Help others take part in the Big Pedal
Do you have any bikes or scooters that you no longer use?
If you’d like to donate them, please bring them to school any morning this week and provided they are in a working condition, we’ll offer them to people who don’t have one to use in the upcoming Big Pedal event. Please hand them to Dom Jacques who will be in the playground to take receipt.
Any that aren’t roadworthy or are unwanted will be donated to local recycling charities such as the Yorkshire Bank Bike Library. The nearest Bike Library is at Moor Allerton Library (near Sainsburys) and they offer loan bikes to families for up to 14 days for free.
Three days to go
The Big Pedal starts on Monday 20th March for two weeks and we’re looking forward to seeing as many people as possible take to two wheels for their journey (or final part of their journey) to school. There are two lots of prizes up for grabs:
Big Pedal national prizes for all participating schools
Drawn daily for schools who achieve a minimum 15% participation (roughly 31 children for Moortown Primary) each day.
Details of the national prizes on offer are shown below.
- DAY 1 – BMX World Champ Visit & Show
- DAY 2 – Bespoke Travel Map For School
- DAY 3 – Three Brand New Islabikes
- DAY 4 – Superheroes/Moves Sample Pack
- DAY 5 – Alastair Humphreys Visit + Books
- DAY 6 – Three Brand New Islabikes
- DAY 7 – £100 Sustrans Voucher
- DAY 8 – Cyclepods Cycle Storage
- DAY 9 – Three Brand New Islabikes
- DAY 10 – Extreme Mountain Bike Show Visit
Individual prizes for pupils and supporters (parents/carers) at Moortown Primary
The more days you take part, the more entry tickets you’ll have in the prize draw.
Pupil prizes include two stunt scooters, an action camera, a bike pump, a copy of ‘The Boy who Biked the World’ by Alastair Humphreys and a Gruffalo Easter egg. Supporter prizes include two £5 M&S vouchers, a ‘hot drink and cake for two’ at Filmore & Union and a Lindt chocolate bunny.
Winners will be drawn during assembly on 31 March, the final Big Pedal day and last day of term.
How to win – pupils
Please fill in the tickets on the letter sent home, cut them out and put them in your school bag. Each morning you scoot or cycle, put your ticket in THE BIG PEDAL CONTAINER in your classroom.
How to win – parents/carers/supporters
Wherever possible, please take part and join your children on their rides to school. It’s a bit of fun, helps to reduce congestion and you could even win a prize. Each day you scoot or cycle, simply pick up a ticket from the school playground, write your name on it and pop it into the Big Pedal container. The more days you join in, the more chances you have of winning a prize.
Thank you in advance for your support. Please get in touch if you have any questions. Enjoy the ride!
Share your photos or stories: [email protected]
Big Pedal
Get set… we’re taking part in The Big Pedal 2017, the UK’s largest inter-school cycling and scooting challenge that inspires pupils, staff and parents to choose two wheels for their journey to school. The challenge runs from 20th to 31st March. It’s free to enter and we would love everyone to be involved.
Why we’re taking part and prizes available
Active travel to school is proven to improve the health of children by preventing obesity, reducing congestion and carbon emissions around schools and increasing concentration in the classroom.
By taking part, the school will compete for a national Big Pedal 2017 Trophy and will be in with a chance to win some fantastic national prizes including world champion BMX and mountain bike stunt shows, a visit from world famous explorer Alastair Humphreys, 9 brand new Islabikes and much more!
We also have prizes just for pupils (and parents and carers) at Moortown Primary School including two new stunt scooters, a scooter action camera, a track pump (donated by Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative), M&S and Filmore & Union vouchers (both donated).
How you can help to increase our chances of winning?
On each day of the challenge schools compete to see who can record the greatest number of pupils, staff and parents cycling or scooting to school. Each day that at least 15% of pupils at Moortown Primary register a bike or scooter journey, the school will go into a daily draw for fantastic national prizes. Our best 5 days (based on % participation) will determine our final position in the challenge and if we clock up the most bike and scooter journeys nationally we’ll win a Big Pedal 2017 Trophy! Moortown Primary School prizes will be drawn separately by the school.
What’s next?
All you need to do is encourage your child(ren) to cycle or scoot to school every day during the event, and join them on their way – parent/carer and sibling journeys are counted too and you might even win a prize!
Some children tell us they can’t take part in these events because they live too far away from school and have to come by car. We encourage these families to park further away and complete the final part of the journey by scooter or bike. These journeys can be included in our school total.
Bikes and scooters should be stored as safely as possible in our storage area beside the Year 3 and 4 classrooms.
Finally, if you have any Big Pedal success stories or photos to share, please send them to [email protected] so we can use them to encourage others.
Houses and homes yoga
Today we had a topic yoga session incorporating lots of yoga poses while thinking of fictional homes, animal homes and homes from around the world. Our relaxation at the end of the session is always a favourite and another way to keep calm.
Keeping calm
Our SEAL statement this week is I keep calm or help others to calm down.
The children had some great ideas for how to calm down if they were cross, angry, upset, over excited or another time they might feel overwhelmed with emotions.
Ask them to explain how the following methods can help them.
- Taking deep breaths
- Fist flowers
- Doing a calming activity such as going for a walk or reading a book
We often take some time after lunch to have a lie down, listening to calming music to relax and prepare for the afternoon.
To support this at home, the children made their own mind bottles. The idea behind the bottles is to shake it up and watch how it settles… rather like our minds!
World Book Day
As part of our World Book Day celebrations tomorrow, we’ll be holding a table sale of books written by a family member of two pupils in school.
Finlay and Evie’s auntie, Clare Luther, is the author of a great series of a SEAL related books and they will be available to buy after school tomorrow in the playground (weather permitting).
Have you tried the Be Food Smart quiz?
As part of the Be Food Smart Change4life campaign, have you tried the quiz to find out how much you know about what’s really inside your food and drink!
PE
Our second PE lesson this week will be on Friday where Dance Leaders from Allerton Grange will be visiting us to lead a session with the class.
Please ensure your child has their PE kit on Friday and at all times.
I work co-operatively to help a group.
This week our SEAL statement is…
We used drama to demonstrate this in our SEAL lesson and the children devised some key things to remember when working with others.
- Be kind to your friends
- Share and take turns
- Listen to other people when they speak
- Listen to all the ideas from your group
- Let all your group speak, in turn, and make sure no one is left out
- Don’t take over
- If someone says something that you do not think is good, just change it a bit
- Help other members of your group
- Be fair
- Follow the school rules
- Don’t ever interrupt!
- Take a risk
We put this to the test with a team challenge in PE. Each group had to get across the hall using only three hoops. There was plenty of team work, problem solving and lots of encouragement!
Time travellers at Herd Farm
Year 2 have enjoyed a glorious trip to Herd Farm going back in time to discover houses from the past.
First, Tina, our Forest School’s guide, took us to the Mesolithic Camp to show how hunter gatherers made temporary shelters with sticks covered in skins. We learnt about two main types of shelter – teepees and wigwams. Ask your child about the stick rule and the safe way to carry a stick.
Then we set to work creating our own shelter by creating a stable base (equilateral triangle) and turning a triangular based pyramid into a cone (great Maths learning too!). We were proud of our creations. Great teamwork, everyone!
After that, we took a walk to discover the Iron Age village in the valley – what a great setting for a village! We discovered that early farmers built thatched roundhouses with wattle and daub walls and cooked on open fires.
Then it was time to look inside…
Outside the roundhouses, Ian, our archaeologist guide, lit a fire while we enjoyed our fruit. We took some time to sketch the roundhouses and other features of the Iron Age village.
We left the Iron Age village to return to the main Herd Farm buildings (now a residential centre). The farm house was built in 1760 and we also found the newest building on the site, a sustainable steel framed, wooded covered building with a wood pellet biomass heating boiler, bringing us right up to date.
All the class demonstrated excellent behaviour and it was great to hear them share their knowledge from our topic so far. There was just time for a team photo before we got back on the coach to return to school for lunch!
‘I loved going to Herd Farm and I learnt that Iron Age houses are made of wattle and daub like Tudor houses. I was sad to leave.’
‘I enjoyed it because it was really fun and exciting. There were lots of activities at Herd Farm. I learnt lots from the past.’
‘I didn’t know that Iron Age houses had thatched roofs. It was cool to build our own shelters. I loved it!’
