This week we were learning about the oo sound as in boot, foot and moon. We used our sound cards and magnetic letters to build words.  We shared the story of Room on the Broom and tried to find oo words in the story. To help us remember our sound we used a cardboard tube to make a broom and cardboard to make the different characters. We also used our black pen to draw the witch and then used our sounds and common words to write a sentence. We have been working hard on learning to read and write our common words and use them in sentences.

Primary 1a had a very special visitor  this week from France! His name is Camembear and he lives in the “sac magique”! He taught us some new songs, Bonjour les Amis, Au Revoir les Amis and Frere Jacques. We also had fun playing a game of hide and seek with Camembear! He is going to be visiting us every week to teach us all about his home and his language.

For our Scots topic P1a and P1b are learning the poem ‘Choukie Hen’ by JK Annand. Please practise this poem at home.

The words are:

We’re also singing the Scots nursery rhyme Three Craws. We will practise in class but please also sing this at home if you have time:

It’s lovely to be back and we’ve had a busy week getting back into our routines. On Monday we were excited to share our news and we talked about Hogmanay and New Year resolutions. We all set a target – from practising writing our numbers to getting better at jumping!

In literacy this week we’ve learned the ‘oo’ sound and talked about how sometimes it is long, e.g. moon, and sometimes it is short, e.g. wood. We read Room on the Broom and on Thursday did a black pen picture of a witch and wrote some great descriptive sentences.

In numeracy we’re consolidating our number bonds to 10. We’ve been using numicon, cubes, beads and ten frames to help with this. We’re also finishing our work on time and looking at digital and analogue clocks.

We have started our Scots topic, looking where Scotland is on the map and then looking closer at Scotland itself. We have set up a role play Tourist Information Office in the classroom where the children have been going to book trips to Loch Ness, Edinburgh and some lovely castles!

On Wednesday we looked at the work of Scottish artist Steven Brown and all drew our own Highland Coos. We used oil pastels to layer the different colours.

The school is a little cooler than before the holidays due to keeping it well ventilated. Please ensure your child has a jumper/cardigan that they can put on if they need to.

Here are some of the children’s highlights this week:

• Drawing a coo
• Junk modelling
• Learning the oo sound
• Drawing the witch
• Playing in the playground with my friends
• Reading Scots books
• Playing in the tourist information office
• Coming to school
• Learning Scottish words
• Seeing my friends again

Happy New Year to all our Primary 1 families!

We look forward to welcoming all the children back at school tomorrow to what will, hopefully be an exciting term  with lots of fun opportunities for learning.

This week we will begin to learn  our double sounds. We will continue to focus on using sounds to help us read and write words as well as build on the children’s knowledge of common words.

In numeracy we will be reinforcing addition  and begin to subtract numbers within 10. We will continue to focus on using concrete materials to help us with our tricky missing number sums.

Over the next two weeks we will be talking about Robert Burns. We will be spending time listening to,  and sharing different Scottish stories, songs, poems and rhymes.

This term Primary 1 will begin to complete their RSPB wild challenge, which is a whole set of activities aimed at engaging children with nature, providing practical learning opportunities that allow children to experience nature as well as learning about how to help and protect wildlife.  We will be  working  towards our Bronze Award by taking part in the Big School Bird Watch at the end of the month. To find out more about what we will be doing visit the RSPB website.

www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-teachers/schools-wild-challenge

Remember if you have any questions or concerns  please do not hestitate to get in touch through the school office, by email or at the start or end of the day.

Mrs Collins and Mrs McGilp

A huge thank you from us all for our fantastic Christmas hampers. They are very thoughtful and a lovely surprise!

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and we look forward to returning in January.

Best wishes and stay safe,

Mrs Collins, Mrs McGilp and the P1 team🎄

What a busy and exciting week!

Monday started with a very exciting visit from Santa, who had parked his reindeer on the roof! We were very excited to speak to Santa and were delighted to receive some new jigsaw puzzles for our classroom.

Also this week we’ve been writing Christmas sentences and cards, finishing our Christmas crafts and even wrapping up presents. We’ve also been enjoying the christmas stories and jokes in our advent each day.

We’ve been continuing with our addition and stories of 10, using numicon and the cuisenaire rods to help us.

We had a lovely Christmas lunch on Tuesday, a very big thank you to the lunch ladies for looking after us. We then had a good dance in the classroom afterwards!

On Wednesday we were very excited to work with the P7s again. We all wrapped up and went outside to listen to the P7s fantastic stories. Thank you P7 for sharing them with us.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a restful break and we look forward to seeing you all in January!

Primary 1 were very excited when Santa came for a visit. Mr Harkness had to take carrots up to the roof for the reindeer! Santa gave us some lovely presents which we all helped to open.
Thank you Santa!

We’ve had an exciting week in P1b! We have been busy with Christmas crafts as well as opening our advent each day where there is a joke and then a picturebook to unwrap. We’re also continuing with our literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. 

In literacy we’ve been practising our phonics, word building and writing Christmas cards. We’ve also been reading in our groups and sharing our stories with a partner. We will start collecting reading folders in on Monday and next week won’t be sending home any new reading books.

In numeracy we’re continuing with our number stories to 10, using numicon, cubes and loose parts to help us. We’re also continuing to look at time and what  o’clock means.

The highlight of the week for most however was the party! We joined P1a and had great fun dancing and playing party games. We enjoyed our snacks back in the classroom and listening to Christmas music on the smartboard. Thank you to the parent council for our little party bag too.

Here are a few photographs from this week:

We’ve had a busy week in P1b starting to think more about Christmas.

We’ve been practising our Christmas song – Ssshhh don’t wake the baby! – and were very excited to go on stage this morning where we were recorded by Mrs Belleville.

In literacy this week we have learned the x sound. We looked at x-rays of different animals and had to guess what it was! We’ve also been doing lots of word building and writing. We are continuing to do lots of fine motor tasks with plasticine, playdoh and tweezers.

In numeracy we’re continuing with addition and have been focusing on number bonds to 8.

Also this week we’ve started to look at time and initially looking at day and night. We drew a picture of ourselves at 8 o’clock in the morning. Some were eating breakfast, some waving goodbye as we set off for school  and others relaxing and watching the television!

We’ve also had lots of fun playing this week. Our role play has taken on a Christmas theme and we’ve been working well taking turns to play games like snakes and ladders.

Here are a few pictures from this week: