Welcome back! I hope you all had an enjoyable summer. It has been fantastic to see Primary 4 settle into their new classroom. We have had a wonderful start to P4, and we look forward to a fun-filled term with lots of learning taking place.  

Below is an update on the upcoming term.   

 

Literacy   

For our reading focus this term, we will be developing our comprehension strategies such as visualisation and metalinguistics through our class novel ‘Venus Peter Saves the Whale’.  

Our writing will start by focus on developing our sentence structure and use of description bubbles to describe characters and scenes in our class novel. We will continue to work on our characterisation through descriptive skills in narrative writing.  

Spelling will take the form of active spelling activities, and the children will experience phonemes and blends at their working level. We will focus on using spelling strategies and practise how to use these as a class. P4 will also be given revision lessons on alphabetical order, sentence structure and dictionary skills.   

 

Numeracy  

P4 have already looked at how Maths impacts the world around us and where we use Maths in our day to day lives. We have started learning how to round 2 and 3 digit numbers to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100. The class will review Place Value knowledge and use it to build on their sense of number. We will look at 4-digit numbers and read, write and order these numbers. Through our place value work, we will be able to identify the value of each digit. We will then progress to looking at our addition strategies. The class will continue to participate in a daily number talk, to develop mental maths strategies. In Beyond Number, we will start with shape, looking at the properties of a range of 2D and 3D shapes and create tiling patterns.  

 

Health and Wellbeing   

At the beginning of the term, we discussed their rights as a child and selected articles to include within their class charter. As a class we had a vote on our class charter theme, this is displayed within our classroom. This term we will focus on the ‘Do be Mindful’ programme which gives us time to participate in mindfulness activities each day. We will also continue to follow our PATHS programme, which includes setting up our class rules, looking at individual emotions, building friendships, self-control and anger management.  

 

UNCRC  

As a class we looked at the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, we spoke about the fundamental rights for every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities. We voted on what rights we wanted to display as a class. The rights primary 4 selected were the right to play, the right to be heard, the right to have friends and the right to learn. These rights and our class rules are displayed within our class charter.  

 

PE  

PE is on a Wednesday and Friday. This term we will be covering team games, football and badminton. Please make sure your child has a full PE kit with them (includes suitable indoor shoes), this can remain on their peg within school.  

Thank you for making sure that no jewellery is worn on PE days.  

 

Modern Languages  

We will be revising the alphabet, basic French phrases and numbers this term through, songs, activities and games.  

 

Religious Education   

This term we will be reflecting on our uniqueness and thinking about our God-given talents. We will reflect on the importance of friendship and link this with various stories from the Bible. There will also be a focus on baptism, looking at the children’s baptism as well as the story of Jesus’ baptism. This will begin the children’s journey of their Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion that will take place this year. The children will take part in class prayers and school Masses, and we will continue to build on our knowledge of common prayers and Mass responses.   

 

Expressive Arts   

P4 will have the opportunity to use our school glockenspiels to accompany a song, learning about rhythm, pace and beat. During Drama lessons, the pupils will take part in drama activities to support teamwork and improve confidence. We will also ‘act out’ parts of our class novel. Our artwork will be focused on our class novel, we will create sea and whale artwork looking at the idea of hot and cold colours.  

 

Technologies  

As our independence develops in Primary 4, so does our ability to use IT equipment. Our focus this term will simply be on the use of the ICT equipment. Logging on and off the laptops will encourage independent learning. Typing skills and mouse control are also skills that will be focussed on throughout this term. 

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to a fabulous term with P4! 

  Mrs MacDonald and Mrs McIntyre