Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

 P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 23.2.24

Hello everyone,

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We were blending and building words with the final consonant blends: st mp rk nd, for example: just, gust, camp, lump, dark, park, sand, mend.

Our tricky words this week were: they and all.

Our writing topic this week was- At the park…..

We had new reading books this week. The children have been reading in groups at the teaching table.  As well as decoding the words we have been discussing title and author, talking about the characters, and predicting what might happen next in the story. The children will bring their reading books home on Tuesday, please see the separate email for further information.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Write out some words which have the final consonant blends we have been learning this week. The child can try to sound out the word using the pure sound of each letter to blend together to read the word.

The adult can say some of the words we have been learning this week and the child writes them down.

Write down the tricky words on a piece of paper or card, hold the cards behind your back then show them to your child and ask them to read the word you have shown them. Your child could practise writing these words, forming the letters the way they have been shown in class.

(If you are unsure about correct letter formation, please speak to one of us at the end of the day).

NUMERACY AND MATHS

We have continued to work on core numeracy skills: recognising numerals, saying forward number word sequences, sequencing numerals, counting items, saying the number before and after and adding numbers together in our heads.

We continued working on money. We were adding amounts to 10p and beyond. We were working in pairs to make amounts by drawing coins on our boards. We completed a money worksheet to show our understanding.

Some of us were doing money assessments with the teacher.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Have a look at some coins at home, try to make different amounts by adding the coins together.

https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/payForIt/oldcdn.html

PE

We have begun working on gymnastics and this week the focus was on balancing in different ways. We were trying to hold balances using different parts of the body.

FLUFFY!

Thank you so much for all the entries in Fluffy’s journal. It has been lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm and eagerness to take him home. At the moment, we are just allowing the children to keep him for two nights so that everyone can have a turn as soon as possible but if you forget to bring him back to school, please don’t worry.

We really don’t want to give families anything extra to have to think about so PLEASE don’t feel you have to add to the journal. Your child will be given the chance to speak to the class about what they have done with Fluffy.

SOCIAL STUDIES/SCIENCE

Linked to our topic on Antarctica and penguins we were trying to find out what makes penguins feathers waterproof. We coloured one penguin with wax crayons and left the other drawing uncoloured. We dropped water onto the penguin with the wax coating and the plain paper one and described what happened.

LOOSE PARTS

Next date for loose parts is Friday 1 March.

RSHP

As part of our RSHP programme we began to look at the section on ‘Asking questions, making choices, saying yes/saying no’.

We discussed the different questions we can ask using the words: who, what, where and how. We talked about the difference between fact based questions and preference based questions. Next week we will talk about making choices.

Some examples of learning taking place this week:

Have a lovely weekend.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

 P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 9.2.24

Hello everyone,

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We were revising the digraphs th and wh as the children are finding these sounds challenging. Some of us were revising single sounds.

We were revising the tricky words: no go be she me we.

We were learning to write the capital letters: A B C.

We were writing about Fluffy and a possible adventure he could have.

We had new reading books this week. The children have been reading in groups at the teaching table.  As well as decoding the words we have been discussing title and author, talking about the characters, and predicting what might happen next in the story.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Hold up the digraphs and ask your child to tell you the sound they make. Ask them if they can think of a word containing that sound.

Use letters written on a piece of paper or card to ‘build’ a word. The adult says a word and the child choses the correct sounds to make that word.

An adult makes a word using the digraphs and the child says the pure sounds of each letter to blend together to read the word.

Write down the tricky words on a piece of paper or card, hold the cards behind your back then show them to your child and ask them to read the word you have shown them. Your child could practise writing these words, forming the letters the way they have been shown in class.

(If you are unsure about correct letter formation, please speak to one of us at the end of the day).

NUMERACY AND MATHS

We have continued to work on core numeracy skills: recognising numerals, saying forward number word sequences, sequencing numerals, counting items, saying the number before and after and adding numbers together in our heads.

We continued working on money. We were adding amounts to 10p and beyond. We were identifying coins and played a game on the Smartboard and the iPads.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Have a look at some coins at home, talk about their value and if possible, use them to pay for some items in a shop.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/coins-game

PE

We have been working on using repeated patterns of movement to create simple sequences and have practised moving in time to music. We worked together with a partner to make our own sequence of movements. We were an audience for our friends and made positive comments about their performance.

FLUFFY!

Thank you so much for all the entries in Fluffy’s journal. It has been lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm and eagerness to take him home. At the moment, we are just allowing the children to keep him for two nights so that everyone can have a turn as soon as possible but if you forget to bring him back to school, please don’t worry.

We really don’t want to give families anything extra to have to think about so PLEASE don’t feel you have to add to the journal. Your child will be given the chance to speak to the class about what they have done with Fluffy.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We were talking about Antarctica and comparing life there to life in Scotland.

We were learning about Chinese New Year.

FRENCH

We continued to learn the words for numbers from 1-10.

LOOSE PARTS

We had a cold but sunny afternoon at loose parts and the children were very busy building, creating and working with their friends.

Next date for loose parts is Friday 1 March.

Here is a whole school quiz for you to try at home, there may be a prize for the winner!

Robert Burns’ Quiz (office.com)

Some examples of independent learning taking place this week:

Have a lovely weekend.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

 P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 2.2.24

Hello everyone,

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We introduced two new consonant digraphs this week: wh and th. Digraphs are two letters which go together to make one sound. We were building /writing these words : which, that and blending sounds together to read: when then.

Our new tricky word this week is are.

We were writing about being in the bath to practise using our new th sound.

We are encouraging the children to use the tricky words they know and the sounds they have learned to ‘have a go’ at writing independently. If the word the child wishes to use is too difficult to sound out, they can still write the starting letter. We are trying to remember to use finger spaces after every word so that our writing is not squashed together. The children have also been given free writing jotters which they can use for their own ideas and drawings whenever they are given the chance to choose their own learning.

We had new reading books this week. The children have been reading in groups at the teaching table.  As well as decoding the words we have been discussing title and author, talking about the characters, and predicting what might happen next in the story.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Hold up the digraphs and ask your child to tell you the sound they make. Ask them if they can think of a word containing that sound.

Use letters written on a piece of paper or card to ‘build’ a word. The adult says a word and the child choses the correct sounds to make that word.

An adult makes a word using the digraphs th and wh  and the child says the pure sounds of each letter to blend together to read the word.

Write down are on a piece of paper or card, hold the card behind your back then show it to your child and ask them to read the word you have shown them. Your child could practise writing the tricky words, forming the letters the way they have been shown in class.

(If you are unsure about correct letter formation, please speak to one of us at the end of the day).

NUMERACY AND MATHS

We have continued to work on core numeracy skills: recognising numerals, saying forward and backward number word sequences, sequencing numerals, counting items, saying the number before and after and adding numbers together in our heads.

We continued working on money. We were adding amounts to 10p and beyond. We used the iPads to play some money games.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Have a look at some coins at home, talk about their value and if possible, use them to pay for some items in a shop.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/coins-game

PE

We have been working on using repeated patterns of movement to create simple sequences and have practised moving in time to music. We worked together with a partner to make our own sequence of movements. We were an audience for our friends and made positive comments about their performance.

FLUFFY!

Thank you so much for all the entries in Fluffy’s journal. It has been lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm and eagerness to take him home. At the moment, we are just allowing the children to keep him for two nights so that everyone can have a turn as soon as possible but if you forget to bring him back to school, please don’t worry.

We really don’t want to give families anything extra to have to think about so PLEASE don’t feel you have to add to the journal. Your child will be given the chance to speak to the class about what they have done with Fluffy.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We were talking about Antarctica and learning about some of the other animals who live there. We also discussed what else we would like to find out about this continent.

FRENCH

We started to learn the words for numbers from 1-10.

LOOSE PARTS

Next date for loose parts is Wednesday 7 February.

Some examples of learning taking place this week:

Have a lovely weekend.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

 P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 26.1.24

Hello everyone,

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We introduced two new digraphs this week: ch and sh. Digraphs are two letters which go together to make one sound. We were building /writing these words : chat shop and blending sounds together to read: chip shop.

Our new tricky words this week are she and be.

In writing, we had a choice of two story starts – I went to the shop…….

At the shop……….

We are encouraging the children to use the tricky words they know and the sounds they have learned to ‘have a go’ at writing independently. If the word the child wishes to use is too difficult to sound out, they can still write the starting letter. We are trying to remember to use finger spaces after every word so that our writing is not squashed together.

We had new reading books this week. The children have been reading in groups at the teaching table.  As well as decoding the words we have been discussing title and author, talking about the characters, and predicting what might happen next in the story. Some children chose to continue a story by drawing what might happen next.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Hold up the digraphs and ask your child to tell you the sound they make. Ask them if they can think of a word containing that sound.

Use letters written on a piece of paper or card to ‘build’ a word. The adult says a word and the child choses the correct sounds to make that word.

An adult makes a word using the digraphs ch and sh  and the child says the pure sounds of each letter to blend together to read the word.

Write down she and be on a piece of paper or card, hold the cards behind your back then show them to your child and ask them to read the word you have shown them. Your child could practise writing these words, forming the letters the way they have been shown in class.

(If you are unsure about correct letter formation, please speak to one of us at the end of the day).

NUMERACY AND MATHS

We have continued to work on core numeracy skills: recognising numerals, saying forward number word sequences, sequencing numerals, counting items, saying the number before and after and adding numbers together in our heads.

This week we also started working on money. We were looking at different coins and talking about their values. We used the iPads to play some money games.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Have a look at some coins at home, talk about their value and if possible, use them to pay for some items in a shop.

PE

We have been working on using repeated patterns of movement to create simple sequences and have practised moving in time to music.

FLUFFY!

Thank you so much for all the entries in Fluffy’s journal. It has been lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm and eagerness to take him home. At the moment, we are just allowing the children to keep him for two nights so that everyone can have a turn as soon as possible but if you forget to bring him back to school, please don’t worry.

We really don’t want to give families anything extra to have to think about so PLEASE don’t feel you have to add to the journal. Your child will be given the chance to speak to the class about what they have done with Fluffy.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We talked about Burns Night and learned a little bit about his life. We are learning the Selkirk Grace as a year group and will be reciting it at our assembly on 9.2.24. Can you please help your child by practising at home.

LOOSE PARTS

Next date for loose parts is Wednesday 7 February.

Some examples of learning taking place this week:

Have a lovely weekend.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 19.1.24

Hello everyone,

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We introduced two vowel digraphs this week: oo and ee. Digraphs are two letters which go together to make one sound. We were building /writing these words : look, took, keep, beep and blending sounds together to read: moon, soon, been, seen.

Our new tricky words this week are go and my.

In writing, we had a choice of two story starts – I went to the moon……..

I see the moon………..

We are encouraging the children to use the tricky words they know and the sounds they have learned to ‘have a go’ at writing independently. If the word the child wishes to use is too difficult to sound out, they can still write the starting letter. We are trying to remember to use finger spaces after every word so that our writing is not squashed together.

We introduced reading books this week. The children have been reading in groups at the teaching table.  As well as decoding the words we have been discussing title and author, talking about the characters, and predicting what might happen next in the story.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Hold up the digraphs and ask your child to tell you the sound they make. Ask them if they can think of a word containing that sound.

Use letters written on a piece of paper or card to ‘build’ a word. The adult says a word and the child choses the correct sounds to make that word.

An adult makes a word using the digraphs oo and ee  and the child says the pure sounds of each letter to blend together to read the word.

Write down any of the Term One tricky words  and the new tricky words go and my on a piece of paper or card, hold the cards behind your back then show them to your child and ask them to read the word you have shown them. Your child could practise writing these words, forming the letters the way they have been shown in class.

(If you are unsure about correct letter formation, please speak to one of us at the end of the day).

NUMERACY AND MATHS

We have continued to work on core numeracy skills: recognising numerals, saying forward number word sequences, sequencing numerals, counting items, saying the number before and after and adding numbers together in our heads.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Please refer to your SEAL home learning wall and pick an activity to practise.

PE

We have been working on using repeated patterns of movement to create simple sequences and plan to add music and rhythm in the next few weeks.

FLUFFY!

Thank you so much for all the entries in Fluffy’s journal. It has been lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm and eagerness to take him home. At the moment, we are just allowing the children to keep him for two nights so that everyone can have a turn as soon as possible but if you forget to bring him back to school, please don’t worry.

We really don’t want to give families anything extra to have to think about so PLEASE don’t feel you have to add to the journal. Your child will be given the chance to speak to the class about what they have done with Fluffy.

SOCIAL STUDIES

As the children have shown an interest in penguins, we have started to learn about Antarctica. We have talked about where Antarctica is and looked at the weather and seasons there. We will be learning about some of the other animals which live on this continent.

LOOSE PARTS

Next date for loose parts is Thursday 25 January.

Some examples of learning taking place this week:

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 12.1.24

Hello everyone,

It has been lovely to welcome the children back to class and to hear all about their holidays. We would like to wish all our families a very healthy and happy 2024.

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We were revising some of the tricky words we learned last term. The words were hanging from the trees outside and we wrote them out in chalk.

We were writing about our holidays, trying to use the tricky words we know, as well as thinking about the letter at the start of words and using the correct letter formation.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Hold up the letters and ask your child to tell you the sound they make. Ask them if they can think of a word beginning with that sound. Play ‘I spy’ using the sounds your child has learnt.

Use letters written on a piece of paper or card to ‘build’ a word. The adult says a three letter word and the child choses the correct sounds to make that word.

An adult makes a three letter word, and the child says the pure sounds of each letter to blend together to read the word.

Write down any of the Term One tricky words on a piece of paper or card, hold the cards behind your back then show them to your child and ask them to read the word you have shown them. Your child could practise writing these words, forming the letters the way they have been shown in class.

(If you are unsure about correct letter formation, please speak to one of us at the end of the day).

NUMERACY AND MATHS

We have been working on core numeracy skills: saying forward number word sequences, sequencing numerals, counting items, saying the number before and after and adding numbers together in our heads.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Please refer to your SEAL home learning wall and pick an activity to practise.

PE

We are beginning to learn some Scottish country dancing. We have been clapping and skipping in time to the music and practising counting to four while we walk forwards and backwards with a partner.

FLUFFY!

We have adopted a penguin with WWF and will receive regular updates  about its progress throughout the year. As part of the adoption, we have been sent a small cuddly penguin which the class have named Fluffy. We would like all the children to have a turn of taking Fluffy home. There is a journal which will also come home with Fluffy. If you would like to write a few sentences about what you have been doing with Fluffy please do so. You could also include a drawing or a photograph if you wish. However, there is absolutely no expectation to do so, and your child will be given the opportunity to share anything they might want to say about their time with Fluffy with the rest of the class.

LOOSE PARTS

Next date for loose parts is Thursday 25 January.

Some examples of learning taking place this week:

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 15.12.23

Hello everyone,

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We introduced the new sounds q and w.

 In small groups we were thinking about words beginning with these sounds, playing games, and identifying the letters which make these sounds. Some of us were learning how to ‘build’ and ‘blend’ three letter words with the sounds we know.

We also introduced two ‘tricky words’ want and no. Tricky words cannot be sounded out but have to be learned. We will continue to introduce new tricky words on a weekly basis.

We were writing about a Christmas tree, trying to write some letters and words independently, thinking about the correct formation of letters.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Hold up the letters and ask your child to tell you the sound they make. Ask them if they can think of a word beginning with that sound. Play ‘I spy’ using the sounds your child has learnt.

Use letters written on a piece of paper or card to ‘build’ a word. The adult says a three letter word and the child choses the correct sounds to make that word.

An adult makes a three letter word, and the child says the pure sounds of each letter to blend together to read the word.

Write down want and no on a piece of paper or card, hold the cards behind your back then show them to your child and ask them to read the word you have shown them. Your child could practise writing these words, forming the letters the way they have been shown in class.

(If you are unsure about correct letter formation, please speak to one of us at the end of the day).

NUMERACY AND MATHS

Following on from our learning about shape , this week we have been looking at pattern. We talked about what a pattern was and copied and continued a variety of different patterns. There were activities set up in the classroom to support this learning.

PE

We were playing games and working cooperatively.

RSHP

We were discussing people who help us and talking about who helps us at home and who helps people in certain situations.

SCIENCE

We talked about energy and looked at electricity in particular linking it to last week’s power cut in school! We looked at a poster which showed the dangers of electricity and how we can stay safe. We then thought about the items in our homes which are powered by mains electricity and items which use batteries.

Have a look around your house and see if you can find some items which use mains electricity and some which are powered by batteries.

LOOSE PARTS

No more loose parts this term.

Some other examples of learning taking place this week:

Have a lovely weekend.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 8.12.23

Hello everyone,

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We were revising sounds and practising the correct formation of some letters using whiteboards and pens.

We were writing about our Nativity,  the role we played in it and how we felt about it.

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY, LITERACY FOCUS

NUMERACY AND MATHS

We started learning about shape. We used a feely bag containing different 2D shapes and described what we could feel. We talked about the number of sides the shape had and whether they were straight or curved.

MATHS FOCUS

PE

We explored the story of the Nutcracker through dance and music.

HWB

We looked at examples of different kinds of families and discussed our own families.

ASSEMBLY

We attended a Christmas assembly along with P2-4, lead by the minister from Fairmilehead church.

NATIVITY

Well done to all our P1s for two fantastic performances. Thanks to all families and friends who came along to support them.

LOOSE PARTS

We had a chilly but enjoyable loose parts play.

No more loose parts until the new term.

ART

We have begun to make santas which will hang from the ceiling. We will bring these home at the end of term.

Some other examples of learning taking place this week:

PARTY TIME!

Primary one will be having their party on the afternoon of  Wednesday 13 December. Please can you provide your child with a box containing 3 items of party food and a drink, thank you.

Have a lovely weekend.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 1.12.23

Hello everyone,

This week’s blog will be a very short one. P1K have had a really busy week rehearsing for their Nativity. We are looking forward to sharing our beautiful singing and loud speaking voices with our special audience next week.

PE

We were playing running games to improve our fitness and have fun. We participated in various fitness activities at different stations around the gym hall. We practised some yoga in our classroom.

ART

Some of us have been drawing parts of the Christmas story for our window display.

LOOSE PARTS

Next date for loose parts is Wednesday 6 December.

Here are some examples of learning taking place this week, please ask your child about their learning. Many children have been very interested in making our home corner and small loose parts areas into a café. They have been making signs, creating menus, drawing plates of food, and taking on the roles of customers and waiting staff.

Have a lovely weekend.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 24.11.23

Hello everyone,

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We introduced the new sounds v and j.

 In small groups we were thinking about words beginning with these sounds, playing games, and identifying the letters which make these sounds. Some of us were learning how to ‘build’ and ‘blend’ three letter words with the sounds we know.

We also introduced two ‘tricky words’ was and saw. Tricky words cannot be sounded out but have to be learned. We will be introducing new tricky words on a weekly basis.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Hold up the letters and ask your child to tell you the sound they make. Ask them if they can think of a word beginning with that sound. Play ‘I spy’ using the sounds your child has learnt.

Use letters written on a piece of paper or card to ‘build’ a word. The adult says a three letter word and the child choses the correct sounds to make that word.

An adult makes a three letter word, and the child says the pure sounds of each letter to blend together to read the word.

Write down was and saw on a piece of paper or card, hold the cards behind your back then show them to your child and ask them to read the word you have shown them. Your child could practise writing these words, forming the letters the way they have been shown in class.

(If you are unsure about correct letter formation, please speak to one of us at the end of the day).

NUMERACY AND MATHS

On Friday 1 December the children will bring home their learning stories with comments on their progress in literacy and numeracy along with evidence of their learning. This week we have been assessing the children in numeracy.

PE

We were playing running games to improve our fitness and have fun. We participated in various fitness activities at different stations around the gym hall. We practised some yoga in our classroom.

NATIVITY

Together with the Pandas we have been practising the songs we will be singing and trying to say our words loudly and clearly in the big hall. Please help your child to learn their words and home, encouraging them to speak as loudly as possible!

LOOSE PARTS

Next date for loose parts is Wednesday 6 December.

ART

We decorated a giant Christmas tree for the hall and everyone drew their own Christmas bauble.

Some examples of learning taking place this week:

Have a lovely weekend.