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Pulteneytown Academy
Newsletter 19 January 2005 - Class Newsletter

Pulteneytown Academy Class Newsletter Term 3 January 2005
As from mid term, Mrs Mennie will be joining us to take the children for PE. P7d, P3 and P4 will have PE on Tuesday mornings while all other classes will have PE on Mondays. Please make sure your child has their PE kit of t-shirt, shorts and gym shoes every week for this PE lesson. Most classes will be changing the time of their lesson as from this week, but will let you know in their class section if not.

Primary 1
Number work – The children will be taught the addition facts (“stories of”) for the numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. It is important that your child can tell you stories of these numbers so please ask them: “Tell me a story of 5” or “What two numbers can you add together which will make 5?” They will be given lots of opportunities to use materials to complete addition sums and will give both written and oral answers. They will also be taught how to write out addition sums correctly on cm squared paper. Please help your child by asking them to count out household things to find 2+2=?, 3+?=5, and also give them 3 numbers to add up orally, e.g.: 1+2+3=?. They will be given practice at adding doubles such as 4+4=, 5+5= and will be taught that once you know one addition fact, you then gain 3 more, e.g: 3+4=7 so 4+3=7 so 7-3=4 so 7-4=3. The children will work with 2D shapes, namely circle, triangle, square and rectangle and will be given opportunities to copy, continue and create patterns using these and they will be introduced to symmetry. The children will be given number homework which will be a revision of work already taught in the class. Can you please ensure that your child completes and returns this the next day.

Language – This term, I am going to read the novel “The Gorilla who wanted to grow up” by Jill Tomlinson to the children. Please ask your child regularly to update you as to what is happening in the story. The children will be taught how to write k, i, j, l, t, f, s, e, b and p correctly. The children will be writing more frequently so please encourage them to write with you at home. You could write out a sentence and then your child copies it underneath. Please help your child to space their words out neatly and remind them to finish with a full stop. One of the main areas for development is Alliteration, e.g. – Snowball saw stars, Snowball saw Santa, etc. Please have fun further developing this at home. The children will continue to hear and read stories about Kipper, his family and friends and will also listen, discuss and read non-fiction books too. I plan to introduce a weekly ERIC time, when everyone reads in class together at the one time. This 10 minute enjoyable reading time will happen on Friday mornings. They can choose a fiction or non-fiction book from the class library or they can read a book brought in from home.

Environmental Studies – This term the children will be learning about Energy so please draw your child’s attention to everyday appliances, within your home, that use electricity. Please also talk with your child about everyday uses of heat, light and sound. Their topic will be “Our School”. They will learn about what happens in different parts of the school, what jobs different people do, the school’s location, address and will be able to locate it on a local map. Their technology will involve baking pancakes and making 3D Easter cards. They will also make a packet for seeds (which I’ll give them) and will write how to plant and then care for the seeds on their packet. Can you then please plant these at home with your child, using the instructions and then the children can tell me about their seeds growth.

Expressive Arts – The children are going to work with primaries 2 and 3 to learn some songs and actions which they will perform at the Salvation Army Hall later in the term. Please encourage your child to practise their songs and actions.

PE will remain on Thursday up to the February long week-end and then change to Monday.

Primary 2
Maths – Most children will be continuing with addition to 20 and moving on to subtraction within 20. We will learn facts for 11-20 and look at the link between addition and subtraction, i.e. 8+7 = 15 so 15-7 = 8 and 15-8 = 7 etc. Continued practice at home of all addition and subtraction facts within 10 would be greatly appreciated. Encourage your child to learn certain facts, i.e. all ‘doubles’ within 20 and therefore the related subtraction facts, i.e. 7+7 = 14 so 14-7 = 7. Your child should also know addition facts for adding on 10 mentally. Try different ways of writing down sums for them so they do not always have to find the answer, for example 9+? =14, ? +8 = 17, 15-? = 8, ?-6 = 12. This will help them to understand the link between addition and subtraction. We will also investigate 2D shapes, circles, triangles, squares, rectangles and hexagons looking at sides, corners and making patterns with them. Weight vocabulary used will be heavy/light, heavier/lighter, about the same weight as, balances. Capacity – comparing and estimating. Area – measuring in non-standard units.

Language – Handwriting will continue to concentrate on the correct formation of both capital and lower case letters. Reading homework will concentrate on fluency and expression when reading aloud and very importantly, comprehension of the story. Please question your child on the book and discuss their favourite part or a funny/sad/exciting part. Note punctuation – full stops, capital letters, bold print, question marks and exclamation marks. Please feel free to comment in your child’s reading record – did they enjoy the story, manage well, find it a little difficult, understand/recall the story well or were unsure. They will also take home some non fiction Fireflies. In school we will look at non fiction big book reading and how to find information in a non fiction book. Story writing will focus on endings – how did the story turn out and how did the characters feel. Capital letters for new sentences and names will continue to be emphasised as well as the appropriate places to put full stops in. The children will know that a sentence has to tell us something and full stops do not just go anywhere. Joining words – and, but, so, because, will also be encouraged.

E.S. – This term our environmental studies topic will be seasons and weather – looking at weather changes, recording weather, how weather affects everyday lives and the seasons of the year. We will also look at a simple map of Wick/Caithness to identify some physical features – rivers, forests, hills, etc. Our Science topic will be Earth and Space – Sun, Moon and Stars – including patterns of day and night, shadows, the spin of the earth and temperatures in various seasons.

Technology – This term we will investigate fruit bags – looking at strength, hygiene and materials then designing and making a suitable bag.

Primary 3
Maths - All children will focus on subtraction either to 100 or to 20 both mentally and in written chimney sums. Continued revision of work on number and addition already covered will be carried out. The children will continue work on multiplication tables and division, revising the 2,3,4,5, and 10 times table. There will also be work on 2D shape, looking at the properties of these shapes and revision of the work on time covered reinforcing o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to.

Language - The children will again receive their weekly reading and their fortnightly book bags. Your child may becoming a little more independent when reading but please check that they have read and understood what is required. The understanding of what they have read is very important as is the ability to read and decode unknown words. Our writing will be focused on creating an exciting beginning and ending to stories so that more detail is added continually making them longer and more interesting. We will continue to work on spelling letter patterns e.g. er, ir, ew, ow, oa, ou, oi and oy using these to help when writing words. This term your child will be expected to write two sentences in their homework which are punctuated correctly using full stops and capital letters. As before the content of their sentences and the presentation of all of their homework is very important.

Environmental Studies - This term our social subjects project will focus on people in society – People who help us. This will hopefully involve a visit to or from the police and fire brigade. Our science will be looking at how materials can change state and shape through a variety of experiments. Out technology for this term will be to investigate food packaging and to design a suitable package to meet specific criteria.

Expressive Arts - The children will continue to receive fortnightly swimming lessons and should bring their kit on the required Friday. Gym will remain on Fridays until the long weekend. Along with primary 1 and 2 we will be performing for the Salvation Army to entertain the elder ladies and gentlemen.

Primary 4
Mathematics - At the beginning of this term most of the children will be sitting their Level B Mathematics National Test as they have completed all the work necessary and a lot of revision work. They will then be concentrating on addition and subtraction to 1000. Addition to 1000 involves adding two-digit numbers, bridging 100, adding three-digit numbers and written methods of addition. Subtraction to 1000 includes subtracting three-digit numbers, exchanging and bridging 100. Children will be working mentally on learning their 6, 7, 8 and 9 times tables. The three problem solving strategies that they will be looking at are to produce an organised list or table; guess, check and improve a solution; and work backwards. At home parents can help by encouraging their child to learn the 6, 7, 8 and 9 times tables and asking questions related to these tables.

Language - The majority of children will focus on conflict, plot, the main character, exclamation marks and dialogue in their reading work. They will be using big books, the reading scheme and other books which vary in genre to explore these aspects. There were several children who finished revision work for their National Test for reading before Christmas so will be sitting the test early this term. All the children will be concentrating on verbs, nouns and question marks. They will again be making sure that their handwriting is neat and that they have checked full stops and capital letters are in the correct place. When writing, the children will be concentrating on sequencing events, describing setting and events and having an appropriate opening. Parents can help at home by encouraging neat work and aiding their child with punctuation.

Environmental Studies - Our Science project this term is ‘Electricity’ where the children will be learning about static electricity, circuits, conductors and insulators and energy conversion through a variety of hands on activities. They will be encouraged to use the school library, public library, books, internet and other resources to consolidate what they have been taught.
Their Social Science topic will be ‘Scotland’ with a focus on people and place. They will be learning about Scottish landscape, extending their mental map of other features/locations on the map of Scotland, looking at the main features of a map, comparing Wick to other places, looking at common types of land use and discussing the importance of preserving the natural environment. PE will remain on Fridays until mid term.

Primary 5
Maths - This term most children will be working on number work involving division, fractions, money and sequences to 10000 and developing their knowledge of shape. Some children will be continuing with their Level B work and practicing their number bonds to get faster and more accurate with computation. As before, all written work will be consolidated in our warm-up Mental numeracy sessions, with particular emphasis on their tables. It would be helpful if, in addition to supporting your child with their written homework, you could spend some time each week to revise their tables. Remember to ask them not only to say the table, but select sums at random for them to give the answer to. You can also help with their division work if you ask them questions such as ‘how may 5s are in 30’ as well as 5 times 6.

Language - In reading, the focus will be to develop pupils’ reading skills. This will be done through the use of Comprehension Success, which is a new, recently purchased, reading comprehension textbook that covers a variety of genres of text and will help children develop more understanding of what they are reading. As a result, less time will be spent on listening to pupils read from their reading books. It would therefore be helpful if, at home, you could continue to listen to your child read a variety of books and to encourage them to read more non-fiction texts eg. magazines, books, CD Roms etc. There is a wide range of books available in the class library and children may take these books home if they wish to. Writing this term will cover Functional and Imaginative contexts; some time will also be spent learning how to continue a piece of writing using the Writer’s Craft. As before, all writing will be reinforced with exercises in Spelling and Grammar.

Environmental Studies - During the first half of this term we will work on our new Science topic, Light and Sound. For the second half of this term and in order to provide a context for our work in French, our Social Studies topic will be to learn about France.

Primary 6
Maths - Most of the children will be completing the last few sections in textbook SHM 5 before moving onto SHM 6. These sections will look at multiplication, decimals and division. Multiplication focuses on written work, with the children becoming more competent at TU x TU. Decimals will extend the use of tenths to being able to add and subtract mentally for simple sums – 6.5 + 4.3 etc. SHM 6 will look at time, 2D and 3D shape and symmetry. Other children will be developing their ability to apply the correct operation to word problems – knowing whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide and then answering the sum accurately. Multiplication tables will continue to be worked on and will extend to division.

Language - The children will continue to be involved in Big Book work, where they will be developing their ability to read for information and answer questions in their own words – something which the children find very difficult. We will also be carrying out a lot of work based on Newspapers – from reading work, where we will be looking at different styles of paper and articles, to the children writing their own news reports and articles.

Environmental Studies - Our project this term is going to be The Rainforest. It is an excellent project for children to see how people live in a completely different environment. There will be a lot of research work carried out, both individually and in groups. Prepare yourself for the hands on Rainforest homework task – more information to follow! Science work will be based on Air Resistance and Electric Circuits. The children will enjoy these topics as they are very practical, with lots of inventing, making and experimenting.

Primary 7d
Maths - This term we will be working on mental speed and accuracy, as some children still do not have instant recall of number facts. The children working towards Level D will work on percentages and spreadsheets then revision and consolidation of all Level D work leading towards the National Assessment towards the end of the term. The children working toward Level C will work on multiplication both written and mental, time – durations and pictograms. All children in the class will be receiving revision work as homework to assist in their preparation for their assessment.

Language - This term’s writing will focus on learning about and creating posters and leaflets, writing instructions and audience awareness, as all too often the children make assumptions in their work. We will try to encourage the class to make everything clear and not miss out details vital to the reader’s understanding. We will again be working on reading skills, towards the children sitting and attaining their next National Assessment. The children should continue to edit and check their work independently both at school and at home.

Environmental Studies - This term’s social science topic is The Third World and in science, Energy Sources and Weight (forces, gravity etc). Any posters, CD-ROMs, Books etc in relation to these topics will be gratefully received.

Primary 7u
Maths – The children will continue to reinforce fractions and decimals, focusing on the relationship between the two. In addition to this we will be looking at the concept of percentages and how they relate to the above using shapes as well as numbers.

Language – In reading the children have worked very hard in comprehension over the last two terms and their knowledge of language is steadily improving. This term we will be focusing on ‘reading for information’. This will involve working as a whole class using non-fiction books. We will look at such areas as layout and style of language and the use of pictures and diagrams. I would ask you to continue to encourage your child to look at non-fiction books in the library. Discuss the points above with them as you look through these books together. In writing the children will be learning about leaflets and reports in functional writing. Please encourage your child to look at the huge variety of leaflets included in magazines, newspapers etc. Look at the layout in particular. Does the leaflet use paragraphs, bullet points, bold type for sub-headings and pictures? Discuss which leaflets are eye-catching. Is this because of the layout language or content?

Environmental Studies - The children have really enjoyed the Victorians project so far. We have looked at various Scottish inventors in this period and we are now ready to learn about everyday life in more detail. This will include such things as the Victorian classroom, working conditions, food and clothing. Although we did the majority of the work for the 3rd world project in Term 1 this is an ongoing area and we will continue to study 3rd World issues as they arise e.g. the Tsunami disaster and appeal currently in the news.