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Jabadao

We had a fun PE session today doing Jabadao!  Jabadao is a type of dance which uses scarves and ribbons.  It can be very lively or very calm.  Music is played but the dancer is in control of the movements so it’s varied and unique.  Look at these photos; you can see how much fun we had.

Why are we closing?

You’ll be aware that many public sector workers, including teachers who are members of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, are taking industrial action this Thursday, 30 June.

Briefly, pensions are the big issue. The unions say that government plans mean teachers will be required to pay more, work longer and receive less when they retire.  The teaching unions’ reasons for taking this action can be found here.

There’s been plenty of talk in the media about Michael Gove’s suggestion that headteachers should do all they can to keep schools open, even to the extent of asking parents / carers come in to help.

As headteacher of Moortown Primary, closing the school is a decision I never take lightly.  On Thursday, however, I have no choice.  All teachers at Moortown plan to take industrial action.

I realise the closure of school causes many problems (eg with childcare) and, for this, I apologise.  However, there are issues which I have to consider, whether or not Mr Gove has done so.  Not so long ago, for example, schools could fail an Ofsted inspection if they could not show they had carried criminal record checks (CRB checks) on volunteers in school; these would be necessary, and costly, if we were to use parents to cover staff absences on Thursday’s strike.

Even for those volunteers with the correct documentation, there are other issues I’d need to consider, including:

• confidentiality
• first aid training
• safe use of equipment
• behaviour management
• knowledge of restraint procedures
• guidance on physical contact with pupils
• insurance liability

Based on these points, and other arguments, the headteachers’ union, the National Association of Head Teachers, has recommended its members do not invite parents / carers to help on Thursday.

Once again, I apologise for the inconvenience caused.

SEAL statement 27 June

‘I can make the most of an unwelcome change’ is the new SEAL statement for this week.  Unwelcome changes can happen at any time and it is important for the children to have the ability to make the most of these changes.  This may be through developing a suitable response to this change, turning the situation into something positive, understanding and managing feelings associated with this type of change and seeking support from others.

Wake Up Shake Up success

A very big well done the to the Key Stage 1 WUSU team, made up of ten Year 2 children, who have made it through to the next round of the competition.  All the team performed brilliantly at Allerton Grange and comments from the judges included how enthusiastic and energetic they all were!

Good luck in the next round!

This week’s ‘Tricky Words’

The ‘Tricky Word spellings for this week are:

• was
• my
• you
• her
• they

Reception will be opening the Summer Fair

 Reception Class will be opening the Summer Fair this Friday at 3pm with an amazing Maypole Dance. Don’t miss it!

24 June 2011

The spellings this week are all words which require a letter to be doubled up because of a short vowel sound just before.

For example: hopping. The short ‘o’ (different to the ‘o’ in ‘hope’) sound means that the ‘p’ must be doubled up. (If it was a long ‘o’ sound the word would be hoping and wouldn’t need a double ‘p’.)

Nouns and verbs should practise numbers 1-8. Adjectives and adverbs should practise 1-10.

1. follow
2. happy
3. banning
4. swimming
5. batter
6. spinner
7. trigger
8. different
9. accommodation

Spellings will be tested on Friday 29 June. Practise hard!

24 June 2011

The homework this week is Practice Makes Perfect and is due in on Wednesday 29 June.

I know other words for said.

We are just about to start writing stories in literacy and will be writing speech between characters. Therefore, your child has been tasked with finding as many different words for ‘said’ as possible, for example, shouted, whispered, replied etc. They can use dictionaries, thesauruses, the internet or other sources to find the different words. How they choose to present the information is completely up to your child.

The person who can find the most words will win a prize!

24 June 2011

The homework this week is ‘Creative’ and is due in on Wednesday 29 June.

I can create a map of a journey I make.

Here are some ideas:

• Bird’s-eye view map of their route to their school / grandparent’s house etc on paper or on a computer.
• A constructed model of a familiar journey using Lego/K’nex etc.
• Another idea would be for you to make the journey, taking a picture every few minutes.
• Drawing your route is a great idea, too.

I look forward to seeing all the maps.

24 June 2011

This week, we are again learning to spell ‘ai’ words and to use them in sentences.

Children will be tested on them in class on Friday 01 July.