Testing times
Forgive the pun… When we say ‘testing times’, we’re not talking about Trump or any other tricky ‘T’ word. Instead, we’re talking about the tests children in Year 2 (the end of Key Stage 1) and Year 6 (the end of Key Stage 2) will do in May.
For children in Year 6, the tests are in the week beginning 08 May. For children in Year 2, the tests – which we often call ‘special work’ – don’t need to be on specific days, but will be around the same time.
To help familiarise yourself with the tests, check out these videos:
Upcoming elections
Our current school councillors recently held their final meeting as we prepare to elect our new School Council.
This year’s election date is Thursday 09 February.
Children from every class, including Reception, are encouraged to prepare a speech to present to their class as part of the election process. Our whole school homework before the election date (03 February) will give children the chance to plan their speech.
Thank you to our existing school council who have been involved with many decisions and discussions throughout the year.
They are welcome to stand again at the elections.
Reading for pleasure
In Year 4 we are promoting reading for pleasure. The children are given the opportunity to bring in books from home for themselves and others to enjoy.
In the classroom we have a wide variety of reading materials for the children to enjoy, such as newspapers, comics, atlases, dictionaries, thesauruses, historical, geographical, scientific, religious and many more.
The calm, relaxing atmosphere during these sessions shows that the children are engaging in reading and enjoying the variety of texts.
Group reading with an adult also happens during this time. Each group read and are questioned by the adult. Target pages are set weekly.
Here are a few snapshots of one of our sessions.
Even reading in a Tardis!
Class assembly
Don’t forget our class assembly is on Wednesday 01 February at 2.40pm.
See you there!
Spring/Summer term menu
The new school dinner menu, from our school meals provider, Catering Leeds, will be introduced after half term and this will continue for the rest of the school year.
As well as on our website, the three week cyclical menu is also displayed on our dining room window for you to discuss with your child/children. Have a look for the weeks ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are. If you would like a printed copy, please ask at the office.
School meals continue to be free for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. If your child is in Key Stage 2, please check for eligibility for free school meals. (It’s important to check for eligibility for younger children, too, because school receives additional funding for each child who is eligible for a free meal, even when they’re free in Reception and Year 1 and Year 2!)
If your child would like to start having school dinners, please inform the office. A combination of packed lunches and school dinners is also available.
Children are consulted on school meals through our regular School Council meetings. Feedback may also be given by speaking to an adult in school or completing a suggestions/comments slip and posting it in their class SEAL box.
Thank you to parents who also raise questions and give feedback. We can then ensure this is passed on to the kitchen staff.
Girl power? And how to promote it, for boys and girls.
We’re sad to read the research that came out this week indicating that girls begin to lose confidence in their talents at an early age:
Girls start to see themselves as less innately talented than boys do when they are only six years old, a group of US researchers has said. They said the “disheartening” results suggested the problem could snowball to affect future careers.
The study on 400 children, in the journal Science, initially found both five-year-old boys and girls thought their own gender was “brilliant”. But then only one year later, gender differences had emerged.
The study put sets of five, six and seven-year-olds through different experiments.
In one, the children were read a story about someone who is “really, really smart” but it is not clear who the story is about.
They then had to guess the protagonist from four pictures – two of men and two of women.
At age five, boys pick men and girls pick women around 75% of the time. But fast-forward a year to age six and boys are still picking men while girls are now slightly more likely to pick men too.
You can help!
Whether you have a daughter or a son, it’s important to combat gender stereotypes. Check out this list of great books that challenge traditional assumptions and perceptions. (Princess Smartypants is a great book, by the way!)
It’s also a good idea to emphasise hard work and effort with children, rather than some ‘natural gift’:
Fellow researcher Dr Lin Bian advised parents and teachers to emphasise the importance of hard work. She told the BBC: “[Studies suggest] that everyone does better when hard work is believed as the key to success.
“In our studies, girls might be particularly impacted by the messages focusing on ‘hard work’ – they became equally interested in playing the game as boys.
“Thus conveying the importance of hard work to success could protect and even promote young girls’ interests.”
27 January 2017
This week’s homework is Creative.
To research the Vikings.
Year 4 have been given the chance to do some research about a particular period of time prior to learning about it next week.
Get those creative Viking heads on!
27 January 2017
This week, the children have been given three spelling activities. They need to use these to help them to learn the words given last week.
Consonants and Vowels
Write your spellings words; use a blue coloured pencil for consonants and a red coloured pencil for vowels.
Stair steps
Write your spellings as ‘stair steps’.
Alliterative Phrases or Sentences
Choose five of your spelling words and write five alliterative phrases or sentences. An alliteration uses the same initial letter. You may include a word or two that does not begin the same letter. Be sure to underline your spelling words.
Examples: cooling condensation, important instruction, every emotion explains experiences.
27 January 2017
The homework this week is creative and links in with our learning in maths this week:
I can show what I have learnt about money.
In maths lessons, we’ve become familiar with different coins and made amounts using combinations of coins. For this homework, show off what you have learnt this week or show me some other learning or experience involving money!
27 January 2017
The spellings this week all have an le ending. This is the most common spelling for this ‘ul’ sound at the end of words.
| table |
| apple |
| bottle |
| little |
| middle |
| people |
| simple |
| smile |
