Next week, week beginning Monday 15th May, is walk to school week. We will post more information regarding this in due course.

If your child wears earrings, please make sure they do not wear them to school on their PE days.

Please also can children leave their PE kit in school during the week rather than taking it home with the chance of forgetting to bring it back in.

Thank you

Please remember the importance of bringing glasses to school with you if you need them.

Primary 6 and 7 got together recently to reveal the cast for our Wizard of Oz show.  Many people were feeling nervous but they were delighted to get their parts.

We also began reading through the  script while the other pupils discussed important activities for the show such as tech, advertising and art and design.

Summer is nearly here and we’re into our last term.  The last term for our P7’s.  Where has the time gone?!  Here is a brief overview of our learning this term.

Literacy

We are continuing to develop all reading skills through Bug Club guided reading texts but paying attention to summarising.  For writing, we are looking at responding to texts and will be conducting reviews of things we watch and read and giving personal opinions.

Numeracy

The emphasis of our numeracy this term is on algebra, number patterns and time.  We will continue to use Number Talk strategies to develop mental strategies using all four processes as part of our daily routine.  The class are also working on skills beyond number with Mrs MacKinnon and will be investigating measurement.

Health and Wellbeing

The PATHS focus this term is ­­­­­­­­­continuing to develop and use de-escalation techniques during conflicts as well as looking at transitions.  Pupil of the Day will also continue.

Our PE days are now on a Tuesday and Thursday.  We will be first playing cricket enhancing our throwing, catching and fielding skills.  We will also be participating in athletics activities in preparation for Sports Day.

IDL

The topic this term is politics.  We will be investigating how laws are made, the role of an MP and identifying the main political parties and some of their policies.  We will also receive a visit from MP Alan Brown for a Q and A with the class.

RE

This term we will be aiming to complete God’s Loving Plan activities.  As this subject is sensitive, please discuss these issues with your child at home.

French

Mrs MacKinnon will continue teaching French with P7.  Through a range of talking, listening, reading and writing tasks, this term the focus will be on the French culture and other French speaking countries.

Summer Show

Preparations are already underway for the upper school show.  Pupils will be participating in lots of drama, art, technology and enterprising activities to make the show a success.  Keep your eyes peeled for further updates of our show

Mr Bertoncini

As you are aware our School Improvement Plan forms the basis of our school developments.  It is essential that parents and carers are fully involved in the creation of this plan.

Please take some time to put forward your views on the progress we have made with our plan for this year and share your views on what should happen next. This survey will remain open until Friday 12th May.

Please complete the survey below:

You will also require to review a copy of our Family School Improvement Plan.

Family SIP 2022-2023

The children are encouraged to bring with them a picnic cover/blanket  to sit on when we are outside enjoying our garden party on Friday for the King’s Coronation.

Please take some time to read our May Newsletter.  This contains many important dates for May and June.

May newsletter

Welcome back to term 4. We hope you have had a restful time over the Easter break. We are looking forward to a wonderful new term of lots of new learning, fun and new experiences with our fantastic P4 class. 

 Literacy  

For our reading focus this term we will continue to look at building expression and fluency in our reading aloud. We will use the comprehension strategies we have been learning and look at what inferential and evaluative questions are and how we can use the text to help us with this. Please ensure your child accesses their Bug Club weekly to support their reading in these lessons. 

In writing, we will look at persuasive writing, focusing on our use of persuasive language and how to structure a persuasive piece of writing. This term, we will also start to incorporate the use of ICT for re-drafting some of our pieces of writing.  

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

Numeracy & Maths  

This term we will continue to build on our work with the four operations and will explore how fractions are related to division. We will look at the meaning of the numerator and denominator and will be able to order and compare fractions.  

In Beyond Number we will finish looking at time, children explore digital and analogue time as well as solving time duration problems.  

Health and Wellbeing  

We will continue with our PATHs programme, looking at problem solving and the idea of fair/unfair and accident and on purpose. We will continue with our Pupil of the Day, so keep a look out for your children coming home with their compliment sheet! 

The class are also engaging in a mindful activity each day. Through our Do Be Mindful programme and other class activities, we are learning about building and developing life enhancing skills, tools and habits that will foster emotional and mental wellbeing.  

PE 

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

Athletics 

Tennis /Badminton 

PE kit must be brought in and left at the start of each term. Before the holiday, the kit was sent home for washing to be freshened up and should now be returned for the current term. Lessons may be outdoors if weather permits.   

French

This term along with developing our basic conversational vocabulary, we will look at ‘Sports’, ‘Our home’ and ‘Famous French People and Landmarks’. 

IDL 

P4 will be continue from our fairtrade topic last term to look at Food production. We will complete a comparison study between food production in Scotland and in another country. In May, we are very excited to visit Dumfries House to participate in their ‘Spring Festival of Farming.’ We are really excited for this visit and it will be a lovely ending to our topic.   

We will then move on to our new topic, Charities. We will look at a range of charities both at home and further afield and the work that they do in supporting and helping those in need. We will also look at how we can give back to our community in different ways. 

Religious Education  

This term we will be focusing on the importance of the Eucharist, linking to the Last Supper. We will also focus on the Mass as the source and summit of our Christian life and will continue to become familiar with the part of The Mass, including the various prayers and responses. We are all very excited to support our P4 children who will celebrate their First Holy Communion later this term.  

In May, we will focus on Our Lady, we will learn about the Rosary and become familiar with this beautiful prayer.  

Homework will be distributed on a Monday to be completed, signed and returned by Friday. Keep an eye on the class blog for regular updates to what is happening in class, recent learning and relevant upcoming events.  

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

Mrs MacKinnon and Mrs McIntyre. 

Term 4 P6 Class News  

 Welcome back to the final term; a busy and exciting one for Primary 6. During this term, P6 will prepare to transition into Primary 7 by applying and interviewing for Captain and Vice-Captain roles. P6 will also have the chance to apply to be a buddy to our new Primary 1’s in August. P6 will get the opportunity to meet the Pastoral Care team from St Joseph’s Academy. Probably the most exciting news is that the Senior Summer show has returned! In June, the P6 and P7 will return to the stage to perform ‘The Wizard of Oz’.  

 Alongside all these exciting events lots of learning and teaching will still be taking place as outlined below.  

 Literacy  

Reading   

This term our focus returns to fiction texts. P6 will read and study books appropriate to their level. They will complete daily reading to writing tasks and work on active comprehension tasks both independently and as a group. Focus comprehension strategies this term is understanding the difference between fact and opinion, inference and author’s use of language. All pupils will complete a final fiction reading assessment at the end of the block of lessons. 

Writing  

This term P6 will be introduced to and experience writing persuasive essays using sources and/or evidence from a text to backup ideas and opinions. Some groups will learn to acknowledge sources by recording the titles and authors of texts used.  

Spelling  

The spelling groups will continue to experience the Active Literacy spelling program, some groups will be completing the spelling planner they are currently working through, ready to start a new spelling planner in P7. The pupils will revise the Active Spelling strategies throughout Term 4, these include diacritical marking, syllabification, and words within words.  Some weeks pupils will be given topic-specific vocabulary as part of their topic.  

Numeracy  

This term P6 will focus on Area, Perimeter and Volume, Angles, Information Handling and Function Machines. Some groups will be introduced to BODMAS. Daily revision and rigour of decimals, percentages and fractions and the four operations will continue. Pupils are encouraged to make use of Topmarks and Sumdog to revise and practice multiplication tables.  

ealth and Wellbeing  

At the start of the term P6 will complete a mini topic on Substance Misuse looking at the dangers of smoking/vaping, alcohol and drugs usage. Through this topic  

 Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday. Pupils are asked to bring FULL PE kit on these days. If pupils are without PE kit the school will be able to provide pupils with required items of clothing. The focus in PE this term is Volleyball, Athletics and Orienteering.  

 Expressive Arts  

 The Expressive Arts are key to any child’s education, giving them opportunities to enjoy being creative and imaginative, expressing emotion, performing for different audiences, and being part of audiences for others, as well as learning key skills in Music, Art and Design, Dance and Drama. Our Senior Summer ‘The Wizard of Oz ‘will incorporate all key areas of the Expressive Arts. A school play is a fantastic team-building exercise and it’s a great way for children to understand what’s possible when everyone pools their skills and weight. 

RME   

This term P6 will continue to listen to and reflect on stories from the Gospel of Matthew. P6 will also continue to work on their Pope Francis Faith Award, focussing on a different gift each couple of weeks.  

Modern Languages  

P6 receive weekly French lessons from Mrs MacKinnon. This term pupils will focus on hobbies, food and drink and descriptions.  

Homework  

Homework this term will include Spelling, Reading, Mental Maths, and one other curricular area (RME, topic, etc). Homework is issued on a Monday and is due back on a Friday. I appreciate and wholeheartedly support wider achievement outside of school. If there are any reasons why pupils cannot complete the homework, due to activities out with school please contact the school.  

In Primary 6 we promote hard work and amazing attitudes. Our reward card system allows pupils to gain reward cards for Wonderful Work, Amazing Attitude, and being a ‘Superstar.’ When the pupils gain five cards, they can choose an individual reward. They can also choose to go for a class reward once everyone reaches five reward cards; this promotes teamwork within the class.  

If you have any queries or questions, please contact the school directly.   

Thank you for all your support.  

   Mrs. Terras  

Extra payments to help with Cost of Living

Including those in work, on a low income and entitled to certain benefits or tax credits

You may be entitled to up to 3 Cost of Living Payments of £301, £300 and £299, if you get any of the following benefits or tax credits on certain dates:

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit

The £301 paid-

Between 25 April 2023 and 17 May 2023 for most people on DWP benefits

Between 2 and 9 May 2023 for most people on tax credits and no other low income benefits

Then following that-

£300 paid during autumn 2023 for most people

£299 paid during spring 2024 for most people

For further information visit:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment#low-income-benefits-and-tax-credits-cost-of-living-payment

Clothing Grant applications for the current academic year 2022/23 need to be made by Friday 28^th April 2023.

The applications for the next academic year 2023/24 will open on Monday 1^st May 2023; the processing of these applications will not start until June.

Free School Meals

If your child qualifies for free school meals then they would be entitled to receive a two course meal worth £2.15 per day.

For the current year 2022/23 you can make an application up until the end of this term.

The applications for the next academic year 2023/24 will open on Monday1^st May 2023. You need to apply each year, as the award is not continuous.

Check if you qualify and to apply online–

Clothing grants and free school meals · East Ayrshire Council (east-ayrshire.gov.uk)

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

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

Please ensure that all children going to Dumfries House have the appropriate clothing, including sturdy outdoor shoes or wellies if possible. Long sleeved tops, trousers and waterproof jackets.

Gloves should NOT be worn.  Any open cuts on hands should be covered with a waterproof plaster. Ensure that long hair is tied back.

Thank you for your co-operation

Payment at the door and bring return slip with you on the night!

Mount Carmel PS are excited to announce that this year’s Senior Summer show will be…The Wizard of Oz.

This will be the first Senior Summer Show in four years, and we are all excited.  

Cast auditions are on Thursday afternoon, children wanting to audition have been given a script and a song to learn. The cast will hopefully be announced on Friday.  

Pupils are aware that should they get a part in the show, they may be asked to attend after school rehearsals on a Tuesday from 3.15 – 4.15pm. More information in letters to follow

Pupils not wanting an ‘onstage’ role will apply to be part of a show committee which will help with scenery, props, technical issues, and advertising (designing tickets and programme for the show).  

Show dates are Tuesday 13th June (evening performance) and Wednesday 14th June (afternoon performance).  

Thank you for your support! 

Please check your child/children’s hair for any “unwanted visitors”. 

Thank You.

Mount Carmel Primary are taking part in the

NHS Recycle and Smile Scheme

We will be collecting all used toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes used in our daily infant department toothbrushing sessions. These will then be collected by the Childsmile team and taken for recycling. This will continue until the end of June.

Recycle and Smile FAQs Logo

In celebration of the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort, our pupils will take part in a dress down day with the children wearing red, white and blue (no football shirts please) or purple. As part of the celebration we will have a garden party for pupils as well as some other fun activities to complete in class.

This will take place on Friday 5th May. A reminder that the school will be closed on Monday 8th May.

We will be having a Non-Uniform day this Friday(28th April). Children can come to school in their own clothes ( no football strips etc). We are asking kindly for a £1 donation to be paid via Parentpay. This money goes towards the cost of our House Prize trips, without these donations we would be unable to have these special events for the children.

Children who take part in this activity will automatically receive an entry into our Raffle (which is also on Parentpay)

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!

Staff and pupils have recently been consulted on a proposed change to the time of the school break and lunch time.  We would now like to consult parents and carers on this too.  Please take some time to let us know your views on this.

Current Times: Break 10:30-10:45 Lunch 12:15-1:00

Proposed New Times: Break 10:40-10:55 Lunch 12:35-1:20

This change would mean that each part of the school day was 1hr and 40mins. This survey will close on Friday 21^st April.

Survey link – https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=oyzTzM4Wj0KVQTctawUZKSfaq0gQBRVMiVi0OskMkHZUM1RENEFNMk1UWVI5TFFEOTJYOVU4OEtPSi4u

Week 1 – w/c 24th April, 15th May, 5th and 26th June

Week 2 – w/c 1st, 22nd May and 12th June 

Week 3 – w/c 17th April, 8th and 29th May, 19th June 

Please feel free to download a copy of  The Clean Green Cookbook.

The aim of the document is to encourage pupils, staff, parents, community, anyone to reduce their food waste by using planet-friendly, low-energy recipes suitable for cooks of any ability.

clean-green-eco-cook-book

Staff and pupils have recently been consulted on a proposed change to the time of the school break and lunch time.  We would now like to consult parents and carers on this too.  Please take some time to let us know your views on this.

Current Times: Break 10:30-10:45 Lunch 12:15-1:00

Proposed New Times: Break 10:40-10:55 Lunch 12:35-1:20

This change would mean that each part of the school day was 1hr and 40mins. This survey will close on Friday 21^st April.

Survey link – https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=oyzTzM4Wj0KVQTctawUZKSfaq0gQBRVMiVi0OskMkHZUM1RENEFNMk1UWVI5TFFEOTJYOVU4OEtPSi4u