Category Archives: Primary 2 blog

Primary 2 blog, Whole School News

P2 Curriculum Overview Term 1

Welcome back! As our learners settle back in, we are excited to start the new school year. This term is all about building upon the foundations of all previous learning in Primary 1 while also introducing new challenges. Our first two weeks have been getting to know each other, building friendships and routines and revisiting prior learning so we are ready to start developing new knowledge and skills.

Literacy

Within literacy this term we are continuing to develop our knowledge of phonics, introducing a new phoneme every week along with two new “common words”. This supports our reading into writing skills. For reading we are focusing on our tools for reading, prediction and sequencing and retelling. This involves reading for enjoyment, looking at the front cover, title and illustrations of a book to help our understanding. As well as this we will continue with weekly new books to practice reading aloud and improving our fluency as we come across new words. For writing, we are focusing on descriptive writing and developing sentence structure by using full stops and capital letters.

Numeracy

This term for numeracy we will be focusing on Place Value with Miss Lennox and information data handling with Mrs Strachan. For place value we will look at estimating, recognising and ordering numbers 0-30, before moving on to look at numbers 0 – 100. For information data handling we will be discovering how to collect, organise, and interpret data using simple visual formats such as graphs and tally mark charts.

Health and Wellbeing

Primary 2 will be understanding and identifying our emotions and feelings. We will do this through PATHS, which is a whole school programme. Lessons will include feelings, actions and problem solving. Each child will also get the opportunity to be “Pupil of the Day”. They will receive compliments from peers on this day and get special responsibilities.

Within PE, we started focusing on developmental games which allowed us to expand on our friendships and team building skills. We will now focus on developing our ball skills through football and large ball skills.

Just a reminder that our P.E. days are a Monday and a Thursday. Please ensure a full P.E. kit is brought into school, and pupil names are on items and all earrings are removed. P.E. kits can be left on pegs during the week.

 

 

UNCRC

Together our class have created their class charter and looked at the rights they are entitled to. As rights holders, the pupils have discussed the responsibilities they have to maintain to protect these rights. As class rules, the class have chosen 4 articles to focus on: The right to an education; the right to rest; relax and play; the right to be healthy; and the right to freedom of thought and religion.

In our first term, we will also be looking at articles 38 and 39 for International Day of Peace.

Religious Education

In Primary 2 pupils will be learning about being made in the image of God and that we are all unique. Pupils will also be developing our understanding of prayer and celebration of Mass through our celebrations at Mass on the first Friday of the month and liturgical celebrations.

IDL

Our topic to start the year will be “My Local Area/Mapping”. We will be studying maps of the local area (Kilmarnock) recognising and pinpointing familiar places including the school and Dean Park.

We are looking forward to an exciting new school year filled with new friendships, fun and learning opportunities!

Miss Lennox and Mrs Strachan

 

 

Primary 2 blog

Term 2 Curricular Blog – Miss Livingston and Mrs Strachan

This term is the run up to Christmas with lots of exciting things taking place. Last term pupils worked very hard with lots of revision and new learning.

Literacy

In literacy this term we are looking at understanding our reading books better through comprehension tasks. We will continue to practice reading aloud. Primary 2 will also focus on the difference between fiction and non-fiction texts. In our writing we are learning how to write an imaginative piece of text. Each week we will continue to look at a different phonics sounds and common words. This will help us to make longer, trickier sentences!

Numeracy

This term for numeracy we will be focusing on addition and subtraction. P2 have worked hard last term on our place value and our numbers 1-100, this will help us as we now start to add and subtract numbers within 20. With Mrs Strachan we will look at measuring length and area. This will help us build upon our shape work from last term.

Health and Wellbeing

Primary 2 will continue to look at our identifying our emotions and feelings through our PATHS. We will also begin to look at the world of work and different jobs we can be when we are older. In Health and Wellbeing, we will also consider what to do when we are not feeling well.

For PE we will be starting a block of Gymnastics and Netball/Basketball. We will be looking at how we can evaluate our performance; what we did well and what we can improve on.  In December will start practising Ceilidh dances so we are ready for our Christmas Party! Just a reminder that our PE days are a Tuesday and a Thursday. Please ensure a full PE kit is brought into school and pupil names are on items. This can be left on their peg during the week.

UNCRC

This term we will continue to think about the promises we made in our class charter and what rights and responsibilities we have. This term pupils will also be focusing Article 38 for Remembrance Day and the right to protect children from war as well as articles 4 and 41 and 45 in celebration of World Children’s Day and Human Rights Day

Religious Education

This term Primary 2 will be looking at a variety of themes, Creation, Mary, Saints and Advent. Along with our monthly school masses, we will take part in a range of activities such as nature walks, circle time, hymn practice, art and drama activities.

Topic

Our class topic is “The Toy Shop”. We will be looking at making our own toys, such as puppets and kites. Primary 2 will also look at different roles within a shop, investigating businesses, advertising and interviewing. Together we are going to turn the home corner into our very own Toy Shop!

As part of our class topic we will also be looking at doing some junk modelling, if you have any cardboard boxes, newspapers etc please ask your child to bring them in.

We are excited for this term in the run up to Christmas. Pupils will also be involved in preparing for our Nativity on the 9th and 10th of December! It is a busy term with lots of new learning taking place!

Miss Livingston and Mrs Strachan

 

 

 

Primary 2 blog, Whole School News

P2 Curriculum Overview Term 1

Welcome back to a new school year! As our learners settle back in, we are excited to start the new school year. This term is all about building upon the foundation laid in Primary 1 while also introducing new challenges. Our first two weeks have been about getting to know each other, building friendships and routines and revisiting our learning from Primary 1 so we are ready to start developing new knowledge and skills.

Literacy

Within literacy this term we are continuing to develop our knowledge of phonics, introducing a new sound every week along with two new “common words”. This in turn helps us with our reading and writing. For reading we are focusing on our tools for reading and prediction. This involves reading for enjoyment, looking at the front cover, title and illustrations of a book to help our understanding. As well as this we will continue with our weekly new books to practice reading aloud and improving our fluency as we come across new words. For writing, we are focusing on descriptive writing and ensuring we can read our writing by using full stops and capital letters.

Numeracy

This term for numeracy we will be focusing on Place Value with Miss Livingston, and Shape with Mrs Strachan. For place value we will look at estimating, recognising and ordering numbers 1-20, before moving on to look at numbers 1-100. Within shape, we will be looking at identifying, naming and describing 2D and 3D shapes

Health and Wellbeing

Primary 2 have been looking at understanding and identifying our emotions and feelings. We have done this through our PATHS, which is a whole school programme. Lessons will include feelings, actions and problem solving. Each child will also get the opportunity to be “Pupil of the Day”. They will receive compliments from peers on this day and get special responsibilities.  We have also developed our understanding of emotions and feelings through looking at the story, “The Colour Monster”. Throughout the day pupils have their “How are they feeling” check in station where they can put into practice identifying their emotions.

Within PE, we started focusing on developmental games which allowed us to expand on our friendships and team building skills. We will now be looking to move on to develop our balls skills and start a block of Football. Just a reminder that our PE days are a Tuesday and a Thursday. Please ensure a full PE kit is brought into school and pupil names are on items. This can be left on their peg during the week.

UNCRC

As we begin Primary 2 we have explored the UNCRC Rights of the Child. Together, we created a class Charter with the theme of Superheroes, the idea of “Protecting our Rights”. This class charter is a classroom promise to be considering our rights, needs and wants while also thinking about our school values of kindness, faith and responsibility.

Religious Education

In Primary 2 pupils will be learning about being made in the image of God and that we are all unique. Pupils will also be developing our understanding of prayer and celebration of Mass through our celebrations at Mass on the first Friday of the month and liturgical celebrations.

Topic

Our topic to start the year will be “Grandparents”. We will be exploring the past to understand how our Grandparents lived and compare their lives to our own. This will involve looking at our family trees, creating a timeline of key events in the past as well as looking at a range of media such as music, radio, and films.

We are looking forward to an exciting new school year filled with new friendships, fun and learning opportunities!

Miss Livingston 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