Book Club
This half term, we’re back to group Book Club sessions.
Help at home by asking your child to tell you their target page that they’ve agreed with their group this week and discuss the following as you’re reading together:
- Who’s their favourite character and why?
- Has anything surprising happened?
- What will the characters do next and why (motive)?
Don’t forget to give voices to the characters!
We also celebrated our reading records.
I asked Y6 to show their favourite page in their reading record that they’ve done so far this year and I think you’ll agree that they’re outstanding. Enjoy the gallery below!
Figurative Language Treasure Hunt
This week, we had to hunt to find figurative language hidden around the classroom!
Once we had found one, then we had to write down what figurative language what being shown. For example, similes, onomatopoeia, alliteration or a personification.
Then, we put our skills to the test by practising some figurative language that might help us with our narrative next week.
A fan favourite was Hardev’s:
“The lake held the boat captive like a lion in a zoo.”
We loved it because it was a stunning example of personification and a simile.
Help at home by practising some of the harder examples of figurative language like hyperbole, idioms and metaphors.
KS2 SATs: information for parents
Ahead of the end of KS2 national curriculum tests and teacher assessments in May 2024, we have published a new information leaflet for parents.
This leaflet provides an overview of the purpose of the tests, when they are scheduled, and when results will be shared by schools.
We encourage you to share this information with the parents and guardians of pupils participating in the end of KS2 tests this year.
There will also be a meeting held on Zoom on Monday 11 March at 6pm – details to follow.
Writing: figurative language
For the past two lessons, Year 5 have been looking at figurative language. During the first lesson, we had a scavenger hunt! Around the room were 28 different sentences and the children had to find them and decide what type of figurative language it was.
Types of figurative language:
- simile
- metaphor
- alliteration
- personification
- hyperbole
- onomatopoeia
- idiom
For the next lesson, the children wrote a descriptive paragraph that contained different types of figurative language.
Have a look at some of their fantastic work:
Help at home: Discuss the definitions of each type of figurative language or
create a descriptive paragraph using different types of figurative language.
Science: How do we taste?
On Monday, we were joined by our visitors from the University of Leeds. This week they came to talk to us about how we taste. The children learnt that there are 5 different tastes. These are:
- Sweet
- Sour
- Salty
- Bitter
- Umami (savoury)
The scientific word for taste is GUSTATION.
The children then were able to try different foods that highlighted the different tastes.
Did you know that the nose and taste buds work together to tell you what taste and scent you are eating? Different parts of your tongue detect which taste it is.
Finally, they went on to look at the difference between whole foods and processed foods.
Help at home: Take a look in your food cupboards at home and discuss which foods are whole and which are processed. 
KS2 Cross Country event
This weekend is the final Saturday cross country race of the season. Please sign up online or inform the office ideally by tomorrow Thursday 29 February if your child would like to take part.
LSAA Cross Country race Saturday 2nd March Woodhouse Grove school, Apperley Bridge, BD10 0NR
We are pleased to invite KS2 children to compete in an upcoming cross country race as part of the Leeds Schools Athletics Association cross country programme of Saturday morning races. Children will compete against pupils from other Leeds schools.
The race will take place on Saturday 2nd March Woodhouse Grove school, Apperley Bridge, BD10 0NR.
This race is an afternoon race at 1pm. Limited parking is available so please car share where possible.
Please note, parents/carers are responsible for taking and supervising their child/children at the event. There will be a parent representative at the event.
There are opportunities for Year 3 and 4 girls and boys (under 9) to race 900m and Year 5 and 6 girls and boys (under 11) to race 1500m. Once your child has completed their race, you are free to leave the event.
We look forward to pupils representing our school at this event.
Big Walk and Wheel
We are taking part in the 15th year celebration of Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel, the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking, wheeling and scooting challenge. The challenge runs from 11-22 March 2024. It’s free to take part and we would love everyone to be involved.
Last year, in our category of small primary schools, we finished in 24th place out of 514 schools with an average of 91.14% of our journeys to school being active. We achieved the highest national (24th) and Northern England (5th) ranking out of those schools in Leeds taking part.
What do you need to do?
Encourage your child(ren) to walk, scoot or cycle to school on as many days as possible during the event. Park and stride can also be included if you park at Marks and Spencer or further away from school and walk/scoot or bike the final part.
Why we are taking part
Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel is a great way to build physical activity in children’s daily routine which is important for their physical health and mental wellbeing.
Active school journeys also help to reduce congestion and air pollution outside the school gate. A 2021 YouGov study showed nearly half of UK children worry about air pollution near their school. And that children thought active travel was the best away to bring down these pollution levels.
Plus there are some great prizes to be won every day if we get enough children taking part!
Useful resources
To help you prepare, Sustrans has developed a handy free guide to walking, cycling or scooting to school. It is packed with advice to help you have hassle-free journey to school.
Download your free family guide using this link: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/sign-up-to-receive-your-free-school-run-guide/
For more information about the event go to www.bigwalkandwheel.org.uk . Enjoy the challenge!
Dodgeball
In PE, we’ve been honing our dodgeball skills.
We’ve played lots of different versions like Island Dodgeball, Chicken Run and Protect the President.
Help at home by discussing how dodgeball skills transfer to other sports and games.
Check out the action shots below!
Guided Reading Week 1
Here are the target pages for this week’s guided reading. These need to be read by Friday 1st March:
Divine Freaks: up to chapter 5/page 55.
Street Child: up to chapter 8/page 64.
How To Train Your Dragon: up to chapter 2/page 28.
The Considine Curse: up to chapter 5/page 38.
Extra Time: up to chapter 10/page 37.
The London Mystery Eye: up to chapter 8/page 60.
Guided Reading Information
Year 5 have been given their guided reading books.
The class have been divided into groups and each group has been given a book to read at home. This will last for this half term.
During our Book Club sessions each Friday, each group will discuss what they have read so far and share their reading record activities related to their book. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the children to explore characters and storylines more than they might do normally!
Every Friday during Book Club, each group will be given a new page to read to for the next Friday. This information will be posted every week on our class news.
What to remember:
- Your child has a book that they need to read every week (up to a chosen point marked with a post-it note).
- The reading record activity needs to be completed using their new book.
- A comment from a grown up needs to be written in their reading record.
- Group reading books and reading records need to be brought in every Friday.
Help at home: listen to your child read their new book and ask questions about the book to help prepare them for class discussions.
I look forward to hearing the children’s discussions next week!
