St. Brendan's Primary School and Nursery

Dear Parent/Carer,

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 4/3. This information provides you with an insight into your child’s learning and I look forward to a great year ahead.  The children in Primary 4/3 have come together from two different classes & we have had great fun getting to know one another properly during the first weeks back at school. As you will be aware, this is a very exciting year for all children in Primary 3 and Primary 4 as they prepare for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion.

Literacy

All children will be continuing to follow the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme to support their learning in spelling, phonics, reading and writing.

Red
To develop further their accuracy in writing, children will begin to focus closely on the different representations of phonemes in addition to learning new strategies and rules for spelling. Furthermore, they will undertake a novel study of the text ‘Greyfriars Bobby’ and ‘The Worst Witch’.

Blue & Green
To develop their phonological knowledge and spelling, children will be introduced to a new sound and set of common words each week. Words and sounds will be consolidated through work in class and our active/written homework programme. They will continue to build their fluency and comprehension skills in reading by working with banded books in class and at home.

Numeracy

In numeracy, the class will continue to extend their knowledge of number and the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Each week, the children will experience direct teaching, partner/group activities and written tasks to build and consolidate their understanding of concepts. The children will partake in mental maths activities as well as developing their Number Talks strategies. Over the course of the term children will revisit familiar topics including number and number processes and estimation and rounding. They will develop their knowledge of time and order the months of the year; linking months to the appropriate season. The children will also develop their learning of symmetry with Mrs McLaughlin.

Squares
Children will be working with numbers up to and including one thousand.
Circles
Children will be working with numbers up to and including one hundred.

R.M.E.

This term we will be focusing on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, by learning about the story of creation, the importance of Sunday as a holy day and participation in Mass. Children will revise prayers taught in previous stages and recognise the importance of personal and communal prayer.

Health & Wellbeing

A reminder that PE for Primary 4/3 will take place on a Wednesday and a Thursday. We would encourage the children to bring their full P.E. kit into school on a Monday and take it home on the Friday. All items of children’s kit should be clearly labelled with their name and class. This term, our focus will be developing fitness through various circuits and possession games. Children will also continue to consider Growth Mindset through a variety of lessons.

Interdisciplinary Learning

This term our interdisciplinary learning will focus on ‘Ancient Egypt’. The children will explore the lives of Pharaoh’s, research the pyramids and look at the mummification process. The children will apply their learning across the curriculum with a particular focus within the curriculum areas of Social Studies, Expressive Arts and Technologies.

Science

This term our science focus will be on ‘Inheritance’. The children will explore similarities and differences between them and the traits and characteristics they have inherited from their families.

I look forward to working together with both you and your child to help him/her to make the very best of their year in Primary 4/3. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks,
Miss Peattie
Class Teacher

September 2019

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope everyone had a lovey summer break. I was delighted to welcome the children back to the new school year in August and I look forward to the exciting year ahead. This is a brief outline of the work which we will be undertaking within the class during Term 1.

Literacy

The children will continue to follow the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme in spelling and phonics. They will learn a new sound and a different set of common words every week and this will be consolidated through class work and homework. The ‘Buzz’ spelling group will consolidate a variety of phonemes this term and the ‘Woody’ spelling group will cover ‘qu’, ‘sh’, ‘th’, ‘ch’, ‘ng’, ‘wh’, and ‘ph’. As part of the reading programme the children will read one or two books per week with associated writing tasks in class to develop their comprehension skills. It is important that the children bring their books into school daily to ensure they are able to use them to carry out their tasks. Within Big Writing the children will be writing narrative pieces and information reports.

Numeracy

In Primary 3 we are developing their understanding of place value, investigating how whole numbers are constructed, can understand the importance of zero within the number system and can use their knowledge to explain the link between a digit, its place and its value. We will be learning about the purpose and usefulness of estimating and rounding of numbers. The children will take part in a variety of written and active activities to consolidate their learning.

Religious Education

During the first term the children will be learning about the Bible being the inspired Word of God and that they should treat it with reverence. Through God’s Beautiful Creation the children will explore God’s natural world and begin to see the wonder and awe in the world around them. We will be learning about the community of the Church and some symbols and rituals in worship.

Health and Wellbeing

In P.E. the learning will be focused on Possession, central net and wall games.. The children will be learning to listen to and follow instructions in a range of different games, perform a variety of roles within a team and they will learn to choose the correct movement within a game. Children will also be learning about Growth Mind-set.

Social Subjects

Primary 3 will be learning about ‘The Victorians’ this term. The children will explore the daily lives of people who lived during the Victorian era. They will also learn about what school and work life was like for these people as well as what toys children played with at that time. Children will compare what they have learned to their lives now.

Thank you in advance for your support this term. I am looking forward to working with you and your child. Please use your child’s homework diary to communicate any concerns/comments.

Kind Regards,

Miss Paterson

Class Teacher Primary 3