Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope that everyone enjoyed a fun and relaxing Christmas holidays and would like to welcome all of the boys and girls back for our third term in Primary 3. The children have enjoyed a very productive two weeks back at school and, with preparations being made for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this term will be a very special time for the children.

Literacy
As always, the class will be continue to follow the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme to support their learning in spelling, phonics, reading and writing.
Children will continue to explore new sounds and common words in addition to consolidating sounds they have already covered. Many of our children have begun to work with longer texts and will continue to work with both fiction and non-fiction titles to build fluency and comprehension. Ensuring that the children complete all assigned reading at home is important as this means they will be prepared for the activities they will be given in class.

Numeracy
In numeracy, the class will continue to experience a mix of direct teaching, partner/group activities and written tasks to build and consolidate their understanding of concepts.
Over the course of the term, the class will explore themes including money, data handling, multiplication and division. The children will continue to work with numbers up to and including one hundred and the 2, 4, 5 & 10 times tables. I would encourage children to practice their times tables at home as being able to recall multiplication facts quickly and accurately is an important skill that we will be working on in class.

RE
This is a very important time for the class as, this term, children will commence their preparations for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The boys and girls will work in school and at home to prepare to receive the Sacrament in March. If you have any questions regarding your child’s Sacramental preparation, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Health & Wellbeing
In PE this term, we are fortunate enough to be working with specialists from both Motherwell College and Active Schools. The children will be developing skills and coordination by taking part in a variety of team and paired games. We would encourage children to bring their PE kit into school on a Monday and take it home on the Friday to ensure that they have it whenever needed.

Cross Curricular
This term, the class have already had a visit from Zip, our friend from outer space. We will be helping Zip to understand more about our planet and locality by exploring different types of housing, how we use land and developing our mapping skills. Later in the term, class will also undertake a short Science investigation with a focus on meteorites and what might affect the size of a crater.
Again, please continue to communicate any queries or concerns using the homework diary.

Many thanks
E Burns
Class Teacher