Class assembly
Thank you for coming to our bear-themed class assembly. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
I was delighted to see the re-telling of We’re going on a bear hunt – it’s good to re-tell stories over and over again. This develops a real awareness of story structure and language can be reinforced through repetition. Plus: children love it!
Here are a few comments:
- ‘Really enjoyed the performance, especially the dancing.’
- ‘Fabulous! Our first assembly. Our the children were brilliant.’
- ‘Very well rehearsed. Really enjoyed it.’
- ‘Great effort as ever. Really well done.’
Thank you very much for your continued support.
Superhero yoga moves…and some relaxation
As part of our big topic, Heroes, Year 1 took part in a hero-themed yoga session. After thinking about what is a hero, what makes a hero and who are heroes we became superheroes by using our bodies to do a variety of yoga postures.
Settling In surveys
To those of you who have completed and returned the Settling In surveys, thank you very much.
We’ve had 15 responses, all of which were positive overall, and some of which suggested a few areas to develop. These include:
- More homework – this is going to be reviewed at a whole-school level, based on the feedback here and on ParentView
- More information about how much progress your child is making – this we will also look at because quite a few of you have mentioned this, but in the meantime, do please contact Reception staff or me – we’d be happy to talk through your child’s learning with you. By now, you will have attended two parents’ evening appointments; last year, we introduced a third parents’ evening appointment at the very end of the year when the final Early Years Profile has been completed and when most children will have reached Early Learning Goals and a Good Level of Development.
If you have any questions, comments of complaints, please do come and see me. In the meantime, thank you again for completing the short survey (look out for the Parents’ Annual Survey towards the end of the year!) and also for your support – I know Mrs Burke and her team appreciate this a lot.
Developing leadership skills
Recently four Year 5 children took part in Bronze Ambassador sports leaders training at Roundhay School. After the training, feedback was really positive.
‘I really enjoyed the day and it was a great opportunity to learn how to become a leader… I am going to try to become more confident and get people at school to join in with more sport and other activities.’
These children are now part of a wider group who, alongside Mr Catherall, will be leading sports activity sessions twice a week at lunchtime. They will be joined by students from Leeds Metropolitan University who will also be delivering physical activity sessions at lunchtime.
Our local sports partnership with Roundhay School has recently been set up and is one of the ways we are investing our PE and sport government funding.
Chick Cam
Here’s a time lapse video which we set up when the chicks in Year 3 and Year 4 hatched. The video is a series of photographs (one taken every minute) and captures the chicks from their arrival as eggs to hatching.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtasRA8Q5Lw
Going on an adventure!
In literacy, we are looking at scripts. Each group has got their own script with a different adventure. Today, we looked at the setting description at the beginning and got ourselves into our starting positions.
Arctic Adventure
ALL THE ESKIMOS ARE TRAVELLING ON A SLEDGE WITH DOGS PULLING THEM. IT IS VERY COLD.
Antarctic Adventure
ALL THE EXPLORERS ARE STANDING IN THE COLD ON THE SOUTH POLE, LOOKING A BIT CONFUSED.
Indian Adventure
A GROUP OF CHILDREN ARE ON A SCHOOL TRIP NEAR THE INDIAN OCEAN. IT IS VERY HOT.
Pacific Adventure
FISHERMEN ARE STUCK ON AN ISLAND IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. IT IS VERY HOT AND THEY ARE ALL SITTING UNDER A TREE FOR SHADE.
Atlantic Adventure
ON A BOAT SAILING FROM ENGLAND TO AMERICA BUT THERE IS A BIG STORM THAT IS GETTING STRONGER. THE SAILORS ARE SCARED.
We’re looking forward to practising and performing the rest of the scene while we learn about the features of a play script.
Parents’ evening time slots
Here are the times allocated for parents’ evenings this week. Times have been given on a first come, first served basis in relation to preferred times.
Wednesday 12 February
3.30 Megan
3.40 Grace
3.50 Oliver
4.00 Elias
4.10 Aleena
4.20 Harry
4.30 Zeewa
4.40 Neive
4.50 Pippa
5.00 Abdullah
5.10 Umaimah
5.20 Pohnum
5.30 Nishaan
5.40 Sam
5.50 Nico
6.00 Daanyaal
6.10 Stanley
6.20 Noah
6.30 Brandon
6.40 Saleem
Thursday 13 February
3.30 Hibba
3.40 Owen
3.50 Edward
4.00 Matteo
4.10 Isobel
4.20 Enya
4.30 Archie
4.40 Zack
4.50 Pavan
Please come and see me if you cannot make your time slot so that alternative arrangements can be made.
How can sitting on a bus make you a hero?
There was a lady in America who was arrested for not giving her seat up on a bus. She was a black American lady and she was arrested because she did not give up her seat for a white man.
Why is she a hero?
She is a hero because she fought for the rights of black people in America. Here are some photos of Y1 doing some drama while learning about Rosa Parks.
Challenge Corner
Challenges in Maths have been welcomed by the Year 1 children – they are always up for a challenge! There are different challenges in this corner over two weeks; they will relate to some learning that the children have already done but will extend their thinking even more. These challenges should develop the children’s independence while pushing their learning even further.
How many will you get?
There has been some tricky maths going on in Year 1. Grouping and sharing, the beginnings of division, has had the brains ticking more than ever. Lots of practical work and some very resilient attitudes have shown that we can divide in Year 1.
