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Ice Skating

On Wednesday 22 February, eight children were taken to the Ice Cube in Leeds.  They’ve been working on a project in school called “Leading the Way”; they have worked over a long period of time with Mrs Wilson and Mrs Taylor and have set up a project with Reception children.  They were taken ice skating as a reward for all their hard work; they had a brilliant time, although very wet, and were excellent role models for the school.  A lot of time was spent falling over and some very soggy clothes were taken home! No doubt there will be some bruises as evidence of the visit!

Hobby Half Day

On the last day of the half-term, children enjoyed another successful Hobby Half Day with all sorts of activities going on!  From i-jamming on iPads to fitness circuits, all of the children had a very busy afternoon.  All ages of children were working together and learning from each other and every classroom was a hive of activity.  Here are just a few photos to show you what was going on.

24 February 2012

This week’s homework is creative. It’s due in on Wednesday 29 February 2012.

Next week, on Thursday 01 March, it’s World Book Day.  To celebrate, all the classes are having a themed day on the subject of reading.  There will be lots of activities, including an invitation for your child to dress up as a favourite book character.  Linked to this, we’d like all children in school to consider their favourite story and explain why…

I can say why I like a book.

You could create a comic strip, write a book review, draw a story map, write a letter to the author… Anything you like that celebrates reading!

As always, the creative homework should be on one side of the A4 Homework Books, although creative ways to extend this are allowed!

24 February 2012

This week’s spellings are words ending in ‘y’. Your child will be tested on Friday 02 March 2012.

• bony
• greasy
• lazy
• scary
• shiny
• tasty
• slimy
• wavy
• nosy
• spiky

Bones are us!

You might be interested to know about a free Science lecture, ‘Bones are us‘, at Leeds Metropolitan University coming soon: “A fun and interactive exploration for children and parents”.  It’s aimed at 7 – 11 year olds, although siblings may also attend.

The lecture is on Saturday 17 March 2012 from 10:15am to 12:00noon (this includes a break).  It will be held in the James Graham Building, Headingley Campus, Beckett Park.  Parking is free and a map will be provided on request, or visit http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/about/files/campusmaps.pdf

All children must be accompanied by a parent/carer.

If you’d like to book places, contact Leeds Met directly:

• phone: 0113 812 5907 / 5473
• email: y.rayner@leedsmet.ac.uk

Last half-term’s SEAL theme…

…was very successful!

At Moortown Primary, we’re dedicated to the value of SEAL (which stands for stands for Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) in promoting a happy and healthy place to learn.  However, last half-term we chose to meet our children’s needs and interests in a different way.  We broke away from the national SEAL themes to think about our rights and responsibilities.  Here are some examples of our Y3 – Y6 children’s thoughts:

Staying safe

• I have the right to make an emergency call and the responsibility not to make prank calls.
• I have the right to walk to school by myself and the responsibility to make good decisions about the route I take.
• I have the right to be protected by the police and the responsibility not to lie to them.
• I have the right to go on social networking sites and the responsibility not to give personal information away.

Being healthy

• I have the right to do PE and the responsibility to remember my PE kit.
• I have the right to exercise and the responsibility to use equipment safely and properly.
• I have the right to a balanced diet and the responsibility to make healthy choices.
• I have the right to a healthy lunch box and the responsibility to eat what’s in it.

Enjoying and achieving

• I have the right to achieve and the responsibility not to boast about it.
• I have the right to enter contests and the responsibility not to cheat.
• I have the right to have stars and steps (Moortown Primary’s teacher marking / feedback system) and the responsibility to follow them.
• I have the right to be successful and the responsibility to earn the success.

Making a positive contribution

• I have the right to live in this world and the responsibility to keep it clean.
• I have the right to suggest ideas and the responsibility to make sure they’re sensible.
• I have the right to put my hand up with an answer and the responsibility to let others have a go.
• I have the right to be in the School Council (from a newly-elected Councillor) and the responsibility to listen and represent others.

Jobs and money

• I have the right to a job and the responsibility to work hard and keep my job.
• I have the right to earn money and the responsibility to use the money wisely.
• I have the right to work and the responsibility to arrive on time.
• I have the right to be an Office Monitor (from a Year 6 pupil who takes care of the office at lunchtime) and the responsibility to have good manners.

During all SEAL topics, children develop skills to work with others and awareness of positive choices and attitudes.  I’m sure you’ll agree the awareness and attitudes our children have demonstrated here are extremely impressive!

Our new SEAL theme is…

Good To Be Me.

SEAL stands for Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning.  This is a national scheme that promotes self-awareness, managing feelings, empathy, social skills and motivation.  At Moortown Primary, we’re dedicated to the value of SEAL in promoting a happy and healthy place to learn.  Good To Be Me is one of the national SEAL themes that we think about in the year.

The Good To Be Me theme explores feelings in the context of the child as an individual, developing self-awareness and helping the child to realise that it really is ‘good to be me’.  The theme is about understanding our feelings as well as considering our strengths and weaknesses as learners. It aims to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in three key social and emotional aspects of learning: self-awareness, managing feelings and empathy. The theme focuses on:

• understanding feelings, and why and how they lead us to behave the way we do – particularly the feelings excited, proud, surprised, hopeful, disappointed, worried and anxious;
• self-awareness – feeling good about yourself, taking risks;
• managing feelings – relaxing, coping with anxiety;
• standing up for yourself – assertiveness, standing up for your views.

As you can see, some important messages are promoted.  Starting next week and continuing each week this half-term, we’ll concentrate on a different area:

• Week beginning 27 February: I can respond to difficult situations in a positive way.
• Week beginning 05 March: I can help someone with a worry.
• Week beginning 12 March: I can receive a compliment in a sensible way.
• Week beginning 19 March: I can recognise my talents.
• Week beginning 26 March: I can do something that makes me feel proud.

Each Friday, SEAL certificates are awarded to children who have demonstrated particularly well their ability to act upon the statements.  More importantly, the themes, and others around Good To Be Me that are especially relevant to your child’s class, are discussed and promoted.  Perhaps you can support your child’s learning by discussing these statements at home, too.

It’s the holidays…

…so there are no spellings or homework activities.

Instead, enjoy a winter walk, the marvellous Muppets movie, some cool culture at a gallery or museum… Enjoy the half-term break.

03 February 2012

This week’s spellings are slightly different. Instead of a list of words, I simply want your child to be able to distinguish between the two forms of no:

no – For example: No, I don’t want to play.

know – For example: I know my times tables.

We’ll be looking at this through the week, but if you could practise these activities at home it will ensure your child has a thorough understanding:

1. On piece of paper, write no on one side and know on the other. Read out a sentence and they have to show the correct no.
2. Have some sample sentences where they write the correct form of no. For example:

• I know my spellings.  (know)
• There is no way through.  (no)

If you have any questions, feel free to speak with me any time.

03 February 2012

This week’s homework is Practice makes Perfect: the children have a text to read and then answer the questions to show their understanding.

It’s due in on Wednesday 08 February 2012.