Hello and welcome to my latest weekly blog. It has been a very busy week in school with everyone well and truly back in the school routine. This session we have introduced a further way of communicating with parents and carers through our termly Curriculum Newsletters. Your child should have brought theirs home this week and its purpose is to give you a flavour of the work being covered in each class for this term. We hope that you find them informative and that they provide a basis to talk to your child/children about what they are learning in school.

We were delighted to appoint our new Junior Road Safety Officers, Caitlin Cairney (P6) and Harrison Crowther (P5), who will be working with Mrs Carty and myself to organise activities throughout the year to draw attention to important road safety issues. Our new House Captains and Vice-Captains have taken on the role with great enthusiasm and commitment and are working hard to encourage their Houses.

This week we are having a Mass in the school to celebrate the new school year. It will take place at 10.00 am in the school hall and Father Rooney will also bless the school after Mass. Please come and join us for this special occasion. Tear off slips to confirm attendance should be returned as soon as possible.

In the classrooms this week:

Primary 1/2

Primary 1 continue to learn their initial sounds and have been working on the numbers 1 to 5.  Primary 2 have been developing their active spelling skills and have been consolidating their knowledge of the numbers stories to 11. The children also continue to explore the properties of 2D shapes and 3D objects in Maths. As part of their interdisciplinary topic on Minibeasts, the whole class went on a beetle hunt in the school grounds and the community garden.

Primary 2/3/4

In Numeracy and Mathematics, the children have been learning about addition, tiling and 2D shapes and 3D objects. The children are planning a missing person poster in Writing. During topic activities this week the pupils have looked at what materials they would need to build a shelter on their ‘Secret Island’. The children have also been working on their Road Safety Calendar competition entries. In Science the children have been looking at Forces.

Primary 5/6/7

The class have been very busy in Numeracy and mathematics this week and have been learning about place value and rounding numbers. They have also been exploring 2D shapes including triangles, circles and quadrilaterals. The children have been  looking at the writing format of a personal diary and are writing series entries about a special occasion. In Religious Education, the class are looking at the life of Jesus from St. Mark’s Gospel.

As you can see there is  a wide variety of learning going on in the classrooms. I hope you all have a lovely September weekend.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

On Thursday the 1st of September the House elections for the new House and Vice-Captains took place. The event was run as a proper election with hustings taking place earlier in the week, an electoral roll was created and ballot papers issued to all pupils. It was a very close contest which reflects the excellent qualities of our Primary 7 pupils and I would like to commend those pupils who put tremendous effort into their speeches and posters. As with every election there has to be a winner and I am delighted to announce the results:

Craignethan– Captain is Irena Rodan and Vice-captain is Dexter Fyfe

De Vere–  Captain is Anna Thomson and Vice-captain is Eva Quadrelli

Heathfield – Captain is Megan Welsh and Vice-captain is Oscar Tighe

Lancaster– Captain is Marianna Pinheiro and Vice-captain is Logan Burns

Congratulations to everyone and thank you to Miss Wadsworth, Mr Hall and the Primary 5 and 6 pupils for organising such a great event.

It has also been very busy in the classrooms this week.

Primary 1/2–  The children have been reading the story of The Little Red Hen in class and using it as stimulus for lots of cross-curricular activities such as baking bread in Food technologies, planting seeds in Science and their own scarecrows in Art & Design. In Numeracy & Mathematics the children have been counting and ordering numbers from 1-10 and 1-20.

Primary 2/3/4 – The children have been reading the story of ‘The Secret Island’ by Enid Blyton. Through this they have explore making rafts which will float. The children have also planned what they would take to a secret island and have designed their own island.

Primary 5/6/7 – The pupils have begun their interdisciplinary topic on Transport and have been considering sustainable methods of travelling. In Numeracy & Mathematics they have been exploring the properties of 3D objects and 2D shapes.

Finally, a reminder that CM Photography will visit the school tomorrow to take class photographs and family groups. Pupils should come to school wearing full school uniform, including a shirt and tie.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

Head Teacher