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Tag rugby success

Our Year 5/6 Tag Rugby team took part in the Leeds North East tag rugby competition today and topped their group to qualify for the Leeds City Tag Rugby Finals in May.

Well done to all the children involved – a great team effort!

National pupil absence data 2016/17

Latest national pupil absence data shows that the overall absence rate across state funded primary, secondary and special schools has remained at the same rate of 4.6% in 2015/16 as in the previous year. The overall absence rate has remained broadly stable since 2013/14. Illness remains the most common reason for absence, accounting for 57.3% of all absences.

In 2015/16, persistent absentees accounted for 36.6% of all absence compared to 37.4% in 2014/15. Longer term, there has been a decrease in the proportion of absence that persistent absentees account for – down from 43.3% in 2011/12.

Family holidays (authorised and unauthorised) accounted for 8.2% of all absences in 2015/16 compared to 7.5% in 2014/15.

Among ethnic groups, the lowest overall absence rates were seen for pupils of Chinese and Black African heritage, at 2.4% and 3.0% respectively, a substantially lower rate than the national average of 4.6%.

Read more about national absence rates here.

Talking to children about terrorism

The horrific attack in Westminster last week is a shocking reminder to all of us how dangerous the world can be. It’s hard to avoid the blanket global media coverage of the event or the social media saturation – and hard to protect your child from becoming aware and anxious.

As sad as situations like this can be for adults, it can be especially difficult to know that our children are aware of such hateful attacks and it is natural to fear a loss of innocence when such events unfold before their eyes.

Here’s some advice for talking to children about terrorism (taken from Social Work Tutor).

Try to focus on the positives

When wrapping up these difficult conversations where you’ll be talking to children about terrorism, try to focus on the positives you can find. Whether it’s the fact that people all pull together to help overcome such awful attacks, or how many people from all over the world show compassion for their fellow humans, always look for the light at the end of the tunnel. The Social Work Tutor article ends with a good summary of this point:  ‘When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’

Be honest and answer the questions that children pose to you

Children are quick to pick up on lies and can identify when adults are trying to hush them up or change the subject. If your child asks you a question, answer it directly and in a manner that acknowledges their curiosity, as well as praises them for seeking out information.

Reassure your child and let them know that they are safe

Given that terrorist attacks can occur in places that seem so familiar to children- places where Mummy or Daddy work, public transport systems and places of celebration- seeing such attacks unfurl on television can make children feel unsafe in their daily surroundings. Try to frame the perspective of what has happened and then point out how emergency services and Governments work hard to keep us all safe.

Frame your answers to their questions based on the child’s prior knowledge

If your child has come to you having seen information elsewhere, try to respond in a manner that is proportionate to what they already know. When talking to children about terrorism, we may inadvertently cause greater anxiety by over-sharing. This may cause them to feel as if we were intentionally hiding bad things from them and raise natural fears about what other unknown threats might scare them.

Accept their feelings and explain that anxiety and worry are normal emotions                         

As well as praising children for wanting to find out more about tragic events, we should also let them know that sad feelings about the loss of innocent lives are normal. It is important that children understand worrying about others is a sign of empathy and is a natural human emotion in caring people.

Consider monitoring the media your children are exposed to

Modern technology means that any child with a mobile phone or tablet connected to the internet is exposed to the whole world. Combined with rolling 24/7 news stations, it can be very hard to protect our children from all the evil of the world. However, trying to reduce this exposure is a good way to limit the loss of innocence children will experience should they become over-exposed to tragic events.

Be a positive role model and show them proportional responses

As well as talking to your children about terrorism, you can model positive responses to tragic events by keeping calm and demonstrating realistic responses of your own. Although such events occur far too frequently and naturally shake us up, the chances of being caught up in such an attack are still slim.

Sensitively challenge any discriminatory views your child may have picked up

In a society that feels increasingly divided, children may pick up discriminatory views that are shared in response to acts of terrorism. If your child starts to share oppressive views that they’ve heard, try and challenge these in an age-appropriate manner and explain why it’s wrong to feel that way about other people.

24 March 2017

This week’s homework is Talk Time.

I see things from other people’s point of view.

Children should talk about how it is important to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel in order to help them resolve their issues. We will have a class discussion on Thursday 30 March.

We are still concentrating on our 11 times table.

Also, we will be revisiting previous tables regularly.

24 March 2017

This week’s homework is Talk Time.

I see things from other people’s point of view.      

Children should talk about how it is important to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel in order to help them resolve their issues. We will have a class discussion on Thursday 30 March.

We are still concentrating on our 3 and 4 times tables.

24 March 2017

This week’s spellings to learn for a test on Friday 31 March.

24 March 2017

This week’s spellings have been taken from a recent test done in class.

They are:

• height
• decreasing
• popular
• tomatoes
• destination
• vision
• material
• musician
• nature
• information

Below are some ideas to help you. Choose two activities and complete them in your homework books.

• Use a computer to write each word in a different font.
• Put your  words into alphabetical order.
• Write a story about an ogre using all of your words at least once.
• Draw a picture for each word. Turn one of them into an artwork.

24 March 2017

The homework this week is practice makes homework.

I can solve fractions problems. 

There’s a worksheet in the homework book for children to complete. They are asked to solve a problem and then explain their reasoning using pictures and a sentence. The first question has been done for them so they can see what they are expected to do.

Please ask if you have any questions.

24 March 2017

The words this week all contain the short vowel o sound (hot) which is spelled with an a. This is the most common spelling after  w or qu.

24 March 2017