Category: Buckstone Primary School
P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 1.9.23
Hello everyone,
We have had another good week in school, the children are learning each other’s names and building friendships.
LITERACY
We have been focussing on the sounds a and t. 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 all practised writing a and t, learning the correct formation of the letters. Please see the letter your child has brought home today in their purple folder for guidance on how to support your child at home.
This week we were drawing a picture of ourselves reaching for something. We spoke about what we might be reaching for and Mrs Bailey wrote our story.
NUMERACY
We have continued speaking to individual children to assess their knowledge of number so that we can start their learning at the correct level for them. Numeracy groups will begin next week.
PE
We had PE outside in our playground and in the new hall. The children were learning to share the space and listen to instructions in order to stay safe during PE. We continued to practise different ways of travelling and the children had the opportunity to work with a partner.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays please send your child dressed for PE.
LOOSE PARTS PLAY
We had our first session of loose parts this week and were very lucky to have a warm sunny day. The children were learning to put out the equipment safely , share resources and investigate the loose part materials. Primary One worked together as a stage so the children were able to get to know the pupils in the Panda class.
Some examples of learning taking place this week:
We hope you all have a lovely weekend.
P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 25.8.23
Hello everyone.
We have had a good first full week in school, the children have settled well and are getting to know each other and become familiar with the class routines.
This is what we have been learning:
LITERACY
We have been speaking to the children individually to assess their prior knowledge of phonics.
We talked about our families and drew a detailed picture of the people who live in our house. If they were able, they wrote their names, or the start of their names, beside the drawing.
We have been sharing the ‘Frog is…..’ books by Max Velthuijs which look at a range of different emotions in an engaging and humorous way.
NUMERACY
Again, we have started speaking to individual children to assess their knowledge of number so that we can start their learning at the correct level for them.
PE
We had PE outside in our playground and in the new hall. The children were learning to share their space and listen to instructions in order to stay safe during PE. We played some warmup games and then tried different ways of travelling in the space.
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays please send your child dressed for PE.
Some examples of learning from this week:
We hope you all have a relaxing weekend.
Thank you to everyone who has sent in tissues for class use.
P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 18.8.23
Welcome to our first Reflective Friday blog, this will be where we share our weekly learning and information about what is happening in P1. Please find some time to talk about the blog with your child so that they can share with you what they have been learning that week.
We have had a fantastic start to P1, the children are able to follow class routines already and have managed so well in the dinner hall. We have been busy learning through play, making friends and understanding the school day.
We have been talking about our class charter – Ready, Respectful, Safe and we used our hands to show that we will try to follow this charter in school.
Can you please make sure that every item of clothing is named so that we can find its owner should it go missing. Please put names on lunch boxes and water bottles too.
Our PE days will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Tuesdays will be outdoor, and Wednesdays will be in our new hall. Please dress your child in clothes suitable for PE on these days: shorts, t-shirts or joggers can be worn with a school sweatshirt.
Thanks so much to all parents who have sent in tissues, we always need plenty of tissues in Primary One , especially as we move towards the colder months. All further donations gratefully received.
We hope that your child has had a happy start to Primary One, we are available to talk to parents and carers at the end of the day if there is something you would like to discuss. We hope that you all have a lovely weekend.
P1B Reflective Friday 16.6.23
This week, we have done revision of the ‘nk’ sound, tricky words and doubles in numeracy. Please see below for photos of us being busy! We have our final P1 Loose Parts session on Tuesday afternoon next week. On Tuesday morning, your child will meet their P2 teacher and get together with the other children who will be in their class.
On Thursday afternoon, we are going to have an End of P1 Party! The theme is ‘summer’, so we are going to come into school in our favourite summer/beach wear on Thursday. We will be providing popcorn as a snack. Should you wish your child to have a different snack, please send that into school with them.
Have a great weekend,
Miss Croal
P1M Reflective Friday 16.6.23
Hello everyone,
MATHS AND NUMERACY
We have been working on a variety of skills including sequencing decade numbers, describing, and making equal groups, counting items, and saying alternate numbers forwards and backwards.
Through our play we have been experimenting with everyday items as units of measure to investigate and compare sizes and amounts.
In small groups we were comparing length and height using nonstandard units. We investigated mass and capacity using different sized beakers.
LITERACY
We are not going to introduce any more new sounds this term and are going to continue to practise reading and spelling words with the sounds we have been learning so far. We will also be revising the tricky words and will be learning some new ones too.
WRITING
We wrote about our dads and what makes them special to us.
HANDWRITING
We practised writing out our tricky words, thinking about the size of the letters and trying to keep our writing on the line.
THINGS TO DO AT HOME
Use the sounds/letters and tricky words that have previously been sent home to help practise your reading and word-building skills.
PE
We were developing our skills using a bat and a ball. We were controlling the ball with the bat, bouncing the ball with the bat, and trying to hit the ball when it was thrown towards the bat.
ELECTRICITY
We talked about the importance of electricity in our daily lives and also discussed the dangers associated with electricity. We helped to make a display for our classroom showing how electricity impacts our lives.
RSPCC – SPEAK OUT, STAY SAFE
We watched a special assembly which showed us the ways a child can be hurt by others and how a child can get help.
We discussed this as a class, identified safe adults we can talk to and learned the Childline phone number.
LOOSE PARTS
The next day for Loose Parts is TUESDAY 20 JUNE.
LEARNING THROUGH PLAY
Some examples of the different kinds of play taking place this week.
We hope that you all have a lovely weekend.
P1M Reflective Friday 9.6.23
Hello everyone,
MATHS AND NUMERACY
We have been working on a variety of skills including sequencing decade numbers, describing, and making equal groups, counting items, and saying alternate numbers forwards and backwards.
Through our play we have been experimenting with everyday items as units of measure to investigate and compare sizes and amounts.
LITERACY
We are not going to introduce any more new sounds this term and are going to continue to practise reading and spelling words with the sounds we have been learning so far. We will also be revising the tricky words and will be learning some new ones too.
WRITING
We wrote about our trip to the woods and the walled garden and described what we saw.
We went into our playground, and each found a stick. We talked about what our stick could be and then went back to the classroom to write about it. Some of our ideas were : a sword, a magic wand, a unicorn’s horn.
THINGS TO DO AT HOME
Use the sounds/letters and tricky words that have previously been sent home to help practise your reading and word-building skills.
MUSIC
ART
Last week we looked carefully at some wild flowers and used water pastels to draw them.
PE
We were developing our skills using a bat and a ball. We were controlling the ball with the bat, bouncing the ball with the bat, and trying to hit the ball when it was thrown towards the bat.
FRENCH
We learned the song Frere Jacques and used our knowledge of the colour words to sing them to the tune . Nearly everyone was happy to sing with a friend in front of the rest of the class.
P7 SHOW
We were very lucky to be P7’s first audience for their show. This is what we thought:
‘I liked the king and queen coming out of their seats’.
‘ I liked when the king and queen gave the princesses necklaces.’
‘ I liked when the knights sang a song.’
‘I liked when the knights were marching in a line.’
‘I like when the dragon came out of the table.’
‘I liked the bit with the baddie.’
‘I liked when the knight was calling his servants prawns.’
‘I liked everything.’
TRIP
On Tuesday we had our Primary One trip to the woods and walled garden. We were spotting minibeasts, trying to identify birds, creating animal dens and shelters, and playing games.
ASSEMBLY
We went to assembly with the rest of the school and listened really well to everyone’s successes over the year.
LOOSE PARTS
We enjoyed building, exploring, and creating across the Primary One stage.
The next day for Loose Parts is TUESDAY 20 JUNE.
We hope that you all have a lovely weekend.
P1B Reflective Friday 9.6.23
Good afternoon P1B.
Literacy
This week, we did some revision of digraphs sh and ch, and block 2 tricky words. We tried to find words that have ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ in our library books. During our writing time, we wrote about ‘my plant’. We had rainbow plants, purple plants, human plants and car-part plants! Please continue to practise writing the tricky words at home.
Maths and numeracy
This week, we continued with our practice of counting on to work out sums. We put the big number in our head and count on, sometimes with our fingers for support.
Other Areas
This week, we had a games session in PE and played the class idea of ‘diamond tig’ and Clear the Playground to practise our throwing skills. On Monday morning, we had Ally back from the Youth Music Initiative. We learned a new song and played more music games. On Monday afternoon, we were very excited to go and see the P7 Show! Everybody in the class showed excellent listening skills and respect for the performers. This week, we also started our new topic – Living Things. We started by talking about plants and flowers and what they need to grow and survive. We are excited to see if our seeds we planted grow! The class are interested in learning about lots of different animals, so this will be our focus for our Living Things topic to learn about what they all depend on to survive. We played the Yes/No game with different types of animals. On Tuesday morning, we enjoyed a lovely walk to the Walled Garden, and made a stop on the way back in the woods to look for any living creatures and do some bark rubbings.
To do at home
Numeracy: recognising the numbers 1-100, counting backwards from 30, writing the ‘teen’ numbers with the 1 first and remember it’s ‘teen’ not ‘ty’, counting on with our fingers, number formation
Maths: adding 1-10p coins together, left and right, telling the time on an analogue clock (o’clock and half past)
Literacy: being able to write our tricky words, recognising and writing the digraphs sh, ch, th and wh.
General: being able to take off jumpers, open snacks and zip up coats.
General Information
Keep all the junk coming in – it’s amazing how quickly we run out!
In the sunny weather, please make sure your child is wearing suncream.
No loose parts next week.
Please now return your parent comment sheet for your child’s report by Monday 12th June if you haven’t already done so.
Please also return the Learning Story. This will then go to the P2 teacher for them to see, and it will then be sent home for you to have after the summer holidays.
Thanks for your support and enjoy the sunshine this weekend,
Miss Croal
P1B Reflective Friday 2.6.23
Listening and Talking Presentation/Talk – My Favourite Place
I want to say a huge well done to everybody on their fantastic talk about their favourite place. Everyone did a brilliant job!
Trip to the Walled Garden
On Tuesday next week (6th June), we are going to go on a trip to the Walled Garden. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather and for walking in woodland! There has been an email sent out about this too.
Good afternoon P1B. I can’t believe we are in our last month of P1!
Literacy
This week, we continued with our focus on initial blends starting with s for example ‘st’, ‘sl’, ‘sm’ and ‘sn’. We tried to find words that start with these blends in our new library books, and we found words such as snap, sprinkle, snug and stream. During our writing time, we wrote about our favourite place and drew lovely pictures. We heard everybody’s My Favourite Place presentations, and used great listening and talking skills. There will be certificates in the Learning Stories on Wednesday. Please continue to practise tricky words at home!
Maths and numeracy
This week, we practised counting on to work out sums. We put the big number in our head and count on, usually with our fingers for support. For adding two two-digit numbers, some of us used numicon to help partition the numbers. We also practised number formation, as a few of us are still drawing our numbers back to front. We went back to our time topic, and practised drawing hands on clock faces to show half past and o’clock. The next step for some of us is to make it clear which hand is the small hand and which hand is the big hand.
Other Areas
This week, we practised our ball skills in PE, including dribbling, bouncing, catching, kicking and throwing. With Mrs Conlin on Wednesday afternoon, we thought about the progress we have made in the Building Resilience programme, and used colours and smiley faces to show how we think we are doing with learning from mistakes, coping with ups and downs, asking for help and trying new things. On Monday morning, we had a music specialist from the Youth Music Initiative who taught us the song You’ve Got a Friend in Me. We also played some music games. We had a lovely and sunny Loose Parts session on Monday afternoon.
To do at home
Numeracy: recognising the numbers 1-100, counting backwards from 30, writing the ‘teen’ numbers with the 1 first and remember it’s ‘teen’ not ‘ty’, counting on with our fingers, number formation
Maths: adding 1-10p coins together, left and right, telling the time on an analogue clock (o’clock and half past)
Literacy: being able to write our tricky words, recognising and writing the digraphs sh, ch, th and wh.
General: being able to take off jumpers, open snacks and zip up coats.
General Information
Keep all the junk coming in – it’s amazing how quickly we run out!
In the sunny weather, please make sure your child is wearing suncream.
Loose parts on Thursday next week.
There are no photos this week but I will make sure I take lots next week! Apologies. Here are some of our dance break before home time today.
Thanks for your support,
Miss Croal
P1M Reflective Friday 2.6.23
This week in P1M:
Literacy
Listening and Talking
It has been fantastic listening to all the talks about our favourite places this week. The effort, enthusiasm and confidence shown by everyone has been amazing! We have enjoyed looking at maps, photos, shells, and various souvenirs and have heard about all sorts of different places people enjoy going to. Well done, everyone!
Sounds and Tricky Words
We have been revising the initial consonant blends sn, sm, sw, st, sp and some of the tricky words we have been learning.
We are not going to introduce any more new sounds this term and are going to continue to practise reading and spelling words with the sounds we have been learning so far. We will also be revising the tricky words and will be learning some new ones too.
Handwriting
We have been thinking about the height and size of each letter and trying to make sure letters are in the correct position in relation to each other.
Reading
We have been practising our skills in using the sounds we know, as well as the tricky words we have learned, to read our books in small groups. Some of us have also been identifying words that rhyme with words in our books.
We visited the mobile library again on Tuesday and chose some new books to read until it is time to return them during our next visit.
Things to try at home:
- Use the sounds / letters and tricky words that have previously been sent home (as well as the list of tricky words and suggested activities that were sent home today) to help practise your reading and word-building skills.
- Play this game with an adult at home: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/phonics/balloon-phonics-cvc-game
Numeracy
We have been working on a variety of skills including addition, saying numbers, identifying numerals and describing equal groups.
Next week, as well as continuing to work on our numeracy skills, we will be developing our skills in measure through our play.
Things to try at home:
Play the game below with an adult at home. See if you can type in how many penguins are at each side and then cover them over whilst you are working out how many there are altogether. This is a bit like when you are told how many counters are under the whiteboard but you can’t see them to point to and count. As a challenge, see if you can count on from the first number.
https://www.visnos.com/demos/addition-subtraction-facts
Science
We have planted some nasturtium seeds this week and are going to care for them over the next few weeks to help them grow.
We were learning about where electricity comes from and drew pictures of things we could think of that needed electricity to work. We talked a little bit about safety around electricity and will continue our learning on this next time.
PE
We continued working on our ball skills this week. We have been kicking a ball to a partner, dribbling, rolling, bouncing, catching, and throwing a ball through a hoop.
On Mondays, it is likely we will be outside for PE now, until the end of term.
Music
We enjoyed music with an external visitor from the Youth Music Initiative (YMI). We learned the words to a well-known song from an animated film and then enjoyed singing a song (with actions) about letters being delivered by a ‘postie’ early in the morning.
Art
Linked to our learning on plants, we created sketches of wild flowers using oil pastels.
We have had a busy week! Next week, we will continue learning about plants and animals and have another music session to look forward to!
Loose Parts Play will take place on Thursday next week.
More details about our learning this term can be found in our term overview.
Have a lovely weekend!
