I was delighted this week to visit the classes and speak to pupils about their learning and life in their classroom. The boys and girls of St. John’s continue to impress with their enthusiastic attitude to their learning and their understanding of the skills for life, learning and work that they are developing. There was also much excitement this week as our senior pupils prepared for their outward bound excursion to Lockerbie Manor. We say goodbye to Primary 6 and 7 pupils, Miss Wadsworth and Mr Hall on Monday afternoon as they head off for a week of adventure.We will keep you up to date  throughout the week by text, Twitter and the school digital poster as we hear tales of daring do in abseiling, hill walks, canoeing and zip slides to name only a few of the activities. We wish them all a fantastic trip.

The school was delighted this week to receive a gift of  six beautiful crucifixes from Father Stephen. These have been put in the classrooms and Head Teacher and school offices. Our grateful thanks goes to Father Stephen for his kindness and generosity.

In the classrooms this week…

Primary 1/2

Primary 1 have been developing their knowledge of 2D shapes and their properties while Primary 2 have been developing their knowledge of 3D objects. In Literacy, Primary 1 continue to build on their knowledge of initial sounds and Primary 2 are developing their knowledge of spelling rules through a variety of active tasks. The whole class have been on a minibeast hunt in the community garden and have enjoyed creating their own sensory minibeast habitat in the classroom.

Primary 2/3/4

In Numeracy Primary 2 have been learning about place value of  2 digit numbers. Primary 3 are using their addition skills and learning about place value of 3 digit numbers while Primary 4 work with 4 digit numbers in place value. In Literacy the children are doing very well in learning new spelling rules and are developing their reading skills through a variety of activities, including focussing on characterisation. A ‘secret island’ has been created in the classroom and the children have been designing and building dens as part of their IDL topic.

Primary 5/6/7

In Numeracy the pupils have been learning about place value up to 9 digit numbers and have demonstrated great understanding of reading and writing these numbers. In Literacy they have been looking at ‘Connecting’ in their higher order reading skills- this is where the children make links with events in their reading books and  their own lives and the world around them. The class continues to explore sustainability issues and conserving the world’s resources as part of their IDL topic.

Finally, just a reminder that our Partnership Group meeting takes place tomorrow at 6.00 pm in the school and not Wednesday 5th of October.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

Head Teacher