Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope you had a great October holiday. It was lovely to meet with you before the break to discuss your child’s learning and to set new targets for term 2. This will be a busy term with preparations for the St. Andrew’s Concert, the Christmas Nativity and, of course, the excitement of Christmas parties. We are looking forward to 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 looking at shape and pattern. Primary 2 will begin to recognise simple 3D objects and 2D shapes in their environment and in pictures. Primary 3 will begin to identify and name 2D shapes and 3D objects. They will learn the vocabulary associated with 2D shapes and 3D objects, for example corner, side, angle.

We will explore tiling and work to copy and continue simple patterns involving more than one object, shape or colour. As we develop this skill the children will use a variety of media to create their own more complex patterns.

We will move on to further develop our skills within subtraction. Primary 2 will work on numbers to 20 with Primary 3 exploring numbers to 100.

Religious Education

For R.E this term we will explore the community of the church and the themes of the liturgical seasons. We will discuss the ways in which people can experience God’s love and care and reflect on how our community celebrates together.

We will explore some of the signs and symbols related to Advent and Christmastide and use this understanding to explore the themes of these celebrations. Throughout advent we will learn about the birth of Jesus at Christmas, Jesus’ life on earth and why honouring Mary is an important part of our faith.

Health and Wellbeing

This term children will look at Road Safety through the educational pack ‘Speeding Ted.’ This will act as a stimulus for discussion and allow us to explore the theme through role play, discussion and group activities.

The focus for P.E this term is dance. Our school delivers 2 hours every week. Although Primary 3/2’s timetabled days for P.E are Tuesday and Thursday this may change due to Christmas show rehearsals. Therefore, we ask that children bring their kits to school on a Monday and take them home on a Friday.

Social Studies

This term we will begin work on our exciting new theme ‘Under the Sea.’ This theme is set to take over the first floor of our school as we will work alongside the other classes to create many exciting learning experiences. We have lots of fun and interesting lessons planned and this theme will influence our work in many curricular areas.  Here are a few examples of the learning that will take place; we will be creating many fantastic pieces of art work, researching the different creatures that can be found under the sea, looking at life cycles of these sea creatures and exploring their habitats, learning the song ‘Under the Sea’ from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, discussing how people affect the sea and much more!

Again I would like to 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)

Dear Parent/Carer,

After a relaxing October break, the class have now settled back into the school routine and are ready for the new learning and challenges this term will bring.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support in the children’s Scottish Wonders project last term. The children’s research on and models of their own Scottish Wonders were very impressive and have been admired by staff, parents and the children alike as part of our display on the first floor.

With preparations being made for both our St Andrews Day showcase and the festive season, term two is sure to be a busy and exciting time for the boys and girls.

Literacy

As in the previous session, the class will be continue to follow the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme to support their learning in spelling, phonics, reading and writing.

Primary 3 children will continue to explore new sounds and common words each week in class and through our homework programme. Children will work with a range of both fiction and non-fiction texts to build their fluency and comprehension skills.

Our Primary 4 children will continue to work closely with myself and one another to build their confidence in the new approach to phonics and spelling which was introduced in the first term. Following a short block of non-fiction work, the children will then undertake a novel study of the text ‘Bullies at School’.

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 the themes of subtraction, measure and multiplication, with the children working at their own level. Our Primary 3 children will continue to work with numbers up to and including one hundred and the 2, 4, 5 & 10 times tables. Our Primary 4 children will continue to work with numbers up to and including one thousand and will extend their knowledge of multiplication facts to include the 3 & 6 times tables.

RE

In RE, our class will be learning more about the love, care and celebrations of the Church and Parish communities. We will also reflect on November, the month of the faithful departed. In the lead up to Christmas, the class will revisit the theme of Advent in class as well and will be involved in wider school celebrations of the Holy season.

Health & Wellbeing

Whilst the hall timetable may differ slightly to accommodate practises for our Christmas performances, our focus this term will be on aesthetics, primarily dance. Where access to the gym hall is not possible, it is my intention that the class will make use of resources such as Cyber Coach and other areas within the school including the class, playroom and, weather permitting, outdoors.

Social Studies

During the second term, several of the classes on the first floor will be working to explore the theme ‘Under the Sea’. Our class will be taking a Games Based Learning approach to the theme and will be using the Wii game ‘Endless Ocean’ to inspire our learning across the curriculum. I am sure the children will be very excited about this.

Again, please continue to communicate any queries or concerns using the homework diary.

Many thanks

E Burns

Class Teacher

Dear Parent/Carer,

Welcome back to the start of a new term. I hope you had a lovely break. This is a very busy term with lots of exciting events and opportunities coming up. Miss Hill will be working with the boys and girls on a Thursday and Friday.

Literacy

We have just completed our first novel of the year and are now starting to work on a variety of novels. This allows the children to develop their understanding of the comprehension strategies which we started working on last term.

Maths

The boys and girls have worked very hard on 4 digit place value. They are now reading, writing and ordering 4 digit numbers. This term our focus is going to be Addition and Subtraction. The children will look at adding and subtracting in number patterns, the links between adding and subtracting (the operations are opposite of each other) and developing their confidence in the written process for adding and subtracting sums.

Interdisciplinary Learning

Last term the children enjoyed learning about “The New Wonders of The World”. This term, we are going under the sea and finding out all about “The Unsinkable Ship”. I am very excited about this topic and I am sure the children will thoroughly enjoy it.

Health & Wellbeing

The children are going to be learning the skills necessary for Gymnastics eg: rolling, jumping, balance, etc. With Miss Hill on a Thursday they will learn some Scottish Social Dances. We will be spending time talking about the importance of our feelings and how we should deal with a mixture of feelings and emotions. We will also continue to work as a team and build relationships within the class.

R. E.

This term we have started by finding out about our patron saint – Saint Brendan. We have thought about the qualities which make a saint and will be learning about some other important saints. During the month of November children will remember the Holy Souls by discussing the idea of the ‘Faithful Departed’ and having happy memories of loved ones that may have died. We will also make links to the Poppy appeal. In December our focus will be Advent and preparing to celebrate Christmas. We will discuss Advent as a Liturgical Season and explore the story of The Wise Men and their gifts for baby Jesus.

I am looking forward to this busy term and I know that the boys and girls will work hard and have lots of fun!

Yours sincerely

Miss O’Donnell

Primary 4 (P. T.)

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Primary 5 have worked very hard during Term 1 and have showed lots of enthusiasm in all aspects of the curriculum. Here is an overview of what the children will be learning during Term 2.

Literacy

The children will be studying a group novel appropriate to their age and stage and will continue to use the six comprehension strategies (prior knowledge, metalinguistics, visualisation, inference, main ideas and summary.) Novels will be part of the homework and should be brought into school everyday to be used in class.

Numeracy

In numeracy we will be working on volume/capacity and addition and subtraction up to 10,000. The children will continue to take part in both written and active activities in class.

R.E.

This Term in R.E the children will be learning about Other World Religions, Scottish Faith Heritage and the Faithful Departed and Advent. Primary 5 are also leading the first Thursday mass this Term and I am very confident they will do an excellent job.

Health and wellbeing

For P.E this Term we will be doing aesthetics through gymnastics and the children will take part in a wide range of individual and group activities. Primary 5 are very fortunate to be taking part in golf with our active sports co-ordinator for the next few weeks. During this time our P.E days are a Monday and Friday. Children should continue to bring their P.E kits to school on a Monday and take them home on a Friday.

Interdisciplinary learning

This Term Primary 5 will be stepping into the past and studying the Victorians where they will learn all about the lives of Victorian people. Within this topic, we will focus on Social Studies, Expressive Arts, Health & Wellbeing and Technologies. I am sure the children will thoroughly enjoy learning about the Victorians and comparing our very different lifestyles!

Remember to continue to help your child with their homework and thank you for all your support so far!

Kind regards,

Miss Burns

Dear Parent/Guardian,

It was lovely meeting you all at parent’s night and thank you for all of your hard work at home in supporting you child’s learning.

I hope you all had a fabulous October week and are looking forward to the forthcoming festivities.

Once again this letter will provide you with a brief overview of the learning that will take place this term in Primary 6. This information provides you with an insight into your child’s learning.

Literacy

The children will continue to follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy programme for Spelling, Reading, Writing and Listening and Talking. This programme will help to develop further their literacy skills and provide exciting and new challenges.

The children will take part in a group novel study with a text suitable for their age and stage. This will be an opportunity for the children to apply all of their prior learning from Term 1 and demonstrate their ability and understanding of the Active Literacy Strategies. The novels will be read at home by the children and there will be reading homework on a weekly basis. The children should be encouraged to complete all reading homework on the allocated nights as the classwork will coincide with the reading homework.

Numeracy

This term Primary 6 will explore maps and coordinates, subtraction and time. The children will have the opportunity to learn these skills and concepts through a mixture of both active and written tasks. This will enable the children to apply their learning across contexts and see a real purpose to their learning. Children should continue to regularly practice their times tables at home to help support ongoing classwork.

Health and Wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing will be taught across the curriculum. This term in Physical Education the children will develop their skills in central net and ball games.

Interdisciplinary Learning

The children of Primary 6 will be exploring World War 1 this term. Various element of WWI will be examined such as the outbreak of war, life on the frontline, the Christmas truce, rationing and much more. The children will apply their learning across the curriculum with a particular focus within the curriculum areas of Social Studies, Expressive Arts and Technologies.

Religious Education

Religious Education will be taught through the ‘This Is Our Faith’ programme. This term Primary 6 will explore other world religions with a particular focus on Islam. Throughout November in Term 2, the children will explore the feast days of All Saints, All Souls and St Andrew. Additionally, through the month of December the children will explore the season of Advent as a special time of preparation for Jesus’ birth. The children will investigate the signs and symbols associated with this liturgical season and how these have developed through time.

Homework

The children’s homework will help to support their on-going classwork and I would appreciate your continued support in ensuring the children keep up with all homework tasks.

Many thanks,

Mrs Williamson

I can’t believe we are into Term 2 already, what a quick start to the new school year! The children enjoyed the responsibility of being buddies and have taken on other roles such as monitors and organising the new Golden Time clubs. Here is a brief overview of what your child will be learning in Term 2.

Literacy

Children will continue on with North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy Programme for Spelling, Reading, Writing and Listening and Talking. They will learn new words weekly and will complete active tasks within the class and at home.

The children will now be working in their Literacy groups with a novel appropriate to their level. They have revised the comprehension strategies well in Term 1 through the modelling block to enable them to carry these tasks out with more confidence in Term 2.

Maths

In Term 2 we will be looking at Units of Measure, Addition and Maps and Coordinates using the Pathways programme. Again, we will be keeping the learning active for the children through station work and group activities along with written tasks and assessments at the end of each topic. We will continue with our mental maths practice and revision of times tables.

Health and Wellbeing

The Science and Health and Wellbeing will be delivered by the McCrone teacher in Term 2 again. I will continue to take my class for both their P.E sessions. P.E will be on a Monday and a Thursday for the first 5/6 weeks due to a timetable change and will return to a Monday and a Friday afterwards.

Social Studies

Our I.D.L topic for Term 2 is World War 2. I had a discussion with the class and they were given the chance to suggest ideas that they would like to study and the majority were very keen on World War 2. This is a fabulous topic to do and one that I myself will thoroughly enjoy. There are so many different aspects to it and I can’t wait to get started!

R.E

In R.E this term we will be focussing on ‘Scottish/Celtic Faith Heritage’, ‘Jesus and Justice’, ‘Mary’ and ‘Advent’. P.7 are also leading First Thursday mass again this term and I am sure they will work hard on this and show maturity throughout.

If you have any queries don’t hesitate to use your child’s diary as a means of contact with myself.

Thank you in advance for all of your support so far this year.

Many Thanks,

Miss Mitchell

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I am very much looking forward to my probationary year at Saint Brendan’s and am delighted to have the Primary 5 class! Our first week together has been lovely as the children have settled into their school routine after the Summer break. I have been getting to know them through educational games and lots of fun activities, and the children have also set themselves targets to achieve this term. Miss Hill, who is my mentor, will teach the class on a Tuesday.

Literacy

For literacy, we will be implementing the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme. The children will learn new spelling strategies to help consolidate their learning.

As for our class novel, we will be studying – and enjoying! – Tilly and the Badgers. The children will explore the six reading strategies (prior knowledge, metalinguistics, visualisation, inference, main ideas and summary) when working on this book which will aid their understanding. Books will be part of our weekly homework routine and I know you will encourage your child to become bookworms.

Numeracy

Our first topic will be Place Value which involves the children looking at what the digits in a number represent up to 10,000. We will begin by revising our previous study of the topic but will then progress to more challenging numbers. The children will then move onto measure where they will be working with a variety of different types of standard units.

R.E

This term during R.E the children will be learning about the Bible and its importance in our daily lives. The children will also be looking at Saints and stories from the Bible.

Health and Wellbeing

We have P.E. twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays and the first thing we will be doing is athletics. As our Science co-ordinator, Mrs McLauchlan will be taking the children on a Friday to cover Science and substance misuse.

Interdisciplinary Learning

I am really excited about our project this term which is a whole-school topic called, ‘It’s a Wonderful World’. Primary 5 will investigate and explore the rainforest! Within this topic, we will focus on Social Studies, Expressive Arts, Health & Wellbeing and Technologies. I can’t wait to see the wonderful imaginations and ideas of our class.

Remember, you can help your child with homework and ensure they continue to bring a water bottle, P.E kit and a positive attitude towards their learning.

Thank you in advance for all your support this year. I am looking forward to meeting you all as we all enjoy watching the children grow and flourish.

Elizabeth (Lisa) Burns

Dear Parent/Carer,

A big welcome back to all of the children who will be joining me, Miss Burns, for their time in Primary 3 & Primary 4. The children in Primary 4/3 have come together from three different classes & we have had great fun getting to know one another properly during the first week back at school.

As you will be aware, with both stages preparing for Sacraments later in the year, the class will be in for a very busy and exciting time in Primary 4/3.

Literacy

All children will be continuing to follow the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme to support their learning in spelling, phonics, reading and writing.

As in the previous stage, Primary 3 children will be introduced to a new sound and set of common words each week. Words and sounds will be consolidated through work in class and our active homework programme. Children will also continue to build their fluency and comprehension skills in reading by working with banded books in class and at home.

To develop further their accuracy in writing, our Primary 4 children will begin to focus closely on the different representations of phonemes in addition to learning new strategies and rules for spelling. The children will start the term undertaking a novel study of the text ‘The Invisible Dog’.

Numeracy

In numeracy, the class will continue to apply what they learn in active and practical ways. Each week, the children will experience direct teaching, partner/group activities and written tasks to build and consolidate their understanding of concepts.

Over the course of the term children will revisit familiar topics including place value and addition, with the children working at their own level. Our Primary 3 children will be working closely with numbers up to and including one hundred, while our Primary 4 children will be further challenged by working with numbers up to and including one thousand.

RE

In RE, our class will be focusing on Sunday, the Lord’s day, by learning about the story of creation, the importance of Sunday as a holy day and the Mass. Later in the term the children will also be learning more about the Saints and how they can inspire us to show our faith everyday.

Health & Wellbeing

A wee reminder that PE for Primary 4/3 will take place on a Monday and a Wednesday. We would encourage the children to bring their kit into school on a Monday and take it home on the Friday. All items of children’s kit should be clearly labeled with their name and class. This term, our focus will be on Athletics.

Social Studies

Our class topic for the first term will be ‘The Wonders of the World’. The class will be exploring the Wonders of the World – old and new – and making comparisons. This will provide lots of inspiration for learning in different areas and, as always, any support/contributions from home are welcomed.

I am looking forward to working together with both you and your child to help him/her to make the very best of their year in Primary 4/3. Please feel free to communicate any comments or concerns using the homework diary.

Many thanks

E Burns

Class Teacher

At the end of term, Primary 2/1 have been busy right up until the last minute! We all really enjoyed our topic – ‘The Lorax’. We opened a Recycling Centre in the school and encouraged all of the children to bring in their used plastic bottles, old paper, card and cans. After weeks of collecting we went on a long walk up to Netherton Recycling Centre with our heavy bags of rubbish! It was rainy but we had great fun. We have also been visiting lots of beautiful green spaces. We have walked to Baron’s Haugh in Muirhouse with the RSVP and even took a trip to Calderglen Country Park! We now know all about our beautiful environment and how to take care of it. We are all very excited about moving on to our next stage and we are sure you will hear lots more from us after the summer.
We hope you have a wonderful summer holiday!

Miss Burns and Primary 2/1

Since our last blog post, we have continued to work very hard! We are almost ready to move into big Primary 2 & Primary 3 now and are very excited to be preparing for our next stage.

Since coming back after Easter, we have been focusing on the story of ‘The Lorax’ by Dr. Seuss. We heard all about how the Onceler chopped down all the Truffula Trees in Thneedville and we have been learning all about what happens when we donít look after the environment. We have decided to make a new home for the Lorax and his friends at St. Brendan’s. So far, we have made special Lorax plant pots to guard the new Truffula Trees we will plant. Do you like them?

From Monday 12^th May until Friday 6^th June, the class will be running a small Recycling Centre in the school. We will be looking to recycle…

• Paper
• Plastic Bottles
• Aluminum Cans

We are also particularly interested in gathering…

• 2 Litre Plastic Bottles
• Plastic Bottle Tops (of any size and all colours!)

We hope the other boys and girls will help us to reduce, reuse and recycle because, as ‘The Lorax’ says…

‘Unless someone like you cares and whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better… It’s not.’