“Will you walk into my parlour?” said the spider to the fly…
Year 5 have been reading The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt and we performed it today! The poem comes with a warning of being careful of what the motives of strangers are.
Can your child remember what our R2s are when performing this poem?
In Latin, Year 5 have been learning about how it is not word order but word endings that are important when constructing sentences.
To help explain this, we looked at how changing the word order of sentences in English can completely change the meaning of our sentences!
Take a look at some of our favourite examples of this…
If your child has a nut allergy (or any other significant allergy), do please let us know. We don’t have a simple policy about this, other than we will work with parents and carers to best accommodate the needs of children with medical conditions like this, so it’s important you let us know.
So far, we’ve had three short Zoom sessions – one on phonics (mainly for parents/carers of younger children), one on Reading (for parents/carers of older children), and a Maths one this week (for parents/carers of younger children). Watch the Maths one here:
Each session lasts for just 30 minutes and will provide a few top tips and guidance as to how to support your child at home. 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 remaining sessions are as follows:
All six sessions start at 6pm. They last around 30 minutes.
If you’re interested in attending, 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.
If your child’s in Early Years, look out for a range of sessions specifically for you.
And in case you missed this message from earlier in the week…
Mrs O’Malley has many roles within school and they’ll be hard to fill, but we’ve plans that are taking shape – we’ll keep you updated.
Finally, don’t forget to sign up for a parent-teacher Zoom slot – the meetings are in the week just before half-term.
Have a happy and healthy weekend.
This week in Science, we have been learning as chemists.
We conducted an experiment to investigate whether paper, coffee paper or Binca material would make the best filter. See if your child can remember what filtering means!
We discussed how to conduct a fair test and brainstormed the method for our experiment.
After an engaging (and mucky!) experiment, we concluded that the coffee paper was the most effective filter.
This week, we have been learning about adding suffixes.
Please learn these spellings for a spelling test on Friday 15th October.
achieve/ed/ing
develop/ed/ing
embarrass/ed/ing
guarantee/ed/ing
occur/ed/ing
brave/er/est
crazy/er/est
hairy/er/est
lovely/er/est
sad/er/est
This week, Year 5 have challenged themselves to become more independent when completing their steps in writing.
We practised helping our partners by proof reading their writing and using dictionaries to correct our spellings.
On Friday, we reviewed our reading records. The task that was set this week was ‘draw it’ – where the children were set the task of drawing a picture based on the book they are currently reading.
Our reading record task for this Friday is fact file. Please ensure that you child has completed this activity by Friday and it is accompanied by your signature confirming that your child has been reading at home.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please ask!
This week, we have been learning about apostrophes for contraction.
Please learn these spellings for a spelling test on Friday 8th October.
haven’t
couldn’t
I’ve
you’ll
can’t
they’re
aren’t
don’t
she’ll
he’ll
A couple of weeks ago, the weekly message came from our Science and Foundation Subjects Leader. This week, the message comes from our Reading Leaders. Mrs Latham, a teacher at Scholes (Elmet) Primary, leads on Phonics and Early Reading across Sphere Federation. Miss Wilson, based here at Moortown Primary, leads on other aspects.
Becoming a reader is an essential life skill that shouldn’t be undervalued. Every child should be reading on a daily basis at home, even for just a few minutes. Reading aloud to your child is also crucial – it helps develop the emotional connection to reading, advances listening skills, and helps foster a love of reading.
In Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2), we read every day in our fluency sessions. It does what is says on the tin – develops fluency. We read the same text every day for a week. To become a fluent reader, you need to read regularly and read the same text/books more than once. This feels strange for adults sometimes but young children increase in confidence and feel satisfied when they can fluently read something after a few attempts.
Phonics underpins all our reading teaching in the Early Years and Key Stage 1. Phonics teaches children to read by matching sounds with letters or groups of letters. We teach a daily phonics lesson using a systematic approach.
Read more about how to help your child.
By now, your child will have received their brand new Reading Record. Each week, they’ll need to complete the activity as directed by their teacher. We’d like you to comment at least once every week, too – useful comments might be what they did well (such as their expression or how clear they were), how many pages they read or maybe what they need help with. Remember that your child should be reading every day for at least ten minutes and don’t forget the power of reading to your child as well!
Have a chat at home about the texts they’ve been reading in school. What’s their class novel? Do they like or dislike it? What’s just happened? What might happen next? Does it remind them of anything? Discussions like these really help children to understand and remember what they’ve been reading. (Share with your child what you’re reading, too!)
How often do you have your subtitles on when watching TV? It’s been proven to really help with learning to read so give it a go next time you’re watching The Chase! You might want to suggest they switch subtitles on when using video apps, too!
Check out Book Trust’s Book Finder service – a great way to introduce your child to new books.
There’s another message from a curriculum leader in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, let’s hope the weekend is drier than the week we’ve had. Whatever the weather, enjoy!
This half term, Year 5 have been learning about chemistry in science.
We have been learning as chemists.
Today, Year 5 conducted an experiment investigating whether various substances were soluble. Ask your child what the word soluble means!
If a substance is soluble, the substance and solvent makes a solution.
We tested three substances: salt, sand and sugar. In order to ensure a fair test, we used the same amount of solvent (water), ensured that the water was at the same temperature and left the substances to dissolve for the same amount of time.
We measured accurately…. 
Worked well in a team…. 
And made a logical conclusion based on our results.
Can your child remember which substances are soluble and which aren’t?
We’re three weeks into the new school year and our children have settled well into school routines – this includes our new Nursery and Reception children who have all settled really well. Parent-teacher meetings aren’t too far away, but remember you can contact your child’s class teacher with any questions, comments and concerns you might have.
Settling back into routines is hard, and even more so after Covid situations. Without the staggered starts, children are expected at 8.50am. It’s more important than ever for us all to be punctual. Arriving a few minutes late each day means a child misses out on almost half an hour of learning across a week. Just as important is that it can be unsettling for them to arrive in class on their own, with lots of their friends noticing they’re late. Set your alarm five minutes earlier to make sure you arrive at school on time.
The phonics screening check determines how well a child uses the phonics skills they’ve learned, ensuring that they’re on track to become fluent readers.
The check was cancelled by the government for Year 1 children last year. Instead, in December, the phonics screening check will be taken by all children in Year 2 (and pupils who don’t meet the expected standard then will take the statutory check again in June 2022, alongside Year 1 pupils.)
The check contains 40 words divided into two sections. Both sections contain a mixture of real words and alien words.
Children are encouraged to add sound buttons or use phoneme fingers to read a word. Here’s a video showing how we do this.
Help your child at home by reading anything and everything!
The session this week was about reading at home and was specifically for parents / carers of older children. If you missed it, watch the recorded session.
There are still a few Zoom sessions coming up:
All the sessions start at 6pm and last around 30 minutes. If you’re interested in attending, 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. (If your child’s in Early Years, look out for a range of sessions specifically for you.)
Biking and scooting are one of the ways we encourage children to actively travel to and from school. Next week, we’re taking part in Bike to School Week (with Sustrans and the Bikeability Trust). We’re pleased to be part of this UK-wide event, encouraging families to cycle, or scoot, to school. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate active school journeys and the positive impact it has on children’s health and wellbeing – as well as the environment.
According to government guidelines, children and young people aged 5 to 18 need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.. At 1.6 miles, the average primary school journey is a distance that can be cycled, scooted or walked.
You can pledge to cycle or scoot to school during Bike To School Week. Every family pledging their journeys will be entered into a competition to win a Frog Bike worth up to £400. Plus you’ll be joining families all around the UK highlighting the benefits of an active school run.
If you’re worried about your child’s relationship with food or their body, it might be worth looking for some support. If your child’s eating habits negatively affect their everyday life, they may have an eating disorder. This is when someone uses food to cope with certain situations or feelings. Teenagers between 13 and 17 are most at risk, but anyone can have an eating disorder. It can be helpful to know the signs and what to do if you’re worried about your child.
Finally, in case you missed it, we sent a list of key dates for the school year home this week. Have a happy and healthy weekend!