Haiti Earthquake
All of us are shocked and saddened by the dreadful stories and images from Haiti. Delivered appropriately, at the right level, it’s important that such big stories are talked about in school. In the Y1-2 topic Heroes, the teachers will spend some time thinking about how ordinary people can be heroes at times like these – UK firefighters going to Haiti to help, for example. The Y3-4 topic Where in the World? is also a good way to discuss the issues and answer questions and concerns. Y5-6 will also talk about the earthquake, though not specifically linked to any topic work.
Fundraising
On the next two Friday afternoons (22 and 29 January) from 3.00pm, we will be having a fund-raising sale in the hall.
We’ve been having a clear-out of books and will be selling lots of old but perfectly readable (and very enjoyable!) books. Some parents have also suggested preparing food to sell which is a wonderful idea – your contributions will be very much appreciated, I’m sure. Any food you prepare, please bring on the day.
If you prefer to simply make a donation, you can do so by posting a contribution in an envelope marked ‘earthquake’ into our Postbox or direct to the Office staff.
Thank you.
Have you seen our Forums page?
Year 6 children have been the first to contribute to the new forums on the website. So far, there have been some comments about our recent Super Science day. Miss Kieran has also started a discussion about the Snowbound topic and homework.
Keep checking the Forums page (it’s in the green Join In section) for discussions from other classes.
SEAL statement 18th January
Our SEAL statement for this week is ‘I can keep calm and overcome feelings of anger.’
What strategy do you use to keep calm? Do you do fist flowers, breathe deeply in and out or tell someone how you feel? For some other ideas look at the calming down strategies on the keyrings around school.
SEAL statement 11th January
This week’s SEAL statement is ‘I can be a good friend.’ Try to share some friendship tokens around school this week!
There are a number of good books about friendship. Some examples are:
- Reception – ‘Friends’ (by Kathryn Cave) and ‘Will you forgive me?’ (by Sally Grindley)
- Year 1/2 – ‘The lonely giraffe’ (by Peter Blight) and ‘The rainbow fish’ (by Marcus Pfister)
- Year 3/4 – ‘The Snow Queen’ (by Hans Christian Andersen) and ‘Voices in the park’ (by Anthony Browne)
- Year 5/6 – ‘Cloudbusting’ (by Malorie Blackman) and ‘Granny Torrelli makes soup’ (by Sharon Creech)
The best place for up-to-date information
Our website and Twitter page are the best places to find up-to-date information about whether we are closed.
We also use ParentMail, but mobile networks are sometimes jammed because of overuse – this is happening at the moment due to so much demand on the networks between 06:30 and 09:00. We’re sorry texts haven’t got through recently – it’s out of our control.
We contact Leeds City Council, BBC Radio Leeds and Radio Aire. However, there are many delays using this system. It is not the most efficient and it is not always up-to-date or accurate.
We are usually available to take telephone enquiries from around 07:30. However, there’s a heavy demand and you may struggle to get through.
Follow us on Twitter or check the blue Twitter box on the homepage of this website. This information is prompt and accurate. We are one of the few schools in the country able to provide such up-to-the-minute information.
If you’re on Vodafone, O2, Orange or 3 you can also receive our tweets by text message. Here’s how:
First, set up your mobile:
- Sign up for an account with Twitter if you don’t already have one.
- Text the word START to 86444.
- You’ll receive a text from Twitter. Reply to this text with your Twitter username.
- You’ll receive another text from Twitter. Reply with your Twitter password.
- You’ll receive another text from Twitter. Reply with the word OK.
- You’ll receive a final text from Twitter confirming your phone is set up.
Next, set up your Twitter account:
- Go to your ‘settings’ on Twitter (top right hand corner of the page)
- Next, click on ‘Mobile’
- Set ‘Device Updates’ to ON and click Save. You can also decide to turn off these text messages overnight, but remember that we’ll tweet really important information as early as we can, so it might be best to leave them turned on at all times.
- Now go to our Twitter page (twitter.com/moortownprimary). Make sure you are following us (click on the ‘Follow’ button if you’re not already) and then click on the Mobile button to start to receive texts from us. When the icon is green, you are receiving our tweets by text. To turn them off click again and the icon will turn grey.
New SEAL theme
Our SEAL theme for this half term is ‘Getting On‘ and our first weekly statement is ‘I can work cooperatively to help a group‘.
This week staff will be looking for group skills across school and those children will be recognised in our Friday celebration assembly.
League Tables
Our performance in this year’s government league tables is good – learning and progress are above average based on 2009 Key Stage 2 data (ie Year 6 SATs results).
Maths results are especially strong. (See our full results on the DCSF website.)
An area in which we must improve is attendance. Our overall absence rate is 6.2%, which is higher than both the Leeds average (5.9%) and the national average (5.5%). This might not sound a lot but (compared to England as a whole) it’s equivalent to more than one extra day’s absence per child per year. Research shows that increased absence undermines children’s learning and social development.
Term time holidays have a big impact on absence rates in our school. It’s our policy to turn down requests for unnecessary absence during the school term so please check with school before booking your child’s holiday.
Postbox
We have installed a postbox just inside the main entrance, opposite the office. Rather than queue to see Mrs O’Malley, you’re welcome to post through any payments eg dinner money – please make sure they are in an envelope and labelled.
Also, if you’ve got any suggestions and would rather write this on a note, please use the postbox for these, too. This means that your comments could be anonymous if you prefer.
Inclusion Chartermark
We’re very proud to have been awarded the Inclusion Chartermark. It’s fantastic to be recognised as having great inclusive practice because effective inclusion helps all our pupils: gifted and talented and those with learning difficulties; native English speakers and those with English as an additional language; confident, active pupils and quiet, shy learners.
Here are a few quotes from the report:
…a wonderful working, learning and playing
The school radiates an atmosphere of trust, warmth, fun and a sense of belonging.
Relationships are at the heart of the school life.
Pupils comment that their teachers made learning fun.
Well done to all our staff, pupils and parents. A special mention must go to Mrs Weekes, our Inclusion Manager, who has worked so hard in the last couple of years to make our practice in this area even better.
Welcome to new staff
At the end of last term we were sad to say goodbye to Mrs Shabir; in her time at Moortown Primary, Mrs Shabir qualified as a teacher and the time was right for her to pursue her career further. We wish her every success.
We are, however, very excited to say hello to three new (temporary) teaching assistants: Mr Tyagi (in Reception), Miss Heap (Y1, Y2 and Y4) and Miss O’Mahoney (Y3). Check out a picture of them that we posted on our Twitter account!
