An update on attendance for the five half-terms of the year.
Sadly, our attendance figures fell slightly last half-term. 96.8% is the whole-school average – it would be great to get this back above 97% by the end of the year. For the five half-terms of the year so far, attendance figures are as follows:
Please note: from September 2015, attendance less than 90% is regarded by the DfE as ‘persistent absence’.
Who’s said this… “To all staff, pupils, parents and guardians, well done for this year and we look forward to working together in the near future.” …?
Here’s a message from Roundhay School, which has organised lots of sporting events and physical activities for its neighbouring primary schools over the year:
Over the past year, we have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside Moortown Primary as part of Roundhay School’s PE & Sport Partnership. Moortown has played a prominent part in nearly all inter-primary competitions, fixtures and tournaments over the 2014-15 academic year. Regularly performing well during such events as Indoor Football, Basketball and High5 Netball, Moortown has also been committed to attending termly ‘Come & Try’ sessions. These sessions have been a highlight so far, with staff selecting a variety pupils who they believe will receive the most out of each event.
Working closely alongside dedicated staff, they go over and beyond their ambition to offer their pupils a range of sporting opportunities for all pupils to experience. The enthusiasm Mr O. Catherall and Mrs C. Taylor have shown throughout the year has clearly been passed onto their pupils. Pupils have similarly been a credit to their school, exhibiting exemplary behaviour and enjoyment for playing sport on both a competitive and recreational level. This positive behaviour has been reflected throughout each age group that has taken part so far this year.
To all staff, pupils, parents and guardians at Moortown Primary, well done for this year and we look forward to working together in the near future.
Welcome back to our final term of Year 2!
This week sees the beginning of our new topic, Green Fingers. We’ll be exploring the world of plants, hoping to understand what plants need to grow and be able to name common flowers and trees. While you’re walking around, notice the plants you pass and discuss how they are different or similar to each other. We’ll be getting our hands dirty by planting lots of different seeds for us to look after until the end of the year.
Maths
As usual for the beginning of a half term, we revisit basic understanding of number. Are numbers odd or even? How many tens and how many units? Can we count confidently in 2s, 5s, and 10s? Practise at home by counting as you walk up the stairs and using tables to solve related division facts (if 4 x 5 = 20 then 20 / 5 = 4).
English
We’re getting bossy as we explore instructions in English. Can we follow instructions to create our own cress heads? Do we know the main features of instructions (title, what you will need, numbers, sequence of inst, diagram/picture)? Can we use these features to write own clear instructions? At home, see where we use instructions in everyday life. Do you have any recipes or Lego model guides lying around that you could discuss together?
…for coming to our second class assembly this afternoon.
Some comments from visitors are:
We used no words this morning, turning instead to our hands for communication. As part of Community Week, we’ve thought about how communities are diverse in terms of different genders, race, age, religion and disabilities. Year 2 really tried to empathise with those who might be deaf or dumb, imagining the difficulties they might face and how these might be overcome. To help us understand, we tried out British Sign Language and, actually, we were pretty good!
Here are some of the things we learnt…
and we learnt some letters too..
Test us at home and see what can remember.
Following months of hard work, Mrs Weekes has successfully completed her National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL).
Following months of hard work, I am delighted to inform you that Mrs Weekes has successfully completed her National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL). The NPQSL is overseen by the National College for Teaching and Leadership is a significant milestone in the professional development of school leaders. This is a significant achievement and I’m sure you would like to join me in offering congratulations to Mrs Weekes.
Here are some extracts from the feedback Mrs Weekes has received:
You have a key strength in the seeking of information, using not only numerical data but your knowledge of the school and individual pupils to inform your decisions. Your analytical thinking led to the creation of a complex plan involving the upskilling of teachers and teaching assistants, workshops for parents, material on the school website and working with local nurseries. All of this was underpinned by a strong learning focus, using theory and pedagogy to enhance the experience of all learners.
You are a highly effective teacher and leader of teachers and other professionals supporting their work. Your success in structuring support for pupil premium children has been nationally recognised in praise for the school and you have secured practice which is ensuring sustainable continuous improvement. As a teacher you model excellence in the way you embrace and meet challenges in the classroom and your competence has rightly played a key part in ensuring that you have had wide impact on the way in which other professionals work with children and engage with their families.
You have significant personal drive and display total professional integrity in the way you consider educational research to develop your self-awareness as a leader and by the way in which challenge yourself and others to improve. Your robust and secure evaluation of the work of the school including through forensic analysis of data informs intelligent prioritisation and planning.
This week’s homework is Creative and is due on Wednesday 20th May 2015.
‘Who do you think you are?’
This week, we want to know all about you and who you think you are. We’re going to be asking this question all week (beginning 22.05.15), thinking about our individuality, how we are different to those around us and how we belong to different communities.
Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing…
On Friday, we looked at what would make a good habitat for a hedgehog. We decided it would need to be warm, dry and sturdy so, with the materials we could find, we worked in teams to make our own.
We were pretty proud of our final hedgehog houses and Mossy the hedgehog seemed to like them, too!
Mrs Burke was so impressed that she’s put them in Reception’s nature garden to see if any hedgehogs decide to move in. It also gives Year 2 the chance to be the teacher, passing on all of their knowledge about nocturnal animals to Reception. Stay tuned to see if we have any visitors.
For the week beginning 11 May, our topic continues to focus on night time but we’re really exploring the animal world. Bats, foxes, badger, owls and hedgehogs will be the topic of conversation as we think about describing what they look like as well as thinking about how they behave. Lots of us have wondered why they come out at night so we shall focus on how these animals are adapted to night time.
Maths
Everyone will revisit multiplication and division this week. It’s great to look at them together so that we can understand them as opposites. Practise times tables at home (particularly 5s as this will be our test on Friday), thinking about how we can use this to know division facts too eg 4 x 5 = 20, so 20 / 5 = 4. When do you use division and multiplication at home? Maybe when you’re sharing sweets or making a recipe bigger to feed the whole family.
English
Unfortunately, we’ll be delving into Mr Twit’s revolting beard! I wonder how many synonyms for disgusting we can learn and if we can remember all of the food that gets stuck in his bristly hair. Ask your child what they think about Mr Twit and why they think that using events from the book.
If you have any questions, pop in and see us.
As we’ve all had election fever this week, Year 2 imagined what they would do if they won the election and became Prime Minister. Here are some of their ideas.
Ismail even recorded his speech for us to watch and he was very convincing. Quite the aspiring leaders!