St. Brendan's Primary School and Nursery

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

Term 3 Letter (Primary 6)

I hope you all had a lovely and relaxing Christmas and New Year. We are now re-energised for 2019 and the start of Term 3 within Primary 6. The children have worked incredibly hard throughout Term 2 and are enthusiastic for the term ahead. We have lots of exciting things to look forward to. This overview briefly explains what your children will be covering in Term 3.

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 2 fiction novels this term. These will include ‘War Horse’, ‘Seekers: The Quest Begins’, ‘The Last Wolf’, ‘Charlotte’s Web and a range of Rapid Reader books. 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 children will receive new spelling words weekly and will complete active tasks within the class and at home.

Numeracy

In Term 3 we will be looking at; Time, Multiplication and Division, 2D & 3D shape, Fractions, Decimals & Percentages, Decimal Fractions and Patterns and Relationships. Again, 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 continuing with Growth Mindset. Through this they will learn how to change their mindset to a more positive way of thinking. During P.E. the children will be covering central net and wall games, with a focus on tennis, badminton and volleyball. 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. Our PE days are a Monday and Thursday.

Interdisciplinary Learning

Our IDL theme for Term 3 is ‘Britain’s Cultural Diversity’. It will have a particular focus on Social Studies, Expressive Arts and Technologies. The children will be exploring three religions in Britain and their festivals and customs. In science, we will be doing a mini topic this term ‘Space’.

R.E.

Term 3 is a very important term with Confirmation taking the main focus. Most of our R.E lessons will be in preparation for this this and the children will be practising in the church as the date approaches. This is an exciting time for the children as they prepare to become full members of God’s church. Through the “This is Our Faith” programme the children will explore Christian Unity Week, Saints and Lent.

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 your support this year.

Many Thanks,

Miss Mitchell