MAPS!
One of my great loves in life is a good map so I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our topic lessons so far this week.
We’ve thought about what different maps there are in the world and why we use them. Our learning has then focused on OS maps, looking at what we can learn about an area just by looking at a map.
We found it most interesting looking at contour lines and what they tell us about the height of the land above sea level and where the land is steep or flat.
Next, we’re moving on to human geography to explore what our country is like and how different factors contributed to our success in the Olympics over the Summer.
Autumn term school meals menu
Don’t forget our Autumn term menu is available to view on our website and is displayed on our dining room window. The menu, from our school meals provider Catering Leeds, follows a three week cycle. Have a look for the week ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are.
School meals continue to be free for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. If your child is in Key Stage 2, please check for eligibility for free school meals.
If your child would like to start having school dinners, please inform the office. A combination of packed lunches and school dinners is also available.
Sport England Primary Spaces award
You may have noticed some playground changes since we have returned to school. If not, ask your child to take you to the back playground and this is what you’ll see.
The installation of the MUGA (multi use games area), nets in the main playground and playground markings outside Year 5 are as a result of a successful application to Sport England under the Primary Spaces fund to help primary schools who have little outside space. We were awarded £30,000 to create a multi-sport area and our School Council were part of the decision-makers for the final designs.
The new facilities will provide vital facilities for curriculum PE and physical activity across the school day including playtime, lunchtime and after school. They have proved to be a hit in the first week back with children eager to use the new facilities and also watch (in a safe manner).
Thank you to Playscheme, the contractor responsible for the installation.
Great start Year 6!
Welcome back to your new – and final – school year. Year 6 have made a fab start with lots of hard work going on already but lots of us have been surprised that we can still be having fun. We’re well on the way reminding ourselves about reading and writing numbers (up to 10,000,000) and recapping on nouns, verbs and all sorts of other word classes.
Our Where in the World topic has begun and we’re busy planning an inter-railing trip around Europe and there’s lots to think about:
- How many countries can we visit?
- How long should we stay in each place?
- What do we want to do there?
- How long will our journey be from one place to another – and should we travel over night and sleep on the train?
We worked really well together to get an amazing trip planned.
We had to use lots of Maths skills and map skills as well as problem-solving and working together.
We’ll put up a post to show you our final plans when we’re done.
New SEAL theme – New Beginnings
As we start the new school year, our SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme focuses on New Beginnings.
We begin the theme with a manners SEAL statement, I can greet someone politely.
New Beginnings allows children the opportunity to discuss and reflect on how they or others may feel in a new situation or setting. This SEAL theme offers children the opportunity to see themselves as valued individuals within a community, and to contribute to shaping a welcoming, safe and fair learning community for all.
During the theme, the key areas of learning are empathy, self-awareness, social skills and motivation.
Through discrete SEAL lessons, circle times and across the curriculum, children will explore feelings of happiness and excitement, sadness, anxiety and fearfulness, while learning (and putting into practice) shared models for calming down and problem-solving.
New Beginnings supports the development of a learning community in each classroom where all members feel that they belong. Class contracts, produced at the start of the year, allow children to contribute to how they feel they can achieve a safe and fair learning community.
Does your child have a School Saving Club account?
If so, here are the paying in dates for this year (one each half term).
- Thursday 13 October 2016 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 08 December 2016 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 02 February 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 23 March 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 18 May 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 13 July 2017 3.15-3.45pm
Children must be accompanied to the sessions.
If you can’t attend the dates, you can bring money to the office in a sealed envelope marked School Saving Club for the attention of Miss Hale.
Also, it’s not too late to open a School Saving Club account. Please ask at the office for an application form. 
As an added incentive for children moving to Year 3, their account will be credited with £10 once opened.
Have a happy and healthy holiday
It’s the summer holidays at last, so there are no homework or spelling activities. Enjoy the holidays instead!
Does your child spend less time outdoors than prison inmates? A survey suggests three-quarters of children do, as the time spent playing in parks, woods and fields has shrunk dramatically due to lack of green spaces, digital technology and parents’ fears.
Research shows that playing outdoors promotes social skills, improves vision, reduces stress, increases attention span and provides vitamin D.
Goodbye and good luck!
The end of the year is here! And what a year it’s been!
At the beginning of the year, we quickly came to realise that it would be a joy. Children have worked really hard and should feel really proud of what they’ve achieved. We’d like to share some of our thoughts about the successes in the class.
I’ve been particularly impressed with Ethan, Lennox and Bella’s writing this year. It’s been creative, well thought through and technically great. Brandon’s writing in recent months has also shown a great improvement. Keep it up! Similarly, Olli, Bailey, Yahya and Jenni‘s knowledge of grammar and punctuation has amazed us all year spot the squashed sentence, guys! Molly, Arran and Linda all made leaps and bound with their reading, finishing the year with great inference skills and a mature understanding of texts. Having identified spelling as something he wanted to work on, Archie made an enormous effort to improve. And it paid off – keep up the hard work, Archie.
In maths, Rav, Lanas, Henry, Ahmed, Jawaad, Zack and Rayhaan have stood out due to their resilience, problem-solving and overall improvement.
Despite being new to the country this year, Laurielyn and Gloria settled in quickly and became vital members of our class and school. Every adult in school has heard of their great attitudes to learning as well as their amazing progress. Great stuff!
Shahban, Ibrahim, Simran and Levon have grown in confidence over the year and, while quiet, have a great sense of humour and maturing attitude. Standing out for their relentless determination to improve this year are Pavan, Jaskirat, Jahneil and Sophia. Keep this up guys and you’ll go far… Tayshaun has improved well in all manner of different subjects. He’s kept us laughing throughout the year, too! Young Sam came to us a fresh-faced boy and leaves a new man – he’s more mature, has a great sense of humour and has learnt loads. Well done, Sam!
It’s been a real pleasure to get to know you all and we wish you the very best of luck at high school.
Mr Owen, Mr Catherall and Mrs Raseta.
What healthy changes are you making?
Last week, our SEAL statement was I can make a healthy change.
It was great to hear all the changes that children were making and also encouraging their family to take part in.
Here are some examples from Year 3.
Children were also encouraged to travel to and from school on foot, by bike or scooter. The class with the most healthy changes and sustainable journeys were Year 5 with over 200 counters!
Here are some suggested healthy changes for over the holidays.
- Try tennis for free – these sessions continue monthly during the summer and are held locally at Roundhay Park tennis courts.
- Local leisure centres offer a range of holiday activities.
- Maybe you took part in the recent Sky Ride event and want to know how to maintain your bike? Halfords are running free bike maintenance sessions.
- The Little Gym is now open locally at the Moor Allerton Centre offering classes and summer camps.
- The Change4Life Sugar Smart app allows you to check levels of sugar in foods. How much sugar is in your snack? Is it time for a change?
- Change4Life and Disney have teamed up again with a 10 Minute Shake Up summer adventure, inspired by Disney Pixar’s Finding Dory.
We hope you have a happy and healthy active break.
Final homework review
Yesterday, we had our final homework review of the year – we definitely saved the best ’till last!
There were lots of amazing pieces of creative homework responding to the statement: I can reflect on my time at primary school.
We really enjoyed looking at each other’s reflections and it was amazing to see how we all remembered different things.
It was harder than usual to choose our favourites but here are some popular choices. Well done, everyone – they were all great!
