More success at Moortown!
The Quality Mark is a recognition that some schools choose to work towards to help them monitor what they do for their learners and to celebrate successes within school. Because Ofsted chose not to inspect our school this year due to our continued good provision, we welcome feedback from other external bodies. This year, therefore, we decided to be re-assessed for the Quality Mark.
The re-assessment visit happened on Monday 16 May 2011. I’m delighted to say we’ve yet again been recognised for the great teaching and learning at Moortown. Here are some extracts of the visiting assessor’s report:
“The assessor felt that this was one of the most impressive visits he has ever made in nine years of visiting Quality Mark schools. David, the head, has lots of plans – he needs no points of action or areas to develop suggested from us. It was a privilege to visit.”
“Since the monitoring visit, the school has accomplished an impressive amount of progress.”
“The school has radically reshaped the intervention programme it operates with pupils… It has put into action what many other schools are now realising – that the huge weight of strategies that have been recommended to schools over the past ten years are of limited effectiveness unless they are tailored to exactly what the pupil needs at the time that s/he needs it.”
“Classrooms all show consistency of approach in teaching – learning objectives visible, use of speaking and listening partners, learning walls for each class… Consistency in marking of writing is assured through a detailed and very clear marking policy. The Year 6 pupils who showed the assessor around school were at pains to draw his attention to these features and kept up a running commentary of how pupils learn (including telling the assessor that in the Reception class it’s ‘learning through play, you know!’).”
“Moortown has successfully devised and implemented a curriculum and teaching methodology that involves pupils in their own learning, is rigorous and demanding whilst at the same time makes learning an enjoyable experience for pupils.”
Thanks to the dedication and support of staff, parents / carers and children, I know we do a fantastic job at Moortown. It’s great to know that visitors to school are struck by this great work, too.
I’m grateful to the five parents who spoke with the Quality Mark assessor, and to the two Y6 pupils who provided a tour of the school.
We are amazing authors!
As part of our Literacy learning we have been reading lots of traditional tales. We have been learning about characters, good and bad, and investigating lots of different plots and settings. Last week we did a “Big Write” where we had to have a go at writing our own traditional tales; here are a couple of our stories showing how much learning we have done. Check out our story language and punctuation! Look at how our handwriting has improved.
We are very proud of our story writing. Mrs Weekes and Mrs Maver are amazed at the improvements we have made.
Enjoy reading our traditional tales!
Ralph(ina) the hamster comes to Moortown!
Year 2 had a very special visitor this week. Ralph (or Ralphina due to recent discoveries) came to say hello to all his friends at Moortown – I apologise to those parents battling with their child’s requests for their own furry friend! Ralph behaved impeccably despite being woken up in the middle of his sleep.
We wanted the children to have some first hand experience of nocturnal animals and they were enthralled, with everyone having the opportunity to have a stroke. If you are considering getting a hamster or just want to know a little bit more about them, you can find out more here.
Rural Reading
Year 2 have been making the most of splendid weat
her, by reading in new places.
Year 3 / 4 after-school TAG rugby starts this Tuesday – places still available!
We have some places left for the after-school TAG rugby club if you would like to take part.
Please return your form to the office or ask at the office for a new form.
Walk to School week
Around the country, it’s Walk to School week next week. To promote the event, here’s an activity for chidren throughout school to have a go at…
Watch the walking to school video – it’s been on the site for a few months now, but have you spotted Wally?!
Children have taken home a map to mark where Wally is. Younger children have been given a map which shows the route the stars of the video take as they walk to school. To make it more of a challenge, older children have no route shown on their map! Along the way, you can just about spot where Wally is, but look closely as he might be around more than once…
This should be returned by Friday 20 May. Correct entries will be put into the hat with winners selected at random. Good luck!
Maths Morning!
Thank you to all who attended our recent Maths Morning. If you have any questions about how we teach maths in Reception, please ask!
After school TAG rugby
In addition to our many after school clubs on offer this term we are pleased to announce a further club arranged for children in Year 3 and 4.
The TAG rugby club, open to boys and girls, will start on Tuesday 17 May (there is no taster session) from 3.15pm to 4.15pm and is run by a rugby coach. There is no charge for the club. The club lasts for 5 weeks and the children will then have the opportunity to take part in a festival at a local rugby club against other schools.
If you would like to take part in the club please complete the permission slip on the recent letter or ask for a letter at the office.
Kwik Cricket
Well done to all of Year 6 who took part in a Kwik Cricket tournament at Allerton Grange on Friday. We were competing against another local primary school renowned for their excellent cricketers. All our teams played with great co-operation and sportsmanship and overall our first team lost by only nine runs to the other school. This was a fantastic achievement and we were congratulated by the opposing team’s teacher for making it such a close event.
The class will be able to develop these cricket skills further after their SATs as they will be having three coaching sessions with a Yorkshire Cricket coach.
Stay for Sums on Wednesday!
This week, instead of ‘Relax and Read’ we are inviting you to stay and take part in some mathematical activities with your child. Dig in the sand, cut and stick on the technology table or splash in the water. See you there!
