Sporting heroes
So far in our heroes topic, we have explored superheroes, heroes from the past and community heroes. This week, our focus has been on heroes in sport. We were lucky enough to be visited by Keith Senior, a retired Leeds Rhinos player. Lots of us had some very interesting questions.
How long have you been playing rugby? 20 years.
Why did you retire? I got a knee injury.
Have you ever got cuts and bruises? Yes lots!
What have you done this week?
We have been using our shared area in KS1. There have been a lot of changes in the KS1 shared area; there are challenges in phonics, maths and imaginative play. Here are some Y1 children after they decided to face the challenge in the small world area: “Create a hero basecamp near the farm and defend it from the villains.”
A sporting hero
There was a visitor in KS1 on Friday. Keith Senior, a former Leeds Rhino and England rugby player, came in to chat about his career and to answer many questions. He is a hero to many people and has worked very hard to be part of the rugby league world. He told the children that if they really want to do something, then they have to work hard and be resilient. There were lots of good questions from the children and Mr Catherall ; Mrs Weekes got an autograph for her husband who is a Leeds Rhino fan!
Loads of learning
Here is a snapshot of some of the learning that has happened in Year 1 this week: reading QR codes, making 2D shapes, sorting 3D shapes and using the Beebots to draw shapes.
Health heroes
This weekend, 15 and 16 March, at Eureka, there is a very topical health heroes Dragon’s Den event…
Meet some of the most important health heroes of the past at our humorous, playful and interactive Dragon’s Den style sessions.
- Why Florence Nightingale was the original ‘forces sweetheart’?
- Did Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accident?
- Why should we thank Louis Pasteur for healthy milk on our cereal?
Who’ll win your backing? You decide!
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