After-school clubs – it’s not too late to sign up
Our Autumn term after-school clubs start next week for 8 weeks.
We do have some spaces available so please contact the office if you would like your child/children to take part.
Clubs on offer include hockey, multi-sports, multi-skills, dance, gymnastics, cookery, Lego Club and Code Club.
Traffic survey
Following our local area walk last week, we decided to focus on traffic around school and find out just how much traffic passes our school (hopefully following the new 20mph speed limit).
This enabled us to include some maths skills while we were recording and afterwards to discuss the results.
We are looking forward to comparing this data with the surveys completed by children at Scholes (Elmet) Primary and St James’ CE Primary.
Afternoon relaxation
Year 2 are now becoming familiar with their post-lunch relaxation sessions to prepare them for their afternoon learning.
Children choose from different relaxation techniques such as hook ups, laying down, listening to the calming music, starfish meditation or any other way to help them to relax.
Hopefully, this will give the children some methods for relaxation to use at home or at other times when they may need it.
School Savings Club dates for paying in
The School Savings Club paying in sessions for this year are at 3.15-3.45pm on the following dates (the penultimate Thursday of each half term).
- 12 October
- 07 December
- 01 February
- 22 March
- 17 May
- 12 July
If you’re unable to attend in person, please hand in any money to be deposited to the office in a sealed envelope addressed to Mrs Tiffany.
Information will shortly be sent home about the accounts and if your child would like to open account, please enquire at the office. There is an extra incentive for pupils in Year 3 as Leeds City Council will add £10 to your child’s account.
Explorers
Year 2 launched into the whole-school Explorers topic this week by becoming explorers in our local area.
We looked out for physical and human features as we explored.
After our visit, we discussed what we liked and disliked about our local area. A lot of the children had noticed litter on the ground, sometimes very close to a bin, and that was something they didn’t like. Because of this, we are planning some litter picking in the coming weeks.
Traffic was also something that was commented on.
We will be using our maths skills this week to record just how much traffic there is around school. This traffic survey will be exchanged with Scholes (Elmet) Primary and St James (CE) Primary to make comparisons.
We’ve had a great start to the big topic so far and are looking forward to lots more exploring. Below is an overview of the topic.
In this Big Topic, your child will become an intrepid explorer, embarking on an amazing adventure of discovery. Children will compare the physical and human geography of different localities. They’ll use maps, atlases and globes to help them plan journeys into the unknown! Geography learning will be key in this whole-school topic, thought the children will also enjoy other subjects, too. Maths skills, for example, will be used – children might look at positional language, coordinates, or statistics. Your child will also be encouraged to explore and learn about their own locality. Why not involve your child when planning a trip to explore some local attractions like Leeds Art Gallery or the Yorkshire Sculpture Park?
Practice that feels like play!
Practice that feels like play! Does this sound beneficial for your child? Have a look at IXL. It’s an online tool where you can access different activities to help your child practise basic skills.
It’s split into year groups, specifically looking at English and Maths, then each subject is broken down into sections. You can get a flavour of the activities by hovering over the title and can have a go at some of them – it looks great fun and very child friendly. The questions are all interactive and there are detailed explanations for new concepts.
There is a small monthly fee if you wish to sign up. Take a look – it might be something you want to explore.
Creative homeworks
Here’s a selection of our favourite creative homeworks from this week.
Story mapping
We’ve been planning our own story today based on our class novel, Lost and Found. Children have drawn pictures to represent what happens in the story. This will help them sequence the story when they write it tomorrow. 
Skills
In our topic lessons, and other lessons, children have the opportunity to use many skills such as ICT, improving their own learning and performance, working with others and problem-solving.
Here the children are working with others and using their thinking skills to predict what their learning might be at the start of a topic lesson on seasons.
Library
Year 2 will be visiting the school library on Mondays. This will be part of our reading sessions and half the class will spend the session in the library relaxing and reading. The other half of the class will visit the library the following Monday.
The children will choose a book (to bring home) and will keep the book for two weeks. Children should take responsibility to return their library book to school after this time to be ready to choose a new book.
Have you visited local libraries nearby, too? As well as borrowing books from Moor Allerton or Chapel Allerton libraries, have a look at the different events that take place there.
