Living and learning: Mind Mate
This week in Living and Learning we looked at recognising and responding to other people’s emotions. We listened to two boys describing their friendship and why they are such good friends. We recognised some of these aspects in our brilliant friendships at school.
We were then presented with the scenario of one of the boys starting a new friendship with someone who had just moved next door to him. We tried to empathise with both boys and consider how this scenario would make them feel.
Owen might be jealous because he thinks that Bill won’t be friends with him any more.
Bill might be sad but Owen can make him feel better and still play with him.
Finally, we did some role play to act out what we would say in this situation.
I would tell Bill that we could play together.
They could all walk to school together.
Owen could tell Bill that they have been friends a long time and are still friends now.
Help at home by talking to your children about how to recognise emotions in others and what they would do if they saw someone upset at school.
North East Youth Summit 2025
Today, the Year 5 and 6 junior leaders visited the Leeds Civic Hall to attend the North East Youth Summit. It was a great day where the children had the opportunity to meet and hear from councillors, ask questions and give their say when thinking about things we would like to change and improve about our local area.
We suggested our ideas for activities that we would love to see in our locality. Here were our choices.
We were in a room with lots of other junior leaders from around our locality so it was great to meet them as well!
We discussed climate change in the official chambers where the MPs and Leeds’ Mayor meet to discuss their plans.
Reminder: World Book Day
World book day will take place on 06.03.24 .
Food Technology – Bruschetta!
This morning, Year 3 have been making Bruschetta. We were so impressed with their knowledge and skills at each stage of the recipe.
The main skill we were practising was cutting with a knife. The two different techniques that we used were the bridge and the claw. We used the bridge to safely and securely cut the tomatoes into small chunks. We used the claw to cut the basil up into smaller pieces.
We then used a garlic crusher to squeeze the garlic into our tomato and basil mixture. It’s safe to say the room smelt very strong!
The final challenge was to spoon the mixture onto the sliced and toasted baguette without making a mess and then to dig in… some of them gave it a 10/10!
Help at home by re-making the recipe the home. It’s been sent home with your child today. Could you add something new; ham, cheese or salmon?
Living and Learning: Safer Internet Day!
Safer Internet Day – 11.02.2025!
The theme for this year’s national Safer Internet Day is:
‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online.’
Over the week, we’ve had the opportunity to think about any worries we might have about using the internet, becoming equipped with the skills to be safe on the internet but also about celebrating all the fantastic things technology can help us with.
I know that some things online may not be true.
We discussed ‘fake news’ and what this means. We decided that if something is ‘fake’, it is not real and ‘news’ is information that is important. Fake news can be misleading and can give people the wrong impression or information.
We worked in groups to decide whether certain information was reliable and trustworthy.
Here are ways we could check if something is real or fake:
- Where has it come from?
- Who has posted this information?
- Is it a reliable news source like Newsround or First News?
- Can we see it across multiple reliable sources?
- Ask a trusted adult.
I know it’s important to check with a trusted adult before sharing personal information online.
Personal information is any information that is about who you are and what you do.
Websites and apps can collect our personal information and data and use it to provide services to us. For example, supermarkets might need your address if they are delivering your food or an app might need to know your age to know that you are old enough.
We need to keep this information safe whilst online and not give it to just anyone! We must always speak to a trusted adult before sharing any information online.
We watched the BBC live lesson for Safer Internet Day as well as our school learning. 
Help at home: Can you think of at least 4 pieces of personal information that we should keep private?
Friday 07 February
The spellings this week are tricky words we have been learning in phonics.
her
when
what
people
their
The spellings will be tested on Friday 14th February
National Storytelling Week
It’s national storytelling week! Y6 were pleased to join a webinar hosted by author Tola Okogwu. She’s written Onyeka, among lots of others, and took us through how she comes up with her amazing story ideas.
We could interact with Tola and she even picked Luca’s idea of the character having super stretchy legs as her super power! Check it out below.
We loved thinking creatively to start off this magical tale so help at home by finishing it off or starting a new one with your own ideas!
Reminder: stay and learn session
Fine Motor Skills and coffee morning – 03.02.25 9-10am
Magna Trip!
Today, Year 3 and 4 visited Magna Science Adventure Centre. The main focus for Year 3 was their Topic learning about volcanoes and Science about rocks. We had a fantastic day exploring and learning!
There are four main areas to Magna (plus the playground!)…
Air
We explored the effect of air on movement.
Water
The children saw how water goes through the water cycle.
Earth
Here we saw the different layers of the Earth and how they interact.
Fire
The fire section displayed how fire acts and what happens to things that catch on fire.
and of course, we explored the playground!
Our workshop focused on volcanoes and rocks.
Help at home by exploring the Magna website to see if there are more workshops that are worth visiting for! They often have free workshops too! https://www.visitmagna.co.uk/
Living and Learning: Speak Out, Stay Safe
This week, the children learnt all about speaking out to stay safe with NSPCC.
We discussed children’s rights and the importance of the NSPCCs message of ‘speak out, stay safe’.
As part of this session, they identified their trusted adults that they could talk to if they needed or wanted. It’s so important to have these trusted adults and why we should always speak out rather than keeping our worries in.
Adults that we can talk to include:
- parents/carers
- grandparents
- older siblings
- teachers/headteacher
- club leaders
- friend’s parents
- Alternatively, Childline is always there to call or visit their website for help. https://www.nspcc.org.uk/
We watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRSJ0U3xWM4
Help at home: discuss who your child can talk to if they need help. If they don’t feel comfortable using their words, how else can they communicate? Write a note? Record their voice? Draw a picture?
