Happy new year to our Primary 1 families,

Sadly, this is not the start of the year that we had hoped for and we find ourselves back to learning from home.  For many of you, this is the first time, and for others you will have older children using Google Classroom.

We began Primary 1 using SeeSaw as our home learning platform which is what we will continue to use.  I know the majority of families are already confident using this but please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have technical difficulties and we will try our best to support you.  You can also request devices for home learning if this is proving to be difficult at home.

I will be working in school for 2 days a week and on those days I will not be able to provide feedback for the learning.  There will be activities scheduled and a timetable available for you to look at and work through.

Thanks for your patience and understanding while we all get back into the swing of learning (and teaching) from home.

Mrs H

The end of November is near….I cannot believe it. 🍁

🌟This week we are shaking things up a bit in P1 – Rearranging the seating in the classroom and creating new reading groups for everyone.

🔔We are also beginning to “rehearse” a simple Nativity performance that I hope to film and put together…somehow (watch this space). We will be doing this while sticking to restrictions and guidance so unfortunately we are limited in activities this year –  but I have had my creative hat on.

📚 Reading – pupils have reading to do each night, this is essential.  You should encourage them to sound out the sounds in each word and say them if they meet words they are unsure of (e.g. h-a-t is hat).  Each group has stage 2 or 3 words to learn, this is really important for progression through the stages.

📊 Maths/Number- This week we will be looking at: Counting to 20, ordering numbers and counting backwards as well as identifying amounts in a ten frame. (playing dominoes and games like snakes and ladders with 2 dice is a great way to support this).  We are also continuing to look at data handling through tally marks and bar charts.

🌈PROUD CLOUD ☁️ – Have a look on Seesaw for info on “proud cloud” help I have asked for.

💻  SEESAW ACTIVITIES – There is a CVC (Consonant, vowel, consonant) word activity (suggested day-Tuesday) and a count and match activity (suggested day-Thursday).  Digital learning is quicker, more eco friendly and often involves less writing, which can be off putting for children.  If you do require a paper copy just let me know and I can print it.  If there are issues with opening these activities please get in touch as sometimes I do not notice faults right away.

Thanks,

Mrs H

Can you believe November is here? It has been such a strange but quick year!

🍂

This week in P1 we will continue to work on our sounds which are “u” and “l”.  Pupils are learning to use these to build CVC words (consonant, vowel, consonant) such as cat, rat, mat, hat etc.  This is an activity they can do at home using their green sounds cards.

Reading books for the week are sent home on Monday (Monday: half the book, Tues: other half, Wed: whole book, Thurs: whole book with pictures covered or activity). Please continue to learn the stage 1 and 2 words

Numeracy: We are looking at the number before and after within 10 as well as number pairs that make 10.

Ideas to try at home:

1. Show me 6 fingers, can you show me it in another way? – can you do it without looking t your fingers/hands in the air?
2. Can you count back from 7 to 0, can you count to 10 from 4?etc.
3. Find 10 objects, group them and discuss number stories. e.g. There are 3 leaves and if I add 7 I make 10.

Health

Continuing with people who help us, we are looking at The Emergency Services and how to make a 999 call etc.  We are also looking at harmful and helpful substances.

NOTES:

• Look out for “report cards” on Tuesday
• Milk money to be paid by Wednesday
• Christmas Cards and order forms should be out on Friday
• Pupils should bring outdoor clothing, layers and gloves etc. If wearing wellies, pupils can bring a change of footwear as long as they have non slip, hard soles and the child can put them on and secure them themselves.🍂

I hope everyone had a very well rested time off school and are looking forward to the term ahead.  This is always my favourite term and season of the year so I look forward to some fun learning, which will take on a very 2020 twist but enjoyable all the same.

Pupils will come home again with their reading books.  I only update yellow books on a Monday but children should do reading every night

Monday – half the book

Tuesday – the other half

Wed – whole book

Thurs – Whole book with pictures covered.

I am so proud of the P1 because they have worked so hard to learn their sounds and key words in school and at home, thanks for your support with this, it really does make all the difference.

🎃

Halloween – please remember children must not bring in items from home.  We will do some Halloween activities in school this week but no fancy dress etc.

Thanks

Karen Hinton

With just over a week to go until the October break I cannot believe how fast time has flown. 🍂

Reading groups are heard almost daily but groups timings are limited to just 10-15 minutes in school with close teacher contact so it is essential that pupils keep reading their books daily in school.

Reading journals are updated on Mondays and that will be the only day that I collect them all in. 📒

I have handed out the Stage 1 words (pink) and stage 2 words (yellow) today because I realise that adding the words each time we get a new book is perhaps not the best idea in the current climate.  These words should be learned at sight and should  be learned in order to progress through the ORT scheme.  These are for home use so do not need to be brought in. 🟥 🟨

On Friday I will hand out the sounds that we will have covered by the October holiday.  In class each day we go through the sounds and are not word building using these.  e.g. asking the children to lay out the sound cards to make a certain word and then sound it out.  This activity is extremely useful for confidence building and would ideally be completed alongside reading at home. 🟩

Can I also take this opportunity to ask that the Phonics booklet that pupils were handed out in week 2 is completed and up to date.

I will begin target setting with pupils next week and their target sheets will come home once they have had their chat with me.

As always, thanks for your support

Mrs Hinton