Hello and welcome to our term 4 blog post.  Primary 2 have been very busy over term 3 and have been busy 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 the effect punctuation has within texts, with a particular focus on speech. Pupils will then be able to identify this in our books as well as using some evidence of speech within our own 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 use of 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 addition and subtraction to early skills in multiplication and division, using our previous knowledge of fractions to help us with multiplication and division strategies. We will frequently revisit place value to help us as we continue to work with numbers to 99. Children will also consolidate learning in measure and begin to look at data handling and time as we progress through term 4.

Health & Wellbeing

Our Paths Pupil of the Day will continue in term 4, with our Pupil of the Day receiving lots of compliments.  Children will also tackle more comfortable and uncomfortable emotions and develop strategies for managing situations in the playground or classroom when we experience these emotions. This links to our whole school Paths strategies which help children to recognise when they need help to manage emotions or social situations.

In P.E, our sessions will take place on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 4 will be on athletics and striking and fielding games.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing general fitness, whilst developing 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 and worship and routines of the church.  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.

Homework

Homework will be sent out weekly on a Monday as normal. Please check your child’s homework bag for the homework to be completed that week.  Reading books will be attached to pupils’ accounts through our online Bug Club reading programme. These will be issued on a Monday and should be returned to school on a 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

Hello and welcome to our Term 4 curriculum update. With another busy term ahead of us again as begin to prepare our children for their transition to primary 4 within the upper school.

Literacy

Our focus in term 3 was developing our understanding of literal and inferential comprehension using the ‘Find It, Prove It, Talk about It’ strategies. This will continue to be a focus in Term 4 so the children can discuss and write responses to questions linking to their reading/topic book. Alongside this,  spelling activities where children will continue to work individually and in groups to revisit previous sounds and texts, using their skills and strategies to tackle new and unfamiliar spelling sounds and reading books.

We will continue to focus more on the Romans in term 4 and the children will be finding specific information and working on recognising different parts of texts ‘pictures, diagrams, charts and headings) and how to scan and locate related key words or facts in texts. Pupils will be continuing to focus on punctuation and why commas and exclamation marks have an impact on how a text is read.

In writing, we will be finishing our narrative story book and start our report writing through the Romans. We will also continue to revisit listening and talking games and activities to help children develop key skills needed in whole class group discussions and sharing information in a topic presentation. Also, Show and Tell will start again in Term 4 to give the children the opportunity to share an  item from home.

Numeracy

In term 3, our focus has been looking at multiplication. The children have been mentally counting in 2, 5 and 10, then using this repeated addition strategy to apply to the other times tables.  Within multiplication there has been a variety of hands on activities for the children to use and visually see the pattern of these tables form through using a variety of different materials such as, Numicon pegs and boards, Numicon number lines etc. In term 4 we will be revisiting the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times table to retain our knowledge and use this knowledge to understand the inverse calculation for division which will tie in with fractions.

Beyond Number

In beyond number the focus was, how to tell the time using hours and minutes and will use concrete materials which will promote a deeper understanding so the children know how to use analogue and digital time. In term 4 the focus will be mini topics, which will cover, data handling, angles and area. Children will continue using their ‘Thinking it through’ jotters to develop problem solving skills, applying knowledge of number to new contexts and develop strategies for 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, and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others and learning how to control them. As well as looking at different strategies that we can do to help manage our feelings and control our breathing through ‘Do be Mindful’ activities.

In P.E, our sessions will continue to take place on a Tuesday and a Thursday and our focus this term will be athletics, striking and fielding games. Children will continue to use their transferrable skills in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst continuing to develop their knowledge of how we keep in our body healthy with fitness and nutrition.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be ‘Our Lady’ our mother and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and lives of others.

Topic

The children will be participating in activities in different areas of the curriculum including social studies for The Romans and their impact in Scotland. The children will have the opportunity to look at different aspects of Roman Society, Roman Gods and the Roman invasion in Britain. We will look at Roman inventions considered ahead of their time, such as bath houses, under floor pipes for water supplies, heating and sanitation.  In our science topic we will look at materials with a focus on dissolving. Pupils will research dissolving and make predictions about substances that dissolve in water, looking at hot water can impact on substances through changing their state or what they look like.

We hope this will be a successful term 4 and the children have enjoyed their Easter break.

Thank you,

Miss Grimley

The virtual Parent Council Meeting will now take place on Tuesday 30th April at 6.30pm. If you require a joining link for the meeting please contact the parent council on:

mcparentcouncil@gmail.com 

We are pleased to update you that the fault with our main phone line – 01563 525897 has been repaired and it is now working.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

We are pleased to be able to offer our Primary 6 pupils Level 1 Bikeability Training.  For children to participate they must have their own bike and helmet and these items cannot be shared.

A bike check will take place on Monday 13th May. Children should bring their bike and helmet to school on this day. Mr Bertoncini will provide details of any items that require to be repaired for the bike and helmet.

The children will then take part in 2 days of Bikeability Training which will include theory and practical work.

Children should again bring their bikes to school on Tuesday 21st May and Wednesday 29th May. Appropriate clothing should be worn for taking part in outdoor activities.

Please find attached the minutes from our most recent Parent Council Meeting which took place on 5/3/24:

Parents & Friends of Mount Carmel – Meeting mInutes 5.3.24

It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of our much loved Fr Martin.

He was and will forever be a special part of our family.

Mrs Fergusson

A letter was given out to P3-5 pupils regarding the above club. The club will run from 3-4pm from Wednesday 8th May until Wednesday 5th June(dates inclusive).

If your child wishes to attend then please return your permission slip asap as there are now only 7 place remaining.

Our Primary 5-7 pupils  will be issued with  a  leaflet today with   details to access their own age appropriate section of the Safer Schools Scotland App. Please check bags for this.

Please assist your child to log in using the dedicated QR and entry code on the leaflet, ensuring  they download the correct version to their phone.

Thank you

A reminder that on Thursday we will be holding an Easter Bonnet parade.

Please note, if your child wishes to make an Easter Bonnet for the parade this should be done at home and brought into school with them on Thursday.

We are delighted to be sitting 3rd on the East Ayrshire WOW Tracker Leader board.

Keep up the good work Mount Carmel!

Please note the following changes to the lunch menu for the last two days of term:

Wednesday 27th March- There will be a special of cheese toasties.

Thursday 28th March- There will be beans on toast instead of Baked potato and beans. 

A reminder that this Wednesday night  is our Spring Disco!

Please remember to bring money and ticket (completed with collection details on the reverse) with you on the night as access will not be permitted without this.

Thank you.

The school will close for the Easter Break at 2.30pm this Thursday. Children who access taxis will be collected at 2pm.

The school reopens for pupils and staff at 9am on Monday 15th April.

Keep an eye on your child’s Learning Journal page for updates on the exciting activities that each class have been enjoying over the last few weeks.

This week is the last week of homework before the Easter Break.

Monty Bear has been travelling round our local nurseries and meeting all the boys and girls who are going to be joining our Mount Carmel family in August!

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Please use the link below to find out what’s on during the Spring break:

https://events.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/events/

On Tuesday 26th March, Childsmile will be visiting the school to carry out flouride varnishing with the Primaries 1-4.