If you are unable to complete the questionnaire online please contact the school for a paper copy.
Parent/Carer Homework Questionnaire
Following on from last years Homework Survey we would like to gather your thoughts on our current homework provision. Your views will help to shape our future homework provision. This survey will close at midnight on Tuesday 16th November and it should take around 5 minutes to complete.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to this.
Parent’s Evening Appointment Letters
Parent Council Updates
The next meeting of the Parent Council will be as follows:
Tuesday 23rd November @7pm
This meeting will take place online as are all PC meetings at present due to current restrictions.
You can access the meeting using the following link: meet.google.com/pfe-dxyt-jar
If you wish to discuss the role of the Parent Council you can contact them on: mcparentcouncil@gmail.com
Netball Club
Parents Evening Telephone Appointments
Mount Carmel Uniform Exchange
In our effort to reduce, reuse and recycle, we welcome you to take advantage of our school’s “Uniform Exchange”, where we have a large resource of good quality used uniform which is available to any family who needs it, completely free!
Whether your child/children need shirts, polo shirts, skirts, trousers, pinafores, shoes or jackets, we have items to fit all ages.
Due to current restrictions it is not possible to come into the school to visit the Uniform Exchange, so should you be interested in /require any items please get in touch with the school office who will be happy to assist.
Pupil Flu Immunisations
Pupil Photographs
Children In Need
If you can, please donate to Children In Need using the link below….don’t forget to click the Gift Aid box at the top of the form, thanks.
https://app.parentpay.com/ParentPayShop/Foc/Default.aspx?shopid=4642
Dyslexia Awareness Week
Festive Calendars 2021
P5-7 Community Fun Fitness Club
P4/5 Basketball
Children In Need
The pupils will be participating in Children in Need again this year. This will be on Friday 19th November. More details to follow…..
This year instead of donations through Parentpay, we have a direct link to BBC Children In Need for parents/carers to donate to:
https://app.parentpay.com/ParentPayShop/Foc/Default.aspx?shopid=4642
No P.E on Friday 5th November
There will be no P.E this Friday (5th November) for any of the classes, as the Tempest photographer will be in the school taking pupil photographs. Please can children come to school wearing school uniform.
East Ayrshire School Counselling Newsletter
Here is the link to the latest newsletter:
East Ayrshire School Counselling Service Newsletter (office.com)
Our Lucky Cat
Hallowe’en Raffle Winners
November Newsletter
November Newsletter
Today the children have been having a fantastic day in school taking part in our Hallowe’en activities. Thank you for purchasing raffle tickets for our Hallowe’en Trick or Treat bags. From this we have raised £180 which will go towards purchasing items for our Christmas crafts.
We have lots of exciting activities planned for November, please read on to find out some more.
School Photographs
This will take place on Friday 5th November. All children will be photographed and family pictures for children in school will also be taken. Please complete the slip sent home this week and return to school ASAP.
Class Videos
This term each class will issue a class video shoeing some of the things that children have been taking part in. This video will be password protected with a text sent with password details to the main contact in school. If you do not wish your child to be included in this then please contact the school directly or via the contact us form on the school website.
Sports Leadership Sessions
Our Active Schools link Mark Devlin will complete Sports Leadership activities with our Primary 5 and 6 children. This will begin on Wednesday 17th November for 4 weeks.
Children in Need
Children in Need takes place on Friday 19th November. We are aware that this is an expensive time of the year, we are asking for a £1 donation if you are able to. This will be available on ParentPay closer to the time. The children will take part in a special activity afternoon.
Parents/Carers Appointments
Due to ongoing restrictions parents/carers will again take place via phonecall. These will take place between Monday 22nd November and Friday 26th November. A letter will be sent home next week with further details for each class.
Book Week Scotland Gifting Event
Primary 1- 3 will have a special afternoon of activities for this on Wednesday 24th November. Children in Primary 1-3 can come to school dressed in their pyjamas on this day. Primary 1 will receive a Bookbug bag, Primary 2 and 3 will receive a Read Write Count bag.
Class Calendar
We will again be offering a class calendar for sale, more details to follow for this.
Christmas Crafts
Each child will be creating a Christmas craft again this year. Funds raised from this will go towards school funds.
Christmas Events
Each class will attend an Advent services at the Church – date to be confirmed.
Monday 29th November | Reverse advent calendar begins until Friday 17th December. More information to follow. |
Wednesday 8th December | Christmas Lunch |
Thursday 9th December | House Prize – Movie and Christmas cooking with Stephanie |
Friday 10th December | Christmas Jumper Day
|
Monday 13th – Friday 17th December | Christmas Parties – dates to follow. |
Friday 17th December | Christmas Nativity to be available for parents/carers |
Monday 20th December | Christmas craft items to be sent home this week with all children.
Outdoor Care Home visit for all classes – Christmas songs, cards and posters
|
Tuesday 21st December | Christmas Movie Day |
Wednesday 22nd December | Pyjama Day
2:30pm finish |
Handball Community Club
An exciting opportunity for pupils to take part in Handball.
HANDBALL COMMUNITY CLUB
PRIMARY:P5-7 boys & girls
DAY: Tuesday
TIME: 5pm-6pm
VENUE: St Joseph’s Leisure Centre (games hall)
DATES: 26th Oct to 14th Dec
COST: Free
REGISTER HERE USING SMARTSURVEY BELOW:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Handballclub/
*Maximum 30 places – this is due to restrictions based on COVID 19*
Please only attend if you have registered a place. For more information please email: mark.devlin@east-ayrshire.gov.uk
Primary 6 – Term 2 Update
Primary 6 Term 2 Blog Post
Welcome to term 2, I hope everyone enjoyed their October week and had a chance to unwind after all of our super hard work during term 1! Term 1 has been a great start for Primary 6, class routines have been established, a positive working environment has been created, and expectations have been set for a successful year ahead.
Below is an overview of the learning and teaching taking place in P6 this term.
Literacy
Reading
In term 2, after finishing off our class novel ‘Wonder’ we will begin to work on Bug club books. Independent books will be assigned for children to read at home for enjoyment and books will be set for each reading group to work on in class. Daily reading tasks will be set for groups to complete independently after a reading input with the teacher and these tasks will be focused around our active literacy skills. In Primary 6 we have begun to quote from the text to back up our opinion, Primary 6 have made an exceptional start at this, and this is something we will continue to master throughout the school year. During our new topic – Titanic – we will begin to focus on reading and gathering information from various different types of texts, for example, biographies, newspaper articles, primary and secondary sources etc. I believe Primary 6 will enjoy this aspect of the topic and will hit the ground running with it.
Writing
Our writing day will be a Tuesday. The pupils will have the opportunity to discuss and plan their writing the day before and will be encouraged to take time at home as a homework task to think about the content of their writing. This term Primary 6 will be focussing on Persuasive writing. The pupils will use the OREO (Opinion, Reason, Example, Opinion) framework to structure their writing. Primary 6 will focus a different aspect of grammar/punctuation each week with the expectation they use this in their formal writing. Some pupils will be expected to up-level their writing by using tools such as thesauri and the VCOP pyramid.
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. The pupils will work on the Active Spelling strategies, these include diacritical marking, syllabification and words within words as daily spelling tasks and have a spelling test each week on a Friday morning.
Numeracy
This term P6 will focus on The Four Operations (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division) and our Beyond Number topics will be to continue with Angles and Symmetry and Data Handling. The pupils will experience activities at their stage and level. Constant revision of multiplication tables will be encouraged across all groups. Sumdog and Topmarks games can help with the rigor of times tables at home.
Health and Wellbeing
Last term, through our ‘Wonder’ novel we focused on friendships, changing relationships and choosing kindness. This term, some Primary 6’s will have the opportunity to become Barnardo Buddies, which those who applied have already interviewed for, introducing them to the world of work. This will be a great opportunity and experience and will allow Primary 6 to develop their leadership skills. Moreover, they will be able to put their PATHS control strategies into place, modelling these to the lower school through teaching and playing playground games with them and helping to sort any conflict. We will begin a Health and Wellbeing topic looking at food and a healthy diet, discussing the choices we make. P6 will continue to engage in our weekly PATHS lessons and be encouraged to use their ‘check in’ cards and feeling jotters to report any worries or concerns they may have to the teacher. The ‘Pupil of the Day’ is up and running. This year we are complementing each other based on each other’s skills and talents.
Our PE days this term will be on a Wednesday and a Thursday. Our Wednesday sessions will be led by Kilmarnock Sports College in the morning until the 10th of November. Following on from this, from the 17th of November for the next four weeks PE will be in the form of Sport’s leadership sessions lead by Mark Devlin. Pupils are asked to come dressed for PE on these days – school uniform on top but leggings, joggers, trainers can be worn on the bottom. The focus in PE this term is football on Thursday and gymnastics on a Friday.
Expressive Arts
Through our class topic P6 will have the opportunity to experience a range of activities in Drama and Art pertinent to their level and stage. P6 especially enjoyed ‘Hot seating’ in drama last term which involves putting themselves in the headspace of a character and answering questions from their classmates as that character. This is something we will take forward in term 2, putting ourselves in the shoes of those aboard the Titanic.
RME
Throughout Primary 6 the pupils will listen to and engage with stories from the Gospel of Matthew. This term P6 will look at special dates in the liturgical calendar such as All Saints and All Souls Day. P6 will choose a Saint to research and present to the class. Moreover, we will enjoy 2-3 weekly visits from The Sisters to work with the children on mass responses and prayer.
2+1 Languages
This term, Primary 6 will be working on French as their main language and also some Spanish. So far in term 2, Primary 6 enjoyed working on a group task where they identified which countries spoke French around the world using maps. Moreover, pupils learned about the origin, meaning and typical traditions of Mexican celebration ‘El Dia de los Muertos’ (Day of the Dead) and produced some wonderful art work based on their learning.
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. Throughout term 1 many children achieved five reward cards and enjoyed an individual reward as a result of this, I have no doubt this will continue in Term 2 and we can hopefully work towards a class reward together.
If you have any queries or questions, please contact the school directly.
Thank you for your support and I look forward to a wonderful year in Primary 6.
Miss McKenna
Primary 4 Term 2 update
Primary 4 – Term 2
Primary 4 have worked extremely hard last term with lots of excellent learning taking place. They have settled well into their new classroom and routines. I am very proud of how they have adapted to the changes that they have experienced since P3. Here is an update of what is coming in the term ahead.
IDL
We will continue with our interdisciplinary topic of the rainforest. The children are really engaged in this topic and due to the excellent questions that they have had regarding this topic, we will continue learning about the rainforest (with a particular focus on the Amazon Rainforest) until the end of December. This term our learning will focus more on the climate change occurring as a result of deforestation and how this is affecting everything from the animals who live in the rainforest, to the melting ice caps in the arctic.
Literacy
The children are now excellent at accessing their reading texts both with a hard copy of their book as well as bug club when we get the opportunity in the ICT suite. We will continue to use our word attack strategies to help us decode new words, which will help build our confidence when presented with unfamiliar words. There will also be a focus on reading with expression and fluency. This can be encouraged at home when the children are reading anything at all. It’s all about confidence!
Through our writing activities, it has become apparent that the children need lots more practise in their tools for writing. This includes the use of capital letters and full stops as well as neat handwriting. The children will also be encouraged to use their spelling helpers to help them in writing words that they are unsure of. Encourage your child to ‘have a go’ when it comes to spelling. We know in Primary 4 that mistakes help us to learn.
We have also started using description bubbles when we are completing a piece of writing and some of the vocabulary that the children are coming up with is excellent. This ability to describe things in detail will help them in our new focus for this term of narrative writing. We will be looking at the structure of a story and what our criteria is to achieve success.
Our listening and talking focus will continue to be following instructions within school. We will also look at what an appropriate level of noise is for the classroom, playground and gym hall. The children will be encouraged to develop positive body language and eye contact whilst having discussions with their peers. This has not changed from last term as I do not feel that the children are fully achieving this target quite yet. That being said, their ability to discuss and explain different things is definitely improving. It is evident in our discussions during PATHS time as well as their explanations during number talks time that they are maturing and this is a skill that will develop with practise.
Numeracy
I am so impressed with the class in terms of numeracy. We have had a visiting teacher from the Scottish Attainment Challenge in our class 3 times per week for a few weeks and the children have completely engaged with her in terms of their learning. This term, we will be looking at estimating and rounding of numbers whilst using our knowledge of place value. In terms of our number operations, we will be concentrating on addition and subtraction whilst continuing to practise our time tables.
Another concept that has been introduced to the children is number talks. This concept teaches children how to solve calculations using different strategies. This enables children to have ownership of their own learning by using the strategies that suit them best to solve calculations. This will be something that benefits the children as they make their way through the school.
In terms of our beyond number topics, Mrs MacKinnon will be teaching the children about money and how they should be using this. They will be concentrating on recognising and using money up to the value of £20 and the vocabulary that accompanies this topic. Mrs McCreadie will continue to look at time with the children. We will focus on o’clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past in both digital and analogue time.
Health and Wellbeing
Our P.E days are currently a Tuesday and a Thursday. The children can wear comfortable bottoms on these days but should bring indoor shoes into school on these days.
The children will be learning the skills required to play football and badminton this term, as well as looking at dance nearer to the Christmas term.
Primary 4 already partake in mindfulness every day. This allows the children to find a 5 minute quiet time in the middle of a very busy day. The children have been introduced to the massage in schools programme and all said it made them feel calmer and more relaxed. Different strategies will be developed throughout the year which will empower children to deal with stresses that they encounter in their day to day lives.
As part of our PATHS lessons, we will also be encouraging and nurturing positive relationships within the class and school. This is with peers and adults alike. Manners are a must as well as respect. We will explore what makes a good friend and what strategies we can build upon to help us with our resilience and help us regulate our emotions. The children explore the emotions that they feel and there is a focus on all emotions being ok, it is their behaviour that is sometimes unacceptable.
R.E
This term is extremely important in terms of the children’s faith journey. Many of our children will be making their Sacrament of Reconciliation during Advent. If your child is making this Sacrament then keep a look out for information and work to be completed at home. If your child is not making the Sacrament, then it is important that they come along on our journey and learn about why different religions have different ceremonies.
Expressive Arts
Art – Our focus within art will be tone, shape and shade of colours. The children have already been introduced to the word ‘texture’ during our description time at writing but they will explore this during art too.
Music – Primary 4 will be introduced to different instruments that are used to create different moods and genres of music.
Drama – Drama will continue to be looked at through our PATHS lessons in the form of role play.
Dance – Dance will be a focus during our P.E. time closer to Christmas.
I.C.T
As our independence continues to develop in Primary 4, so does our ability to use IT equipment. Our focus in Primary 4 this term will be to continue using our skills we have so far (practise at logging in etc) as this encourages independence. The children are also at an age now where some of them are going online without adult supervision (playing with their friends online etc) and it is therefore important that they know how to keep themselves safe whilst they are online. A focus on internet safety for the foreseeable will allow discussion and scenarios to be used in teaching the children how to keep themselves and their information safe while they use the internet.
Modern Languages
Primary 4 will continue their French this term with Mrs MacKinnon. To begin with, the children will revise previous learning to refresh their memory on greetings, counting etc before they move onto new learning.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all. I am thoroughly enjoying being the Primary 4 teacher this year and I am loving getting to know your children. They are all wonderful. Speak to you all soon in our telephone appointments.
Take care and stay safe,
Mrs McCreadie
Primary 1 Curriculum Overview Term 2
Primary 1 Curriculum Overview Term 2 2021
Welcome back to the Primary 1 blog. Here you will find out what Primary 1 will be learning about this term as they continue to grow as learners and as individuals.
Literacy
Primary 1 worked very hard last term to develop their phonological awareness. They have used this new knowledge to support them as they began to learn some of the initial sounds. Primary 1 will continue to learn two new sounds every week until they have learned all initial sounds (26). As Primary 1 grow in confidence, recognising and identifying initial sounds they will use this knowledge to word build. In addition to this, Primary 1 will be learning new common words every week alongside the initial sounds. Primary 1 will have lots of opportunities to practise each new sound and common words in a range of active ways in line with the Active Literacy approach to learning. As Primary 1 become more confident when word building and recognising common words they will focus on using these words to build simple sentences as well as apply this knowledge to read worded texts.
Primary 1 will focus on developing their word attack strategies as they develop their reading and writing skills. As Primary 1 begin to access worded texts, they will also begin to develop their prediction skills. They will look closely at their new reading books each week and make simple predictions (orally) about what they think their book will be about. This will help to deepen their understanding of each text as well as begin to develop their comprehension skills. In addition to this, Primary 1 will develop their sequencing and visualisation skills. They will listen to a range of traditional stories including Goldilocks and the Three Bears and they will have opportunities to role play the stories to ensure correct sequence before they independently sequence the story.
In writing, Primary 1 will focus on descriptive writing. The children will describe familiar objects before moving on to describe characters from known stories. Primary 1 will use the descriptive bubble to support this learning. The children will begin to describe orally. They will then focus on creating detailed drawings of objects and characters before attempting to write descriptions.
Primary 1 will continue to develop their talking and listening skills; understanding when to listen and when to respond, taking turns and communicating with others. They will also continue to develop their fine motor skills and pincer grip which will enable them to write their names independently as well as form letters and numbers in the correct way.
Numeracy and Mathematics
Numeracy – This term, Primary 1 will have lots of opportunities to practise and consolidate their knowledge of numbers to 10 as well as quantities to 10 in a range of different ways. As Primary 1 become more confident when comparing quantities, they will now think about “more” and “less”. In addition to this, Primary 1 will begin to learn about the concept of addition within 10. They will have the opportunity to use a range of concrete resources to develop their understanding of this new concept before moving towards applying their knowledge mentally. Primary 1 will have the opportunity to apply their learning through daily number talks.
Mathematics – Primary 1 will continue to develop their information handling skills this term. They will also gain an understanding of money through their shops and shopping topic. Primary 1 will learn to identify coins as well as understand that each coin represents a different value. As the children become more confident, they will have many opportunities for challenge by adding to find totals. Primary 1 will have the opportunity to put their new knowledge about money into practice as they role play in their very own shop. Primary 1 will also touch upon the concept of position and movement in term 2 as part of their fairy tales topic. The children will use their new knowledge of sequencing when undertaking this new learning. The children will also access coding software and use Spheros to apply their knowledge of position and movement.
Health and Wellbeing
Primary 1 will continue to develop their social and emotional skills through our whole school PATHS programme. The children continue to enjoy engaging with the puppets and love it when they visit our classroom. Primary 1 love giving and receiving compliments each day as part of “Pupil of the Day”. Primary 1 will continue to learn about their emotions through a range of activities and stories based around the PATHS puppets. The children in Primary 1 continue to engage enthusiastically with this programme.
Physical Education
This term Primary 1 will focus on developing their large and small ball skills including skills related to playing football. In addition to this, Primary 1 will have the opportunity to develop their social dancing skills in preparation for their class Christmas party. They will learn dances such as The Grand Old Duke Of York. Primary 1 will, as always, complete all physical activities with safety at the forefront. At the moment, one PE session takes place outdoors (Monday) whilst the second session takes place indoors (Thursday).
P.E. days will continue to be Monday and Thursday. Please ensure your child comes to school dressed appropriately with either joggers or leggings and trainers as well as their school jumper on Monday for the outdoor session. Your child should come to school on full uniform on Thursday ensuring they have appropriate indoor gym shoes to change into for their indoor session. Please ensure all earrings are removed and kept at home on both P.E. days.
Religious Education
As November is the month of Remembrance, Primary 1 will learn about different saints including St. Andrew. The children will listen to stories from the Bible that will teach them about love and the importance of praying for loved ones as well as people who have died. Throughout December, Primary 1 will learn about the birth of Jesus. The children will learn how Advent helps us to prepare for the celebration of Christmas. Primary 1 will participate in daily prayers around the crib as well as light the Advent candles at the appropriate time. During Advent, Primary 1 will be reminded of the importance of showing kindness and love during this time.
IDL
This term, Primary 1 will continue to make lots of links across their learning through their Fairyland topic. They have already enjoyed learning different traditional tales and have had opportunities to apply their knowledge through a range of related science, expressive arts and HWB activities. Primary 1 will also learn about different shops and different jobs associated with shops through their shops and shopping topic. They will develop their understanding of money through this topic. Primary 1 will set up their own shop which will enable them to apply their new knowledge of shops and money. In addition to this, as we approach the Christmas period, Primary 1 will think about how Christmas is celebrated in their local community as well as learn about Christmas traditions around the world. Primary 1 will also participate in the Christmas nativity. They will collaborate with the children in Primary 2 and 3 during this time. Primary 1 will develop many drama and music-based skills as they prepare their nativity performance.
Reminder
If your child has not already done so, please ensure that your child brings in appropriate outdoor learning clothes. This will allow your child to fully engage with any outdoor learning experiences.
Please ensure that you write your child’s name on any items of clothing they may take off throughout the school day, eg. jumpers. This will help to ensure your child doesn’t lose any items of clothing.
Thank you for visiting the Primary 1 blog, keep a look out for any further updates as term 2 progresses!
Thank you,
Mrs Dunsmore.
Primary 1/2 Curricular Update – Term 2
I hope you all had a relaxing October break and are ready to embark on the forthcoming Hallowe’en and Festive celebrations!! We are certainly ready for another busy term of learning in Primary 1/2, while still managing to get caught up in the fun and excitement of the Christmas term.
Literacy
Primary 2
In phonics we will continue with our joined phonemes (2 letter sounds) and become more confident in reading and writing these.
As we learn new common words, spelling will continue to be an important focus for us to ensure we can develop our independent writing skills.
We are working our way through the Bug Club texts, appropriate to our stage of learning. Please continue to login to these as required for our homework tasks. If there is any issue with logging on, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
During this term, we will focus on our word attack skills using our phonics knowledge and we will be developing our understanding of texts by answering literal questions. We will also be deepening our prediction skills by using the title, blurb and illustrations to justify our responses.
Primary 1
This term we will be continuing to practise our letter formation and pencil control skills to ensure we can write the letters we have been learning.
Now that we know some of the sounds the letters of the alphabet make, we will be “blending” these together to make words. These words will help us with our reading and writing tasks.
In writing, we will continue to describe people and objects, orally and pictorially focusing on colour, shape and size.
In reading we will be predicting what a text is about using the title, front cover and blurb. We will also be sequencing parts of the story in the correct order to check our understanding.
Numeracy
Counting will always be a focus in P1/2, ensuring we can count on and back from any number to give us the fluidity needed for mental addition and subtraction.
Primary 2
Our main focus this term will be addition within 10 and 20. Some children will be exploring the number stories (facts) to 20 including the tricky skill of “bridging” 10!
Within addition we will think about the mental strategies we use to answer calculations including counting on, doubles and near doubles.
Primary 1
Now that we have explored the numbers to 10 fully and have looked at “more” and “less”, we will be focusing on the concept of addition. We will begin by combining two quantities and understanding that when you do this, the quantity gets bigger. This will lead us on to learning our number stories, where we learn the different ways to “make” our numbers to 10. These number stories (or facts) are the building blocks to which all the other number processes are built upon, so we will spend a lot of time on these, ensuring they are well embedded before moving on.
Writing numbers can be tricky, so number formation will also remain a focus.
As a class we will also be exploring the properties of 2D and 3D shape, identifying the different types of shapes and describing them in relation to their number of faces, edges, corners etc.
We will also begin to look at the many aspects of “Time”. We already start each morning by looking at the days of the week and finding the date on our calendar, but we will also be learning the sequence of the months and their corresponding seasons. We will start to look at telling the time (on the hour and half past) using digital and analogue clocks as the topic progresses.
Health & Well-Being
We continue on with our PATHS programme by reflecting on the emotions we have been exploring and learning of ways to manage these. Our favourite PATHS puppet, Twiggle, will be helping us with this as he shows us how to do “Turtle”, giving us a strategy to calm ourselves when things get a bit too much.
Friendships continue to be a general focus and we will also be considering the importance of our mental health and who we can ask for help.
In PE we will begin our first of two blocks of gymnastics. The main focus for this block will be to develop our skills in travelling, jumping and rolling. During outdoor PE, the focus will be football, developing passing and receiving skills.
In preparation for the social event of the year (the Mount Carmel Christmas Party!!) the children will also be learning social dancing.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO TAKE EARRINGS OUT FOR GYM DAYS ON MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS.
RE
We have been learning about the importance of the bible in RE and have already read the story of “Creation”. We will continue to thank God for giving us a world of natural beauty and think about what we can do to help look after it.
Throughout November our theme will be remembrance. We will learn what it means to be a saint, before exploring the lives of St Andrew and St Francis of Assisi.
As December arrives, we will celebrate advent together, preparing for the birth of Jesus by showing love and kindness to those around us as much as we possibly can. We will be exploring the story of the nativity through songs, role play and craft activities.
Inter-disciplinary Learning (Topic)
Our topic for the term ahead is Forces and Electricity. We will learn what a force is before exploring “push” and “pull”. Magnetic force will also be introduced and we will be experimenting with magnets and magnetic materials.
To develop our understanding of electricity, we will consider the items we use which need a power source to work. We will identify those which use a battery or mains electricity and will have the chance to construct a simple circuit.
We will consider the ways in which we can conserve energy and make power last longer.
Expressive Arts
Our art, music and drama work this term will be centred around the Christmas Nativity.
Thank you for your continued support.
Mrs Duff
P2/3 New Term Blog Update (27/10/01)
Hello and welcome to our second blog post of the session. Primary 2/3 have been very busy, working hard within their groups and following the new routines and class rules we have in place in class. We had a fabulous first term and the children are eager and keen to begin their new topics in our new term.
Literacy
Our class novel has been ‘The Enchanted Wood’ during term 1 and this has been well received by the children. We will continue to read this novel in class and will also read the follow-on books from the Magic Faraway Tree series. This will be for fun and to keep the excitement and enjoyment of our first text going over the coming term.
Our reading and spelling activities are continuing to be enjoyed and worked on in class, at various times throughout the week. Children are using a mixture of practical, hands on activities such as play dough, salt trays, stencils and chalk boards to practice their spelling words but are also employing strategies such as ‘rainbow spell’ and ‘pyramid spell’ to reinforce their spelling knowledge at home and in class. We are using the Active Literacy phoneme stories and word building applications to help us recognise our spelling sound and words in texts we are accessing.
In reading we will continue to work on prediction but the focus will switch to sequencing and ordering events within the text, such as beginning, middle and end and what happen first, next and last in our texts throughout this term. Our focus in writing has been descriptive writing, and this will continue this term, as well as giving the children opportunities to write scientific reports, based on findings from the experiments we carry out during out topic of ‘Energy Around Us’.
Just a reminder that homework will continue to be sent out weekly on a Monday, so please check your children’s bags for their plastic wallet. Reading books will be attached to pupils’ accounts through our online Bug Club reading programme and all homework should be returned to school on a Friday.
Maths
Our focus in maths this term will be place value and becoming more familiar with numbers to 100 with both our rectangle and triangle groups and numbers to 999 with pupils from our circle maths group. We will also have a focus on money, as well as addition and subtraction, number talks, and word problems to consolidate our strategies within these operations of number. Children will regularly use their ‘Thinking It Through’ jotters to develop problem solving skills, applying knowledge of number to new contexts and develop strategies for any number problems.
Health & Wellbeing
Our Paths Pupil of the Day is continuing and our Pupil of the Day has been receiving lots of compliments and special jobs around the classroom. All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day for the second and third time throughout this term. We are continuing to explore emotions, comfortable and uncomfortable and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others.
In P.E, our sessions will happen inside (Tuesday) once per week, and outside (Thursday) once per week and our focus will be on large and small ball skills, gymnastics and dance. We are building on our term 1 topics and hope to see the spacial awareness and team building skills further developed throughout this term.
R.E
Our focus during R.E sessions will be on bible stories, saints and the nativity. As our Primary 3 children will be preparing for Reconciliation after the new year, the sacraments will be discussed in depth, so children fully understand each of the sacraments and their importance in their relationship with God.
Topic
Our topics over the next term will be ‘Energy Around Us’ where children will be given the opportunity to explore toys and how they move, looking at pushing and pulling and how magnets can be used to make objects move. Children will hypothesise about what force could make objects move, carry out experiments and record their findings.
In the lead up to Christmas, we will have an enterprise topic where children will work in teams to budget for and buy resources, which will then become an item they can sell at Christmas time. The children will hope to turn their budget and craft item into a profit which will be donated to charity. The focus will primarily be on the different roles within a working group, managing money and financial obligations, whilst looking at the benefits to charity, when a profit can be made.
As always, we hope this is the start of another successful term and that the pupils will enjoy all the different festivities that follow as we prepare for Christmas, celebrating Christs birth and the preparations and production of the infant Nativity!
Take care,
Mrs Travers
Primary 7 Term 2 Update
Hello again everyone. Here we are in term 2 with Halloween already on the horizon and Christmas not long after. Where does the time go! Here is a brief update of our learning focus this term.
Literacy
After reading our class novel last term, we now aim to develop Active Literacy strategies through Bug Club guided reading texts. There will be a particular focus on paraphrasing as well as continuing to explore and improve answering and asking a variety of question types. For writing, we are concentrating on persuasive pieces and aim to use these skills in a real life context (hopefully with the same outcome as last year’s letters). So look forward to your child discussing topics, debating effectively and becoming even more convincing in getting what they want!
Numeracy
This term our numeracy focus is on multiplication and division incorporating aspects of fractions decimals and percentages. We will continue to use Number Talk strategies to develop mental strategies related to multiplication and division. The class are also working on skills beyond number with Mrs MacKinnon will be investigating the concept of probability.
Health and Wellbeing
We will look at various focus from our PATHS resource and continue to praise and compliment children through Pupil of the Day. We are also exploring substance misuse in the form of alcohol, looking at different types, the recommend daily limit and how it affects the body.
For our PE, we will be visiting Ayrshire College on Wednesdays and participating in outdoor activities. In school, we will be focussing on gymnastics where we will develop our knowledge and execution of shapes, jumps, turns, balances and rolls. We will also spend a short time looking at traditional Scottish dances.
IDL
Our topic this term is science based and is space and its forces. We will be investigating the planets in our Solar System, famous astronauts, phases of the moon, gravity and magnetism and the importance of the International Space Station. We will also look at how technology has advanced since the moon landings and explore Elon Musk’s Space X programme as well as Virgin Galactic.
Mr Bertoncini
Tempest Photography
The Tempest photographer will be coming in to the school on Friday 5th . There is a letter in school bags today to complete if you wish your child/children to be photographed with a sibling who also attends Mount Carmel.
Please note , unfortunately, we cannot allow siblings from nurseries/playgroups etc to enter the school to have their photographs taken this year due to Covid 19.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Halloween Raffle Tickets
Primary 5 -Curricular Update Term 2
Welcome back! We hope everyone in P5 is feeling rested after their October holidays and are now settled back into the school routine and ready to take on more responsibility in the upper school.
We are looking forward to new learning discoveries this term as well as building on our current skills and developing these further.
Literacy
Primary 5 will focus on our reading skills and comprehension strategies through accessing both Bug Club and Giglet texts both within school and at home for homework. We will be developing our fluency and expression as well as looking at both fiction and non-fiction texts this term to link with our IDL topic.
In spelling, we will continue to focus on our phonemes, blends and common words. This will take the form of activities related to the ‘Active Spelling’ resource pertinent to the ability and stage.
Within listening and talking, we will continue to practise listening to and following instructions. The children will also be encouraged to share their opinions on different matters as well as providing an explanation as to why they think in that way. This will be predominantly linked to our IDL topic for the term, but will encompass many of our curricular areas.
This term our formal writing lessons will centre on persuasive writing. We will use structured planning ideas to allow children to generate pieces and build upon helpful writing techniques to support this. We will also continue to revisit narrative genres using our description bubbles to aid writing and note taking for non-fiction IDL writing.
Numeracy
Pupils are working on concepts within groups focussing on 1st and 2nd level concepts. The circles and rectangles groups will focus on addition and subtraction this term, we will be using various strategies to help our numeracy confidence grow. The squares and rectangles will also focus on addition and subtraction at their level we will use number lines and our place value knowledge to practise our formal notation. All pupils will engage in number talks and interactive maths activities as well as looking at new strategies to develop their mental maths agility and recall. Times tables should continue to be practised at home to ensure quick recall. In Beyond Number, we will be looking at ‘Time’ as a focus within our respective groups.
Health and Well-being/ICT
We will be continuing to look at emotions and feelings this term and strategies we can use in dealing with them. This will be supported through our whole school ‘Paths’ resource. In ICT, Primary 5 will continue to work on our basic computing skills and how these can help us in everyday life. Continued practise in class and at home of touch typing and login skills will improve access to various platforms currently used in school from Glow, Giglets, Bug club and Sumdog.
R.E
This month our focus has been on Our lady. We will be supported in our learning by Srs. Mabel and Juliet from Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish who will help us to learn prayers such as the ‘Angelus’. We will also focus on the lives of the Saints, the creation story and discuss themes such as ‘Remembrance’. In December, we will prepare as a class for advent and observe this through various school lessons, attending mass and associated activities.
Science/IDL
Our IDL focus this term will be science based looking at animal and their habitats and the diversity of living things. We will tie this in with a study of David Attenborough and the work he does. This will link to Art and literacy as well as STEM. This will be introduced as the term progresses once we have completed our ‘Knights and Castles’ learning.
Looking forward to another great term in P5.
Thanks again for your on-going support.
Mrs Crawford & Mrs McIntyre.