Book amnesty
As we enter the final week of Year 2, we would be grateful for the the return of any school reading or library books you may come across at home.
Please send these into school with your child over the next week.
We are also missing a few of the red Moortown PE t-shirts from the recent skipping festival if you could return them to school too.
Thank you for your support with this.
Staying safe week so far
It’s been a busy staying safe week so far in Year 2.
What’s a digital footprint with Mr McGriffiths.
The importance of wearing a helmet when riding a bike or scooter.
Did you know if you are taller than 135cm, then you don’t need to have a car seat or booster seat because you are now tall enough for your seatbelt to fit correctly on your shoulder and hips.
Dave, from d:side, spoke to us about online safety including age limits on apps and not sharing personal information online.
We recapped the NSPCC Speak out Stay safe message and in our circle time, the children discussed how and who they would ask for help if they needed to.
Please could I talk to you…
I’m worried about something…
Could you help me with a problem…
There’s lots more staying safe learning coming up.
Help at home: talk to your child about this important learning and ask them to share the key safety messages.
Staying safe week: road safety
Jake, from the Leeds City Council road safety team, gave a whole school assembly all about staying safe on and around roads including different types of active travel.
Don’t forget, as part of our staying safe themed week, we are running our active travel safety competition this week.
For a chance to win one of three £10 Love2Shop vouchers, we’d love to see your active travel staying safe photos, maybe using a traffic crossing or wearing a bike helmet (send photos to moortownoffice@spherefederation.org). Photos should be sent by 4pm on Thursday 11 July and winners will be announced on Friday 12 July.
Help at home: Jake reminded us of the green cross code. Talk to your child about what we need to remember when crossing the road.
Staying safe: online safety
Louise from West Yorkshire Police gave a whole school assembly all about staying safe online.
There were lots of clear online safety messages around content, contact and conduct.
At the end of the assembly, the children reflected on what they were going to do after hearing Louise’s messages.
I am going to check my younger sisters’ Roblox settings.
I am not going to accept friend requests from people I don’t know.
I am not going to play games that have a age rating older than me.
Help at home: ask your child how content, conduct and contact are linked to online safety.
Staying safe week: water safety
Claire, a volunteer from Canal & River Trust, came to visit Reception and Key Stage 1 to teach us about staying safe near water.
SAFE stands for stay away from the edge.
If you do fall in water, you should float on your back like a starfish trying to keep your head above the water.
There were lots of hazards to spot.
Life jackets and buoyancy aids can help to keep you safe on boats.
Help at home: have a look at these water safety games with your child.
Caterpillars to butterflies
This half term, we continue to be biologists.
We have been learning about different life cycles as part of our science learning.
This has included the life cycle of humans (and other mammals), butterflies and amphibians.
Over the past few weeks, you have probably heard about our caterpillar visitors. We’ve been keeping a diary to record the changes we’ve observed over time.
Week 1
The caterpillars are tiny and black. They are not moving very much.
Week 2
The caterpillars have grown longer and thicker. You can see hairs on them and they are moving more.
Week 3
The caterpillars have attached themselves to the lid and are beginning to make themselves into a pupa.
They build themselves a cocoon to hide in.
Inside the cocoon all sorts of changes are happening.
Week 4
After several days, the adult painted lady butterflies emerge.
Now, the whole life cycle will begin again.
Finally, after observing the butterflies for a short time in their classroom habitat, it was time to release them outside.
The children have loved watching these incredible changes. This learning has helped to reinforce the process and sequence of the butterfly life cycle but also the importance of respecting living things.
Living and Learning: body image
Body image, as part of our Living and Learning curriculum, uses a focus on self-esteem to promote a positive body image. There is a strong emphasis on appreciating and celebrating everyone’s unique qualities, talents and abilities.
We want to enable pupils to feel proud and confident about who they are and to value their own and each other’s individuality.
Firstly, we talked about what makes us special. This could be something physical or personal.
I’m special as I am kind to my friends.
I’m special because I can do lots of different skipping skills.
I’m special because I try hard on TTRS.
I’m special as I can run fast.
I’m special because I’m good at helping others.
Next, we discussed why we have names and what if everyone was nameless?
If we didn’t have names, we wouldn’t be as special as we are.
We have names because we are unique and special.
We need names as we wouldn’t know who people are.
Then, we considered why we like different activities.
We like different activities because we are different people.
Not everyone likes the same thing because we are all different.
It would be boring if everyone liked the same things.
Finally, we thought about why we look different and what things we can change and what things we can’t change about ourselves.
It’s always great to hear the children discussing and sharing ideas in our Living and Learning sessions and circle times.
Help at home: Listen to this text, Your Body is Awesome, with your child. What is brilliant about their body?
Staying Safe themed week
Our next whole school themed week, based around Staying Safe, will be taking place next week. The key message is how to be safe in a range of situations – at home, at school, online and in the environment.
A variety of events and visitors are planned to help us deliver this key aspect of education including road safety (Leeds City Council); water safety (Canal and River Trust and RNLI); fire safety (West Yorkshire Fire Service); staying safe around dogs (Dogs Trust); first aid (Leeds Beckett and Red Cross); safety in our community (PCSOs) and e-safety (d:side).
Here are some events taking place.
Monday 08 July 3pm – 3:30pm d:side e-safety drop in information session
A representative from d:side, a health education provider, will be available to discuss e-safety issues and details of your child’s e-safety learning in the themed week.
Thursday 11 July from 8:30am West Yorkshire Police bike register event
Pupils are invited to bring along their bikes to be registered at this bike security marking event at school. Registering your bike helps police and retailers identify and verify the legitimate owner of bikes that have been stolen or are being resold. This is a first come first served event.
Friday 12 July 2:35-3:15pm Leeds Beckett University Carnegie Great Outdoors basic first aid session for parents/carers – there are limited places available so please confirm your place via school gateway.
The themed week is a good opportunity to continue to think about healthy, active and safe ways to travel to school. Children are encouraged to travel to school in a sustainable way, keeping safe along the way.
For a chance to win one of three £10 Love2Shop vouchers, we’d love to see their active travel staying safe photos, maybe using a traffic crossing or wearing their bike helmet (send photos to moortownoffice@spherefederation.org). Photos should be sent by 4pm on Thursday 11 July and winners will be announced on Friday 12 July.
Due to the rising costs of visitors to school, this year, we are requesting a voluntary contribution of £1 per pupil to go towards paying for visitors. This can be made on school gateway. Thank you for your support with this.
Finally, can you help? Does your job involve an aspect of safety? If you are able to support our Staying Safe themed week by coming into school to speak to the children, please contact me via the office or your child’s class teacher.
We will keep you up to date about events during the week on the class news pages on our website.
Thank you for your support to keep Moortown a happy, healthy and safe school.
Year 2 reading assembly
Sports day
It’s been a busy sporting week for Year 2 with our skipping festival, the Olympic Event at Leeds Beckett for some children and sports day at Roundhegians Rugby Club this Tuesday 02 July.
The children have been told their teams and their races but please come and see us if you want to check this.
If possible, they will need to come in a t-shirt of their team colour on Tuesday. We can provide a bib instead if this isn’t possible.
There is an important update about access to Roundhegians Rugby Club.
We’ve been advised that the normal vehicle access and car park for Roundhegians is currently out of use due to building work taking place at the clubhouse.
Instead, access will be through the gate on High Moor Avenue. This will mean there will be limited on street parking so please walk to the venue if you can.
You’re welcome to bring chairs/rugs to enjoy the morning/afternoon’s events.
We hope to see you there at 1:30pm on Tuesday.
