Internet Safety Day
Today we’ve been talking about internet safety and how to make smart choices online. Our friend Smartie the Penguin helped us learn what to do if something unexpected pops up on a screen.
While using his tablet, Smartie saw something that didn’t look right. Instead of clicking it, he remembered TAG — Tell A Grown up. Smartie told a trusted adult straight away.
We learned that if we ever see something that’s not meant for us online, we should TAG (Tell A Grown up). Telling a grown-up helps keep us safe and makes sure we can enjoy using technology the smart way — just like Smartie the Penguin!
Here’s a video with advice on how to support children up to age 5 to stay safe online.
Living and Learning: Online Safety Day
We started off Safer Internet Day with an assembly.
Then, we had a lesson about misinformation, disinformation and hoaxes. Misinformation means sharing false information by accident. Disinformation means sharing false information on purpose. A hoax is false information made to deliberately deceive. The children discussed how to be critical users of the internet:
- check URLs
- research/check information with other sources
- don’t believe everything you read
- read the whole thing and not just part of the information
We also focussed on understanding the importance of checking with a trusted adult before sharing personal information.
Last week, we were also joined by D:Side Dave who talked to the children about everything social media and staying safe online. Did you know that on average, people spend 2 hours and 24 minutes online everyday? Did you know that over 2 million snapchat ‘snaps’ are shared every minute?
Help at home: Can you name all the different types of social media? What is the recommended ages for each one?
The children then went head to head with Dave to see if they could guess if these photos were real or AI. Have a go yourself!
Dave spoke to the children about sticking to websites and games that are suitable for their age. We talked about the PEGI ratings on video games and how games with a higher age rating are not suitable for them.
Help at home: Discuss how to stay safe online and what your children should do if they see or hear anything that upsets or worries them.
Safer Internet Day!
Today is Safer Internet Day! This is a day designated to all things online safety.
In Year 4, we focused on some key elements of online safety:
- Fake news
- Sharing personal information
- Respect online
We began by discussing fake news and how we can spot it. Not everything we read online is true and we must make sure we don’t trust everything we read. Fake news can either be spread accidentally or on purpose:
- Disinformation is when people spread false information deliberately to trick others.
- Misinformation is when people share false information by mistake, thinking it’s true.
Questions we can ask when deciding if an information source is trustworthy:
- Who’s written it?
- Do they have a good reputation?
- Why has it been written?
- Is it opinion or fact?
- Is it high quality?
It’s really important to always speak to a trusted adult if you’re unsure about something you read online.
Help at home: ask your child how they can spot fake news.
School dinner menu
After February half term, we start our new menu which runs to the end of the year. It can be viewed here. Please review this with your child to help with their selection at the start of the day. We continue to offer meat free Mondays.
The cost of a school meal is:
- children in Reception, Years 1 and 2: this is free because of universal infant free school meals
- children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6: £3.05 for children in Years 3 to 6
Payment should be paid in advance on the Arbor app. We’re happy to accept payment for the week, month, half term or term. We prefer two weeks’ notice to change lunch arrangements.
All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive free school meals. If your child is in Year 3 to Year 6, and you are on benefits or a low income, your child may be eligible for free school meals.
Some people like to choose a mix of school dinners and packed lunch for their child – that’s absolutely fine, as long as it’s a the same pattern of school dinners and packed lunches every week. Just let office staff know which days you’d like to opt in for a school meal in the week, and which days you’d prefer to provide your child with a packed lunch.
We continue to gather feedback from children on our school meals.
If you have any feedback, please do get in touch.
Food Technology – quick pitta pizzas
This morning, Year 3 have been making quick pitta pizzas. We were so impressed with their knowledge and skills at each stage of the recipe.
The main skill we practised was cutting with a knife. We used the bridge to cut the tomatoes and mushrooms. We used a serrated edged knife to cut the tomatoes and a smooth edged knife for mushrooms.
We ripped the mozzerella into pieces and placed all of the toppings on top of our wholemeal pittas.
After we cooked them for 10 minutes, all was left to do was to eat them! Some of them gave it 10/10.
Help at home by remaking the pitta pizzas. Can you add other toppings?
Topic Drop Down Morning
In our Topic Drop Down Morning, the children revisited their knowledge from previous years. We focussed on our explorers unit in Geography, where we compare York and Venice, and Ancient Greece in History.
The children created a fact file about both York and Venice and compared and contrasted the two locations. They used atlases and Google Earth to locate these places on a map and then used secondary sources to find out information about each place.
When recapping their knowledge about Ancient Greece, we focussed on the golden age’s innovations. The children were great at remembering the names of the Greek Gods too!
Help at home: What were some of Ancient Greece’s inventions/innovations? Which one was the most important and why?
Poetry Basket: Mr Bluebird
This week’s poem is called Mr Bluebird. Hope you enjoy the performance!
This week, we’ve discussed the word hive.
Spring 1: Week 5
Phonics stay & Learn
Thank you to all the parents and carers who joined our phonics stay and learn on Wednesday. We hope you found it helpful! We’re sure you were impressed by the incredible progress the children have made—they really are phonics superstars! If you were unable to attend, we’ve put a copy of the presentation slides and any resources handed out during the stay & learn.
Please take a moment to complete the feedback form. If you have any questions, feel free to email me or raise them at your parent–teacher meeting next week.
Literacy
This week, we’ve been reading Great Fairies of the World by Stephanie Moss. This rhyming story introduces a range of fairy characters who have jobs that help others, such as an architect fairy, doctor fairy and engineer fairy, to name just a few!
We talked about what real-life heroes do and how they help people. Some of the children said they wanted to be real-life heroes when they’re older. They shared that they would like to be firefighters, doctors, police officers, vets, and lifeguards. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about all the different jobs and the important roles these heroes play in helping others.
Ali – When I’m older, I would like to be a vet.
Oy – I would like to be a doctor to help people get better.
Fin – I would like to be a vet like my sister.
Imo – I would like to be a lifeguard.
Kai – I would like to be a police officer.
On Wednesday, we decided to create our own fairy wands to help us feel brave, strong, and magical in our classroom. The children enjoyed choosing their materials and decorating their wands.
In provision, we linked our fiction story to non-fiction learning by role-playing real-life heroes. The children took on different roles and explored how people in these jobs help others in the real world. We had lots of poorly patients in our role-play area!
Here’s a snapshot of fantastic learners busy tackling this week’s challenges!
Help at home:
D:Side – online safety
Yesterday, Year 4 were lucky to have a workshop from D:Side all about staying safe online – particularly when playing online games.
Not everything we see online is trustworthy and your children were great at identifying that! We discussed how not everyone online is who they say they are so we must always speak to a trusted adult if we’re unsure or feel unsafe online. We even learnt about spotting fake news or AI generated images.
Although the internet is great for many things, we must make sure we’re using it safely. For example, your children love playing lots of online games (which can be great fun) but sometimes they also introduce risks. That’s why they have age restrictions based on what content is included in the games.
In Year 4, we should only be playing games that are rated ages 3 or 7. This is because they have content that’s appropriate for our age.
I was really impressed with your children’s knowledge of how to stay safe online. It was great to hear all their contributions for how we can make sure we’re being safe and responsible online.
Help at home: check the age ratings of your child’s favourite games to play online. Are they appropriate for them to play?
Abbey House Museum
What a great day we’ve had! Year 2 learned a lot about the past by being transported back to Victorian Leeds. At Abbey House Museum, the children found out how people lived over 100 years ago and explored different toys as part of our current history learning.
I liked it when Jill showed us all the toys from the past.
I liked to play with the yoyo but it was hard to do it.
I liked the pharmacy because all the potions looked interesting but they don’t look like the medicines we have now.
The old toilets in the street are very different to what we have now.
We learnt that people didn’t have electricity for their toys and games.
Help at home by discussing how life was different in the past. Ask your child what they remember from our trip to Abbey House Museum ready for their recount writing.