This Green Moon
Today was a very special day for our Reception class as we went on our very first school trip to This Green Moon! As soon as I opened the Reception gate this morning, the children were buzzing with excitement.
When we arrived at Green Moon, we were warmly greeted by the two leaders, Paul and Matt, as well as the Reception class from St James’, one of our other Federation schools. It was lovely to come together and share the experience.
From the moment we stepped onto the coach to the minute we arrived back at school, the children were exceptional – what a credit they were to our school! Their behaviour, listening skills and enthusiasm were wonderful to see.
We thoroughly enjoyed spending the day outdoors, exploring the natural world around us. The children took part in so many exciting activities: making a fire, creating sculptures using potatoes, designing bracelets with pieces of coloured wool we found in the forest, and even working together to create a giant piece of artwork. It was fantastic to see their creativity and curiosity shining through.
What a fantastic day full of learning, laughter and adventure. Well done, Reception – we’re so proud of you all!
English: Nothing
This half term, we’ve started reading Nothing by Mick Inkpen. We’re already thoroughly enjoying the story and are very eager to find out what happens to Nothing next.
We began by making predictions about what — or who — Nothing might be:
I think it’s because they’ve left nothing behind.
I think it’s the teddy bear’s name.
We also explored how Nothing might be feeling after being trapped in the attic for many years. The children suggested a wide range of emotions, including frightened, scared, lonely and apprehensive.
Today, we brought the story to life through role play, using a strategy called “thought tracking.” The children imagined they were Nothing’s inner thoughts and described how they would feel after finally escaping the attic. They used the sentence stem:
“I would feel… because…”
It was wonderful to see such thoughtful and imaginative responses as the children deepened their understanding of the character’s emotions.
Y3/4 production – Sir David Hattenscarf
Hello!
We hope you’ve had a great half term. This half term, we’re going to begin rehearsing for our production – Sir David Hattenscarf!
If your child has a part in the production that has lines, please help at home by supporting them to learn their lines. We’ll be rehearsing at least once a day at school so any extra practice would be greatly appreciated.
Here are some strategies that might help…
- Repetition & “Line-by-Line” Method: Take it one line at a time. Read a line, cover it, and try to recite it without looking. When mastered, move to the next, then combine them.
- Write It Down: Write your lines out by hand, as this strengthens memory retention.
- First-Letter Mnemonics: Write down the first letter of every word in a sentence. Use this sheet to prompt your memory.
- Record and Playback: Record the other characters’ lines on your phone, leaving pauses for your lines. Play it back and speak your lines.
- Move While Memorising: Walk around or act out actions while reciting. Connecting physical movement to words helps solidify them in your memory.
Here’s a link to one of the songs to practise at home too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuSBLQ0igsE
Any questions, please ask!
Living & Learning: I know what a drug is.
In L&L this term, we’re looking at drugs, alcohol and tobacco. In Year 4, we discussed what a drug is:
A substance that changes the way the body or mind works.
To begin this topic, we looked at a range of medicines and household products and spoke about their benefits.
Medicines can make us better when we’re ill.
Bleach is good for cleaning the toilet so we can be more hygienic.
Soap is really important so we can wash our hands and body properly.
Calpol can help if you’re feeling unwell or in pain.
We then discussed the importance of staying safe when using these products. We identified the risks of these items and how we can reduce these. I was really impressed to hear so many brilliant suggestions for how we can always stay safe when using these products.
Always put medicines and cleaning products up high or locked up so children can’t touch them.
Never take medicine that isn’t given to you by a doctor or a trusted adult.
Wear gloves when using bleach.
Always read the label on medicine to make sure you’re using it safely.
Help at home: talk about some household products or medicines you have at home and how you make sure you’re always using these safely.
Let’s grow
Foot tech Y5/6 event
This week, thirteen of our Year 5 and 6 children took part in the Leeds Well Schools Partnership Foot tech 3v3 football event at Bishop Young Academy.
Our teams played lots of games against other schools during a very active morning. 3v3 matches allow the children to get more touches, passes, dribbles and tackling in a very fast paced environment.
Well done to all of the children who worked hard in their teams and represented our school so well.
Foot tech currently run two of our after-school clubs and offer football training locally.
Change in PE day
Next half term Year 5 will change their PE days from Tuesday and Wednesday to Monday and Wednesday.
Therefore, the first day back at school (23rd February) will be a PE day.
Thank you and have a lovely half term break.
Living and Learning: Safer Internet Day
On Tuesday it was Safer Internet Day. The theme for this year’s national Safer Internet Day is ‘Smart tech, safe choices – Exploring the safe and responsible use of AI.’
Our first lesson was about misinformation, disinformation and hoaxes. The children were given 3 news articles to analyse and summarise. They then had to share this information with their friends over message. What they didn’t know is that these articles were hoaxes (false information made to deceive people). I shared this information with them on purpose (disinformation) and they had then shared it by accident (misinformation).
Year 5 discussed how we must be critical users of the internet to make sure false information is not spread to affect others.
I would check different websites to see if the information was correct.
I would check for spelling mistakes and other errors.
I would look at the URL to see if it is a safe and reliable website.
It’s really important to always speak to a trusted adult if you’re unsure about something you read online.
We spoke about our conduct online as well. We know that we need to be respectful, responsible and kind in all our online interactions. Essentially, we need to treat people online with the same respect we would to their face. If we hear or read anything that upsets us we need to report it to a trusted adult.
Help at home: Can you think of at least 4 pieces of personal information that we should keep private? How can you be critical users of the internet?
Living and Learning – Safer Internet Day.
On Tuesday of this week we had our Safer internet day, Year 1 learnt about four main areas of online safety (plus lots of other online safety tips too).
- I know that there are sometimes age restrictions online.
- I know that passwords are important.
- I know that some things online may not be true.
- I know that I shouldn’t share personal information online.
We also welcomed Dave from d:side last week to support this learning last week.
We’ve had lots of discussions about staying safe online. We read the book Chicken Clicking by Tony Ross. In the story a chick gets access to the farmer’s computer and makes a chick friend online. He goes to meet his new friend in the woods… I’ll let your children tell you what happens next.
The children shared some great ideas giving Chicken Clicking some superb advice about how he should have acted differently.
Finally, well done for another great half term Year 1! Have a lovely break.
Spring 1: Week 6
This week, we’ve been learning all about Lunar New Year. Our focus story was The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson. Using our imaginations, we thought about what we would create if we were given our very own magic paintbrush.
On Wednesday, we watched a video about how people prepare for and celebrate Lunar New Year.
Yesterday, we read The Great Race and learned about how the Chinese Zodiac began. We then had a go at putting the animals in the correct order.
Maths
We’ve been exploring pattern. The children have been copying and continuing patterns, as well as creating their own, using patterns like AB, ABB and ABBC with colours, shapes, actions and objects.
We’ve also been spotting errors in patterns and explaining what has gone wrong. This helps children really think about how patterns work, rather than just guessing. A key focus has been talking about the ‘unit of repeat’ – the part of the pattern that keeps repeating (for example, red–blue in an AB pattern).
Help at home: Choose a rule and create a pattern. Take a picture of your pattern and send it to the Reception email address.
Finally, thank you to everyone who attended the parent–teacher meetings this week. It was lovely to talk with you all about your child’s learning and to celebrate their fantastic progress.
As always, I hope you all have a happy and healthy half-term break. Feel free to send me an email to let me know what you get up to. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday 23 February.