Creative homeworks
Last week, the whole school had the same Creative homework.
‘I know how to STOP bullying.’
This homework was set in response to our learning last week during anti-bullying week. Throughout the week, each class had the chance to talk about what bullying is, what the different types of bullying are and how can we STOP it:
Start
Telling
Other
People
Our school definition of bullying is, as agreed by our School Councillors:
Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally, several times on purpose.
We invited parents in to see how we celebrate and review our homework.
We began by looking around the room at each other’s work before sharing some that had stood out to us. There certainly was plenty of creativity on show.
It was impressive to see how many different ways the children thought of to get our message of STOP across.
Perimeter
This week, Year 4 have been learning about ‘perimeter.’
What is the perimeter?
The perimeter is the distance around the edge of a 2D shape.
Calculating the perimeter.
Children start to learn about perimeter in Year 4.
The age related expectations are that children can measure and calculate the perimeter of a rectilinear figure (including squares) in centimetres and metres.
We began by discussing various units of measure such as; millimetres, centimetres, metres, kilometers, miles and inches.
Using string to begin with, the class were asked to measure the length of each side of a shape by marking the string in the correct place. Next, the children carefully worked out the length of the string by measuring along a ruler. When all sides had been calculated, then they had to add these measurements up to find the perimeter.
7cm + 3cm + 7cm + 3cm = 20cm “I can use doubling to work out the answer.”
7 + 7 + 14 3 + 3 = 6 14 + 6 = 20
At this point, the children recognised that a rectangle has two long sides that are exactly the same length and two short sides that are exactly the same length, which means we only needed two measurements The class then thought about different ways they could work out the perimeter.
10 + 4 + 10 + 4 OR (10 x 2) + (4 x 2) OR (10 + 4) x 2
The perimeter of a shape is always calculated by adding up the length of each of the sides.
It was great to see some converting of measures happening without any prompting to do so.
“134 cm is the same as 1 metre and 34 cm,” commented Leo.
Boldden
In Year 4, the children have been looking at the features of a narrative. The basic purpose of narrative is to entertain and to gain and hold a readers’ interest. Narratives sequence people/characters in time and place but differ from recounts in that through the sequencing, the stories set up one or more problems, which must eventually find a way to be resolved.
There are many types of narrative. They can be imaginary, factual or a combination of both. They may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction, romances, horror stories, adventure stories, fables, myths and legends.
After reading the story of Blodden, the children studied the features of the tale and how it was set out.
To ensure that we could retell the story in detail, the class worked in groups to act out part of the Blodden adventure. Year 4 had to allocate parts to each other and rehearse as a team. They were asked to think carefully about how each character may move, speak and look.
We had some super performances and it was great to see everyone joining in.
School dinner feedback
We always welcome feedback on our school dinner menu.
As a result of pupil, parent and staff feedback, there are a number of changes we are implementing, as we work with Catering Leeds to prepare our next menu, for after February half term.
- There will be a jacket potato choice on Thursdays to give three main meal choices rather than the current two choices.
- We will be trialing meat free Monday on week 3 of the menu cycle.
- Jacket potato choices will continue to be the most popular fillings on a rotation basis – cheese, tuna and beans.
- Vegetable choices will continue to be the most popular ones selected by pupils.
School dinners are always an agenda item at School Council meetings so children are encouraged to use their pupil voice to provide feedback to their school councillors or via a suggestion slip in the Living and Learning box.
The menu will be circulated to parents and posted on our website once this is available.
Takeover Challenge Day
Takeover Challenge day is on Friday 23 November
What is Takeover Challenge?
Takeover is a fun engagement project which sees schools and organisations across England opening their doors to children and young people to take over adult roles.
It puts children and young people in decision making positions and encourages schools and organisations to hear and act upon their views and ideas. Children and young people gain an insight into the adult world and schools and organisations benefit from a fresh perspective about their work.
Recently, our new School Council discussed how children could be involved in ‘taking over’ at school. Therefore on Friday, takeover activities will include serving school dinners (representatives from Year 4), working in the school office (representatives from Year 5), leading assembly (representatives from Year 6) and accompanying Mrs Weekes on a learning walk around school (representatives from Year 5 and 6).
In addition there will be opportunities within class where children will takeover. For example, taking the register, spelling/times table tests, parts of lessons, PE warm ups and guided reading.
Check our class news pages to see this in action.
Christmas dinner menu
Catering Leeds, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 13 December. Please contact the office, before Monday 26 November, if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
Living and Learning: Anti-bullying week ‘Choose Respect’
This week, all classes have been learning about different aspects of bullying during national Anti-Bullying Week.
Thank you to those families who supported our Odd Socks Day on Monday, celebrating that we are all unique.
At their first meeting, our new School Council reviewed the school definition of bullying and this remains unchanged.
‘Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally, several times on purpose.’
In addition to this definition, each class has considered the following.
- 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 or witness bullying. The key message is to tell someone (start telling other people)
STOP can stand for two key messages: the definition or the problem (Several Times On Purpose) and the solution (Start Telling Other People).
All classes have access to their class I want to say box or a whole school worry box where they can tell an adult any concerns about bullying or any other issues.
Our whole school homework this week, will allow children to consolidate this learning and show what they have learnt in a creative way.
We encourage you to discuss this learning with your child and for further support, bullying resources can be found at…
- https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/advice-parents
- https://www.kidscape.org.uk/resources/
- http://www.bullying.co.uk/advice-for-parents/
- https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/news-blogs/get-involved-in-anti-bullying-week-2018-choose-respect/
- https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect/bullying-and-cyberbullying/keeping-children-safe/
- https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/types-bullying/
- https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/feelings-and-symptoms/bullying/
Topic maths
We’ve already learnt lots about transport through the ages and today we linked our topic with some maths. Year 4 have shown a lot of interest and curiosity regarding one of the biggest transport tragedies of all time – the sinking of the Titanic. We held a debate to discuss whether or not it is right to retrieve artefacts from the sunken ship. Does this help us to appreciate how items from the past can help to understand history?
With a focus on how the lives of wealthy people were very different from those of poor people, the children studied the class system on board the Titanic. After examining a cross section of the famous boat, we had a much clearer view of each class and whereabouts they were situated on board.
Did more first class passengers survive the disaster?
In order to answer this question, the children had to collect and record some information about the capacity of the lifeboats. Then, using this data, Year 4 had to present their findings in the form of a bar chart. Next, after looking at the total available capacity of one boat, they had to work out how many 1st, 2nd, 3rd class passengers were in the lifeboat and how many crew.
The children were then able to calculate the amount of empty spaces there sadly were on lots of the lifeboats.
At the end of our lesson we discussed icebergs. Having already created one over night, the class looked closely at the iceberg in water.
“Most of the ice is under the surface of the water,” commented Ethan.
Harris added, “Ninety per cent is underwater.” A fact he already knew!
We discussed that each iceberg is unique. They float low in the water due to the sheer weight of the ice, which is why the tip of an iceberg is no measure of what lies beneath. Quite a scary thought!
Super Skipping
This morning, Year 4 took part in a skipping workshop. The children were taught many different skipping styles, some of which were really quite complicated. However, this did not deter the class! Instead, the approaches taken by the children were full of both resilience and determination.
Later in the year, we’ll be taking part in a skipping competition alongside other schools.
Odd socks day
We launched anti-bullying week today by taking part in Odd Socks Day.
There were all kinds of sock colours and designs on show celebrating the fact that we are all different and unique. Thank you for supporting this.
Here’s some of the Year 2 selection.
