focusing on the rhythm and rhyme of language through clapping syllables and working on our nursery rhymes.

We are also working on our fine motor control to develop our mark making skills. Name writing is a focus to ensure we can always sign off on our masterpieces!

Developing our listening and talking skills forms a huge part of our day. We are learning to follow our “carpet time rules” to ensure we do our best listening while the teacher is talking. We are also learning to take turns at communicating our thoughts and feelings.

Numeracy

We know numbers are all around us and have had a chance to talk about those which are special to us, for example, our age, door number etc.

Number times will consist of lots and lots of counting! We will be developing our “number sense” by counting out and comparing quantities and becoming familiar with the language of mathematics.

We will be reciting our number sequences forwards and backwards, understanding that each number we say represents a quantity.

As our pencil control improves we will be learning how to form our digits correctly. Pattern and Shape will also be a focus this term.  We will link this to outdoor learning by looking for natural patterns and shape in our environment.

Health & Well-being (HWB)

Our PATHS programme will feature heavily during our HWB time. The children will be meeting Twiggle and friends, our PATHS puppets, who will help us explore our feelings and friendships. We will also be introduced to our “Pupil of the Day” initiative, which allows each and every member of the class to be the focus of our kind words and actions for a whole day.

In PE we will initially develop our spatial awareness through games before moving onto large ball skills.

RE

The children have been introduced to our RE times during which we have been discussing God’s love for us all. We will continue to explore this unconditional love by considering the gifts God has given us, including our families and the qualities which make each and every one of us so special and unique.

IDL

Our theme of Nursery Rhymes will be used to explore other areas of the curriculum such as art, music and technology.

We will also be looking at our own “history” by thinking about the people and events involved in our journey from newborn baby to Primary 1 pupil!

Expressive Arts

During art sessions we will be creating our favourite characters from the Nursery rhymes we have been learning. We will be exploring the visual elements of line, pattern and colour.

During music sessions, we will be singing and keeping the beat to our Nursery rhyme favourites.

PE DAYS WILL BE MONDAY AND THURSDAY – please think carefully about uniform and ensure NO JEWELLERY is worn on these days.

Homework will be issued from Monday 11^th September.

Mrs Duff

Primary 5 – Term 1

Hi everyone. This is the first term’s update on Primary 5’s learning. The class are already working very hard and are eager to learn. This is a quick snapshot of what will be covered in the term ahead. There is lots to do and I am sure that there will be lots of fun along the way.

IDL

Our interdisciplinary topic this term is knights and castles. We have already started this and the children are enjoying learning about what castles are nearby and what knights did. I am hopeful to take the class to visit the Dean Castle.

Literacy

The class have already started reading our class novel, ‘The Butterfly Lion’ by Michael Morpurgo. They have been completing tasks relating to the text and I am already impressed with their comprehension skills. Within reading this term, we will be looking at the main purpose of a text as well as the different genres of books. We have an extensive class library that the children can access for personal choice and enjoyment, as well as our school library which we will also be visiting. The children will continue with bug club and this will have a learning focus of metalinguistics and visualisation. The children will develop their understanding of what they are reading and I am hopeful of your support at homework time to complete their reading online. All children will be encouraged to read their texts with expression and fluency.

Our writing genres for the term ahead are descriptive writing and narrative writing. The class will be working on writing their piece, editing it and re drafting it, focussing on layout in order to engage their reader. This is when the children will access ICT in order to type their re draft piece of writing.

In terms of our listening and talking element of literacy, the children will be focussing on listening to and for instructions. This is something that the class find difficult at times. They will work on their ability to show respect to everyone in the class by giving good looking eyes and listening ears when it is appropriate to do so.

The class will complete handwriting every week within class and we would ask that this is promoted at home in terms of homework also.

Numeracy

The entire class will continue to work on their times tables throughout the year.  We have already began working on our understanding of place value and what value each digit holds within the columns. Depending on what group the children are in for their numeracy, they will be working on place value using units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands and hundred thousands.

We will also be looking at rounding to the nearest ten, hundred and thousand. This will enable the children to develop their skill of estimating so they can then find approximate answers to calculations and problems.

The children will develop their knowledge of shape. Some of the things that the class will be investigating through shapes are describing triangles by their sides and defining what kind of triangle it is, for example, equilateral, isosceles and scalene. The class will investigate the symmetrical values of each shape, looking for a line of symmetry, and will learn how to make patterns and designs using these symmetrical properties. This topic will be covered by Mrs McIntyre on a Wednesday.

Our whole school will concentrate on number talks throughout the year. These lessons encourage children to solve calculations using different strategies. This allows children to have ownership of their own learning by using the strategies that suit their learning style best.

Health and Wellbeing

Our P.E. days are a Monday and a Wednesday. We are currently learning about hockey and developing our ability to dribble, pass and shoot to target. After this topic, we will hopefully be moving onto to rugby and the skills involved with this.

Primary 5 already participate in mindfulness every day, this is something that the entire class benefit from and have been doing this since the beginning of Primary 4.  It is my intention to train all children in the massage in schools programme which will enable the children to develop another skill in managing their mental health on a day to day basis. I will, of course, be seeking parent’s permission before this would be introduced and further information is available on request.

Our PATHS programme will help the children to develop positive relationships within the class and school.  Delving into the emotions that the children feel will help them to understand why they are feeling this way as well as giving them the tools to cope with these emotions.

Our core health and wellbeing teaching will focus on good diet, how much sleep a child of their age needs to stay healthy and how they can rest. We will also look at the skills that are required to manage changing relationships focussing on tolerance and mutual trust.

R.E.

In order to link our R.E. with our health and wellbeing, we will be learning about friendship through bible stories. The class will earn some of the miracle stories that allowed Jesus to show that he was the son of God. We will continue to pray to God and ask for forgiveness when we need it and say thank you for things we are grateful for.  In preparation for mass throughout the year, the children will be learning new hymns and prayers.

Expressive arts

This term, the class will be focussing on art through drawing. We will look at the use of lines and texture within a drawing and what materials we can use effectively. Our music this term will be focussing on singing. This will be completed through our hymn practises and drama will be explored later in the year.

ICT

Now that the children have access to their usernames and passwords for the network, we will spend this term practising logging in and accessing the computer network, bug club, Sumdog and glow. The children will also be looking at re-drafting some of their writing which will develop their word processing and formatting skills. They will then to encourage to save this work to their own desktop.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support so far this term and look forward to everything that is to come.

Take care,

Mrs McCreadie

Welcome back! The summer seems like an already distant memory and primary 6 have settled into their new routine well.

Children are encouraged to have all items they require daily and a PE kit which remains in school please.

Our learning this term:

 Literacy

A focus on legible and cursive handwriting will be a priority this term with individuals being supported accordingly around this.

Reading

The class novel this term is ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl. The pupils will complete various reading and writing tasks related to this appropriate to their level. This novel study also has links to other curricular areas including Health and Well-being, art and drama.

We will also continue using the ‘Bug Club’ reading resource to aid our comprehension skills.

Spelling will be individualised to groups and will form a focus for homework as well as class tasks.

Numeracy

Children have completed necessary revision of previous learning and are ready to tackle their new learning. This term the class will focus on place value; outcomes are determined in groups, this will lead to a period of addition and subtraction across the groups.

Time will be a focus during beyond number lessons again differentiated across the class. Children will be focussing on duration and digital as well as analogue. Circles and Rectangles will also explore 24hr conversion. Please provide opportunities for time telling at home.  Children will also look at 2D and 3D shape this term, they will investigate properties and tiling.

Health and Wellbeing

Our focus this term is ‘Class Community’ we are together creating a charter for our class rights and expectations. Pupils are involved in discussions around areas that we define as ‘Quality’. Children will also choose a school community group to join. This will allow pupils to showcase their upper primary maturity and help drive the school priorities and community forward.

Children will also continue to follow the PATHs resources, this helps pupils to identify their emotions, act accordingly and build resilience.

‘Do be mindful’ strategies and mindful learning blocks will reinforce all that we do.

Religious Education

 Pupils will be encouraged to join discussions around biblical stories, particularly ‘Creation’ with a focus on science and religion. We will explore when the two compliment each other. They will be encouraged to think ‘deeper’ and ask questions to help develop their faith.

 French

Primary 6 have looked at ‘Francophone’ countries and are developing an understanding of the French language in travel and economy. We will be revising colours and numbers to 100 this term. Dates and times will also be reinforced.

  Homework

Homework will be issued weekly and at primary 6 level children should be able to complete these tasks individually with limited support. Please check that your child is accessing these tasks and is becoming responsible around this. Homework will always be issued to reinforce learning and children will have been taught the area in class. Homework creates routine and independence and will be an expectation at every stage of school life especially secondary school. In developing good habits in the upper primary this will ease that transition when the time comes.

As always your continued support is appreciated across the school year. We look forward to working with you and your child this academic session.

 Mrs Crawford and Mrs McIntyre.

Primary 5 have taken full advantage of the beautiful weather today and have taken their numeracy outside.

Primary 5 enjoyed an outdoor learning session with a focus of rounding to the nearest 10 in numeracy. They worked hard in pairs to complete their rounding flowers 😁