This term in P7 our context for IDL is SCOTLAND. The whole of St. Albert’s has this theme as a focus in Term 3.

We will be studying the geography of our country, in particular, where the main cities/landmarks/rivers/islands etc. are located on the map. We would love to, and Miss Cohen will try her very best, to plan and form a partnership with a Primary 7 class from the Highlands or Scottish Islands. We can then gain a better understanding of our country, and be able to draw comparisons and identify similarities between our lifestyles.

P7 will also be following a Global Storyline topic, whereby children will learn about Scotland’s land (as well as land further afield), and how it is used. We will be developing our skills in resilience, empathy, problem solving, conscience-led decision making through this dramatic, creative approach to teaching and learning. We have created our own community, ‘Palmora Falls’, where our storyline is set – and have decided on our roles and responsibilities within this diverse, eco-friendly setting.

Literacy and Languages

To improve our spelling strategies, this term Miss Cohen has begun teaching us about different phonemes and the way they are spelled in texts. We are using problem solving approaches to separate words into sounds and phonemes, diacritically marking as we go. We are also listening to Miss Cohen and our peers read short dictations exposing the phoneme being studied, and recording our phoneme spellings under suitable headings. We will then put our newly learned words into suitable sentences to contextualize our learning.

In our Writing, we will be creating poems inspired by Scottish writers and poets. We will look closely at the work of Rabbie Burns, Liz Lochhead, Loki and Tom Leonard (to name a few) – and use their styles and content to inspire our own Writing. We will study alliteration, similes, metaphors and rhyme as features of poetic writing, as well as discussing their structure (stanzas, verses, acrostic, haiku etc.)

When Reading, we will focus on the following reading strategies; inferring, connecting and synthesizing. We will read a selection of texts, mainly short stories and poems related to our IDL work and use higher order thinking skills to ensure depth of understanding.

 Numeracy

Every term, we ensure that we are still on top of our calculation and Mental Maths skills. During Term 3, we will be focusing on Fractions, Decimals and Percentages (FDP). This will involve converting between FDP, finding equivalent fractions, simplifying fractions, finding fractions or percentages of amounts as well as solving word problems where FDP are present in real life scenarios. We will also be studying Data Handling, and using the Numbers and KeyNote apps on the Ipads to interpret and present information on a variety of different charts; pie charts, bar charts, line graphs, tally marks, scatter graphs, interactive graphs etc.

Health and Wellbeing

Some girls in Primary 7 have the opportunity to go swimming every Thursday afternoon. The boys swimming lessons will begin in March (dates should be on letters which have been given out). On a Thursday afternoon, we will go to the MUGA and practice Tennis/Badminton. We have been learning how to hold a racquet correctly, how our body should move towards the ball (side-stepping, side on) and doing drills which focus on hand-eye coordination.

During our wider health and wellbeing lessons, we’ll be covering a three week block on Internet Safety, where we will look at Online Gaming and age restrictions, passwords and security and Social Media with Mrs Chromy, Miss Webster and Miss McCue. Following this, we will use our Health and Well-being hour to explore God’s Loving Plan content. In this unit of work, we will discuss male and female organs, how a baby grows and what is needed to support its journey, and GLP in relation to the Sacrament of Marriage and creating a new life.

In preparation for our P7 residential trip to Abernethy, we have been working with Miss Bull and Miss Cohen during our Outdoor Learning sessions to equip us with essential skills; orienteering, map-reading, taking off and putting on waterproof clothing and equipment quickly and efficiently, cooking outdoors and being safe in all weathers.

Arts

We have been looking at the work of famous Scottish artists and creating our own pieces after using them as inspirations; Steven Brown, Libby Walker, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Samuel Peploe and Jack Vettriano.

8 of our Primary 7s have also been learning guitar with support from the Glad Foundation; Eshaal, Anum, Maidah, Maha, Ryan, Saleeha and Dilya.

We are regularly planning and delivery Skills Swap workshops as part of our whole school and community-focused Social Enterprise project. Updates about “What’s on offer” will be displayed on the notice board at the front of the school, and pictures/videos of our amazing learning will be documented on the school blog!

Science and R.E.

During Science this term, Primary 7 will be looking at substances that make up the Earth’s surface, and comparing their uses. We will focus on minerals that are mined; gold, copper, cobalt, tin etc.

As mentioned above, we will be learning about God’s Loving Plan for us during Religious Education.

Technology

We will be taking part in the Determined to Make Movies competition, which is based on the theme of ‘Community’ this year. We will be using the Ipads and special filming equipment (tripods, animation webcam, mic lapelles) to record footage in groups about the above mentioned theme. We will be looking at the following examples of Community in more detail; Religion, Social Media, Govan, Skills Swap, St Albert’s Art hub, Migration, Equality and Sustainability. We have been using different types of shots and learning how to edit professionally, whilst always considering the 3 S’s and 3 C’s when filming; Camera, Character, Colour and Sound, Setting and Story.