Our weekly message: Friday 29 November

Friday 29 November 2024

This week, our Living and Learning statement has been ‘I can talk about my feelings’…

When you’re reading aloud with your child, or talking about what they’ve been reading independently, or even chatting about something you’ve both watched together, invest some time talking about the feelings of the characters. The more comfortable your child is at this, the more able they’ll be at managing their feelings. (And a good message is that all feelings are okay, but the behaviours they lead to may not be okay – it’s okay to feel angry, for example, but not okay to act in ways that hurt others.)

Terrific times tables

Every year, children in Year 4 take part in the national Multiplication Tables Check. The national data was released this week. The average score across the country was 20.6 out of 25.

At Moortown Primary, our average score was 23.6 – much higher than national. Not only that, whilst 34% achieved full marks (25/25) nationally, 73% of our children achieved this perfect score.

Well done to the children (our current Year 5 children). Thank you for making sure your child learns their times tables. Check out our information and advice about supporting your child with this.

Learning to read, reading to learn

The shift from learning to read to reading to learn is a crucial milestone in a child’s educational journey.

In the Early Years and Key Stage 1, children focus on learning how phonics works and decoding words (that’s ‘sounding out’ the letters into sounds – phonemes).

As they move towards the end of Year 2, children use reading as a tool to explore and acquire knowledge across subjects like science, history, and geography. This can help develop thinking, comprehension, and the ability to use information they have read.

Mastering this skill empowers learners to independently research, solve problems, and engage in lifelong learning. Encouraging reading a wide range of texts and promoting curiosity ensures children are prepared to thrive in an information-rich world.

Help at home: make sure your child reads at home every day, and encourage them to be enthusiastic readers by talking about what their reading, whatever that is – comics, stories, factual books…

Have a happy and healthy weekend.