September 2, 2019
by Mrs Ferns
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Primary 5F Term 1 Letter

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope everyone had a lovey summer break. I am delighted to welcome the children back to the new school year 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 phonics, spelling rules, common words and tricky words (k and j phoneme family and double letters spelling rule) which will be consolidated through class work and homework. We are reading The Hundred Mile an Hour Dog by Jeromy Strong as part of our modelling block and the children currently have a home reader. As part of the reading programme the children will continue to develop their use of the six comprehension strategies whilst read their novels. It is important that the children read their novel at home to enable them to write from it with confidence. Within Big Writing the children will continue to develop using V.C.O.P. within the genres of narrative and recount this term.

Numeracy

In Primary 5F the children will develop their understanding of Place Value (Ten Thousands, Thousands, Hundreds, Tens and Units), Mathematics – its impact on the past, present and future, Measure (length and area), Addition and Subtraction and symmetry this term. The children will participate in mental maths, active maths, partner work and written tasks.

Religious Education

During the first term the children will be learning about the different parts of the Bible and God’s message within a selection of Bible stories. We will also be learning about how Jesus calls us and how we can respond to Jesus. As a class we will enjoy participating in a weekly Christian Meditation session.

Health and Wellbeing

In P.E. the learning will be focused on Hockey, Volleyball and Striking and Fielding. Our P.E. days will be Monday and Tuesday this term. As part of the Health and Wellbeing programme the children have already been learning about how they are responsible for their learning. They will develop their understanding of the learning dip and be able to identify people who can help them.

Social Subjects

This term we will be learning about The Vikings. The children will learn how The Vikings changed the heritage of Scotland and Britain. They will use their Word Processing skills to insert images of Vikings onto word documents. Through Art and Design the children will design their own Viking shield and use their 3D skills to create a Viking longship.

Science

The children will learn about Earth’s Material. We will be analysing and comparing samples of rocks, solids and minerals. We will carry out a solid, liquid and gas investigation and report back on our findings.

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

Kind Regards,

Mrs Debbie Ferns

Class Teacher Primary 5F

September 2, 2019
by Mrs Bridge
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Primary 4 Curriculum Letter – Term 1

Dear Parent/Carer,

We hope you all had a wonderful summer break. We are delighted to welcome the children back and are looking forward to a busy, fun filled year of learning.

Here is a brief overview of the learning that will be taking place within Primary 4 this term.

Literacy

The children will continue to follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy programme for reading, writing, spelling, talking and listening. This programme will enable children to further develop their literacy skills through exploration of a range of skills and strategies.

Spelling
The focus phonemes for this term will be ‘ae’ and ‘ee’ and children will explore different written representations for each phoneme. Furthermore, they will employ spelling strategies and rules whilst learning a range of common and tricky words.

Reading
The children will take part in a whole class novel study of ‘The Best Dog in the World’ to introduce them to the Active Literacy reading strategies. The text will be read in class alongside the children and each of the comprehension strategies will be modelled. The children will then employ the taught strategies whilst exploring a second novel later in the term.

Writing
This term we will focus on the genres of narrative and instructions. Children will use a variety of stimulus to write interesting narrative stories focusing on descriptive vocabulary and sentence structure. We will take inspiration from our IDL topic for our instruction writing.

Numeracy

In numeracy, children will extend their knowledge of place value and estimation and rounding through a range of active and written tasks. The children will develop their mental agility through Number Talks and will be given opportunities to work collaboratively. They will explore time through days, months and seasons and will develop their understanding of measure (length and area).

R.M.E.

Religious Education will be taught through the ‘This is Our Faith’ programme. This term we will be reflecting on some Bible stories and how God speaks to us through these stories. We will research the lives of some Saints and consider ways in which they inspire us. Furthermore we will extend our understanding of the story of Creation.

As you will be aware, Primary 4 is a very special year for the children and we look forward to preparing the children to receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion later in the year.
Health & Wellbeing

This term we will explore what it means to have a Growth Mindset. This will allow the pupils the opportunity to think about how they view their learning and how they should tackle any barriers or difficulties in order to succeed to the best of their ability.

During P.E lessons we will develop our ball skills and improve our general fitness through participation in fun fitness circuits.

Our P.E. days this year are Mondays and Fridays. We would appreciate if children could bring their full P.E. kit into school and refrain from wearing jewellery on these days.

Science

This term we will be looking at sources of energy and learning about how different plants and animals get their energy, linking to the food chain. We will also discover how important energy is in our daily lives and how we need energy to survive.

Social Studies

Our interdisciplinary learning this term will focus on the importance of growth mindset in achieving success. The children will research a number of individuals who have achieved success and overcome barriers by adopting a growth mindset. They will also work collaboratively to complete a growth mindset STEM challenge.

Please do not hesitate to communicate any comments or concerns using the homework diary and keep up to date with our learning through twitter.

Many thanks,

Mrs Bridge & Mrs Colton

September 2, 2019
by Miss Mitchell
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Primary 7/6 Curriculum Letter

Primary 7/6 Parent Letter

Welcome back!

I hope everyone had a lovely, relaxing summer break and is feeling refreshed for the first term ahead.

This overview briefly explains what your children will be covering in this term.

Literacy

The children will use the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme for Spelling, Reading, Writing and Talking & Listening in Term 1. They will be covering 2 fiction novels this term. The first will be a modelling block ‘Why The Whales Came’, that the whole class will participate in, then we will cover ‘Street Child’ and ‘Emily’s Surprising Voyage’. We will be using the North Lanarkshire comprehension strategies, gaining confidence in these as the term progresses. We will also be using the Big Writing programme, implementing these techniques to help improve the standard of the children’s story writing. The children will receive new spelling words weekly and will complete active tasks within the class and at home.

Numeracy

In Term 1 we will be looking at Place Value, Maths and its impact on the world, Addition and Subtraction, Volume and Weight and Length and Area. We will be using the Active Heinemann along with the Teejay Programme. The children’s arithmetic and times tables will be practised mentally each day. I would encourage that all children keep practising their timetables at home as these are crucial in the topics that we are covering this term. I have introduced the ‘Daily Rigour’ online task to develop the children’s problem-solving skills, challenging them in a different way. Furthermore, the children will take part in the Number Talks programme stating their thinking of mental strategies and learning from others.

Health and Wellbeing

During Health and Wellbeing this term the children will be looking at ‘bullying’ and the effects of this. I am also implementing a 6-week Growth Mindset programme for the children. Through this they will learn how to change their mindset to a more positive way of thinking. During P.E. the children will be focusing on ‘Fitness’ Their P.E. days are Tuesdays and Thursdays. Could you please ensure that your child brings in their full P.E. kit every Monday to remain in school until the end of the week.

Interdisciplinary Learning

Our IDL theme for Term 1 is ‘Diversity’. It will have a particular focus on Social Studies, Expressive Arts and Technologies. The children will be exploring diversity within our society, the rights of children and discrimination. In science, we will be studying plants and their uses.

R.E.

During Term 1 the children will explore the themes of ‘Beginning of the Year’, ‘Mass’, ‘Kingdom of God’ and ‘Mary’ through the ‘This is Our Faith’ programme. They will also lead First Friday Mass in October and I am sure they will do this with confidence and maturity.

If you have any queries don’t hesitate to use your child’s diary as a means of contact with myself.

Thank you again for all of you support this year.

Many Thanks,

Miss Mitchell

St. Brendan's Primary School and Nursery

We are voyaging together in a community of faith, love and learning.

Primary 5F Term 1 Letter

Primary 4 Curriculum Letter – Term 1

Primary 7/6 Curriculum Letter