Taking over in spots!
Year 4 came into school looking slightly poorly yesterday. There were spots everywhere!
Luckily, no illnesses, just lots of support for Children in Need. It was great to see the effort made by the children (and possibly parents) in putting together an outfit that had spots. 
In addition to supporting a charity, Year 4 were able to take over some of the responsibilities in the classroom. This created a fair bit of excitement!
We discussed which jobs would be suitable and safe for children to take over and these are some of the ideas Year 4 came up with:
- taking the register
- delivering the tests
- handing out golden tickets
- delivering show and tell
- reading with Reception
- giving out stickers
- handing out cool class tokens
- writing certificates
- speaking in assembly
- reading the class novel
- and much more..
It was great to see some of the 8 Rs for Learning being put to use: - responsibilities
- risk taking
- being ready
- remembering
- being resourceful
The children did such a good job at taking over these roles with maturity, and a sense of humour, which is always a bonus!
Celebrating learning
It’s the end of our Explorers topic this week and we’ve spent time reflecting on what we have learned.
This morning, we met with our Year 1 friends to discuss the topic. We looked at each other’s topic books and talked about the different learning. Next, we looked at some specific skills which we might have used during the topic (e.g. comparing and contrasting, teamwork, problem solving) and found pieces of learning which evidenced these skills.
The children were questioning each other about their learning.
- “Tell me about this work. What did you find out?”
- “Explain this learning to me.”
- “Would you like to do any of the activities again and why?”
Have a look through our photos showing how we celebrated our learning.
Mindfull or mindful?
Would you like to find out more about mindfulness and how it can be used to support your child at home?
As part of our whole school themed week next week, all children will be taking part in mindfulness workshops. There’ll also be a parent/carer session on Monday 20 November at 2:30-3:15pm.
Please contact the office if you would like to attend.
Christmas school dinner themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 07 December. Please contact the office, before Monday 20 November, if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
Living and Learning
Our Living and Learning theme this half-term is Identity. The children will learn about their rights and responsibilities, what makes themselves and others special, valuing the similarities and differences between themselves and others and what is meant by community.
Our lesson last week focused on how we are all the same and how we are all different.
We began with a discussion using the sentence stems
- “I am different to… because…”
- “We share some similarities in that…”
This then lead us to our activity. Using a Venn diagram, the children worked with a partner to compare similarities and differences. This sparked off some very interesting discussions.
“My partner and I are the same because we both have a religion. However, we are different because those religions aren’t the same.”
We always start our Living and Learning lessons by reading the rules that the children set out for every session.
Who do you think you are? themed week 20 November
Our next whole school themed week, based around identity, diversity and community, will be taking place from Monday 20 November, which also coincides with national Road Safety Week. A variety of events and visitors are planned to help us deliver this key aspect of education.
Events during the week will include looking at our own identity including belonging, self-esteem and mindfulness, diversity of people around us including race, age, religion, disability and gender. Classes will also be getting out into the community working with local organisations such as St Gemma’s, local care homes, Moortown Community Group and taking pride in the local community by litter picking.
Road Safety Week will run alongside our themed week where children are encouraged to take a walk/scoot/bike in the community on their way to and from school, maybe even picking up a piece of litter on the way. If your child walks, scoots or bikes, they should complete the slip at the bottom of the letter sent home (spare tokens are available in class), each day, for a chance to win a £10 shopping voucher for each class. We hope you will support this initiative in helping children make a healthy start to their day and also helping towards reducing congestion at our gates. Even by parking further away from school your child could then to do the final part of their journey by foot, bike or scooter. Bike and scooter storage facilities are available beside the Year 3 and 4 classrooms.
During the themed week, children will be researching local, national and international charities and a new school charity will be chosen at the end of the week to replace our current charities, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Mind Leeds.
Friday 24 November will be a non-uniform identity day. Children are invited to dress in clothing that represents part of their identity, for example uniform from a club they attend, a team they are part of or support or traditional dress to represent their heritage. We invite a donation for the PTA Christmas fair.
Who do you think we are?
Do you think you’d recognise some of our staff in their early years? This photo competition is back and will run throughout the week with details to follow separately. Proceeds will be given to our new school charity.
Community coffee morning Wednesday 22 November 9-10am
As part of the week, we welcome parents and carers to an informal coffee morning to meet other members of our school community including representatives from the PTA, our governing body, Moortown Community Group and Friends of Moortown Park. I will also be available to speak to parents about our new Living and Learning scheme of work. A whole school community Wake up Shake up will follow at 10am in the main playground.
Mindfulness information session for parents
Please see the separate letter to sign up for this parent workshop on Monday 20 November, 2:30pm-3:15pm.
Can you help?
Pupil feedback from our previous Who do you think you are? themed week was to ‘learn more languages that other people speak.’ Do you speak another language and you would be happy to speak to children about this? If so, please contact the office to pass on your details. Also, do you have any local community links that may support our week?
Our website and Twitter continue to keep you up to date with key community events as well as our community noticeboard with lots of information about the themed week too. It’s going to be a busy week!
Anti-bullying week All Different, All Equal
Next week is national Anti-Bullying Week and our Living and Learning statement is I know how to STOP bullying.
The theme this year is ‘All Different, All Equal‘ with the following key aim:
The idea is to help children and young people celebrate what makes them, and others, unique and help them understand why it’s important that every child feels included in school, able to be themselves, without fear of bullying.
Our school definition has recently been reviewed by the new School Council and remains unchanged.
‘Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally, several times on purpose.’
As part of their learning this week, children will discuss these aspects of bullying:
- Our definition of bullying (above)
- 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 (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.
KS2 classes will also be using dance to show this learning through dance workshops arranged as part of the week.
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-2017-all-different-all-equal/
- 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/
Homework
Yet again, Year 4 produced some amazing, creative homework. The children were asked to use their knowledge from den building at school and produce a piece of work relating to this. During our homework review, we looked closely at each other’s work and then gave some feedback as a group.
Roundhegians RUFC Engagement Afternoon
During the first term, we were lucky enough to be visited by some rugby coaches who are affiliated with Roundhegians RUFC. We learnt lots about rugby union and it was great to see our skills improve each session.
As a celebration, Roundhegians organised an engagement afternoon on Monday. Some children from Year 4 and Year 5 went along to Roundhegians to play in a non-competitive, fun tournament. Well done to all those involved. The coaches were extremely impressed with your attitude and behaviour – you certainly represented Moortown Primary well!
If you’re interested in playing rugby union, please visit Roundhegians RUFC. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me before or after school.
Den building
Linking in with our current Big Topic, Explorers, Year 4 have been thinking about shelters and dens. These, of course, are an absolute necessity when exposed to the elements! This morning, the children set to work on building their very own dens. Loaded with sheets, pegs, clothes horses and much more, the teams set to work.
Attaching the material to various supports proved quite a challenge.
Having a shelter is important when you’re an explorer!
All the children worked well together and were able to overcome a few construction issues. As the dens started to take shape, the teams suggested improvements for their designs and compromised with their ideas.
The finished dens were stable, well constructed and fairly strong. However, all the dens were separate to each other so we decided to link them together.
Using tunnels and more sheets, the children successfully managed to join all the dens together, creating one big one!
Finally, the dens were complete!
Time to relax and read inside on some cosy cushions.
Even a spot of meditation.
A big well done to all the children!
Such great fun!
