Volcanos
On Tuesday, Year 3 and 4 made volcanos!
We started our day by learning about a crutial skill we would need to succeed at making volcanos: teamwork.
First of all, we talked about what bad teamwork looks and sounds like. Then we compared it with examples of good teamwork.
Edris and Evie– “Bad teamwork is if you were writing a story, and not sharing resources or ideas . Good teamwork would be working together and sharing ideas taking turns.”
Sukhmani & Madison – “Bad teamwork is when you don’t work together but good teamwork is even when you’re not friends you can still work together.”
Harman and Ashton – “If we were fighting over resources we wouldn’t be working as a team. Instead, we could share.”
We talked about different jobs where teamwork is really important: footballers, doctors, professional dancers, the Royal Air Force and firefighters.
We then worked in our teams to put the instructions, on how to make a volcano, back together.
Have a look at some of the pictures from our volcano making, below.
Have a look at the finished results:
Well done Year 3 and Year 4 – you’ve really impressed us with your teamwork and communication skills!
Living and Learning – Homework Review
Last week, the whole school had the same Talk Time homework:
What is a drug?
This homework, which links to our Living and Learning statement, is a first step in children becoming aware of drugs. During our homework review today, the children each shared some of the conversations they had had at home. Year 4 showed great maturity and a good awareness about drugs that are helpful and those that are harmful.
Below are some of the question prompts that we gave to the children to help shape their discussions…
What is a good definition for a drug? “A drug can be good for you but some can be bad for you.”
Are all drugs bad? “We need some drugs to help us when we are ill. These can be dangerous if they aren’t taken correctly.”
A poem by Phoebe
What is a drug?
Drugs can be helpful
Drugs can be bad
Some make you happy
Some make you sad
Everyday drugs
That we can see
Caffeine in morning coffee
And afternoon tea
Beer, wine
And spirits too
Can make people laugh
Or be sick in the loo
Medicines
Are all drugs
That doctors prescribe
For illness and bugs
Drugs can be helpful
Drugs can be bad
Some make you happy
Some make you sad.
Following our homework review, Year 4 went on to discuss the risks of drinking alcohol. Using a ‘ Where alcohol goes in your body‘ diagram, we talked about some of the effects alcohol can have on the body.
Once swallowed, alcohol enters the stomach. The alcohol is absorbed into the small intestine and the bloodstream through the stomach walls. The blood vessels carry the alcohol to almost every organ in the body including the heart, lungs, liver and brain.
The children asked lots of questions to each other.
“What other dangers are there to your health?’
“It can damage your brain.”
“Why do people chose to drink alcohol?”
“Because it can make people feel relaxed.”
The children learnt how alcohol can affect the body and they could explain why drinking alcohol may pose a greater or lesser risk, depending on the individual and the amount of alcohol consumed.
Living and Learning: Parent/carer workshops Staying Safe themed week
Thank you to all the parents/carers who have signed up to the workshops on offer next week during our Staying Safe themed week.
There are a few places left if you would like to come along.
Benchball
Some of our KS2 children took part in a come and try benchball event at Roundhay School tonight.
Competing against other local schools, they showed great teamwork and PE skills.
Benchball uses a lot of the same skills as netball and we hope that some of the players come and join the netball after-school club on a Monday – we have a few places left!
Living Streets new badge design competition
We are proud to work with Living Streets to support our aim for active and safe travel to and from school.
WOW is Living Streets’ year-round walk to school challenge and every day our pupils log their daily journeys to school on the WOW Travel Tracker. Those that make an active (walk, bike, scoot or park and stride) journey to school at least once a week for a month earn a WOW badge. There are 11 to collect across the year all of which have been designed by pupils in their annual badge design competition.
Living Streets are now asking for our pupil’s help to design a new badge. Details will be sent home shortly but take a look for some more information. Return your badge designs to your class teacher or the office.
Fantastic Fireworks
Year 4 have been introduced to their new class novel.
Plot summary
A young girl called Lila wants to become a firework-maker, like her father Lalchand. Despite her talents, Lalchand believes this is an unsuitable job for girls. Lila disagrees, and journeys to get Royal Sulphur from Razvani the Fire-Fiend at Mount Merapi, as all aspirant firework-makers must do.
We discussed who’s read the book already, who’s read any other Philip Pullman stories and if anyone has seen The Golden Compass (a film based on one of Philip Pullman books).
Having read the beginning of the story, we examined how Philip Pullman chose to open the adventure. The children went on to think whether they could name any other stories that have similar openings.
Year 4 discussed the writer’s choice of vocabulary for the fireworks and the effective this has on the reader. In English, we looked at some of the names that Philip Pullman gave to the fireworks. Names like `Leaping Monkeys’, `Crackle-Dragons’ and `Tumbling Demons’.
Then, using a verb and a noun, we invented our own firework names and created an ingredients list. This was really exciting -we loved it! Take a look at some of our fireworks.
To add to this learning, the children used coloured chalks to sketch their explosive inventions.
Living and Learning: What is a drug?
Today, Year 4 learnt that there are drugs (other than medicines) that are common in everyday life. We discussed possible reasons as to why people choose to use them. We shared our thoughts with each other and completed an activity focused around different types of drugs. These included caffeine, alcohol, tobacco and nicotine.
We all added our thoughts to the outline of a person.
.
Staying Safe themed week 04 February
Our next whole school themed week, based around Staying Safe, will be taking place from Monday 04 February 2019. 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 and scooter safety (Leeds City Council); water safety (Canal and River Trust and RNLI); bike maintenance (Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative); staying safe around dogs (Dogs Trust) and e-safety (One Day Creative and d:side). Some of the events require parental permission and these letters have been sent out separately. There are also some opportunities for parents and carers, from all year groups, to get involved in the week. Please contact the office to reserve places.
*THIS WEEK* Thursday 24 January 2:30pm – 3:15pm d:side drug education information session
A representative from d:side, a health education provider, will be running an information session about drug education.
Monday 04 February 2:30-3.15pm One Day Creative, creative education provider, e-safety workshop
Wednesday 06 February Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative Dr Bike event
Bring your bike for a free bike safety check, from 8:30am – no need to book.
Thursday 07 February 2:30-3.15pm First aid workshop
A representative from Leeds Beckett University, will be running a first aid workshop for parents and carers.
The themed week is a good opportunity to continue to think about healthy, active ways to travel to school. Children are encouraged to travel to school in a sustainable way, keeping safe along the way.
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, please contact Mrs Taylor via the school office.
We will keep you up to date about events during the week through Twitter and the class news pages on our website.
Thank you for your support to keep Moortown a happy, healthy and safe school.
After-school club availability
There’s still time to sign up to our Spring term after-school clubs starting next week.
Please contact the office if you would like to book a place on any of the following clubs which currently have spaces available.
Monday
| Love of reading club
Do you enjoy stories? Join Mrs Charlesworth and delve into books, get into the characters and listen to stories. Share your own favourite stories too. This club finishes at 4.15pm. There are no sessions on Monday 28 January 2019 or Monday 11 February 2019. |
Y1, Y2, Y3 | £12 |
| Netball
Come and learn the skills and techniques of netball in this fun club. Organised by Mrs Taylor and Miss Rushbrooke. This club finishes at 4.15pm. There are no sessions on Monday 11 February 2019 or Monday 04 March 2019. |
Y3, Y4,
Y5, Y6 |
£6 |
Tuesday
| Dance
Join Miss Marsden to learn fun dance routines to perform at a dance festival in April 2019. This club finishes at 4.15pm and continues until Tuesday 23 April 2019. There is no session on Tuesday 12 February 2019. |
Y1, Y2,
Y3 |
£9 |
| Basketball
Come and learn the skills and techniques of basketball in this fun club. Organised by City of Leeds Basketball Club. This club finishes at 4.15pm. There is no session on Tuesday 12 February 2019. |
Y3, Y4, Y5,Y6 | £7 |
Wednesday
| Gymnastics
A fun way to keep fit while learning new skills. Organised by Leeds Gymnastics Club. This club finishes at 4.15pm. |
Y1, Y2,
Y3, Y4, Y5 |
£8 |
Thursday
| Mindfulness
Join Miss Marsden and try a range of mindfulness techniques, both creative and physical. This club finishes at 4.15pm. |
Y1, Y2, Y3 | £8 |
What is a drug?
In Living and Learning, as taken from our long term plan, we will be focusing on drug education for the next two weeks.
Our first statement for this learning is, I know what a drug is.
Our definition of a drug refers to a substance people take to change the way they feel, think or behave. The word ‘drug’ includes:
- All legal drugs, including tobacco, alcohol, solvents and volatile substances, misused medicines and legal highs
- All illegal drugs
- Prescribed and over-the-counter medicines
On Thursday and Friday of this week, we welcome d:side, a health education provider, to school to deliver drug education workshops to each class as part of this learning.
Parents and carers are invited to come to an information session, led by d:side, on Thursday 24 January from 2:45-3:15pm. Please inform the office if you would like to attend.
