Primary 7 Term 3

Happy New Year! We hope all our Primary 7 families had a restful and joyful holiday. It’s great to have the pupils back in school, we can’t believe we’re in Term 3 already. Many children will be looking forward to their Primary 7 residential to Lockerbie in February. We can’t wait for more learning this term and more preparation for moving to Secondary.

Literacy

Reading – We start Term 3 listening and responding to Scots poetry, songs and stories. P7 will look in depth at the Scots poem ‘The Auld Broon Troot’ by Sandy Thomas Ross and some pupils will recite this at our Scots Assembly later in January.  through our WW2 IDL topic we will be focussing on non-fiction reading skills; notetaking, summarising, topic specific vocabulary and finding the main idea.

Talking and Listening – This will also be taught through Scot’s language with the children also developing their presentation skills as part of this learning. St Joseph’s currently have big focus on quality talking and listening and questioning. In preparation for S1 this will also be our focus in Term 3. Pupils will be taught to not just listen but respond or respectfully challenge each other’s ideas and opinions.

Spelling – The spelling groups will continue to experience the Active Literacy spelling program; this will introduce common words and focus phonemes pertinent to their level and stage. Most P7 will focus on including varied punctuation in their writing.

Writing – At the start of the term Primary 7 will experience writing in Scots using the Scots word kist. This term the focus writing genres are report and recount writing. These genres will be modelled and taught through our IDL WW2. Pupils will read chronological reports and identify features before writing their own. We will then read recounts from people who lived through WW2 and use this to write our own recounts. P7 will also have opportunities to write across the curriculum. There are two focussed handwriting lessons per week.

Numeracy

We will continue with the use of number talks which helps to encourage different learners to use and understand different strategies. The children show an excellent understanding of the strategies taught so far and are always eager to share their understanding with their peers.

Mrs Terras will concentrate on the core number processes and will concentrate on all four operations within whole number and decimals. Links will be made with money and finance. There will be a focus on learning multiplication tables as these permeate all other areas of Numeracy at second level and beyond. Some pupils will experience 3^rd level Numeracy skills through extension and challenge tasks.

Mrs Canning continues to teach the Beyond Number topics and will start the term refreshing knowledge of Data Handling and then will move onto Time.

Health and Wellbeing

Our P.E. days are Wednesday and Friday and pupils are required to have a full change on these days. The focus for P.E. this term will be gymnastics and fitness.

Primary 7 participate in mindfulness after lunch every day, this settles them for learning and teaching in the afternoons.

Our PATHS programme will continue to help the children to develop positive relationships within the class and school. Delving into the emotions that the children feel will help them to understand why they are feeling this way as well as giving them the tools to cope with these emotions.

Our core health and wellbeing teaching will focus on food and health. Through this topic Primary 7 will understand about different nutritional needs and that some people may eat or avoid certain foods. They will also discuss the important of cleanliness, hygiene and safety and apply these principles to their everyday lives.

IDL

As P7 move to Secondary, they often begin to explore more complex topics in history, including World War II. This period in history is full of fascinating stories of courage, resilience and community. It can also involve themes that can be upsetting, such as conflict, loss and evacuation. Our WW2 IDL will be taught in ways appropriate for the children’s age.

At Primary 7 the focus of our IDL will be on:

• Daily Life on the Home front during the war: evacuation, rationing, school life and family routines
• How the WW2 changed jobs, skills and workers’ rights, and how that still affects work in 2025.
• Personal stories: Letters, diaries, and recounts from children who lived through the war.

Primary 7 will have the opportunity to lead and plan their IDL by giving suggestions about what they would like to learn more about during this period of history.

Spanish

Mrs Canning will lead a block of Spanish lessons on a Monday. Primary 7 will learn basic greeting, colours and numbers in Spanish and finish the block with focus on Salvador Dali.

Science/Technologies

Mrs Canning continues to lead Science in Primary 7 and will learn about Separation, the properties and use of water. Lessons will be practical and hands on.

Primary 7 are excellent at using Chromebooks to enhance their learning. Primary 7 will learn how to organise emails to make their inboxes efficient. They will also continue to uplevel their skills in using MS Office apps. Primary 7 are reminded about the appropriate use of digital technology both in and out of school and to have the confidence to speak out of they witness cyberbullying.

Expressive Arts

Expressive Arts will be mainly taught through the WW2 IDL

Music – Primary 7 will listen and learn to sing wartime songs and discuss how music supported morale through the war years.

Art – Pupils will create persuasive propaganda posters and continue with their stitching skills by stitching their own ration books. Mrs Canning will also be lead lessons on the Spanish artist Salvador Dali.

Drama – Focus will be on Freeze-frames of home-front scenes, role-play evacuee experiences and hot-seat characters from different viewpoints.

RME

P7 will finish collecting their final pieces of evidence for their Pope Francis Faith Award. Parish commendations have been sent to SCES and Primary 7 teachers in the cluster will be reviewing the PFFA journals at the end of February and awarding pupils accordingly. Pupils will continue to develop their understanding of the liturgical calendar, exploring key events and celebrations. In Term 3 P7 will look at what life was like for Jesus, the history of Judaism and explore The Ten Commandments.

UNCRC

As a school we are working towards our Rights Respecting Schools Silver Award. We will review the Class Charter from Term 2 and adapt if required. A focus this term will be on quality listening and talking and respecting others’ views and opinions.

As a school community 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.

Linking in with the Class Charter, Primary 7 enjoy using the Reward card system however we feel it needs a refresher. Primary 7 will have opportunity at the start of Term 3 to share how they would like to use the Reward card system and gain reward cards.

Learner Journals

Pupils will continue to Learner Journals to reflect on their progress and celebrate achievements. We encourage parents and carers to login to Learner Journals as it provides a valuable link between home and school.

Personal Target Setting

This term, pupils will reflect on their Term 2 targets and focus on setting their own personal targets for Term 3. They will reflect on their strengths, identify areas to improve on, and create achievable goals. Regular check ins will help them track progress, celebrate successes and develop confidence and responsibility in their learning journey.

Thank you for all your support,

Mrs Terras and Mrs Canning