Monthly Archives: January 2025

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P4 Sacrament Retreat Day

A quick reminder for parents that this Saturday our Sacrament children will have a special mass and retreat day held at St Joseph’s Church & Hall. There will be a short meeting  for parents afterwards.

Details Below..

Children’ s Retreat day– Saturday 1st February

10am Mass – Finish at 2pm at St Joseph’s Church & Hall

*Children should also bring a packed lunch with them*

There is no charge involved.

Parent’s meeting – Saturday 1st February (At end of Retreat Day)

Parents of Children making their sacraments are invited to a short meeting afterwards from 2pm – 2:30pm also at St Joseph’s Church & Hall.

Other important dates to note :

*Rite of Enrolment – Sunday 16th February*

11:30am Mass at OLMC Church

**Rite of Confirmation – Sunday 23rd February** -11:30am Mass

Bishop Frank Dougan will preside.

Important March News

Before making their Sacrament of First Holy Communion at the end of June, the P4 sacrament children will need to attend the Rite of Reconciliation and make their confession again and alongside the P4s on Wed 19th March at OLMC  (7-8pm).

Any parent who requires a registration form these are available from Fr Jim or  contact the school office please.

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Upper Car Park

Upper Car park
As you are aware the school car park and upper car park are for the sole use of staff and school visitors.  Parents and carers should not be accessing the school car park at any point, this includes the upper overflow car park.  Please also be aware of our safety concerns for parents/carers that have been accessing this space and then lifting children over the fence.  Please use the lower school main gate to access the playground.
Thank you for your support with this.
Whole School News

Storm Damage

Storm Damage
Unfortunately two of our trees have come down during the storm last week.  These are currently blocking our gates between the upper playground and the lower school playground.  Parents and carers can only access the lower school playground via the lower school gate and the upper school playground via the main gate.  At the end of the school day children from P4-7 that would normally meet adults in the lower playground will exit via the primary 2 door instead.
We also have damage to our main bell.  This means there will be no bell at the start or end of the school day.  Children will exit to the playground as normal.
Thank you for your support and understanding as we await removal and repair work.
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Schools/ECC Closure Tomorrow 24/1/25

The Met Office has now issued a red warning for wind from 10am until 5pm on Friday 24 January.

 

Storm Eowyn will cause very dangerous conditions and there will be significant disruption.  The Council has taken the decision to close all schools and Early Childhood Centres, plus SL33 and SL66 on Friday 24 January.

 

This is a difficult decision to take and the Council understands the impact on parents and carers, however the safety of children and young people is paramount.

 

Primary 7 blog, Whole School News

P7 Term 3 Curriculum Update

Happy New Year and I hope Santa was good to you all. And so we enter P7’s final year at primary!!  Good to see all the pupils back after the holidays.  Here is a brief overview of our learning focus this term.

Literacy

Our focus this term will continue to develop all reading skills through Bug Club guided reading texts.  We will also be reading texts to identify fact and opinion and discuss the reliability of sources of information.  For writing, we are concentrating on discussion texts, building upon persuasive writing from last term until the February holiday then look at the recount genre where we will retell events from what we have watched or experienced.  For a short period, we will also be looking at Scottish texts, using Scots language and looking at Scottish poems and authors.

Numeracy

The emphasis of our numeracy this term is on fractions, decimals and percentages and how they interlink.  Having completed the set Number Talk discussions, we will continue to use Number Talk strategies to develop mental strategies using all four processes.  The class are also working on numeracy skills with Mrs McCreadie and will be investigating other aspects of measurement as well as data handling.

Health and Wellbeing

The PATHS focus this term is ­­­­­­­­­looking at respect and how to deal with conflicts and identifying positive steps to de-escalate situations.  We will also continue to praise and compliment children through Pupil of the Day.  We are also exploring risk taking behaviour including substance misuse and practise basic first aid procedures.

Our PE days are still Wednesday and Thursday.  We will be first concentrating on fun fitness, creating personal fitness plans and setting personal goals.  We also aim to develop our team game skills through netball where we will understand different roles within the team.

IDL

The topic this term is Scottish based and is looking at the Highland Clearances.  We will be investigating important historical figures involved in the event, how people lived during that time and the mass emigration from the Highland area.

RE

This term we will be aiming to complete our Pope Francis Faith Award journals, revising all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and giving evidence of them being used in the school, at home and in the community or Parish.  As well as this, there will be a final reflection on how the Gifts will help support them as they develop and grow.

 

French

French this term will consist of learning how to say other countries and nationalities and looking in to current affairs within France as well as using the verb etre (to be).

 

Technologies

This term P7 will look at coding and understand its importance within society.  We will use block coding software to program small digital devices and explore various commands to create games and move characters within games.

UNCRC

We will be looking at the articles and rights involved and associated in Holocaust Memorial Day in late January, Safe Internet Day and Children’s Mental Health Week in February, and World Book Day and World Water Day in March.

I look forward to working with P7 in their final year and will enjoy accompanying them on their trip to Barcaple this term.

Mr Bertoncini

 

 

 

 

 

Whole School News

After School Clubs🏸🏐🎽

The following After School Clubs are due to start soon. Letters for each club were given out to pupils yesterday (20/1). There are a maximum of 20 places available per club which will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

If your child wishes to attend, please complete and return the permission slip at the bottom of the letter. Thanks

Primary 2&3- Games and Multi-sports Club

Tues 28th January until Tues 25th February (Exc. Tues 11th Feb)

Primary 4 &5 – Racquet Sports Club

Thurs 30th January until Thurs 20th February

Primary 6 &7 Handball Club

Mon 27th January until Mon 24th February (Exc. Mon 10th Feb)

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P4 Confirmation Dates

This is just a quick reminder of some important dates  in the next few weeks for our pupils who will be making their Sacrament of Confirmation at the end of next month.

Session 3 – Sunday 26th January

11:30am Mass – Finish at 1:30pm at OLMC Church

(‘I Belong’ book – Chapters 5 & 6 after Mass)

Children’ s Retreat day– Saturday 1st February

10am Mass – Finish at 2pm at St Joseph’s Church & Hall

*Children should also bring a packed lunch with them*

There is no charge involved.

Parent’s meeting – Saturday 1st February (At end of Retreat Day)

Parents of Children making their sacraments are invited to a short meeting afterwards from 2pm – 2:30pm also at St Joseph’s Church & Hall.

*Rite of Enrolment – Sunday 16th February*

11:30am Mass at OLMC Church

**Rite of Confirmation – Sunday 23rd February** -11:30am Mass

Bishop Frank Dougan will preside

Any parent who requires a registration form these are available from Fr Jim or  contact the school office please.

Whole School News

Primary 6 curricular update

Primary 6 – Term 3

Hi everyone. We hope you all had a lovely Christmas break. Primary 6 have welcomed Mrs Terras into their routine with no problems and we are very proud of how they have adapted to the changes so far. There is lots to get through in the term ahead but this is a challenge that we know Primary 6 will flourish in. Here is an update of what is coming up in the term ahead.

UNCRC

As part of our UNCRC (United Nations Convention for the Right of the Child), the class took part in activities for Human rights day in which we looked at rights across the world with a particular focus on the rights of the child. The children then took part in a competition with which they were asked to design a logo for their favourite article that we had looked at. There will be a winner from each class and these will be announced in the new term. As always, we will continue to work on the class’ understanding of what their rights are as well as their responsibilities that coincide with these rights.

IDL

Mrs Terras will teach our interdisciplinary topic of Scottish myths and legends. During this topic, the children will take on a research task to find out about some famous Scottish myths such as the Loch Ness Monster. They will also look into the famous Scottish Kelpies and investigate the structure of these magical sculptures.

Science

Towards the end of the term the children will explore renewable energy with Mrs McCreadie. Within this learning, the class will look at what renewable energy is and how Scotland benefits from this form of energy.

Literacy

Reading – Along with Mrs Terras, the class will be learning all about Scots language. There will be a particular focus on poetry within this teaching. They will also be learning about non- fiction reading skills which will focus on note taking, mind mapping and scanning to highlight key words and phrases.

Talking and Listening – This will also be taught through Scot’s language with the children also developing their presentation skills as part of this learning.

Spelling – The children will continue to develop their spelling skills which will take place across the week with both of their teachers. We will continue to work on our active spelling techniques and this will feed through into our homework.

Writing – The writing for this term will be taught by Mrs McCreadie. The genres that will be the focus for learning is persuasive and discursive writing. Within this, the class will continue to develop their tools for writing skills with a focus on using complex punctuation as well as enhancing vocabulary through the use of dictionaries and a thesaurus.

Numeracy

We will continue with the use of number talks which helps to encourage different learners to use and understand different strategies. The children show an excellent understanding of the strategies taught so far and are always eager to share their understanding with their peers.

Mrs McCreadie will concentrate on the teaching of beyond number topics this term. The first concept to be taught for this will be time. This will look at both analogue and digital times. We will then move on to look at data handling.

Mrs Terras will concentrate on the core number processes and will concentrate on multiplication and division this term.

Health and Wellbeing

Our P.E. days will change to a Tuesday and a Thursday this term. This allows the children to have a P.E. slot with both teachers. The focus for P.E. this term will be netball, gymnastics and fitness.

Primary 6 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.

Our PATHS programme will continue to 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. The children are also participating in the PATHS buddy scheme that helps support the infants in ‘how to play’ during lunchtimes.

Our core health and wellbeing teaching will focus on body hygiene and image. We will also be looking at what abuse is and some of the types of abuse that people experience at the hands of others.

R.E.

Core learning this term will focus predominantly on the work of the disciples and their importance in the bible. As the term progresses, we will begin to look at Lent and how we can celebrate this both in school and at home.

The class will also begin their Pope Francis Faith Award journey with Mrs Terras this term. This will span the remainder of their Mount Carmel journey with some of the award being completed this year and then some in Primary 7. The Pope Francis Faith Award is an award of the Bishops’ conference of Scotland, designed to help children show “signs of love” in their daily lives.

ICT

The children demonstrate an excellent understanding of how to use the new chrome books we have in school and as a result have also learned how to use Microsoft online. The next steps for the children will be to learn how to use TEAMS in preparation for P7. It is our intention to send homework through TEAMS in term 4 as this is how homework could be allocated in P7.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. The children have accepted the changes to their class structure and are managing this well. This term will be a busy one and as always, if you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Take care,

Mrs McCreadie and Mrs Terras

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Primary 3 Curriculum update Term 3

Welcome back! I hope that you all had a peaceful festive period. It is lovely to be back with Primary 3, and we are all ready for another busy term. Here is an update on the upcoming term.

At the beginning of our first term, we explored the UNCRC Rights of the Child, and together created a meaningful Class Charter to ensure that our classroom is a place where we feel safe and where we can learn and grow together. As we continue into term 3 we will refer back to this ensuring our Class Charter is relevant and ‘felt’ within our classroom. As a school community, some of the UNCRC articles that we will have a focus on, are Articles 17 and 19 relating to internet safety and Articles 24, 27 for World Water Day.

Literacy

We will be looking at a range of texts this term. We will start the term with story ‘Lewis Clowns Around’ which will link into our mini Scotland topic. We will use this whole class text to develop our prediction, summarising and ‘Find it, prove it’ comprehension strategies. We will also access Bug Club readers as we continue to work on decoding and fluency skills.

During writing, we will look at report writing before moving on to explanatory texts. We will look the structure of these genres and write our own texts. We will continue to have a focus on the use of accurate punctuation as well as beginning to develop the skill of proof reading our work.

Spelling will take the form of active spelling activities and the children will experience phonemes and blends at their working level.

Numeracy & Maths

We will move on to looking at multiplication and division; using a range of concrete materials, we will develop our understanding of groups of a number before investigating the concept of arrays. We will look at the patterns in various times tables and will use this knowledge to solve a range of problems. The children will participate in a daily number talk activity as we develop our confidence in the use of mathematical language to explain our thinking.

In Beyond Number, we will continue to explore measure with Mrs Strachan, before moving on to time.

 

Health and Wellbeing

This term we will continue with the PATHS programme, reflecting and discussing a range of emotions and what these might look and feel like. We will also continue with the Do Be Mindful programme which will allow us, through the use of a range of strategies, to look at ways we can take a mindful moment each day.

PE is on a Monday and Friday. This term we will be covering;

Fun Fitness

Ball Skills

Children will require PE kit each PE day.  Please make sure your child is not wearing jewellery on these days as they will be unable to participate in the lesson for health and safety reasons. If your child cannot take part for any reason, please contact the school.

Religious Education

This term we will be continuing to learn a range of well-known prayers and will have opportunities each day for quiet prayer and reflection time.

We will reflect on Jesus’ early life, investigating the Jewish Community that He was born into. Then, as we begin our preparation for celebrating First Confession, we will look at the parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin. We will look at the significance of the sacrament and become familiar with how it is celebrated.

As we approach the Holy season of Lent, we will think about the importance of prayer, almsgiving and fasting and how we can prepare for the great feast of Easter.

French

Through a range of songs, activities and games we will continue to develop confidence in counting and greetings, we will also look at months of the year in French.

IDL

We will begin the term with a mini Scotland topic, looking at some Scottish music, art and poetry, as well as exploring some features of the Scottish landscape. This will lead into our main topic this term which is Farming in Scotland. We will consider different types of farms and the various produce from these farms. We will look at the food journey – how it changes from farm to fork and will plant some potatoes and carrots, which will allow us to get first-hand experience of growing our own crops.

 

Homework will be distributed on a Monday to be completed, and returned by Friday.

 

Keep an eye on the School App and your child’s Learning Journal profile for a snapshot of some of our wonderful learning!

Thank you as always for your support and I’m looking forward to a really great term with P3.

Mrs. MacKinnon.

Primary 2 blog

Primary 2 Curriculum Update

Primary 2 Curriculum Update Term 3

Welcome to our curriculum update for term 3. I hope all our pupils and their families/carers had a wonderful festive period and a lovely new year. Term two was busy as we prepared for all the fun and exciting Christmas activities and the Nativity Show!

Literacy

Last term, our focus had been summarising what happened in our books and thinking about sequencing parts of a story we’d read in order of what came first and next or at the beginning, middle, and end. In term three, the focus will be answering both literal and inferential questions orally and in written responses whilst beginning to find and identify key features of non-fiction books like the index, contents and labels, which may be helpful for fact-finding for our new topic. We will continue our usual spelling and common word activities that help pupils retain and recognise their spelling sounds/phonemes and common words when reading books.

In writing, children will focus on report writing, building on their knowledge of fact-based information and sharing it in a report, including a title, heading, subheadings, and pictures. Our new topic will allow us to explore report writing while building a knowledge bank for our topic (IDL). Children will continue to enhance their understanding of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, identifying these in texts we are accessing in class while recognising and using speech marks and speech bubbles in texts and written pieces.

During term 3, we will also participate in listening and talking games and activities to help children develop the key skills needed in whole-class or group discussions. These skills will be further developed when we begin weekly information sharing, sharing our topic reports and receiving feedback from our peers.

Numeracy

Our focus in numeracy during term three will be to complete subtraction and understand how addition and subtraction link through fact families. Money will continue through January to revisit giving change and to develop a good understanding of subtraction when using coins.

Children will spend time mentally counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s and developing mental strategies for the skills we have worked on. They will continue to recite numbers up to 100 while developing knowledge of number patterns. Children will then use this knowledge of counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s to expose them to an early introduction to multiplication, exploring the symbol and what concrete materials can support us when building up groups/sets of numbers. The strategies we will explore are repeated addition and groupings.

In beyond number, we will build on our knowledge of halves and quarters, and this will support pupils when the idea of half past and quarter past is introduced with time, both in analogue and digital formats. Pupils will grow their knowledge by looking at minutes in an hour, ½ hour and how many hours in a day. They will also consider the time an hour was before and an hour after. Children will regularly use their ‘Busy Bee’ jotters to develop problem-solving skills, apply knowledge of numbers to new contexts and develop strategies for any number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day again in term three. They will continue to explore emotions, comfortable and uncomfortable, and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others. We will also look at strategies for helping us deal with conflict with friends or in the playground.

In P.E., our sessions will continue to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In term 3, our focus will be gymnastics, using more extensive apparatus, fitness and taking care of the body, and racquet skills like tennis and badminton. Children will also have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities that support teamwork while focusing on developing their listening skills and awareness of space.

R.E

Our focus during R.E. sessions will be on Jesus’s life, where he lived and grew up, and where he went to pray as part of a faith community. We will also look at Jesus the Teacher and reflect on his words and teachings.

Topic (IDL)

In term three, the focus of our topic (IDL) will be on science and living things in the form of ‘minibeasts’. This will include insects, arachnids, and mollusks, to name a few. We will explore different body types, whether they have a spine, shell, or armour for protection. This will extend to studying their habitats and food chains associated with each minibeast.

 French (Modern Languages)

Children continue to familiarise themselves with basic greetings and expand their number knowledge by increasing this to 20. Pupils will become more familiar with questions they can ask to learn someone’s name or age. We will also look at days of the week and months of the year.

UNCRC

We continue to refer to the articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in class by looking at our class charter and reminding pupils that we have the right to play (31), to learn (28) and to be healthy (24). We formed our class rules around this charter to allow all pupils to have the best positive experience in school. As a school, we will focus on the articles/themes of Safer Internet Day (articles 17, 19), Holocaust Memorial Day (2. 9, 37, 38) and World Water Day (24.27).

We hope this is the start of another very successful term and that the pupils will continue to enjoy learning new topics across the curriculum.

Take care,

Mrs Travers

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P1 Curricular Update – Term 3

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a very enjoyable festive break with your families.

In Primary 1 we are ready for a new year of learning!! Please have a look at the information below to see what we will be focusing on in each subject.

Literacy

Phonics – We will learn the remaining letter sounds of the alphabet this term while improving our word building skills.

Spelling – Now that we can read and write our sounds, we will be writing as many words as we can! Some of our common words cannot be sounded out so we have to practise the spelling of these in lots of different ways to help us remember the letter order.

Writing – We are continuing to develop our skills in sentence building this term. We will be using our knowledge of the letter sounds to independently write words in a simple sentence for a variety of stimuli.

Letter formation and hand writing will continue to be a focus to allow us to showcase our spelling skills with ease.

Reading – Now that we are using worded texts, we will be developing our word attack skills, remembering to use our letter sounds to help us with unfamiliar words, while looking for our common words too.

We will also be developing our comprehension skills by answering questions about our texts. This term we will be looking at Traditional Tales, discussing character traits and sequencing the main events of the stories.

 

Numeracy

During our Mental Maths sessions, we will continue to practise counting forwards and backwards. We will also be seeing how quickly we can respond to more and less questions.

We will continue to focus on our addition skills, partitioning the quantities to 10 and learning the different ways to make each number. We will be learning about the doubling and halving of quantities.

Towards the end of term, we will be exploring Money, initially brainstorming our ideas about when and how we use it. We will be introduced to all coins up to £2, ensuring we can correctly identify these and as our addition skills develop, we will combine these coins to “pay” for goods in our class shop.

Through our topic work, we will also be exploring Data Handling; sorting a variety of objects into groups and recording and displaying the information that we have gathered.

Health & Well-Being (HWB)

During PATHS time, we will be learning to ‘Do Turtle’ when things become stressful. We are going to be problem solving for Twiggle and his friends by helping them overcome difficult friendship scenarios. We are confident we have the necessary knowledge and strategies to help them!

In other areas of HWB, we are considering the impact of physical activity on our bodies and identifying the physical changes we feel after a period of exercise.

We will also be discussing the importance of personal hygiene; reinforcing our tooth brushing and handwashing techniques.

Keeping ourselves safe will also be a focus this term as we think about our road safety techniques and how to react in an emergency situation.

During our PE sessions we will be completing a block of gymnastics, reinforcing the skills from last term while incorporating these into sequenced movements.

Fun fitness will be our final topic, developing each child’s personal level of speed, agility, stamina and strength through fun activities and exercises.

GYM DAYS ARE MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS – PLEASE RETURN ALL GYM BAGS AND ENSURE EARRINGS ARE NOT WORN ON THESE DAYS.

RE

The first half of the term will focus on the Holy Family and how life would have been for Jesus as He grew up in Nazareth with Mary and Joseph. We will talk about the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and revisit our own.

As we move towards Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, we will talk about the meaning of this special time. During Lent we will take part in special prayer and reflection times to prepare ourselves for the special celebration of Easter.

 

IDL (Topic)

Our first topic this term will be ‘Materials’. We will be exploring and sorting a range of different materials, thinking about which purpose they would best suit.

Our second topic will be ‘Shops and Shopping’. We will identify and explore the shops and businesses in our local area and learn more about how these function. We will also consider the wide variety of jobs around us and think about which ones we would like to do when we are older.

Expressive Arts

Art will see us focus on the ‘design’ aspect of the subject using our knowledge of materials to help us.

During music lessons, we will listen to and sing along with some Scottish favourites!

UNCRC

We will continue to develop our knowledge of our rights to learn, play and stay safe this term and in addition we will explore our rights around internet safety.

 

We cannot wait to get started!

Mrs Duff.

 

 

 

 

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P4 Curricular Update – Term 3

Hello and welcome back to term 3 in P4! We hope you have enjoyed the festive period. We are looking forward to a New Year and another busy term ahead and lots of amazing learning in our P4 class. 

Literacy 

For our reading focus this term, we will continue to focus on building fluency and accuracy when reading aloud. We will also continue using our comprehension strategies to support our understanding of different texts through our mini Scottish topic as well as weekly with our Bug Club readers. This term we are focussing on inference. 

In writing, we will focus on poetry and report writing, with relevance to our Scottish topic about Loch Ness which we will cover during the month of January, exploring Scots language, and some well-known Scots poems. Pupils create their own poetry and tales from Scots inspired myths and folklore. 

Children will continue accessing active spelling activities where they will work individually and in groups using their skills and strategies to tackle new and unfamiliar spelling phonemes. There will be opportunities for presentations at assembly and mass to incorporate our listening and talking targets. 

Numeracy & Maths. 

This term we will look at strategies for solving multiplication and division problems. We will continue with our number talk and mental maths activities daily to further develop our use of mathematical language and confidence in solving a range of problems. Focus on revision of times tables regularly at home would be encouraged to support your child’s learning in class as they build strategies in their numeracy work. In Beyond Number, we will be looking in January/February at ‘Money’ and identifying the value of notes/coins up to £20 and using them in addition and subtraction to calculate overall cost or exact change up to £10. In March until Easter we will finish with a ‘Data Handling’ topic where we will collate information, organise it, present it and finally analyse the data we have. 

Health and Wellbeing 

We will continue with our PATHs programme, with our Pupil of the Day, where your child will have the chance to have compliments within the class and have the opportunity to take home their compliment sheet! There will also be a focus on relationships; how we develop and grow our friendships and the importance of a good manners and having a sense of responsibility. 

We will also link our Health and Well-being with our topic work, looking at the functions of our human body and how we can keep ourselves healthy by making better choices to our lifestyle.  

PE 

PE is on a Tuesday and Friday.  This term we will be covering team games, basketball and Fitness. Please make sure your child has a full PE kit with them (includes suitable indoor shoes), this can remain on their peg within school.  Thank you for making sure that no jewellery is worn on PE days.   

 

Expressive Arts 

P4 will continue to develop their artistic skills focusing on our class novel, where we will link this to Loch Ness focusing on colour, tone, line drawings and using varied materials. There will also be opportunities to look at inspirational famous ‘Local artists’. 

In Music, P4 will have the opportunity this term to take part in a local music project called ‘I’ve got Rhythm’ with a visiting specialist, Mrs Leibold, who will support this programme within our class/school on Tuesdays. We look forward to fabulous results from our budding musicians, especially after hearing our wonderful P4 choir. 

French 

In French we will look at using everyday language in different conversational situations e.g., buying food, ordering in a café, school life (subjects/classroom objects) and finally sports and hobbies. We will also learn topic specific vocabulary nearing Easter and French prayers during Lent. 

IDL 

Our topics this term will include a mini-Scottish focus in January. In February and March, we will then look at ‘Fairtrade and Food Production’ as our topic focus with links to Science (food chains / food webs).  

 

 Religious Education 

This term we will looking at some of the political, historical, social and religious elements of first century Palestine to help us gain an understanding of Jesus’ life on earth. As we journey towards Lent, we will reflect on the signs and symbols of the season and relate these to our own personal journey. In preparation for the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation in February, we will be looking at the meaning of the sacrament and learn more about the role and gifts of the Holy Spirit within our lives. 

For the children who will be celebrating the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion, the workbooks will be completed in class. Home sessions can be completed and discussed with your child alongside their ‘I Belong’ book completed at Church Sacrament sessions. Please have a look at this regularly with your child at home and discuss this with them as they prepare for an important step in their faith journey.  

Homework will be distributed on a Monday to be completed, signed and returned by Friday.  

Keep an eye on the class blog for regular updates to what is happening in class, recent learning and relevant upcoming events. 

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to another fabulous term inP4! 

Mrs McIntyre and Miss Grimley. 

 

Whole School News

Primary 5 Term 3 Update

Primary 5 – Term 3

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break. I am so excited to be joining Primary 5, and I’m absolutely delighted by how quickly everyone has settled into the new term. We have an exciting and busy term ahead, and I’m confident that Primary 5 will embrace every challenge and excel in all that we do. I’m really looking forward to working with each of you and watching how much the class will grow and thrive throughout the term. Here’s a look of what we’ll be learning about in the weeks to come.

 Literacy

Reading – This term, the class will embark on an exciting exploration of Scots language. A key focus will be on poetry, allowing the children to appreciate the richness and uniqueness of Scots verse while developing their analytical skills. Additionally, they will hone their non-fiction reading skills, concentrating on practical strategies such as note-taking, mind mapping, and scanning texts to identify and highlight key words and phrases effectively. These skills will help enhance their comprehension and organisation of information across all areas of learning.

Spelling – Throughout the week, the class will further develop their spelling skills. A variety of active spelling strategies will be implemented to engage learners and reinforce understanding, with a strong focus on consistency and application. These approaches will be extended into homework tasks, providing opportunities for pupils to consolidate their learning in different contexts.

Writing – The focus genres for writing this term will be persuasive and discursive texts, which will be closely linked to the class topic work to provide meaningful and engaging contexts for learning. Pupils will continue to refine their tools for writing, with an emphasis on mastering the use of complex punctuation and enhancing their vocabulary through effective use of a dictionary and thesaurus. This integrated approach will not only strengthen their writing skills but also deepen their understanding and application of knowledge across the curriculum.

Talking and Listening – This term, Talking and Listening skills will be developed through the study of Scots language, providing an engaging context for pupils to explore rich vocabulary and expressive communication. Additionally, pupils will enhance their presentation skills through links to their topic work, delivering presentations on a new invention, as well as the topic of tsunamis, flooding, and landslides. This integrated approach will allow students to build confidence in speaking and listening while deepening their knowledge and understanding of key curricular areas.

Numeracy

This term, P5 will continue with daily Number Talks as a starter to of our numeracy lessons, fostering critical thinking and encouraging pupils to explore and share a variety of problem-solving strategies. Our main focus for number based learning will be multiplication and division, to build fluency, accuracy, and confidence in these foundational skills.

In Beyond Number, the class will begin by exploring time, ensuring pupils develop a secure understanding of both analogue and digital formats, before moving on to the study of angles. Practical activities and real-world applications will be incorporated to deepen understanding and make learning engaging and meaningful for all.

Health and Wellbeing

Our PE days are Tuesday and Thursday. Our learning journey begins with a strong focus on fitness. In these sessions, the class explore various aspects of physical fitness, including cardiovascular health, strength, flexibility, and endurance. Through a range of activities and exercises, we will not only improve our physical abilities but also develop a deeper understanding of the significance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. P5 will challenge ourselves to set personal fitness goals, track our progress, and learn about the long-term benefits of regular physical activity. As we work together in a supportive environment, we will also foster teamwork, perseverance, and a positive attitude towards health and fitness.

During our lessons on substance misuse, P5 will explore the effects and risks associated with harmful substances, as well as the importance of making informed and responsible choices. To deepen our understanding, we will connect this topic with persuasive writing skills by creating our own TV advert. Through this project, the class will learn how to effectively convey important messages and influence attitudes using compelling language, emotional appeal, and strong arguments.

Science

This term in science, the class will be exploring the topic of sound and light. Pupils will investigate the properties of sound, including how it travels, how different materials affect sound, and how we use our senses to perceive sound. P5 will also explore the nature of light, examining how light travels, how it reflects and refracts, and how light enables us to see objects in the world around us. The class will use a range of practical and collaborative activities to reinforce these concepts.

IDL

This term, we are excited to explore the contributions of Scottish inventors and their impact on shaping Scotland’s culture and heritage. As part of this journey, the class will work collaboratively in teams to design our own innovative solutions to address a sustainable challenge facing Scotland today. Through this project, P5 will also dive into the concept of META skills, exploring how we can apply these skills—such as critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration—in real-world scenarios to make a positive difference.

R.E

This term in R.E, the focus of learning will be on the life and teachings of Jesus, exploring how His example continues to inspire and guide people around the world. The class will also learn about the season of Lent, reflecting on its significance and the items associated with this period of spiritual preparation. Through this exploration, P5 will gain a deeper understanding of Catholic values and how they can be applied in our own lives. Together, the class will reflect on the themes of compassion, sacrifice, and renewal, considering how these ideas can shape our actions and attitudes.

Technology

Our focus in technology this term will be learning how to log on to and navigate the Chromebooks effectively. The class will explore essential skills such as accessing different applications, managing files, and using the internet safely and responsibly. Throughout this process, P5 will become more confident in using technology for research, collaboration, and task completion. Additionally, we will discuss online safety and digital etiquette, ensuring we understand how to protect ourselves and others while using technology.

UNCRC

After exploring the UNCRC for Human Rights Day, we created a class charter focused on the rights of the child. Each of us took responsibility for identifying and highlighting the rights we believe are most vital in fostering a positive, respectful, and inclusive classroom environment. Each of us plays an essential role in creating and maintaining this culture by actively respecting and supporting one another’s rights, ensuring that our classroom is a place where everyone feels safe, valued, and empowered.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. The children have adapted well to the changes in their class structure, and we are so pleased with how they are managing. This term is set to be a busy and exciting one, and I am looking forward to all the learning and growth that will take place. If you have any concerns or questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.

Take care,

Miss Dorby

Whole School News

Celebrating achievements

Hi everyone.

I hope you have had a lovely break during Christmas and New Year!!

This is a gentle reminder to please send in any photos of achievements that your child has accomplished outside of school. We will celebrate these  during our wider achievements assembly on the 17th January.  It can be anything from dancing awards to riding their bike without stabilisers. We can’t wait to hear from you and thank you!

Mrs McCreadie

Whole School News

P1 Registration-August 2025 Intake

P1 Registration

For children who turn age of 5 years between 1 March 2025 and 28 February 2026 and whose parents and carers wish them to attend school should be registered for education during the week Monday 13 January 2025 until Friday 17 January 2025.  To register you should complete an online application and submit no later than Friday 17 January 2025.

Register at: – https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/schooladmissions

To register your child you will require to upload a copy of your child’s birth certificate and two proofs of your residence in the catchment area in the form of a Council Tax Notice or Utility Bill.  Should you require a copy of your child’s birth certificate for Registration, this can be obtained at www.certificates.scot

If you are unable to register online then please phone your local school who will assist you to register your child.

Placing Requests

Parents and carers who wish to make a placing request must first enrol their child/children at their catchment school. Placing requests for the session beginning August 2025, should be received by 31 January 2025.

Requests must be completed and submitted online at: https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/schoolplacingrequest

Parents and carers can also submit a placing request for Gaelic Medium Education for their child.  For further information regarding Gaelic Medium Education at Sgoil na Coille Nuaidh on William McIlvanney Campus, please contact the school directly on 01563 558505.