This week’s message (Friday 06 May 2022)

The Summer Term is a busy one for schools, not least because of all the statutory assessments: we’ve had end of Key Stage 1 assessments this week, and end of Key Stage 2 assessments (the SATs) are coming up next week. Also coming up are Year 1 phonics screening checks and Year 4 multiplication checks. Dates for these are in the school calendar.

Help support your child by making sure they’re reading daily (and practising times tables from Year 2), making sure they’re getting enough sleep, and making sure they’re enjoying time outdoors for play, too.

This week, we’ve a mix of messages…

Social networking

It’s estimated that about a third of children aged 8-11 have profiles on TikTok. But do you know the minimum age to use TikTok? Or other social networking sites? Most require users to be at least 13 years of age.

We’ve warned you before about the risks involved in primary school age children accessing TikTok. We’re sadly still encountering problems that stem from it. Please do check out advice so your child is protected.

High temperature

It’s been a while since we had to speak about Covid. Thankfully, the number of cases is dropping – but we do still have cases of Covid around. To help, if your child has a temperature, they should stay at home. (Please don’t send them to school with a dose of Calpol – that might help the symptoms, but your child can still spread Covid.)

Reception to Year 1 transition

This message comes from Mrs Beesley, our Early Years Leader:

As the weather becomes brighter and we near the end of the academic year, you may be thinking about your child’s next steps as they journey into Year 1. Moving to Year 1 is perhaps a less significant change for children – that’s because we’re a happy and healthy place to learn where we all know each other.

A meeting for parents on Thursday 23 June starts our transition process. Here, you’ll meet the Key Stage 1 staff (where possible) and find out about the Year 1 curriculum. You’ll get to see where your child will be learning. The next step is for your child to spend some time in the Year 1 classrooms. They’ll meet the teacher and join in with the learning, getting a taste of what it’s like to be in Year 1. A whole-school transition session, on Thursday 14 July, completes the process. Children will spend an afternoon with their new teacher, making plans for the learning in the year ahead.

This is a really exciting time of year, moving on and taking those next steps whilst continuing to strengthen the effective learning behaviours they’ve established in Reception.

Our settling in survey

Talking of Reception, thank you to parents of Reception who responded to our recent survey about various aspects of the first year at school. We’ve reviewed the responses.

Overall, for example, you’ve told us that you’d like to have chances to get into the classroom – we definitely agree! Normally, there would be various opportunities across the year, but sadly the high incidents of Covid meant this didn’t happen. Next year (we know – too late for you, sadly), we’re planning a mix of visits to Reception plus some Zoom sessions – it seems most of you found these convenient.

Across Sphere Federation, there were just one or two small issues, all of which we hope we’ve addressed. Please do speak with Mrs Weekes if you’ve any questions, comments or concerns – we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to act on everything, but we do guarantee we’ll listen and consider.

Other surveys

Sticking with surveys…

On a national level, the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza writes:

Family is a core pillar of my work as Children’s Commissioner, following ‘The Big Ask’ survey, which demonstrated how important families are to children.

Children explained how having a supportive family has a positive impact on their lives, from receiving emotional support, to being able to talk with family members about their worries and aspirations for the future. I have been commissioned by government to undertake a review of family life across the country.

The family review will seek to understand the composition of the modern family. It will explore whether the needs of children are understood in the provision of services to families, and how we can improve children’s outcomes by developing the way public services understand the needs of families as a unit.

Capturing children’s voices is key to this review. That is why I am launching my call for action… Please encourage children to complete the questions on the Children’s Commissioner website, and to share their view on family life. The answers will help us understand what children think of family life and help inform our work.

Look out for our annual survey for all parents and carers later this term, too.

Have a happy and healthy weekend!

Summer term after-school clubs

Edit: places can still be booked for after-school clubs.

We have spaces available on:

Tuesday – basketball Y4-6 now open to Y3

Tuesday – rugby Y1-3 now open to reception

Thursday – multi-games Y4-6 now open to Y3

After-school clubs will be restarting next week and they will run for eight weeks until week commencing 4th July. Places can be booked via Gateway.

Our physical activity clubs continue to be heavily subsidised through the investment of our PE and Sport Premium.

Each club has a limit on the maximum number of children who can attend. As numbers are limited we ask that you limit your child to one club initially. If there are clubs with remaining places, we will then offer these as a second club.

Please contact the office if you have any queries about the clubs or the booking system.

Living and learning: mindfulness

As a happy and healthy school, we encourage pupils to look after their mental health as well as their physical health. Read our mindfulness newsletter for ideas and techniques to try to support this.

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Chirpy, in Chapel Allerton, are hosting FREE after school Mindfulness Moments For Minis workshops. A time for children to reconnect and calm their minds.

Wednesday 11th May 4:30pm – 5:15pm Age 5-10

Thursday 12th May 4:30pm – 5:15pm Age 5-10

Friday 13th May 10am -10:30am  pre school

Bookings can be made here.

By teaching mindfulness to children they learn the skills they need to build self-awareness, confidence and cope with stress. Mindfulness can help children deal with tough emotions and help them learn ways to relax and calm the mind and the body.

This week’s message (Friday 29 April 2022)

This half-term, your child is a geographer. This week’s message, from Mr Wilks, our Sphere Federation Topic Leader, helps you to support your child at home…

However, before we dive right in, here’s a reminder about topics and what they look like.

What do we mean by topics?

Topics are the vehicle for delivering much of the learning in the foundation subjects (eg History, Art, Geography, DT). Each half-termly topic has a driving subject – the main focus for teaching pupils the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life. The driver changes with each topic to ensure a broad and balanced curriculum.

Although the learning in each topic is provided by the driving subject, there are opportunities for enrichment through other subjects. For example, learning in a history driven subject may be enriched by observational drawing of an artefact. In this example, the enricher is art.

For more information about the intent, implementation and impact of our topics, click here.

What is this half-term’s topic?

This half-term, we’re geographers. The topic is called Explorers.

We’re comparing a place in the United Kingdom with a place in another country. Y1,2 children are heading to Kenya in Africa; Y3,4 children are having a mini-break in Venice; and Y5,6 children are trekking through the Amazon Rainforest in South America.

Across the year groups, children are developing their understanding of some key geographical concepts:

• Space is a precise location, eg a country, city a latitude or longitude.
• Place = location + meaning. This includes the physical and human geography that make a place unique. Importantly, place is not rigid. It is changing and can be perceived in different ways.
• Scale is defined by the relative sizes of places. This could be differences in area, population, distances. Scale can also be defined by our view of the world. For example, we may consider an aspect of geography on a local, national and international scale.
• Interdependence is the idea that the world is connected and that countries or individuals do not act in isolation. Our actions here affect people in different countries around the world. For example, food, energy, holidays, climate.

Click this link to the Curriculum Statement for more information about key concepts (page 19) and age-related expectations and vocabulary (page 22 and 23).

Years 1 and 2

Children begin the topic by learning about the different continents and oceans in the world.  They learn about the Equator and how it splits the Earth into two hemispheres. They then focus on a specific continent, Africa, and a specific country within that continent, Kenya. They compare Nairobi in Kenya to London, with a focus on the physical and human geography of these two places. Finally, they take a visit into the countryside and compare features of the Yorkshire Dales with a National Park just outside Nairobi.

Years 3 and 4

Children recap learning about the Equator and hemispheres. They then develop that by learning about the tropics and climate zones. A focus on European and world cities and countries follows; this links to climate zone learning. After that, they focus in on Venice in Italy and its physical and human geography which they compare with York. They’ll learn about the positives and benefits that tourism brings, putting themselves in the shoes of both tourists visiting the places and locals who live there. Finally, they’ll learn about the problems posed by flooding in both localities and the solutions they have introduced to limit the consequences of flooding.

Years 5 and 6

We begin the topic by learning about the different types of biomes found on Earth and how these are linked to climate. Children then focus on the biomes found in Brazil and the UK. They then focus on Brazil more generally, building their understanding of it as a place. Next, they learn about the Amazon Rainforest and its importance to Brazil in terms of the economy as well as its importance ecologically. They’ll learn about the threats to the rainforest and the impact that deforestation is having. Finally, children consider what Brazil – and we – need to do to slow down deforestation and what we can do to slow deforestation.

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. Try the street view option and you can walk along a street in Nairobi and a street in London. Take a drive through the lush Yorkshire Dales and compare this to the Kenyan countryside. You could wander down the Shambles in York and compare this to the streets in Venice. You can also compare images of the same street from different points in time.

Quizzing your children about some locational knowledge will help them to remember important information. I’ve listed some examples below. Use the age-related expectations (see the links to our Curriculum Statement, above) 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?

If you can, 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 older children, there are lots of different games and activities on the Ordnance Survey Mapzone website. I especially like the jigsaws in the Map Puzzles section of the Games!

Also for children in Key Stage 2, there are lots of information and some tasks and quizzes on the BBC Bitesize website.

Leeds Fun Run 8th May

The Arena Group Leeds Fun Run is back for 2022, taking place on Sunday 8th May.

It offers a great opportunity to get families together, while staying and active and healthy at the same time.

Children of all abilities are encouraged to take part as they wheel, walk, jog or run the 1.3 km route around the city centre.

Catalan Soccer

This week, all classes are taking part in sessions led by Catalan Soccer.

Thank you to the Year 5 pupil, who currently attends Catalan Soccer sessions outside of school, who requested they came into school.

The classes have been brilliant and the coaches have fed back what a delight the kids have been to coach!

The coaches also commented how welcome they have been made to feel by your staff and teachers, so a huge thanks for that!

If your child enjoyed their session, please contact Catalan Soccer to find out more about the classes and holiday camps they run in Leeds.

This week’s message (Friday 22 April 2022)

With bright sunny days, what a great week to kick off the Summer term! We hope you all had a lovely break.

Attendance

Our whole school attendance is at 95.2% – that’s a rise from 04 March when we last reported. Great news!

• Reception: 93.5% – a great increase!
• Year 1: 96.2% – still the highest in school!
• Year 2: 95.8%
• Year 3: 95.8%
• Year 4: 95.6%
• Year 5: 95.5%
• Year 6: 94.3%

Please remember that we’re not allowed to authorise term-time absence unless it’s in exceptional circumstances, and if you do need to request term-time absence it should be done in advance using a form you can collect at the office.

Thank you for supporting your child to attend school regularly and on time.

Updated NHS Covid symptoms lists

The NHS COVID-19 symptoms in adults and symptoms in children have been updated. Are you aware of all 12 possible symptoms?

The official advice is that adults and children who have symptoms of a respiratory infection, including Covid, should follow the UKHSA guidance. Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare and resume normal activities when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend.

We also want to let you know about a couple of changes to our teaching team coming soon…

As you know, Miss Wilson is expecting her first baby. She goes on maternity leave at the end of this half term: Friday 27 May (she planned it well so she could make sure Y6 completed their SATs!). For the final half of the summer term, Mr Wilks will teach Y6 with the support of Miss Kennedy and Miss Canning.

The big change for September is that Mrs Burke has made the decision to retire. With 20 years at Moortown under her belt, Mrs Burke is one of our longest-serving members of staff and definitely the longest-serving teacher. The time has come for her to hang up her Reception key and to enjoy some well deserved time for herself and her family. I’m sure you’ll join us in wishing her all the best and thanking her for all her hard work – she’ll be missed.

From September, there will be two new members of staff – one to take over from Mrs Burke and one to cover Miss Wilson’s maternity leave. This follows a very extensive recruitment process across the whole of Sphere Federation (186 applications in total!). We were overwhelmed by a very strong range of applicants.

Please note, however, that some Moortown teachers will move classes – the two new teachers won’t necessarily take over in Reception and Year 6 (although you may notice a familiar face return!).

We’ll let you know later in the term classes and teachers.

Big Walk and Wheel

Thank you to all the families who have supported the Big Walk and Wheel over the last two weeks.

Overall, we were placed 150th in the small school category, out of 643 schools, with a daily average of 74.29% of journeys to school being active. In Northern England, we were 18th out of 107 small schools. Well done to everyone who took an active journey to help to achieve this.

Over the two week period we actively travelled 1,358 times!

It would be great for these active journeys to continue. Travelling actively (walking, park and stride – Marks and Spencers car park, scooting or biking) is a safe and healthy start to the school day.

This week’s message (Friday 01 April 2022)

I don’t know about you, but it’s been a busy week for us…

…because we’ve been recruiting new teachers across our three schools this week. We had an incredibly high number of applications: 184 in total. We want to recruit the very best teachers so our recruitment process involves inviting lots of people in so we can watch them teach – we observed 43 teachers across Monday (Moortown), Tuesday (Scholes) and Wednesday (St James’) mornings. Following this, we invited some people back in the afternoon – we interviewed 15 candidates across the three days. Somewhat exhausted, we’re also delighted by the high calibre of people we met. We’ll update you more about staffing next term.

(A funny aside to this: on one of the mornings, one Year 4 pupil approached the head of school unprompted, and without knowing the reason for the visitors in school, to offer her views and grades for the three teachers who had visited the class!)

It’s April Fool’s Day!

But this year, I promise there are no jokes in the weekly message. Last year, I announced the departure of Mrs Weekes. Despite including the words ‘April’, ‘fools’ and ‘day’ in the news item, and then warning readers to be wary of April Fool jokes, it did seem to trick quite a few people – even Mrs Weekes’ mum! I’ve been warned to be on my best behaviour this year.

It’s Easter!

Well, not quite yet. Unlike other local authorities around us, Leeds has fixed Easter holidays – the first two weeks in April, even if Easter doesn’t fall in the holiday. This year, it does – just! We’ll be open again on Tuesday 19 April.

This Easter, schools from across the city are taking up the Love Exploring Leeds Inter-School Challenge. Help us join the challenge by using the free Love Exploring app to play augmented reality games with your child – like the new Mega Mini-Beast game, developed in consultation with bug experts at Leeds Museum.

The app uses the magic of augmented reality to bring to life magical sights on a smartphone – like the giant butterflies and ladybirds created for the Mega Mini-Beast game. There’s a Dinosaur Safari to play, too.

Love Exploring is available at 15 Leeds parks. By getting active as a family and answering questions on the interactive quiz, you’ll score points which link to our school. There are points for every question answered and for every 100m you walk. All participating schools win a prize. The family with the most points wins an iPad.

The challenge runs from today to 6 June. Look out for special activities in libraries and parks in May.

From all of us, have an egg-cellent Easter.

Maths makes money!

Here is a message from our Junior Leadership Team:

We hope you’re having a ‘cracking’ day playing ‘yolks’ on your family!

As you know, we’ve been raising money for our school’s chosen charity, Dogs Trust, and our new land at the back of school – The Green.

We’d like to thank you all for participating in our sponsored number challenges and, with all your fantastic sponsors, we’ve raised a massive £2001.38. How amazing is that?

Thank you all for a ‘cracking’ effort!

Christina, Billy and the Junior Leadership Team