This week’s message has some information about an event coming up for Key Stage 1 and 2 parents and carers. The rest of the message includes some updates about our annual surveys, one for parents and carers and one for children. 

Watch us while we work

Coming up at school is a short open session for current KS1 and KS2 parents/carers to join us in class to watch the teaching and learning of some essential Maths and Reading skills. The session is a great way to find out how you can support your child at home.

The session is at 9am on Tuesday 04 October. You’re welcome to visit us – there’s no need to reserve a place. We invite you to spend time in just one class. (For those of you with more than one child, you might want to come again for a second session on 26 January to visit a second classroom.)

Parents and carers of children in Reception have the opportunity to attend separate Stay and Learn sessions.

Annual survey follow-up

In the summer (18 August), we presented some of the main findings of this year’s annual survey. (You can still read this by scrolling through a few news items here.)

We always consider the feedback we get from the survey.

Some of you raised issues with parents parking without consideration or, worse, illegally. The parking issue remains a problem but we’d like to acknowledge it’s much improved. We encourage children to walk, scoot or cycle to school wherever possible; if the car is needed then the safest place to park is Marks and Spencer. Direct communication has taken place with some parents and we try to be vigilant to keep our families safe.

Some parents mentioned communications – a subject that often comes up. Some of you praise the communications from school while others say there’s not enough or too much. It’s really hard to get the balance right – too much communication or not enough. Email communication (including this weekly message, which is published to our website and emailed) is much preferred by the majority of parents, rather than paper, but we’ll continue to consider the amount and relevance of the emails that we send.

A few parents mentioned that it would be good to have a wider choice of after-school club activities. We’ll hopefully be able to introduce more of these in the next cycle of clubs. We’ve approached staff to ask them to consider options that aren’t necessarily sport-based, too.

Pupil survey

At around the same as the parent/carer survey is released, we ask children in KS2 to complete a quick survey, too. This helps us identify strengths and possible areas to develop.

Compared to the national figure, a significantly higher rating was given to the statement ‘I love to read for pleasure at home.’ Thank you for supporting us with this essential aspect of our homework expectations.

Our children rated provision in Science, Art, DT, Geography, History and Music and PE higher than nationally – three of these were rated significantly higher.

Statements relating to personal development such as ‘I understand what democracy means’ and ‘I join in activities outside normal lesson time’ were typically rated higher than the national average.

Finally, and importantly, responses from children about feeling safe, bullying and other behaviour issues were better than national, and two responses significantly better. Similarly, responses from children about learning behaviour were better than national.

This all goes to prove that our school is a happy and healthy place to learn.

Talking of which, have a happy and healthy weekend!

This week’s message comes from Mr Wilks, who’s our Science and Foundation Subjects Leader. In this message, Mr Wilks introduces your child’s current topic…

What do we mean by topics?

Topics are the vehicle for delivering much of the learning in the foundation subjects (eg Art, History, Geography). Each half-termly topic has a driving subject – the main focus for teaching pupils knowledge and skills.

There are opportunities for enrichment through other subjects. For example, learning in an art topic may be enriched by geography learning about where an artist was born and lived.

Read more about the intent, implementation and impact of our topics.

What is this half-term’s topic?

This half-term, we’re historians. We’ll develop our understanding of the past, both in Britain and the wider world.

Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary: see pages 27 and 28 of our Curriculum Statement.

Each phase also has key historical concepts which will feature within most lessons. These historical concepts are themes that are revisited, strengthened and deepened during your child’s journey through the history curriculum. See page 24 of the Curriculum Statement.

Years 1 and 2

In this topic, children learn about a significant British historical event: The Great Fire of London.

Children will learn about life at the time of the Great Fire of London. They’ll learn where the fire started and how it spread so quickly and the innovative ways that it was extinguished. Importantly, they’ll learn about the different sources of evidence that have helped us answer these questions, including Samuel Pepys’ diary. Finally, they’ll learn about the significant changes that occurred as a result of the fire, such as legal changes about the way houses were built and the beginning of a fire service in London.

The key concept that children will learn about in this history topic is innovation.

Years 3 and 4

In this topic, children learn about Ancient Greece.

Children begin by sequencing periods of British history and seeing where the ‘golden-age’ of the Ancient Greek civilisation sits alongside. They’ll then learn about two contrasting city states: Athens and Sparta. Children will learn about the type of government these states had and what the lives of the people living there were like. They’ll then debate which city state was the best. Next, they’ll focus in on the influence that Athens has had on the world: democracy, mathematics, philosophy, literature, culture… Finally, they’ll learn about how the civilisation ended.

The key concepts for this topic are civilisation, government and innovation.

Years 5 and 6

In this topic, children learn about Stone Age to Iron Age Britain and contrast it with Ancient Egypt.

They begin by looking at and creating timelines which sequence the periods of British history and also placing Ancient Egypt on this timeline. They’ll learn about the advances and innovations that occurred during the New Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. They’ll learn about and understand that the sources of evidence we have are limited to archaeological evidence. They’ll then learn about the Ancient Egyptian civilisation and contrast this with what was happening in Britain at the same time – it’s a stark contrast!

The key concepts for this topic are innovation and civilisation.

How can you help?

Talk to your child about what they have been learning in class. The class news pages are a good place to go to find out more about what the children are doing.

Find some books from the library which match what your child is learning. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of books about the history your child will be learning about.

Watch television shows about history. Horrible Histories is great (regardless of your age!).

The BBC Bitesize history webpages have been revamped this summer and have lots of information about the history being covered this half-term.

If it’s a rainy weekend and you’re looking for something to do, why not spend a morning or afternoon in a museum? A visit to Leeds City Museum (next to Millennium Square) would be great for all children but especially for Y3,4 and Y5,6 children as it has some Ancient Greek and Ancient Egyptian exhibits, including Nesyamum, the 3,000 year old Leeds mummy!

London’s a bit far for a rainy weekend but the Fire of London website is great and will support and deepen children’s learning.

We’re sad to note the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II. She demonstrated and represented important values and behaviours. In school today, we have marked this historic moment with a special assembly and teachers have followed this up with a review and reflection in class.

Our first weekly message of the year continues with some important information for the year ahead at Moortown Primary School…

Dates for the year

Key dates for the school year are in our school calendar. We’ve prepared this list for you to print out and have ready to check, too.

Support your child at home

Like last year, we’re hosting a series of Zoom presentations to help you support your child’s learning at home – the first one is this Monday.

The invitation is open to all parents and carers across Sphere Federation, although we’ve indicated if the session might be more appropriate for particular age ranges. The full list of presentations are:

• Phonics and early reading: 12 September 2022
• Story telling: 19 September 2022 (Mrs Wood here at Moortown Primary will read a story over Zoom for your child and you to enjoy – the session is ideal for children in Reception, but children in Year 1 and 2 are welcome to join, too.)
• Number (KS1): 03 October 2022
• Number (KS2): 10 October 2022
• Topic: 07 November 2022
• Reading and Writing: 14 November 2022
• Online safety: 28 November 2022
• Key Stage 2 SATs: 09 January 2023 (This one is mainly for parents of Y6 children.)
• Key Stage 1 SATs: 27 February 2023 (This one is mainly for parents of Y2 children.)
• Reception to Year 1 transition: 19 June 2023 (This one is for parents of Reception children.)

All the sessions are at 6pm on Mondays and should last around 30 minutes.

If you’re interested in attending any of these Zoom workshops, please either send us a message on the School Gateway app or email the school office. We’ll then email the Zoom joining details out to all those who have expressed an interest.

Homework

Your child’s first homework task is published today.

Homework is an important part of education and gives you a chance to support your child and find out what they’ve been learning. This doesn’t need to be sitting at home with a stack of worksheets or creating an elaborate project: quality time talking to your child and practising basic skills is enough.

Today, we’ve given each child a new homework book. The book is for your child to practise spellings, writing, times tables and number facts. It doesn’t need to be sent back to school.

This homework guide sets out what we expect children to do and why. Reading, spellings, times tables and number facts are essential for all children to be confident with. The focus of your support at home should be ideally around these areas. Your comments in the Reading Record book (at least once a week) are really helpful for your child’s teacher.

As always, contact school if you have any questions or concerns.

Changes ahead

As you know, Y5 and Y6 have been learning in the hall this week because their old classrooms were demolished! It’s been exciting to see the new modular building being put in place today – they’ve craned it in bit by bit and it’s taking shape nicely. It’ll be a few weeks before it’s completely finished but we’re excited the work is finally happening. Also, The Green (our new grassed space) has been flattened and fertilised and the grass seed will be sown on Monday. It’s all going on!

Mr Wilks took a timelapse to show the assembly of the new building. See how it has taken shape over the day.

Children settled into the new school year really well this week. It’s likely they’ll feel tired after a busy week back. Have a restful, happy and healthy weekend.

Every year, we invite you to complete an annual survey of parents and carers. Thank you to the 35 people who completed this year’s survey.

Most of the questions we asked were based on those that Ofsted use for their Parent View. This gives you the chance to tell Ofsted what you think about your child’s school, from the quality of teaching to dealing with bullying and poor behaviour.

We’re delighted that the statements prompted very good responses: at least 97% of those who expressed an opinion responded positively to nearly all the questions, including:

• Is your child happy at school?
• Does your child feel safe at school?
• Does Moortown Primary make sure its pupils are well-behaved?
• Does Moortown Primary have high expectations for your child?
• Is there a good range of subjects available to your child?
• Would you recommend this school to another parent?

We asked if you’re aware of bullying at the school. The majority of respondents were not aware. However, there was a minority who said they were. Our definition of bullying is Several Times On Purpose and our solution is Start Telling Other People. Please do make sure you alert us about any concerns you may have.

We asked if you’ve ever had to raise a concern. We’re pleased that the vast majority who had raised something replied that it was dealt with well – ‘Mrs Weekes will respond to queries and concerns very promptly’ was one comment. As always, please do make sure you raise concerns – your child’s class teacher is usually around at the end of the day, and Mrs Weekes is nearly always at the school gate each day.

The last question was an open-ended one: we invited any comments you may have. There were 18 comments here, and the majority of these were positive – thank you.

Moortown is such a family orientated, caring yet high achieving school. Both of our children are thriving at Moortown and love attending school. The teachers are committed to our children and we feel like they really care about their wellbeing and help them reach their potential. Mrs Weekes is a constant presence and is so approachable and supportive. We feel so lucky that our children attend Moortown.

We’re keen to keep improving. We’ll review the suggestions, which included comments about communications (too many?) and more opportunities for creativity. Mrs Weekes will also make sure staff are aware of the praise they’ve earned.

Thank you to those parents / carers who completed the survey.

As always, please contact us with any questions, comments and concerns during the school year.

Stay alert to happy and healthy faces all around you…

We want to see your pics of hidden smiley faces in your surroundings: a walk in woods or a play on the beach might include creating a smiley face, for example! Here’s our suggestion (look for the smiling face!)…

…but we’re sure you can do better!

Look out for things around you that show a hidden smiley face – a happy and healthy face – or encourage your child to create their own from things around them (pebbles, leaves, Lego…). (Just avoid obvious and intended smiling faces like the ones featured in the Breeze list of summer dates from last week’s message – they’re too easy to spot!)

To enter, email your pics to [email protected] by Friday 09 September. Enter ‘Summer competition’ as the subject.

All entries will be displayed in a happy and healthy display in school, and there are prizes for our favourites.