We are resilient
This week’s Rs for learning are…
- I can be resilient.
- I take safe risks.
To see how resilient we could be, Year 2 took on the Marshmallow Tower Challenge. Each team of three were given half a packet of spaghetti and a whole load of mini marshmallows. Our towers were very difficult to make sturdy and kept falling down! Everybody did a great job staying positive and trying and trying and trying again if their tower fell down.
Great teamwork!
And the prize for tallest tower goes to….
Several times on purpose
Alongside our Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds themed week it has been national anti-bullying week.
Our school definition has been discussed by the School Council and has been amended, 10.11.14, to incorporate the stop message.
‘Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally, several times on purpose.’
Following a whole school assembly, Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team have delivered Show Racism the Red Card workshops across school and in class children have discussed these aspects of bullying:
- Our revised definition of bullying (above)
- Types of bullying – cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion and belief, special educational need and disability
- What to do if children experience bullying. The key message is to tell someone (start telling other people)
Bullying resources can be found at…
- http://www.childline.org.uk/explore/bullying/pages/bullying.aspx
- http://www.bullying.co.uk/advice-for-parents/
- http://www.youngminds.org.uk/for_parents/worried_about_your_child/bullying
Children tell us what they would do if they were bullied ‘…I would tell an adult, teacher or someone I trust.’
All classes have access to their class SEAL box or a whole school worry box where they can tell an adult any concerns about bullying or any other issues.
Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds
Our themed week, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, has been filled with visits and visitors providing a variety of experiences for the whole school.
We would like to thank the following for their support with our themed week:
- Heart Research UK
- d:side (drug education)
- Betty Sutherland tai chi
- White Rose martial arts
- Chapel Allerton squash and tennis club
- Leeds United
- Molly Cawthorn (Leeds United ladies)
- Leeds Rhinos
- Tesco Seacroft Farm to Fork trail
- Jhardine Farrell who delivered ‘respecting everybody’ circle times
- Leeds anti-social behaviour team
- Year 6 for taking over PE lessons for the rest of the school
- Mr Catherall for introducing the teachers to our new whole school sport, tchoukball
- parents/carers who talked about their health related job to different classes
- Public health resource centre for the loan of resources and providing health related leaflets
Finally, thank you to all staff and pupils who have fully engaged with all the learning throughout the week. Take a look at the Class News sections of the website to find out what each class have been doing. We have enjoyed a fun-filled week.
For further information about healthy bodies and healthy minds have a look at the Kids health website and Leeds Let’s Change for advice on more local health issues.
And an extra note from me, Mr Roundtree: I’d like to also thank Mrs Taylor for continuing to organise wonderful, packed themed weeks around being healthy or staying safe. She puts an incredible amount of effort into ensuring our pupils enjoy some wonderful learning opportunities from staff and visitors.
Ronnie the Rhino and the Challenge Cup!
Yesterday, we had a fun-packed assembly from two Leeds Rhino Coaches who recapped some very important messages about how to have a healthy lifestyle. They introduced us to their friend Ronnie the Rhino – who had successfully changed his unhealthy lifestyle by eating a more balanced diet and doing lots more exercise. We were also very lucky as Ronnie had brought in The Challenge Cup which the Leeds Rhinos won recently.
Healthy bodies, healthy minds
This week sees us concentrating on all things healthy. So far, we’ve learnt about being safe with drugs and been taught PE, not by Miss Rushbrooke, but by Year 6!
As well as this, we’ve tried out two new physical activities and thoroughly enjoyed them both.
Martial Arts
Thai Chi
We’ll keep you posted on what other intersting activities we get up to for the rest of the week. Watch this space…
Mathletics
A quick well done to those children that have been using Mathletics at home. We’ve really enjoyed playing on Live Mathletics and some children have tried Level 2 questions and even Level 3! Have a look at the activities you can complete, particularly in the Counting and Number section and Grouping and Sharing.
I have assigned everyone an activity this week that you will have to complete before you can go on anything else. All of the children should be confident with this as it’s related to arrays, which has been our maths focus this week.
Please let me know if your child’s multiplication activity doesn’t seem to have been assigned.
Key Stage One Art Gallery – one day only!
This afternoon saw Key Stage One’s Art Gallery opening.
Parents, children, aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandads and siblings alike came flooding into Key Stage One’s Art Gallery today. Thank you to all of you who came to view the amazing work Year 1 and 2 have one during our Katie and… topic. If you couldn’t make it, here’s a sneak peek. Step into the pictures, just as Katie would have, and imagine you were there.
You could put on your headphones and listen to the pieces of music that inspired us to create art that matched it.
Take a comfy seat in the book area and read the books that helped us create all of this amazing art.
Take a vote on your favourite piece of art or spend the time trying to find art by names you recognise.
Lots of people enjoyed our live art exhibition and joined in by printing a poppy onto the field for Remembrance Day (11.11.14). Thank you to those people who made a donation to our school charities.
Thank you to Year 1 and 2 for all their hard work and enjoyment of the Katie and… topic.
Team Tactics
We’ve had a great half term in PE improving our basketball skills – Mr Catherall has been very impressed. This week we played whole games and even started thinking about team tactics to improve our game, Here’s our huddle.
Gearing up for the Gallery
Having produced so much art this half term, we’re preparing our final piece to go on display in our open art gallery in the week beginning 10th November 2014. Our final piece will be using a technique called pointillism. This is where you create a picture using lots and lots and lots of tiny dots. It takes lots of skill, patience and determination so we had a practice this week.
First, we decided which paintings were pointillism and which were not.
Then we practised using pointillism ourselves.
We had a go using three different media to find out which would be most effective for our final piece. We used paint, felt tip pens and coloured pencils. The coloured pencils took the longest, felt tip looked quite effective, but, we most enjoyed using the paint and cotton wool buds.
It’s half-term…
…so there’s no specific homework this week, apart from ensuring your child spends at least 20 minutes each day reading and 5-10 minutes learning their number bonds / times tables.
Enjoy your October break. If you stay in Leeds, check out all the activities the museums and art galleries have on offer.
