Year 5 food technologists
Year 5 learnt a number of new baking skills while preparing our savoury scones including rubbing in. We’ve also learnt how to get ready to cook, about different ingredients and equipment used in a kitchen and also why some recipes need to be adapted to take account of food allergies.
The finished product appeared to be a popular after-school snack.
New SEAL theme
At Moortown Primary, we’re dedicated to the value of SEAL in promoting a happy and healthy place to learn. However, we’re always thinking about other ways to meet our children’s needs and interests. That’s one of the reasons we choose to sometimes break away from the national SEAL themes to do something different.
This half term, we’ll think about our rights and responsibilities and, importantly, that if we have rights, we also have responsibilities. Children will consider their rights and responsibilities at home, at school and in other places. These may include:
Their right to eat food, their responsibility to eat healthily.
Their right to a good education, their responsibility to listen to the teacher.
Their right to use the internet, their responsibility to go on appropriate websites.
Each week this half-term, we’ll concentrate on a different area:
- Week beginning 18 April: learning
- Week beginning 25 April: playing
- Week beginning 02 May: expressing an opinion
- Week beginning 09 May: staying safe
- Week beginning 16 May: being healthy
- Week beginning 23 May: general
Perhaps you can support your child’s learning by discussing and promoting rights and responsibilities at home, too.
Matheletics has changed…
…to Spellodrome!
Two years ago, we entered into a three year contract for the whole school. We’ve incorporated Mathletics sessions into the weekly routine in school, and classes have sometimes been given Mathletics Practice Makes Perfect homework. Of course, we also hoped that you would encourage your child to log-in regularly at home, too.
As a school, we’ve been really happy with Matheletics. However, with one year left in our current contract, we thought it was time for a change. Spellodrome is created by the same people, so we’ve decided to swap to this for the final year.
Why?
Well, put simply, our children’s spellings need to be better. Despite being one of the top performing schools in the country in the phonics screening check which Year 1 children do (we received a letter from the Department of Education congratulating us for having 100% of children pass in 2015), our children’s spelling accuracy isn’t good enough.
We’re finding many children use their phonics knowledge to spell words which are phonetically readable, but not accurate. By this we mean, for example, Moortown might be Moretown, English might be Inglish, phonics might be fonicks. (I’ll include a couple of other examples below.) All these words can be read, but there are so many ways to make sounds in our language, and children are choosing the wrong ways (not weighs!).
Also, many children aren’t applying some common spelling rules which would really help – and which teachers practise a lot with their classes:
- double up for a short vowel sound (think of the difference between hoping and hopping; able and apple; diner and dinner)
- drop the ‘e’ for ‘ing’ (take becomes taking – no ‘e’; like becomes liking; accommodate becomes accommodating)
- drop the ‘y’ for an ‘i’ (so try becomes tries; party becomes parties; quality becomes qualities)
So, for the next year at least, the whole school is using Spellodrome. Please, please make sure (not shoor!) your child is regularly logging in.
Also, and probably more importantly, they should be reading. Reading will help to familiarise children with correct spellings in the correct contexts – and has so many other benefits, too (studies have found that children who read fiction for pleasure have increased empathy and better mental health in years to come).
Netball after-school club
High 5 netball club will move to a Tuesday evening after the Easter holiday for four more sessions, until our main Summer term after-school programme starts (week commencing 16 May).
Children who currently attend the club on a Thursday, and also any new members, are welcome to attend. Please return the permission slip sent home this week.
This continues to be a free club subsidised by part of our PE Premium.
Year 1 food technologists
Can your child recall some of the skills used in our savoury scone recipe today?
We’ve also learnt how to get ready to cook and about different ingredients and equipment used in a kitchen.
Hope they enjoyed their scone as an after-school snack.
Eatwell guide
Public Health England have launched a new Eatwell Guide. This relates to the Eatwell Plate, a key resource used in school, to show how much of what you eat overall should come from each food group.
‘Life’ topic skills review
This morning, we spent some time reflecting on the skills we practised whilst learning about our last Big Topic: ‘Life‘.
We chose to focus on the skills we need in order to learn because these are important for life-long learning. Knowledge is important, too, but it’s crucial not to neglect the skills that underpin our learning.
We worked in groups to create a ‘diamond 9’; the children were given seven skills and also had to choose two of our ‘8Rs for learning’.
Then, we reflected as a class and decided on this ‘diamond 9’:
At the top is the skill we all thought was most important: working with others. All the other skills are important, too!
Testing times…
Do you have a child Year 2 or Year 6?
If so, they will be taking the national curriculum tests (SATs) in May 2016. The tests will provide information about how your child is progressing, compared to children the same age nationally. The results are used to ensure that schools are teaching their pupils the essential knowledge and skills in the subjects that are the early building blocks. This is to ensure every child reaches their full potential. There are changes to the tests this year at both key stages. This is because the tests are based on the new national curriculum, which your child has been taught since September 2014.
The Standards and Testing Agency has published a leaflet and short video for parents about the 2016 tests.
After school snack
Our savoury scones, using cheese, sweetcorn, carrot and courgette, went down a treat as an after school snack today.
Ask your child:
- How do we get ready to cook?
- What equipment did we use?
- What were the ingredients?
Here are some of the skills we used – can they remember any others?
Football training
Thank you to all the children who attended football training tonight. Everyone was focused, positive and tried hard – well done!
Also, a big thank you to the parents who were able to help with walking and being an extra adult.
The children were glad to hear that we have some matches lined up too. Look out for a letter with more details.
Here are some action shots:
