Finished frames
During our topic work we have looked closely at the artwork of Quentin Blake. The children have done their own paintings in the style of this very famous artist. Adding to that, we then went on to make a frame to showcase this super artwork. Year 4 have all worked incredibly hard on designing, making and decorating their photo frames. We now have our own art gallery in the classroom. Please feel free to pop in and take a look.
PE
During this half term, we have three students from Leeds Beckett University leading our PE sessions on Fridays. The children are focusing on multi-skills, teamwork and getting enjoyment from sport. Here are a few pictures of yesterday’s lesson.
Creative homework review
As always, we reviewed our homeworks as a class this week. The standard of homework is always high in Y5; I love it. Seeing how children respond to creative homeworks is one of my favourite things. It gives me lots of teaching ideas, too – thanks Y5!
This week, we were particularly impressed by these pieces:
Edward’s pot-washing time sheet.
Sam’s collage of maths in everyday life.
Pippa’s news report – love the jokes, Pippa!
Megan’s maths game.
Topic themed English learning
This week, in English, we’ve been learning about poetry. We started out by comparing and contrasting a wide range of poems (some well known, some less familiar) and then began to unpick the poets’ use of figurative language. As it was Remembrance Day on Friday, and our Class Novel topic is heavily linked to WW2, we learnt ‘In Flanders Field‘ off by heart – ask your child if they can recite it to you!
Then, on Friday, we split into groups to perform the poem. Every group captured the mood and were able to portray this through their performance. Each group incorporated actions into their performance and one group even had the subtle, faint whistle of a bird in the background.
Here are some action shots…
‘Power for good’
Next week is national Anti-Bullying Week.
The theme this year is ‘Power for Good‘ with the following key aims:
- To support children and young people to use their Power for Good – by understanding the ways in which they are powerful and encouraging individual and collective action to stop bullying and create the best world possible.
- To help parents and carers to use their Power for Good – through supporting children with issues relating to bullying and working together with schools to stop bullying.
- To encourage all teachers, school support staff and youth workers to use their Power for Good– by valuing the difference they can make in a child’s life, and taking individual and collective action to prevent bullying and create safe environments where children can thrive.
Our school definition has recently been reviewed by the School Council and remains unchanged.
‘Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally, several times on purpose.’
We also encourage children to use their ‘Power for Good’, if they were to experience or witness bullying, by using another STOP message, start telling other people.
In class, children will discuss these aspects of bullying:
- Our definition of bullying (above)
- Types of bullying – cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion and belief, special educational need and disability
- What to do if children experience bullying. The key message is to tell someone (start telling other people)
Recently the School Council responded to this question, ‘What would you do if you were bullied‘?
- ‘Start telling other people – tell someone who I trust and who I can talk to.’
- ‘I would tell someone I trust (family member, member of staff or friend).’
- ‘If I were bullied, I’d tell my parents, a friend, a teacher and if nothing changed I would phone ChildLine (08001111).’
- ‘I’d tell a teacher, maybe a friend and put in a worry in the ‘worry box’. Also, I’d tell a parent.’
- ‘I would tell anyone I trust: my friends, my mum or dad or a member of staff. They could sort it straight away.’
- ‘I’d tell my mummy and daddy.’
All classes have access to their class SEAL box or a whole school worry box where they can tell an adult any concerns about bullying or any other issues.
For further support, bullying resources can be found at…
- http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/resources/disablist-bullying/resources-for-parents/
- http://www.childline.org.uk/explore/bullying/pages/bullying.aspx
- http://www.bullying.co.uk/advice-for-parents/
- http://www.youngminds.org.uk/for_parents/worried_about_your_child/bullying
Our noses are often in the paper
Year 6 enjoy a range of reading opportunities and one of our favourites is our weekly fix of First News.
We’re always keen to share interesting articles with each other and this brilliant paper never fails to disappoint. This week there was a man who’s best friend was a bear; a heart-warming story about a little girl who’s life had been improved by the efforts of WaterAid; and a funny little snippet on a ‘Petmiere’ – cinema for dogs!
We always read FirstNews on a Monday so ask your child at home what interesting articles (s)he’s read each week.
What are the 8Rs?
Year 6 have had a good start to this half term. We’re working on the 8Rs (resilience, safe risk-taking, responsibility, resourcefulness, responding, remembering, reflecting, readiness) to improve our learning behaviour, and therefore our learning, in class. These Rs are easy to apply at home, too:
- Resilience – try a new skill and keep at it if it’s hard
- safe Risk-taking – cook with an adult, using knives and other equipment
- Responsibility – be in charge of getting your own things ready for school or getting yourself up in the morning
- Responding – if an adult praises you for an action, make sure you do it again (or don’t do something again if you’ve been told about it before)
- Readiness – be ready to go if you’re heading out for the day with everything you might need
It’d be great to hear of any particularly good examples of children practising the 8Rs at home.
Moortown’s artists
We’d love to see you next Tuesday to share our learning from our Katie and…topic. Art gallery open 2:45-3:30pm.
Woodwork
Work has begun on making our frames that will showcase the Quentin Blake artwork completed before half term. Accurate measuring, complete concentration and staying safe were some of the skills need for this activity.
Well done to Aina, Pia and Danny who were experts at sawing and helping others. Great for building muscles!
Gymnastics
Today, Reception class had their first gymnastics lesson. The children demonstrated some great moves, balances and some super teamwork.
Have a look at what we’ve been up to.
