Living and Learning: Being me
- I cover my mouth (when I yawn, cough, sneeze). Get your child to demonstrate the ‘vampire’ method to family members at home.
- I can say something good about myself. It’s important that your child can confidently talk about themselves in a positive way.
- I pay and receive compliments in a sensible way. Try paying compliments each day to each other! Some children struggle to hear positive words about themselves, but this is important for self-esteem. Try paying (and listening) to praise and compliments.
- I recognise my talents. Talk to your child about talents, whether academic, physical, social or emotional. Some of us may have a natural talent, but most have talents that derive from lots of practice.
- I know the difference between being proud and showing off. We encourage compliments to be paid – but encourage your children to know the balance between being having self-esteem and showing off.
Living Streets (Moortown group) update
An update and a call for support (by Friday 15 March) from our local Living Streets group.
WE HAVE GOOD NEWS!
Back in autumn we submitted a response to the ‘Connecting Leeds’ consultation for improvements in Moortown. The feedback you provided in our survey helped us to share a number of ideas with Leeds City Council to help make the routes to school safer and more pleasant for all members of the community.
It’s very pleasing to see that a number of suggested improvements have been incorporated into the revised proposals, including:
• Priority for pedestrians at both the entrance and exit of the parade car parks (kerbs to run through with visual priority for people on foot so drivers know to give way).
• Replacing the badly positioned concrete bollards on the northern parade with a continuous low-level fence (to match the south parade) to prevent vehicles blocking the footpath.
• Low-level fencing at Manning Stainton to allow access only via the official dropped kerb and not across the full length of the footway.
• Planters adjacent to the road outside Manning Stainton to enhance the area and prevent HGVs and other vehicles driving and parking on the footway.
• Improved crossing times for pedestrians at the main M&S lights.
• A widening of the public footpath/reduction in road space adjacent to the south parade to allow for the future introduction of a pavement at the shops (not in the scope of this project).
Existing proposed designs for this future work can be found in Moortown Community Group’s Neighbourhood Design Statement (available at moortowncommunitygroup.org.uk).
BUT IT’S NOT A DONE DEAL YET. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP…
Although the public consultation for Moortown is now complete, there will still be some local targeted consultation with residents and business owners directly affected by the proposals. They will hopefully support the revised proposals too, but there’s also a chance some won’t, particularly if it affects current parking arrangements.
We want to ensure that the improvements for pedestrians many of us have been campaigning for are delivered and a great way to demonstrate your support is to post a comment about the revised plans on Twitter, tagging both Connecting Leeds and Moortown Living Streets Group, or email Connecting Leeds directly if you don’t use Twitter:
Twitter: @ConnectingLeeds + @MoortownLSG
Email: connectingleeds@leeds.gov.uk
Follow this link to see the updated Moortown plans as well as a number of other local schemes which are now open for public comment (including Alwoodley, Scott Hall Road and Chapel Allerton).
Many thanks once again for your continued support!
Dom Jacques
E: moortowngroup@livingstreets.org.uk T: @moortownlsg
World Book Day school dinner menu
On World Book Day, Thursday 7th March, there will be a special themed menu for school meals.
Please contact the office, as soon as possible, if your child would like to have a school meal on this day.
Living and Learning: Staying Safe in the environment
Staying safe in the environment was one of our main areas of learning during ‘Staying Safe Week’. Year 1 went on a walk around the local area and to the park to see what dangers there might be. The children were very knowledgeable about road safety and stated the importance of staying well away from the road when walking on the pavement. Fortunately, we didn’t have to cross any roads but the children had remembered the Green Cross Code in case we needed it. We also discussed the importance of staying in sight of the adult you are with and not talking to strangers.
Whilst at the park, we had a good look at the equipment and decided that it was not safe to play because it was too wet and slippy. Hopefully we can visit the park again when the equipment is safe to play on.
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Living and Learning: Staying Safe week comes to an end
The final two days of our Staying Safe themed week continued to be filled with visitors, visits and more great learning.
Thank you to Allerton Grange who supported our themed week by hosting two of our classes. Year 6 had to be very safety conscious when attempting to scale the climbing wall. The technology department allowed Year 5 to safely investigate and explore a variety of different equipment.
Rachael from the Dogs Trust visited all classes on Thursday to talk about keeping safe around dogs. The children were taught to always check with an owner to see if it is safe to stroke a dog and what to do if a dog runs towards you. Have a look at Year 3’s class news post to find out more.
Jane Cusworth from Leeds Beckett University also joined us on Thursday to cover some basic first aid with different classes. Thank you to those parents and carers who joined her for the first aid workshop at the end of the day.
On Friday, Steve from British Military Martial Arts gave some great self defence tips to the children. BMMA run a martial arts after-school club at school every Monday so contact the office if you’d like more details.
There was also a water safety theme to the day with a visit from the Canal and River Trust to help to keep us safe by rivers and canals. Key water safety messages were given such as lying down on the floor when pulling someone out of the water.
Finally, thank you to Catering Leeds, our school meal provider, who gave hand hygiene sessions to Reception and KS1 classes. Keeping our hands clean and safe from germs will protect us from becoming sick and passing on germs to others.
There have been some great safety messages across the week from all our visitors. Ask your child/children what they have learnt across the week in respect to staying safe
- online
- at home
- at school
- in their environment
Living and Learning: Staying Safe week day 3
We welcome four visitors to school today who will be giving a variety of staying safe messages as part of our themed week.
Thank you to Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative who have been busy carrying out maintenance checks on lots of bikes and also delivering basic bike maintenance sessions to Year 5 and 6. Their shop is local in Chapel Allerton.
Thank you to Barrie and Christine, local volunteers from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), who are delivering water safety sessions to children in Reception to Year 4 across the day.
Dave from dside is with us today and Friday to deliver e-safety sessions to children in Year 1 to Year 6.
Finally, this afternoon, the Moortown Fire Service visit us to deliver a fire safety talk to Year 5.
These are just some of the visitors supporting our Staying Safe themed week to enhance our staying safe learning.
Staying Safe Week
What a start it’s been to our Staying Safe themed week! First, the children thoroughly enjoyed their scooter training. It was fantastic to so many children come to school on their scooters. It would be great to see the children continue to come to school on their scooters and put all those safety tips they learnt into practice.
We also had a visit from Richard from One Day Creative. We learnt lots about staying safe online thanks to Richard. He told us a brilliant story about a pirate called Captain Digi and the many adventures he had been on sailing through the seas of the internet. In the story, Capital Digi showed us how to escape phishing mermaids and dodge the tentacles of cyber bullies. He also taught us the importance of keeping our pirate identities secret.
On Tuesday, we were very lucky to meet some of our areas PCSOs. The officers talked to us about the importance of staying safe in the environment and that they are always there to help if we need it.
Living and Learning: Safer Internet Day
It’s Safer Internet Day and this has been a focus of learning today as part of our Staying Safe themed week. Below are some top tips for parents and carers to support your child to enjoy technology and the internet safely.
Our internet, our choice, so…
- Choose to have a conversation
Talk regularly with your child about how they use technology, and find out what their digital life is like, including what their favourite sites and services are and also how being online makes them feel. Listening to your child will give you the best possible idea of how you can support them. Not sure where to begin? Have a look at our suggested conversation starters for parents.
- Choose to take a balanced approach
As parents it’s natural to feel worried about the risks posed by your child being online, but for young people the online world is exciting and fun, as it brings so many opportunities for them. Remember that your child will use technology and the internet differently given that they are growing up in a world immersed in all things digital. Try to look at both the positive and negative aspects of being online and empower your child with safe choices they can make instead of overwhelming them with restrictions.
- Choose to make use of the tools available to you
There are lots of tools to help you manage the devices used by your family. For example, knowing how to activate and use parental controls can help protect your child from seeing inappropriate content online. For advice and guidance on how to make use of parental controls and other safety features on devices, check out our free Parents’ Guide to Technology and Internet Matters’ step-by-step parental controls guides for online services.
- Choose to get help and support
It can sometimes feel like young people are the experts in all things digital but remember – you are the life experts. You are always there to help your child but make sure you know how to get support too by visiting our Need Help? page. You can take steps to support your child online by using features such as privacy settings on social media and understanding how to make a report on a range of apps, games and services.
- Choose to be current and topical
This Safer Internet Day focuses on the very relevant topic of consent in the digital world. Use this as an opportunity to support your child with how they tackle digital consent within relationships and friendships as well as how online services use the data we provide. Use our quick activities as a family this Safer Internet Day to help you unpick this topic together.
Free bike check Wednesday 06 February
Living and Learning: Staying Safe information
A variety of safety related information will be sent home during this themed week. Have a look through the information with your child to support and reinforce this learning at home.
