The  children in P4 who are preparing for First Communion at the end of the month, are reminded that there is a retreat tomorrow          ( Saturday 16th May ) which all First Communion Children should attend.

The retreat takes place in St. Joseph’s Church and Hall. It begins at 10am and finishes at 2pm. Children should bring a packed lunch and snack. Children should also bring their ‘I Belong’ book.

When parents/carers return to collect their children at 2pm, there will be a short parents meeting  to discuss First Communion arrangements.

On Sunday 24th May , there will be a rehearsal for First Communion. This takes place after 1130 Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church, to which children and parents should attend.

First Communion is on Sunday 31st May at 1130 in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

Please continue to keep our P4 children in your prayers.

Please continue to keep our Primary 4 children in your prayers as they prepare for their First Holy Communion which will be celebrated on Sunday 31st May at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 11.30am.

There will be an ‘I Belong’ session this Sunday (10th May)  at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church before Sunday Mass.  This begins at 1015 and all First Communion Children should attend.

There will also be a First Communion Retreat Day for the
P4 children from all the parishes of the deanery preparing for
First Holy Communion on Saturday 16th May from 10 am –
2 pm at St Joseph’s Church and Hall.

Welcome back, I hope you had a restful Easter break. It is lovely to see the children back and already settling into what will be a busy term in Primary 4.

We will continue to explore the UNCRC Rights of the Child, and refer to the Class Charter which we created together, to ensure that our classroom is a place where we feel safe, where we can learn and grow together.  We will be learning about the articles and rights involved in and associated with Mental Health Awareness Week (Article 24) in May and then look at the rights linked to World Refugee Day (Articles 10 and 22) in June.

Literacy

In addition to our Bug Club readers, we will access a range of texts including ‘The Iron Man’, which we will complete as a class reading activity, experiencing a range of comprehension strategies such as prediction, metalinguistics, summarising and questioning.

We are continuing to be part of the National Improving Writing Programme. As part of this programme, the children will write for 15 minutes 4 times per week. This writing will focus on one aspect of tools for writing. Each child will have their own individual targets related to the writing focus and this one focus area is assessed daily. This term we will be continuing with a focus on the use of connectives before moving on to looking at punctuation.

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

Numeracy & Maths

The class will continue to participate in daily Number Talk activities, to assist in developing a range of strategies for solving mathematical problems.

We will look at fractions using concrete and pictorial representations as well as appropriate mathematical vocabulary.  We will compare and order fractions as well as demonstrating equivalency.

As well as looking at time, during which we will explore 12- and 24-hour time and associated vocabulary, we will also investigate measure estimating how long or heavy an object is, or what amount it holds. Through a range of practical activities, we will become familiar with the appropriate measuring apparatus.

Health and Wellbeing

As we continue our PATHS programme for P4, we will be reflecting on the importance of sharing and the emotion of frustration.

We will also look at the emergency services and how to keep ourselves safe in different situations.

We will 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

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

• Tennis
• Athletics

Children will require a PE kit each PE day.  Please make sure your child is not wearing jewellery on these days as they will be asked to remove these items. Jewellery is not allowed during PE for health and safety reasons. If your child cannot take part for any reason, please contact the school.

IDL

As part of our IDL, P4 will plan and run a ‘Reading Café’ for some of the other children in school. We will consider the different jobs involved in running our ‘Reading Café’ and we will all have an opportunity to be involved in decision making whilst carrying out a specific role.

Religious Education

We will continue to look more closely at the importance of the Sacraments as some children prepare for their First Holy Communion. We will reflect on the parts of The Mass and the significance of these.

During the month of May, we will remember Mary, the Mother of Jesus in a special way. The children will assist in creating our class May Altar and we will reflect on Mary’s example to us all.

During assembly, the children will reflect on Jesus as a teacher and healer and will become more familiar with some examples of Jesus teaching and healing in the Gospels.

The children will take part in class prayers and School Masses, and we will continue to build on our knowledge of common prayers and Mass responses.

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 for your support, I am looking forward to a really great term 4 with Primary 4!

Mrs. MacKinnon.

We begin our SCIAF fundraising activities this week with our Crazy Hair and Odd Sock day on Friday! (uniform should still be worn). Donations can be put into your class SCIAF box. Thank you for your support.

Primary 4 enjoyed a interesting visit to Our Lady of Mount Carmel church this afternoon.

Sr Juliet talked to us about the Sacrament of Baptism, and we looked at some of the features of the church.  We had an opportunity to look at the Baptismal font, and hold the special shell that the priest uses for baptism.

Thank you to Sr Juliet, we learnt lots! Well done to Primary 4 for being great ambassadors for our school, you were polite, respectful and well mannered.

Welcome back, I hope that you have a peaceful Christmas. It has been great to see Primary 4 back, ready to learn and enthusiastic about all the wonderful learning that will happen in term 3.

We will continue to explore the UNCRC Rights of the Child, and refer to the Class Charter which we created together, to ensure that our classroom is a place where we feel safe, where we can learn and grow together.  This term pupils will be looking at articles and rights involved and associated in Holocaust Memorial Day in late January, Safe Internet Day and Children’s Mental Health Week in February, as well as World Book Day and World Water Day in March.

Literacy

In addition to our Bug Club readers, we will access a range of texts including ‘Inside Edinburgh Castle’, which will link into our writing and Social Studies learning this term. We will investigate the features of a range of types of text and will continue to develop our reading fluency and reading with expression skills. We will also use a range of comprehension strategies as we show our understanding of the texts we have read and will talk about implied messages from clues in the text as we answer literal and inferential questions.

During writing, we will explore report and explanatory writing, looking at the structure of these genres and creating our own pieces of writing.  To support us with our writing, we will be looking at the difference between fact and opinion and the importance of notetaking.

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

 Numeracy & Maths

The class will continue to participate in daily Number Talk activities, to assist in developing a range of strategies for solving mathematical problems.

We will look at multiplication and division, using a range of strategies and materials as well increasing our mental agility when recalling the 2,3,4,5,8 and 10 times tables. We will look at the patterns and links between these and use this knowledge to solve multiplication problems. We will also show our understanding of the concept of division, making connections with multiplication facts, as well as showing understanding of the concept of a remainder.

Health and Wellbeing

As we continue our PATHS programme for P4, we will be reflecting on friendship. We will also investigate ways of staying healthy and having a healthy lifestyle. This will link with our learning in Science, during which we will look at the human body and some of the important organs and their functions.

We will continue with the Do Be Mindful programme which will allow us, through the use of a range of strategies, to look at ways that we can take a mindful moment each day.

PE

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

• basketball
• gymnastics

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

IDL

We will look at all things Scottish this term, beginning with the geography and landscape of Scotland, as well as our culture including music, poetry and food. We will then move on to focussing on Scottish castles, looking at the importance and features of these historical buildings. We will use our developing digital skills to help us research and present our findings using Microsoft word.

Expressive Arts 

As we explore Scotland, we will be looking at some traditional Scottish music, investigating instruments and some well-known Scottish songs.

We will also reflect on the work on well-known Scottish artists, and will create our own pieces focusing on presenting a range of visual information using various materials.

Religious Education

We will be exploring Palestine at the time of Jesus and will compare the features of a synagogue with that of our Catholic Church. We will also begin to look more closely at the significance of the Sacraments as we being our preparation for First Holy Communion. As the term progresses, we will consider the Holy Season of Lent, as we look forward to the great Feast of Easter.

During assembly, the children will reflect on Jesus as a teacher and healer and will become more familiar with some examples of Jesus teaching and healing in the Gospels.

The children will take part in class prayers and School Masses, and we will continue to build on our knowledge of common prayers and Mass responses.

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 for your support, I am looking forward to a really great term 3 with Primary 4!

Mrs. MacKinnon.

If your child is in P3 and you wish them to receive the Sacrament of First Confession, ( in preparation for First Holy Communion when they are in P4.) you must register your child at your parish.

When e-mailing please include the name of your child and the church where you would like your child to receive First Communion. Please e-mail the church with these details no later than Friday 30th January. 

The e-mail address  is  stephen.mcgrattan@rcdg.org.uk

On Tuesday 3rd February there will be a parents’ meeting in St Joseph’s Hall (for all three Kilmarnock parishes) at 7pm to explain more about the sacraments and the process of preparation.

This information can also  be found in the Sunday bulletin for the Kilmarnock Parishes.

The upcoming dates and times for the church preparation sessions for P4 children who are preparing for First Communion are as follows;

Session 6 – Sunday 25th January

Session 7 – Sunday 22nd February

Session 8 – Sunday 22nd March

Session 9 – Sunday 26th April

Session 10 – Sunday 10th May

Retreat day – Saturday 16th May  ( 10am-2pm)

These monthly ‘I Belong’ sessions will take place at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church before Sunday Mass. The sessions will begin at 10:15 in the Norbert Room in the church.

Fr Stephen will meet with parents to discuss the programme on Sunday 25th January at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 11:10 prior to Sunday Mass.

A huge congratulations in Alayiah in Primary 4 who is a winner in the Missio Scotland Christmas Card Competition!  She designed and carefully drew a beautiful angel and, as a winner will receive a fabulous prize from Missio Scotland and her design will be made into a Christmas card for next Christmas! Well done!

Thank you to our Missio Champions from the Friends of Jesus Community group, who encouraged all the classes to enter the competition, there were lots of amazing designs sent off for this Scotland wide competition.

Well done to the boys and girls in Primary 4, who designed lovely Christmas cards and wrote special letters sharing a Christmas greeting,  to our priests, sisters and members of the UR Welcome Seniors group at Our lady of Mount Carmel Church.

Your beautiful cards and letters will spread lots of Christmas joy!

The  Primary 4 children making their First Holy Communion will have have their next Sunday Club session this Sunday after 1130 Mass.

Children should bring their ‘I Belong’ book with them.

The Friends of Jesus Community Group would like to thank the classes for taking part in our special prayer service during Catholic Education Week.

We encouraged everyone to think about the meaning of hope and placed our own special hopes into our ‘bags of hope’ displayed near the altar in each class.

Well done to all our Friends of Jesus group for so confidently  leading the prayers in your class.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

A reminder that the Primary 4 children who are preparing for First Communion have their next Sunday Club session on Sunday 23rd November at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

On this date ( Sunday 23rd November) – the session will be at a different time from that stated on the letter given out by the parish.

The session will start at the earlier time of 11am and run to just before Mass begins at 1130.

Children should bring their “I Belong ” book with them.

The Primary 4 children who are preparing for First Communion have their next Sunday Club session on Sunday 23rd November at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

On this date ( Sunday 23rd November) – the session will be at a different time from that stated on the letter given out by the parish.

The session will start at the earlier time of 11am and run to just before Mass begins at 1130.

Children should bring their “I Belong ” book with them.

Remember to check your child’s Learning Journal for a snapshot of some of the fabulous learning taking place in our classrooms.

If you are unable to log in, please contact the school office.

Welcome back, I hope that you have had a restful October break. It is good to be back with Primary 4 as we start a busy second term.

We will continue to explore the UNCRC Rights of the Child, and refer to the Class Charter which we created together, to ensure that our classroom is a place where we feel safe, where we can learn and grow together.  This term pupils will be looking at Article 38 for Remembrance Day and the right to protect children from war as well as articles 4, 41 and 45 in celebration of World Children’s Day and Human Rights Day.

Literacy

We will be looking at a range of texts this term, including our Bug Club readers. We will be focusing on continuing to develop reading fluency as well as becoming more confident using word attack strategies for unfamiliar words. We will also use a range of comprehension strategies as we show our understanding of the texts we have read and will talk about implied messages from clues in the text as we answer literal and inferential questions.

During writing, we will explore narrative writing, looking at the structure of this genre, and will then write our own pieces of narrative writing.

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

Numeracy & Maths

The class will continue to participate in daily Number Talk activities, to assist in developing a range of strategies for solving mathematical problems.

We will continue to solve a range of subtraction problems, as we link this to our place value and addition knowledge.

We will also explore information handling, looking at a variety of ways in which data is presented as well as the methods for collecting, sorting, reading and organising various types of data.

Health and Wellbeing

As we continue our PATHS programme for P4, we will be reflecting on various emotions such as calm, surprised and angry. We will think about what these emotions might look and feel like, and we will participate in some problem solving activities relating to these emotions.

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

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

• hockey
• gymnastics

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

IDL

This term we will continue with our comparison of the climate zones of the rainforest areas and the Arctic. We have really enjoyed this in term 1, exploring the location of the areas and looking at the environments in each area.  We will continue to consider how these environments affect living things in each area. We will also look at environmental issues in these regions, including the melting of icebergs and deforestation.

Expressive Arts 

We will look at texture, shape, form and pattern as we create some pieces of artwork relating to polar and rainforest regions. We will also use of creative skills as we move towards the Christmas season, as we design and create some interesting Christmas crafts.

Religious Education

We will be exploring the lives of the saints and reflecting on how they listened to God’s word and responded to it. As the term progresses, we will consider the Holy season of Advent, as we prepare for the coming of the Jesus at Christmas.

The children will take part in class prayers and School Masses, and we will continue to build on our knowledge of common prayers and Mass responses.

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 for your support, I am looking forward to a really great term 2 with Primary 4!

Mrs. MacKinnon.

A reminder that Fr Jim  has organised a meeting tomorrow                       ( Wednesday 22nd October) at 7pm in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, for parents of those Primary 4 children who will be making their First Holy Communion in June 2026.

During the meeting, as well as registering your child for the sacrament, Fr Jim will issue details of the important dates relating to the preparation programme for First Communion.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you.

A huge well done to our Friends of Jesus Community Group, who were commissioned as our Missio Champions at a beautiful Mass on Friday.

The children from the group, participated in Mass and received their badges and a special blessing from Fr Jim who encouraged us all to think about our mission to share God’s love with others.

The Friends of Jesus group are looking forward to highlighting the work of Missio Scotland throughout the year, as we share our faith and encourage the whole school community to love God and others.

This Friday (3rd October) the whole school will attend Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church for our regular First Friday Mass.

On Friday, the Mass will have a special theme reflecting October being the Month of Mission.

During  Mass, the children from P2-7 who are members of our  ‘Friends of Jesus’ community group will receive their Missio Champions Badge.

Throughout the year, our Missio Champions will share their faith, as they encourage us all to love God and others through sharing the amazing  work of Missio Scotland.

Mass is at 10am, and all are welcome.

Remember to keep an eye on your child’s Learning Journal profile.

Class teachers will be posting regular updates about the fantastic learning and activities taking place in each class.

If you are unable to access Learning Journals, please let the office know.

Your log in details will be sent to the e-mail address that you provided the school with.

Thank you

Mrs MacKinnon

It was lovely to see some of you during our recent ‘Welcome to our Class’ session. For those who were unable to make it, I have attached a copy of the information that was shared.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Welcome to our class Primary 4

Mrs. MacKinnon

As part of our IDL topic, Primary 3  have been thinking about the meaning of the word ” community.” We have been reflecting on our wider community, and our school community.

With this in mind, Primary 3  put their creative talents to good use and made beautiful cards for the First Communion children in Primary 4. We enjoyed delivering the cards to our Primary 4 friends –  who were delighted to receive them.

We will be thinking and praying for you all as you take this wonderful step in your faith journey.

Primary 3 had a lovely afternoon on Thursday when Sr. Juliet came to visit us.

We have been learning about our local community and the groups within our community. We really enjoyed hearing Sr. Juliet tell us all about the many fantastic groups in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish.  Primary 3 had very thoughtful questions and we enjoyed sharing some of our knowledge with Sr. Juliet.

The boys and girls even treated Sr. Juliet to a beautiful rendition of one of our favourite hymns, ‘As I Kneel Before you.’

Thank you for your visit, Sr. Juliet!

Welcome back! I hope that you all had a peaceful break over the Easter holidays. It is lovely to be back with the children as we start our final term of Primary 3. Here is an update on what we will be doing in term 4.

Literacy

We will be looking at a range of texts this term. We will start the term with story ‘The Trouble with Dragons’, which we will use as a 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.

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

During writing, we will be focusing on persuasive and responsive writing. We will engage with a range of texts of each of these genres and will develop our note taking skills as well as the use of persuasive language. During all our writing activities, we will continue to have a focus on using our phonemes, and spelling strategies as well as the use of accurate punctuation.

Numeracy & Maths

We will build on our knowledge of division from last term as we explore fractions and develop our understanding of equal sharing. We will look at the notation and vocabulary associated with fractions and investigate where simple fractions lie on a number line.  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 look at a range of methods of collecting, sorting and presenting data with Mrs Strachan.

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.

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 4 we will refer back to this ensuring our Class Charter is relevant and ‘felt’ within our classroom. As a school community, we will focus on the following articles;

May – Mental Health Awareness Week – Article 24

June – World Day against Child Labour Articles 32 & 35

June – World Refugee Day – Articles 10 & 22

PE is on a Monday and Friday. This term we will be covering athletics and striking and fielding games.

Children will require PE kit and shoes 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 the Easter Story, and in particular, we will focus on the story of ‘The Empty Tomb’ from the Gospel of Matthew, reflecting on the astonishment of the friends of Jesus when they heard that He has risen from the dead.  As we move into the month of May, we will have a focus on Mary, we will create a May altar in our classroom and will reflect on Mary’s “yes” to God.

French

Through a range of songs, activities and games we will continue to develop confidence in counting and greetings, we will also look the similarities and differences between school here and in France.

 IDL

We really enjoyed our farming topic last term, we will continue with some aspects of this topic; we have planted a range of fruit, vegetables and flowers which we will continue look after. We have been enjoying this first-hand experience of growing our own crops and we are hoping we will have some vegetables and fruit to harvest before the end of term!

This term, we will also take a closer look at our local community – in particular the groups and activities that take place around us.

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; I’m looking forward to another great term with our fantastic P3 children.

Mrs. MacKinnon.

P3 will be having an outdoor afternoon this Thursday. (3rd April)

There will be a range of outdoor toys available. Children are also welcome to bring a bike or scooter. Safety helmets must be brought and worn if your child brings a bike or scooter.

We are looking forward to a lovely afternoon in the Spring sunshine!

P3 had lots of fun during our SCIAF Art and Craft day.

We enjoyed making some very creative and colourful Easter bonnets – don’t they all look fabulous!

Congratulations to our fabulous Primary 3 children, who celebrated the lovely sacrament of confession for the first time last night.

Thank you to Fr Jim for making it such a memorable and prayerful celebration, and also thank you to the P4 children who came along and celebrated the sacrament with their P3 friends.

Please keep the children in  your prayers as they continue on their faith journeys.

This Friday (14th March) we are having a ‘Crazy Hair’ and ‘ Odd Socks’ Day to raise money for SCIAF.

So be as creative as you want with your crazy hair and odd socks, and don’t forget your £1 for the SCIAF ‘Wee Box’ in your classroom!

Thank you from P3 and P4.

Don’t forget to have a look at your child’s Learning Journal page for some updates on the exciting learning that has been taking place across the school.

See the attached document for guidance on how to log in.

Learning Journal information

If you can not access Learning Journals, please get in touch. Your log in details will be sent to the e-mail address that you have provided the school with.