Yorkshire Wildlife Park
To support our Life Forces topic, Year 1 and 2 spent a great day in the sunshine at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. We were lucky enough to see many animals including lions, tigers, polar bears, giraffes, zebras, lemurs, giant otters, wallabies, baboons, meerkats and painted dogs. Our classroom session, all about food chains and diet, allowed children to consolidate their learning from the topic and show off some of their great knowledge.
All children demonstrated excellent behaviour throughout the visit – a credit to the school!
Here are some photos from the day.
KS1 trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Here are a few reminders about our trip on Monday.
- Children should come to school in their uniform
- Warm, waterproof clothes with a hat and gloves should be worn as it is an outdoor attraction
- Come in suitable footwear for walking
- A packed lunch, including a water bottle, should be brought in a bag/rucksack that the children can carry while we are there
- No money is needed
- Please arrive at school promptly as we will leaving at 9am
Have a look at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park website to find out some of the animals we will see.
It’s been perfect weather for some of the animals at the park this week.
Meet a creature
On Monday, we had the most amazing experience meeting a variety of unusual animals during our ‘Meet a Creature’ workshop. These included a snake, a tortoise, a tarantula, a gecko, bearded dragons and a chinchilla. Some of the children were extremely brave and held or just touched the creatures. 
We learnt lots of interesting facts about the creatures’ habitats and how they adapt to their environments.
World Book Day themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 01 March.
Living and Learning this half term
- 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 compliments in a sensible way. Try paying compliments each day to each other!
- I receive compliments in a sensible way. 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 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.
- I recognise my talents. Talk to your child about talents, whether academic, physical, social or emotional.
Change4Life healthier snacking
Have you see the recent Change4Life campaign encouraging children to have no more than two packaged snacks per day to reduce their sugar intake? Remember fruit and veg are always the best snack and count towards your child’s 5 A Day.
The campaign is launched as Public Health England reveals half the sugar children consume comes from unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks. Children in England are eating nearly three times the recommended amount of sugar. Too much sugar can lead to harmful fat building up inside and serious health problems, and also painful tooth decay.
Recently children brought home the Family Snack Challenge. Can your family complete the 7-day healthier snack challenge? Change4Life provides lots of hints and tips for healthier snacking.
Supermovers
The BBC and Premier League have launched a campaign called Super Movers to encourage children to become more active while learning. Teachers will be using the video resources to get children moving in lessons throughout the day. This physical activity can contribute to the 30 active minutes children should be doing at school.
Why not use the Super Movers video resources to support your child’s learning at home. Activities range from learning times tables to apostrophes.
Living and Learning – D-Side E-Safety Sessions
Dave from D:Side joined our class last week to teach us all about internet safety. Year 1 showed a great understanding of how to be safe online.
When we talked about being online, Year 1 understood that they must not give out personal information and must tell an adult if they are unsure about something that comes onto the screen. We also discussed about not talking to strangers online as they might not be who they say they are.
Skipping
Funded through our PE and Sport Premium, Year 2 and Year 4 have recently taken part in a skipping workshop led by ‘Skipping School’; both classes will then be part of a Leeds wide skipping competition.
- ‘I learnt a lot! It was fun and I learnt new skills.’
- ‘I think it is a good idea to skip because we are a happy and healthy school.’
- ‘I liked the skipping because I got to learn new things.’
- ‘I loved the skipping and the new skills because skipping makes you fit.’
- ‘First, I was really bad at skipping but when Jodi came I got better. Now I like skipping.’
We are offering all children the opportunity to learn these new skills, from their peers, by introducing skipping as a physical activity at lunchtimes. This is one way we are promoting physical activity during the school day for children to get their active 30 minutes.
The Government’s Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action, shares the expectation for all primary schools to provide a minimum of 30 active minutes every day for all pupils. The Chief Medical Officers recommend a minimum of 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity for children aged 5-18. Schools are expected to provide 30 of these minutes and families to achieve the other 30.
‘Skipping School’ also sell their ropes and we would like to offer all children the chance to buy a rope at a heavily subsided price (funded by our PE Premium) to continue learning these fundamental movement skills at home.
Ropes will be on sale at a price of £2 (normal price £5) before and after school during the week of 05 February. Starting with a stall at the PTA cake sale, Year 6 children will be selling the ropes in the playground subject to the weather. Please bring exact change wherever possible.
