Primary 2M are very busy this term preparing for their Nativity performance in December. We have also been practising hard this week for the St Andrew’s celebration which has been a very enjoyable experience for both the children and I.

As you will be aware, we have been very active this November doing a mile walk every day. The children enjoyed practising our nativity songs and St Andrew’s Day song ‘Caledonia’ as we walked.

We have been exploring the Human body as this terms topic. First, we had a look at our skeleton and its functions. Then we further investigated our organs which are protected by the skeleton. The children have shown a keen interest in this topic and are very enthused to learn more.

In R.E we have been focusing on ‘My Uniqueness’. The children shared their thoughts and ideas about what makes them unique and drew beautiful self-portraits into their jotters. Each child made a print of their hands which we then cut out and made into a Christmas tree collage for our display, titled ‘We are each unique and beautiful, but together we are a masterpiece’.

Primary 2M were very fortunate to have had Mrs Geirthy come to visit us in school and tell us many stories about the history of St Brendan’s school. Mrs Geirthy grew up adjacent the school and her children attended St Brendan’s also back in the 60’s. It was a pleasure listening to her stories and the children loved them, they were given the opportunity to ask questions after she had told us her enchanting tales.

Today we had a very exciting and magical trip to the Motherwell Civic Theatre to watch “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. The children loved the experience and were extremely well behaved, I am very proud of each and every one of them.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Mc Dermott and P2M

November 2015

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I wish to take this opportunity to firstly thank you for all of your support over the first few months of this academic year.  It has truly been a pleasure getting to know your children and we have all settled very well into our classroom routines. We have a very exciting and eventful term in store for P2M and I, along with the children am looking forward to this term as it is always a magical time of year. This is a brief outline of the work that we will be undertaking within the class during the second term.

Literacy 

We will be continuing to follow the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme in spelling and common words. This term we will focus more on the phoneme stories and the children will be using elkonin boxes in class to support their learning of phonics. The children will continue to read two books per week with associated writing tasks in class to develop their comprehension skills. The children will be given opportunities to answer questions from their books and complete beginning, middle and end tasks. It is important that the children continue to bring their books into school daily to ensure they are able to use them to carry out their tasks. In Big Writing this Term the children will be given opportunities to write both narrative and instructional pieces of writing.

 Numeracy

In Primary 2M we have been working on time, focusing on days, months, seasons and using a calendar. We will be continuing with addition and subtracting looking at expressions and equations. Further development on 2D and 3D shape will be a focus this term where the children will be able to identify these shapes and investigate patterns with them i.e. whether the shape can be tiled or not. Finally measure (length and area) and money will be explored this term also. Numeracy concepts are taught actively with the use of interactive games as well as peer/group work.

Religious Education

During the second term the children will be learning about Jesus’ Family and Ours where they will be given opportunities to talk about their own family, Jesus, the Holy family and Our Church Family. We will be celebrating how God made everyone unique and special in their own individual way. Advent will be our main focus for learning this term and I have no doubt that the children will thoroughly enjoy this time. We will create our own Advent wreath and our class Nativity scene. The children will learn more about how the Angel Gabriel brought God’s special message to Mary as well as how the angels and shepherds rejoiced together at Jesus’ birth.

Health and Wellbeing

In P.E. the learning will be focused on Gymnastics and Dancing. The children will be given opportunities to experience balancing, rolling and using their weight on hands. Then the children will be able to sequence these together. In Dancing the children will be given opportunities to create and perform a selection of dance actions within a space. Please ensure your child continues to bring their P.E. kit to school on a Monday and takes it home on a Friday.

Science

This term Primary 2M will be learning about The Human Body. They will be learning about the position and function of the human skeleton and about major organs in the human body. They will learn ways which they can keep their body healthy and understand how germs spread and what they can do to prevent this. They will be given opportunities to explore their senses and will conduct a science experiment based on their senses.

Thank you for your continued support, please use your child’s homework diary to communicate any concerns/comments.

Kind Regards,

Miss Mc Dermott

Class Teacher Primary 2M

August 2015

Dear Parent/Carer

I hope that you had a lovely summer break. The new school year is now underway and the children are settling well into Primary 2. They have enjoyed moving up to their new classroom on the first floor, and have become accustomed to the new routines. Over the past few days of their first term, the children have been setting new targets and these will be the focus for term 1 in Primary 2. We are looking forward to the new term ahead and wish to share a brief overview of the learning which will be taking place in our classroom.

Literacy

The children will continue to follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy Programme for spelling and Phonics. They will continue to learn a new set of common words each week alongside a new sound and consolidation for the learning will be supported through class work and homework.

In reading, the children will take home two different books each week. Please ensure that their books are brought to school on a daily basis for reading time. A new book will ideally be given on a Monday and a Wednesday this will ensure that the children have experienced a variety of books which will challenge their comprehension skills and heighten their imagination.

Within story writing the children will continue to write independently, using the appropriate punctuation and linking their sentences together in a way which makes sense.

Numeracy 

In Primary 2 we have already begun by learning about numbers in our environment and how numbers are essential to everyday life. The children will develop their understanding of place value, knowing that our number system is built around 0-9. The children will be given opportunities to read, write and order numbers to 20 in a variety of ways. We will be learning about the purpose and usefulness of estimating and rounding of numbers.

Religious education 

During the first term the children will be learning about the Bible and how God speaks to us through Bible stories. The children will understand that the Bible should be treated with reverence and how God can help then in difficult times. We will move on to learning about the community of faith and how as a community we experience God’s love and care together.

Health and Well Being 

In P.E. the learning will be focused on Athletics and Outdoor Learning. The children will be working within the concept of travelling through balance, flight, rotation and inversion. The children will encounter a range of experiences; individually, with a partner and in a group situation. Please ensure your child brings their P.E. kit to school on a Monday and takes it home on a Friday.

Social Studies 

As the school is celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year, the first term will be focusing our learning on Children in the 60’s. The children will be comparing aspects of children’s daily lives in the 60’s with their own. After discussions with the children they decided to focus their learning on what St. Brendan’s school was like for children when it first opened in 1965. They also want to learn about what the children would have played with and watched on the television. We will also learn about the moon landing as it was a significant event of that decade.

Your continued support is greatly appreciated and we wish for you to continue to communicate any concerns/comments through your child’s homework diary.

Kind regards

Bernadette Mc Dermott

Class Teacher P2M