For our topic this term we have been learning all about People Who Help Us. This has involved lots of play based learning through Fire Station role play and construction where many of the children enjoy creating their own police cells and police boats. We did an experiment with Mrs Thomson to see the three things that fire needs to burn and learned about fire and fire works safety. We are continuing to learn about the role of a police officer and looking at the ways that they identify criminals. This has tied in with our Health and Wellbeing where we have been looking at ways that we are “the same but different”. We’ve measured our height, shoe size, taken our fingerprints, and looked at eye and hair colour. We recognise that although we are all different, that is what makes us special and unique and we should celebrate that.

The People Who Help Us topic will continue until Christmas and may also run for a week or two in January as there is so much to learn. We have still to focus on road safety and how the Lollipop person helps us, what doctors and nurses do to help us, our bodies and how our 5 senses help to keep us safe from harm. If 2020 had allowed, we would’ve visited some of the places in the community where people help us or had them visit us. Instead, we will go on a virtual walk around Maybole (using Google Maps) to identify where these services and shops are.

In ICT we have been concentrating on our mouse control when using the computers. Many of the boys and girls are so used to touch screen technology that they were struggling to move and click the mouse in order to select objects or draw. We are already seeing a vast improvement in their mouse control and they are now independently able to use the Paint 3D program to create pictures and shapes and also use the mouse to play games on Education City.

In RME we have been discussing our special places where we feel safe and happy. This leads on to talking about how the church is a special place for Christian people. We will look at the details of the structure of the church and the objects we see inside. We are also going to learn about some of the special Christian celebrations that take place in the church, starting with Christmas and also Christenings.

In PE we have been learning basic gymnastics skills such as different types of jumps, making shapes with our bodies and different ways of travelling. We will also be learning a variety of rolls and some new warm-up games.

In Literacy, we have been very busy learning lots of sounds and new tricky words each week as well as Talk For Writing activities. Our story focus in Talk For Writing is The Gingerbread Man and we have been learning the sequence of a story along with the actions. We will be learning the remainder of the sounds in Term 3.

In Numeracy we having been focussing on adding within 10 and Ten Town numbers 11-20. Everyone loves Ten Town and it is a great resource for Primary 1! We also do mental maths warm-ups and counting everyday. In November we began Measure work through our topic.

As we approach Christmas, we are sad to not be rehearsing for a Christmas Nativity as this was always a special time in the school calendar. However, we will still be creating some Christmas crafts, learning poems and some songs (using sign language) to share with our families. The Primary 1 teachers will still do their very best to make sure this is a special and magical time for your children in the run up to Christmas.