Our weekly message: Friday 17 January 2025
The second weekly message of every half-term is always about our new topic – this half-term, it’s Geography. Before that, just a reminder about changes to penalty notices for term-time absences…
Penalty notices are issued per parent, per child (this means, for example, if there are 3 children in a family, each parent may receive 3 separate penalty notices).
In the Autumn term, Leeds City Council issued 2,908 penalty notices for term-time absences – usually holidays.
What is this half-term’s topic?
This half-term, your child is a geographer. The topic focusses on either environmental issues or natural disasters. Children in Years 1 and 2 will investigate their locality; Years 3 and 4 children will learn about volcanoes; and Y5,6 children are investigating climate change.
Check out our Topic Curriculum Guide for more information about key concepts (page 16) and age-related expectations and vocabulary (page 21 and 22).
Years 1 and 2
Children begin the topic by learning about the four countries and capital cities that make up the United Kingdom. They then go on to learn about the difference between human and physical geography features. They’ll then investigate human and physical features in their locality. The key part of this topic is to investigate their locality and identify what they like about it and why. They will also investigate something that could be improved and how it could be improved. For example, they may notice that litter is an issue and raise awareness of this issue with their peers in school, local residents and even a local councillor.
Years 3 and 4
Children will be learning about volcanoes. They’ll begin by learning about what lies beneath the Earth’s surface. They’ll investigate plate tectonics and how these move and the different types of volcanoes formed by this movement. They’ll learn about how mountains are formed and name and locate the tallest peaks in the UK – did you know that these peaks are the remains of ancient volcanoes? Next, they’ll move onto some specific case studies: Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland and Mount Vesuvius in Italy. They’ll investigate how volcanoes can be dangerous but also bring benefits to the people who live in their shadows.
Years 5 and 6
Children are learning about climate change. They’ll begin by learning about latitude and the link to world climate. They’ll then learn about what climate change is and what is causing it. They’ll look at three case studies to learn more about the consequences of climate change across the world: melting sea ice in Greenland, rising sea levels in the Solomon Islands and coastal erosion in East Yorkshire. Finally, they’ll consider how climate change can be slowed and whose responsibility it is.
How can you help?
Regardless of the year group your child is in, Google Earth is a brilliant tool to help develop children’s understanding of space, place, scale and interdependence. Zoom right in on your home and then zoom out to reveal the area of Leeds that you live in. Zoom further out to see what city you live. Zoom further for the county. A little further and you might start to spot some national parks. Further still and you can see the country that we live in. Keep zooming and you’ll see the continent we live in (though this isn’t labelled). Before you know it, you’re floating in space and circling the Earth!
Google Maps is another great tool for comparing places.
- Year 1,2: Can you find your school? Your classroom? Your house? Your local park?
- Year 3,4: Can you locate the two volcanoes you’ll be studying? Can you zoom into the craters? What similarities and differences can you see?
- Year 5,6: Use this mapping tool to investigate how a place has changed over time. We’ll be focusing on coastal erosion but you could find where you live and compare today’s map with one from fifty or a hundred years ago. What has changed and what has stayed the same?
Quizzing your children about some locational knowledge will help them to remember important information. We’ve listed some examples below. Use the age-related expectations in our Topic Curriculum Guide to find the right pitch for your child.
- Which continent do we live in?
- Which country do we live in?
- In which hemisphere is our country located?
- Which county do we live in?
- Which city do we live in?
- Which part of Leeds do we live in?
- Which four countries make up the United Kingdom?
Go to the library and get some geography-related books, especially an atlas. You could compare maps of the same place to see what type of information they show. For example, you find lots of maps of the United Kingdom. One might show the countries and capital cities. Another might show the mountains, rivers and National Parks. Another might give information about the climate.
For KS2 children, there are lots of different games and activities on the Ordnance Survey Mapzone website. We especially like the jigsaws in the Map Puzzles section of the Games. Click here for the website.
Also for KS2 children, there is lots of information and some tasks and quizzes on the BBC Bitesize website.
School meals are the healthy choice
Free school meals can support your child to stay healthy so that they can grow, learn and play! 🍽
Every day we make sure they provide the right balance of nutrients so children are ready to learn in the classroom.
To apply for free school meals, visit: https://bit.ly/41SqJ8t
Thank you to our incredible school catering team
A huge thank you to our amazing Catering team who work hard each day to cook, prepare and serve our school meals to a high standard 🤩
To find out if you are eligible for free school meals, visit: https://bit.ly/41SqJ8t
PE Partner: half term holiday club
During the February half term holidays, there will be some fantastic holiday clubs, run by PE Partner and one of them right here at our school!
These clubs are high energy, and children will engage in a wide range of sports, from football right through to dodgeball, hockey and basketball.
There will also be fun games that encourage both individual skill and also teamwork.
Early Bird prices of just £17 per day will be available until the 09 February 2025. On 10 February, the price will increase to £19 per day.
Book here
These clubs are highly rated by parents around Leeds. If you would like your child to attend, you can book a place here: https://pepartner.coordinate.cloud/list?name=Holiday+Club
Recommend a friend
School meals are tasty, nutritious, sustainable and delicious
Our school meals are cooked on site and freshly prepared using high quality ingredients.
Why not encourage your child to try the meat free option to help save our planet 🌎
To find out more, visit: https://bit.ly/41SqJ8t
Free school meals - are you entitled?
In January 2024, 8,435 pupils entitled to a free school meal missed out on a free hot, nutritious lunch.
Children are in school for 190 days every year, so think of the savings you could make by making sure they are signed up.
Contact the school office to find out if you’re entitled to free school meals or apply online by visiting: https://bit.ly/41SqJ8t
Our weekly message: Friday 10 January 2025
A belated happy and healthy new year to you all.
What a tricky start to the new term! Despite this, children came back to school on Tuesday cool, calm and collected, all ready for lots more learning! Thank you again for your understanding and support when we had to make the difficult decision to close on Monday.
New year, new contact details?
Let’s start with a short request: If you’ve got any new contact details for you or other contacts, please remember to let us know. We need up-to-date details for the people on our lists in case of emergencies. (The people on our lists are the ones you gave us when your child started school – in most cases, we should have details for three different people.)
Attendance matters
Our school attendance in the Autumn term was 95.9%.
This is a bit lower than for the same term last year (96.9%). However, it still means…
- we rank 70th out of 223 Leeds schools
- we’re in third highest band of schools nationally (decile 3: the top 20-30% of schools)
Thank you for continuing to make sure your child gets to school as much as possible. (And well done to Year 5 – their attendance is a whopping 97.5%!)
As always, if you’re unsure, please check the NHS app: Is my child too ill for school?
Money matters
This time of year can be difficult for many families dealing with additional costs and pressure on their household budgets. The Money Information Centre offers access to free, confidential, and impartial help and advice on a range of money-related matters, with a range of useful information about employment support, energy, fuel and food support and the healthy holidays programme.
Watch Us While We Work: you said, we listened
Our Watch Us While We Work and Topic Review sessions are really popular – lots of you attend these. However, some parents have told us being able to visit just one class is frustrating. We’ve listened.
The next Watch Us While We Work session is coming up – it’s first thing on Thursday 23 January.
This time, we’ve asked teachers to plan for two parts within the half hour session. This means after the first 10-15 minutes or so, you’ll get a chance to switch classrooms without disrupting the learning going on.
We realise this doesn’t help if you’d prefer to visit three classes or more because you’ve more children, but we think these 10-15 minutes parts are as short as they can be while making sure you still get the most out of them.
Enjoy your weekend – stay warm!
Weather update for Wednesday 08 January
Just like today, we aim to open as normal tomorrow.
Registers will be open for longer. Your child won’t be marked in as late if they arrive later than usual.
This is to make sure you can get to school safely despite the freezing weather.
Weather update (Tuesday 07 January)
We’re open today (Tuesday 07 January).
Registers are open for longer so your child won’t be marked in as late if they arrive later than usual.
Please travel safely.
Snowy weather: update for Tuesday
We’re happy to confirm school will be open tomorrow as normal (assuming there’s not a drastic change in the weather conditions!).
When we’re faced with the question of whether to open or close, we have to factor in travel conditions for families and for staff (some of whom live quite far away); the availability of site staff to clear paths and make them safe; the condition of the rooms (and whether there have been leaks caused by snow)…
Thank you for your understanding today.
