Ready to learn
It’s the summer holidays and, in line with our homework policy, there is no formal homework set over the six-week break.
That doesn’t mean that your child won’t be learning! We learn all the time – and so do children, whether it’s through play, day-trips, independent reading, discussions at home…
And of course, you’ll be keen to support your child at home so the basic facts aren’t forgotten. Please think about key English and Maths knowledge that you can gently practise over the holidays:
- number bonds: knowing pairs of numbers that add to make ten, like 3+7=10 and therefore 10-7=3). When your child is secure with pairs that total ten, can they extend this knowledge to pairs which make 20 (13+7=20, for example) and 100 (such as 30+70=100) – make this fun by using some sweet treats or how about stringing ten loom bracelets on string and then hiding some and making the link with the ones that are left (how many are hidden if you can see three bracelets?)
- times tables: Year 2 children should have an emerging knowledge of the 2 times table and the 10 times table at least, and children who have just finished Year 4 should know all their times tables (up to 12 x 12) and the division facts, too (7×8=56 so 56÷7=8) – think about chanting some times tables or buying an app to practise just a few minutes every day to keep your child’s knowledge sharp!
- reading: lots of reading over the holidays will help your child in lots of different ways – visit the local library; take part in our Extreme Reading competition; if you’re going to a theme park or museum, read the leaflet and the website… there are loads of opportunities to build in reading as a daily activity!
- writing: reading will help your child’s spellings and writing style, so don’t force lots of writing, but do try to encourage some useful, purposeful writing – write some postcards to friends and relatives , or send some emails instead, and make lists for what to pack on holiday, or what to buy if planning a sleepover.
Check out this guide about supporting learning, useful whether it’s term-time of holiday time!
Finally, make sure you enjoy the summer break!
10 minute shake up
Change4Life and Disney have teamed up to help your kids have fun and move more this summer. Sign up for the 10 Minute Shake Up Pack and you’ll get a FREE stopwatch, fun activity cards, Disney themed wall chart and stickers – all inspired by your kids’ favourite Disney characters!
The 10 Minute Shake Up games are a fantastic way to help your kids get the recommended 60 minutes or more of physical activity they need every day. Being active helps your kids maintain a healthy weight and helps their heart and bones stay healthy. Visit the 10 Minute Shake Up Zone for loads of fun game ideas.
Road Safety
This morning, Howard came into class to talk about road safety. We focused on the importance of wearing seat belts whenever we go in a car.
Some key points:
1. Always wear a seatbelt
2. If you are under 135cm tall, you should use a booster seat
3. Never share a seatbelt with another person
4. Never sit on someone’s knee when in a car
5. Never travel in the boot of a car
6. Always wear a seatbelt
7. ALWAYS WEAR A SEATBELT!
D:Side
This morning, Michelle from d:Side came into class to chat to the children about the dangers of smoking.
Michelle told us that there are over 4,000 different chemicals in a cigarette as well as an addictive drug called nicotine -euuurrrrggghh! The picture below shows some of the other products in which chemicals from cigarettes can be found.
When you smoke, tar builds up in your lungs. The picture below shows you the amount of tar which would be produced by one person smoking for a year.
Did you know that a pack of cigarettes costs at least £5?! Some smokers smoke a pack everyday. That’s £35 a week or £1,825 a year! You could go on holiday for that!
Sk8Safe Skateboarding
Yesterday, we had a great skateboarding session with Sk8Safe. I was amazed with how quickly the children were jumping on the boards and rolling up and down the playground. It was brilliant.
The final Code Club of the year!
It was the final Code Club of the school year on Thursday and the Moortown Scratchers would like to say a huge thank you to Linda for running the club all year. It has been fantastic to see the children’s programming skills grow throughout the sessions and to see their ever increasingly creative projects blossom. Linda and I are very excited about Code Club next year and look forward to trying out some new ideas.
Water Safety
Andy, a lifeguard and swimming instructor, visited Year 3 this morning to chat to us about how to stay safe in and around water.
Tour de Pi!
What a brilliant weekend. I hope you all enjoyed your Tour de France experiences. If you missed it, here is our video with the time lapse footage recorded using a Raspberry Pi!
Inspired by the Tour de France?
What an amazing spectacle the Tour de France has been this weekend.
If you have been inspired to get on your bike then next week we are having a bike, scooter and walk to school week alongside our Staying Safe week.
Each day this golden lock will be placed on a random bike or scooter, in our storage area. If it is your bike or scooter you will be the lucky winner of a £20 voucher, kindly donated by the Chapel Allerton branch of Edinburgh bicycle cooperative.
On Wednesday, from 8:30am, Edinburgh bike cooperative will be visiting school for a Dr bike event. Children who bring their bike to school can have a free bike maintenance check to ensure their bike is in its best condition. Edinburgh bike cooperative will be with us all morning checking bikes and also providing bike maintenance sessions for Year 5 so they can maintain their own bikes.
Would you like to explore cycle routes across the city? Leeds City council have produced a series of local cycle maps. Additionally, Go:cycling offer a range of free cycling services.
Grand Depart Raspberry Pi Project
The countdown to the Tour de France is almost over and tomorrow the riders will be rolling past (well, almost past) our school! This morning, we’ve been getting ready for this once in a lifetime occasion by setting up a Raspberry Pi time lapse camera which will capture all of tomorrow’s events. We’ve had to use computational thinking, maths skills and programming skills to get our camera working. This was challenging as the Raspberry Pi wanted the information in milliseconds. This meant we had to convert 10 hours (the duration we wanted the time lapse to run for) into minutes, then seconds and then milliseconds – that’s 36,000,000 milliseconds in all! We then had the simpler task of deciding the length between each photo. We decided on 5 seconds (5,000 milliseconds). We’ve got Ava’s mum to thank for helping us with this project and also
Grace and Frankie’s family to thank for offering to put the camera up outside their house. Hopefully, we’ll get some great footage from the race!
