As we head into our final term, Primary 1/2 are “in training” for moving up to the next primary stage.  As well as pushing on with new learning, we will be working hard to consolidate the learning that has taken place throughout the year.

Literacy – Primary 2

Phonics – we will continue to follow our Active Literacy framework which will involve the introduction of split phonemes this term – magic “e” words. There are lots of these to learn so we will be working very hard to read and spell these.

Spelling – we will continue to practise our very trickiest of common words so we can write these effortlessly in our sentences.

Writing – Narrative writing will be our focus this term. We will use our skills in descriptive writing to create detailed settings and characters.

Handwriting will continue to be a focus this term, ensuring we are correctly forming our letters and taking care with their size and position on our lined pages. We will be paying special attention to the formation of our capital letters, making sure these are always the correct size.

Reading – Our focus will be reading for information this term. We will familiarise ourselves with the features of non-fiction texts and use the contents/index/sub-headings to help us find the information required.  We will also be introduced to the skills of “skimming” and “scanning” texts for keywords.

Literacy – Primary 1

Phonics – Now that we have learnt all the sounds in the alphabet and are using these to make and break words, we are going to start learning the sounds made by two or more letters such as “sh” “ch” “th” (joint phonemes).

Spelling – We will continue to practise the spelling of our tricky common words to ensure we can use these when writing sentences. We will learn some new words to add to our ever growing bank of vocabulary.

Writing – We are continuing to develop our skills in describing this term as well as having a go at writing some words and sentences by ourselves.

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

Reading – Reading for information will be a focus this term. We will look at non-fiction texts and record the facts we learn.  We will also continue to practise our decoding skills by reading all types of text whenever we can.

Numeracy – Primary 1 and 2

The focus for Numeracy this term will be centred around number processes.

P2 – We will be exploring numbers to 100 by ordering the numbers through each decade and ensuring we understand how the quantities represented by each number are made.  We will also be doing lots of counting to ensure we can confidently count forwards and backwards to enable our addition and subtraction.

We will also be grouping and sharing materials to develop our understanding of multiplication and division.

P1 – Now that we have been introduced to the addition facts to 10, we will focus on subtraction. We will initially explore this concept using concrete materials before developing mental strategies to help us solve calculations.

We will also be focusing on the teen numbers……taking steps beyond our “terrific ten”. We will look at the quantities represented by the teen numbers and ensure we can recognise, record and order the numbers to 20.

As part of our Houses and Homes topic, we will be using position and movement to help us follow and design maps. We will also develop our Data Handling skills by collecting, recording and analysing the information we gather.

Health & Well-Being (HWB)

During our last term of PATHS lessons we will be introduced to some new emotions. We will explore each emotion in detail, thinking about how each emotion looks and feels and will consider whether it would be a “comfortable” or “uncomfortable” feeling.

We will also continue to reinforce our strategy of “Doing Turtle” and will use our PATHS sessions to talk through our feelings about moving into our new class at the end of the year.

We will be thinking about our food and how some foods are better for us than others. We will explore where some of our food comes from and have some healthy eating taster sessions.

We will also be learning about our amazing bodies and the correct names for each body part.

In May we will take part in our whole school Health Week during which we will have the opportunity to try different sports and activities.

During PE we will be focusing on Athletics, Striking and Fielding Games and Dance.

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN FOR TAKING ALL EARRINGS OUT FOR GYM DAYS ON MONDAYS AND THURDAYS.

RE

During the month of May, we honour “Mary”. We will recite our special prayer of the “Hail Mary” and revisit the stories of the Nativity, Annunciation and Visitation; giving special consideration to the role of Mary in each one. We will prepare our class altar in honour of Mary and learn to say the Rosary.

During this term, we will link our RE with our HWB through the teaching of “God’s Loving Plan.” We will be thanking God for our amazing bodies! We will learn the names of the body parts and consider the choices we can make to help look after our bodies.

We will also talk about the needs of a new born baby; learning about the tasks and equipment required to look after a baby.

IDL (Topic)

Our first topic this term will be “Houses and Homes”. We will explore our local area and consider the types of buildings which are located around our school. We will investigate the different types of homes in our community before choosing two different types to describe the features of in more detail.

We will consider the role of an engineer and identify some constructions in our area which will have had an engineer’s input. We will then use our technology skills to design and build our “dream houses” using a variety of materials.

Our second topic will be “Living Things” during which we will have the opportunity to sort animals into groups according to a variety of characteristics; such as physical features and habitats. We will also learn the names for the young of common farm animals and look at the life cycle of a butterfly.

During this topic we will make links with Literacy; finding information from texts and recording this in a variety of ways. We will also link up with HWB by exploring where some of our food comes from before preparing and tasting it.

A very busy and exciting term ahead for P1/2. Lots of learning, playing and exploring to do but also lots of preparing, as we get ready to take another step onto the next stage in our school journey.

Mrs Duff

Primary 1/2, Mrs Duff and Miss Mulhern are excited to tell you all about the things they have been working on in class.

We hope you enjoy.  Passwords have been sent to the main contact for each child.

Primary 1/2 Sharing the Learning

Go to this Sway

Primary 1/2 explored the forces of “push” and “pull”. They found that the size of the force applied affects the size of the movement!

They also had fun learning about magnets, magnetic materials and forces.

We also investigated electricity, discussing which appliances in our daily lives require power to work.

We even built our own circuits with a light bulb and switch using a battery as our power source!

We are delighted to share our Primary 1/2 class film.  Passwords have been texted to the main contact.

Please click on the link below.

Primary 1/2

Go to this Sway

A huge welcome to the Primary 1/2 blog! The new Primary 1’s have all settled brilliantly into their new school surroundings and have already established routines and friendships within their new class!!

It was wonderful to see the “new” Primary 2’s again and I cannot believe how much they have all grown! They too have settled into their new classroom and are acting as wonderful role models for their new P1 class mates!!

We have had a lovely start to the term getting to know one another and our new class routines but we are most definitely poised and ready to LEARN!!!

Primary 2 – Term 1

Literacy

Phonics

In literacy we are word building using the letter sounds that we were taught last year as well as the new ones being introduced.  This term we will be introduced to the first joint phonemes (2 letter sounds, for example sh, ch, th).

Reading

We have been reading our class text of “Jack and the Flum Flum Tree” and have already completed prediction and visualisation tasks associated with the book.

We will continue to work on our comprehension and decoding skills within our reading groups as we re-start our Bug Club texts.

Writing

This term our writing will focus on describing items and people. We will be including size, colour, shape, number and texture in our descriptions, while remembering to use our writing targets of capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.

We will be adding to our bank of common words (look and say words) and we will be working really hard to ensure we can spell these words correctly. This will help us greatly in our independent writing, as will our increasing knowledge of word building with our letter sounds.

Numeracy

This term will consist of deepening all of the number processes we have learned so far! We will be counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s as well as reinforcing our subtraction skills. We will then be looking at how our addition and subtraction calculations are linked, creating “fact families”.

The sequencing of our numbers will be a focus as always as we count forwards and backwards, thinking of the numbers before, after and between.

Health & Wellbeing

Primary 2 have been delighted to see the return of their friends – the PATHS puppets! Twiggle and his chums have already made their appearance, reinforcing that everyone has feelings and that’s OK!! We will be exploring each emotion in detail and relating these to our personal experiences.

We will also be discussing friendship through our PATHS programme as well as during our class circle times, highlighting the qualities of a “good friend”.

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

RE

This term we remind ourselves of God’s love for us all. We thank God for all those we love and for those who take care of us.  We also thank God for our talents and for the special things that make each and every one of us so unique.

IDL

We will be using “Jack and the Flum Flum Tree” as a basis for our interdisciplinary learning.  Through the text we will be completing prediction, visualisation and sequencing tasks as well as identifying rhyming words.  Our topic will also be providing the stimulus for our art work this term.

Primary 1 – Term 1

Literacy

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

We are also working on our fine motor control to get ready for writing! Name writing is a focus too so we can always sign off on our masterpieces!

Listening and talking is a huge part of our day. We are learning to follow our “carpet rules” to ensure we do our best listening while the teacher or our peers are talking. We are also taking turns at communicating our thoughts and feelings.

Numeracy

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

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

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

As our pencil control improves we will be learning how to form our digits correctly.

Pattern and shape will also be a focus this term.  We will link this to outdoor learning by looking for natural patterns and shape in the environment as well as artificial ones indoors.

Health & Well-being (HWB)

Our PATHS programme will feature heavily during our HWB time. The children have already met our PATHS puppets, Twiggle and friends! Our puppet friends will be helping us to explore our feelings, looking at each emotion in detail. They will also help us to consider friendships and the qualities we look for in a “good friend”.

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

RE

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

IDL

We will be using “Jack and the Flum Flum Tree” as a basis for our interdisciplinary learning.  Through the text we will be completing prediction, visualisation and sequencing tasks as well as identifying rhyming words.  Our topic will also be providing the stimulus for our art work this term.

Mrs Duff

A special end of year gift from Mrs Dunsmore is available for collection from outside the main school office. Many of the gifts have already been passed on to siblings within the school. If you have still to receive your gift please collect it by 12.00pm on Friday.

A special end of year gift from Mrs Dunsmore is available for collection from outside the main school office. Many of the gifts have already been passed on to siblings within the school. If you have still to receive your gift please collect it by 12.00pm on Friday.

Please remember when collecting the bags adults should wear face coverings and maintain social distancing from other families.

Thank you.

Primary 1/2  had lots of fun during their visit to Dean Park. They loved exploring the grounds of Dean Park, playing at the playground and joining in with ball games at snack time. Primary 1/2 also had lots of fun on Friday at the fun day. They LOVED bouncing on the inflatables and thought their ice cream was so yummy! Have a look at some of the fun Primary 1/2 had on these special days.

Primary 1/2 had the BEST time EVER!!

Mrs Dunsmore x

Primary 1/2 Curriculum Overview Term 4 2021 (Apr-June)

Welcome back to the Primary 1/2 blog where you can watch as the children grow and develop throughout this final term.

Literacy

Primary 1

Primary 1 have become more and more confident when using initial sounds to word build. They will continue to work on word building this term, however, they will now focus on building CVCC as well as CCVC words (4 letters). Primary 1 will continue to use the Active Literacy strategy “say, make, break, read and write” to support them with this new learning. In addition to this, Primary 1 will continue to learn new common words every week until they have learned all common words within stage 1. Primary 1 will continue to have lots of opportunities to practice word building and common words in a range of active ways in line with the Active Literacy approach to learning. A focus for Primary 1 during this last term will be using their knowledge of word building and common words to build sentences independently. The children in Primary 1 will have many opportunities to develop their independent writing skills this term through weekly news, free writing and sentence tasks linked to their spelling sounds. To support this new learning, Primary 1 will also apply their reading skills when writing. The children will have sentence building tasks linked to their reading books each week; this will ensure appropriate differentiation. In addition to this, Primary 1 will focus on description writing this term, they will describe different objects in relation to their Spring topic as well as characters and objects from familiar stories. Primary 1 will focus on describing number, colour, texture and size.

Primary 1 will continue to develop their talking and listening skills; understanding when to listen and when to respond, taking turns and communicating with others. They will also continue to develop their letter formation through regular handwriting lessons/activities.

Primary 2

Reading – This term, Primary 2 will be continuing to develop their reading skills particularly focusing on comprehension questions, using the questions to begin to form their answers. Primary 2 will access both fiction and non-fiction texts to develop their comprehension skills. They will apply their knowledge of skimming and scanning to find and use information within different texts as well as learn how to pinpoint exactly what the question is asking by using the words within the question to form an answer. Primary 2 will mainly use their Bug Club guided reading texts to develop this ne learning, this will allow the task to be differentiated appropriately.

Writing – Primary 2 will develop their description skills this term. They will write to describe a range of objects and characters. The children will describe objects in relation to the Spring topic including a chick, a sunflower and a butterfly. Primary 2 will think about number, colour, size, shape, texture, position and doing as they write their descriptions. The children will also learn about nouns and pronouns to support their writing. They will use this knowledge to structure their writing. Primary 2 will also learn about report writing this term. They will learn about fact files and the key features. The children will create fact files which link to their topic “Our Local Area” as well as “Energy Around Us”. Primary 2 will continue to focus on developing their independent writing this term. They will have many opportunities for “daily writing”, e.g., news. The children will be encouraged to use their knowledge of known phonemes as well as common words to write independent pieces. Primary 2 will also be encouraged to begin to use connectives, such as “and, but, because” within their daily writing to extend and develop more interesting pieces.

Spelling – Primary 2 will continue to learn new phonemes in accordance with the Active Literacy programme. They will learn a new joined phoneme as well as new common words each week. Primary 2 will continue to develop their knowledge of phonemes and spelling strategies through an active approach. They will continue to apply this knowledge alongside the development of their sentence structure skills. Primary 2 will continue to use the Phonic Bug resource to support and enhance their knowledge of new phonemes.

Grammar – Primary 2 will continue to focus on extending their sentences through use of connectives including “and”, “but” and “because”. In addition to this, Primary 2 will learn about adjectives. They will develop their vocabulary through focused grammar lessons and have opportunities to put their learning into practice through regular writing opportunities.

Numeracy and Mathematics

Primary 1

Numeracy -This term, Primary 1 will consolidate their understanding of the concept of addition within 10. They will focus on increasing their mental accuracy of number bonds to 10. The children will have many opportunities to develop their mental accuracy through mental math quizzes, fast 10 and Big Math Beat That. In addition to this, Primary 1 will apply their knowledge of addition within 10 when working on missing number calculations as well as word problems. When Primary 1 are confident in their addition skills they will begin to focus on subtraction within 10. The children will transfer their skills to answer subtraction calculations and word problems. In addition to this, Primary 1 will consolidate their knowledge of numbers to 20 and beyond.

Primary 2

Numeracy – This term primary 2 will combine their knowledge of addition and subtraction as well as their knowledge of numbers to 100 and place value to add and subtract within 100. Primary 2 will learn the formal notation strategy and apply their knowledge of tens and units when adding and taking away. New learning for Primary 2 will be the concept of multiplication and division. The children in Primary 2 will develop their understanding of multiplying before learning about division. They will use concrete resources, e.g., unifix cubes and numicon to support their learning. The children will focus on arrays as well as sharing. In addition to this, Primary 2 will continue to have many opportunities to develop their mental accuracy through mental math quizzes, fast 10 and Big Math Beat That.

Primary 1/2

Mathematics – Primary 1/2’s beyond number focus this term will be money. Primary 1/2 will learn to recognise and identify coins (up to £2) as well as notes (up to £50). They will also learn to differentiate between and use the language “pence” and “pound”. The children will use their knowledge of addition and subtraction to add to find totals (P2 within 50p and P1 within 10p) as well as subtract to find change. In addition to this, Primary 1/2 will learn to make totals using the smallest number of coins, e.g., 7p = 5p + 2p. Primary 1/2 will also learn about fractions this term. Primary 2 will apply their knowledge of division whilst Primary 1 will focus on the concept of sharing. Primary 1/2 will learn about measurement this term with Mrs McIntyre. They will work on developing their knowledge of length, capacity and volume. Primary 1/2 will develop this new learning through a hands-on approach.

Health and Wellbeing

Primary 1/2 will continue to develop their social and emotional skills through our whole school PATHS programme. The children continue to enjoy engaging with the puppets and love it when they visit our classroom. Primary 1/2 love giving and receiving compliments each day as part of “Pupil of the Day”. Primary 1/2 will continue to learn about their emotions through a range of activities and stories based around the PATHS puppets. The children in Primary 1/2 continue to engage enthusiastically with this programme.

In addition to this, Primary 1/2 will learn about how to keep themselves safe including what is meant by medicines and harmful substances. Primary 1/2 will learn to identify which substances may be helpful and which may be harmful in given situations as well as suggest ways to get help in unsafe and emergency situations, such as seeking out an adult and calling the emergency services. Furthermore, Primary 1/2 will learn about personal hygiene including hand washing through God’s Loving Plan.

Physical Education

This term Primary 1/2 will focus on athletics and orienteering. The children will practice running, jumping, and throwing both independently as well as part of a team. Once Primary 1/2 have developed their running, jumping, and throwing skills they will compete against each other in friendly relay races. In addition to this, Primary 1/2 will apply their ability to follow instructions within the classroom to giving and following instructions within the outdoor environment.

P.E. days will continue to be Tuesday and Friday. Please ensure your child comes to school dressed appropriately with either joggers or leggings and trainers. Your child must continue to wear their school jumper as part of their uniform on PE days.

Religious Education

This term Primary 1/2 will think about Our Lady. The children will reflect on Mary as the mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us. They will revise the nativity story as well as the Easter story to support their thinking. Primary 1/2 will also learn to pray the “Hail Mary”. Furthermore, Primary 1/2 will learn about personal hygiene including hand washing through God’s Loving Plan.

IDL

This term, Primary 1/2 will be learning about their local area through the “My Local Area” topic. The children will look at maps of the local area (Kilmarnock) pinpointing key buildings/sites. Primary 1/2 will learn how to read a map and use appropriate language to describe, follow and record directions in relation to a local map including turn, left, right, straight ahead, NESW. The children will also apply what they know about information handling to collect information about favourite places to go and favourite things to do in the local area. As Primary 1/2’s knowledge of the local area increases, the children will make a 3D map of the local area surrounding the school. Furthermore, Primary 1/2 will learn about energy this term. They will learn about food energy as well as gain a basic understanding of electrical circuits and conservation.

Reminder

Please ensure that your child brings in appropriate outdoor learning clothes. This will allow your child to fully engage with any outdoor learning experiences.

Please ensure that you write your child’s name on any items of clothing they may take off throughout the school day, e.g., jumpers. This will help to ensure your child does not lose any items of clothing.

Thank you for visiting the Primary 1/2 blog, keep a look out for any further updates as term 4 progresses!

Thank you,

Mrs Dunsmore.

Primary 2 Parents/Carers:

Please remember to collect your child’s homework bags from the front office.

Thank you. 

Hello Primary 1/2,

I hope you had a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year with your lovely families. I know this is not how any of us expected to start the new year and I can’t wait to see you all soon to hear all about your Christmas break. Although, we won’t see each other face to face for now, please remember I am only at the other side of the computer screen to support you.

Primary 2

Please find below your learning grid for Monday (11th January) and Tuesday (12th January). Some of you might need to access both grids to complete the appropriate literacy and numeracy tasks. You know which groups you are in for literacy and numeracy (blue or green). If you have forgotten then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me via email; alana.baird@eastayrshire.org.uk

Primary 2 Blue Group Mrs Dunsmore Home Learning Grid 11-12 Jan 2020

Daily Mental Maths Sheet – Blue Group

Primary 2 Green Group Mrs Dunsmore Home Learning Grid 11-12 Jan 2020

Daily Mental Maths Sheet – Green Group

Primary 1

Please find below your learning grid for Monday (11th January) and Tuesday (12th January).

Primary 1 Mrs Dunsmore Home Learning Grid 11- 12 Jan 2020

All tasks from Wednesday (13th January) will be posted daily.

Lots of Love, Mrs Dunsmore x