Bethan Woolvin virtual author event
Today, Year 2 joined Bethan Woolvin on a live event where Bethan introduced her new book Luna and the Sky Dragon.
We enjoyed listening to Bethan read her new book, talk about what inspires her and also learned how to draw a character from her new book.
Autumn term after-school clubs
*Availability update*
Our after-school clubs are available for booking on schoolcomms. Please contact the office if you need any further information or help with booking places. Clubs will begin next week.
Science: classifying animals
This morning, we’ve been learning about the observable characteristics of different types of animals and plants.
In the photographs, children are finding the characteristics of the different types of vertebrates.
If there is something they are not sure about, they’re using iPads to do secondary research to get an answer.
Help at home by discussing our science vocabulary for this unit!
Passing and ‘Keepie Uppies’!
This half term, Y6 have been improving their football skills.
We’ve focused on passing, so far. Check out the clips below – especially the composure of the first person where she found a successful pass in a game!
Passing in a game and practising the skill uncontested.
We’ve also been trying our hand (well, foot) at a personal challenge – how many ‘Keepie Uppies’ can you do?
Check out some of our first attempts below!
Help at home by discussing the best technique for a pass, why a footballer needs to keep fit or what happens to your body during exercise!
We are Geographers!
This half term we are learning about geography in topic lessons. Our unit is called Where in the World am I? It is all about where we live, including our locality as well as the countries, capitals and seas of the UK. Our vocabulary for this topic is listed below.
| atlas | a collection of maps, usually in a book |
| city | a large town |
| compass | a tool for finding direction |
| locality | an area or neighbourhood |
| landmark | an object or feature of a locality that has importance and can be used to help you find your way |
| physical geography | physical geography looks at the natural things in our environment |
| human geography | human geography looks at the changes in the environment by humans |
| to survey | to find the opinions of a group of people by asking them questions |
| issue | an important topic or problem that needs discussion |
This week we have been learning about the names of all the countries that make up the United Kingdom as well as their capital cities. We worked with our partner to look in the atlas to find the UK.
Help at home by discussing the four countries of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). The BBC bitesize website here and this song are great for helping the children remember too.
Living & Learning: Eight Rs for Learning
This week our L&L statement was ‘I use the eight Rs to help me learn.’ We started off by recapping the 8Rs and then looked at each one in detail and discussed different statements that match the 8Rs.
- reflecting – I look for feedback from my teachers and peers and think about how I can use this to improve.
- remembering – I find links between what I am learning and what I already know.
- resilient – I stick at things even when they are difficult and do not give up; I stay positive.
- resourceful – I know where to find information and use it in my work (word walls, support sheet etc.).
- responsible – I am respectful with everything (presentation, resources etc.).
- risk-taking – I can ask questions and give my opinion in a group/class situation.
- responsive – I can respond appropriately to peers and adults.
- ready – I always want to learn new things.
Help at Home: Discuss with your child which 8R for learning they feel confident in and which they feel like they need to improve.
Topic and Science!
Hello!
Year 3 have had a great second week where we have really got stuck into our new learning.
Topic – Geography – Where in the world am I?
Year 3 have become geographers for this half term (a scientist who studies the Earth). We began by using an atlas to help us plot the capital cities, rivers and mountains in the United Kingdom on our own maps. Have a look at one of our maps!
We then began to answer our question: Where in the world am I? We realised there are a lot of answers to this question; Leeds, Europe, Moortown, Moortown Primary School, UK, England and the Earth!
Help at home: visit Google Earth and zoom all the way out from Moortown Primary School! What else can you see?
Science – Skeletons!
We began by trying to build the human skeleton out of different pieces. Once we had successfully done this, we tried to name as many of the bones as possible. We focused on these 5:
We imagined what we would look like if we didn’t have a skeleton or bones… it would be quite strange! Skeletons help to protect our organs and supports our body and movement.
We are scientists!
This half term in Science we are learning all about the human body. We will be learning about the five senses as well as the names of body parts (see below).
In our first two lessons we investigated whether older people had longer feet. We drew around all our feet and then cut them out. Then we arranged the footprints from oldest to youngest. We discovered that older people don’t have longer feet. We also discussed what things made people have longer feet and we decided that the tallest people in the class had the longest feet.
Help at home by talking to your child about the names of different body parts or even play a game of ‘Simon Says’.
Autumn 1: Week 2
We’ve had a wonderful week in Reception! It’s been great to see a busy classroom. We’ve been so impressed with how well all the children have settled.
Phonics
This week, we’ve started our phase 2 phonics sessions. We’ve been trying really hard to form the graphemes (a ‘symbol’ of a phoneme –it’s a letter or group of letters representing a sound and we use the letter names for this) and pronounce the phonemes (The smallest unit of sound you can hear in a word. For example, ‘sat’ has three phonemes: ‘s’, ‘a’ and ‘t’) correctly.
Learn at home phonics sheet
Today, your child has come home with a learn at home phonics sheets. The sheets link to our current phonics learning and will be sent home every Friday.
PE
PE starts next Friday. Please make sure your child comes to school in their PE kit.
Important
Our cloakroom is very small and can get very crowded on a morning! For the safety of our children and to reduce the amount of people in our cloakroom, your child will line up in the playground and come into the classroom independently. This will also allow a prompt start to learning and encourage independence. Please wait with your child in the playground until a member of the Reception team opens the gate. There are plenty of other opportunities for you to come into the classroom throughout the year.
Me and my family
Next week, we’ll be thinking about families. During this theme, we’ll share photographs of our families, make historical links and look at different types of homes.
Have a happy and healthy weekend!
Science: Friction and Air Resistance
In Science, we have been exploring the impacts of friction and air resistance.
Here are the definitions:
We first tested which object would have the least amount of friction on a surface: an ice cube or wooden cube? Our prediction was that the ice would be the quickest therefore it has the least amount of friction. Our scientific enquiry type was ‘fair and comparative’ tests.
The children then went on to test air resistance (or drag). We tested that if our surface area increased would it slow us down or speed us up? Bin bags were our equipment of choice, have a look at our experiment:
We found out that an increased surface area means more air resistance therefore, we ran slower with the bin bag than without.
Help at home: Discuss different scenarios that are impacted by friction and air resistance.