November 2015

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I have enjoyed getting to know your wonderful children and we have all settled into a great working routine. I am looking forward to this term as it is always a magical time, especially teaching the infant children. 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 phonics. 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 2F 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. 2D and 3D shape will be developed this term where the children will be able to identify these shapes and investigate whether the shape can be tiled or not. Also we will be learning about measure through length and area and using money up to £2. Within numeracy the concepts are taught and the children are given opportunities to use their knowledge within games situations.

Religious Education
During the second term the children will be learning about Jesus’ Family and Ours where they will learn about their own family, Jesus and the Holy family and The Church Family. We will be celebrating how God made everyone unique and special to him 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 2F 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,

Mrs Debbie Ferns
Class Teacher Primary 2F

Primary 1B

Primary 1 have settled into school life and are enjoying learning lots of new things.

We have been working hard with our sounds and common words. We are beginning to recognise the words that our sounds can make when blended together using our magnetic boards.

In Numeracy have been learning numbers 0-5 and have used a variety of resources to explore the formation of these numbers including: playdough, foam and sand. We are continuing to work with these numbers and use our knowledge for counting.

Primary 1 are learning all about ‘When Gran Was a Girl’ and we have looked at some of the toys that were around at this time and have discussed which toys we prefer. We then drew a picture of a spinning top in our jotters. The children are also learning some of the games that were played including ‘In and Out Those Dusty Bluebells.’

Kind regards,

Miss Burns

What an exciting term for Primary 1C. All children have settled very well into school life and are happy to follow the daily routines of the classroom and the wider school. As well as settling in, the children have also been learning lots of new things across the curriculum. Here is a little insight into what we have been up to…

In Literacy the children have been learning the first block of initial sounds and common words. We are beginning to use our initial sounds to build words and can find and read our common words in our reading books.

Within Numeracy we have been learning to read, write and use numbers 0-5. We are consolidating and challenging this learning by taking part in fun activities such as – ordering numbers on the washing line and number track, forming numbers on the smartboard, chalkboards and with playdough, and matching and sorting numbers with the unifix cubes, beads and number games.

For our interdisciplinary learning topic this term we have been learning all about the sixties and what it was like when ‘Gran was a Girl’. We have enjoyed looking at and exploring old toys and have had fun learning some playground games.

Miss Cochrane and Primary 1C

The boys and girls have settled in well this term and are working very hard in Primary 6.

We have begun the year with our 1960s IDL topic, which everyone is very enthusiastic about. Primary 6 are learning about modern life in the 1960’s – pop music, fashion, technology and how this compares with their own life today. We have also had our first Kodaly music lesson with a specialist teacher from North Lanarkshire. This was great fun as the children learned a rap song with actions to help them remember the important aspects of music eg: rhythm, pitch, beat, etc. During our PE lessons the children have been testing their fitness levels with athletics training. They have competed with one another in hurdles and relay racing. This week we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went outside for some athletics including using the trim trail as an obstacle course challenge.

This morning at assembly some of the class spoke to the whole school about our committees (Eco, Fairtrade and Enterprise) which the pupils will be busy organizing in the next couple of weeks.

We look forward to the term ahead and thank you for your continued support.

An Update from Mrs Ferns and Primary 2F
We have settled in nicely to our new class and we have been enjoying our learning experiences so far this term.
We have been reading the tradition tale The Little Red Hen and we have been using this as a stimulus for some of our learning. We have been using this to learn through play in our class. In the photographs you can see us enjoying ourselves in a number of different activities; the farm corner, the bakers shop, building a farm with lego, the writing table, using Happyland to create our own village and the drawing table.
We have also been using The Little Red Hen and extending this into an agricultural theme to support our writing. We have been using VCOP (vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation) to support the teaching of writing. The children have been working on recount writing and have written their own version of The Little Red Hen, Old Macdonald and The Farmer in The Dell. The children have really enjoyed this, in particular making the animal noises! Look out for our weekly star writers on twitter.
We are looking forward to the rest of the term. Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Ferns and Primary 2F

We have all settled in to the ‘back to school’ routine and have been enjoying a busy first few weeks of term 1.

In numeracy we have recently been working on our multiplication and division skills through a variety of active and written tasks.

In literacy we have particularly enjoyed becoming involved in the ‘Big Writing’ approach to improve our writing. We have enjoyed some of the VCOP (vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation) activities, especially those which involve treats! We are focusing on improving our vocabulary by using lots of ‘wow’ words and phrases, both in our talking and in our writing.

Our topic on the sixties has sparked an enthusiastic response from our class! So far, the children have been learning about the way of life in the sixties, music, fashion, as well as key events such as the moon landing. We have also really enjoyed finding out about more about Andy Warhol and the pop art movement. Our artwork has certainly made us, and our teacher proud!

We look forward to the rest of the term ahead. Thank you for your continued support.

P4/3 and Mrs McLauchlan

Primary 5/4 have been continuing to work hard this week. The Primary 5 children have had their third week of swimming at Wishaw Baths and are thoroughly enjoying the experience. While the Primary 5’s are away, the Primary 4’s have been working hard in the gym hall to improve their stamina and keep fit with the class circuits. Both Primary 5 and Primary 4 have also been having fun listening to music from the 1960’s. It is so different from what they usually listen to! Last week they designed some 1960’s outfits for themselves. Quite a fashion treat! In Literacy, we have been working on our stories and we learned about VCOP to help us (Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers and Punctuation). We should all be on time for school in the morning from now on because we have also been learning about time!

Mrs. McNicholl & Primary 5/4

A big hello from Primary 3 and Miss Burns!

Since returning to school just over a fortnight ago, our class has had great fun in learning and getting to know one another a little better. We have really enjoyed trying out new and interesting active tasks in Literacy and Numeracy. Here are some photos of us investigating number and place value through fun games and challenges.

It is sure to be a very special and busy year for Primary 3 and the whole school. St. Brendan’s Primary School is celebrating it’s fiftieth birthday this school year and to celebrate this, this term our class will be learning more about the 1960’s – the decade when our school was built. Please follow us on Twitter to see our updates and work as the term goes on!

Miss Burns & Primary 3

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I am delighted to be class teacher for primary 4/3 this year and after a well-earned summer holiday, the children are settling into the new academic year. We are all looking forward to an exciting and busy term ahead. Here is a brief overview of the learning that will be taking place.

Literacy

All children will continue to follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy Programme. Primary 3 will continue to learn new spelling words and a new sounds weekly and this will be consolidated through class work and homework. Primary 4 children will now be working on Active Literacy stage 4, which is taught in a block of four weeks, with two

weeks being focused on teaching phonemes and their representations, one week on strategy spelling and one week on spelling rules. This encourages children to use their prior knowledge of phonics to enable them to have success in spelling. The children will also be introduced to diacritical marking. Diacritical marking involves investigating words – recognising and identifying which phonemes are contained within each word. Children are involved in listening carefully, and using the diacritical marking code to identify individual sounds and blends.

In reading, children are taught through a four part approach, comprising of:-

• Fluency
• Comprehension
• Writing linked to reading
• Talking and listening linked to reading

The books selected will provide children with quality opportunities for reflection and discussion. Primary 4 children will be introduced to six key comprehension strategies which, when applied, will help them make sense of texts and develop their overall reading development. The key strategies will be taught during a ‘modelling’ block this term, where the teacher will model the use of each of the strategies. During this time, the children will take home a different book to the one which will be read and worked on in class.

In writing we will be using the ‘Big Write’ approach, which is an enjoyable and motivating way for children to develop their writing skills. This promotes higher level talking and improves basic grammar, spelling and punctuation skills.

Numeracy

Children will begin this term by revising and developing multiplication knowledge and we will then further develop this by learning more about division then fractions.

We will then move on to place value, before working on addition up to 1,000. Children will also have regular opportunities to revise their mental maths skills on through a variety of practical activities in class.

R.E

In R.E we will be looking at the theme of ‘The beginning of the school year’. For this we will be exploring liturgical colours and reading and discussing Bible stories. We will also be exploring ‘God’s beautiful creation’ where we will be discussing the story of creation and our precious gift of life.

Health and Wellbeing

In P.E our main focus this term will be games/athletics. P.E days will be Mondays and Thursdays but please note PE days may change. Therefore, please ensure your child brings their PE kit on a Monday and takes it home on a Friday. In Health Education the children will be working with Mrs Doherty on learning about road safety through the ‘Streetsense’ programme.

Social Studies

This term the whole school will be working on the topic ‘the swinging sixties’. We are all very excited about the topic and we have already had some interesting discussions about the topic. The children are particularly looking forward to learning more about Andy Warhol and the pop-art movement, as well as the moon landing.

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

Mrs C McLauchlan – Class Teacher P.4/3