St. Brendan's Primary School and Nursery

Dear Parent/Carer,

After a relaxing October break, the class have settled back into the school routine and are ready for the new learning and challenges that this term will bring.

This term, we will be joined by Miss Robb, a student teacher from the University of Strathclyde. Miss Robb will be working alongside Miss Burns to help us in our learning from now until mid December. Miss Cassidy will continue to work with our class on a Thursday each week.

With preparations for both our St Andrew’s Day showcase and the festive season, this term is sure to be be a busy and exciting time for the boys and girls.

Literacy

As in the previous session, the class will continue to follow the North Lanarkshire Active Literacy Programme to support their learning in spelling, phonics, reading and writing.

The class will continue to develop their use of comprehension strategies as they are split into working groups to ensure that learning is tailored to children’s next steps. The class will continue to work with a range of fiction and non-fiction texts to build their fluency and comprehension skills. Some of the texts we will be working with in class this term include ‘Kaspar, Prince of Cats’, ‘Poppet’ and ‘Through the Catflap’.

Numeracy

In numeracy, the class will continue to experience a mix of direct teaching, partner/group activities and written tasks to build and consolidate their understanding of concepts.

Over the course of the term children will explore the themes of addition and subtraction as well as symmetry and money. While homework is now assigned through Sumdog, as always this will support what the children are learning in class. If there are any issues in accessing this resource at home, please do not hesitate to contact me.

RE

In RE, our class will be learning more about Jesus’ travels during His time on Earth. We will spend some time focusing on Other World Religions and will also reflect on November, the month of the Faithful Departed. In the lead up to Christmas, the class will revisit the theme of Advent in class and will also be involved in wider school celebrations of the Holy season.

Health and Wellbeing

This term, the class will be learning more about what it takes to achieve success and will be encouraged to share some of their own successes with others. In PE, the class have been given the opportunity to work closely with coaching students from New College Lanarkshire. I am sure the children will enjoy the variety that this will bring to their PE lessons. Out with these sessions, Miss Cassidy will focus on aesthetics, helping the children to explore movement through dance. The PE days for our class will continue to be a Wednesday and a Thursday.

Cross Curricular

Throughout November, the class will spend time preparing for our St Andrew’s Day celebrations. As we draw closer to Christmas, our class will be focusing on how we can give the gift of a smile during the festive season. We will be learning about the needs of the elderly in our community, as well the importance of essential services in the lives of elderly people. I hope that the class will have some opportunities to spread some Christmas cheer with this important and special group of people over the festive season.

As always, we will work together to support your child in their learning. Please feel free to communicate any comments or concerns using the homework diary.

Many thanks

E Burns

Class Teacher