Primary 1a Wallacewell Primary

What a term it has been! Primary 1 have completed a long and rather dark Term 3, but despite the gloomy weather, they have brought so much brightness, enthusiasm and energy to their learning every single day. Their smiles, curiosity and determination have truly lit up our classroom.

Throughout this term, the children have continued to grow and develop their skills in literacy and numeracy. It’s incredible to see the progress they’ve made (I’m sure many of you are finding it hard to recognise the little ones who first entered Primary 1 back in August). They have become more confident, independent learners, and we are so proud of how far they have come.

We look forward to continuing our learning journey together as we head into Term 4, with lots more exciting opportunities ahead.

For now, we wish you all a wonderful and restful Spring break. Enjoy the time together, and hopefully the weather begins to brighten up for us all!

Have a lovely holiday!

What a fantastic week it has been both in and around the classroom! The children have been buzzing with creativity, curiosity, and enthusiasm as they explored new ways of learning across all areas of the curriculum.

In literacy, we took a break from traditional story writing and embraced a more imaginative and modern approach. Using iPads, the children recorded themselves telling stories inspired by four intriguing pictures: a witch, a haunted house, a magic wand and a frog wearing a witch’s hat. This method really encouraged the children to think creatively, add vivid detail, and bring their stories to life through expressive language. It was wonderful to see their confidence grow as they became storytellers in front of the camera.

In maths, we stayed active and hands-on as we tackled the concept of place value. Although it proved a little tricky at first, the children showed fantastic perseverance. Using concrete materials helped them visualise tens and ones and by the end of the week they were confidently demonstrating their understanding. Their hard work and resilience really shone through!

This week in the playroom, the children have been busy diving into the exciting world of work! Through imaginative play and hands-on experiences, they explored a variety of professions, each one sparking new interests and developing important skills along the way.

The children took on the role of café owners and chefs, working together to run their very own cafés. They created menus, took orders, served customers, and even managed the “money”—all while practising communication, teamwork, and early numeracy skills.

Creativity was flowing in our makeshift art studio, where the children became talented artists. They experimented with different materials, expressed themselves through colour and shape, and proudly shared their masterpieces with friends.

Technology also played a part in our week as the children used iPad apps to programme simple stories. They loved creating characters, choosing settings, and watching their ideas come to life on screen. This early coding experience helped build problem-solving skills and confidence with digital tools.

Over in the water area, the children became plumbers—fixing pipes, redirecting water, and figuring out how different tools worked. Their curiosity and collaborative thinking were on full display as they explored how things connect and flow.

All of these rich experiences led perfectly into our STEM afternoon, where the children became engineers. Drawing on the skills they had been practising all week—creativity, problem solving, communication, and resilience—they tackled the challenge with enthusiasm and confidence.

It has been a fantastic week of imaginative play, learning through doing, and discovering the many roles people have in the world around us. We can’t wait to see where their curiosity takes them next!

One of the week’s highlights was our STEM afternoon, which gave the children a chance to showcase their design, engineering, and problem-solving skills. Their challenge was to design and build a container capable of delivering three Easter eggs safely down a zip line. The classroom was filled with exciting ideas, teamwork and lots of discussion as everyone experimented with different approaches. Even when things didn’t work out on the first try, no one was discouraged—if anything, it motivated them even more! The children showed impressive determination as they evaluated their designs and made improvements. Both adults and children had a brilliant time, and the room was full of laughter, energy and innovative thinking.

The sun has been shining this week, and Primary 1 have been busy exploring the signs of Spring all around us. We’ve been discussing the exciting changes we can see outdoors such as the beautiful flowers beginning to peek through the soil and fresh green leaves starting to pop out on the trees. If you listen carefully, you can even hear more birds singing their cheerful songs!

This week, we also learned about Eid-al-Fitr. The children enjoyed discovering how this special celebration is observed and were wonderful at helping our friends celebrate by wishing them a warm “Eid Mubarak!”

As always, Primary 1 have been working very hard on their sounds, reading, writing and numbers. Your support at home makes such a difference, so please continue to help your child build their confidence by practising these skills regularly.

What a wet and windy week it has been! Despite the gloomy weather outside, Primary 1a have been busy having fun and learning inside our cosy classroom and playroom.

In numeracy, the children have been extending their understanding of data handling. They loved creating their own graphs and discovering how information can be organised and compared. It has been wonderful to see their confidence grow as they worked together to collect and display data.

In literacy, we focused on describing settings. Using the exciting theme of a funfair, the children thought carefully about what they might see, hear, and smell in such a lively place. Their imaginative ideas helped them create detailed descriptions, and we were so impressed with the vocabulary they used.

Our NHS topic continued this week as we explored things that are safe and unsafe around the home, especially in the context of medicines and household items. The children showed great understanding and were able to talk about the dangers of touching unknown or unsafe items. We are very proud of how sensible and thoughtful they have been during these discussions.

We have also been enjoying lots of lovely stories together. The class is becoming more confident in predicting what might happen next and in identifying rhyming words. Story time continues to be a favourite part of our day!

As always, it has been a busy and enjoyable week of learning in Primary 1.

What an exciting week we’ve had celebrating World Book Week! Our classes have been buzzing with stories, creativity and a whole lot of book-themed fun.

We began by listening to a wide range of stories (some brand-new adventures and some comforting old favourites). We also attended a special assembly all about the joy of reading and why books can be so much fun. Some of the older children from our Library Committee even shared their own book reviews, telling us all about the stories they’ve recently enjoyed.

Back in class, we wrote our very own book reviews of You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus. Everyone had the chance to rate the story and draw a picture of their favourite part. It was wonderful to see how differently each child imagined the scenes!

Thursday was the highlight. It was World Book Day and we got to dress as our favourite storybook character day! The classroom was filled with Disney princesses, superheroes, police officers and people dressed cosily in pyjamas ready for a story. We even had someone dressed as the elephant who couldn’t get on the bus…so creative and very funny. We had a fantastic time sharing who we were dressed as and which stories they came from.

In Primary 1, our love of stories is at the heart of our learning. We enjoy listening to a story every single day, and this week has made our reading time feel even more magical.

This week in Maths and Numeracy, we have been strengthening our addition skills and building confidence when counting money. The children have been exploring different coins and practising counting combinations up to 10 pence. We have also been learning about weight, using balance scales to compare objects and identify which are heavier and lighter.

In English, we have been practising the spelling of our common words and developing our writing skills. The children wrote about their own experiences of visiting the doctor, linking their work to our exciting new topic.

Our new topic is the NHS, and the classroom has been full of wonderful role play! The children have been taking on the roles of doctors and dentists, dressing up, bandaging “injuries,” and diagnosing pretend illnesses. We have also been learning about dental health, exploring which foods are good for our teeth and which can cause decay. We were very lucky to welcome the dental team into school, who carried out dental health checks and shared important advice about keeping our teeth healthy.

There has been a small change to homework this week. Moving forward, we are asking the children to practise their spelling words by writing each word and then using it in a simple sentence. Please encourage your child to have a go at spelling the words independently, as this helps to build their confidence and support their progress.

Everyone has returned after the mid-term break feeling refreshed, positive, and eager to learn. It has been wonderful to see so many smiling faces and to hear all about the children’s adventures over the holidays!

This week in Maths, we have been exploring measure using non-standard units. The children had great fun measuring different objects around the classroom using their hands and feet. We measured tables, chairs, books, and even the carpet!

It quickly became clear that this was not the most reliable way to measure. We discovered that we were all getting different answers and after some fantastic discussion, the children worked out why: our hands and feet are all different sizes! This was a brilliant introduction to understanding why standard units of measurement are important.

We have also been working very hard on our common words. The children are making fantastic progress with reading and writing them. We are so proud of their efforts!

Some children are still reversing certain letters when writing. This is very common at this stage, but extra practice at home really helps to build confidence and accuracy. Please continue to practise common words regularly in short, fun bursts.

On Friday, we celebrated our school’s Diversity Day. We spoke about what diversity means in our classroom — recognising, valuing, and celebrating the unique differences each child brings to our learning and friendships.

We discussed different cultural and religious celebrations. Some of our children shared their experiences of Chinese New Year and Ramadan and we compared these to Christian celebrations such as Christmas and Easter. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn from one another.

One of our Support for Learning Workers wore traditional cultural dress and spoke to the children about it, kindly answering their thoughtful questions. The children also learned how to say hello in Urdu, which they thoroughly enjoyed practising!

Embracing diversity helps to ensure that every child feels respected, included, and safe in our classroom. We are very proud of how thoughtfully the children listened and contributed to our discussions.

Click on the link below to view our term 3 curriculum newsletter. 

P1a Curriculum Newsletter – Term 3 2025-26 (5)

This week, Primary 1 enjoyed a very exciting visit from Zoolab! The children had the opportunity to learn about,  and even hold, a fascinating selection of animals. They were introduced to a tortoise, a stick insect, a tarantula, a corn snake and some gerbils. Some children were very eager to hold the animals, while others were a little more reluctant and preferred a gentle touch. Everyone showed great curiosity and bravery!

It was a fun, exciting and informative experience for all, and we can’t wait for Zoolab to return.

Our learning linked perfectly with our class topic on dinosaurs. After listening carefully to Zoolab host Ash, the children discussed what dinosaur skin might have felt like and why. This led to lots of thoughtful questions and brilliant ideas.

The children have also created their own non-fiction fact files about their favourite dinosaurs. They wrote about what the dinosaurs looked like, what they ate, their colour and where they lived. We found it especially interesting learning about the different shapes of dinosaur teeth and why these were important for helping them to eat.

As always, it has been a very busy and enjoyable week of learning in Primary 1!