At Uphall Primary School we use a range of learning programmes to support children as they learn new skills.

Literacy and Language

• We use the Vowel House and Colourful Consonant approach when learning phonics. This approach links colour, actions and shapes to help children learn new sounds and blend them together to read words.
• We use phonics based books to support the development of reading skills
• To support children to develop their detailed drawing and writing skills we use Foundations of Writing and PM writing.
• At Uphall we teach cursive handwriting throughout our school

Numeracy and Mathematics

• This session we have been using the Numberblocks to support children learn about how numbers are made
• We use a SEAL (stages of early arithmetical learning) approach to the teaching of numeracy skills using counters, dice patterns, rods, Numicon and Rekenreks to develop children’s understanding.
• We make the most of our outdoor space and real life contexts to support the development of mathematical skills

Health and Wellbeing

• At Uphall we use Emotion Works and the Zones of Regulation to support our children to identify and talk about their emotions using visual prompts to discuss feelings and possible solutions
• All of our children have identified trusted adults that they can talk to
• We use our outdoor space to build dens and explore nature
• Children participate in PE indoors and outdoors, learning and developing their skills

More information about these learning programmes and ways you can support your child at home to develop their learning will be issued during the school session

When your child starts school they will need items to support their learning and when participating in indoor and outdoor PE lessons. Below is a list of items your child will need for starting school.

All clothing and equipment should be clearly labelled with your child’s name. Please make sure that your child’s name is on all parts of their school uniform – even their shoes. It is easier for us to locate lost property if it is named.

• A warm, waterproof jacket
• A school bag
• A pencil case
• A small manageable snack for playtime
• A water bottle
• A packed lunch if they are not having school dinners.
• On the days P1 have PE they should come in a t-shirt, jogging bottoms and trainers.  They should wear their school jumper or cardigan on top of their t-shirt and they can remove this during the activity.

As always if you have any questions about your child’s transition please contact the school by e-mail.

At Uphall Primary School we expect pupils to follow our dress code by wearing school uniform.  All items can be purchased through the Border Embroideries website (https://www.border-embroideries.co.uk)

• a purple or white polo shirt
• a purple sweatshirt/jumper/cardigan (P1-P6)
• a black sweatshirt/jumper/cardigan (P7 only)
• a black or grey skirt/pinafore/trousers
• black shoes

Please ensure all items are labelled with your child’s name and class.

Pupils will require PE kit for 2 hours of PE every week. Pupils attend school in PE kit on their scheduled PE days.  You will find out what days your child will have for PE when they start school in August.

We can’t wait to see our new P1s in their lovely uniforms!

We got up, dressed, showered and down for breakfast at 8:30am.  Breakfast was delicious and we first had a choice of cereal followed by toast with jam or butter.  We washed it down with some apple or orange juice.  Everyone enjoyed the toast and asked for more.

The morning activities started at 10am and we all split into our groups to do different activities.  Activities today included King Swing, Archery, Bushcraft, Footgolf and Learning for Sustainability.

The groups who took part in King Swing loved it.  Two of us were attached to a harness and the rest of the group pulled the rope to hoist them higher into the air.  When we felt comfortable enough, we shouted to stop pulling as it had reached high enough.  One (or both) of us pulled a blue rope which released the cable and we swung from high in the air.  It was brilliant!  Lots of us smashed personal challenges and even managed to go a bit higher on the second turn!

Some groups had an Archery experience and if we’d played Archery Tag the day before, we were feeling quite confident at loading and shooting arrows!  We then played some games with the arrows and it turned into a competition!

The groups who took part in the ‘Learning for Sustainability’ first went a nature walk in the woods, looking for items around the forest floor that were interesting or unusual.  Some learning took place about the word sustainability and what it means to have a circular economy.  The instructors then gave out challenge cards to build mini villages on the forest floor with items found.  We had to think about how each village could live sustainable (food sources, business etc) and then we took a tour around every group’s village.  It was only then that disaster struck, some of the villages were threatened with a floor or landslide.  We quickly went back and built/thought about ways to defend and survive this.  It was lots of fun.

Dinner was great, we had pizza or macaroni followed by oreo cheesecake.  Everyone is enjoying the food and more clean plates.

After dinner we put on our party clothes and came downstairs for the cheesy disco.  DJ McGowan made sure all the best music was played and there were lots of party games to win sweets throughout the night.

We then had supper and went back to start packing and preparing our rooms for leaving tomorrow. Suitcases are to be dropped off before breakfast so we have lots to do!

Goodnight from Lendrick Muir!