P2A have been painting a forest background for their collages.
A Busy Week in P2!
We’ve had a lovely, busy week in Primary 2 full of creativity, curiosity, and a few very special visitors.
On Tuesday, we were joined by some of the Primary 7s to help us plan a STEM activity based on The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch. We haven’t built anything just yet – this week was all about ideas! Together, we talked through how we might use a pulley system to deliver lunch safely across a gap (just like in the story), and we worked in groups to draw our designs and write down the materials we think we’ll need. Lots of brilliant thinking, teamwork and some very imaginative ideas – watch this space for the next stage!
Pupil voice:
“We need something strong to hold the lunch – not just paper!”
“I liked when we worked with P7 – they helped us write the words!”
Our learning about the sea continued in class as we used an aquascope to help us explore life under the water. We imagined what it would be like to peer beneath the waves around Shetland and had some great discussions about what we might see. This tied in nicely with our topic work, where we’ve been learning lots of fascinating facts about sea creatures like jellyfish, puffins, and other animals that live in or around our local waters. Ask your child what a group of jellyfish is called – they might surprise you!
In numeracy, we’ve been working hard on division, using grouping to help us understand how numbers can be shared equally. We’ve used cubes, counters and lots of practical examples to help us get to grips with it – the children have been doing really well.
All in all, it’s been a week full of thinking, sharing and discovering – and we’re looking forward to seeing what next week brings!
Term 4 update!
It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through Term 4 — time really does fly when you’re busy learning!
This term has been packed with activity. In maths, we’ve been focusing on multiplication and division. The children have been using lots of different strategies and are becoming much more confident solving number problems. It’s been great to see them challenge themselves and enjoy it too.
In literacy, we’ve explored acrostic poems and had lots of fun with rhyming words. We’ve also been learning how to write clear instructions — everything from how to brush your teeth to how to build a rocket from junk materials! The class has really impressed us with their imagination and attention to detail.
As part of our work on the local environment, we’ve been learning about the seashore. The children loved finding out about the animals and plants that live there, and they’ve enjoyed making links to our own beach visits. It’s lovely to see them so engaged with the world around them.
One of the highlights so far has been a STEM session with Primary 7. They helped us think about how we might design and build a pulley system for the classroom. There was lots of great teamwork, creative thinking, and problem solving — we’re excited to see what we come up with next!
We’re now busy getting the classroom ready for our Learning Journey next week. The children are looking forward to sharing what they’ve been working on, and we can’t wait to welcome you in.
Signs of Spring
P2B have been making a collage using tissue paper and coloured paper. They have used templates to make tulips and arranged the shapes together.
Signs of Spring
P2A have making a collage with tissue paper and coloured paper.
Curriculum Information – Term 4
Please find curriculum information for Primary 2 for Term 4.
We will be enjoying the sunny outdoor weather in Term 4, please consider sunscreen in your child’s bag and a sun hat if you have one.
Outdoor Learning – Our Local Beach
Our term 4 topic is “Sea and Seashore.” P2’s 3 key questions are:
- What living things do we find at the seashore?
- Where in sea do different creatures live?
- Who keeps us safe at the seashore?
We started by remembering our road safety rules that we learned when we were the JRSO’s for the school in Term 2 as part of pupil leadership. We lead the walk to the beach safely. Today we were learning what we find on the seashore at the stoney beach, we were particularly interested in different shapes, patterns, sizes of shells and stones. We were trying to find Grotti Buckies but we did not have any luck today. Some of us were aware of litter on the beach and began to discuss with our peers and our teachers the impact of litter in the sea.
Pupil Voice:
“This is a nice shell, it has a straight pattern”
“This rock has a smiley face on it”
“Rubbish is not good for the beach, I have picked up plastic, I will put it in the bin”
“This is called a rock pool, my dad and me found a crab in one of these once”.
Meta-skills: When we got back to class we washed our sea treasures and will have them in our play provision. We discussed what meta-skills we were using. Children felt they were using their– Collaborating, Focusing, Leading, Curiosity skills.
Last week of Term 3!!
What a fantastic and fun-filled week we had in P2a for our last week of term! Our class has been buzzing with creativity, collaboration, and a strong sense of community as we explored learning both inside and outside the classroom.
We ended off the week with an Easter egg hunt that had everyone excited and eager to work together. Not only was it a sweet treat, but it also gave us a great opportunity to practice our sense-making and problem-solving skills as we followed clues and searched high and low!
We also had a super fun dance party with 2b, where we let loose and enjoyed some joyful movement. Dancing together encouraged creative thinking, and we loved expressing ourselves through music and rhythm. We even had a little boogie in our own classroom with our teachers – such a fun way to build confidence and connection!
As part of our health and wellbeing, we spent time outdoors practicing our ball skills, showing determination and working on our coordination and teamwork. While we were outside, we also explored the changing season by looking for signs of spring. We spotted daffodils, budding trees, and fresh green leaves — perfect for sparking curiosity and encouraging observation.
Pupil Voice: “Look, I see yellow” “I have found new leaves on the trees”
In the classroom, we put our critical thinking to the test by diving into subtraction. We worked hard, helping each other understand tricky problems and celebrating our progress along the way.
A highlight of the week was our group work on school values. We had meaningful conversations about respect, determination, and safety, and created colourful posters to share what these values mean to us. It was wonderful to see how everyone contributed their ideas and worked together — such great collaboration!
Pupil Voice: “Its really important to show respect” “Being respectful helps us be kind”
All these activities helped us develop our metaskills — skills that support all learning. Whether it was creative thinking during dance and art, sense-making while searching for signs of spring, or critical thinking during subtraction, we were always learning and growing.
Beat, Rhythm & Pitch
We have been continuing to reinforce our sense of steady beat using body percussion and we have also explored the relationship between beat and rhythm. A song that we have learned called ‘Pussycat Pussycat’ gave us an opportunity to learn about a question and answer style of song in music where we kept the beat by tapping while singing the questions and showing the rhythm of the answers by clapping.
Below are two videos which show us practising ‘Pussycat Pussycat’ where we tap the beat and clap the rhythm to show the difference.
We have also been learning about pitch – how high or low a sound is, and we’ve been using our singing voices to match the pitch that we’ve heard. We have also been learning how to use our hands to show if the pitch is high, middle or low. The song ‘Rain is Falling Down’ is one we have learned which has three different pitches.
After using our hands to show the pitch of the song, we talked about which words in the song were at a high, middle or low pitch and we put them into three different sets of clouds to show how the pitch changed in the song.
Here is a video of us singing the song and showing the high, middle and low pitches with our hand positions.
P2A Weekly Update: Looking Forward to the Holidays!
As we count down to the holidays, P2A has been busy with lots of fun and engaging learning experiences! This week, we continued exploring symmetry through play, using more shapes and patterns. Our learners have been collaborating to create symmetrical artwork, sharing ideas, and helping one another refine their designs.
Taking our phonics lessons outdoors has been a wonderful way to bring learning to life, and the children have loved practicing their sounds and words in the fresh air. “I like writing my letters outside because it makes it more fun!” one child shared enthusiastically. Our time project has also been a great success as we focused on drawing clock hands and understanding how time is represented. Through this, the children demonstrated great focusing skills, concentrating on positioning the hands correctly.
In our sand tray, we introduced water play, which led to some fantastic sensory exploration. “We made rivers and lakes in the sand!” one child excitedly reported. Meanwhile, our budding mathematicians have been learning about halves and quarters, using real-world examples to make sense of these concepts. Their sense-making skills were evident as they cut shapes and objects into equal parts and explained their thinking.
Writing remains a key focus, and we’ve been sharing the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel, sparking thoughtful discussions and storytelling. We talked about integrity and making good choices, just like the characters in the story. A special highlight of the week was when one of our talented children played Hot Cross Buns on the ukulele—what a lovely treat!
As we approach the holidays, we are excited for the adventures ahead and all the learning yet to come. Well done, P2A!
