Moortown In Bloom
A piece of land between Stonegate Road and Scothall Road has been prepared to be part of Moortown In Bloom. We were asked to go and help with some of the planting in partnership with the Moortown Group. Off we went on Monday morning; we were given high visual vests (very fetching!), gardening gloves and a spade. Several holes were dug and plants were planted and the results will be evident in a few months when the flowers are blooming. Nine pupils from Year 6 represented Moortown Primary School very well; they worked well as a team and dug holes very well! Abdul and Sanna were demon diggers!! Look out this week in the Yorkshire Evening Post as we may appear along with our plants!
Relocation, Relocation
‘Relocation, Relocation‘ is our final topic in Year Four.
We’ll focus on reasons for relocating and we will learn a little bit about the Vikings and their movements. The topic, as always, will be cross-curricular and therefore will incorporate art activities (printing), history and geography. Our SEAL theme of ‘Changes’ also fits well with this topic.
Thank you to Mrs Jaber for volunteering to speak to the children about her experiences of relocating. If any other parents or relatives are interested in sharing their experiences, please see me to discuss a convenient time.
Celebrating our goals!
Well done to all our children for taking part in the sponsored Hot Shots event, raising money to help victims of the earthquake in Japan as part of My Community themed week.
Please return money raised as soon as you can – at the latest the first Friday after half-term.
Thanks.
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.
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.
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.
Maths in the playound
In a recent maths lesson, the children were tasked with calculating the cost of some new playground equipment. They had to add together the different pieces of equipment to see what they could buy if they had £300.
What are the most important features of a family car?
In a topic lesson this half-term the class had to sort nine features of a family car by deciding which were the most important to which were the least important. We then repeated the activity, but this time we sorted the same features for a rally car. This led to a really interesting debate about the importance of the various features!
Tackling cyber-bullying
In literacy this half-term, the class have been finding out about cyber-bullying. They then wrote a report about what cyber-bullying is and how you can limit the chances of being cyber-bullied.
PE with Leeds Met Sports Coaching Students
Year 3 are just one of a number of classes who are currently working with Sports Coaching students from Leeds Met as part of their school placement. The sessions have been very active and enjoyable with the children learning and practising lots of multiskills.
