Primary 7 parent letter
Well, another school year is upon us and we all can’t wait to get started here in Primary 7. The children will enjoy more responsibility as leaders of the school and will be expected to buddy, monitor and show a great example to all of the other children. Here is a brief overview of what your child will be learning in Term 1.
Literacy
Children will work through the 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 whole class will complete a modelling block to begin with, revising the comprehension strategies and ensuring that they are confident in the layout of these. We will be studying ‘The Eleventh Orphan’ by Joan Lingard and the children will also have a home reader too.
We will now also be using the ‘Big Writing’ programme within the school.
Maths
In Term 1 we will be looking at Symmetry, Expressions and Equations, Place Value, Units of Measure and Addition/Subtraction using the Pathways programme. 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. Mental maths will be the starter activity of every maths lesson to ensure that the children’s arithmetic and times tables are of a high standard.
Health and Wellbeing
In Term 1 the children will be studying the ‘What’s the Score’ drug programme. This will focus on the benefits and dangers of different types of drugs. P.E will be on a Monday and a Thursday this term and it will be myself who will take both sessions. Could you please ensure that your child brings their full P.E kit in every Monday to remain in school until the end of the week.
Social Studies
Our I.D.L theme for this term is The Swinging Sixties. This will be a whole school theme due to our Golden Jubilee with each class looking at different aspects of that era. Primary 7 will be focussing mainly on the fashion and art of the Sixties and I am sure it will be a very colourful and interesting theme for all children. There will be lots of related activities happening throughout the year and the children and staff are very excited about it. I am sure it will be amazing!
R.E
During this first term Primary 7 will be focussing on ‘Creation and Science’, ‘Other World Religions’ and ‘Mary.’ P.7 will be leading the first ‘First Thursday’ Mass this term and I am sure they will work hard and show maturity throughout. They will also be responsible for the music during Mass and will be expected to sing out well during the hymns proving that they are good role models for the younger children.

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 this year.

Many Thanks
Miss Mitchell

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope you all had a wonderful summer!

This letter will provide you with a brief overview of the learning that will take place this term in Primary 5. This information provides you with an insight into your child’s learning and I look forward to the year ahead as the Primary 5 teacher.

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 whole class novel study to reintroduce them to the Active Literacy Reading Strategies. The novel this term will be ‘Tilly and the Badgers’ written by Joan Lingard. The text will be read in class alongside the children to model reading skills. In addition to this, the children will be given a novel to take home and this should be read each night to develop fluency and encourage reading for enjoyment.

Numeracy

This term Primary 5 will explore division, time and place value with numbers up to 100000. 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.

Health and Wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing will be taught across the curriculum. This term in Physical Education the children will take part in NLC’s Swimming programme for twelve weeks at Wishaw Sports Centre every Thursday. Children will also have the opportunity to develop their skills in volleyball and badminton. They will experience six weeks of each sport and this will be led by a specialist coach. The children will also explore ‘Street Sense’ this term to help promote road safety.

Interdisciplinary Learning

The children of Primary 5 will be exploring the ‘Swinging Sixties’ this term as part of the school’s celebrations for the Golden Jubilee.. Various element of the sixties will be examined such as Pop Art, fashion, The Beatles and various key historical events. 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 5 will explore Prayer with a focus on personal prayer. Additionally, Primary 5 will explore the Bible as they learn about the Old and New Testaments and consider the letters/epistles. The children will also examine the narratives of Abraham in the Old Testament and learn about God’s covenant with Abraham.

Homework

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

Many thanks,

Mrs. C Williamson

The nursery boys and girls have been learning all about ‘Pirates’. We had fun learning all about famous pirates, dressing up as pirates by making our own hats and eye-patches and playing pirate games indoors and outdoors. We really enjoyed listening to lots of pirate stories and even learned a new song! We had a treasure hunt in the nursery. We searched for buried treasure in the sand and water. After learning all about pirates, we had our very own Pirate Party! The boys and girls had great fun on the pirate slide, bouncy castle and having their party snack. The grown-ups came to our party to see us having our special treat!

Primary 6 have had an extremely busy term 3!

This term has been filled with lots of fun and engaging learning experiences. The children worked really hard preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation and all of their efforts was evident through the beautiful service and singing on the night. Well done again everyone!

Primary 6 have also enjoyed learning how to programme using ‘Scratch’. Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create interactive art, stories, simulations, and games – and share those creations online. The children actively took part in training on how to work the programme and develop their ICT skills. This experience was enjoyed by all of the children involved. Scratch helps the children learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century. Have a look at the pictures below to see the children using Scratch to create their own ‘Sprite’.

Mrs Williamson and Primary 6 

Primary 5 have been very busy working hard during Term 3.

The children have been attending Wishaw Sports Centre for Swimming and Fitness since December and as we approach our final couple of weeks I have to say that everyone has made excellent progress. The children have also thoroughly enjoyed learning how to play volleyball and basketball and have demonstrated confidence with their ball handling skills.

Primary 5 completed a Science experiment investigating evaporation. We placed 100ml cups of water in various places in the classroom and left them for a couple of weeks to find out which one would evaporate the most. Once we checked our results we realised we all had quite an accurate hypothesis and that the cups by the window evaporated the most due to sun exposure. We have now started our Spanish topic and the children are very much looking forward to learning all about the climate and culture. I have attached a few pictures of the children working with a partner as they create a PowerPoint presentation about Spain.

Kind regards, Miss Burns

While we do not expect any school closure to occur, recent severe weather warnings have led us to create a ‘Winter Weather Home Pack’ for each stage. If the school isn’t able to open as a result of severe weather of any kind, below are some activities for the boys and girls to complete at home. Simply click your class’ link to access these activities.

P1 Winter Weather

P2 Winter Weather

P32 Winter Weather

P43 Winter Weather

P4 Winter Weather

P5 Winter Weather

P6 Winter Weather

P7 Winter Weather

Dear parent/guardian,

After a well-earned Christmas break, the children are settling well into the third term and are looking forward to a busy few months ahead. Here is a brief overview of the learning that will be taking place.

Literacy

Children will continue to follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy programme for spelling and phonics. They will continue to learn new common words and a new phoneme each week and this will be consolidated through work carried out in class and homework.

In reading, children will continue to work on the banded book reading scheme and will be developing fluency and comprehension strategies. They will bring home a book each day to practise reading at home. Children should bring these books into school each day, as they are required for tasks in class. In writing the children will be learning how to write simple instructions as well as continuing to develop their skills in writing personal and imaginative stories.

Numeracy

This term the class will be learning about handling data. Children should be able to read and interpret a range of data displays and be able to present information in different ways. We will then move on to learning about money. The children will use a range of mental and written strategies to calculate costs and change in problem solving. Much of this learning will be carried out using an active approach, using as many real life scenarios as possible.

RE

In RE we will be working on the theme ‘My Uniqueness’ where we will be discussing what makes each child special. Children should be able to see signs of God’s love for them since he created everyone special and unique. We will then move on to ‘New Birth/Baptism’ where children will learn about Baptism as a beginning of our faith journey. Finally, we will explore the signs, symbols and themes of Lent.

Health and Wellbeing

In P.E. the class are currently working with students from Motherwell College on a variety of fitness games. In other P.E. sessions our main focus is ball skills. P.E. days are currently Monday and Tuesday, but please note that this is subject to change. Therefore, please ensure your child brings their P.E. kit to school on a Monday and they can take it home at the end of the week.

Our focus in health education is ‘Food and Health’. For this, we will be learning more about what it means to be healthy and what foods can help keep us healthy. The children are already rather excited at the prospect of cooking a variety of healthy meals and snacks in class.

Social Studies/Science

This term we will be learning about ‘The Human Body’, which is complimented by our ‘Food and Health’ topic. Children will learn and understand more about the main functions of the body and how the organs work.

Thank you for your continued support and please use your child’s homework sheet to communicate any comments or concerns.

Kind Regards

Mrs. C. McLauchlan – Class Teacher P2

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 4/3. The children have enjoyed a very productive, albeit blustery and frosty, two weeks back at school and, with preparations being made for Sacraments for both stages, this term will be a very special time for the children.

Literacy

As always, the class will 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 in addition to consolidating sounds they have already covered. Many of our children have begun to work with longer texts and are enjoying working with skinny novels in class and at home. Again, children will work with both fiction and non-fiction texts to build fluency and comprehension.

With the experience gained during the first two terms, our Primary 4 children are now able to complete a range of challenging phonics and spelling activities with independence and this is something that will be encouraged this term. During this longer term, the children will undertake two novel studies, the first being ‘The Best Dog in the World’ and the second ‘The Butterfly Lion’. 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 continue to explore the theme of multiplication, looking towards division later in the term. Our Primary 3 children will continue to work with the 2, 4, 5 & 10 times tables. Our Primary 4 children will continue to work with the 3 & 6 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. Other topics that will be covered during the course of the term include money and position & movement.

RE

This term, children of both stages will commence making preparations for their respective Sacraments. Primary 3 will be preparing for and making the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Primary 4 will begin to prepare for First Communion, making the Sacrament itself in the last term. The children will be working with Miss Cassidy, Miss O’Donnell and myself as they get ready for these important events.

Health & Wellbeing

A wee reminder that PE for Primary 4/3 will continue to take place on a Monday and a Wednesday. 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. This term, our focus will be on Games.

Cross Curricular

During the third term, our class topic will focus on the design and creation of a ‘Class Newspaper’. The children will be exploring the media, developing their skills in the use of multimedia technology and working to a given budget. All children will contribute to the running of this enterprise project. Later in the term, class will also undertake a short Science investigation into how exercise affects our breathing rate.

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

Many thanks

Miss Burns

Class Teacher

As you are aware, Primary 6 and 7 are making their Confirmation in March. We have been working hard researching all about it and learning about the importance of this sacrament. There are seven different themes in our Confirmation workbook and we have been working through these a week at a time to ensure that we fully grasp the concepts being taught. The children have also enjoyed a visit to the Pastoral Centre in Newmains recently. Although the weather wasn’t great to enjoy the beautiful gardens within the grounds, the children still thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The activities were beneficial and the children got the opportunity to; make posters, think about their qualities, make Confirmation hanging designs using beads and feathers to represent the Holy Spirit and reflect during prayer time. It was well worth the visit and a lovely day out for the children.