At Moortown Primary, we treat everything around health and safety seriously. One aspect of this is to make sure we do regular fire drills. Similar to this is to practise lockdowns and invacuations. Put simply, a lockdown is when people must stay where they are and an invacuation is when people must all go inside, possibly to the same space. We’ll be doing one of these practices next week. We explain to children reasons in a child-friendly way – for example, that this might be if there’s been a report of an angry dog or if there’s a building on fire and there’s too much smoke. 

On Monday, Year 2 welcomed Jodi from Skipping School to show us lots of new skills. The children were fantastic: every child was resilient and determined, giving the skipping 100% effort.

The rest of this message is about this half-term’s topic…

What is this half-term’s topic?

This half-term, we’re historians. We’ll be developing our understanding of Britain’s past and the wider world. Children will use enquiry skills to answer questions about the past that require opinions. They’ll be ‘time detectives’, using sources of evidence to help them answer these questions. Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic. See pages 23, 24 and 25. 

Years 1 and 2

In this topic, children will learn about how toys and games have changed over time. They’ll develop chronological understanding by sequencing events in their own lives before learning about how toys and games were different during their parents’ and grandparents’ and great grandparents’ childhoods. They’ll look at similar toys from different times and try to sequence them chronologically using logical reasoning. They’ll use photographs and other sources of evidence to identify changes and similarities.

The key historical concept which we’ll explore in this topic is innovation. An innovation is an improvement or replacement for something

Years 3 and 4

In this topic, children will learn about the Roman Empire and its invasion of Britain. It will examine how life changed for the people living in Britain at the time of the invasion. They will learn about the Celtic warrior, Boudicca and how she resisted the Romans. Children will also consider what we know about Boudicca, how we know it and whether we can trust it.

They’ll learn about the amazing inventions and advances that the Romans brought to Britain. Finally, they’ll find out why the Romans left Britain and who the Anglo-Saxons were.

There are two key historical concepts which we’ll explore in this topic: empire and invasion. An empire is a large group of countries or states ruled by an emperor or empress. An invasion is when a country or region is invaded by an armed force. 

Years 5 and 6

In this topic, children will learn about Viking Britain and an Early Islamic Civilisation centred around the city of Baghdad around 800AD.

During this period of time, Baghdad was the largest city in the world and was the centre of the world’s trade routes. Trade between Vikings and Baghdad happened and provides a real link between these two societies.

Through studying the Vikings, children will again learn about how people invaded and settled in Britain. Invasion is also relevant as it brought an end to the Islamic Golden Age.

The Islamic Golden Age was a period of great innovation. Learning and knowledge was key to their success. They built the world’s first hospitals, universities and observatories, as well as studied writing from scholars around the world. The contrast with Viking Britain during the Dark Ages is stark!

There are three key historical concepts which we’ll explore in this topic: trade, invasion and innovation. Trade is the exchange of goods and services, initially for other goods and services, and then for money. An innovation is an improvement or replacement for something. An invasion is when a country or region is invaded by an armed force.

Help at home

Talk to your child about what they’ve been learning in class. The class news page of the school website is a good place to go to find out more about what the children are doing.

Find some books from the library which match what the children are learning. This will be quite easy for children in Key Stage 2 as there will be plenty of books about Roman Britain and Viking Britain. You should also be able to find some about the Islamic Golden Age. For children in Key Stage 1, look for some books about toys over time. However, any book that looks at how an aspect of life has changed over time will be good. For example, you may find books about shopping, houses, transport, holidays. These will all help your child to sequence chronologically and explore similarities and differences.

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

Finally, don’t forget on Monday, we’ve an online session to support you to help your child stay safe online. This is important: very frequently, we’re made aware of unsafe behaviour amongst children when they’re online at home. Join in the Zoom session using the link that has been emailed to parents/carers.

It’s a little late, but we wish everyone a happy new year.

New year, new details? If there are any new contact details for you or other contacts, please remember to let us know. We need up-to-date details for the people on our lists in case of emergencies. (The people on our lists are the ones you gave us when your child school – in most cases, this will be three different people.)

Attendance

Our attendance so far this year is 96.1% – this is a higher than the national figure for primary schools (95.1%) and higher than our attendance rate for Autumn 2024 (95.9%). This is great news – thank you for helping to ensure your child is a happy and healthy learner at Moortown Primary!

Please continue to check the NHS site, Is My Child Too Ill For School.

Positive home-school relationships

Have you read our Positive Home-School Relationships Policy? It sets out reasonable expectations for meetings or emails with teachers and – occasionally – what we might do if we encounter unreasonable communications or unacceptable behaviour.

Staying safe online

Here’s an extract from an email from, Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner:

I have recently published a new guide, What I wish my parents or carers knew: A guide for parents on managing children’s digital lives.

Supporting children’s safety is a shared responsibility between families, schools and wider society. For parents and carers, this responsibility has become increasingly complex as children’s lives are now deeply intertwined with the digital world. Many parents face difficult decisions about how to balance protecting children from online harm with enabling access to spaces that are now central to learning, socialising and play.

This guide…focuses on the challenge of managing children’s everyday online habits.

This guide was written with the direct involvement of children in England. It is a reflection of their views.

When I speak to children about what they would do differently when it comes to being online, with the benefit of hindsight, I ask them: would they give a smartphone to their own teenager? Almost unanimously, they tell me no. They want to be protected from it as long as possible.

As parents, carers, and educators, our job must begin and end with our children’s care and safety. It’s what they expect and what they want from you.

As one young person told me: “Don’t be afraid to be firm… If you are worried [that] your child is seeing harmful content and you don’t know what they’re watching and it’s affecting the behaviour, just take it that you know best – they don’t.

School dinners

In January 2025, 7,724 pupils entitled to a free school meal missed out on a free, hot lunch. School meals can be cheaper than a packed lunch. Think of the time you could save, too! All of our school meals are cooked on site and freshly prepared. Find out if you’re entitled to free school meals by applying online.

Forest school

Your child may have noticed some recent changes to The Green. These are part of our exciting plans to develop a Forest School area.

Forest School is an approach to learning that takes place outdoors. It supports children’s holistic development through regular sessions that encourage play, exploration and supported risk-taking. Through hands-on, learner-led experiences in a natural environment, children build confidence, resilience and self-esteem.

We’re pleased to be working with experienced Forest School practitioners, Børn of the Forest. They will deliver Forest School sessions to pupils across the school. Our intention is for all children to experience Forest School as they move through the school. This year, pupils in Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 will attend sessions led by a Børn of the Forest practitioner alongside a member of school staff.

Sessions will take place outdoors and will run in most weather conditions, unless conditions are particularly extreme. Children will therefore need suitable clothing to keep them warm, dry and comfortable, and clothes that they do not mind getting muddy. Guidance about this will be shared well in advance of your child’s first session.

If you’ve any spare waterproof clothing or wellington boots that you would be happy to donate, we would be very grateful. We also welcome donations of items such as pots, pans, sieves or spoons for use in our mud kitchen.

Our second Watch Us While We Work session for parents of children in Key Stages 1 and 2 is next Wednesday at 9.00am. As always, there will be two parts. One will focus on a feature of our Living and Learning curriculum that we call Feelings First, and one will focus on Reading. See you then!

Thank you for all your support this term. This week’s message has a mix of articles… 

Christmas productions

Thanks to everyone who came to one of our Christmas productions this week – we hope you enjoyed The Wriggly Nativity!

The production raised £152 for our current school charity, Martin House Children’s Hospice. Thank you for all donations.

Move to Arbor

Our management information system move to Arbor is well underway. Thank you to the 88% of parents/carers who have logged into the parent portal. You should have noticed that most of the communications now come through Arbor. If you have not seen any emails for a while, please check your spam box and make sure you mark emails from school as safe.

From January, all payments should be made on Arbor. Reception, Year 1,2 and Year 3,4 all have trips coming up next term. Emails have been sent out about these, and payment can be made on Arbor.

Also, just a reminder to download the Arbor app and set up your phone so you receive notifications. Quick/short messages will be sent in-app rather than by text message (as in-app messages are free for us to send).

Get out and about over the holiday…

Over the holiday, it can sometimes be good to get out and about. There’s lots going in Leeds – check out the Child Friendly Leeds Winter Guide.

…and stay safe online

2 in 5 parents more relaxed about children’s online safety over Christmas according to this article. This might be at a time when children are even more online than normal. Check out this guide: the 12 Days of Online Safety.

You have to get up early to capture the wonderful sunrises at this time of year. Here’s a pic from Mr Shine, who helps to look after Moortown Primary’s buildings and grounds…

And another from a parent…

Have a very happy Christmas and we’ll see you again in the new year – Monday 05 January 2026.

It might be cold, but one of the highlights of our day is to stand by the gate at the start and end of the day – it’s always good to see happy and healthy faces!

Living and Learning

This week’s Living and Learning theme has been about giving and receiving compliments.

Spend a week giving compliments to each other at home each day. Try to make sure the compliments are about what we’ve done and not just how we look – we’ve got more power to change what we do than how we look so these compliments can be much more effective.

Some children find it hard to receive compliments, so this week of giving compliments might help, too.

How we communicate with you

After-school club – early closing

Next Friday is the last day of term. If you use our wrapround care on Fridays, please remember it closes early: 5pm.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

At this time of year, there’s a recurring theme to school: the sound of younger children rehearsing for their Christmas production! The build up to Christmas is an exciting time, but it can mean children are tired – sticking to routines and getting plenty of sleep is needed to help everyone.

DT Food

Each year, we ask for a voluntary donation to support our DT Food lessons.

This week, Year 6. children have prepared and cooked their own tomato and lentil soup. Pupils practised key kitchen skills including careful chopping, safe grating, and working confidently at the hob. They followed their recipes step by step, and produced a delicious, hearty soup to be proud of.

A fantastic hands-on lesson building independence, teamwork, and real-life cooking skills!

Topic review

Did you come to our Topic Review session last Friday? If so, thank you!

And did you manage to find a couple of minutes to leave us some feedback? Again, if so, thank you. Here are some of the comments we received…

• ‘Really enjoyed and benefited from learning about the topics my child has learned. The demonstration in front of parents was really good as parents got to participate.’
• ‘Miss Newman is clearly an excellent teacher who kept the class engaged throughout. I enjoyed the visit today and am very pleased with my son’s progress.’
• ‘Lovely to see the classroom environment and show children we are partners with school in their learning.’

Thanks to the parents who got stuck in, too – here are some pics from the Year 5 Topic Review session…

Best start in life

The Best Start in Life website brings together trusted advice, support and guidance for parents of younger children.

Check out ‘The Story of You’, which celebrates the journey of early childhood, highlighting the vital role they play in their child’s lives and the support available.

Subscribe to the newsletter or personalised weekly emails for tailored
updates, tips, and guidance.

Chat Health (for older children and young people)

The Chat Health service is for people aged 11 to 19.

It offers support on a range of issues such as exam anxiety, self-harming, family dynamics such as parental separation, bullying, healthy eating and general health.

This is a universal service provided by Leeds Community Healthcare NHS trust. It’s available Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 4.30pm, excluding
bank holidays.

• Read more about Chat Health.
• Watch a YouTube clip.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

If you came along to our Topic Review session this afternoon, thank you. We hope you enjoyed the session. If you’d like to leave some feedback, we’d love to read it. We pass compliments on to teachers and take on board suggestions.

Next up is some news from the PTA…

The current PTA is having a break this year due to the demands of work and family life but also because we don’t have enough parents on the committee. As well as help at events, we also need volunteers to attend PTA meetings and help organise the events. There are specific roles within the PTA that need to be filled (eg treasurer and chair person) but initially, we just need you to be part of it!

Over the years, the PTA has raised a lot of money. Because of this, we have been able to purchase things that our budget wouldn’t normally stretch to eg stage lighting; trim trails; and The Green.  Your children would continue to benefit if you’re able to be part of the PTA so that it can carry on. If you’re able to be part of the PTA, or would like more information, please register your interest at the school office.

Please speak with Mrs Weekes or someone from PTA if you’d like to volunteer. In the meantime…

School Lottery

Tickets for School Lottery cost just £1 a week. There’s a guaranteed cash winner for our school every week and the chance to win £25,000 jackpot. Join our personalised school lottery. If you’re able to join, we’d really welcome any support. For every £1 spent, the school earns 40p.

Easy fundraising

Do you shop online? Did you know that every time you shop, you could be raising money for Moortown Primary PTA? Shop with any of over 3000 well-known retailers listed on easyfundraising.org.uk and a percentage of what you spend is passed to Moortown Primary PTA. Retailers include Amazon, Marks and Spencer, eBay, Tesco, Waitrose, and many more. It’s like ‘Nectar’ but instead of earning points, each purchase generates a donation. So, instead of going directly to a retailer’s website, go to easy fundraising first and choose the retailer you want to shop with – then everything you spend earns a free donation to us. It’s free to use and your shopping won’t cost you a penny more. On average, each retailer donates 5% of the cost of your shopping – those donations soon mount up. Please register to support us while you shop!

Finally this week, a competition from Active Leeds…

We’re inviting children and young people across Leeds to get creative and celebrate their local leisure centres! 

At Active Leeds, we believe our leisure centres are more than just places to swim or work out… they’re spaces where memories are made, friendships grow, and confidence builds. From learning to swim to trying gymnastics for the first time, or simply spending time with friends, there are so many amazing experiences that happen every day in our centres.

We’re asking young people to share an experience they’ve had at their local leisure centre through art, writing, animation, or any creative way they like. It could be a drawing of their swimming lesson, a collage of their favourite activity, or even a short animation showing what makes their centre special.

The winning creation will receive a £50 Amazon gift voucher and be featured in our upcoming MADE IN LEEDS campaign, seen right across the city!

We want to highlight the joy, energy and sense of community that our centres bring to young people and their families. Who better to show that than the kids themselves?

Entries are open until 01 December 2025.

Simply send a photo or video of your entry to [email protected].

Last week was Children in Need day. Our non-uniform day raised £239.61 – thank you to all who contributed.

At Moortown Primary, we love reading!

Amazing attendance

• The national attendance rate for primary schools is 95.4% (that’s for Autumn 1 term).
• Our attendance rate is 97.3% (that’s up until 18 November).

It’s great to see that our attendance so high – let’s keep it that way!

Is my child too ill to attend school? It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school. Check the NHS website: Is my child too ill for school?

Thinking of a term-time holiday? 468 penalty notices for unauthorised absences have been issued in Leeds so far this year. Check out the legal consequences of term-time absences, from fines to court action.

Applying for a Reception place?

The national closing date for Reception September 2026 applications is 15 January 2026.

Check out these frequently asked questions.

Trim Trail

In case you missed this news…

Over the half-term break, we had a trim trail installed on The Green. We didn’t want to use lots of the lovely green space but we also wanted to introduce some equipment that would enhance both play and physical development.

A big thank you to the PTA who paid for this to happen – all of their fundraising was much appreciated and it’s great when we can pay for things like this.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Let’s start this week with an introduction… Have you met our new Admin Assistant, Geiselle Redman, yet?

I’m from Sheffield, a city not too far away! I moved to Leeds in 2014 and live with my husband and daughter. When we’re not out and about, I enjoy getting exercise, listening to jazz music and using my imagination. I love how no two days are the same at Moortown Primary, and look forward to meeting everyone – feel free to say hello!

The rest of this week’s message is about the Autumn 2 topic in Key Stages 1 and 2. Last half-term, it was a Geography topic; this half-term, it’s Art…

This half-term, we’re artists. We’ll be developing our art knowledge and skills. The learning has two aspects to it. In art history and appreciation lessons, children will be learning about some specific artists and their work. In art process lessons, children will practise and develop skills by creating art.

Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic. Follow this link to the Curriculum Guide to find out more.

Years 1 and 2

Children have two featured artists who they’ll be studying across the half-term: Leonardo Da Vinci and Paul Klee. They’ll compare their art, talking about similarities and differences. They’ll discuss what they like and dislike about the art and how it makes them feel. They’ll also learn about the artists’ lives and where in the world they lived.

In practical art lessons, children will be honing their artistic skills and knowledge by sketching objects using pencil, learning about and mixing colour and then they’ll be learning how to print by creating relief prints inspired by the artwork they’ve studied.

Part way through the half-term, they’ll visit the Hepworth Gallery for a printmaking workshop to complement the learning in school.

Years 3 and 4

Children will be learning about the work of Wassily Kandinsky and Martha McDonald Napaltjarri. They’ll compare and contrast the artworks by these artists and also learn about their lives and the places they lived. In particular, children will learn about abstract and figurative art (see the vocabulary for definitions of these words).

In practical art sessions, children will develop observational drawing skills and their understanding of colour by learning about warm, cold and complementary colours. They’ll then apply what they’ve learnt by creating sculptures inspired by the artists they’ve studied.

Years 5 and 6

Children are learning about sculpture in their art lessons and will be focussing on three artists: Thomas J Price, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. The children have already been on their school trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where they’ve seen and learned about sculptures by these artists. In Art history and appreciation lessons, they’ll learn about the lives of these artists and how their localities have influenced their art. They’ll learn about classical and modern art in relation to their featured artists and in art movements more generally. They’ll also learn when and why the modern art movement happened.

In practical Art lessons, children will develop their observational skills and will create ‘soap sculptures’ inspired by the work of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

How can you help?

Talk to your child about what they’ve been learning in class. The Class News page of the school website is a good place to find out more about what the children are doing.

Familiarise yourself with the artists and the artwork that your child will be learning about in class. Look in books or on the internet for pieces by the artists and talk about them. Find art by other artists that you like and compare it to the featured artists. If you feel confident, you can go into more depth using the vocabulary. However, if not, leave that to the teachers and just enjoy looking at the pieces and asking general questions:

• What do you like or dislike about the art?
• How does the art make you feel?
• Is it life-like or not?
• What colours can you see?

The Tate Gallery has a good children’s website with games and activities which children can explore.

If you’re in Leeds, the Leeds Art Gallery and Henry Moore Institute are both free to enter.

Finally this week, a big well done to one of our Year 3 pupils who competed in the Yorkshire Junior Chess Association Grand Prix 2025-26 (Event 1) on Saturday 08 November at Bradford Grammar School. The competition saw a total of around 90 children from all over the north of England participating under different categories. Our Year 3 star competed in the ‘Novice’ category and bagged second place!

We hope you had a good half-term break. This week in school has been a themed week – Me and My Money. Talk to your child about something new they’ve learnt or considered about money!

Odd socks day

Monday is Odd Socks Day.

The day celebrates that we’re all unique. Children are invited to wear odd socks to school today, marking the fact we’re all different in some way. Part of Anti-Bullying Week, the day sends an important message to pupils that they should be allowed to be themselves, free from bullying. It helps us celebrate anti-bullying day in a fun and positive way.

Help at home: Please make sure your child knows that bullying is wrong and damages children’s social and/or emotional health. Check they know our two STOP messages:

• Definition: What is bullying? Hurting someone Several Times On Purpose
• Solution: How can we stop bullying? Start Telling Other People

Bullying is often group behaviour. For older children, it would also be great if you could talk about the different roles people might play. Watch this short clip together, and link it back to Start Telling Other People.

Children in Need

Next Friday is the annual Children in Need fundraising day. Your child is invited to attend school in non-uniform with a donation to the charity. If you wish to donate at school, please donate in cash only.

Please remember that pupils should dress appropriately and respectfully, even on non-uniform days. More details can be found in our Uniform Policy.

Is my child too ill for school?

As winter approaches, schools face rising illness-related absences. We know some are unavoidable, but please refer to NHS guidance to know if your child is too ill for school.

The Department for Education has asked us to share some key messages:

1. Always ask: Is my child too ill for school? Use the NHS site for guidance – it’s easy to use.
2. Pupils shouldn’t miss school on a precautionary basis and can normally attend with a mild cough or cold, unless they have a fever or diarrhoea or vomiting.
3. Book medical appointments outside of school hours where possible. Where this isn’t possible, they should bring their child to school before, and return after, if they are well enough. Pupils can attend appointments in their school uniform.

Times tables

The government sets out the expectation that children should know their times tables by the end of Year 4. Knowing times tables off by heart makes a huge difference to children’s progress in​ Maths. It helps them:

• ​solve harder problems more easily
• work more confidently and quickly
• ​focus on new concepts without getting stuck on basic facts

Times tables underpin many other areas of ​Maths, such as division, fractions, long multiplication, algebra and ratio. The more fluent your child is, the better prepared they’ll be for future learning.

At Moortown Primary, children in Years 3 and 4 take part in daily Mastering Number lessons to learn their times tables. Older children continue to practise their times tables.

In school, we chant multiplication facts by saying the smallest number first and we don’t say ‘times’ or ‘equals’. For example, for 4×3=12, children would say ‘3, 4, 12’.

Towards the end of Year 4, children do an online Multiplication Tables Check – find out more about this.

Since this national check was introduced, we’re proud that the average score at Moortown Primary has been much higher than national each year. Thank you for continuing to help your child practise their times tables at home.

Finally this week…

Admissions consultation

Leeds City Council is running a public consultation on the 2027/28 admission policy for Leeds community and voluntary controlled schools. You can share your views until 1 December. Find out more.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

What a busy week…

Thank you to all the parents/carers who met with teachers this week for the first of two parent-teacher meetings in the year. We’re available for short updates and questions, comments and concerns at other times, but we hope you found the meeting this week helpful.

Today, we’ve had a training day. Teachers from across Sphere Federation have had four professional development sessions:

• Art
• Maths
• Special Educational Needs
• Assessments

Applying for a place in Reception or secondary school?

The deadline for applications for Year 7 places falls in half-term: 31 October 2025. If you need help with an application, please contact [email protected].

If you’re applying for a Reception place, you might want to check out Leeds City Council’s You Tube video about applying for a school place.

Staying safe online

We’ve recently updated our Online Safety page on our website. If you’ve not spoken with your child about the importance of staying safe online for a while, it would be worth having a look at the clips and checking out the NSPCC link over the half-term break.

Watch us while we work

If you visited us for our recent Watch Us While We Work session, thank you. An even bigger thank you if you left us some feedback:

• What went well? ‘The way the teacher interacted with the class, how the subject was taught, the command and rapport the teacher has with a the class.’
• ‘Can not believe how quick my daughter is at her working out on arithmetic.’

One comment was around varying the subjects we feature. We’ll act on this next time.

Coming up in the first week after half-term break…

Me and My Money themed week

Our next whole school themed week, Me and My Money, is based around money and financial education. A variety of events and visitors are planned to help us deliver this aspect of our Living and Learning curriculum. Learning throughout the week will include:

• What is money?
• Where does money come from?
• How do we spend money?
• How do we manage money?

There will be two fundraising events, as chosen by our Junior Leadership Team, to raise money for our current school charity, Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Firstly, we’ll be having a penny trail where children are encouraged to bring in any 1ps and 2ps to their class during the week and a trail will be created using all the money brought in at the end of the week.

To conclude our Me and My Money themed week, on 07 November, we’ll be holding a Hotshots fundraising event led by PE Partner. This involves each child having three chances to score a goal and their fastest speed recorded. All children will receive a certificate with their fastest shot speed and medals will be awarded for the fastest boy and girl in each class. Your child will be bringing home a sponsorship form for this event and money raised should be added to School Gateway by Friday 14 November.

If your job involves an aspect of finance and/or money and you can support our themed week by coming into school, please contact us.

We’ll select the new school charity as part of the themed week. The shortlist is:

• Zarach, whose mission is to end child bed poverty, giving children the opportunity to engage at school and break the cycle of poverty.
• Martin House provides family-led hospice care free of charge for children and young people with life-shortening conditions.
• Emmaus (pronounced em-may-us) helps people move away from homelessness by providing a home, training and work opportunities as part of a package of long-term support.
• National Deaf Children’s Society, who support deaf children with any level of hearing loss.
• Woodland Trust, the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, whose vision is a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature.

Have a happy and healthy half-term break.