Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas break. Following a very busy term last year, the children have had a week to settle back into their normal school routine. They all worked very hard last term to prepare for the fabulous ‘Donkey Seller’ show and made everyone proud with their super performances. Well done boys and girls! This week however, it is back to business as usual with high standards to ensure that your child achieves his/her potential. Therefore, the children have been hard at work setting their targets for the new term ahead. We are excited for the term ahead and would like to share a brief overview of the learning that will be taking place in our P3/2 class.

Literacy
Children will continue to follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy Programme for spelling and phonics. They will continue to learn new words and a new sound every week and this will be consolidated through class and homework.
In reading, the children will work at their own level and experience a variety of books to challenge their imaginations and comprehension skills. They will continue to take a book home, which they should read for pleasure and to help develop fluency.

Numeracy
Children will begin this term by exploring time.
Our primary two children will learn to tell the time using analogue and digital clocks for o’clock and half past. They will begin to make links between 12 hour times and 24 hour clocks. Children will work hard to be able to identify and relate key events and routines in their day with time.
The primary three children will also learn to tell the time using analogue and digital clocks. However, they will work on o’clock, quarter past, half past and quarter to. The primary three children will use the links which they have previously made between time and their routine, to begin to calculate simple time intervals by counting on.

Religious Education
This is a very important term for the primary three children as they will begin preparations to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Children will work at home and in class to ensure they are ready to receive the sacrament this term. More information will be shared at the Sacrament information night, which will take place on the 20th of January. This will be an exciting time for the children and something I am sure we will all enjoy.
This term the primary 2 children will explore ‘Other World Religions’ with a focus on Judaism. Children will begin by learning about other faith communities’ belief in God and about other faith communities’ places of worship. We will move on to explore prayer and worship within the Catholic Church and learn about the ways we can participate in Mass.

Health and Wellbeing
This term our Health and Wellbeing lessons will be supported by the ‘Teach Safety’ programme. This encourages children to assess and manage risk, to protect themselves and others, and to reduce the potential for harm when possible. We will further explore this theme during our science investigations when we explore our senses and discuss their reliability and limitations in responding to the environment.
We will also be looking at the choices we make and the impact this has on our general fitness. Please note that P.E is a mandatory part of our curriculum and our school delivers 2 hours every week.

Social Studies
This term the children have expressed an interest in exploring the traditions and culture of another country. Therefore, we will be investigating the daily lives of people in China and the historical past of the country. We will compare these traditions, the landscape and the natural environmental differences with those in Scotland. Children will learn through play, discussion and many group activities to develop their understanding of the differences between their lives in Scotland and the lives of people in China.

Thank you in advance for all your support this term, please continue to use your child’s homework diary to communicate any concerns/ comments.

Many Thanks
Miss Jodi Cassidy
Class Teacher (P3/2)