Author: Mr Roundtree

The last week of term proved an extremely busy one for all of us at Moortown.

The second Moortown’s Got Talent competition took place on Thursday 11 February.  Well done to all who took part, especially to the winners, Tiraj, Pviter, Akash and Vikram, who impressed the judges with their drumming.  A big thanks must go to Miss Kieran who organised the event, and to all other staff who helped out.

Also in the week was the School Council election for 2010-11.  Last year’s councillors made some big decisions, including how the front of school should be improved and then later choosing the play equipment.  I’m sure the new councillors will do just as good a job.  The councillors are:

YR	– Ahmed and Oliver
Y1	– Madison and Mikaeel
Y2	– Jessica and Tom
Y3	– Faizaan and Henry
Y4	– Aqsa and Rene
Y5	– Sally and Chanda
Y6	– Amana and Akash

Thanks to all the parents who came along to the Homework Open Afternoon.  This was an opportunity for you to look at some of the terrific pieces of homework that our children produce.

Finally this week, we welcomed three students from York St John University in York who were here to see the great work we do around inclusion and cohesion.  They were very impressed by the work we do, with compliments about our supportive, welcoming and friendly approach and the pupil-teacher relationships.

Next half-term, a highlight to look out for is the Mental Maths Workshop, an opportunity for you to come along and find out more about what we do and a chance to learn more and support your child in Maths.  The workshop will be on Tuesday 09 March, 6.30 – 8.00pm.  Wine and snacks will be available.  Hope to see you there!

After the half-term, we will offer once again some school meals which contain beef.

The decision to remove beef was taken a long time ago.  Mrs Taylor, leader for health at Moortown Primary, and Mr Roundtree have recently met with the school nutritionist for Leeds Catering, who provide our school meals.  We all agree that beef can be a valuable source of nutrition and are keen to offer this.

Vegetarian options and sandwiches are still available.

After Mr Duffey sadly passed away in the Autumn term, we were without a caretaker for our school.

I’m pleased to tell you that from Monday 01 February, Mrs Paula Barton began a new job in school: Facilities Assistant, a job which involves much of what Mr Duffey used to do in looking after the school.  Mrs Barton is already a familiar face around school – she’s our cook!  You’ll see Mrs Barton around school at the start and end of the day.

Someone you’re less likely to see will be our new Maintenance Assistant.  This is Mr Nigel Barton (Mrs Barton’s husband) who will do any maintenance and repair jobs around school.  Mr Barton will work when needed, and this will often be after the school day.

You may be interested to know that the money collected following Mr Duffey’s death will be used to buy a bird box as he loved birds so much.  We continue to miss him around school.

All of us are shocked and saddened by the dreadful stories and images from Haiti.  Delivered appropriately, at the right level, it’s important that such big stories are talked about in school.  In the Y1-2 topic Heroes, the teachers will spend some time thinking about how ordinary people can be heroes at times like these – UK firefighters going to Haiti to help, for example.  The Y3-4 topic Where in the World? is also a good way to discuss the issues and answer questions and concerns.  Y5-6 will also talk about the earthquake, though not specifically linked to any topic work.

Fundraising

On the next two Friday afternoons (22 and 29 January) from 3.00pm, we will be having a fund-raising sale in the hall.

We’ve been having a clear-out of books and will be selling lots of old but perfectly readable (and very enjoyable!) books.  Some parents have also suggested preparing food to sell which is a wonderful idea – your contributions will be very much appreciated, I’m sure.  Any food you prepare, please bring on the day. 

If you prefer to simply make a donation, you can do so by posting a contribution in an envelope marked ‘earthquake’ into our Postbox or direct to the Office staff.

Thank you.

Year 6 children have been the first to contribute to the new forums on the website. So far, there have been some comments about our recent Super Science day. Miss Kieran has also started a discussion about the Snowbound topic and homework.

Keep checking the Forums page (it’s in the green Join In section) for discussions from other classes.

Our website and Twitter page are the best places to find up-to-date information about whether we are closed.

We also use ParentMail, but mobile networks are sometimes jammed because of overuse – this is happening at the moment due to so much demand on the networks between 06:30 and 09:00. We’re sorry texts haven’t got through recently – it’s out of our control.

We contact Leeds City Council, BBC Radio Leeds and Radio Aire. However, there are many delays using this system. It is not the most efficient and it is not always up-to-date or accurate.

We are usually available to take telephone enquiries from around 07:30. However, there’s a heavy demand and you may struggle to get through.

Follow us on Twitter or check the blue Twitter box on the homepage of this website. This information is prompt and accurate. We are one of the few schools in the country able to provide such up-to-the-minute information.

If you’re on Vodafone, O2, Orange or 3 you can also receive our tweets by text message. Here’s how:

First, set up your mobile:

• Sign up for an account with Twitter if you don’t already have one.
• Text the word START to 86444.
• You’ll receive a text from Twitter. Reply to this text with your Twitter username.
• You’ll receive another text from Twitter. Reply with your Twitter password.
• You’ll receive another text from Twitter. Reply with the word OK.
• You’ll receive a final text from Twitter confirming your phone is set up.

Next, set up your Twitter account:

• Go to your ‘settings’ on Twitter (top right hand corner of the page)

• Next, click on ‘Mobile’

• Set ‘Device Updates’ to ON and click Save. You can also decide to turn off these text messages overnight, but remember that we’ll tweet really important information as early as we can, so it might be best to leave them turned on at all times.

• Now go to our Twitter page (twitter.com/moortownprimary). Make sure you are following us (click on the ‘Follow’ button if you’re not already) and then click on the Mobile button to start to receive texts from us. When the icon is green, you are receiving our tweets by text. To turn them off click again and the icon will turn grey.

Our performance in this year’s government league tables is good – learning and progress are above average based on 2009 Key Stage 2 data (ie Year 6 SATs results).

Maths results are especially strong. (See our full results on the DCSF website.)

An area in which we must improve is attendance. Our overall absence rate is 6.2%, which is higher than both the Leeds average (5.9%) and the national average (5.5%). This might not sound a lot but (compared to England as a whole) it’s equivalent to more than one extra day’s absence per child per year. Research shows that increased absence undermines children’s learning and social development.

Term time holidays have a big impact on absence rates in our school. It’s our policy to turn down requests for unnecessary absence during the school term so please check with school before booking your child’s holiday.

We have installed a postbox just inside the main entrance, opposite the office. Rather than queue to see Mrs O’Malley, you’re welcome to post through any payments eg dinner money – please make sure they are in an envelope and labelled.

Also, if you’ve got any suggestions and would rather write this on a note, please use the postbox for these, too. This means that your comments could be anonymous if you prefer.

We’re very proud to have been awarded the Inclusion Chartermark.  It’s fantastic to be recognised as having great inclusive practice because effective inclusion helps all our pupils: gifted and talented and those with learning difficulties; native English speakers and those with English as an additional language; confident, active pupils and quiet, shy learners.

Here are a few quotes from the report:

…a wonderful working, learning and playing

The school radiates an atmosphere of trust, warmth, fun and a sense of belonging.

Relationships are at the heart of the school life.

Pupils comment that their teachers made learning fun.

Well done to all our staff, pupils and parents.  A special mention must go to Mrs Weekes, our Inclusion Manager, who has worked so hard in the last couple of years to make our practice in this area even better.

At the end of last term we were sad to say goodbye to Mrs Shabir; in her time at Moortown Primary, Mrs Shabir qualified as a teacher and the time was right for her to pursue her career further.  We wish her every success.

We are, however, very excited to say hello to three new (temporary) teaching assistants: Mr Tyagi (in Reception), Miss Heap (Y1, Y2 and Y4) and Miss O’Mahoney (Y3).  Check out a picture of them that we posted on our Twitter account!