D:Side – online safety
Yesterday, Year 4 were lucky to have a workshop from D:Side all about staying safe online – particularly when playing online games.
Not everything we see online is trustworthy and your children were great at identifying that! We discussed how not everyone online is who they say they are so we must always speak to a trusted adult if we’re unsure or feel unsafe online. We even learnt about spotting fake news or AI generated images.
Although the internet is great for many things, we must make sure we’re using it safely. For example, your children love playing lots of online games (which can be great fun) but sometimes they also introduce risks. That’s why they have age restrictions based on what content is included in the games.
In Year 4, we should only be playing games that are rated ages 3 or 7. This is because they have content that’s appropriate for our age.
I was really impressed with your children’s knowledge of how to stay safe online. It was great to hear all their contributions for how we can make sure we’re being safe and responsible online.
Help at home: check the age ratings of your child’s favourite games to play online. Are they appropriate for them to play?
Abbey House Museum
What a great day we’ve had! Year 2 learned a lot about the past by being transported back to Victorian Leeds. At Abbey House Museum, the children found out how people lived over 100 years ago and explored different toys as part of our current history learning.
I liked it when Jill showed us all the toys from the past.
I liked to play with the yoyo but it was hard to do it.
I liked the pharmacy because all the potions looked interesting but they don’t look like the medicines we have now.
The old toilets in the street are very different to what we have now.
We learnt that people didn’t have electricity for their toys and games.
Help at home by discussing how life was different in the past. Ask your child what they remember from our trip to Abbey House Museum ready for their recount writing.
Topic: A trip to Abbey House Museum.
As another week comes towards its end, our wonderful Year 1s have had another great one. Today our Year 1s and 2s went on a school trip to Abbey House Museum. This was to carry on their learning and deepen their understanding around their History topic; Toys. They took part in a workshop where they looked at different toys from the past and the present to see the differences between them and how they have changed over time.
They also got to take a step back in time and walk along the cobbled streets of Abbey House Museum to gain an understanding of what life looked like back in the late 1800s. Some of them even had the opportunity to experience what life was like in a prison cell in the late 19th century!
Well done on another great school trip Year 1!
Year 3/4 production auditions
Next half term, Year 3 and 4 are beginning rehearsals for their production – Sir David Hattenscarf – that will be at the end of the term. All the children have the opportunity to audition for the production if they’d like the chance of having a larger part!
Auditions will be held at lunchtime on the 10th Feb.
Practise this section of the script and bring it to the audition.
Any questions, please ask Miss Birch and Miss Newman.
Living and Learning: online safety
Year 3 had a visitor this afternoon from D:Side. We were learning about being safe online while playing on different games.
Lots of us enjoy playing games online and they can be really fun but there is also lots of things we need to be careful around.
Lots of games have age ratings and restrictions based on the content they show. In Year 3, we should only be playing games that are rated ages 3 or 7. This is because they have content that are appropriate for our age.
There are also many people online that we may interact with. Not everyone online is who they say they are so we must always ask a trusted adult if we are unsure or feel unsafe online.
Even if someone says they’re 7, that they love reading and have a pet dog, they might not be telling the truth! We had a go at deciphering and deciding whether the friend requests were safe or not.
Help at home by checking the age ratings of your child’s favourite online games. Are they appropriate for them to play?
Topic: History.
Currently in History, we are looking at the historical concept of innovation. The children have learnt about the inventions and innovations of the two time periods we are focussing on this unit: Vikings and the Islamic Golden Age. In this lesson, the children created a one-page spread about the IGA’s innovations.
This learning will link to our Writing as we will be discussing which civilisation was more advanced.
Help at home: Which innovation was the most important and why? Discuss how their innovations are still relevant to life today.
PE: Dance
We are dancers!
In PE this half term, we’ve been doing dance. We’ve been exploring different elements of dance and how we can use them when creating a final group routine.
- Space – pathways
- Tempo – time
- Dynamics
We started the half term by exploring different pathways – curved, angular and freeform. We imagined we were in snow and had to picture the trail we’d be leaving as we moved through the space.
Next we looked at tempo. This is the speed at which a dancer moves: fast, slow, acceleration, deceleration or free flowing. We spoke about the rhythmic use of the body to music, sound, no sound or voice.
Finally, today we thought about different dynamics in dance. These are the movements we make and the quality of these movements. The three we looked at were:
- swinging
- suspending
- vibrating
I’ve been amazed by Year 4’s dances every week – they’re fantastic! All of your children are confident dancers and demonstrate all three elements brilliantly.
Help at home: put on your favourite song and ask your child to dance to it while thinking about the three elements of dance.
Leeds Cross Country final
We were very proud of our five Key Stage 2 children who took part in the Leeds Cross Country Final at Temple Newsam today.
In muddy, slippy conditions they all put in 100% effort in their races and were a great support for each other. The children should feel proud of competing against the best runners from across Leeds.
We’ll wait to hear if we have any qualifiers for the next round, the West Yorkshire Final.
Thank you to parents who helped with transport and supported at the event.
Topic – Grandparent visit
We’ve had such a wonderful afternoon welcoming two grandparents into our class to share their experiences of toys from their childhood. The children really showcased their oracy skills, using clear voices and good voice projection when asking their questions.
We found out that one of their favourite toys was a bounce hopper because they loved being outdoors and it kept them fit and healthy and a role-play post office set, which they could enjoy playing with alongside their siblings. We also learnt that many toys in the past were made from wood, metal or porcelain, whereas today most toys are plastic, although we still enjoy some wooden toys, such as train sets.
We also loved looking at the collection of toys and photographs they’d brought in to share with us!
Help at home:
Have a chat with your child about the toys you played with as a child. Are there any similarities or differences?
Living and Learning: I know the importance of the emergency services.
As we move onto another week of our half term let’s have a look at our previous Living and Learning statement from last week; I know the importance of the emergency services. Our wonderful Year 1s worked really hard on their understanding of the importance of the emergency services. They shared some great ideas and questions around our statement. One question that stood out was “Can we call them at any time (of the day)?”. This was one of many great questions our Year 1s had during last week’s L&L session.
Well done Year 1!
