Dear Parent/Guardian,

Here is a brief overview of the learning that will be taking place in our Primary one class during term three.

Literacy

Children will follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy programme for spelling, phonics and reading.

In phonics we will be learning the sounds sh, th, ch, ng, wh, ph, and ee, as well as consolidating all of our initial sounds.  Children will be introduced to the phonemes through a multi-sensory approach. Two sounds will be introduced each week alongside three spelling words. Children will be able to recognise and write initial sounds and begin to blend sounds together and read three letter words. We have now covered all initial sounds within the alphabet. Please continue to revise all common words and sounds taught in term one and two regularly with your child so they are able to recall the sounds or words instantly.

We will be co-ordinating our handwriting with the sounds we are learning. Children will use whiteboards in class along with other kinaesthetic and visual materials such as plasticine to practise letter formation and early writing patterns. Please encourage your child to practise writing the letters using the correct formation.

 

Children will get two reading books each week. (Monday and Wednesday) These books give you an opportunity for you and your child to enjoy reading together. Children should begin to identify the common words within the reading books and use their knowledge of sounds to sound out words. You can help your child by talking about the pictures in the book to help find clues about the story and the characters and also encourage them to make predictions about what may happen next in the story.

 

Numeracy

In numeracy we will be learning about addition, time, position and movement, and weight.  Numeracy is taught actively here at St. Brendan’s through stories, games, number rhymes and songs.

 

Social Studies

The story ‘Rainbow Fish’ will provide a context for the interdisciplinary learning this term.  Through the story the children will learn to work as part of a group.  They will also be responsible for making decisions about their learning, where they work and the resource they will need to complete tasks. The children will also explore the theme of friendship and what it means to be a good friend.  There will be lots of opportunities for active learning through role play, art, water play, construction, writing and outdoor learning.

 

 

 

Health & Wellbeing

PE this term will be on a Monday afternoon and Wednesday Morning. The children will be working on team games this term. They will be working on special awareness whilst learning to work with a partner or a small group.

 

 

R.E.

 

In Religious Education the children will be learning about their own uniqueness and God-given gifts. They will also learn the Christmas story and why Christmas is a special time for the Christian community.

 

French

Primary one will be learning some basic French words and phrases. I am sure they will be very excited to tell you all about the new French words and phrases they have learned!

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks

Mrs McCann

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Here is a brief overview of the learning that will be taking place in our Primary one class during term three.

Literacy

Children will follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy programme for spelling, phonics and reading.

In phonics we will be learning the sounds sh, th, ch, ng, wh, ph, and ee, as well as consolidating all of our initial sounds.  Children will be introduced to the phonemes through a multi-sensory approach. Two sounds will be introduced each week alongside three spelling words. Children will be able to recognise and write initial sounds and begin to blend sounds together and read three letter words. We have now covered all initial sounds within the alphabet. Please continue to revise all common words and sounds taught in term one and two regularly with your child so they are able to recall the sounds or words instantly.

We will be co-ordinating our handwriting with the sounds we are learning. Children will use whiteboards in class along with other kinaesthetic and visual materials such as plasticine to practise letter formation and early writing patterns. Please encourage your child to practise writing the letters using the correct formation.

 

Children will get two reading books each week. (Monday and Wednesday) These books give you an opportunity for you and your child to enjoy reading together. Children should begin to identify the common words within the reading books and use their knowledge of sounds to sound out words. You can help your child by talking about the pictures in the book to help find clues about the story and the characters and also encourage them to make predictions about what may happen next in the story.

 

Numeracy

In numeracy we will be learning about addition, time, position and movement, and weight.  Numeracy is taught actively here at St. Brendan’s through stories, games, number rhymes and songs.

 

Social Studies

The story ‘Rainbow Fish’ will provide a context for the interdisciplinary learning this term.  Through the story the children will learn to work as part of a group.  They will also be responsible for making decisions about their learning, where they work and the resource they will need to complete tasks. The children will also explore the theme of friendship and what it means to be a good friend.  There will be lots of opportunities for active learning through role play, art, water play, construction, writing and outdoor learning.

 

 

 

Health & Wellbeing

PE this term will be on a Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon. The children will be working on team games this term. They will be working on special awareness whilst learning to work with a partner or a small group.

 

 

R.E.

 

In Religious Education the children will be learning about their own uniqueness and God-given gifts. They will also learn the Christmas story and why Christmas is a special time for the Christian community.

 

French

Primary one will be learning some basic French words and phrases. I am sure they will be very excited to tell you all about the new French words and phrases they have learned!

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks

Miss Cochrane

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)

Primary 3/2 are a very hard working class who love to learn new things and have lots of fun.

This term, our Interdisciplinary Learning theme is ‘Me and my Community.’ During our class discussions we have been considering the different ways which we can show respect for the world around us and each other.

We understand that everyone has different beliefs and that as good citizens and friends we must respect each other. Through the ‘Friendship Terrace’ programme we have been thinking about the qualities that make a good friend. We read a story all about a boy called Fitzroy. He lives at Number One Friendship Terrace and he always wants to be first. In Primary 3/2 we know that fairness and caring are important in building positive relationships so we were shocked to hear that when Fitzroy doesn’t win he becomes moody and often hurts his friends.  We explored the story of ‘Fitzroy First’ in our drama lesson this week and in groups created some fabulous Freeze Frames to show how we would feel if Fitzroy was our friend.

Together with Miss Cassidy we have made a pledge to become better citizens this term. We know that we have to show respect to our friends and our community for this to be successful.

We have considered ways to look after our school and the local community. Our ideas on how to do this were fabulous. This is a big task for Primary 3/2 so we decided that starting our action plan in school was a great idea. Over the next few weeks we will be working in the quadrangle to make sure it’s an area that can be used by all the children. We are excited to take on this big responsibility and to take care of our school.

As practice we have been busy planting sunflower seeds for all the classes and staff of St. Brendan’s.  We can’t wait to use our new skills to make the quadrangle a place that the children of St. Brendan’s can be proud of.

Here are some pictures of our fun planting lesson.

Dear Parent/Guardian,
I hope you have all had a wonderful summer break and I would like to welcome you back to the new school year. The children have had a week to settle back into their normal school routine, get to know their new classmates and have been hard at work setting their targets for the new term ahead. This week however, it is back to business as usual with high standards to ensure that your child achieves his/her potential. 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 learning the sequence of days in a week, months in a year and will be able to group the months into seasons. Our Primary 2 children will learn that months are made up of a different numbers of days with our primary 3 children learning to specify how many days are in each month. We will then move on to learn about our number system. Children will discover that this is built around the digits 0 – 9 and be able to use the digits 0 – 9 in different combinations to make numbers. Children will also learn how to read, write and order a range of whole numbers. Our Primary 2 children will work with the numbers 0-20 and our Primary 3 children developing onto numbers 0-100.
Religious Education
During this term our focus for R.E will be ‘Creation.’ Children will be learning about God’s Role in making them and the world as we know it. They will discuss God’s love for us and the qualities that make us all both unique and special. Children will also be learning about many well known Saints, their lives and lessons.

Health and Wellbeing
This term children will explore the theme of friendship and discuss the qualities that make a ‘good’ friend. This will be supported through the education pack ‘Friendship Terrace.’ This pack stimulates discussions by using stories of various situations and asking the children to explore their feelings and reactions to each story. We will also be looking at the choices we make and the impact this has on our general fitness. Please not that P.E is a mandatory part of our curriculum and our school aims to deliver 2 hours every week. Science this term will be taught by Mrs McLauchlan and the focus will be living things and the environment.
Social Studies
This term the children will take part in the whole school theme of ‘Our Wonderful World.’ Primary 3/2 will explore the local area and will enjoy looking at Scotland in a wider context. Children will learn through play, discussion and many group activities to develop their understanding of our local environment and places of local interest.

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
Jodi Cassidy
Class Teacher (P3/2)

Ahoy there! We are the Captains of Primary 3/2 and we are excited to share some pictures with you today. They show all of our incredible work on Pirates and the fantastic display we worked hard to create. During this topic Miss Cassidy set us a ‘Home Challenge.’ We worked with our families to create ships, treasure chests, cannons, swords and maps. Then we brought them into school to add to our display.  Everyone in St. Brendan’s was very impressed with our effort! Some children even said it looked like a Pirate Museum! We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped make our creations so fabulous, we really impressed Miss Cassidy and all the other teachers and children with our hard work. Everyone was so impressed we decided to organise a Pirate Showcase. We invited a special guest from home to attend. This gave us the opportunity to present our work, amazing creations and all the fabulous facts we had discovered. We even sang some of our Sea Shanties. Everyone had a great time! We were sad when our topic came to an end but were very excited to discover that this term we would be learning all about space! We are already impressing our teachers with all facts we know. We are even making papier mache planets! We think it’s going to be really messy but we are sure Miss Cassidy and Miss Hill won’t mind because its such great fun!

Primary 3/2 would like to welcome you to our new school blog and our very first post.

Since returning to school after the holidays, Primary 3/2 and Miss Cassidy have been enjoying learning about our latest topic, Water.

We have had a fabulous time experimenting with the different ways we could change water. We learned that freezing temperatures turn water to ice and made our own ice cubes. We especially enjoyed making yummy ice lollies by mixing water with diluting juice and then freezing. They helped us all to cool down after a fun P.E lesson on Friday.

We also learned that we could change the colour of water by adding a drop of food colouring. We enjoyed experimenting with all the different colours we could make by just adding water.

We then worked with Primary 2/1 and Miss Burns to make our very own Dream Jars just like The BFG’s! We used glitter, glue, oil, food colouring and water to make our jars and we even wrote about our most memorable and exciting dream during story writing.

As you can see in the pictures, we have had a super time so far this term.