Living and Learning
As we return to school, we begin our Living and Learning theme with a focus on manners: I can greet someone politely.
We’ll then continue by thinking about the ‘8 Rs for learning’. This theme is about promoting good learning behaviour for your child.
Each week, we’ll focus on two different ‘Rs’. We use an animal to symbolise each ‘R’, which might help your child remember all eight – can your child remember which animal matches the correct ‘R’?
You can support your child at home – we’ve listed a few ideas to help you below. Ask us if you’ve any questions or comments.
Download top tips for promoting the 8Rs for good learning behaviour.
I can show I am ready to learn.
Make sure your child is at school for a prompt start of 08:50.
Make sure your child has had plenty of sleep so they are alert and ready to learn at all times.
Encourage your child to ask lots of questions – that shows they want to learn!
I respond to feedback.
Ask your child if they remember their ‘stars’ and ‘steps’ in English and Maths.
I take a safe risk.
Talk about the difference between a safe and unsafe risk. At school, we want your child to take a safe risk by having a go at answering, even if unsure; trying something new and attempting harder learning.
I take responsibility for my own learning.
Provide time and space at home so your child is able to organise themselves: their PE kit, reading book, homework, spellings and tables… Don’t organise everything for them!
Make a link between rights and responsibilities: your child has the right to a great education, but needs to be responsible for their own learning.
I am resourceful.
Encourage your child to be organised so they can play with a range of different toys.
Encourage your child to try new ways to solve a tricky problem.
I am resilient.
Encourage your child to keep going! Set a tricky challenge or puzzle for your child to do.
Encourage your child to think of different ways of doing things.
Don’t let your child win when they play a game – they need to experience losing, too!
Celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn – be happy that your child found some learning hard and encourage them to ‘bounce back’ and learn from the experience.
I remember.
Make sure they have time to learn spellings, number bonds and times tables – a little practice daily is best.
Play memory games:
Kim’s game: show them objects for 30 seconds… can they remember all the objects?
Can they build up the sequence, ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple and a bike.’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a bike and a cucumber.’ etc … Take turns!
I reflect about my learning.
Talk with your child about what they’ve learnt, asking questions about:
how they learnt
why they learnt it
when they’ll use their learning
how they would teach this to someone else
what learning might link with what they’ve learnt today etc
As well as covering the 8Rs for learning, pupils will also learn about their rights and responsibilities.
Finally, we end the half term learning about democracy (one of the British Values). All children have the opportunity to experience democracy in our annual School Council elections. More details to follow.
Our full Living and Learning long term plan is available on the health pages and you can keep up to date with our weekly Living and Learning statements on the parent noticeboard in the playground and also on the school calendar.
Signing off: Highlights of Year 5
Our homework this week was creative: I can show my highlights of the year. In true Y5 style, the homework was smashed out of the park.
Some decided to show their favourite subject, like Serenity’s mini art gallery to represent her creative learning…
… or Laila’s Lego rounders pitch to represent PE and our trip to Roundhay Park.
Some created amazing posters to represent lots of different highlights…
… like World Book Day, our trip to the Bradford Media Museum or our several themed weeks across the year just to name a few!
Others made a countdown to rank their highlights…
… like Will’s Top Five which included our courtroom reenactment, 5/6 production and both our class novels…
… and Maggie even created hers using PowerPoint which was incredibly funny and emotional at the same time! “Does Miss Wilson really live in the cupboard and will she have to move house to the ‘apartment’ next door over the summer? We will never know.”
For some reason, many of the class had latched onto the fact that I can’t speak properly sometimes and I mix up my words. Once, I was trying to say “Dan had” and ended up calling him “Dad” in class. Hilarity ensued.
Another classic was asking everyone if they had a “spare purple pen” that came out as “spurple pen” and with it a long-running joke was born. Here it is being demonstrated by a larger than life homework submission.
Lots, lots, lots of the class mentioned how their highlight was simply bonding and spending time with their best friends, as demonstrated by Poppy and Kirsten’s ace collage.
Well done everyone, yet again! I could have posted everyone’s homework but these were just a couple of the brilliant ones.
My personal highlight has been getting to know each and every one of you and learning so much but having a good laugh along the way. I couldn’t ask for a better class to take up to year six for your last ever year of primary school. Enjoy the summer and I’m excited to see you all in September for our best year yet!
Miss Wilson x
Junior snooker summer holiday club programme
Northern Snooker Centre will be running six sessions to introduce snooker and billiards to young people aged 10-16 this summer holiday, coordinated by a WPBSA World Snooker Coach.
These fun and engaging group sessions are aimed at new players, as part of a new national programme funded by Sport England. Each session costs only £1 to attend.
The club is a member of the national club scheme, which means it meets the governing body standards of safeguarding and equality, as well as adopting a Code of Conduct to ensure the right setup for juniors, overseen
by a Club Welfare Officer.
This is a fantastic opportunity to try an inclusive sport in an exciting and dynamic environment.
Reflecting on our maths learning!
This week, part of the learning in year five has seen a triple-pronged attack!
Children used their computing skills to create a PowerPoint with a partner about their maths learning across the year. This thirdly tied in with our Living and Learning statement this week which is I can reflect and look ahead.
Their presentations and discussions that followed evaluated what was learnt but also how it went, what they liked and where they made the most progress.
“I made the most progress in rounding decimals to one decimal place,” said Sam.
Rabiya said, “I improved my knowledge of improper fractions and mixed numbers the most.”
New school meal menu
Our new autumn/spring school meal menu, starting in September, is now available on our Meals page. It continues to follow a three week cycle.
The menu has been created in liaison with Catering Leeds to ensure it meets the School Food Standards. We have also incorporated feedback from our school cook, pupils and parents/carers. We will continue to offer meat free Monday on one out of the three weeks.
Pupils will continue to make their daily food choices at the start of the day to ensure they receive their first choice of main meal.
If you would like a paper copy of the menu, please ask at the office.
School Savings Club paying in session
The next School Saving Club paying in date is 10 July 2019 at 3.15-3.45pm.
If your child opened an account in our Money Matters themed week, this would be a great chance to start their saving journey.
If you’re unable to attend in person, please hand in any money to be deposited to the office in a sealed envelope addressed to Mrs Tiffany.
This is the final paying in date for this year and dates for next year will be shared in September.
If your child would like to open an account, please ask at the office.
Sports day 4th July
We are looking forward to welcoming you to our annual sports day tomorrow. Here is some information about the day.
Location
Our sports day will take place offsite at Roundhegians Rugby Club (LS8 2AT). Access to the club is off Chelwood Drive and there is some parking available. Children will be walking to the field, escorted by adults. Thank you to those parents/carers who have offered to help with this. We will be leaving school at 9:05am for KS2 and 1:05pm for Reception and KS1.
Timings
The Key Stage 2 Sports Day will begin at 9.30am ending at approximately 11:30am and the Reception and Key Stage 1 sports day will start at 1.30pm ending at approximately 3 pm.
Normal lunch time and end of school collection arrangements will still apply on this day.
PE kit
Our teams will be: green, blue, white and red and your child/children has been told their team colour by their class teacher. If possible, please could your child wear a t-shirt to match their team colour. If your child does not have a coloured t-shirt, they should wear their white PE top and they will be given a bib to wear.
Children should come to school in their PE kit to be worn for the whole day.
On the day
Please could you ensure your child has their water bottle and a cap/hat at school; it would also be useful if you could apply sun cream before your child comes to school.
Events
The format of this year’s event will be competitive races and field events (KS2) with children having the opportunity to compete for medals. These will be awarded by staff and sports leaders from Allerton Grange, who will be placed on the finish line. No VAR this year, unfortunately! However, all children will be rewarded for taking part.
We expect each child to take part in at least two events. Some may take part in more depending on how many children are in their team. As far as is possible, we have tried to place children in events of their choice.
Seating
No seating is provided so please bring a rug or your own chairs if you come to spectate.
Gazebos
Thank you to those parents/carers who are able to bring gazebos on the day. Any additional gazebos would be welcome, to shade the children, if you can help with this.
Refreshments
The PTA will be selling refreshments for parents and carers on the day.
Photos
You are welcome to take photos on the day. These should be for your own use and as we have children in school who cannot be photographed please do not share these photos on social media.
Safety
For safety reasons, please do not cross the track to where the children are seated – thank you.
Life-Saving Training
Year 5 were lucky enough to receive some training that could potentially save someone’s life! We learnt about what to do if someone is choking or if they need CPR.
It’s a skill you never hope to use but vital to have.
Living & Learning – RSE
For the past three weeks, the Y5 topic has been Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). There are many branches to this topic including:
- maintaining positive relationships with family and friends
- exploring lots of different types of relationships and families
- the scientific terms for parts of the reproductive system
- what happens during puberty
- how to look after yourself and your personal hygiene
- how babies are made
- how to cope with emotional and physical changes
Year 5 have (unsurprisingly) been extremely mature and discussed our learning with enthusiasm and genuine interest. Here’s what they think:
“It’s been interesting but also a bit weird,” laughed Sam.
Evie said, “I feel confident about it now because I know what’s going to happen in future and what we need to do about it.”
“I feel happy because after hearing everyone else’s opinions it was really nice,” said Serenity.
Ben said, “I feel confident because I know what’s going to happen to me and how I can cope with it.”
“I feel happy because it’s not going to come straight out of the blue,” said Alexander.
“It’s nice when you’re going through something to be prepared,” Eve said.
“I felt confident asking questions since everyone had to put in a slip to the Ask It Basket,” said Eleni.
Showcase of skipping skills
Thank you to all parents, carers and family who came along to see the fantastic skipping skills on display at our recent skipping assembly.
Jodi, from Skipping School, provided skipping sessions for Reception class, Year 1, Year 3, Year 5 and Year 6 throughout the day and it was great to see all the new skills learnt. Year 2 and Year 4 have already been involved in their skipping projects this year and have taken part in festivals representing the school.
Skipping is one of the ways we encourage the children to achieve their 30 active minutes at school by providing short and long ropes at playtime and lunchtime.
If you didn’t get chance to buy a skipping rope after the assembly, we do have some available for sale. Please come to the Year 2 classroom on Monday or Tuesday, after school, if you would like to purchase one.
