All posts by Mrs TRAVERS

Primary 1 blog, Whole School News

Primary 1 Curricular Update Term 4

Hello and welcome to our term 4 blog post.  Primary 1 pupils were very busy last term, learning about the weather, how to measure and record rainfall and temperature, and discussing the different types of weather associated with different seasons. I hope our pupils and their families had a relaxing and lovely Easter break.

UNCRC – Class Charter

The focus of children’s rights this term will be: International Day of Families (Article 5), Parental guidance, and Parental responsibilities (Article 18).

Mental Health Awareness Week (Article 24) Health.

International Children’s Day (all UNCRC rights) protection, education, and development.

Literacy

Our focus in term four will be to begin exploring joint phonemes through songs and actions (ch, sh, th, ng, ee, oo, ai, etc.). Pupils will explore words that contain these sounds, blending 4- and 5-letter words and supporting word-building and recognition of common words. This will challenge pupils to become more confident when writing, as they will begin to use their knowledge and their growing bank of sounds to word-build and structure longer sentences.

Our reading and spelling activities will enable pupils to access more complex texts, where they will use their knowledge of all phonemes to decode and read more challenging books. As their knowledge of common words increases, children will be exposed to fiction and non-fiction texts to increase confidence and skills. We will begin asking and answering simple inferential questions about the books we are reading.

Our focus in writing will be on increasing our use of descriptive words to make our sentences more detailed. Children will also begin to think about using simple punctuation and connectives in their written work, too.

Numeracy

Our focus in numeracy will be subtraction skills and familiarising ourselves with the fact families to 10.  Children will continue to recognise and sequence numbers 11-20 and beyond. Active activities will help children recognise the relationship between addition and subtraction, building a bank of strategies to support pupils as they prepare for primary 2.

In beyond number, time will continue for a few weeks, but the focus this term will be money. Children will need to have a good understanding of combining totals using coins and how much change should be given, so we have waited until term 4 when children should have a better understanding of addition and subtraction to support this.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day will continue, as will our growing understanding of emotions, building friendships, and meeting our Paths animals again, who will help the children navigate the many different feelings we may experience.

In PE, our sessions will be on Mondays and Wednesdays, and our focus in term three will be athletics, fielding and striking games. Children will have the opportunity to take part in fun activities that support teamwork whilst developing their skills in running, clearing obstacles, and under- and overarm throwing.

R.E

Our focus during R.E. sessions will be on prayer, 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 talking about Mary, The Mother of God and us all, throughout May.

IDL

We will be focusing on ‘Local Superheroes’ and ‘Plants’ in term four, gaining an understanding of those in our local communities who are superheroes because of their profession or through major fundraising events for charities. We will look at labelling and naming different parts of a plant and describe the growth process from seed to plant.

Modern Languages (French)

In French lessons, children will continue to build on basic greetings. We will learn songs and rhymes to help us retain French numbers from 1-10, and a short topic on Paris and what you might find there.

Homework

Homework will continue during this final term. Please check your child’s homework bag weekly to ensure all homework is completed. Homework will consist of sounds/spelling, common words, reading and number activities as the children’s knowledge and skills increase. Homework will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on Friday.

We hope this is the start of a very successful final term and that our pupils enjoy all the fun and exciting learning that will take place over these last weeks of the school year.

Take care,

Mrs Travers and Mrs Strachan

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Primary 1 Curricular Update Term 3

Primary 1 Blog Post (Term 3 Update)

Hello and welcome to our term 3 blog post.  Primary 1 pupils were very bust last term, organising and performing our Nativity show, ‘Hey Ewe!’ They did such a great job and all pupils enjoyed the festivities, parties and the pantomime before we stopped for Christmas break.

UNCRC – Class Charter

The focus of children’s rights this term will be: 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.

Literacy

Our focus in term three will be to learn the next set of initial sounds/phonemes through songs and actions. Through this, pupils will explore words that begin with each sound and start blending sounds to create 2- and 3-letter words, supporting word building and recognition of common words. This will allow pupils to begin accessing early writing skills as they use their knowledge of sounds to word-build and structure a sentence.

Our reading and spelling activities will allow pupils to access early reading books, starting with those that incorporate the sounds we are learning and progressing to those with simple sentences and picture clues. As their knowledge of common words increases, children will be exposed to more books and rhymes to support these developing skills. We will begin to ask and answer simple questions about the books we are reading.

Our focus in writing will be increasing our use of descriptive words to give more detailed sentences about characters or objects we come across in our reading books. As we progress, we will become more independent and use our knowledge of sounds and common words to write sentences with more confidence.

Numeracy

Our focus in numeracy will be early addition skills and familiarising ourselves with the number stories to 10, as well as doubles and near doubles to 10. Children will build on recognsing number figures for 11-20 whilst subitising and identifying number patterns through hands-on activities that will increase their knowledge and confidence in using numbers.

In beyond number, we will look at basic fractions of whole and half shapes and finding a half of a whole number. As confidence builds we will introduce the idea of quarters too, then we will link this with time, the seasons and the idea of o’clock and half past.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day will continue as will growing a deeper understanding of emotions, building friendships, and meeting our Paths animals again, who will help the children navigate the many different feelings we may experience.

In PE, our sessions will be on Mondays and Wednesdays, and our focus in term three will be racquet skills, fitness and gymnastics. Children will have the opportunity to take part in some fun activities that support teamwork whilst developing their skills in what keeps us fit and healthy, in categories of exercise and foods/nutrients our bodies need.

R.E

Our focus during R.E. sessions will be on prayer, 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 the Easter Story as we near the end of term three.

IDL

We will be focusing on ‘Weather’ and ‘Plants’ in term three, gaining an understanding of how weather affects the world and how weather changes depending on where in the world you stay and what season we are in. We will look at climates and the conditions necessary to grow plants and crops successfully, which will tie in beautifully with our ‘Plants’ topic. Pupils will learn to label and name different plants of a plant and describe the growth process from seed to plant.

Modern Languages (French)

In French lessons, children will continue to build on basic greetings. We will learn songs and rhymes to help us retain this information and begin looking at weather in French too.

Homework

Homework will continue in term three. Please check your child’s homework bag weekly to ensure all homework is completed. Homework will consist of sounds/spelling, common words, reading and number activities as the children’s knowledge and skills increase. Homework will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on Friday.

We hope this is the start of a very successful third term and that the pupils will enjoy all that we do.

Take care,

Mrs Travers and Mrs Strachan

Primary 1 blog

Primary 1 Term 2 Curriculum Update

Hello and welcome to our term 2 blog post.  Primary 1 pupils have been very busy learning routines and extending their learning.

UNCRC – Class Charter

The focus of children’s rights this term will be: 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

Our focus in term two will be to learn the first two sets of initial sounds/phonemes through songs and actions. Through this, pupils will explore words that begin with each sound and start blending sounds to create 2- and 3-letter words, supporting word building and recognition of common words. This will allow pupils to begin accessing early writing skills as they use their knowledge of sounds to word-build and structure a sentence.

Our reading and spelling activities will allow pupils to access early reading books, starting with those that incorporate the sounds we are learning and progressing to those with simple sentences and picture clues. As their knowledge of common words increases, children will be exposed to more books and rhymes to support these developing skills. We will use our predictive skills to think about what may happen in the books we read in class, based on information on the covers.

Our focus in writing will be using descriptive words to describe characters or objects we come across in our reading books and practising the formation of initial sounds. As we progress, we will become more independent and use our knowledge of sounds and common words to write sentences.

Numeracy

Our focus in numeracy will be to recognise, sequence and present objects for numbers 1-10. Children will build on forming their written number figures whilst subitising and identifying number patterns through hands-on activities that will increase their knowledge and confidence in using numbers. As the term progresses, we will look at early addition/subtraction through number stories and adding 1 more/2 more and 1 less/2 less.

We will look at building number knowledge of counting orally to 20 whilst identifying units of measure using hand spans, feet spans, and a counting stick/metre stick to measure length and height.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day will begin its second round, and our Pupil of the Day will receive lots of compliments.  We will continue exploring emotions, building friendships, and meeting our Paths animals, who will help the children navigate the many different feelings we may experience.

In PE, our sessions will be on Mondays and Wednesdays, and our focus in term two will be large and small ball skills and gymnastics. Children will have the opportunity to take part in some fun activities that support teamwork whilst developing their skills in using apparatus safely.

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 the Nativity story as we prepare and rehearse for the Christmas Nativity production.

IDL

We will be focusing on our Senses whilst continuing History of Me. Our senses focus will link directly with our literacy and numeracy focus for term two, and History of Me will allow pupils to learn more about each other as their friendships develop.

Modern Languages (French)

In French lessons, children will begin to understand basic greetings. We will learn songs and rhymes to help us retain this information.

Homework

Homework will continue in term two. Please check your child’s homework bag weekly to ensure all homework is completed. Homework will consist of sounds/spelling, common words and number activities as the children’s knowledge and skills increase. Homework will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on Friday.

We hope this is the start of a very successful second term and that the pupils will enjoy preparing for our Christmas production.

Take care,

Mrs Travers and Mrs Strachan

Primary 1 blog

Primary 1 Curricular Update (term 1)

Hello and welcome to our very first blog post.  Primary 1 have been very busy settling into our new classroom.  Children have been working hard to learn our routines and curriculum areas whilst accessing the dining hall and other areas of the school.

UNCRC – Class Charter

Primary 1 have worked on creating a class charter, with rights that we will focus on as a class. Our class rules and procedures centre around these rights, as we agree that we should all have a right to be healthy, a right to learn and a right to play. We have used our Teddy Bear theme from the transition visits as our theme for our charter.

Literacy

Our focus in term one will be nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Through these rhymes and stories, pupils will explore rhyming words, familiar patterns in words and begin to examine initial sounds which will later support word building and recognition of common words. This will allow pupils to start to access early writing skills as they use their knowledge of sounds to word build and orally structure sentences.

Our reading and spelling activities will begin later in the term, and children will access early reading books, starting with textless books, and progressing to reading books with simple sentences and picture clues. As their knowledge of common words increases, children will be exposed to more books and rhymes to support these developing skills. We will be using our predictive skills to think about what may happen in books we read as a class, based on information on the cover.

Our focus in writing will be practising writing our names and formation of initial sounds. As we progress, we will begin with oral structuring of sentences with pictures, building to overwriting, underwriting, and finally writing a short sentence with support. This will extend into term two as pupils become more familiar with initial sounds and common words. As pupils’ skills increase and their motor skills improve with practice, we hope to have pupils write sentences with less support.

Numeracy

Our focus in numeracy will be number recognition, initially numbers to five, then increasing this knowledge to numbers to 10. Children will build on forming their written number figures, whilst subitising, recognising number patterns, sequencing numbers within five, then to 10, whilst being exposed to hands-on activities which will increase their knowledge and confidence in using numbers. Number quantity and how this is represented using concrete materials will then build to recognising quantity in pictorial and grid form.

We will look at numbers in everyday life, where we see them and find them, and this will link to 2D shapes as we learn about the properties of shapes and where we might find shapes in our environment.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day will begin soon, and our Pupil of the Day will receive lots of compliments.  All children will have the opportunity to be Pupil of the Day.  We will begin exploring emotions, building friendships and meeting our Paths animals who will help the children to navigate lots of different feelings we may experience.

In P.E, our sessions will happen on Mondays and Wednesdays, and our focus in term one will be developmental games and large and small ball skills.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing our 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 has our own God-given talents.

IDL

We will be doing a mini topic focusing on Fairy Tales, and a second topic on the History of Me. Fairy Tales will link directly with our literacy and numeracy focus for term one, and History of Me will allow pupils to learn more about each other as their friendships develop.

Modern Languages (French)

In French lessons, children will begin to understand basic greetings. We will learn songs and rhymes to help us retain this information.

Homework

Homework will begin in September. Please check your child’s homework bag weekly to ensure all homework is completed. Homework will consist of sounds/spelling, common words and number activities as the children’s knowledge and skills increase. It may be topic or R.E. related initially as we begin to build the children’s knowledge and skills in literacy and numeracy. Homework will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on Friday.

We hope this is the start of a very successful term and that the pupils are enjoying their very first term at school.

Take care,

Mrs Travers and Mrs Strachan

Primary 2 blog

Primary 2 Curriculum Update Term 4

Primary 2 Blog Post (Term 4 Update)

Hello and welcome to our term 4 blog post. Primary 2 has been very busy over term 3, consolidating previous learning and building their skills in preparation for our summer term.

Literacy

Our focus in reading will be to continue to use word attack strategies and knowledge of phonemes covered to date, to decode unfamiliar words. We will also focus on inferential questioning and building our understanding of the deeper messages evident in our books whilst completing read-to-write tasks linked to these texts. We will continue to look at punctuation’s effect on texts, with a particular focus on speech. Pupils will then be able to identify this in our books and use some evidence of speech within our writing.

In writing, our focus will continue to build on written formation, the use of capital letters and full stops, and building confidence to write a few sentences independently, using our knowledge of common words, spelling strategies, and increased punctuation. Using our skills from descriptive writing, we will expand our sentences and add more detail when writing larger pieces of work, with narrative being our focus over this final term of primary 2.

Our spelling activities will continue to help children retain knowledge of previously taught phonemes and to build confidence in tackling trickier joined phonemes as we progress through term 4.

Numeracy

Our focus will move from multiplication to division, using our previous knowledge of fractions to help us with division strategies. We will frequently revisit place values to help us continue working with numbers up to 99 and 3-digit numbers beyond 100. Children will also consolidate learning in addition and subtraction and apply these strategies to bigger numbers. In Beyond Number, measure will be a focus as we begin to look at length, weight, and volume, as well as data handling, as we progress through term 4.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day program will continue in term 4, and our Pupil of the Day will receive many compliments. Children will also tackle more comfortable and uncomfortable emotions and develop strategies for managing situations in the playground or classroom when they experience these emotions. This links to our whole school Paths strategies, which help children recognise when they need help managing emotions or social situations.

In P.E., our sessions will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In term 4, our focus will be on athletics and striking and fielding games. Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities that support teamwork and focus on developing general fitness and skills in activities such as hurdles, running, and team races.

R.E

Our focus during R.E. sessions will be on Mary, Mother of God. We will also continue with themes of prayer, worship, and church routines. As always, we will also spend some time reading and discussing Bible stories relating to friendship and family.

Topic (IDL)

Our class topic this term will be mapping, with a particular focus on my school and my town. We will link this to our place in Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world to develop our understanding of geography and the globe. Our narrative writing will be developed through this topic, and with the return of ‘Plop’ to our classroom, he will help us navigate our local environment.

French

In French, we will continue to build our knowledge of greetings and numbers to 20. We will also discuss colours, days of the week and family members.

UNCRC

Children are reminded that our class charter and rules are linked to the UNCRC and by following the rules and charter agreements, we make sure everyone has a right to be healthy (24) learn (28) and play (31).

Homework will be sent out weekly on Monday as normal. Reading books will be attached to pupils’ accounts through our online Bug Club reading programme. These will be issued on Monday and should be returned to school on Friday.

We hope this is the start of another successful term and that the pupils are enjoying their return to school following the Easter break.

Take care,

Mrs Travers & Mrs Strachan

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

Primary 2 blog, Whole School News

Primary 2 Curriculum Update

Primary 2 Curriculum Update Term 2

Welcome to our curriculum update for term 2. It is sure to be a busy term as we prepare for all the fun and exciting activities, we will be part of in the run up to advent and Christmas!

 

Literacy

Last term our focus had been predicting what might happen in our books and to think about sequencing parts of a story we’d read. We also began to think about what the ‘blurb’ on the back of a book may tell us. During term 2, we will further increase our skills by summarising the key parts of the book, looking to context clues to help us decipher unfamiliar words.

We will begin to answer both literal and inferential questions orally whilst beginning on identifying key features of a book i.e. fiction/non-fiction, index, contents and labels. We will also continue with our usual spelling and common word activities that help pupils retain and recognise their spelling sounds/phonemes and common words in books.

In writing children will begin to explore narrative writing, building on their knowledge of sequencing the main parts of a book. They will then create, plan and write their own narratives. This will mostly be in the form of imaginative writing, however they may do personal writing in the form of a narrative of a diary entry. Children will also use their knowledge of nouns from term 1 and will learn more about verbs and adjectives, identifying these in texts we are accessing in class.

During term 2 we will also partake in some listening and talking games and activities to help children develop the key skills needed when in whole class or group discussions. These skills will be further developed when we begin weekly sharing information in our class ‘Show and Tell’ activities too.

Numeracy

Our focus in maths will be to revisit place value, recognising sequences and patterns in numbers 0-99 and how these patterns continue in larger numbers just beyond 100.  Last term the focus was addition and in term 2 this will move to subtraction and recognising the link between addition and subtraction in our fact families.

Children will spend time mentally counting on in 2s, 5s and 10s and developing mental strategies for the skills we have worked on so far. The will continue to recite numbers to 100 whilst developing their knowledge of money. Children will work with coins up to an including £2 and will consider different combinations of coins and different ways of paying for an item or giving change. This will be developed through our toys topic and our in toyshop.

In beyond number we will build on our knowledge of 2D shapes and their properties by learning about symmetry using mirrors to help us find the line of symmetry. Pupils will also develop skills measurement, using non-standard and standard units to work out an items length, height or weight. Children will regularly use their ‘Buys Bee’ jotters to develop problem solving skills, applying knowledge of number to new contexts and develop strategies for any number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day for a second time in term 2 and will continue to explore emotions, comfortable and uncomfortable and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others. We will look at strategies for helping us deal with uncomfortable emotions and how we can help our friends if they are experiencing these emotions.

In P.E, our sessions will continue to be on a Tuesday and a Thursday and our focus in term 2 will be gymnastics and social dancing.  Children will also have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing their listening skills, awareness of space and how to keep ourselves safe whilst using apparatus.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on the Mother Mary in October, moving to Saints and Remembrance in November before visiting Advent and the nativity throughout December.

Topic (IDL)

In term 2 the focus of topic will be on science and how energy around is used to operate different toys we use. This will include electronic, battery operated and push and pull toys of now and in the past. The children will have the opportunity to explore different materials used in toys and predict what might happen during our experiments and toy building challenges.  Pupils will research the impact of energy and how toys have changed over the last century.

 

French (Modern Languages)

Children continue to familiarise themselves with basic greetings and expand their knowledge of number by increasing this to 20. Pupils will become more familiar with questions they can ask to learn someone’s name or age. As Christmas approaches we will also learn about how Christmas is celebrated in France.

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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Primary 2 Term 1 Curriculum Update

Primary 2 Blog Post (Term 1 Update)

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.

UNCRC – Class Charter

Primary 2 have worked on creating a class charter, with agreed upon rights that we will focus on as a class. Our class rules and procedures centre around these rights, as we agree that we should all have a right to be healthy, a right to learn and a right to play. We have used our novel study and the main character Plop as a theme for our charter.

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 getting underway, and children will be 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.  We will be using our predictive skills to think about what may happen in our book, based on information on the cover and we will begin to look at fiction and non-fiction texts and their differences.

Our focus in writing will be descriptive writing and these written pieces will come from our class novel and topic of Houses and Homes, comparing houses in the city with those of the countryside as well as looking at homes of the past. Children will compare how houses/homes have changed over the last century.

Numeracy

Our focus in numeracy 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 Thursday and our focus in term 1 will be on football and netball.  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.

IDL

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 our term 1 social studies topic about houses and homes, comparing houses in the countryside to those we find in the towns and cities.

Modern Languages (French)

In French lessons, children will begin to understand basic greetings, ask and answer simple questions about themselves and begin to look at numbers to 10. We will learn songs and rhymes to help us retain this information.

Homework

Homework was sent out this week. Please check your child’s homework bag weekly for the homework to be completed.  Reading books will be attached to pupils’ accounts through our online Bug Club reading programme. I have issued Bug Club login details with these homework tasks. 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.

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

Whole School News

P4, P5 and P6 World of Work Event

On Thursday 20th June, we had a very successful WoW day. The kids had a ball and enjoyed seeing the many different careers on offer in our big hall!

A huge thank you to Miss Grimley for organising this event  And a big thank you to all our parents/carers and all who came to demonstrate and inspire the next generation with their fantastic displays of their profession.

Whole School News

P 2 and P3 World Of Work Event

On Thursday 20th June, we had a very successful WoW day. The kids had a ball and enjoyed seeing the many different careers on offer in our big hall!

A huge thank you to Miss Grimley for organising this event  And a big thank you to all our parents/carers and all who came to demonstrate and inspire the next generation with their fantastic displays of their profession.

Whole School News

P1 and P7 World of Work Event

On Thursday 20th June, we had a very successful WoW day. The kids had a ball and enjoyed seeing the many different careers on offer in our big hall!

A huge thank you to Miss Grimley for organising this event  And a big thank you to all our parents/carers and all who came to demonstrate and inspire the next generation with their fantastic displays of their profession.

 

Whole School News

Primary 2 Term 4 Curriculum Update

Hello and welcome to our term 4 blog post.  Primary 2 have been very busy over term 3 and have been busy consolidating previous learning and building their skills in preparation for our summer term.

Literacy

Our focus in reading will be to continue to use word attack strategies and knowledge of phonemes covered to date, to decode unfamiliar words. We will also focus on inferential questioning and building our understanding of the deeper messages evident in our books whilst completing read to write tasks linked to these texts. We will continue to look at the effect punctuation has within texts, with a particular focus on speech. Pupils will then be able to identify this in our books as well as using some evidence of speech within our own writing.

In writing, our focus will continue to build on written formation, the use of capital letters and full stops and building confidence to write a few sentences independently, using our knowledge of common words, spelling strategies and increased use of punctuation. Using our skills from descriptive writing, we will expand our sentences and add more detail when writing larger pieces of work, with narrative being our focus over this final term of primary 2.

Our spelling activities will continue to help children retain knowledge of previously taught phonemes and to build confidence in tackling trickier joined phonemes as we progress through term 4.

Numeracy

Our focus will move from addition and subtraction to early skills in multiplication and division, using our previous knowledge of fractions to help us with multiplication and division strategies. We will frequently revisit place value to help us as we continue to work with numbers to 99. Children will also consolidate learning in measure and begin to look at data handling and time as we progress through term 4.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day will continue in term 4, with our Pupil of the Day receiving lots of compliments.  Children will also tackle more comfortable and uncomfortable emotions and develop strategies for managing situations in the playground or classroom when we experience these emotions. This links to our whole school Paths strategies which help children to recognise when they need help to manage emotions or social situations.

In P.E, our sessions will take place on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 4 will be on athletics and striking and fielding games.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing general fitness, whilst developing skills in activities such as hurdles, running and team races.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on Mary, Mother of God.  We will also continue with themes of prayer and worship and routines of the church.  As always, we will also spend some time reading and discussing bible stories relating to friendship and family.

Topic (IDL)

Our class topic this term will be mapping with a particular focus on my school and my town. We will link this to our place in Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world to develop our understanding of geography and the globe. Our narrative writing will be developed through this topic and with the return of ‘Plop’ to our classroom, he will help us navigate our local environment.

French

In French, we will continue to build our knowledge of greetings and numbers to 20. We will also discuss colours, days of the week and family members.

Homework

Homework will be sent out weekly on a Monday as normal. Please check your child’s homework bag for the homework to be completed that week.  Reading books will be attached to pupils’ accounts through our online Bug Club reading programme. These will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on a Friday.

 

We hope this is the start of another successful term and that the pupils are enjoying their return to school following the Easter break.

Take care,

Mrs Travers

Whole School News

Primary 3 Term 4 Curriculum Update

Hello and welcome to our Term 4 curriculum update. With another busy term ahead of us again as begin to prepare our children for their transition to primary 4 within the upper school.

Literacy

Our focus in term 3 was developing our understanding of literal and inferential comprehension using the ‘Find It, Prove It, Talk about It’ strategies. This will continue to be a focus in Term 4 so the children can discuss and write responses to questions linking to their reading/topic book. Alongside this,  spelling activities where children will continue to work individually and in groups to revisit previous sounds and texts, using their skills and strategies to tackle new and unfamiliar spelling sounds and reading books.

We will continue to focus more on the Romans in term 4 and the children will be finding specific information and working on recognising different parts of texts ‘pictures, diagrams, charts and headings) and how to scan and locate related key words or facts in texts. Pupils will be continuing to focus on punctuation and why commas and exclamation marks have an impact on how a text is read.

In writing, we will be finishing our narrative story book and start our report writing through the Romans. We will also continue to revisit listening and talking games and activities to help children develop key skills needed in whole class group discussions and sharing information in a topic presentation. Also, Show and Tell will start again in Term 4 to give the children the opportunity to share an  item from home.

Numeracy

In term 3, our focus has been looking at multiplication. The children have been mentally counting in 2, 5 and 10, then using this repeated addition strategy to apply to the other times tables.  Within multiplication there has been a variety of hands on activities for the children to use and visually see the pattern of these tables form through using a variety of different materials such as, Numicon pegs and boards, Numicon number lines etc. In term 4 we will be revisiting the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times table to retain our knowledge and use this knowledge to understand the inverse calculation for division which will tie in with fractions.

Beyond Number

In beyond number the focus was, how to tell the time using hours and minutes and will use concrete materials which will promote a deeper understanding so the children know how to use analogue and digital time. In term 4 the focus will be mini topics, which will cover, data handling, angles and area. Children will continue using their ‘Thinking it through’ jotters to develop problem solving skills, applying knowledge of number to new contexts and develop strategies for number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

All children will have the opportunity to be Pupil of the Day again in term 4  and will continue to explore emotions, and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others and learning how to control them. As well as looking at different strategies that we can do to help manage our feelings and control our breathing through ‘Do be Mindful’ activities.

In P.E, our sessions will continue to take place on a Tuesday and a Thursday and our focus this term will be athletics, striking and fielding games. Children will continue to use their transferrable skills in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst continuing to develop their knowledge of how we keep in our body healthy with fitness and nutrition.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be ‘Our Lady’ our mother and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and lives of others.

Topic

The children will be participating in activities in different areas of the curriculum including social studies for The Romans and their impact in Scotland. The children will have the opportunity to look at different aspects of Roman Society, Roman Gods and the Roman invasion in Britain. We will look at Roman inventions considered ahead of their time, such as bath houses, under floor pipes for water supplies, heating and sanitation.  In our science topic we will look at materials with a focus on dissolving. Pupils will research dissolving and make predictions about substances that dissolve in water, looking at hot water can impact on substances through changing their state or what they look like.

We hope this will be a successful term 4 and the children have enjoyed their Easter break.

Thank you,

Miss Grimley

 

 

Whole School News

Primary 3 Term 3 Curricular Update

Hello and welcome to our Term 3 curriculum update. With another busy term ahead of us as we begin to prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation as well as our school activities as we approach closer to Easter.

Literacy

Our focus in term 2 was prediction and summarising skills which we will continue to revisit regularly alongside our participation in reading and spelling activities where children work individually and in groups to revisit previous sounds and texts, using their skills and strategies to tackle new and unfamiliar spelling sounds and reading books. Throughout Term 3 we will develop our understanding of literal and inferential comprehension using the ‘Find It, Prove It, Talk about It’ strategies.

As part of our term 3 topic of Romans, children will be finding specific information and working on recognising different parts of texts ‘pictures, diagrams, charts and headings) and how to scan and locate related key words or facts in texts. Pupils will be focusing on punctuation and why commas are used and how to properly use commas in their own writing.

In writing, we will be continuing to focus on narrative story writing and report writing through our science topic of climates and social studies topic of Romans. We will also continue to revisit listening and talking games and activities to help children develop key skills needed in whole class group discussions and sharing information in a topic presentation.

Numeracy

In term 2, our focus has been addition and subtraction with two and three digit numbers and using different word problems strategies within this operation of number. In term 3 we will be looking at multiplication and division and the link between the two through fact families. The children will begin mentally counting in 2, 5 and 10, then using this repeated addition strategy to apply to the other times tables.

In beyond number the focus was identifying real life examples of 2D and 3D shapes, comparing the properties of 2D and 3D objects, and creating their own 3D shapes. Moving forward in term 3 the children will look at how to tell the time using hours and minutes and will use concrete materials which will promote a deeper understanding so the children know how to use analogue and digital time. Children will continue using their ‘Thinking it through’ jotters to develop

problem solving skills, applying knowledge of number to new contexts and develop strategies for number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

All children will have the opportunity to be Pupil of the Day again in term 3 and will continue to explore emotions, and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others and learning how to control them. As well as looking at different strategies that we can do to help manage our conflicts or resolve disagreements in the playground or in small group activities.

In P.E, our sessions will continue to take place on a Tuesday and a Thursday and our focus this term will be Gymnastics, Football and Fitness. Children will continue to use their transferrable skills in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst continuing to develop their knowledge of how we keep in our body healthy with fitness and nutrition.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on the Sacrament of Reconciliation during January and February, with a focus being on the Life of Jesus and Lent as we move into March.

Topic

The children will be participating in activities in different areas of the curriculum including social studies and will be finishing our climates and weather around the world topic. We will also be looking at The Romans and their impact in Scotland. The children will have the opportunity to look at different aspects of Roman Society, Roman Gods and the Roman invasion in Britain. We will look at Roman inventions considered ahead of their time, such as bath houses, under floor pipes for water supplies, heating and sanitation.

We hope this is the start of another really successful term and that the children enjoyed their Christmas break.

Thank you,

Miss Grimley

Whole School News

Primary 2 Term 3 Curricular Update

Hello and welcome to our term 3 blog post.  Primary 2 have been very busy over the previous two terms and it ended on a high with the most fantastic Nativity production.  We hope all our children had a fantastic Christmas and are ready to continue with their new learning in term 3.

Literacy

Our focus in reading will be to develop the skills to read to self and to others in small group or in paired reading tasks. Children will use word attack strategies and knowledge of phonemes covered to date, to decode unfamiliar words. We will also learn to scan and find particular words in texts and complete read to write tasks linked to our reading book. We will begin to look at the effect punctuation has within texts and be able to identify this in our books as well as using some punctuation within our own writing.

In writing, our focus will continue to build on letter formation, the use of capital letters and full stops and building confidence to write a few sentences independently, using our knowledge of common words and spelling strategies. Using our skills from descriptive writing, we will expand our sentences and add more detail when writing larger pieces of work.

Our spelling activities will continue to help children retain knowledge of previously taught phonemes and to build confidence in tackling trickier joined phonemes as we progress through term 3.

Homework will be sent out week beginning Monday 15th January. 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. These will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on a Friday.

Numeracy

Our focus in number work will continue to build on knowledge of place value, with children working on 2-digit numbers 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. Subtraction within 10 or 20 will also be a focus as well as word problems to consolidate our strategies within this operation of number.  Children will also consolidate learning in money and begin to look at fractions, halves and quarters of shape and whole number as we progress through term 3.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day will continue in term 3, with our Pupil of the Day receiving lots of compliments.  Children will also tackle uncomfortable emotions and develop strategies for managing situations in the playground or classroom when we experience these emotions. This links to our whole school Paths strategies which help children to recognise when they need help to manage emotions or social situations.

In P.E, our sessions will take place on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 3 will be on fitness, racquet skills and gymnastics.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing general fitness, endurance, balancing and jumping safely whilst using apparatus.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on the life of Jesus as we build up to our preparations for Lent and Easter.  We will also look at Baptism and associated symbols and their meaning.  As always, we will also spend some time reading and discussing bible stories relating to friendship and family.

Topic (IDL)

Our class topic this term will be Living Things and Minibeasts.  We will look at how we know something is living or non-living, looking at the characteristics of these groups and we will take this knowledge forward to find out what minibeast are, where they live and how we categorise them into different subgroups.

French

In French, we will continue to build our knowledge of greetings and numbers to 10. We will also discuss colours, days of the week and basic classroom commands.

We hope this is the start of another successful term and that the pupils are enjoying their return to school following the Christmas break.

Take care,

Mrs Travers

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Primary 2 Term 1 Update

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 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 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

uncategorized

Primary 3 Term 1 Update

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

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Primary 3 Mission to the Moon Rocket Competition Winners

A huge well done to Primary 3 who submitted a winning rocket design to the MTTM competition as part of The Clean Green East Ayrshire initiative!  Our class design entry won 1st place in the STEM category across all of East Ayrshire with their Lego rocket!

An amazing job and a special congratulations to the winning engineer team for working on this design together.  Amazing team work! They each received their own certificate at school assembly on Friday for this huge achievement! AND they have won hundreds of MTTM S miles for our school! Go Team Primary 3!

Whole School News

Primary 2 Term 4 Curriculum Update

Hello, I cannot believe I am writing that we are now in term 4. During term 4 we continue working hard with new learning but also consolidating the learning that has taken place throughout the year.

Please see an outline of what we will be focusing on for each subject below:

 Literacy

Phonics – during term 4 we will continue to learn our sounds following the Active Literacy Framework, we will be introduced to split phonemes and focusing on the words with the magic ‘e’. We will still practice new spelling words related to our sounds and learn new common words which can sometimes be tricky, these will help develop our independent writing skills.

Writing – Our focus this term will be narrative writing, we will use our skills from descriptive writing to create detailed characters and settings.

We will still be putting in a lot of effort into handwriting, ensuring we are correctly forming our letters and taking care with their position and size on our lined pages. Our writing targets will still include capital letters, full stops, finger spaces.

Reading – This term our focus will be on reading for information. Children will be introduced to skimming and scanning a text to select key words. We will continue to focus on features of fiction and non-fiction texts.

Numeracy

Following on from Term 3 we will continue to learn about multiplication and division. We will be using a lot of concrete materials to complete activities which focuses on making groups and sharing amounts. We will then be exploring fractions by taking part in practical activities to show how a single item can be shared equally into halves and quarters. As part of our cool clubs topic we will also be looking at data handling, this will involve selecting, recording and analysing the information gathered.

 Health & Well-Being (HWB)

In term 4 we will be continuing with our PATHS programme, last term we introduced some new emotions and we will explore these in more detail this term. As always children will gift and receive compliments through our pupil of the day. As a whole class we will be taking part in Do Be Mindful activities throughout the term to gauge our focus and have better attention skills. Children will complete their own do be mindful booklet to record feelings. We will explore where some food comes from and have some healthy eating taster activities, thinking about how some foods are better for us than others.

P.E.

During our PE sessions in term 4 we will be taking part in expressive dance, striking and fielding games and athletics.

(PE days continue to be on Tuesday and Thursday.)

RE

At the start of term 4 during the month of May we will honour Mary, reciting the hail Mary prayer and revisiting bible stories. As a class we will prepare our class alter in honour of Mary and learn to say the Rosary. During this term we will link HWB with RE through the teaching of Gods Loving Plan, we will be thanking God for our bodies and consider ways we can look after our wonderful bodies.

 IDL (Topic)

Our two topics this term will be cool clubs and science in the news. For our science in the news topic, we will be exploring the news of the first plants to grow in moon dirt. We will grow our own plants in the classroom, we will be exploring, observing and discussing the basic needs of plants and what they need to grow. We will be observing how plants grow from seeds and recording their height and appearance in different conditions. We will also be busy caring for our own plants in the classroom in the hope that we can take them home to continue to care for them over the summer. For cool clubs we will be exploring our likes and dislikes in relation to hobbies looking at gathering data to record and analyse the information. We will also explore aspects of drama creating our own club which children need to run for the others in the class.

Expressive Arts

Our art, music and drama in term 3 will again link in with both of our topics this term.

Another busy and exciting term for primary 2 with lots of playing, exploring and learning but also preparing for out next step in our school journey as we get ready for primary 3.

 Thank you for visiting our Primary 2 blog on what we will be learning this term!

Miss Maitland

Whole School News

Primary 3 Term 4 Curriculum Update

Welcome to our curriculum update for term 4. It is sure to be a busy term as we begin to prepare our pupils for the transition to the upper school and primary 4.

Literacy

Reading & Comprehension

During term 3 our focus was summarising skills and to develop our understanding of literal and inferential comprehension using the ‘Find It, Prove It, Talk About It’ strategies. This will continue into term 4 as pupils begin to develop these skills in discussion and formulating written responses.  Pupils will also look at different writing styles, the message the writer is trying to convey and when we are presented with fact or opinion in the texts.

As part of our term 4 topic in science, children will be asked to find specific information and how to scan for and locate key words or topic related facts in texts. Pupils will be focussing on punctuation and the use of commas and exclamation marks and the impact this has on texts for the reader, as well as beginning to use different punctuation in their own writing. We will revisit speech marks, and how we can use these in our own written tasks.

Writing

In writing, we will be focussing on science-based report writing through our mini science topic on dissolving. This topic was moved from term 3 into term 4, to allow pupils to spend more time on The Romans last term, as this was such a huge topic, more time was given to this to fully engage in the topic outcomes. We will also begin to look at the outcomes for response and persuasive writing, using facts and the pupils own thoughts and opinions on texts to help develop these skills.

Listening & Talking

We will continue with our listening and talking games and activities to help children develop the key skills needed when in whole class or group discussions or when sharing information in a topic presentation activity.  ‘Show and Tell’ will continue throughout term 4, giving pupils the opportunity to share information on an item from home, once per week.

Maths

In term 3, our focus was on fractions and the link between multiplication and division through fact families. We will however, regularly revisit the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times tables to retain our knowledge of these facts and use this understanding to look at the inverse calculation for division. Our primary focus in maths in term 4, will be mini topics, covering areas such as measurement (length, weight, mass and area) and data handling.

In beyond number, the focus in term 4 will be angles, recognising right angles in shapes and when an angle is bigger or smaller than 90 degrees.  Within this topic we will also look at compass points, and full, half and quarter turns to describe the route of a journey. Children will regularly 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 any number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day again in term 4 and will continue to explore emotions, comfortable and uncomfortable and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others. We will look at strategies for fair play, how to support others to manage their emotions using strategies we have already put in place within our classroom setting.

In P.E, our sessions will happen on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 4 will be athletics and striking and fielding games.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing their knowledge of how we keep our body healthy with fitness and nutrition needs too.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on ‘Our Lady’ our mother and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and others.

Topic

In term 4 the focus of topic will be social studies with a focus on groups and charities in our local community. Pupils will also research dissolving in our science topic and make predictions about substances that dissolve in water, looking at how water can impact on substances and change their appearance/state.

We hope this is the start of another very successful term and that the pupils enjoyed the Easter break and some well-earned rest over the holiday period.

Take care,

Mrs Travers

Whole School News

Primary 1, 2 & 3 Bike & Scooter Friday

On Friday 28th April, Primary 1, 2 and 3 will have the opportunity to have some time outside, to use their scooter or bikes during our reward play time. We are asking that children bring a bike or scooter from home, including safety equipment such as helmets, to school on the morning of Friday 28th April and these items can be used during reward play in the afternoon.

These sessions are always greatly enjoyed by our pupils and we look forward to another fun packed afternoon next week.  Thank you!

Whole School News

Primary 2 Term 3 Curriculum Update

Primary 2 Curricular Update – Term 3

Hello and a very happy New Year to you all, I hope you had a lovely break spending time with family over the festive period. Primary 2 are ready for term 3 and a new year full of learning and fun.

Please see an outline of what we will be focusing on for each subject below:

Literacy

Phonics- During term 3 we will continue to learn our joined phonemes and grow our confidence in reading and writing these. Spelling will continue to be a focus as we learn new common words which can be tricky, these will help develop our independent writing skills.

Writing – We will continue to develop our writing skills focusing on description using individual description bubbles, we will be writing about characters and settings. Handwriting will still be a focus this term, ensuring we are correctly forming our letters and taking care with their position and size on our lined pages.

Reading – We will be developing our comprehension skills during reading by answering inferential questions, using clues in the story and our previous knowledge to help us. Discussions and sequencing main events of stories will be a focus too as well as our word attack strategies as we develop our reading skills. We continue to read our bug club texts in class alongside homework.

Numeracy and Mathematics

Following on from Term 2 we will continue learning time using digital and analogue clocks and revisiting numbers to 100. During term 3 we will be transferring our addition and subtraction skills into the topic of Money. Identifying coins up to £2, when we are familiar with the coins, we will be able to combine these and create amounts to pay for items in our class shop. Some children will be expected to give change and use the correct signs for money. As part of our mapping topic, we will also be looking at position and movement. We will be exploring the use of grid references and using everyday language to describe position, movement and direction. Towards the end of the term, we will start looking at measure initially focusing on comparative language of measure (shorter, longer) then we will progress onto non-standard units of measure (cubes, hand spans).

Health & Well-Being (HWB)

In term 3 we will be helping Twiggle and his friends overcome some difficult friendship scenarios in our PATHS programme now we have learned how to do Turtle when things become a little stressful. In other areas of our HWB we will be considering the impact of physical activity on our bodies and identifying the physical changes we feel after a period of exercise. The importance of personal hygiene, tooth brushing and handwashing techniques will also be discussed. As well as completing our emotion check in each morning we will continue to gift and receive compliments through our pupil of the day.

P.E.

During our PE sessions in term 3 we will be completing our block of gymnastics, developing out skills in travelling, jumping and rolling. We will then incorporate these into sequenced movements. Another area of PE we will cover is fun fitness, this will develop personal level of speed, agility, strength and stamina through various fun activities and exercises. Towards the end of term we will be practicing our racquet skills and how to hold and use a racquet, we will then introduce ball control.

(PE days continue to be on Tuesday and Thursday.)

RE

At the start of term 3 we will look at how life would have been for Jesus as he grew up, discussing how he went to the Synagogue to worship compared to how we go to church to pray. We will look at Baptism and compare it to the naming ceremony which is held in the Jewish tradition. As we approach the start of lent and Ash Wednesday we will talk about the meaning of this special time. We will take time during Lent to prepare ourselves for the special celebration of Easter.

 IDL (Topic)

Our first topic this term will be germs (micro-organisms). We will be carrying out predictions and experiments which will emphasise the importance of handwashing and how germs are passed on. We will be looking at some common illness definitions and how we can have good and bad germs. Mapping will be our other topic this term which will include looking at our local community area but also Scotland and famous attractions/landmarks. We will look at a bit about Scotland’s history through Robert Burns and we will try some Scottish foods as well as reciting and listening to poems before writing our own poem together.

 Expressive Arts

Our art, music and drama in term 3 will again link in with our topics this term.

Thank you for visiting our Primary 2 blog on what we will be learning this term!

Miss Maitland

 

Whole School News

Primary 3 Term 3 Curriculum Update

Primary 3 Blog Post (Term 3 Update)

Welcome to our curriculum update for term 3. It is sure to be a busy term as we begin to prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation as well as our whole school activities in the run up to Easter.

Literacy

During term 2 our focus was summarising skills and we will continue to revisit this skill regularly alongside our usual spelling and common word activities that help pupils retain and recognise their spelling sounds/phonemes and words in texts. Throughout term 3 we will develop our understanding of literal and inferential comprehension using the ‘Find It, Prove It, Talk About It’ strategies.

As part of our term 3 topic of Romans, children will be asked to find specific information, we will also be working on recognising different parts of texts (pictures, diagrams, charts and headings) and how to scan for and locate key words or topic related facts in texts. Pupils will be focussing on punctuation and the use of commas and the impact this has on texts for the reader, as well as beginning to use different punctuation in their own writing.

In writing, we will be focussing more on narrative story writing and report writing through our mini science topic on dissolving. We will also partake in some listening and talking games and activities to help children develop the key skills needed when in whole class or group discussions or when sharing information in a topic presentation activity.

Maths

In term 2, our focus was multiplication, with pupils mentally counting on in 2, 5 and 10, then using this repeated addition strategy to apply to the other times tables. As we move in to term 3 we will focus on division and the link between multiplication and division through fact families. We will regularly revisit the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times tables to retain our knowledge of these facts and use this understanding to look at the inverse calculation for division. We will also look at fractions, using knowledge of halving to help us understand how to find a fraction of an object or a number.

In beyond number, the focus in term 3 will be money, recognising coins and notes in pounds and pence and using addition and subtraction skills to add up the cost of several items bought at a shop or work out how much change to give. Children will regularly 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 any number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day again in term 3 and will continue to explore emotions, comfortable and uncomfortable and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others. We will look at strategies for helping us when we are with others in playground or in small group activities, where we can find ways to manage conflict or resolve disagreements.

In P.E, our sessions will happen on a Monday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 3 will be fitness, gymnastics block 2, and ball skills.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing their knowledge of how we keep our body healthy with fitness and nutrition.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on the Sacrament of Reconciliation during January and February, with focus being on the Life of Jesus and Lent as we move into March.

Topic

In term 3 the focus of topic will be social studies and looking at The Romans and their impact in Scotland.  The children will have the opportunity to look at different aspects of Roman Society, Roman Gods and the Roman invasion in Britain. We will look at Roman inventions considered ahead of their time, such as bath houses, under floor pipes for water supplies, heating and sanitation. Pupils will also research and make predictions about substances that dissolve in water in our mini science topic, looking at how water can impact on substances and change their appearance/state.

We hope this is the start of another very successful term and that the pupils enjoyed the Christmas break and some well-earned rest over the festive period.

Take care,

Mrs Travers

Whole School News

Primary 3 Curriculum Update Term 2

Primary 3 Blog Post (Term 2 Update)

Welcome to our curriculum update for term 2. It is sure to be a busy term as we prepare for all the fun and exciting activities, we will be part of in the run up to advent and Christmas!

 

Literacy

During term 1 our focus in reading was to predict what might happen in our reading texts and to think about sequencing parts of a story. We also began to think about summarising what we had read and to put this information into our own words. During term 2, summarising skills will continue to be a focus alongside our usual spelling and common word activities that help pupils retain and recognise their spelling sounds/phonemes and words in texts.

As part of our topic and to help children find specific information, we will also be working on recognising different parts of texts (pictures, diagrams, charts and headings) and how to scan for and locate key words or topic related facts in texts. Children will also use their knowledge of nouns, verbs and adjectives from term 1 and identify these in texts we are accessing in class.  To build on from this, pupils will be focusing on punctuation and speech in texts and looking at the impact this has on texts for the reader, as well as beginning to use different punctuation in their own writing.

In writing, we have been focused on descriptive writing in term 1 and will now focus on report writing and narrative throughout term 2. We will also partake in some listening and talking games and activities to help children develop the key skills needed when in whole class or group discussions or when sharing information in a show and tell type activity.

Maths

Our focus in maths will be to regularly revisit place value, recognising sequences and patterns in numbers 0-100 and how these patterns continue in larger numbers beyond 100.  In term 1 the focus was addition and subtraction strategies and although this will be revisited in term 2, our focus will move to multiplication, with pupils beginning to make the link to division.  Children will spend time mentally counting on in 2, 5 and 10, then using this repeated addition strategy to apply to the other times tables.

In beyond number, children were focused on 2D and 3D shapes and their properties in term 1.  The focus in term 2 will be time, analogue and digital with children learning to think about what the time will be in half an hour or in an hour’s time. Children will regularly 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 any number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day for a second time in term 2 and will continue to explore emotions, comfortable and uncomfortable and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others. We will look at strategies for helping us deal with uncomfortable emotions and how we can help our friends if they are experiencing some of these emotions.

In P.E, our sessions will happen on a Monday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 2 will be football, gymnastics, and social dancing.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing their listening skills, awareness of space and how to keep ourselves safe whilst using apparatus.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on the creation and Mary in October, moving to Saints and Remembrance in November before visiting advent and the nativity throughout December.

Topic

In term 2 the focus of topic will be on social studies and looking at climates and weather around the world.  The children will have the opportunity to measure our own weather, make weather reports and predictions as well as examine how living things survive in areas of extreme cold or heat. Pupils will research the impact of extreme weather such as tornadoes, floods, and drought and how climate change is affecting the planet.

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

Whole School News

P3 Curriculum Update (Term 1)

Primary 3 Blog Post (Term 1 Update)

Hello and welcome to our very first blog post of the new session.  Primary 3 have been very busy settling into our new classroom and our new routines.  Children have been working hard to become familiarised with their class groups, recapping previous learning and are enhancing this through our novel study and outdoor learning.

Literacy

Our class novel is ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ and through this text, the context and the discovery of the lands at the top of the Faraway Tree, pupils will explore our outdoor area, looking for natural resources to create scenes from the text.  Pupils will continue to create some imaginative writing, describing the different lands that may arrive at the top of the Faraway Tree and will develop their use of descriptive words to describe characters from the novel.

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 ideas will be developed from our class novel!

Homework began week beginning Monday 5th September, please remember to check your children’s bags for a plastic wallet.  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 and this will increase to 3-digit numbers with our circle maths group. Children will be able to partition these numbers and discuss this in terms of hundreds (H), tens (T) and units (u), whilst building on their understanding of number and number patterns. Addition and subtraction will also be a focus as well as word problems to consolidate our strategies within these 2 operations of number.  Children will regularly 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 any 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 Monday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 1 will be on team games, hockey, and badminton.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing their listening skills, awareness of space and racquet skills.

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 Magic Faraway Tree, we will be doing a mini topic which focuses on exciting new lands at the top of the tree, 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 vertebrates and how we categorise all living things. Children will explore and examine living things and look at the characteristics of what makes some living things vertebrates.

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

Whole School News

Change to P2 and P3 gym days

We are very lucky to have Mark Devlin coming to work with us from next week (wb 12/09/22) , through to October holidays.  He will be offering P2 and P3 multi-sports sessions. This will mean a change to our gym days.

P2 will now have gym on a Wednesday and Thursday.

P3 will now have gym on a Monday and a Wednesday, to accommodate Mark Devlin and his multi sports inputs.

Sorry for any inconvenience.  We appreciate your continued cooperation,

Mrs Travers and Miss Maitland

Whole School News

Primary 2/3 and Primary 5 Dean Park Trip!

Primary 2/3 and Primary 5 had a fantastic day at Dean Park on Tuesday and enjoyed some time exploring the park, playing some games and spending time at the swing park and gardens.

The weather held out so the children thoroughly enjoyed picnicking at the park!

Whole School News

Change to P2/3 PE/gym days

Beginning next week (23/05/22) we will be making a change to our PE days in P2/3.  Indoors on a Tuesday will remain the same, however our Thursday outside session will be changing to a Wednesday afternoon. This is to accommodate a multi-sports input with Mark Devlin.

I intend to keep the PE days to a Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the remainder of this summer term.

Many thanks for your cooperation,

Mrs Travers

Whole School News

P1-P3 Reward Play (Friday 13th May)

As part of our health week activities, the children had asked if we could do a scooter/bike reward play session, like we had done previously for SCIAF.  The children can bring a scooter or bike to school on Friday and during reward play on Friday afternoon, each class will have a timetabled session for using their bikes or scooters in the playground.

Can all children please make sure they have a helmet with them for this outdoor activity as any child without a helmet, will not be able to take part in the scooter/bike activities.

We will have a variety of fun activities arranged over Friday afternoon, smoothie making, food tasting, Zumba, people who help us fancy dress and some art activities. It  should be a fun way to end our health week activities.