Author: Mrs Taylor

School Council Elections

This Thursday, 11 February, all children will be voting as part of our School Council elections.

Following in-class election speeches this week, our School Council elections will take place on Thursday, 11 February. All children have the opportunity to vote at our polling station using the following instructions.

Before voting, please read the following:

  • Vote once for one person.
  • Place one X only on this ballot paper beside the name of the candidate you have chosen.
  • Do not write or mark anything else on the ballot paper; if you do, your paper will be invalid and your vote will not be counted.
  • When you have marked the ballot paper, fold the paper and place it in the box provided.

ballot

Results will be counted on Thursday and our new School Council will be announced at the end of the day. This will be made up of two children from each class with the highest number of votes.

Good luck to all our candidates.

05 February 2016

For all children in Year 1 – Year 6, the homework this week is talk time and is due in on Wednesday 10 February.

I can prepare a speech (School Council elections).

or

I know the importance of voting.

It’s time for children to consider if they would like to stand for election for our new School Council.  With two representatives from each class, chosen democratically by their peers, all children at Moortown Primary are encouraged to take an active part in pupil voice.

Elections for our new school council will take place next Thursday 11 February with our polling station and ballot boxes at the ready.  Candidates will have the opportunity to give their election speech to their class on Wednesday 10 February.

What makes a good school councillor has been considered by our current school council.

  • ‘Communicating with others – pupils and adults.’
  • ‘Having good listening skills to know what to contribute in meetings.’
  • ‘Thinking of realistic ideas to suggest in meetings.’
  • ‘Considering other people’s views even if you don’t agree with them.’

Hints for your speech include:

  • What skills and abilities would a good school councillor have?
  • What are you particularly good at that would help you to be a great school councillor?
  • What do you think would make the school better? What could you do that people would really like?
  • Think of things that are realistic, maybe that you could do yourself, rather than having to ask other people to do?

Thank you to our current school councillors for all their ideas and contributions over the last year.  We hope you have enjoyed this role and responsibility and you are welcome to stand again for election.

Good luck to all children who decide to stand in the elections.

If you choose not to stand in the election then you should consider the importance of voting.

Mindfulness in Reception

We’ve had a very mindful morning in Reception.

As part of our learning in SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning), we’ve been considering different emotions and how to recognise these feelings in ourselves and others.

When thinking about the emotion of anger we thought about what someone would need to do if they felt angry.

One way to calm down and focus the mind is the starfish meditation and we all had a go.

IMG_0453IMG_0454

 

 

 

 

 
IMG_0455

Starfish Hand Meditation

This is a great way to divert and refocus the mind.

  1. Spread your fingers out like a starfish on one hand.
  2. Take your finger from the other hand and trace around your fingers and hand.
  3. As you do this, concentrate on only how it feels and let other thoughts float away.
  4. Continue until you feel relaxed and calm.

At the end of our PE lesson we had some focussed time and practised finger sticks.  Finger sticks, another mindfulness technique, involves co-operation, trust, concentration and focus.  There was some great partner work.

IMG_0457IMG_0458

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_0459

 

 

A moment of mindfulness

After a busy lunchtime, Year 2 had a moment of mindfulness to get focussed for the afternoon’s learning.

year 2

Starfish Hand Meditation

This is a great way to divert and refocus the mind.

  1. Spread your fingers out like a starfish on one hand.
  2. Take your finger from the other hand and trace around your fingers and hand.
  3. As you do this, concentrate on only how it feels and let other thoughts float away.
  4. Continue until you feel relaxed and calm.

School dinners

Find out what’s for lunch today.

Our school dinner menu was discussed by our School Council this week.  They also talked about ways to encourage others to try some of the new meals that are on the Spring term menu.

Did you know the menu is available to view on our website and also displayed on our dining room window. This is a good way to make your child aware of what the daily meals are.

The menu follows a three week cycle and it changed on a termly basis.

Here are the options for today.

sch dinn sch din 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

sch din 3

 

 

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year begins on 08 February 2016 and this year it is the Year of the Monkey.

year of the monkey

 

Year 1 found lots of similarities to celebrations that we may experience including spending time with family and friends, enjoying special food, wearing new clothes and sending cards and presents.

  • ‘I wear new clothes for Diwali.’
  • ‘We give presents for birthdays.’
  • ‘We decorate our home when it is Christmas.’
  • ‘We have special food when it is Eid.’

The Chinese zodiac follows a twelve year cycle, each of the years being named after an animal. The Chinese believe that people born in a particular year take on the characteristics of the animal associated with that year.

We watched the story of how the order of the animals was decided and the children were encouraged to find out what animal they are.

For Chinese New Year, there are lots of events happening in Leeds if you want to get involved.

Gong Hey Fat Choy!

School Council elections 11 February

Our current school councillors held their final meeting today as we prepare to elect our new school council.

Our current school councillors held their final meeting today as we prepare to elect our new school council.  This year’s election date is Thursday 11 February.

Children from every class, including Reception, are encouraged to prepare a speech to present to their class as part of the election process.  Our whole school homework before the election date (05 February) will give children the chance to plan their speech.

Thank you to our existing school council who have been involved with many decisions and discussions throughout the year.  On today’s agenda, there have been discussions around the new school dinner menu, classroom reading areas, e-safety and general suggestions put forward by children in each class.  It appears they have enjoyed the role as they all intend to stand again at the elections.

Borrow a book, borrow a bike

With 100 days to this year’s Tour De Yorkshire, a local bike library has been set up locally at Moor Allerton Library.

With 100 days to this year’s Tour De Yorkshire, a local bike library has been set up locally at Moor Allerton Library.

Leeds City Council has introduced a new Yorkshire Bike Bank which will allow residents to borrow bikes as well as books from the library.

 

 

Tuck shop returns

Tuck shop will be back this Tuesday.

Eighty four portions per week have already been prepaid for this term but there is still chance to buy fruit on the day for 20p per portion.

Is your child in Year 3 and therefore goes swimming on a Tuesday afternoon?  Some children buy a portion of fruit from the tuck shop and keep it for their healthy snack after swimming.

Tuesday tuck shop