Year 2 Class News

Autumn term school meals menu

Don’t forget our Autumn term menu is available to view on our website and is displayed on our dining room window. The menu, from our school meals provider Catering Leeds, follows a three week cycle. Have a look for the week ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are.

School meals continue to be free for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. If your child is in Key Stage 2, please check for eligibility for free school meals.

If your child would like to start having school dinners, please inform the office. A combination of packed lunches and school dinners is also available.

Sport England Primary Spaces award

You may have noticed some playground changes since we have returned to school.  If not, ask your child to take you to the back playground and this is what you’ll see.

The installation of the MUGA (multi use games area), nets in the main playground and playground markings outside Year 5 are as a result of a successful application to Sport England under the Primary Spaces fund to help primary schools who have little outside space.  We were awarded £30,000 to create a multi-sport area and our School Council were part of the decision-makers for the final designs.

The new facilities will provide vital facilities for curriculum PE and physical activity across the school day including playtime, lunchtime and after school.  They have proved to be a hit in the first week back with children eager to use the new facilities and also watch (in a safe manner).

Thank you to Playscheme, the contractor responsible for the installation.

Welcome back!

Year 2 had a great first day, settling into their new routines and getting to know all about their new class. There was a lot to take in!

We also welcomed three new children to the class and hope they settle in at Moortown Primary.

Part of our initial SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) learning was to consider what makes a happy, fair and safe classroom.

From this, the children created our class charter.

We want to have a fair, happy and safe place to learn in so we will…

• Be kind
• Follow our school rules
• Respect others
• Be helpful
• Listen to others
• Share ideas
• Work together
• Share
• Ask for help
• Try our hardest

New SEAL theme – New Beginnings

As we start the new school year, our SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme focuses on New Beginnings.

We begin the theme with a manners SEAL statement, I can greet someone politely.

New Beginnings allows children the opportunity to discuss and reflect on how they or others may feel in a new situation or setting. This SEAL theme offers children the opportunity to see themselves as valued individuals within a community, and to contribute to shaping a welcoming, safe and fair learning community for all.

During the theme, the key areas of learning are empathy, self-awareness, social skills and motivation.

Through discrete SEAL lessons, circle times and across the curriculum, children will explore feelings of happiness and excitement, sadness, anxiety and fearfulness, while learning (and putting into practice) shared models for calming down and problem-solving.

New Beginnings supports the development of a learning community in each classroom where all members feel that they belong. Class contracts, produced at the start of the year, allow children to contribute to how they feel they can achieve a safe and fair learning community.

Does your child have a School Saving Club account?

If so, here are the paying in dates for this year (one each half term).

• Thursday 13 October 2016 3.15-3.45pm
• Thursday 08 December 2016 3.15-3.45pm
• Thursday 02 February 2017 3.15-3.45pm
• Thursday 23 March 2017 3.15-3.45pm
• Thursday 18 May 2017 3.15-3.45pm
• Thursday 13 July 2017 3.15-3.45pm

Children must be accompanied to the sessions.

If you can’t attend the dates, you can bring money to the office in a sealed envelope marked School Saving Club for the attention of Miss Hale.

Also, it’s not too late to open a School Saving Club account.  Please ask at the office for an application form.  

As an added incentive for children moving to Year 3, their account will be credited with £10 once opened.

Have a happy and healthy holiday

It’s the summer holidays at last, so there are no homework or spelling activities. Enjoy the holidays instead!

Does your child spend less time outdoors than prison inmates? A survey suggests three-quarters of children do, as the time spent playing in parks, woods and fields has shrunk dramatically due to lack of green spaces, digital technology and parents’ fears.

Research shows that playing outdoors promotes social skills, improves vision, reduces stress, increases attention span and provides vitamin D.

What healthy changes are you making?

Last week, our SEAL statement was I can make a healthy change.

It was great to hear all the changes that children were making and also encouraging their family to take part in.

Here are some examples from Year 3.

Children were also encouraged to travel to and from school on foot, by bike or scooter.  The class with the most healthy changes and sustainable journeys were Year 5 with over 200 counters!

Here are some suggested healthy changes for over the holidays.

• Try tennis for free – these sessions continue monthly during the summer and are held locally at Roundhay Park tennis courts.
• Local leisure centres offer a range of holiday activities.
• Maybe you took part in the recent Sky Ride event and want to know how to maintain your bike? Halfords are running free bike maintenance sessions.
• The Little Gym is now open locally at the Moor Allerton Centre offering classes and summer camps.
• The Change4Life Sugar Smart app allows you to check levels of sugar in foods. How much sugar is in your snack? Is it time for a change?
• Change4Life and Disney have teamed up again with a 10 Minute Shake Up summer adventure, inspired by Disney Pixar’s Finding Dory.

We hope you have a happy and healthy active break.

School Saving Club

Our next paying in session for children who have opened a School Saving Club account is this week: Wednesday 20 July 3.15pm.

It’s not too late to open an account.  Please ask at the office for an application form.

Sports day Tuesday 19 July

Preparations are under way for this year’s sports day to be held on Tuesday at Roundhegians Rugby Club. Access to Roundhegians will be the pedestrian entrance off High Moor Avenue.

Please note: this year, we’ve swapped the morning and afternoon so that KS2 children compete from 9.30am whilst YR and KS1 start at 1.15pm. The format will remain the same with various races and also field events for KS2. Medals will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd and all children will be rewarded for taking part.

Another change is that children should come to school in their PE kit and they will stay in their kit all day. This includes, if possible, their team t-shirt – blue, red, green or white. If your child doesn’t have a t-shirt in their team colour they should wear their normal PE kit and they will be given a bib matching their team.

They will also need their water bottle, a hat and sun cream applied before school.

We look forward to seeing you there to support.

£117.77 = lots of pennies!

Remember all the pennies collected by each class during the recent Money Matters themed week?

They were then used to create a penny trail in our playground.

After lots of counting (thank you to Mrs Russell), our total amount raised is £117.77.

Thank you for all your contributions.  The total will now be split between our two school charities.