Category: Primary 1

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 22.9.23

Staff..469

Hello everyone.

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We have been revising the six sounds we have learned since starting P1: s a t p i n

 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.

This week our starting sentence for writing was – ‘I was pointing at’.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

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.

Some words you could use: sit sat nip pan tip pin pat sip nap

We have been learning how to form the 6 letters correctly and practising on whiteboards. Many children are keen to practise letter writing as part of independent learning.

NUMERACY

In numeracy we have been learning in small groups : identifying ‘how many’ in patterns of dots, making numbers using our fingers, describing equal groups, saying forwards and backwards number sequences, counting items and putting numerals in order.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME

Practise counting backwards from 10 starting from different numbers, if you feel that you can do this easily, try it from 20. For example, count backwards from 18 to 9, 15 to 6, 14 to 7 etc.

PE

We focussed on rolling and bouncing balls to each other .

TREASURE HUNT

We have been learning about The Rights of the Child. With our P6 buddies we used clues to find letters scattered around the school to make a message. We enjoyed exploring the school with our buddies and trying to work out the message. The message was – everyone has rights.

MEMORY BOXES

We have loved listening to the children share their memory boxes and it has been an excellent opportunity for everyone else to practise being a good audience. The children have spoken about the content of their boxes in a confident and articulate way, and we look forward to sharing the rest of the boxes in the weeks ahead.

Some examples of independent learning taking place this week:

Have a lovely weekend.

P1 Pandas

P1p reflective Friday 15.9.23

Staff...685

.

Please continue to send in your clean recycling. Many thanks


Our learning this week


Here are some photographs of us developing our skills through our independent learning opportunities and experiences this week. Please take time to share these photographs with your child so they can share their learning with you.

Topics of pupil interest this week included, birds perched on trees, waterfalls and canyons, the titanic, and planes.


Literacy focus

We have focused on two letter shapes/sounds this week n, and i . As you support your child with learning their letters at home please always pronounce the pure sound of the letter ( e.g. S = sssssss and not suh or the letter name ‘ess’ ). This is very important as we begin to blend letters together to make words.

Some words to make/read

sat tap pat at as in pin sit sip (past)

Some children are already familiar with these letter sounds ( and more) and have already begun to build and blend words in class. These are skills to practise at home whenever you can.

Building a word. Using plastic letters or letters written on small pieces of card or paper an adult says a three letter CVC word ( consonant, vowel, consonant) and the child chooses the correct sounds to make the word.

Blending a word . Adult writes or uses letters to make a CVC word and the child should say the pure sounds of each letter then blend them together to read the word.

Our writing programme starts with telling stories through detailed drawing. This week we were focusing on adding facial expression so our drawing prompt was ‘I was shocked ( or surprised) ‘

Maths and numeracy focus


We have started our work on SEAL ( Stages of Early Arithmetical Learning) Pupils are working and challenged at a level appropriate to their individual development. These are examples of some of the skills we have been practising :

Counting in tens

Counting in tens off the decade

Recognising and ordering numerals to 20

Counting forward and back within 30 ( to 100 for some)

Establishing a collection.

Counting a collection with accurate 1-1 correspondence

Subitising ( recognising an amount without counting )

Watch THIS VIDEO and try to say the amount before you see the number

Other areas of the curriculum

Scissor skills .
We practised cutting along straight lines.

We have enjoyed playing some singing games and rhymes with Mrs Cross, developing our skill in keeping a steady beat and also exploring different ways in which we can use our voices.

In PE we began to practise throwing, catching and timing skills. We have learned about underarm and overarm throwing.

Loose parts play was a little damp but we still learned lots !


Looking ahead to next week

Monday Holiday

PE days as before.

‘Homework’ ( things to practice at home)

Revise all sounds learned so far and build/read the words listed above.

Practise counting forwards and backwards within 20 starting at different points…

e.g. Count from 3 and stop at 9

Count backwards from 12 and stop at 7

Extend the range of number to provide challenge where required.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 15.9.23

Staff..469

Hello everyone.

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We have been focussing on the sounds i and s. 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 i and s, learning the correct formation of the letters.

This week our starting sentence for writing was – I was shocked when………………………. We had some super stories, some real and some using our imaginations. The children are encouraged to draw their story then explain what is happening in their picture. Some children are keen to write the letters they have been learning.

NUMERACY

In numeracy we have been learning in small groups : identifying ‘how many’ in patterns of dots, making numbers using our fingers, describing equal groups, saying forwards and backwards number sequences, counting items and putting numerals in order.

PE

We practised using our eyes to track an object, having our hands ready to catch and throwing directly to a partner. We used beanbags and small balls to practise our throwing and catching.

MUSIC

We were learning to use our voices to sing and clapping our hands and parts of our bodies in time to the music.

DRAMA

Our drama was linked to the Julia Donaldson story ‘The Smeds and The Smoos’. We were using mime, movement, and facial expressions to express our ideas.

LOOSE PARTS

We enjoyed using water and all the loose parts materials to problem solve and investigate with our friends across the stage. Next Loose Parts play will be Wednesday 27 September.

MEMORY BOXES

We have loved listening to the children share their memory boxes and it has been an excellent opportunity for everyone else to practise being a good audience. The children have spoken about the content of their boxes in a confident and articulate way, and we look forward to sharing the rest of the boxes in the weeks ahead.

Some examples of learning taking place this week:

We hope you all enjoy the long weekend.

P1 Pandas

P1p reflective Friday 8.9.23

Staff...685

.

Please continue to send in your clean recycling. Many thanks

Our STEM area is a core part of our play curriculum in school. The end product may not look like much, but it is the process that matters. ‘Junk’ modelling helps to develop their imagination and creative abilities while challenging them to explore, investigate and problem solve as they bring their ideas to life.

Children can work on their own or co-operate with others, learning to negociate and share ideas. When they create something new it can give their confidence and self-esteem a big boost. They can also consider how their plans have worked out as they think about what they might have done differently or how they might improve their model.

With these materials they practice complex skills from fine and gross locomotor skills to higher order executive functioning; higher order thinking skills such as sequencing, hypothesis testing, divergent problem solving, analysis and evaluation.

If they don’t take their model home at the end of the day it doesn’t matter – the learning has already happened. If it does come home, please value the process your child has gone through more than the product itself. Thank you.

A reminder to please name all items of clothing, water bottles and shoes, and to check names on items brought home in case your child accidentally acquires an item belonging to someone else.


Our learning this week


Here are some photographs of us developing our skills through our independent learning opportunities and experiences this week. Please take time to share these photographs with your child so they can share their learning with you.


Literacy focus

We have focused on two letter shapes/sounds this week p, and s . As you support your child with learning their letters at home please always pronounce the pure sound of the letter ( e.g. S = sssssss and not suh or the letter name ‘ess’ ). This is very important as we begin to blend letters together to make words.

Some words to make/read

sat tap pat at as (past)

Some children are already familiar with these letter sounds ( and more) and have already begun to build and blend words in class. These are skills to practise at home whenever you can.

Building a word. Using plastic letters or letters written on small pieces of card or paper an adult says a three letter CVC word ( consonant, vowel, consonant) and the child chooses the correct sounds to make the word.

Blending a word . Adult writes or uses letters to make a CVC word and the child should say the pure sounds of each letter then blend them together to read the word.

Our handwriting pattern this week was zig zag lines, with pointy corners showing control as our pencil changes direction.

Our writing programme starts with telling stories through detailed drawing. This week our drawing prompt was ‘I change my shoes ‘

Maths and numeracy focus


Other areas of the curriculum

We have enjoyed playing some singing games and rhymes with Mrs Cross, developing our skill in keeping a steady beat and also exploring different ways in which we can use our voices.

In PE we practised following instructions, taking turns and using different ways of travelling, We have been learning how to warm up our muscles and enjoy choosing different exercises to demonstrate to the class. Skipping and hopping continues to prove quite tricky for a few of the children, so please practice this at home. We also enjoyed some games such as ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Messy Bedroom’

PE is tiring !

PE is tiring !

We have shared all memory boxes that have been brought in so far.

Outdoor play is important for our development. Proprioception is the sense that tells the body where it is in space, and it plays a big role in self-regulation, coordination, posture, body awareness, the ability to focus, and speech.


Looking ahead to next week

PE days as before.

Loose parts play on Thursday. The weather forecast doesn’t look great, but we will go out anyway unless the weather is exceptionally bad, so we would ask that the children come appropriately dressed for a good Scottish autumnal day.

‘Homework’ ( things to practice at home)

Revise all sounds learned so far and build/read the words listed above.

Practise counting forwards and backwards within 20 starting at different points…

e.g. Count from 3 and stop at 9

Count backwards from 12 and stop at 7

Extend the range of number to provide challenge where required.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 8.9.23

Staff..469

Hello everyone.

This is what we have been learning this week:

LITERACY

We have been focussing on the sounds n and p. 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 n and p, learning the correct formation of the letters.

NUMERACY

We began learning in small groups and were focussing on saying number sequences up to 30 starting at different numbers, identifying numerals, and counting collections of items.

PE

We finished our focus on different ways of travelling and began learning how to throw and catch an object. We practised using our eyes to track an object, having our hands ready to catch and throwing directly to a partner.

MUSIC

We were learning to use our voices to sing and clapping our hands and parts of our bodies in time to the music.

DRAMA

Our drama was based on the story of ‘Bonting’ and we were using movement and facial expressions to re-tell part of the story.

MEMORY BOXES

We have loved listening to the children share their memory boxes and it has been an excellent opportunity for everyone else to practise being a good audience. The children have spoken about the content of their boxes in a confident and articulate way, and we look forward to sharing the rest of the boxes in the weeks ahead.

Some examples of learning taking place this week:

LOOSE PARTS

Our next Loose Parts learning will take place on Thursday 14.9.23, pleases make sure your child is dressed in clothing suitable for wet weather: waterproofs, wellies, rain jackets etc.

We hope you have a relaxing weekend.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 1.9.23

Staff..469

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 Pandas

P1p reflective Friday 1.9.23

Staff...685

.

Thank you for the donations of notebooks and fancy pens. This week’s special request is old ( clean) socks ! We would love each child to bring an old sock on Monday – it can have holes, be child or adult sized.

Much appreciated.

Thanks also in anticipation of your continued donations of resources to support learning, in our STEM area ( Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)

Our STEM area is a core part of our play curriculum in school. The end product may not look like much, but it is the process that matters. ‘Junk’ modelling helps to develop their imagination and creative abilities while challenging them to explore, investigate and problem solve as they bring their ideas to life.

Children can work on their own or co-operate with others, learning to negociate and share ideas. When they create something new it can give their confidence and self-esteem a big boost. They can also consider how their plans have worked out as they think about what they might have done differently or how they might improve their model.

With these materials they practice complex skills from fine and gross locomotor skills to higher order executive functioning; higher order thinking skills such as sequencing, hypothesis testing, divergent problem solving, analysis and evaluation.

If they don’t take their model home at the end of the day it doesn’t matter – the learning has already happened. If it does come home, please value the process your child has gone through more than the product itself. Thank you.

A reminder to please name all items of clothing, water bottles and shoes, and to check names on items brought home in case your child accidentally acquires an item belonging to someone else.


Our learning this week


Here are some photographs of us developing our skills through our independent learning opportunities and experiences this week. Please take time to share these photographs with your child so they can share their learning with you.


Literacy focus

We have focused on two letter shapes/sounds this week t, and a . As you support your child with learning their letters at home please always pronounce the pure sound of the letter ( e.g. S = sssssss and not suh or the letter name ‘ess’ ). This is very important as we begin to blend letters together to make words.

Some children are already familiar with these letter sounds ( and more) and have already begun to build and blend words in class. These are skills to practise at home whenever you can.

Building a word. Using plastic letters or letters written on small pieces of card or paper an adult says a three letter CVC word ( consonant, vowel, consonant) and the child chooses the correct sounds to make the word.

Blending a word . Adult writes or uses letters to make a CVC word and the child should say the pure sounds of each letter then blend them together to read the word.

Our handwriting pattern this week was circles, starting from the top and then drawing in an anticlockwise direction

Our writing programme starts with telling stories through detailed drawing. We are learning to This week our drawing prompt was ‘I am reaching ‘

Maths and numeracy focus


We have been doing our numeracy baseline assessments. Some skills we assess include numeral recognition; counting forwards and backwards; counting a collection of items; establishing a collection of a given amount; showing an amount on our fingers.

Other areas of the curriculum

Our loose parts play session was successful, providing lots of opportunities for a wide range of skills development. Please refer back to the email sent on Tuesday if you would like to learn more about the opportunities provided by loose parts learning.

We have enjoyed playing some singing games and rhymes with Mrs Cross, developing our skill in keeping a steady beat and also exploring different ways in which we can use our voices.

In PE we practised following instructions, taking turns and using different ways of travelling, We have been learning how to warm up our muscles and enjoy choosing different exercises to demonstrate to the class. Skipping and hopping continues to prove quite tricky for a few of the children, so please practice this at home. We also enjoyed some games such as ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Messy Bedroom’

We continue to share memory boxes, developing our talking and listening- it may take a few days to get through them all .


Looking ahead to next week

PE days as before.

We will share more memory boxes.

‘Homework’ ( things to practice at home)

Please see the letter in purple folders today with ideas of how you can support your child with literacy learning at home.

Continue to develop independence with coats, zips, turning jumpers and cardigans the right way round,, and shoe changing.

P1 Pandas

P1p reflective Friday 25.8.23

Staff...685

.

In order to encourage writing in play the children have free access to notebooks and diaries in which they can ‘write’ plans and notes on their learning. To enable this we would welcome donations of unwanted/partially used notebooks or diaries. Also any enticing writing implements ( ie glittery pencils/gel pens/ pencils with feathers etc – basically anything other than standard school issue type pencils/pens) These will be used in our ‘message trolley’. The children enjoy choosing resources from the trolley to use in their independent learning, promoting markmaking and early writing skills.

In our STEM area ( Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths the children enjoy creating structures and models from clean cardboard/plastic recycling. We would love to receive frequent donations of resources to support this area of learning, no amount is too much !

Our STEM area is a core part of our play curriculum in school. The end product may not look like much, but it is the process that matters. ‘Junk’ modelling helps to develop their imagination and creative abilities while challenging them to explore, investigate and problem solve as they bring their ideas to life.

Children can work on their own or co-operate with others, learning to negociate and share ideas. When they create something new it can give their confidence and self-esteem a big boost. They can also consider how their plans have worked out as they think about what they might have done differently or how they might improve their model.

With these materials they practice complex skills from fine and gross locomotor skills to higher order executive functioning; higher order thinking skills such as sequencing, hypothesis testing, divergent problem solvng, analysis and evaluation.

If they don’t take their model home at the end of the day it doesn’t matter – the learning has already happened. If it does come home, please value the process your child has gone through more than the product itself. Thank you.

A reminder to please name all items of clothing, water bottles and shoes, and to check names on items brought home in case your child accidentally acquires an item belonging to someone else.


Our learning this week


Another busy week in P1. Please look at the blog with your child to give them the opportunity to share their experiences with you.


Literacy focus

We have been doing some baseline assessments to ascertain the children’s prior knowledge of phonics.

We did some handwriting skills development, following pathways and creating lines.

Our writing programme starts with telling stories through detailed drawing. This week our drawing prompt was ‘My family’

Maths and numeracy focus

.We are about to begin our numeracy baseline assessments.

Other areas of the curriculum

We have created our Class Charter. Our school saying is Ready, Respectful Safe and we have talked about what this means for us in class. We also referred to the UNCRC and identified some of our important rights. We wrote our name and drew our picture on leaves to show that we will try to be Ready Respectful and Safe in school.

In PE we practised following instructions, taking turns and we investigated different ways of travelling, Skipping and hopping proved quite tricky for a few of the children, so please practice this at home.


Looking ahead to next week

PE days as before.

We will share more memory boxes.

‘Homework’ ( things to practice at home)

Practise getting a straw from a small carton and piercing a hole in order to drink ( e.g. juice) this will promote independence at milk time.

Continue to develop independence with coats, zips, turning jumpers and cardigans the right way round,, and shoe changing.

Buckstone Primary School, P1 Koalas

P1 Koalas Reflective Friday 25.8.23

Staff..469

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 Pandas

P1p reflective Friday 16.8.23

Staff...685

.

A reminder to please name all items of clothing, water bottles and shoes, and to check names on items brought home in case your child accidentally acquires an item belonging to someone else.


Our learning this week


We have had a great week settling into P1. The children have been fantastic, taking the new routines in their stride and enjoying exploring the classroom.

Please check this blog every Friday as we will share the learning from the week. We would encourage you to look at it with your child so that they can talk to you about their experiences in class. The blog post may also include ‘homework’ activities or suggestions of things to try at home.


Maths and numeracy

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No information this week

Looking ahead to next week

PE days will be Tuesday and Wednesday. Children should come to school dressed ready to participate as we will not change clothes in school -e.g joggers/leggings/shorts and a T shirt with a Buckstone jumper on top.

As far as the weather will allow, Tuesday PE will take place outdoors so outdoor shoes on that day would ideally be trainers if possible.

Other areas of the curriculum

‘Homework’ ( things to practice at home)

Continue to develop independence with coats, zips, turning jumpers and cardigans the right way round,, and shoe changing.