Primary 1

Primary 1 11.12.19

Primary 1 have been very busy in the run up to Christmas! Earlier this week they had their first nativity dress rehearsal in front of an audience. They preformed brilliantly and were proud to show what they have been working on to others in the school. We have watched the Primary 2 and 3’s nativity this week as well. Our Christmas party is next Thursday, the 19th December. It will be in the afternoon and children can come to school with party clothes to change into after lunch or they can go home for lunch and come back dressed for the afternoon.

This week in maths we have been learning about shape. We have explored 2D shapes, specifically circles, squares, triangles and rectangles. Primary 1 enjoyed describing the different shapes to each other and are becoming more familiar with them. Today and tomorrow we are going to be looking at 3D shapes. As part of this, we will be describing and sorting everyday objects.

In writing, we have been continuing to remember our full stops, capital letters and to spell some common words correctly. We are using the sounds that we have been learning in phonics to help us. Last week we wrote a letter to Santa and this week we are going to be writing an invitation to our nativity.

We have a whole school talent show next Monday and the children have been busy practising their songs. Each Primary 1 class are singing a different Christmas song, the children have the option to take part in the performance. It is Christmas jumper day and so the children are welcome to come to school wearing a Christmas jumper that day.

Homework was handed out last week for the final time this term, it is due in next Monday 16th December. The children have also been given their new reading books for this week. Please continue to practise reading at home.

Thank you for your support.

The Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 have had a busy week! We have been practising our nativity every day and it’s beginning to look great! Letters giving information about tickets went out earlier this week and the children can’t wait to show off all their hard work. Please continue to practise the songs and any lines your child might have at home. If you need to provide any clothes for costumes you will have received a letter home. Please let us know If you have any difficulty with sourcing anything.
In phonics we have been working on blending together the sounds we have learnt so far. The children are working really hard on hearing all the sounds in each word and blending these together. Thank you for all the support you have given with this at home.
In maths we are continuing our work on subtraction. The children are using their fingers, cubes and tens frames to take away from up to 10. They are beginning to recognise written sums and can write out sums in their jotters.
Tomorrow is our St Andrews Day Assembly. We have been busy learning the song ‘I sent aff for cheese’ and will sing it in front of the whole school tomorrow morning. In the evening it is the school Christmas Fair. The fair runs from 6pm until 8pm and is always a great event. If you haven’t yet got tickets, contact the office and they will be able to issue them.
Our PE times have recently changed. We are now getting PE on a Thursday morning with Mrs Fergusson our PE specialist. This will take the place of our Monday slot. Please send your child to school with a PE kit on a Thursday morning. For the next few weeks we are unlikely to be going outside for outdoor learning. We will be using this time instead for nativity rehearsals.
Thank you for your continued support
Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 News

The children have been learning about the sound ‘g’ and ‘l’ this week in phonics. They practised forming these letters correctly on whiteboards and were introduced to the common words ‘go’, ‘got’ and ‘get’. They made lions, lollipops and autumn creatures with leaves from the playground and practised writing ‘l’ on their designs. In reading this week they have been learning about the features of their book. The children discussed the title, the author and blurb of the book and where you can find them. They answered comprehension questions and predicted what was going to happen in their book by looking at the pictures.

In maths we have been learning all about money. The children have been learning to describe the colour, shape and size of coins and how they are similar/ different from one another. They have been ordering and sorting these coins and have been enjoying playing coin games on Topmarks on the smartboard.

This week, the children have been learning all about toys. The children have been role playing in the Toy Shop and have been using coins to pay for teddy bears. They were introduced to the story of Mr Krinkles and talked about how the character in the story felt. The children have also been learning about autumn and collected things from the Nursery Garden to make a bird feeder. They enjoyed working together as part of a team to create their feeders.

Primary 1 were delighted to find out their role in the Nativity! If your child has a speaking part, we encourage you to help them practise their lines at home to make sure they are ready for rehearsals!

Please ensure that homework folders are brought in every day so that children have their reading books and that homework can be handed out when required.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Primary 1 teachers

Primary 1 30.10.19

The primary ones are all very excited for Halloween tomorrow! We will be learning more about it and will hopefully do a few crafts in the afternoon to celebrate!
This week we have been consolidating all the letters we have learnt so far. The children are making great progress writing these sounds, recognising them and identifying words with each sound at the beginning. The children are beginning to blend the sounds they know together to make short words. Thank you for all the work you have been doing at home to practise this with the sound cards in the homework.
In maths we have been continuing our work on addition. The children have now learnt to write sums using the add sign and equals sign. We are still using concrete materials to assist our addition so if you are practising at home please remember to give your child objects to support the sum.
Tomorrow we will be taking the children to the nursery garden for outdoor learning. Please send your children to school with wellies and a warm coat.
Thank you for all your support. As always, we are available before and after school if you have any questions.
The p1 teachers

Primary 1 23.10.19

Welcome back after the holiday! We hope that you had a lovely break, it was great seeing the children again and hearing all their news yesterday.
This week we are learning the letters ‘c’ and ‘k’. The children will be learning how to write these letters and will be thinking of words containing both sounds. Please practise these sounds at home and use the letter cards in your homework pack to make short words (cat, kip, neck etc).
In maths we are beginning to learn about addition. This week we will be doing a lot of practical activities creating and combining 2 sets of objects. The children have been very good at doing this so far.
The children are very excited for Halloween just now. Yesterday we changed the play areas in the classroom to include lots of Halloween themed activities. The children have enjoyed dressing up in spooky costumes, writing magical spells and using spiders to count out amounts.
On Thursday we are planning on going to the nursery garden to do some outdoor learning. Please come to school with wellies or shoes which can get muddy and a warm coat.
Thank you for all your support
Primary 1 teachers

Primary 1 News

This week Primary 1 were learning how to read, write and say the sounds ‘d’ and ‘e’. They were encouraged to write these sounds in the air, on the smart board and on whiteboards. They identified words that start with these sounds through games on Education City and by watching Geraldine the Giraffe. The children made ‘d’ with dough and practised writing ‘e’ on eggs. The children were asked to discuss the story in their reading books and were encouraged to respond to comprehension questions.

In maths we have been exploring measure, weight and capacity and have been undertaking practical activities to develop our understanding of this in a relevant context. The children were challenged to estimate and count how many cubes tall an object is and order children from tallest to smallest. They used balance scales to determine which objects were heavier or lighter and arranged a set of objects from the heaviest to the lightest. They were also given the opportunity to guess how many cups of water would fill different containers in the water tray and were surprised by some of the outcomes. They learned new vocabulary such as ‘full’, ‘empty’, ‘half full’ and ‘half empty’.

Primary 1 were delighted to get the opportunity to explore the nursery garden this morning and learn in the outdoors. The children were challenged to find natural materials and use these resources to create imaginative designs and patterns. The children were shown work by Andy Goldsworthy and discussed what materials they could use to create their artwork in the garden. The children used stones, leaves, sticks, apples and berries to create their own designs and worked collaboratively to collect these materials. The children enjoyed making people, monsters, trees, flowers and spinning tops. They turned out really well!

Thank you to all of the Primary 7 buddies who read with Primary 1 every Friday. We appreciate all of your hard work! Enjoy your well deserved holiday everyone!

Primary 1 25.9.19

This week Primary 1 have been thinking a lot about caring and how to look after each other, babies, animals and plants. The children have enjoyed setting up the classroom so that they can explore this more. We now have a hospital in the role play area and pet toys and resources in the home corner. We have been thinking about the people who care for us and how we can care for babies.
In maths we have been learning the numbers 7,8 and 9. The children are becoming very good at writing each number correctly and counting out amounts on fingers, cubes, rekenreks and 10s frames.
We have been learning the sound ‘n’ this week and consolidating our learning on all sounds so far (s,a,t,p,i,n). Please continue to practise each sound at home: how to say it, write it and identify which words have the sound at the start.
We gave out homework for the first time this week. Your child should have received a reading book. This should be read throughout the week and discussed with an adult. Please bring in the reading book every day so that children can also read in class. Your child will also have a yellow jotter and a sheet of paper with 6 suggested activities to try at home. Please complete the starred activities over the next 2 weeks, recording what you have done (when required) in the yellow jotter. The homework activities are to be completed by Tuesday 8th October. Your child’s teacher is happy to discuss homework with you further if you have any questions.
A reminder that PE is on a Monday. We are now changing for PE so please ensure that your child comes to school with a white T-shirt and blue/black shorts on this day.
Thank you for your continued support
P1 teachers

Primary 1 w.b. 2.9.19

Primary 1 have had another busy week! This week we have begun our formal number and phonics learning. In phonics, the children have learnt the sounds ‘a’ and ‘t’. The children were learning to write the letters correctly and to think of words with each sound at the beginning. Please continue to practise these things at home to support your child’s learning.
In maths, we have been learning the numbers 0,1,2 and 3. Our focus has been on correct number formation, but we have also worked on counting out amounts and ordering numbers to 10.
During our story time we have introduced the children to the key characters in our reading scheme. This week we met Kipper, Floppy, Biff, Chip, Mum and Dad. We will work more on these characters as we begin home reading books in a few weeks time.
This week the children decided to take forward a play focus on ‘our school’. The children chose what they would like in each play area in our classroom and are enjoying ‘being teachers’, building their dream school and designing new uniforms.

As always, we value home-school links and are happy to discuss anything after school.
Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 w.b. 25.3.19

We are now well into our ‘Fairyland’ interdisciplinary topic. This week Primary 1 are looking forward to some more letters from the dragon. They are enjoying reading lots of fairytales in class and playing with the ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ play activities around the classrooms. Today the dragon delivered some castle books to the class and the Primary 1s decorated them. They are looking forward to writing all about the dragon and the different Fairytales they read in the books.
In maths, we are learning about data handling by creating and interpreting pictograms and bar graphs. Tomorrow the Primary 1s are looking forward to creating a pictogram showing the Fairytales we read at home and in school. We hope the dragon is pleased by all the reading we have been doing!
Primary 1 had a fantastic time this morning on the PSA Eater Egg hunt. They enjoyed running around the playground looking for plastic eggs which they swapped for an Easter chocolate. Please see the photos below.
Reminders: PE is on Thursdays. Please ensure your child comes prepared for this with a named PE kit and water bottle.
Homework folders must be brought to school every day so that we can do reading.
Thank you for your continued support
Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 8.3.19

Primary 1 have had a really busy and exciting week. On Tuesday, we celebrated Pancake Day. Mrs Steel made a pancake in front of the class, we measured the flour, milk, eggs and oil and watched and listened as it sizzled and cooked on the pan. We wrote instructions so that we can make pancakes at home.
On Wednesday we went on a class trip to Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. We enjoyed walking around the exhibition seeing how the parts of the Earth were formed through ice movement and volcanoes. We then went to a dinosaurs workshop where we learnt all about the triceratops, velociraptor and anchiosaurus. We were able to touch models of dinosaur claws, feet and teeth as well as look at fossilized dinosaur poo!
Yesterday we celebrated World Book Day. The children read their favourite book with their Primary 7 buddy and made a bookmark to take home.
Reminders: Next week there will be no PE on Thursday. We will be in contact again next week with the new PE day week beginning 18th March.
Thank you for your support
P1 teachers

Primary 1 26.2.19

This week Primary 1 are very excited to see the playground resurfacing work happening outside our classroom. We have been watching the workers using machines to dig and move the old playground material and begin to flatten out the ground.
We are still enjoying the dinosaur interdisciplinary topic and have been learning about the Plesiosaur this week. The children have been writing a dinosaur fact file over the term, displaying their knowledge about each dinosaur we have studied. The Plesiosaur will be our final dinosaur in this book and we hope to be able to show you the finished fact files very soon. Next Wednesday Primary 1 will be visiting Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. Permission slips and EE2 forms were given out last week and should be returned ASAP with £7 to ensure your child’s space. We are all very excited about the trip where we will be taking part in a ‘dinosaur’ workshop and visiting some of the exhibition.
In phonics, we have been learning the ‘ch’ sound this week. The children are becoming very skilled at identifying words containing new sounds and are learning to write these new words correctly.
In maths, we are learning to find half of a number. We have been giving children a number of objects for them to split into 2 equal groups. Any help you can give at home with this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for all your continued support
Primary 1 teachers

Primary 1 21.1.19

It is another busy week in Primary 1!
Today, in maths, we had a lesson on the months of the year and 4 seasons. Each child made a 2019 calendar drawing a picture to show what happens in each season. We are hoping that they will be ready soon to take home! The rest of the week we will be focusing on finding half of a shape in our maths time. Maybe at home you could practise splitting things into 2 equal parts to give your child extra practice? We will continue to work on subtraction during the week and value any work you can do at home with this.
In phonics, we are consolidating our learning on all the sounds learnt so far. The children will be making and reading words and will practise writing the more tricky letters.
The interdisciplinary dinosaurs topic is now well under way. Each class has made a super dinosaur display in their classroom and many of the play activities around the classroom are dinosaur themed. This week we are focusing on the Pteradactyl. We will learn facts about it throughout the week and on Thursday will write in our dinosaur factfile.
This Friday is our Burn’s Day celebration. On Wednesday every Primary 1 will stand up in front of the class to recite their Scot’s poem. 2 children from each class will then be chosen to perform their poem in front of the whole school on Friday. Please continue to practise the poem at home ensuring that your child speaks loudly and clearly and uses some actions.
Reminders:
PE is on a Thursday morning this term. Please remember to pack a PE kit for this. It would be helpful if the clothes are all named and if you could dress your child in clothes which they can take off and put on independently.
Homework is due in on Tuesdays and will be reissued on Wednesday. Reading books should be in school everyday so that we can read with your child.
Thank you for your continued support
The P1 teachers.

Primary 1 29.11.18

This week in phonics, primary 1 are learning the sounds h and w. They have been forming the letters neatly, thinking of words with each sound and making short words on the magnetic boards. They are making great progress with this, thank you for all your help at home!
In maths we are looking at the numbers 11-20; how to form them and counting out amounts on tens frames and rekenreks.
We are making great progress in our nativity rehearsals. The children all know their lines and are now learning where to go on the stage. Please continue to practise the songs at home. If your child needs to provide any small items of clothing for costumes, they will receive a letter home in their homework folder in the coming week. Please let us know if you need help sourcing anything.
Next week our PE time will be changing. The children will see Mrs Ferguson, our PE specialist on a Thursday morning. Please can you send your child with a PE kit on this day. It is helpful if your child can wear their PE kit under their school clothes to speed up changing.
There are a number of Christmas related activities coming up in the next few weeks…
Tomorrow evening is our school Christmas fair from 6-8pm. Tickets can be bought from the office.
On this coming Monday ‘hopscotch’ an outside Pantomine company are coming to school to perform ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to the children. We have been learning the ‘hello’ song to sing with them on Monday and are looking forward to the performance.
On Tuesday it is our school Christmas lunch. You will have ordered your lunch already. If your child is having a packed lunch they will eat it in the classroom.
Thank you for all your support
Miss Christy, Mrs Steel, Mrs Oliver and Miss Pringle

Primary 1 31.10.18

This week Primary 1 have been learning 2 new sounds: g and l. The children are becoming very good at thinking of words starting with these letters and are building confidence both reading and writing short words containing the sounds we have learnt so far. Thank you for all your help at home with this, the children are making great progress! We are also focusing this week on the common words go, got and get. Please practise these words with your children and try to think of some sentences with these words in them.
In maths we are working on addition. The children are beginning to move on from adding pictures of objects to using the written sums.
We are starting our new interdisciplinary topic on toys this week. The children spoke about what they already know about toys yesterday and we will use this knowledge to inform the learning throughout the term. Tomorrow we will be creating a toy shop in each of our classrooms.
Next week we will be giving some children lines to learn for our upcoming nativity. We will also be learning some new songs in class for this. It is getting very exciting!
Thank you for all your continued support
Primary 1 teachers

Primary 1 25.9.18

This week Primary 1 are learning the sounds r and m. The children are learning to form these letters correctly, thinking of words containing each sound and starting to blend short words. We are also learning the common words am, me and my.
The children will get out a new reading book today which is to be returned by next Tuesday (2nd October). Please encourage your children to sound out the words and talk about what is happening in the picture.
In maths we are having a focus week on data handling. The children will be making pictograms, venn diagrams and learning about tally marks. Please continue to practise counting forwards and backwards at home.
P.E. is on Mondays. We are now changing the children for this lesson. Please send your child to school with a white T-shirt and black/ navy shorts for this day.
On Thursday (2.15-3.15) and Friday (9-10) you are invited to school for a curriculum event. Miss Pringle will give a short presentation about the Primary 1 curriculum and then you are welcome to join your child in their classroom to see their learning. Both sessions are identical so you only need to come one day.
Thank you for your continued support
Primary 1 teachers

Primary 1 29.8.18

Primary 1 are settling in well to school. They are becoming more familiar with school routines are are enjoying exploring our classrooms and playing with the resources.
In phonics the children have been learning the sounds a and t. We have learnt songs to help us remember each sound and are practising forming each letter correctly. Please continue to practise these sounds at home and encourage your child to identify words with each sound at the beginning. We will also be learning some common words later this week. More details will follow in the homework tasks next week.
In maths we are having a focus on number formations. We have taught correct formation of 0,1 and 2 so far this week. We are also looking at ordering numbers and counting out amounts up to 10.
P.E. is going to be on Mondays. For the first few weeks we will not be changing the children for these lessons to maximise the amount of time we can spend in the hall. We hope to begin changing for P.E. after the September break and will let you know on this blog if that changes.
Homework will be issued from next week. Homework will go out on Mondays, with children being given 2 weeks to complete the tasks. Reading books will be given out on Mondays but will be changed every week. Please ensure your child brings their reading book to school every day so that we can read in class. To begin with reading books will be wordless. This is to familiarise the children with the reading process and to teach comprehension skills (e.g. prediction, empathising with the character and summarising).
Reminders:
Please ensure that your child comes to school with a named water bottle each day. These bottles should only contain water.
Please name all clothes worn in school.

Thank you for all your support
The primary 1 teachers

Welcome to Primary 1

Hello All,

Welcome to all our new Parent/Carers and Primary 1 children!

We were very excited to welcome our new Primary 1’s who looked very smart in their school uniforms. With the help of their buddies they have already started learning school routines and are developing independence carrying out these tasks.

We have started our week with the story of the Rainbow Fish which is a great stimulus for discussions about similarities and differences and friendships. The children have also produced some lovely art work from the story.

This week we have also discussed the class charter with the children which is based on the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child). We have focussed on the children’s rights to be safe, learn and play at this stage. We will be sending the charters that have been agreed with the children home for you to discuss with your child and would be very grateful if you could sign and send this back to show your support.

The children will have their first ‘Freetime Friday’ session on Friday (24th August.) This is reward time which children earn throughout the week. To make this special we are going to allow the children to bring toys from home on a trial basis. We will review this throughout the year if it does/does not work well. You will receive a letter before Friday with details.

The termly newspaper and ‘Meet the Teacher’ next Wednesday (29th Aug) will give further information about what is happening the rest of this term in addition to our weekly updates on the blog.

If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to ask teachers at the end of the day or phone the school office.

Thank you for your support,

Primary 1 Teachers

Primary 1 13.6.18

Primary 1 did an excellent job in their assembly about farming yesterday morning. Thank you to everyone who helped by practising lines at home. The children enjoyed sharing their learning with you all.
Yesterday we made butter as a class. We learnt about how butter is churned both now and in the past and made our own by shaking double cream in a jar. It was great fun and the butter tasted great on crackers!

This coming Friday is our open morning. Parents are invited to visit the classes to see our learning about the world of work. Today we will be talking about the jobs we know about already and which jobs we would like to have in the future. We will also be completing a critical skills challenge about examples of jobs found in magazines and newspapers. These posters will be on display on Friday morning. During the Friday morning session the children will be creating posters about a job someone in their family does. Please talk to your child about a job they could write about before then. They are allowed to bring in pens for creating the poster.
Reminders:
The beach trip is next Tuesday (19th June). Please ensure you have returned the relevant form and money for this.
Sports Day is scheduled for next Wednesday afternoon. Children can bring a T-shirt in house colours to wear (Dear Park- blue, Raeburn- green, Sutherland- yellow, Waverley- red). There are also bibs in school in each colour if your child needs one.
Thank you for your continued support
The p1 teachers

Primary 1 30.5.18

Primary 1 are now well into our farming topic. This week the children have enjoyed learning about different animals which live on a farm and the products we get from each animal. Today we will be looking at the life cycle of a chicken and will think about the foods we eat which include chicken meat or eggs. On Monday each child was given some words to learn for our upcoming assembly. Please rehearse these words at home with your child regularly. The children will be encouraged to say these words with no prompting, speaking in a loud, clear and slow voice. The assembly will be performed to the infant children and parents on Tuesday 12th June at 9am. A letter went home with your child yesterday with more details and a tear off slip to be returned to school as soon as possible. There was also a letter sent home with information about our upcoming trip to Craigies farm on the 7th of June. Please return the letter as soon as possible with a £4 payment.
Our phonics sound this week is ‘ck’. We have been thinking about words which contain this sound in class and were able to come up with interesting sentences containing each word.
In maths we are continuing our work on money. The children are learning to make amounts up to 10p using 1p and 2p coins.
Thank you for your continued support.
Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 23.5.18

This week primary 1 have been learning the ‘oo’ sound. They are confidently able to think of and write words with the spelling rule. The children have also been able to spot words containing ‘oo’ in their reading books. Please continue to practise these words at home in the time your climb exercises.
In maths, the children have been learning to add coins together to make amounts up to 10p. If you can speak to your child about the coins 1p-£2 when you are out shopping it will greatly help this learning.
As part of our farming topic we have been learning about the different parts of a plant. The children were able to label a picture of a flower. We have also been using the beebots to travel in different directions across a farm map. Tomorrow we will be welcoming a farmer from the Royal Highland Education Trust to school. She will be explaining about life on a farm and her experience as a farmer. The children have been thinking about questions to ask her.
Reminders: PE is on Thursday. Please come to school prepared with a named PE kit.
Homework folders should be in school every day since we read books in class throughout the week.
Thank you
P1 teachers