St. Brendan's Primary School and Nursery

Primary 7/6 Parent Letter – Term 3

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Welcome back and a happy new year! We hope you had a lovely time over Christmas with your family. How time flies, we can’t believe it is Term 3 already.

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

Literacy

The children will continue with the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme for Spelling, Reading, Writing and Talking & Listening in Term 3. They will be covering 1 fiction novel this term. It is important that the children complete their reading homework weekly as this greatly benefits them when completing the tasks in class. We will also be looking at non-fiction texts and analysing film clips during a short media unit. We will be continuing with the same comprehension strategies, gaining confidence in these as the term progresses. We will also be continuing with the Big Writing programme, implementing these techniques to help improve the standard of the children’s story writing. The pupils will work on the persuasive and explanation genre of writing where they will use their literacy skills to convince others of their viewpoint within persuasive writing. The children will receive new spelling words weekly and will complete active tasks within the class and at home.

Numeracy

Throughout Term 3 we will be exploring Multiplication and Division, Multiplies, Factors and Primes, Time, Fractions, Decimals and Percentages and we will also explore the properties of 2D & 3D shapes. The pupils will participate in a range of active and written tasks which come from a variety of resources. It is important that you continue to encourage your child to practise their tables regularly as this will greatly help with their classwork. We will continue to work on Number Talks to further develop the pupils’ mental agility. This is very beneficial as the pupils are using their number talk strategies across other areas of Maths.

Health and Wellbeing

During Health and Wellbeing this term the children will be covering Gymnastics within PE. It is important that your child has their PE kit with them. Currently P7 are training to be Sports Leaders with our Active Schools Co-ordinator which will allow them to lead play and sports activities within the infant yard.

Science

This term we are going to link our Science with Health and Well Being by learning about the Human Body. This will include looking at the circulatory system, the impact our diet and lifestyle has on our bodies, the respiratory system and the impact of exercise and different activities on our bodies and breathing.

Interdisciplinary Learning

Our IDL theme for Term 3 is ‘France’. It will have a particular focus on Social Studies, Expressive Arts and Technologies. The children will be exploring the culture of France including customs, famous landmarks, famous people, and French artists – maybe even create our own masterpiece, as well as the food of France. It will also be an opportunity for us to develop our French language especially our conversational skills.

R.E.

This term will see our class begin their journey to the Sacrament of Confirmation. This is a very important time in the faith development of our children. They will learn about Saints, the work of the Church and how the gift of the Holy Spirit will enrich their lives as they mature into young adults. Each pupil will be given a ‘Family Workbook’ to complete weekly as part of their Homework and sacramental preparation. We ask that you ensure this is completed to support the work of the school and share in this special time in your child’s life.

If we can be of any assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Thank you again for all of your support this year.

Many Thanks,

Mrs Williamson & Mrs Colton

Dear Parent/Guardian,

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

This letter will provide you with a brief overview of the learning that will take place this term in Primary 7.

Literacy

The children will continue to follow North Lanarkshire’s Active Literacy programme for Spelling, Reading, Writing and Listening and Talking. This programme will help to develop further their literacy skills and provide exciting and new challenges.

This term the children will complete one group novel with a text suitable for their age and stage. This will be an opportunity for the children to apply all of their prior learning and demonstrate their ability and understanding of the Active Literacy Strategies. The novels will be read at home by the children and there will be reading homework on a weekly basis. The children should be encouraged to complete all reading homework on the allocated nights as the classwork will coincide with the reading homework. The children will also explore non-fiction texts throughout the term which will be linked to their science topic.

Numeracy

This term, Primary 7 will continue to expand their knowledge of time, multiplication and division, multiples, factors and primes and explore the properties of 2D shapes and 3D objects and fractions, decimal fractions and percentages. It is important that the pupils continue to practise their times tables at home to support their numeracy. The children will have the opportunity to learn these skills and concepts through a mixture of both active and written tasks. This will enable the children to apply their learning across contexts and see a real purpose to their learning.

Health and Wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing will be taught across the curriculum. The children will explore the topic of substance abuse and the impact of substances on the human body. This term in Physical Education the children will develop their skills in Central, Net and Wall games. The children will participate in a variety of games which challenge their team work, co-ordination, spatial awareness and stamina.

Interdisciplinary Learning

The children of Primary 7 will be exploring ‘UK Politics’ this term. This theme will provide opportunities for the children to explore the current political system by looking at The Scottish Parliament, Westminster and the European Parliament. The children will discover current politics such as Brexit and explore possible social, economic or political issues which surround it. 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

Primary 7 will be exploring an exciting science topic this term which is Biodiversity. The children will look at biological systems, animals, vertebrates and invertebrates, lifecycles, genetics and inheritance.

Religious Education

Religious Education will be taught through the ‘This Is Our Faith’ programme. This term Primary 7 will explore Lent and Christian Witness. This term is particularly exciting as the children will be preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Homework

The children’s homework will help to support their on-going classwork and I would appreciate your support in ensuring the children keep up with all homework tasks.

Many thanks,

Miss McShane