Author: Mr Roundtree

Rainbow The Fox

Last week, when the children came back from their Easter holidays, there was a mysterious parcel left in the Year One classroom. We were all very excited and began to ask questions about what might be inside it.

The next day, we opened the box and inside was a cuddly, toy fox. After a vote, the class decided to name our new friend Rainbow. Rainbow spent a  happy week in our classroom, inspiring us all to write about our favourite toys  from home.

Missing!!

After the weekend, we came to school and Rainbow was missing! Year One were extremely worried about Rainbow and upset that he was missing. We decided to make ‘lost’ posters and put them up around the school, describing what Rainbow looked like.

The following day, Rainbow had still not returned to the classroom. We decided to take matters into our own hands and go on a hunt to look for our missing friend. We took a tour around the school in search of Rainbow. We visited the other classrooms and asked staff who we bumped into if they had seen Rainbow.

  

  

 

After a few conversations, we pieced together the clues and found Rainbow in the PE cupboard. He must have followed us during one of our PE sessions and got stuck there.

 

We couldn’t be happier to have him back with us, safe and sound.

20 April 2018

For the rest of the year, Year 6 won’t have a specific list of spellings. Instead, they should think about the spelling skills they need to develop (from the list below) and create their own spelling practice. There will be a test each week and, along with this, we’ll discuss the sorts of spellings we’re finding more difficult.

  • tion/ssion/sion/cian endings
  • homophones
  • ant/ent/ancy/ency/ance/ence endings
  • adding prefixes
  • adding suffixes
  • unusual spellings
  • ible/able/ibly/ably
  • fer endings
  • spelling rules
  • tious/cious
  • ough
  • tial/ciail endings

20 April 2018

This week’s homework is Practice Makes Perfect and is due on Thursday 26 April.

I can complete arithmetic questions.

All of the children have created 20 arithmetic questions to practise at home. They’ve focused more on the questions they’re less confident on but should be able to answer all of the independently. Any questions that can be checked with a calculator can be marked themselves and then we’ll look at any others together in class.

Paint out in a Maths lesson???

Last week, we started learning about ratio in Maths and we got out the paint brushes to help us understand what it was all about.

We tried to all make orange but found that our oranges were all a little different from each other’s. We then discussed how we could ensure that we all ended up with the same orange and, without even realising, we were talking ratio.

Year 2 and Year 6 assessments

The STA has published an information leaflet and two videos for parents/carers of children in Year 2 and Year 6 about national curriculum assessments. The purpose of these materials is to help you understand more about the end of key stage assessments that will be administered in primary schools in May. (The end of Key Stage 1 is Year 2; the end of Key Stage 2 is Year 6.)

The materials provide basic information about the purpose and format of the tests, how parents can best support their children and how results will be reported.

Read the leaflet.

Watch the videos.

Discovery Zone – University of Leeds

Year 6 went to the University of Leeds on Tuesday to take part in the Discover Zone, part of Leeds Festival of Science. We travelled there on the 7A from Moortown Corner which was all part of the excitement and then walked through town to the university. Thanks for getting your child to school early so that we were able to do this.

It was a fantastic morning and we got to experience so much incredible Science – all of the children loved it. The favourites seemed to be making mini rockets using vinegar and bicarbonate of soda (which produce carbon dioxide when mixed) and investigating the effects of obesity and smoking on our ability to exercise.

We examined and learnt about crayfish.
We examined how clean our hands are after we’ve washed them.
We took a closer look at what our hearts look like.
We even took a look inside one and learnt about how other animals’ heart valves can replace our own if we’re ill.
We created more efficient algorithms.
We discovered how CO2 exists in our atmopshere.
And got to feel how cold it is on our hands.
We learnt all about genetic modification of our food.
We even made nylon – which was really cool!
That’s him pulling the nylon out of the beaker.
We learnt about how the size and shape of a bird’s beak affects what they can eat (or was it the other way around?).
We tested whether water was acidic, neutral or alkali – using cabbage water?
We learnt all about our spine and how metal is used to fixed parts that have broken.
Did you know that there are bumblebees and honeybees. Bumblebees don’t produce honey and they don’t die if they sting you.
We looked at how exercise affects our heart rate by scanning the body and seeing the blood flowing faster in and out of the heart values.
We used microscopes to solve the crime.
We investigated how being obese and smoking can affect your ability to exercise.
We extracted DNA from strawberries.

23 March 2018

This week’s homework is Creative and is due on Thursday 29 March.

Suggest a mini topic we should learn about in the summer term.

A mini topic lasts for two weeks but can be about anything at all. Topic learning should be interesting and fun but the best suggestions will also think about the learning that will take place throughout the two weeks. How will Maths and English fit in? What might circle time be about that week? Could PE link to it in any way? The best suggestions would also be realistic and take into consideration that there’ll only be two weeks of learning.

As a class, we’ll choose the best suggestion and take on this topic in June/July. It’s important to think about it now as we always plan a whole term of learning before it begins.

Living and Learning – Body Image

In our Living and Learning sessions, our current theme is ‘Body Image’. During the first session, we discussed the importance of talking about ourselves in a positive way. The children shared their positive thoughts about themselves on big pieces of paper.

In our second ‘Body Image’ session,  we talked about how each and every person is different and that it is important to celebrate the different qualities that each person has. First, we found a partner and described the differences and similarities between us and our partner.

After this, we walked around the classroom and gave a compliment to a friend about one of their qualities.

Our football coaching continues…

Written by Stan: Today in football we practised shooting. First off, we just worked in our groups -Nishaan, Stan, Grace and Pavan (who was hurt so she didn’t play). We practised free kicks. Then, someone would lay the shooter  and they would hopefully score. We did that until Miss Rushbrooke called us in. After Miss called us in, we played 4 corners – if you know how to play 4 corners, you will know how to play 6 corners; it is basically the same game just with 6 corners instead. We played that until the end of the lesson.

Written by Aleena: In this session, we started off by getting into a circle and stretching our bodies. Hibba was our physio, Edward was our manager, Matthew was our kit manager, Megan was our coach  and I was our press officer. After getting our hearts beating , we then played six corners.This is where there are 6 teams which try to get each other out .We all had a number. Number one would be the least confident player and number five would be the most confident player. We played two games and it was very enjoyable. There were a few people that were a bit negative. But most people put all of their effort into the game. Megan especially stood out. She helped the less confident players. Overall, I  think today’s lesson was very good.

Written by Archie: This week in PE , Year 6 continued football. Today, we have been practising shooting. Our team put one person in the net, one person in defence and the other three were attacking. After training was done, we got in a circle and passed the ball to random people. Then, we got into six corners. Our group only won once but when someone lost, Phoenix said: ‘If you had fun, then you won.’

Written by Owen: In this week’s football session we practised shooting and passing. Near the end we played four corners – well six corners. But apart from that, my group (Stanley, Saleem, Brandon and me – Owen) played very well and so did others. To sum up this week’s session, it went very well.

 

Marvellous Maths facts

At Moortown Primary, we want to be a happy and healthy place to learn. That includes making sure our younger children, in Year 1 and Year 2, know the key number facts that will help to secure fluency in Maths now and in the future – facts like 3+4=?, 2+?=10 and 17+?=20.

Our Addition Facts guide provides a guide to what addition facts we expect pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 to know (the table might look confusing – please ask us if you’re unsure).

In a recent assessment, we can see some great progress made by our children in securing these facts.

For our Year 1 children in the Autumn term, the average score was 11.1 and now it’s 15.5 out of 20. 24% of children scored 15+ in Autumn – this has now increased to 66%.

(It’s important to remember the aim is for children to be secure by the end of Key Stage 1 – that’s the end of Year 2.)

Our Year 2 children continue this progress. The average score is now 17.9 with 89% of children scoring 15+ out of 20.

Well done, everyone! And thank you for supporting your child at home.