English: Little Red writing
In reading and writing, we have been reading the book Little Red by Bethan Woolvin. This is alternative version of Little Red Riding Hood where Little Red saves herself rather than waiting for a woodcutter!
Today we wrote some descriptions of Little Red and I was so impressed with how hard the children worked! They have all made great progress since the start of Year One and I was astounded by some of the vocabulary they used.
Well done everyone!
Help at home by talking about the Little Red story and how the children would describe her.
Rugby ticket offer
Headingley Stadium has the honour of hosting the England men’s and women’s national team against Samoa and Wales respectively on Saturday 02 November 2024.
As a partner school of the Rhinos, we are pleased to offer children and families 20% off tickets. These are purchased directly from the Rugby Football League using the discount code shown below.
Maths: fact families!
This week in Maths we have been learning about fact families. These are groups of number sentences that can be written for the same three numbers. We have started with addition and I have been really impressed with the children’s efforts!
We start with a part part whole model and then begin to write our number sentences. We learnt that it doesn’t matter what order the parts are added in the whole is still the same (commutative – see if your child can remember this word and what it means!). We also learnt that the whole can be placed at the front of the number sentence. Altogether, we can write 4 addition number sentences for one part part whole model.
This is all new learning for the children and I was really happy with how hard they tried as well as the learning they achieved! Well done everybody!
Help at home by talking about number sentences and practising writing some for simple equations.
Me and My Community week
Our next whole school themed week, based around identity, diversity and community, will be taking place from Monday 4th November. This is the first of two themed weeks in the year. In our ‘Me and My Community’ week, children will learn about what it means to belong to a community, from family to national or even international communities. Importantly, our children will also learn to respect and celebrate different communities. A variety of events and visitors are planned to help us deliver this key aspect of our Living and Learning education.
Events and learning during the week will include looking at our own identity including belonging and self-esteem, diversity of people around us including race, age, religion and disability and children will also be getting out into the community working with local organisations and taking pride in the local area for example by litter picking.
Active travel in the community
We encourage children to get out in the community in an active way on their way to and from school, with prizes available as part of the themed week. By walking/scooting/biking to school, families will by keeping our community safer and healthier by reducing congestion at the school gate. Maybe even pick up a piece of litter on the way. Even by parking further away from school your child could then to do the final part of their journey by foot, bike or scooter. Bike and scooter storage facilities are available beside the Year 3 and 4 classrooms.
Email us (moortownoffice@spherefederation.org) a picture of your active travel, maybe by a landmark in our community on your route to school, for the chance to win one of five vouchers. Entries to be submitted by noon on Friday 8th November.
New school charity
At the end of the themed week, classes will have the chance to discuss our charity shortlist and the Junior Leadership Team will have the final vote for which charity they would like our school to support, replacing our current charity, The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.
Identity day
Friday 8th November will be a non-uniform Identity Day. Children are invited to dress in clothing that represents part of their identity, for example uniform from a club they attend, a team they are part of or support or traditional dress to represent their heritage. There is no donation or contribution required for this day.
SAVE THE DATE PTA coffee morning Friday 8 November 9-10am
As part of the week, we welcome all parents and carers to an informal coffee morning to meet other members of our school community including representatives from the PTA. A whole school community Wake up Shake up will follow at 9:50am in the main playground.
Can you help?
Maybe you speak another language and you would be happy to speak to children about this or you would like to share about your own family culture and heritage. If so, please contact the office to pass on your details. Also, do you have any local community links that may support our week?
Our website continues to keep you up to date with key community events as well as our community noticeboard.
History – Great Fire of London
We are really enjoying our history topic all about the Great Fire of London. We have learnt all about how it started, how it spread and how they tried to stop it. This week, we focussed on what people would have done and how they would have felt at the time. We were given different scenarios and then the children had to act out what they would have done. Would they stay? Would they leave? Take their things or leave them behind? Would they stay and help others or flee?
The children did a great job and thought very deeply about how people would be feeling and what they would do. Well done everyone!
Help at home by talking about the Great Fire of London. I’m sure the children will be very keen to show off their knowledge.
Connect Challenge
Today, the whole school completed our Connect Challenge, in memory of Rob Burrow, by running walking or skipping seven laps of the back playground and the green. All the children gave 100% and were even asking to do extra laps. It was a great active morning!
Thank you for your donations so far. You can still donate on Gateway until the end of the week with money raised to be split between the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Appeal and our school charity, The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.
Living and Learning: rights and responsibilities
This week in Living and Learning we talked about rights and responsibilities. We watched a video of a little girl explaining all the things she has to do to take care of her dog. We then thought about what responsibilities we have and what we do at home to help out. The children then drew all the things they are responsible for at home. I was very impressed with how responsible and mature Year 1 are!
Help at home by talking about your child’s responsibilities and giving them a job or task to be responsible for.
Marvellous Maths
We have been really deepening our understanding of numbers to 10 this half term so far in Maths. We have looked at how different numbers are made. For example 5 is made from 3 and 2 as well as 4 and 1. This week we were comparing and ordering numbers. We learnt about the greater than (>), less than (<) and equal to (=) signs. We then compared different numbers using towers of cubes and then numerals. We practised really hard and I was very impressed with how well all the children picked up the learning.
Help at home by comparing different amounts and using the words ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’.
Connect Challenge Wednesday 02 October
What is it?
The Connect Challenge is in memory of Rob Burrow CBE. It involves a rugby ball being ‘passed’ between local schools and each school taking part in a physical activity event.
When is it?
The challenge will run from Thursday 26 September, (Rob’s birthday) until Thursday 3 October. Our event is in the morning of Wednesday 2nd October.
Why are we remembering Rob?
Rob Burrow CBE sadly died on 2 June 2024, four and a half years after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Throughout that time, Rob and his family bravely chose to publicly share their MND journey to raise awareness of the disease.
What is our Connect Challenge?
We will complete seven (Rob’s rugby shirt number) laps of the green and the back playground by travelling in different ways – walking, jogging or skipping. Children should come to school in outdoor PE kit on the day.
We will be raising money at the event, to be split between the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Appeal and our school charity, The Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.
We request a donation of at least £1. This can be paid online via school gateway.
Help at home: discuss this challenge at home and the reasons why we are remembering Rob. This challenge is also about friendship. Rob’s ex team mate and friend Kevin Sinfield has now raised over £8 million for MND charities. Ask your child how can they be a better friend?
PE: Castles and Cannonballs
This half term in PE we having been playing a game called ‘Castles and cannonballs’. The children have to build a castle out of cones and then there job is to knock it down by throwing a ball at it. This is practising their fundamental movement skills that they will need when they start to play more team games as they go through school. The children need to accurate with their throws.
This week we introduced a guard to protect the castle. This made the game much harder and we had to move in order to get past the guard. We will continue to develop this game over the half term with more variations.
Help at home by practising throwing, catching, kicking and hitting balls in order to develop these key skills.
