Holy Child Primary School
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P5 Parents' Information
Primary 5
Holy Child Primary School
Information Pack for Parents/ Guardians
Primary 5 Parents’ Information 2016-17
Punctuality:
Please ensure that your child arrives in school at 8:50 a.m. as this allows your child to get settled for the day and they will not miss out any important information and instructions.
Milk and Dinner Money:
Could you please give your child the correct amount of money for lunch/ dinner.
(£2:50 per day/ £12.50 per week).
It would be greatly appreciated if you could send in the amount for a full week on Monday.
Appointments
If you need to make an appointment to speak to the teacher you should contact Mrs Bartlett/ Mrs McKernan in the school office to arrange a suitable time.
Healthy Eating:
As part of the school’s healthy eating policy we would ask you to ensure that your child brings in a healthy snack, consisting of only fruit, plain biscuits and a drink of water. As there are many children who have severe allergies to nuts/oranges and other products could you please check labels to make certain that biscuits etc have not been produced in a factory that may contain nuts.
P.E./ Swimming Guidelines
P5 P.E. is on Tuesday.
In Primary 5 the children are asked to bring in their P.E, kit and will be given time to change into and out of their kit. The kit should consist of a suitable t-shirt, shorts or jogging bottoms appropriate for weather conditions and also trainers.
For swimming in the second term, the children are asked to bring their swimming costumes and a towel in a separate plastic bag, to ensure that books are not soaked by wet swimming costumes.
After School Clubs:
The children in Primary 5 have a wide range of activities to choose from when it comes to After School Clubs.
Could you please ensure that your child attends each club they have signed up for on a weekly basis. If they are unable to attend one session could you please inform the staff member in charge of the club. This ensures continuity and allows staff members to organise materials efficiently.
Curriculum Areas:
In the Revised Curriculum our main subject areas are now
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Literacy,
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Numeracy,
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The World Around Us,
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The Arts,
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Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
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I.C.T.
We will continue to use the Alive-O 5 programme for our Religious studies. We ask you to discuss issues as they arise with your child and help them to learn their prayers.
A lot of our work is now taught through topics and we will inform you of these throughout the year. We encourage children to carry out their own research using library books and the internet at home.
In Primary 5 we place a great deal of emphasis on neat presentation of their work and they will be learning joined up writing throughout the year.
Reading
We would encourage your child to read a variety of reading materials on a daily basis. They will be able to choose books from the school and class libraries to read at home.
At Primary 5 we would encourage parents to read with their child for 10 minutes each evening, reading books of their own choice. This stimulates their enjoyment of reading and helps to widen their breadth of knowledge of vocabulary and topics. This is particularly successful with children who are reluctant readers or have specific reading difficulties
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Homework Guidelines Primary 5Literacy Homework
Literacy Homework will be distributed twice each week.
Make sure you have the correct equipment for your homework:
Write the date and title for each piece of written homework.
Number each answer correctly.
Remember to check for COPS!!!
C: Begin each answer with a capital letter.
O: Check that no words or word endings have been omitted.
P: Remember to use the appropriate punctuation. (A full stop or question mark at the end of each answer.)
S: Check all spellings very carefully. (Check in the question/ in your reading book/ comprehension text)
Handwriting: Try to make the size of your handwriting consistent and keep all of your work neat and tidy.
We are trying to develop “Cursive” handwriting during Primary 5. Try to follow the style and shape of letters that have been included in your “Homework Helper” sheet.
Reading: Encourage your child to read their Reading Text at least 3 times each week.
If you are not reading your Class Reading Text you should be reading from your Library Book or Extra Reader each night.
Spelling: The list of spelling words will be distributed each Monday. There will be activities related to these words to be completed each night. The words will be assessed weekly during the Friday Quiz.
A suggested App to support Spelling is called “Spellosaur”. This App is particularly useful if your child finds Phonics and Spellings difficult. There are games and activities to support and assist your child to learn their words. (You do need to add your word list on a weekly basis)
Topmarks.co.uk Literacy: covers all aspects of Literacy/ Grammar.
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Homework Guidelines Primary 5
Numeracy Homework
Numeracy Homework will be distributed twice each week.
Make sure you have the correct equipment to complete your homework.
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Write the date and title for each piece of written homework.
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Number each answer correctly.
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Read each question very carefully.
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Identify the key Mathematical words in each question.
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Carry out each calculation methodically and carefully.
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Write one number in each square in your Numeracy book.
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Remember to set out each sum appropriately: Th/ H/T/U
Mental Arithmetic
It is vital to Numeracy work in Primary 5 to develop our confidence and pace when solving Mental Arithmetic Calculations.
We will be learning our Times Tables up to the 10x Tables.
An excellent way to develop these skills is to use Numeracy Apps/ Websites.
Topmarks.co.uk / Numeracy/ Age 7-11
This website covers all aspects of Numeracy/ Literacy and other curriculum areas.
The game: “Hit the Button” covers addition/ subtraction/ multiplication/ division and it has different categories so it can be used for younger pupils as well.
Suggested Apps to use in Primary 5:
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Hit the Button
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Operation Math
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10 Minutes Times Tables
Phonics
To help your child to read and write unfamiliar words we use a Phonic approach.
We tap/ clap out the syllables in each word: com-put-er
We then segment/ split each chunk of the word into the separate sounds/ Phonemes: s-t-o-p/ ch-a-r-t/ p/l/ay/ c-o-m-p-u-t-er
If your child is unsure of the sounds, please speed read the phonemes on the Phonic Alphabet given to your child in their phonic book/ homework folder each night. If they do not go over them at home, they will not be able to use these skills independently in class.
Assessment
In Primary 5 children will complete a weekly quiz assessing their knowledge of Spellings and relevant Maths Facts.
Children will carry out ongoing assessments of curricular areas throughout the year.
General Information:
Please make sure that your child comes to school on a daily basis prepared for the day ahead: with several sharpened pencils, homework books. P.E. kit etc.
Additional information about the Primary 5 year group is also available on the school website.
Throughout the year each teacher will update information and photos for their class.
We hope that all the children have a happy and successful, hard-working and enjoyable year in Primary 5.
Thank you for your continued cooperation,
Primary 5 Teachers
Mrs McNeill
Mr McKiernan
Mr Cunningham
Miss O’Brien