In Literacy, the children are embracing opportunities to read, write and to listen and talk across a range of contexts. More recently, these activities have been linked with the festive period. The children have been learning about the features of a letter and are using what they have learned to create their own letters. Some have written letters to Santa, while some have written letters to family members about their wishes for the festive season. In addition, the children wrote letters to the Grinch to try and persuade him to return Elf to us!

We are currently developing a Post Office role play area, which has provided great opportunities for the children to further develop their understanding and use of language. The children have loved learning how to wrap presents and have used their recent learning about instructional writing to sequence the steps within this process. When we return to school after the break, the 'Katie Morag' series of stories will form our class context for learning. The Post Office role play area will again be used and developed with the children to allow the stories and associated learning to be brought to life for them.

The children are continuing to developing their tools for reading through our Daily Literacy Learning (DLL) programme. Continuing to read as much at home as possible will support this invaluable work in class. Thank you for your continued support with this - it is very much appreciated.

In Number Talks, our recent partitioning focus has offered children a new mental strategy to use when approaching addition and subtraction problems. They continue to benefit from working in learning partners to solve different calculations and are continuing to develop the language they are using to share their logic and reasoning. It has been lovely to see the children's strengthened resilience and their continued enthusiasm and positive attitude towards less familiar concepts.

We are continuing to explore larger numbers within a range of maths concepts, particularly in money and measure. Some of our groups are using their knowledge of measure to develop an understanding of fractions. The associated language of 'halves' and 'quarters' will be particularly useful as we then progress to learning how to read and record the time.

Our Nativity performance is fast approaching, and rehearsals have taken up a significant amount of our time in class over the last few weeks! I have no doubt you will thoroughly enjoy seeing the talents of the actors, choir, dancers and stagehands within Primary 2 Bravo. I couldn't be prouder of them all.

As previously mentioned, our 'Katie Morag'/Scotland class context for learning will formally begin after the holidays. The children are currently enjoying opportunities to explore this context and we are currently planning what we would like to learn together by completing our class floorbook.

In Art and Design, the children have been learning about the works of Paul Klee and have identified the key features within his designs. The children are currently designing their own inspired designs using a range of shapes and their prior understanding of shapes that can tile and be matched with one another. I am really looking forward to seeing their finished works when we return to school in January.

The children have loved the recent learning about Scottish dance. Mrs Allan and I have both been very impressed by the dance moves from our talented classes!