Class News

It’s nearly time to elect our new junior leaders

We have recently launched this year’s Junior Leadership Team election process. Our Junior Leadership Team is one of the ways that children are encouraged to take an active part in pupil voice.

The election process allows children to develop an understanding of one of the British Values, democracy, with two representatives from each class, chosen democratically by their peers.

Here are some of the qualities our junior leaders think are needed to be an effective JLT member.

• use the 8Rs for learning
• be respectful and polite
• help others
• be a good speaker and listener (to members of your class and in the meetings)
• share and be confident with your ideas
• let others speak
• accept the views of others even if you don’t agree
• be friendly and approachable
• follow our school rules and make good choices in class and around school

This weeks’ whole school homework is all about the election and democracy, ready for the elections on Thursday 24 October. For children who want to stand in the election, they will have the chance to share their speeches in class on Wednesday or Thursday this week.

Well done to all our current junior leaders who have represented their class so well this year. Remember, you can stand again in the election.

Science: States of Matter

This week, Year 4 have started our chemistry topic of states of matter. We’ve looked at the three states of matter and discussed their properties.

• solid – fixed shape and fixed volume
• liquid – non-fixed shape and fixed volume
• gas – non-fixed shape and non-fixed volume

After that, we explored how temperature can change states of matter.

Help at home: ask your children what temperatures change our states of matter (eg below 0°c = freezing).

Reading and Writing

Reading

Last week in our reading lessons, Year 2 children were exploring non-fiction books and texts. The children enjoyed looking through a range of different non-fiction books and ticking off all the features they could find.

Help at home: Look through a non-fiction book and ask your child to point out all the features. Discuss the differences between non-fiction and fiction books. 

Writing

This half term, Year 2, have produced some wonderful writing. As well as doing some bigger pieces of writing about The Great Fire of London, we have been concentrating on handwriting, dictation and editing our writing for ‘must dos’.  We have been encouraging the children to look at their own writing and spot any ‘squashed sentences’. This is where two sentences run into each other. For example – I like to play in the park it is fun. The children can spot where the squash is and either fix it with punctuation or a conjunction.

Help at home: Quiz your child. Can they find the squash? Ask them to choose the best conjunction to fix the squash. They could choose and, because, so or but. 

Maths – number fluency

Year 3 have been learning about numbers to 1,000. We’ve learnt about 3 digit numbers, how to read them, partition and manipulate them!

We’re moving onto our addition journey now and to help your child feel confident in using methods like column addition, they need to be secure with these facts.

These number facts are beyond 10 and there are lots of different strategies to work them out.

For example:

6 + 5
If I know 5 + 5 is 10, 1 more is 11.
Or
If I know 6 + 6 is 12, 1 less is 11.

9 + 4
If I know 9 + 1 is 10, 3 more is 13.

Help at home by practising these numbers facts colour by colour as these will really help when we come to addition with 3 digit numbers!

After-school clubs

Our autumn term clubs continue after half term and there is an opportunity to join the below after school clubs which currently have available places: 

Monday

Hama Bead Club – Y4, Y5, Y6

Mindfulness & Yoga – Y3, Y4, Y5, Y6

Tuesday

Skipping – Y3, Y4, Y5, Y6

Sewing & weaving – Y4, Y5, Y6

Wednesday

Skipping – Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4

Girls Football – Y4, Y5, Y6

Thursday

Dazl Dance – Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4

Basketball – KS1 

Basketball – KS2

Clubs run straight after school and finish at 4.15pm.

All clubs will run until w/c 9 December, which would give your child 6 sessions if they’d like to join. 

If your child is interested in joining any of the above clubs, please reply to the email sent and an individual payment request will be set up. 

English: Little Red writing

In reading and writing, we have been reading the book Little Red by Bethan Woolvin. This is alternative version of Little Red Riding Hood where Little Red saves herself rather than waiting for a woodcutter!

Today we wrote some descriptions of Little Red and I was so impressed with how hard the children worked! They have all made great progress since the start of Year One and I was astounded by some of the vocabulary they used.

Well done everyone!

Help at home by talking about the Little Red story and how the children would describe her.

Autumn1: Week7

This week we have been reading the book Henri’s Scissors.

The children have been inspired by this story and created mater pieces of their own.

Maths

During maths, we have been continuing our work on subitising. This is where the children don’t need to count the amount of objects, they just know. We do this a lot without thinking for instance, when we read the amount on dice.

Help at home by playing board games with your child. When they are moving their counter, ensure they are counting accurately.

Phonics

The children have learnt lots of new sounds this half term.

Help at home by practicing these regularly to support your child with their reading journey.

We have started challenges in our areas of provision this week. These are focus tasks for the children to complete each week. The children have enjoyed completing them both independently and with adult support.

Junior Leadership

Next week the children will have the opportunity to put themselves forward to be a member of our Junior Leadership team. There will be two children selected from each class. Their role is to be the voice of the class and share our ideas with peers and adults. Please discuss this with your child and support them if they wish to put themselves forward for this.

We have been talking to the children about democracy and that everyone in our class has the right to their say. The children will be voting using a ballet paper and we will go with the majority votes.

 Poetry Picnic

We have really enjoyed performing our poem this week.

IMG_2330-1

Reminders

Thursday is class voting day.

Please ensure children have no earrings in for PE on a Friday.

Please write a comment in your child’s reading record and bring to school on a Thursday.

Please send in any pictures of things that your children have done over the weekend. We enjoy sharing these with the class.

Rugby ticket offer

Headingley Stadium has the honour of hosting the England men’s and women’s national team against Samoa and Wales respectively on Saturday 02 November 2024.

As a partner school of the Rhinos, we are pleased to offer children and families 20% off tickets. These are purchased directly from the Rugby Football League using the discount code shown below.

Reading: Performing Poetry

This week in Reading, Year 5 have been reading a poem written by Hilaire Belloc. Belloc was a French-born poet who became a versatile English writer. He was also an avid historian, writing numerous historical texts. In addition, he wrote cautionary tales for children and Year 5 have looked at one called ‘Matilda who told lies and was burned to death’.

Year 5 put everything they had into this performance. They used intonation, tone, volume and action to act out the poem. Their outcomes were fantastic!

MATILDA told such Dreadful Lies,

It made one Gasp and Stretch one’s Eyes;

Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest Youth,

Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,

Attempted to Believe Matilda:

The effort very nearly killed her,

And would have done so, had not She

Discovered this Infirmity.

For once, towards the Close of Day,

Matilda, growing tired of play,

And finding she was left alone,

Went tiptoe to the Telephone

And summoned the Immediate Aid

Of London’s Noble Fire-Brigade.

Within an hour the Gallant Band

Were pouring in on every hand,

From Putney, Hackney Downs, and Bow.

With Courage high and Hearts a-glow,

They galloped, roaring through the Town,

‘Matilda’s House is Burning Down!’

Inspired by British Cheers and Loud

Proceeding from the Frenzied Crowd,

They ran their ladders through a score

Of windows on the Ball Room Floor;

And took Peculiar Pains to Souse

The Pictures up and down the House,

Until Matilda’s Aunt succeeded

In showing them they were not needed;

And even then she had to pay

To get the Men to go away!

It happened that a few Weeks later

Her Aunt was off to the Theatre

To see that Interesting Play

The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.

She had refused to take her Niece

To hear this Entertaining Piece:

A Deprivation Just and Wise

To Punish her for Telling Lies.

That Night a Fire did break out–

You should have heard Matilda Shout!

You should have heard her Scream and Bawl,

And throw the window up and call

To People passing in the Street–

(The rapidly increasing Heat

Encouraging her to obtain

Their confidence) — but all in vain!

For every time she shouted ‘Fire!’

They only answered ‘Little Liar!’

And therefore when her Aunt returned,

Matilda, and the House, were Burned.

Help at home: Can you spot the rhyming pattern? Does this poem remind you of anything you’ve previously read, heard, watched, seen?

Science: Space

Year 5 have now started their second science unit: Space! This week, we have learnt about our Solar System.

Here are some key facts we learnt:

• The Solar System is made up of the Sun, celestial bodies, eight planets and their moons.
• The Sun, Earth, Moon and other planets are approximately spherical bodies.
• The Sun is a star which releases heat and light and is at the centre of the Solar System.
• All of the planets in our Solar System orbit the Sun.
• The first four planets have solid surfaces whilst the last four planets have gas surfaces.
  • Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars all have solid surfaces.
  • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have gas surfaces.
• Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet.

Then, we carried out research using secondary sources (a form of scientific enquiry). We used this information to create posters about the order of the planets and wrote down more key facts about each one.

Finally, we made mnemonics to remember  the order in which the planets orbit the sun.

Help at home: Come up with a new mnemonic to remember the order of our solar system. Here is an example:

Mercury          My

Venus              Very

Earth               Epic

Mars               Marvellous

Jupiter            Jumper

Saturn            Suits

Uranus          Unique

Neptune        Neil

Or why not watch the ‘we are planets’ song.