Computing and Geography
We continued our work with OS maps this week by learning all about grid references. Once we were confident with four figure grid references, we tested our knowledge by seeing whether we could follow an algorithm and give the four figure grid reference of the square we had landed on.
Taking these skills even further, we placed our counters onto the grids of the OS maps and challenged our partner to follow a journey we made for them, giving the four figure grid reference for where we ended up and seeing whether we were right.
A really fun lesson which helped us understand our Geography and Computing skills much better!
What a geographical afternoon!
This afternoon, the Year 4 class enjoyed a topic lesson with a difference. We studied maps (old and new), identified different countries and their capital cities, read a poem called Globe Trotter, began work on a class piece of art, visited the local shops and carried out a locality survey.
Location survey
We asked different people if they could spare five minutes to help us with our survey. Members of the public were very willing to answer some questions and commented on how polite the children were.
- “What is your main concern about the area?” “The parking and the traffic.”
- “What is your main reason for visiting this area today?” “I’m talking a walk with my child and visiting the shops.” “How often do you visit this area?”
- “Almost every day.”
We will be interpreting the data collected and then it will be put into different kinds of charts.
Ordinance survey maps
The children searched for our school on the map.
Jess stated: “Well, our school won’t be on that map because it was built in 1915 and this map is before that date.” Good knowledge, Jess!
The shape of the land
Following a task to identify countries by their shape, borders and coastlines, work began on our very own version of the British Isles.
Using paint mixed with glue the land was transformed. To add different textures we also sprinkled sand on top of the paint. This created a rugged effect. The children will be carrying on with this project over the next few lessons.
Adding mountain ranges, rivers, towns, counties and a few famous landmarks will complete our work. Stay posted to see the unveiling of the United Kingdom as you’ve never seen it before!
Using stencils, some children created images adding coloured sand to represent different countries.
Best of British themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 04 October.
Please contact the office, by Wednesday 26 September, if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
KS2 fruit tuck shop returns on Tuesday 25 September
Our popular Key Stage 2 fruit tuck shop runs every Tuesday playtime and regularly sells about one hundred portions of fruit.
The dates for the tuck shop for this year are:
- Autumn term: Tuesday 25 September 2018 to Tuesday 18 December 2018 inclusive
- Spring term: Tuesday 08 January 2019 to Tuesday 26 March 2019 inclusive
- Summer term: Tuesday 16 April 2019 to Tuesday 16 July 2019 inclusive
This year, we’ll continue with the pre-payment option so that you pay in advance for the whole year for your child to have fruit from the tuck shop. We know that some children like to buy more than one portion of fruit, either for variety or to top up their packed lunch and we can also offer the option of paying for two items.
As an incentive for selecting the pre-pay option, we’re able to offer you one week per term free. Therefore for this year, you would pay for 32 weeks and receive fruit for 35 weeks. The cost for one portion of fruit for this year is £6.40 and the cost for two portions is £12.80.
Please note that payments are non-refundable and should be made via School Gateway. If you prefer your child to pay in cash on a weekly basis, that’s fine – we’ll continue to operate this system. Each portion of fruit costs 20p.
If you would like to pay in advance for your child to visit the tuck shop, please do this via School Gateway, under the payment option, by Friday 21 September 2018.
Thank you for your support for the fruit tuck shop.
Welcome to Reception
The classroom is ready and we’re looking forward to welcoming you all next week. See you soon!
Reading
Every week, we have a ‘Love Of Reading‘ session.
The aim is to encourage the children to read for pleasure; the session allows them time to enjoy their chosen texts.
Alongside this, we’ll hear groups of children read as a guided session with an adult. This allows us to focus on particular skills required to aid reading for this age group. The age-related expectations can be found on the school website. These are worth looking through. They are used in reading as specific objectives and a focus for each group.
We began with the objectives below.
- Can fluently read a set text appropriate for their age.
- Apply phonic knowledge and skills to read unfamiliar words.
All children have been given a reading book and a target page. It’s very important that the children do not read beyond the set target page.
In addition to this, we encourage the class to bring books from home. Topic related books are always a good idea. The books can then remain in our reading area for others to enjoy – with your permission of course!
Around the World in 80 Days
This is our first class novel. We’ve read the first chapter and completed a retrieval activity based on who, where, why, when, how and what type questions. Ask your child what they know about the main character, Phileas Fogg, so far.
We love an OS map
As part of our topic learning, we explored the British Isles using OS maps today.
First, we took a close at what we could see and learnt about what the different symbols, path and road colours mean.
Then, we compared the different OS maps we had, noticing the differences and similarities between them. We could tell which places had lakes, which had mountains and which were near to towns and cities.
Next week, we’ll be learning more about grid references, combining our geography learning with some computing.
Where in the World?
Our new topic, ‘Where in the World’, has kicked off with lots of questions and curiosity from Year 6. We’ve explored all sorts of wonderful places you can find on our planet and discussed where we think they might be and why. These have all been plotted on our class world map and we keep reminding ourselves of what country and continent they are in.
We’re also gathering some geographical data about ourselves. As we can name all seven continents, we discussed which one we’d travel to if we could choose any we wished.
Take a look at our data together at home and see what your child can tell you about it.
Where in the World?
Today, we began our mini topic of ‘Where in the World?’
The children studied maps, globes and atlases.
We started by looking closely at the United Kingdom. Then, the next step was to find all the capital cities.
- “Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland,” commented Harris.
- “The capital city of England is London,” answered Ethan.
Next, we’ll be looking at some aerial photos and identifying human and physical characteristics.
High school application deadlines…
Leeds City Council writes:
Is your child currently in Year 6? If so, it’s time to apply for a secondary school place!
If your child is due to start secondary school in September 2019 you should apply for a place from 01 August 2018. The deadline for applying is 31 October 2018.
You need to make your application online at www.leeds.gov.uk/secondaryschool
If you need any more information please contact the admissions team on 0113 222 4414.
Frequently asked questions
When can I apply for a place at High School Year 7?
The application process is available from 1 August 2018 to 31 October 2018.
How do I apply for a place?
You can apply online by going to www.leeds.gov.uk and searching for school admissions. If you need assistance with the application you can call us on 0113 2224414 or email us at education.annual.cycle@leeds.gov.uk. There is also a video on www.leeds.gov.uk which offers advice and guidance.
What are admissions policies?
Admissions policies set out how schools will offer places, and who will be offered a place first if there are more applications than places available at the school. The criteria set out in the admissions policy will be used to rank all applications and then places will be offered from the top of the list of applicants until the year group is full.
It is important that you look at the admissions policy for each of the schools you are including in your list of preferences as different schools have different admission policies. Admissions policies for all kinds of schools (Community, Foundation, Voluntary Aided and Academy schools) can be obtained from schools directly, found on the school website, on the Leeds City Council website at www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages/Admissions.aspx, or by contacting the Admissions Team on 0113 2224414.
How are places offered?
The local authority is required to co-ordinate all applications for year 7 places. This means the Local Authority receive all applications centrally, work with schools who determine their own admissions to gather information from them, and send out all the offer letters, making sure each child only receives one offer.
We consider all preferences at the same time and aim to offer your highest preference possible, but whether we can offer you the place you want for your child will depend on your circumstances, the schools you have asked for and their policies, the number of applications they have received and the circumstances of all other applicants to that school.
I have good reasons why my child should attend my first preference school – so you have to offer them a place there don’t you?
Many parents have good reasons why they would prefer their child to attend a particular school, but while parents have the legal right to express their preference, this is not the same as free choice about where their child is admitted. School admissions policies provide very clear criteria about who can be prioritised over others for a place and you should review the policies to see whether your child meets any of these priority criteria. If they do, please tell us on your application so that the admissions policy can be applied to your application for each school correctly.
What is my priority school/catchment area?
One priority which many admission policies include is a priority for children requesting a place where they are living in the priority catchment area or where the school is their ‘nearest’ school. It’s important to look at the school policy as not all schools include this priority. You will receive a letter telling you which school is your catchment priority school.
Distance (measured in a straight line) is also often used as a tie break within each priority, so all children who meet the ‘catchment’ priority will also be ranked in order of distance from the school. There is no guarantee that you will be allocated a place at your priority catchment school if you request it – each year it depends on the number of children requesting the school who meet this priority.
It is important that you look at each school admission policy and all other available information before making a decision about your preferences as it is important to consider whether you have a realistic chance of being offered a place.
Does it matter what order I list my preferences?
Places are not offered on a ‘first preference first’ basis – it is against the School Admissions Code for this to happen. When schools are ranking their applications in line with their admissions policy, they don’t know which preference number you gave to that school.
Your preference order is only used by the Local Authority when they are making the offers on behalf of the school, and it only influences which offer is made where you could be offered more than one of your preferences.
The Local Authority is obliged to offer you the highest preference school which your child qualifies for so please put the schools in order of where you would like your child to attend.
If I only provide one preference, do you have to offer me that school?
No. Providing just one or two preferences does not in any way increase your chances of being offered a place at these schools as your application for each school is ranked in line with the admissions policy. If the Local Authority is unable to offer a preferred school, you will be offered a place at any school with a vacancy available after all other applications have been considered, so not using all five of the available preferences actually decreases the chances of you being offered a preferred place.
Can I find out which schools are closest to my home?
You can contact the Leeds City Council Admissions Team on 0113 2224414 or send an email to education.annual.cycle@leeds.gov.uk to ask for this information. Please remember to include your address when contacting us. Our measurements are based on a straight-line distance from the school to your address. Previous allocation maps for secondary schools are on the Leeds City Council website www.leeds.gov.uk/admissions. These show the distances from home to school for the people who were successful in gaining places last year so give an indication of your chances of being offered a place. Most online mapping tools only use postcodes and not the full address. If you want to know your nearest priority school you must ask us for details; you should also receive a letter in July which will give details of your priority school and your five nearest schools by distance but you don’t need this letter to apply.
What is the ‘furthest allocation distance’?
In the information provided on the Leeds City Council website, ‘furthest allocation distances’ are stated where this information is available.
Furthest allocation distances are the distance the last pupil allocated a place at a school under one of the distance priorities (in the Leeds City Council policy this is Priority 3 – Priority Catchment and Priority 4 – non-catchment) lived from the school.
Further details of allocation data can be found at: www.datamillnorth.org/dataset/secondary-school-allocations
When will I find out which school my child has been offered?
1 March 2019 is National Offer day. You will be sent an email on this day with your offer letter attached or if you did not apply online a letter will be sent out by second class post and you will receive it a few days after the 1 March.
What should do when I receive my offer of a place?
You should accept the offer of the school place directly with the school. Accepting a lower preference offer will not affect your position on a waiting list or your right to appeal against the refusal at any other school.
What happens if I don’t get offered a place at the school I want?
If you don’t get offered a place at the school you would prefer, you can request to go on the waiting list. You can also appeal against the decision to refuse a place at a school, although appeals can only be granted in specific circumstances. More information will be provided with your offer letter.
What happens if I move into the area or change address?
If you move into the area or change address between the closing date in October 2018 and the start of the new school year in September 2019, you must let us know as this could affect your application. We will try our best to offer your child a place at the school you prefer. If there are no places left at any of the schools you wanted, we will offer your child a place at the school closest to your home with available places. Remember that we will find your closest school by measuring in a straight line. If you move to a new address, we will ask you to provide written proof of your new address and written proof that you have left your previous address.
Useful numbers and contacts
Leeds City Council website: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages/Admissions.aspx
Admissions team: phone 0113 222 4414 email education.annual.cycle@leeds.gov.uk.
Transport: Application forms, guidance notes, Leeds Children’s Transport policy, Under-16 Photocards and information about bus travel can be obtained at: www.metro.com/schools. If you need information on your ‘Nearest Qualifying School’ or have other general school transport questions please contact the Leeds Education Transport Assessment Team on 0113 348 1122 or educationcustomerservices@westyorks-ca.gov.uk.
Elective Home Education: phone 0113 378 5028.
Attendance Team: phone 0113 378 2480.
School meals: To apply for free school meals please contact 0113 222 4404.
School uniforms and other expenses parents should contact the school their child will be attending for information about help with school uniforms.
Special Educational Needs Information: For children with an existing Education Health and Care Plan (EHC) parents should contact their SEN casework officer phone 0113 378 5256. For general information, support and advice about SEN and disabilities contact the Leeds Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Service phone 0113 378 5020.