Class News

Reception class playing and learning in the snow!

“There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” (John Ruskin)

Class Assembly

We invite you to join us for our class assembly on Thursday 31 January 2013 at 2.40pm.

Apologies for the previous mix up with the date.

Friday literacy

On Friday afternoons, we practise grammar, punctuation and spelling. The lessons are short, snappy and fun with lots of games and quick activities.

Professor Gibbins visits Moortown Primary

We were very luck that Professor Gibbins managed to stop by and give us some mind-boggling facts about space. He looks strangely familiar…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryc5DE7Qu1Y&feature=youtu.be

Fun in the snow

The Paperclip Dance

Do you know how we are making the paperclips dance? Ask the scientists from Year 1!
Click on the link below to see ‘the paperclip dance’.
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An excellent learner

Getting a certificate for always demonstrating excellent learning behaviour.

SEAL star

Getting the ‘I can take a safe risk’ certificate for confidently trying new shapes in gymnastics.

The Rs for learning

The 7Rs for learning is an additional theme to our SEAL (social and emotional aspects of learning) coverage across the year.  Throughout this theme children will explore seven key aspects of learning behaviour:

• Responsibility – know that you are in charge of your learning
• Risk – taking – having a go
• Resilience – keep trying, stay positive and persevere
• Resourcefulness – try a different way and find and use resources independently
• Responsive – respond in the right way to peers and adults
• Remembering – apply your learning in other lessons
• Reflection – think about what and how you’ve learnt and learn from your mistakes

Each of these aspects that help us to learn will be explored over this half term.

Characteristics of effective learning

A big part of education is to learn facts and rules (and then to use these in certain situations).  At school, we learnt times tables, spellings and capitals of some countries, for example – these are useful facts that we now use as adults.  But education at its core is not just about being able to learn and remember facts.  It’s about the processes as well as the outcomes.  We want our children to happy and healthy learners for life.  If they have the characteristics of effective learners listed below, which we promote at school and which you can promote at home, they are more likely to be successful, life-long learners.

The characteristics can be broken down into three broad areas:

1. playing and exploring (finding out, using what they know in their play, being willing to ‘have a go’)
2. active learning (being involved and concentrating, keeping on trying, enjoying achieving what they set out to do)
3. creating and thinking critically (having their own ideas, using what they already know to learn new things, choosing ways to do things and finding new ways)

Have a think about these.  When does your child has the opportunity and encouragement to demonstrate and develop these characteristics?

Here are a ‘Top 20’ list of examples of questions which might prompt you to change the way you support your child at home.

• Does your child respond to first hand experiences in an exploratory way?
• How does your child demonstrate natural curiosity?
• Does your child notice patterns, changes, similarities and differences in or outside the home?
• Does your child initiate activities around his / her own interests?
• Does your child seek challenges and take risks in new experiences?
• Does your child learn from mistakes without becoming disheartened?
• To what extent does your child become completely focused in activities and experiences and not easily distracted?
• Does your child pursue a particular line of interest in an activity?
• Does your child demonstrate persistence in the face of difficulty or a challenge?
• Can your child refocus and re-plan to overcome difficulties, setbacks and disappointments?
• Does your child know how to seek appropriate help in terms of materials, tools and other people?
• Does your child become involved in activities and experiences which arise out of personal interest, curiosity and enquiry?
• Does your child demonstrate satisfaction when engaged in and completing activities?
• Does your child generate new ideas during activities?
• Does your child adapt, refine or make changes when previous ideas were unsuccessful or could be developed?
• Is your child inventive in solving problems, using knowledge and skills across areas of learning?
• Does your child talk about or explore the idea of cause and effect through actions?
• Does your child offer ideas of why things happen and how things work or show this in his / her exploratory play?
• Does your child explore ways of solving new problems including trial and error?
• Is your child able to plan and monitor what has been done?

(Much of the content of this article comes from the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, but we believe apply at all stages of a learner’s life.)