Author: Mr Roundtree

We are always happy to share with you our policies and practices.  Policies relating to safeguarding help to ensure that children are taught and encouraged to live healthy lifestyles and adopt safe practices – they enable a consistent approach throughout the school because they are adhered to by staff, governors and volunteers.

The policies include Child Protection, Attendance, Behaviour, Safer Recruitment and Acceptable Use of ICT.

Please check the policies section of the website or ask a member of staff about safeguarding at Moortown.

What a topic! 

In Year 1 and 2, the children this term have had much of their learning based around the theme of Heroes.

Heroes covered so much that inspires and engages our children.  The Year 1 and 2 classes have learnt about lots of different aspects of being a hero, starting from what they think a hero actually is – quite a deep question in itself, especially for six and seven year olds!  They went on to consider lots of different types of hero, fictional (even Superheroes!) and real-life. 

Real life heroes included those who volunteered following the Haiti earthquake – a really useful link that helped the classes to consider global issues.  The children wanted to become heroes too, and came up with the idea of a Book and Bun Sale, which the whole school got involved with.  Some children were surprised to think that by contributing to different things they could be actual heroes as well. 

They didn’t forget heroes closer to home – those in our local community such as police, nurses and firefighters.  A visit to the rugby stadium at Headingley was a great success and helped to highlight sporting heroes, too.

Also in the topic, the classes have learnt about historical and religious heroes like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Florence Nightingale.  This helped children to appreciate that heroes can come from all walks of life, from all countries, and be heroic for lots of different reasons.

Along with the other topics (Where in the World, Snowbound and The Tempest), Heroes has another example of great learning that matches the interests and experiences of our children with brilliant outcomes.

After the Easter holiday, we look forward to the summer topics…

Last term, we were happy to accept a grant of £650 from IBM.  The grant came as part of IBM’s volunteer programme which supports IBM workers in their volunteer efforts.  The £650 recognises the commitment of Mrs Janice Rush to the role of Chair of Moortown Primary Governing Body.

We have spent the money on new projectors for classrooms so images are brighter and easier to read.

The DCSF has produced a useful leaflet called Ten Top Tips for Homework Survival which is aimed at parent / carers of children aged 8-13 years – the tips they mention fit in really well with the different types of homework we set and – importantly – are realistic and achievable. Download the PDF.

We’ve an ever-widening range of after school clubs starting after Easter – here’s the menu of activities available. For further details, contact Paula O’Malley in the School Office.

‘You’ve got loads of really good clubs – a really good selection. The only problem is my son wants to do them all!’

Gymnastics
Proskills (an after schools sports provider) will be running a gymnastics club on Mondays. This club will start on Monday 27 April straight after school until 4.15pm, and will run for ten weeks. There is a cost of £3.50 per session for this after school club, payable to the provider.

Yogabugs
After a very successful, very popular taster session held in school, we are pleased to announce a new YogaBugs after school club aimed specifically at Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. This will run for ten weeks from Tuesday 27 April if there is enough interest. (Previously advertised cost of £4.20 is now reduced to £3.50, subsidised by NE/XT, the school’s extended services cluster.)

TaeKwon-Do
We are hoping to start a TaeKwon-Do after school club on Thursdays, starting on Thursday 27 April for ten weeks. The club will be operated by NTX Schools who run several clubs in the area. The cost of this club will be £3.50.

Athletics
Now the weather is getting better, we are going to start the Athletics club on Fridays, ending at 4.15pm. This club will be organised by Miss Hewson and will take place on the field to the rear of school. It may be subject to cancellation due to bad weather. This club is free.

Boxing
Non-contact boxing is a great way to keep fit and burn off that excess energy. A local boxing professional with experience in many Leeds schools is able to offer a ten week boxing course which includes fitness, conditioning and nutrition advice. This would be at a cost of £3.50 per lesson. Dates to be arranged subject to enough interest.

Street Dance
Some of our children have been taking part in a dance class which has been incredibly popular over the last three years. We have an opportunity for this dance class to continue after Easter at a cost of £3.50 each session. It’s high energy, fun, and children really enjoy learning new moves and working together to produce a show stopping routine.

Sing and Sign
Would you like your child to learn how to use sign language? We have the opportunity for an after school club for children to learn a useful life skill – please see the attached letter for more information.

French
The Moortown French Club has been up and running for a while now – all the children have been learning many useful words in French, and now is the time to spread the French word further. If your child is in Y2, Y3 or Y4 and would like the opportunity to sample another language in a fun way, please let us know. This club is free.

Board Games
This is another popular club that’s been running for a while now. Board games are proven to help children with mathematical skills as well as being a lot of fun. The club is open to Y3 – Y6 children and is free.

Please return the form sent out to parents and carers by Friday 26 March to register interest.

Recently, some of our children expressed their views about aspects of emotional health as part of a three-year national study into the mental health of young people.

For the second year running, a significantly higher proportion of our children are positive about their school climate than others in Leeds and in the rest of England and Wales.

In addition, much fewer of our children show any signs of emotional and behavioural difficulties.

This shows what we all know: our children are happy and well-behaved and our staff are doing a great job in supporting this.  To sum up…

…happy and healthy learners!

Just before the half-term holiday, we welcomed three student teachers from York St John University.  They observed and helped out for a week in our school.  Here are some of their comments:

“The children were an absolute credit to you and a reflection of the excellent communication, joined up thinking and consistency that exists at Moortown.”

“You, your staff and the children have provided me with an extremely positive role model.”

The children have a fantastic attitude.

“Moortown Primary has shown me the high standards that can be achieved in a co-operative and caring school.”

“The children were a delight and the staff welcoming and always happy to help.”

It’s great to read comments like this which reflect the views of parents and the local authority representatives.

Leeds City Council has just told us that Local Council Elections will be on Thursday 06 May.  Moortown Primary is used as a polling station so school will be closed on this day.

Each year, schools close for five days to allow staff to take part in whole-school training and development.  These training days enhance teachers’ individual skills and knowledge and also help the school to develop in key areas.

This is the fifth and last of the training days for Moortown Primary School this year.  (Three were held early in September 2009 and the fourth was in January.)

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.