We have had a very successful September, with the boys and girls becoming more independent during their school day and learning lots of new skills. We are learning more about the school and class routines and rules and are trying hard to follow these.

In literacy we have been continuing our active literacy programme and already know how to read and write s  a  t  p  I  and n. We have been listening to jolly phonics songs to help us to learn our sounds. You can access these on YouTube by searching for ‘jolly phonics songs in order’. Boys and girls, you can sing your songs for your families and teach them the actions! We have now learned 10 common words and we are continuing to practise these words every day in school and at home.

Our listening and concentration skills are improving every day. We are giving Oscar 5 when we come together as a class – eyes watching, mouth quiet, hands still, legs crossed/mountain/mermaid and ears listening. Keep up the great effort Primary 1!

We have introduced Star Writers to our classroom and we are working hard to meet our targets when we are over writing, under writing and writing on our own to get our work onto the classroom wall! We know that our letters have special places on the line and can tell if our letters are grass, ground or sky letters.

During our numeracy learning experiences we are continuing to learn how to read, write and count the numbers up to 5 and beyond. We are practicing our number formations every day and should do this at home too. We are learning more about numbers before/after and in between by using our number line. In the coming weeks we are going to learn even more about number stories and adding our numbers together to make a bigger number. To help us we will use lots of counting resources and have lots of fun!

Our class topic has been People Who Help Us and we have enjoyed talking about the people who help us in school, at home and in our community. We love learning about the emergency services and in particular the Police and Fire services. We even made our own Police vehicles. In class we have been talking about the importance of being safe when we are in the community, and how to be safe when crossing the road.

We are looking forward to another exciting month in Primary 1. We are so excited to be entering into October because we know this is an Autumn month and ends with Hallowe’en. Lots of fun to be had!

Click below to access our diary for w.b 02.10.2023

HF Diary 02102023

Primary 2 have had a very busy, but fun, September.

In Maths we have been working very hard on our numbers to 100. We have been thinking about place value, ordering and solving lots of missing number problems.  We have been playing lots of fun games and doing lots of work with partners and in groups to help us with this. We have also been learning about shape. We learned about lots of 3D shapes and enjoyed playing shape games. We also learned to make shape patterns.

In Literacy we have continued to work on more sounds and common words. We are getting very good at following Charlie Checker’s targets and have been trying hard to do our neatest writing this month. This includes forming all our letters properly, fingers spaces and writing on the lines. Each of our reading groups have been working very hard on partner and group reading and our reading skills are constantly improving. Within Writing, we have been using our topic as a stimulus for our narrative and recount work. Our favourite piece of writing has been our story about what we did when we got to be the teacher for a day.

In September we finished off our R.E. topic ‘Beginning of the Year’ and we began our topic ‘Jesus’ Family and Ours’. Within this topic, we thought about the birth of Jesus, and his life when he was young. We have been sharing stories about our own family life also. In addition to these topics, we have been learning about a variety of bible stories. We enjoyed learning about the lost sheep and the prodigal son. We understand that sometimes we, like the sheep, get a bit lost and we make silly choices, but God is happy when we return, and we try to be like Jesus.

In HWB we learned about keeping our bodies clean this month. We learned about how germs spread and we made amazing posters to encourage others to wash their hands.

We love learning about our new topic; People Who Help Us. This month we have learned about doctors and we made our own doctor’s bags. We also learned about the important work that police officers do. We made our own police cars. Finally, we learned about firefighters and how to keep ourselves safe in the event of a fire. We know how to call for help if we ever spot a fire.

Next month we are looking forward to carrying out our solo talks about someone we know who helps people in their job. Mrs Simpson can’t wait to hear all the fabulous information that we have found out. We will also be getting ready for Halloween and having lots of spooky learning.

It was wonderful to see some parents at meet the teacher and being able to discuss classroom routines, expectations, and learning. We also discussed upcoming events such as preparation of Confirmation which will begin week beginning 2^nd of October. As highlighted at meet the teacher, please don’t hesitate the school if you need to speak to me. My door is always welcome.

In maths, we have been practising our estimating and rounding skills with decimal numbers. We have then moved onto practising number processes with decimal numbers and linked this learning to money. This has tied nicely into our classroom economy and understanding the importance of budgeting money.

In literacy, we have been enjoying reading our novel, The Night Bus Hero and engaging well in our read to write tasks. We have been exploring the themes of adventure and homelessness. We have enjoyed creating a marketing plan for Social Bite and are looking forward to their visit next month.

During RE, we have enjoyed investigating the Beatitudes. We have did so through actively living out the Beatitudes which has brought our learning to life.

Just a reminder that our normal PE days are Tuesdays and Thursdays but I ask for pupils and parents to be flexible as we have visitors from Active Schools and High Schools throughout the year. As discussed at meet the teacher, I will give as much notice as possible if days change to accommodate these visits.

We have been enjoying our IDL topic, The Titanic. We have explored the design of the ship and then took our knowledge to work in groups and build a 3D replica of the RMS Titanic. We have also enjoyed some STEM experiments such as exploring water displacement as well as investigating the pressure the ship was under when it was filling with water. We have also explored the timeline of key events the night of the disaster and tested our knowledge using Booklet.com.

Welcome to our 1st learning update of this academic year.  We have already been very busy learning new routines and settling into our new environment .  Your children have now moved up on to the 1st floor of our building so we have been working on ascending and descending the stairs safely and the children have been encouraged to walk in single file and hold on to the handrail for safety, they are already  showing how well they can listen and follow instructions so it’s a great start!

We have spent time getting to know one another and their new teacher and it has been lovely to see them interacting well and growing old friendships whilst getting busy making new friends too.

We have focussed on revising skills and knowledge taught last year in maths and literacy  whilst remaining focussed on the importance of keeping their emotional and physical well-being at the forefront of all that they do.

Our homework programme begins this week and this will be posted online each Monday for completion by the Friday of each week. There will be a mix on online and written tasks as well as daily reading which I would strongly encourage you all to complete each week with your child.  There is so much to learn and it is essential that we all work together to make sure that your child develops all the skills they need and gains all the knowledge they need to become successful learners and confident individuals.

I look forward to welcoming parents to our upcoming Meet the Teacher event where we will be able to look at the structure of the coming year and  outline expectations and aims for the coming year.

If you have any questions throughout the year then please contact me via email at:

cookh@northlan.gov.uk

Welcome everyone to our first monthly update of this session.

I hope that you all had a lovely summer break and am delighted to see all the children back at school, smiling and happy to see their friends and (hopefully) their teachers.

Over the last couple of weeks we have been spending our time settling in to our new class. Primary 5 have moved to a classroom on the top floor of the building and are learning all about the expectations of them as seniors in the primary school.

They have been setting a fantastic example to younger pupils and the new primary ones on how they walk sensibly and responsibly around the school and on the stairs. They understand how important this is to keep everyone safe and to get to class and learning as quickly as they can.

In class we have spent a lot of time discussing and creating our Class Charter. The children have been learning all about their rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). They have learned that each right has equal importance and that everyone is entitled to these rights. The pupils have also been helping to create their new learning environment and have chosen a Minion theme. They have worked together to create a group name and design a poster for their group. They demonstrated that were effective contributors as they collaborated to compile a list of class jobs and rules which will help us all to ensure a happy, healthy, and safe learning environment.

In other areas they have been showing off everything that they learned last year, in class we have been exploring Number Talks and Mental Maths to get our brains in gear for the coming year. We discussed and voted as a class on what we want to learn this year and have considered  our strengths and targets and what we will do to ensure we are successful learners in Primary 5.

We have already begun to learn about our new topic the ‘Titanic’ and our class novel is ‘Kaspar the Prince of Cats’ which we are really enjoying. We are revising the reading and spelling strategies that we will use to help develop our Literacy skills.

We have also begun our 12-week session of PE at Sir Matt Busby where we will be completing a swim and gym session. This will be our PE for the next 12 weeks and children should come to school dressed in their PE clothes, with a swimming costume and a towel and goggles. Hair should be tied back and plaited if possible as there is a quick turnaround from swimming to gym. Please also ensure that no jewellery is worn on these days.

Homework will be distributed from week beginning 4^th September. This will be issued on a Monday and should be returned on a Thurs/Fri at the latest in order that it can be checked and prepared for the following week. Please note that approximately 20 mins each night should be spent on homework,  please sign it to confirm that you have supported/checked this and that it has been completed. Instructions for homework will be posted on the school website on a Monday afternoon under the Primary 5 tab and children will be shown how to access this.

Please continue to check school website for any updates.

Thank you

Mrs Preston and Primary 5.

Welcome to our first update of the year! I am Mrs Daisley and I teach on a Monday to Wednesday, with Mr Hamill taking over on a Thursday and Friday. We are working together to ensure that all of the children have the best start to their year.

Routines

We are working hard on daily routines to support good learning in our class. The more independent the children are in following routines, the more time we have to ensure good learning for all our pupils. We have created a Class Charter with this in mind-

• Play. Be nice to others and they’ll be nice to you. We are working on thinking about how to be a good friend to others.
• Learn. Listen to the teacher and when other children are talking. Listening to the teacher is very important for good learning, as is turn taking with other children.
• Safe. Be helpful to everyone, including teachers. We are making sure our class and school is a safe place to be in, by, for example,  following rules on how to move about the school and keeping our class tidy.

We have PE on a Thursday and Friday. PE kit consists of a yellow t-shirt, blue shorts and gym shoes/ trainers. Let us know if you are having problems with these items. We would encourage jewellery to be left at home for safety reasons. We are beginning with ball skills.

Literacy

We have begun a class novel, called I Was There which is a novel about children on the Titanic, which is our topic. We are learning new Reading Strategies through this novel. We are also beginning non-fiction reading and reading scheme work. In Spelling, we are doing a lot of revision before we move onto our new work. We have begun narrative writing and hope to have some Star Writers soon. In Listening and Talking, we are working on expressing our opinions on our novel and taking turns in class discussions.

Numeracy and Mathematics

We have begun with Place Value, looking at numbers up to Thousands, before moving on to tens of thousands. We are also looking a 2-D Shape.

RE

We have begun work on The Church, here we are learning about our local Church and the people who make up the Church, past and present. We have started a lovely wall display to support our learning.

Topic

We are learning more about the Titanic, as we were so interested to hear what was happening with it in primary 3. We are going to make models of boats and cabins, so would appreciate any shoe boxes you could spare.

Health and Wellbeing

As well as our Class Charter, we have been discussing our emotions.

To support our work in class, you could think about

• Helping your child to tie their own laces.
• Read with them or encourage them to read for fun. This will make a huge difference in their confidence in Literacy.
• Speak to them when they have arguments with friends and help them to think of solutions to deal with it themselves. This is a great life skill which will see them through primary and beyond.

Here are some pictures of our class. We are starting to make it homely with the children’s work displayed.

We are enjoying getting to know your children and build strong relationships with them. We look forward to getting to know them better throughout this session.

Welcome back to Holy Family. We are so excited to get back to our school routine and to see all our friends again.

We have settled well into our new class and have been spending lots of time getting to know our new teacher; Mrs Simpson. We have created our own class rules and have been working hard to follow these rules. We have also been learning where to put our belongings, and how to find things in our brand new classroom.

In literacy, we have been showing off what we already know. Mrs Simpson is very impressed already! We have been put into our new groups for spelling and reading and have already started working on our new sounds and words.

In maths we have started working on numbers to 100. This is a big jump for us and we should try hard to practise these big numbers every day at home too.

We have begun to work on our new class topic on ‘People Who Help Us’. We have started our topic by thinking of all sorts of people who help and the things they do. We can’t wait to do all sorts of exciting learning about this.

We will start to get homework from next week. This will be given out on a Monday and will be collected on a Thursday. This is very important as it allows our grown ups to see what we have been learning, and gives us the opportunity to consolidate what we have covered in class.

Our P.E days are Wednesday and Thursday. We should wear our full school uniform coming to school as we have plenty time to change for P.E. in class.

On Friday we have our First Friday Mass. We have already started practising our singing and prayers. Mrs Simpson is very proud.

Please check our school Twitter page for regular photos and updates. We really enjoy showing off our amazing achievements to our grown-ups.

Welcome to our update for August! Primary six pupils are settling in nicely to their new classroom. They have been taking on responsibilities in the classroom and setting a terrific example for our younger pupils. Going into a new class can be exciting and a little scary. We are all just getting to know each other, which can take time. In Primary 6 we have been creating our classroom charter, discussing our rights and responsibilities and creating a display with all of these to refer to throughout the school year.

We have been learning place value in class and putting a lot of effort into memorising and practising our times tables through our mental agility games and activities.

We have just started reading our class novel Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo and we will be learning all about the Reading Strategies covered in Primary 6 through this novel. We have currently been carrying out prior knowledge and creating some predictions about what we think will happen within the book and will come back to these later at the end of our novel.

The class is really delighted about our new topic, The Titanic, and they are ready to learn more about what happened and why The Titanic is so significant.

Homework will be handed out weekly on a Monday and should be brought back in on a Friday. Reminder of PE days, both Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Children should come to school in full uniform and get changed for PE.

Have a great week everyone!