St. Brendan's Primary School and Nursery

Welcome Back!

Literacy

In reading, Primary 6 have been diving into two much‑loved novels: War Horse by Michael Morpurgo and Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. Through these stories, pupils have been developing key comprehension strategies such as predicting, summarising, analysing character motivations and identifying themes. They have been discussing the authors’ use of language, exploring how emotions are conveyed and using evidence from the text to support their ideas. These rich and engaging texts have sparked thoughtful conversations and helped pupils strengthen their understanding of literature in an enjoyable and meaningful way.

In writing, the children have been exploring a variety of poetry and applying key comprehension strategies to deepen their understanding. They have been identifying themes and main ideas, considering the author’s intent, and analysing figurative language such as similes, metaphors and personification. Pupils have also enjoyed reading Scots poetry and having a go at writing their own poems. As they move into narrative writing, the children are working hard to incorporate figurative language into their stories to enrich their descriptions and bring their ideas to life.

Primary 6 had a brilliant World Book Day 2026! Pupils came dressed in comfy clothes, loungewear, pyjamas or fun character costumes, adding to the excitement of the day. They enjoyed the BBC Live Lesson, where they explored their “reading vibe,” learned that everyone reads differently, discovered new genres and reflected on their own reading preferences. The class left feeling confident as readers and excited about what they want to read next. They particularly enjoyed ending with a dance party and showing off their moves.

Maths and Numeracy

Primary 6 have been learning how to identify and represent fractions in a variety of forms, using visual models and practical strategies to strengthen their understanding. Pupils have been working on simplifying fractions by finding common factors and have gained confidence in recognising and creating equivalent fractions through hands‑on tasks and collaborative challenges. They have also been applying their skills to real‑life contexts and problem‑solving activities, helping them understand how fractions connect to everyday situations and other areas of numeracy. The children have particularly enjoyed applying their learning across a variety of active maths stations, allowing them to practise new skills in fun, hands‑on ways.

During Number Talks, our focus has shifted to multiplication strategies, where pupils have been exploring methods such as partial products, breaking numbers into factors, repeated addition, doubling and halving and using friendly numbers to make calculations more efficient. Many children are becoming more confident in selecting strategies that work best for them and clearly articulating their thinking during discussions.

Learning Across the Curriculum

In IDL, the children have been deepening their understanding of World War II through a series of focused learning activities. They began by examining the causes of the conflict, exploring the impact of the Treaty of Versailles and how rising tensions in Europe contributed to the outbreak of war. Pupils then studied a timeline of Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, analysing key events that led to the beginning of the conflict.

The class has also investigated the global scale of the war by identifying the Allied, Axis and Axis‑controlled countries across Europe and the Pacific. Using historical maps, they plotted these nations and located significant battles, helping them build a clearer picture of how the war progressed.

Alongside this, the children have begun an expressive arts project linked to wartime soldiers. They have been developing shading techniques to create contrast and realistic shadows in their portrait drawings and will soon complete their artwork by adding camouflage‑inspired tissue‑paper backgrounds to reflect wartime environments.

Science

In Science, the children have been developing their understanding of the human body by exploring both the circulatory and respiratory systems. They learned about the functions of each system, how they work together to keep the body healthy and why both are essential for survival. To deepen their thinking, pupils took part in a lively classroom debate titled “Battle of the Body Systems”, where they presented arguments for which system they believed was most important. Building on this discussion, the children then wrote discursive essays, carefully considering both sides of the argument and using scientific evidence to support their conclusions. This learning has strengthened their scientific knowledge as well as their critical thinking and persuasive writing skills.

Health and Wellbeing

In Health and Wellbeing, the children have been learning about the safe and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence. They explored how AI tools work, discussed their benefits and limitations and considered how to use them thoughtfully in everyday life. As part of this learning, pupils took part in the BBC Live Lesson on AI and chatbots, where they learned about digital safety, critical thinking and the importance of recognising reliable information online. This experience helped the children develop greater confidence in navigating technology while understanding how to use AI safely and responsibly.

In PE, the children have been developing their ball‑handling skills through both netball and basketball, focusing on control, accuracy, movement and teamwork. They have also enjoyed visits from senior pupils at Our Lady’s High School, who have been leading sessions and introducing a variety of fun and energetic PE games designed to build confidence and improve technique. In addition to this, the class has been participating in a range of team games, including rounders and hockey, giving them opportunities to apply their skills in competitive and cooperative situations while strengthening communication and sportsmanship.

This Is Our Faith

This term in RE, the children have been exploring a range of important themes in their faith learning. They began by investigating Christian Unity Week, learning about its purpose in bringing different Christian communities together in prayer, reflection and shared values. Pupils discussed why unity is important within Christianity and how cooperation and respect strengthen communities. They also deepened their understanding of personal beliefs by annotating the Creed, breaking it down section by section to consider what each statement means and how it connects to their own faith. More recently, the class has been learning about Lent, exploring the three pillars of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. They have reflected on practical ways to include each pillar in daily life throughout Lent, thinking about meaningful actions that can support others and strengthen their own spiritual growth.

Minecraft Build Battles

This term, Primary 6 took part in the North Lanarkshire Minecraft Education Build Battles, an exciting digital learning challenge that encouraged creativity, teamwork and problem‑solving. Each week, pupils received a themed build prompt which they had to prepare for collaboratively before completing during a live lesson alongside other participating classes. The challenge required them to think critically, manage time effectively and communicate clearly within their groups. One team: “Minecraft Kidz” earned the title of Class Champions and progressed to a live quarter‑final, where they worked together as a team of four to respond to a new build prompt under competition conditions. Throughout the experience, the children demonstrated impressive digital literacy, collaboration, resilience and imaginative design skills, making it a memorable and valuable learning opportunity.

Our Lady’s High School

Primary 6 had a fantastic day visiting Our Lady’s High School, where everyone enjoyed exploring life as a secondary school pupil. The children were fully engaged in each session and took part in three exciting subject areas: Physical Education, Religious Education and Modern Languages. It was a brilliant opportunity for them to learn new skills, meet new teachers and get a taste of what secondary school will be like next year!

Sports Wellbeing Day – Friday 13^th March

A reminder that we are still looking for donations for our school sports committee who are hoping to run a St. Brendan’s Sports Swap Shop. This initiative aims to ensure that every pupil in our school has access to sports equipment and clothing, helping all children take part confidently in physical activity and do our bit to help the environment! We will be charging a small fee of £1 for pupils and families to purchase these items and the profits made will be used to buy more equipment for the school and playground.

We are appealing to pupils and families to donate any unwanted, unused, or good-condition sports equipment and sportswear. Items such as trainers, football boots, sports bags, dance shoes and costumes, tracksuits, shorts, tops and equipment would be greatly appreciated. Items can be dropped into the donation box at the front office.

We aim to launch this initiative on Friday 13^th March

This will be a special day where pupils can wear their own sports clothes. A healthy tuck shop will be available for pupils to purchase fruit and vegetable cups for the small cost of £1, money raised from this tuck shop will go towards school funds to purchase sports equipment for the school and yard.

Skills academies

This month in our Skills Academies, we have been developing an important meta‑skill called Sense Making. Sense making means using your brain to understand the world around you. It helps us to:

Figure things out

Notice when things are the same or different

See how ideas and objects fit together

These are skills we use every day—whether we’re learning in school, solving a problem at home, or trying something new in the wider world!

Throughout the day, pupils took part in a fantastic range of activities designed to help us grow our skills for learning, life and work. Pupils had the chance to explore:

Life Skills

We practised everyday skills that help us become more confident, independent and responsible. These skills will support us now and in the future.

Knowledge of the Community

We learned more about the people, places and services around us. Understanding our community helps us make good choices and know where to go for help, opportunities and support.

Creativity Skills

We used our imaginations, shared ideas, and tried new ways of solving problems. Creativity helps us think differently and come up with exciting new possibilities!

Design and Manufacture Skills

We explored how things are made, designed and improved. We tested out our sense making by spotting patterns, fixing mistakes and figuring out how parts fit together.

Food Technology Skills

From preparing ingredients to understanding how to follow steps safely, we gained important skills for healthy living and making good food choices.

Why Sense Making Matters?

By focusing on sense making, we learned how to break problems down, spot important information, and make connections between ideas. These skills don’t just help us in school—they help us become confident learners, thoughtful citizens and capable individuals ready for the world of work.

We are so proud of everyone for their hard work, enthusiasm and willingness to try new things!

Mini Vinnies Host a Wonderful Coffee Morning!

Our Mini Vinnies group ran by Mrs MacDermid recently hosted a very successful coffee morning, bringing pupils, families and staff together in a lovely celebration of community and faith. The children worked hard to welcome guests, serve refreshments and create a warm, friendly atmosphere.

Our school choir gave a beautiful performance that filled the hall with joy and made the event even more special. The coffee morning was a fantastic way to bring people together and let our pupils live out their faith through kindness and service.

A huge well done to our Mini Vinnies—and thank you to everyone who came along to support the event!

We raised an astonishing £426.52, a huge thanks to everyone involved and for your kind contributions.

A huge congratulations to our netball team!

Last week, our netball team travelled to Our Lady’s High School to take part in an exciting round of netball matches—and what a fantastic performance they gave!

Our players showed brilliant determination throughout the afternoon. They won one game, drew one and lost one, demonstrating great resilience and a positive attitude in every match.

Our  team was commended for their excellent teamwork and encouragement. Players supported one another on and off the court, communicated clearly and never gave up—even in the toughest moments. Their sportsmanship made us incredibly proud. A huge congratulations to our netball team for representing our school so brilliantly. Your hard work, skills, and positive spirit truly shone through.

Well done, team!

World Book Day celebration – Thursday 5^th March

A friendly reminder that we are celebrating World Book Day next Thursday 5^th March. To celebrate this day children, have the option to dress up as their favourite character from a book or wear relaxing cosy clothes e.g. loungewear or pyjamas.

The children will take part in a range of activities throughout the day and there will be a themed lunch on this day to celebrate.

Celebrating our weekly successes here in St. Brendan’s

This week’s assembly was once again a fantastic celebration of our learners’ achievements. We recognised many pupils who have shown excellence as Successful Learners, Responsible Citizens, Confident Individuals and Effective Contributors. Their hard work, positive attitudes and dedication to learning truly stood out.

Welcome back to Primary 5!

Since writing our last class blog Primary 5 have been busy! We have been working hard across all areas of the curriculum and taking part in lots of exciting and engaging learning experiences.

Literacy

Primary 5 have been exploring Space through a non-fiction STEM pilot. Throughout this topic, we have worked in expert and jigsaw groups, allowing us to deepen our understanding of a range of non-fiction texts and share our learning with one another.

We have learned about the Solar System, with a particular focus on the Sun, Moon and Earth. We have developed our skills in note-taking and summary writing, which has strengthened our ability to structure and write detailed information texts. We have also explored what makes our planet unique and special and studied the famous image Pale Blue Dot, inspired by the photograph taken by Carl Sagan using images captured by Voyager 1. We reflected on how small and precious our planet is in the vastness of space and discussed why it is so important that we care for our one shared home.

As part of our pilot, we wrote poems and created artwork to highlight concerns we have about our planet and the changes we can make to protect it. Soon, we will voice-record our poems and create a short video clip to showcase our learning.

We also created shadow artwork to demonstrate how the Sun’s position in the sky changes throughout the day. Using a torch to simulate the Sun, we adjusted its position to represent morning, afternoon and early evening, observing how shadows changed.

In writing, we have been focusing on poetry. We can now recognise different rhyming schemes and understand how they help us identify the type of poem. We particularly enjoyed learning about the AABBA rhyming scheme used in limericks and had great fun writing our own.

“I liked working in a jigsaw group because we get to swap our groups up and I love the writing bursts because it is similar to story writing!” – I.F

Numeracy and Maths

We have covered a wide range of numeracy and maths topics since our last post, including addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, symmetry, money and fractions.

Through Number Talks, we have been developing our confidence in mental arithmetic by explaining our thinking clearly. We also use Daily 10 to improve our speed and accuracy, helping us challenge ourselves with more complex tasks.

“I liked learning about Fractions because its taught me another method for division!” – S.K

We have recently completed our work on fractions and percentages and are now beginning to explore decimal fractions.

Care Home Visit

Recently, we visited our local care home and had a wonderful time. We brought along some of our favourite games to play with the residents and enjoyed friendly competition with them and their families. Some of our classmates even performed an impromptu concert, singing and dancing to much-loved songs!

The children were a credit to the school, demonstrating excellent behaviour, kindness and respect throughout the visit.

Health and Wellbeing (HWB)

In Health and Wellbeing, we have been learning about how to keep ourselves safe. We focused on Road Safety and Internet Safety, linking our learning to Technologies and understanding how to stay safe both outdoors and online.

In PE, we completed blocks on Fitness and Gymnastics. During Fitness, we explored the 11 components of fitness and worked together to design circuits that developed cardiovascular endurance, strength, agility and stamina. We completed a fitness assessment at the beginning and end of the block, aiming to improve our personal scores.

In Gymnastics, we developed our balance, flexibility and coordination. We practised a range of rolls, jumps and balances before working in groups to create and perform our own sequences, ensuring smooth transitions between movements. As our confidence grew, we learned how to travel smoothly between movements and link actions together. We thought carefully about levels (high, medium and low), direction and speed to make our sequences more interesting.

This is Our Faith

We love learning about our faith and recently explored the theme of Healing. We researched, discussed and illustrated Bible passages in which Jesus performed miracles, many of which were acts of healing.

Before the February break, we began learning about Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. We understand that this is a sacred time of preparation through Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving as we journey towards Easter. We will continue preparing for the celebration of the Triduum and will take part in fundraising activities to support Lenten charities.

Spanish

We really enjoy learning Spanish! Recently, we have been learning how to talk about our hobbies and interests.

“Me gusta jugar al fútbol!” – O.W

Music

We continue to work with Mrs McGregor to develop our musical skills through the Kodály approach.

Through this programme, we are developing our understanding of rhythm, pitch and pulse using singing, actions and musical games. We are becoming more confident in reading and performing simple musical notation, and we enjoy working together to build our listening and performance skills.

Mrs McGregor is also helping us prepare and learn famous and well-loved songs for our summer show.

Shrek The Musical.

We have been practising our singing, learning the lyrics and working on performing with expression and confidence. We are excited to continue rehearsing and can’t wait to showcase all our hard work on stage!

Primary 5 continue to show fantastic enthusiasm, teamwork and dedication in everything they do. We are incredibly proud of their hard work and look forward to sharing more of our learning with you soon!