Term 1 2020
Well what a busy term we are having. Everyone has made a great start to P1, despite missing so much of their last term in their pre-school settings.
We are continuing to use or Google Classroom as a means of further developing our strong home - school links. It has been great to see parents and children engaging in the GC even though they are in school.
As a school we are continually problem solving how we can do things when restricted by Covid.
I have added some images of the current P1 class engaging in their daily tasks.
We are continuing to use or Google Classroom as a means of further developing our strong home - school links. It has been great to see parents and children engaging in the GC even though they are in school.
As a school we are continually problem solving how we can do things when restricted by Covid.
I have added some images of the current P1 class engaging in their daily tasks.
October 2020
Photographs of what people have been up to this week. It has been lovely to see what people have been doing and great to see how they have been inventive with what they have. Have a lovely Easter break everyone and hopefully we will have moved to our new online platform.
03/04/20
Good morning class, it's Friday again already! In class on a Friday we do our story writing. I have copied a link to the story of the Selfish Crocodile on YouTube. Please watch the video and then I want you to think about.. Who is in the story, who are the characters and who is the main character? Where is the story based, in the park, in the city,in the jungle? What happened in the story? Where did we first meet the crocodile and other animals? Then what happened? What happened at the end of the story?
Think of a sentence or few sentences that retell some of the story. What was your favourite part of the story? Draw a picture to illustrate your work. Remember in class we say there is no such thing as "I can't", just try your best and remember your finger spaces!!
Parents please look at what level your child has been working at in their story writing books and assist your child with words for their recount. Please encourage them to make their own sentences and say the sentence/s back to your child, does it make sense? Is it a complete sentence or does it need more structuring from you?
I hope you enjoy the story and look forward to seeing your work.
Next week take time off your classwork, it is the Easter holidays, but continue to engage in listening to stories!
I will continue to post here, but will be sending out details via email to everyone re changing to a new online platform called Google Classroom. To access your child's class page you will have to use a special code which I will be sending out with details on how to use it and you child's login which is unique to each individual. You may go ahead and download the app if you wish, it is compatible with a wide range of technology and can be used on your smart phone as well. You will not be able to go to your child's class until I send you the link invitation.
I am going to apologise in advance as this new platform is not as colourful and visually engaging as this one, but as a school we want to make it as easy and accessible for everyone in school, especially those families who have more than one child in school.
When we do get up and running with with the new platform your views on how it is working would be appreciated by me.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-NhjfJ_RZI Enjoy the Selfish Crocodile!
Good morning class, it's Friday again already! In class on a Friday we do our story writing. I have copied a link to the story of the Selfish Crocodile on YouTube. Please watch the video and then I want you to think about.. Who is in the story, who are the characters and who is the main character? Where is the story based, in the park, in the city,in the jungle? What happened in the story? Where did we first meet the crocodile and other animals? Then what happened? What happened at the end of the story?
Think of a sentence or few sentences that retell some of the story. What was your favourite part of the story? Draw a picture to illustrate your work. Remember in class we say there is no such thing as "I can't", just try your best and remember your finger spaces!!
Parents please look at what level your child has been working at in their story writing books and assist your child with words for their recount. Please encourage them to make their own sentences and say the sentence/s back to your child, does it make sense? Is it a complete sentence or does it need more structuring from you?
I hope you enjoy the story and look forward to seeing your work.
Next week take time off your classwork, it is the Easter holidays, but continue to engage in listening to stories!
I will continue to post here, but will be sending out details via email to everyone re changing to a new online platform called Google Classroom. To access your child's class page you will have to use a special code which I will be sending out with details on how to use it and you child's login which is unique to each individual. You may go ahead and download the app if you wish, it is compatible with a wide range of technology and can be used on your smart phone as well. You will not be able to go to your child's class until I send you the link invitation.
I am going to apologise in advance as this new platform is not as colourful and visually engaging as this one, but as a school we want to make it as easy and accessible for everyone in school, especially those families who have more than one child in school.
When we do get up and running with with the new platform your views on how it is working would be appreciated by me.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-NhjfJ_RZI Enjoy the Selfish Crocodile!
2/04/20
Good morning class!
I just want to say thank you to those who have already sent me some photographs and videos of what you have been up to. It was lovely to see you busy and happy! I will put together a slide show of the images over the weekend so that everyone can see what we are all up to. As today is Thursday, it is Brain Gym day so it's time to get our brains into action. The letter today is j. Can you think of at least five words that begin with j? Make a list of your words and send them to me to share on Weebly! I hope you are all still reading and practising your writing, I know some people definitely are! While others are making great progress with their numberwork!
If you want to practise your writing two good apps we use in school that are free and still available are Hairy Letters and BlobbleWrite. As far as I can see they are both available on android as well as Apple.
For those who are interested Lidl have some Easter activities for children on their website at the moment. https://www.lidl.co.uk/spring/fun
Good morning class!
I just want to say thank you to those who have already sent me some photographs and videos of what you have been up to. It was lovely to see you busy and happy! I will put together a slide show of the images over the weekend so that everyone can see what we are all up to. As today is Thursday, it is Brain Gym day so it's time to get our brains into action. The letter today is j. Can you think of at least five words that begin with j? Make a list of your words and send them to me to share on Weebly! I hope you are all still reading and practising your writing, I know some people definitely are! While others are making great progress with their numberwork!
If you want to practise your writing two good apps we use in school that are free and still available are Hairy Letters and BlobbleWrite. As far as I can see they are both available on android as well as Apple.
For those who are interested Lidl have some Easter activities for children on their website at the moment. https://www.lidl.co.uk/spring/fun
Just came across this and thought it might be useful for you as you support your chid in their reading journey. This is a video showing you how the sounds should be made. Please note we do not cover all the diagraphs (2 letter sounds) in P1 and do not look at the trigraphs. All sounds are repeated in P2 at the start of the year and then built upon to. https://youtu.be/UCI2mu7URBc this first video takes you through the sounds.
The second video demonstrates how to blend. These are activities you can repeat at home and as highlighted in the video, practice and repitition is the key to success, with lots of praise and support when needed. https://youtu.be/vqvqMtSNswo I would also like to remind parents that is is important your child also develops good book handling skills, such as being able to hold a book the right way up and turn pages individually and carefully. It is surprising how many children do not or have not developed this skill. I feel this is a direct impact of too much technology!! Something we are relying heavily on these days!
I would also like to say to everyone currently supporting their child's education, well done, you are doing a good job, your child is learning despite what you may sometimes think!!
Stay safe,
kind regards,
N.Wray
The second video demonstrates how to blend. These are activities you can repeat at home and as highlighted in the video, practice and repitition is the key to success, with lots of praise and support when needed. https://youtu.be/vqvqMtSNswo I would also like to remind parents that is is important your child also develops good book handling skills, such as being able to hold a book the right way up and turn pages individually and carefully. It is surprising how many children do not or have not developed this skill. I feel this is a direct impact of too much technology!! Something we are relying heavily on these days!
I would also like to say to everyone currently supporting their child's education, well done, you are doing a good job, your child is learning despite what you may sometimes think!!
Stay safe,
kind regards,
N.Wray
30/03/20
I have just sent out an email today to all the email addresses we received in school. Please check your inbox and if you did not get an email from my school address please check your junk mail box as it may have gone there. Two of the email addresses have already been returned to me as not working. Mrs McKeown will be in touch regarding these addresses tomorrow.
This week in school we would have been finishing our Easter Story booklet as to the meaning of Easter, and not all about chocolate eggs!
We would also be looking at our two new letters Ff and Gg. Again at the end of the week we like to have a look at Geraldine the Giraffe. Make a list of words beginning with each letter. Allow your child thinking time to build a list of words. You could also have a scavenger hunt for items beginning with the letter given.
You should also be working on number 8. This is a number the children frequently find a challenge to write and it takes a lot of practice for some. Ask your child to make sets of items to 8.
Using playdough you could ask your child to make the letters and numbers. They can also paint the letters and numbers or use chalk. In class the children all enjoy using a whiteboard to write. You can call out the number and ask them to write it or ask them to draw sets of the number given. This can also been done with the letters. Take it in turns to write the letter and ask your child to identify it, or call out the letter and ask them to write it.
I have included some information on what counting entails for the young child and a playdough recipe.
At this time I have added a worksheet for number 8 and a video on Ff.
Please remember to keep using phonics to read and build new words.
I have just sent out an email today to all the email addresses we received in school. Please check your inbox and if you did not get an email from my school address please check your junk mail box as it may have gone there. Two of the email addresses have already been returned to me as not working. Mrs McKeown will be in touch regarding these addresses tomorrow.
This week in school we would have been finishing our Easter Story booklet as to the meaning of Easter, and not all about chocolate eggs!
We would also be looking at our two new letters Ff and Gg. Again at the end of the week we like to have a look at Geraldine the Giraffe. Make a list of words beginning with each letter. Allow your child thinking time to build a list of words. You could also have a scavenger hunt for items beginning with the letter given.
You should also be working on number 8. This is a number the children frequently find a challenge to write and it takes a lot of practice for some. Ask your child to make sets of items to 8.
Using playdough you could ask your child to make the letters and numbers. They can also paint the letters and numbers or use chalk. In class the children all enjoy using a whiteboard to write. You can call out the number and ask them to write it or ask them to draw sets of the number given. This can also been done with the letters. Take it in turns to write the letter and ask your child to identify it, or call out the letter and ask them to write it.
I have included some information on what counting entails for the young child and a playdough recipe.
At this time I have added a worksheet for number 8 and a video on Ff.
Please remember to keep using phonics to read and build new words.
children_need_to_understand_what_is_meant_by.docx | |
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play_dough_recipe.docx | |
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number-8-activity.pdf | |
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27/03/20
Well, we have completed our first week of shutdown. It has been a very different week and for me, I have been in school, despite the fact it has been virtually empty with only a few key worker children. During this week I have been looking at possible interactive platforms that we as a school could use after Easter and liasing with other staff.
The pupils who were in spent some time outside and prepared 2 beds for planting and also we began to adjust to our different circumstances and for those children who brought in their home learning packs they completed a piece of work from that.
I will be sending out an email over the next couple of days to everyone using the details forwarded to school. Please check for that email and reply to my school email address. If you have any images of work completed or activities you have been doing you can send those to me and I will reply as soon as I can.
This week you should have been looking at 2 pages of your alphabet books letters dD and eE. Remember to talk about the names of the letters and the sounds they make. In your pack I included a letter formation sheet to remind you how the lower case letters should be written. Please make sure you supervise your child when completing any written work. They will need lots of support to complete the second of the two pages of each letter as they will need words written for them. Encourage them to listen to the sound and try to think of their own words for the sounds. Geraldine the Giraffe is a video on YouTube. Geraldine makes the sound of a different letter and and then finds items beginning with the focus sound. Follow the links. If they do not work please let me know through the email contact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6IsAareycc letter E e https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnyZD45yne0 letter D d. The children are familiar with Geraldine. You will also get a flavour of using the sounds to blend from these clips.
Numeracy this week should have been the next page in your child's book. The children are all working at a different pace in these books. Practical work should include asking your child to make sets of a given number, practice writing their numbers correctly and being able to identify when a number is missing between 1 and 10.
Make a set of numbers on light card or paper and encourage your child to arrange them in order. Then mix them up and remove a number without your child seeing it, ask them to identify the missing number. Ask for numbers before, after and in between given numbers. Please click on the link below to open a set of cards to print.
Well, we have completed our first week of shutdown. It has been a very different week and for me, I have been in school, despite the fact it has been virtually empty with only a few key worker children. During this week I have been looking at possible interactive platforms that we as a school could use after Easter and liasing with other staff.
The pupils who were in spent some time outside and prepared 2 beds for planting and also we began to adjust to our different circumstances and for those children who brought in their home learning packs they completed a piece of work from that.
I will be sending out an email over the next couple of days to everyone using the details forwarded to school. Please check for that email and reply to my school email address. If you have any images of work completed or activities you have been doing you can send those to me and I will reply as soon as I can.
This week you should have been looking at 2 pages of your alphabet books letters dD and eE. Remember to talk about the names of the letters and the sounds they make. In your pack I included a letter formation sheet to remind you how the lower case letters should be written. Please make sure you supervise your child when completing any written work. They will need lots of support to complete the second of the two pages of each letter as they will need words written for them. Encourage them to listen to the sound and try to think of their own words for the sounds. Geraldine the Giraffe is a video on YouTube. Geraldine makes the sound of a different letter and and then finds items beginning with the focus sound. Follow the links. If they do not work please let me know through the email contact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6IsAareycc letter E e https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnyZD45yne0 letter D d. The children are familiar with Geraldine. You will also get a flavour of using the sounds to blend from these clips.
Numeracy this week should have been the next page in your child's book. The children are all working at a different pace in these books. Practical work should include asking your child to make sets of a given number, practice writing their numbers correctly and being able to identify when a number is missing between 1 and 10.
Make a set of numbers on light card or paper and encourage your child to arrange them in order. Then mix them up and remove a number without your child seeing it, ask them to identify the missing number. Ask for numbers before, after and in between given numbers. Please click on the link below to open a set of cards to print.
t-n-014-number-cards-020_ver_5.pdf | |
File Size: | 42 kb |
File Type: |
The topic this term is all about Spring and New Life, incorporating Easter and how Jesus died to give us new life. The children can work at their own pace through their Easter booklet. The children have also been learning about hospitals and people who can help us! (somewhat ironic this year under the circumstances!)
Talk to the children about the signs of spring and what they might look for. Such as longer days, more sunlight, new buds on the trees and baby animals beginning to appear in the fields. Grass growing and farmers beginning to prepare the fields for the animals.
Talk about what plants need to grow. Water, sun and heat and how we are similar and that we need food and exercise as well as our families to look after us.
Hopefully this will keep you all busy for the next week or so.
Please remember to look out for the email in due course.
Stay safe and remember to wash your hands!!
Talk to the children about the signs of spring and what they might look for. Such as longer days, more sunlight, new buds on the trees and baby animals beginning to appear in the fields. Grass growing and farmers beginning to prepare the fields for the animals.
Talk about what plants need to grow. Water, sun and heat and how we are similar and that we need food and exercise as well as our families to look after us.
Hopefully this will keep you all busy for the next week or so.
Please remember to look out for the email in due course.
Stay safe and remember to wash your hands!!
For those animal lovers who can't go to the zoo, Edinburgh Zoo have live webcams of their enclosures so you can have a virtual visit!! Follow the link! https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams
Good morning P1 parents!
As I sit in an empty classroom and an almost empty school it has given me some time to reflect on how I can best support you at home. I will endeavour to do this as best I can over the coming weeks.
I would like to remind parents not to become too focused on learning outcomes, but rather try to enjoy this time spent with your children and make it memorable for the right reasons!
For the foundation stage child they need lots of simple practical activities that develop skills that are transferable rather than being a single outcome. They also need to spend short periods of time focusing on activities. For more formal sitting down learning this may be about an hour a day, broken into shorter manageable time slots.
Try to get into a routine that works for everyone.
Spend a dedicated time each day reading for pleasure, this is usually at bedtime. Focused literacy and numeracy activities are probably better done in the morning when little minds are fresh, especially if it is written work. Make learning a game, not a chore!
If possible, use your outside space now the weather is improving. They can develop important core skills of balance and hand-eye co-ordination, etc. Bouncing a ball, throwing and catching, riding a bicycle or scooter, climbing, sliding, skipping, blowing bubbles.
Give them an old paint brush and a bucket of water and let them practice their writing on the wall or path, also they can use chalk on the path to write and draw. These examples of activities all help to develop gross motor skills that in turn develop fine motor skills required to be able to sit and write or read or indeed to be able to sit and focus!
Thinking skills are vital to everyone, so please don’t do everything for your child, let then problem solve and find their own answers and give them thinking time. They will remember how they solved the puzzle and will in return feel better about themselves and therefore increase their self-esteem.
Encourage them to be more self-sufficient and resilient by dressing themselves, looking after their own needs and organising themselves and being able to entertain themselves. These are all important aspects of their home education. As a society we have sadly reduced these qualities in our children by thinking we have to always entertain them and find the answers for them. For the majority of children they have an inbuilt sense of what is right, whether that is the answer to a question asked or if they should try something different. We need to encourage our children to take these risks to develop and grow, by that I mean teach them we don’t always get everything right but that we will learn from the outcome and at least we tried to answer the question asked of us.
Encourage them to explore the world we live in, they are tomorrows scientists, doctors and leaders of the world and they also need to ask questions and find solutions for themselves!
I will continue to add to this page as best I can with advice and sites and activities to do over the coming weeks.
Stay safe and make the most of this time together.
N.Wray
While school is closed, you will be able to access links to different websites through the Home Learning page under Class Pages.
Welcome to Primary 1 2020
This is the start of a new school year and all of our class have settled well into school.
In class this term we have been learning to take our pencil for a walk and we have been learning about colours. We have also been sorting and making patterns.
Outside we have been developing our gross motor skills through play. We can balance on our bicycles and bounce on our hoppers. We are also learning to throw to a target.
In class this term we have been learning to take our pencil for a walk and we have been learning about colours. We have also been sorting and making patterns.
Outside we have been developing our gross motor skills through play. We can balance on our bicycles and bounce on our hoppers. We are also learning to throw to a target.
The librarian came to read to us.
Due to the current situation we will be keeping classes up to date with their learning online.
Dear Parent,
We have put together all of your children’s work into a folder, both work that has been done and work to do. Also in your child’s work is their reading homework sheets for the next two weeks. These sheets have been numbered to assist you with the order. It is very important that you keep reading each day with your child and keep revising their words and sounds. Please remember each child works at a different pace and they are also at different levels. Each child also has a word list of their current words at their level to keep working on. I have also included a letter sheet for lower case letters and how to write them. Your child also has a dictionary book home this would be twice a week only looking at 2 letters. We use this book in school with a picture dictionary for the children to write in the labels for the second page and I realise you do not have a dictionary to do this. Get your child to think of things beginning with the sound/letter and write this for them to copy it in. The children also have their Easter books and a number book, if you want to get the best out of these please supervise them while they work on all their books! In P1 we only work on paper to 10 and orally to 20. I will post more information on the website next week with links to some good online activities. Finally, each child has their story writing books, this is only done once a week in school from January. The class have all been writing shared stories (guided by an adult to structures the sentences from the child’s perspective). Some of the children will be moving on to more independent writing trying to write words using their phonics. Again to get the best out of these please supervise and assist your child to do this. and encourage them to develop independence in their writing and thinking. If they are writing phonetically, please remember this is how they have been taught at the start of their literacy journey and English is a very complex language on paper! Please refer to the school website to keep you updated and this class page for more information on it. www.kellsandconnorps.com This has just been a quick overview of what has been put together on Thursday and today to keep the childrens education going, I hope this will give you and your child lots to focus on in the mean time. Please do not become overwhelmed by all the educational material sent home, some of it is to take your child through to June! Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding at this exceptional time and look forward to being able to stay in touch digitally where there will be more comprehensive guidance given in due course. Stay safe, Kind regards, Mrs Wray |