Computing: What is a sprite?
Over our time at school, we have learned to program computers using Beebots and Scratch Jr. This year, we’re using Scratch and it’s got a lot more to it than Scratch Jr so today we began exploring the different platform.
What is a sprite?
A sprite is a 2D character on a computer game.
Using the new platform, we had a go at changing our sprites and programming them to move, talk and change costume. The code blocks can be tricky to get right the first time so we had to debug (find and correct the error) our algorithms to make sure the sprite was moving how we wanted it to.
Here’s some of our examples…
We stayed safe while on the iPads by…
…telling a trusted adult if we see something thing inappropriate or unsafe and only searching or using sensible words and phrases.
Help at home by visiting the Scratch website: https://scratch.mit.edu/
Can you program a sprite to move or talk? It’s free!
West Yorkshire cross country final
We were very proud of our five Key Stage 2 children who took part in the West Yorkshire Cross Country Final at Temple Newsam today in the glorious sunshine.
In tough, competitive conditions, with the best runners from across West Yorkshire, they all put in 100% effort in their races and were a great support for each other. The children should feel proud of competing at this level. We even had a top 10 finisher out of 146 runners and our Year 3 girls team came 6th place our of 21 schools. What an amazing team effort!
Thank you to parents who helped with transport and supported at the event.
World Book Day 2025!
Today is World Book Day! World Book Day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Today has been filled with lots of opportunities to read and talk about books.
I asked the children to bring in their favourite books. We each shared our book and the reason why it’s our favourite…
Lots of our reasons were to do with funny stories, adventure or learning new facts!
We also had Mrs Charlesworth visit us and share her favourite books with us. The room was very calm and quiet – the perfect environment for reading! Help at home by finding or setting up a cosy place to sit and read. Is it warm? Are you in bed? Are you with someone else while you read?
We swapped with Year 6 and discussed our books with them too. We learnt about some new books that we might like to read in the future. Here’s some of us in action…
Finally, we took part in a live lesson on BBC and their BIG LIVE READ. We heard loads of great recommendations from other children and schools.
What a fantastic day! Make sure your child reads everyday to improve their fluency and understanding.
World Book Day tomorrow!
Tomorrow is World Book Day! World Book Day encourages more children and families to find the fun and enjoyment in reading, because reading for pleasure changes lives.
Read more here: https://www.worldbookday.com/about-us/
As part of World Book Day, I would like the children to bring in their favourite books tomorrow! We’ll have time to share and discuss their books which will give the rest of the class inspiration for their next book to read.
I look forward to hearing about them!
Thanks, Miss Birch
Leeds Rhinos healthy lifestyle assembly and ticket offer
This week, we welcomed Luke from Leeds Rhinos to deliver a healthy lifestyle assembly.
We thought about different aspects of keeping a healthy lifestyle including food and nutrition, sleep, exercise, hydration and hygiene.
Luke also spoke about the ticket offer available for families for one of the upcoming Leeds Rhinos home games.
As part of our partnership, and as a reward for all the great work that the children have been doing this year, Leeds Rhinos would like to offer children and their families an amazing opportunity to attend a match at AMT Headingley Stadium (LS6 3BR) at a special discounted schools rate.
Date – Saturday 22nd March 2025
Kick off – 5:30pm
Opposition – Wigan Warriors
Standing tickets can be booked now through the school via School Gateway. Please note that tickets will be on sale until 10am on Tuesday 18th March.
Term 2.2 – group reading!
Hello!
Last week, we began group reading!
The class have been divided into groups and each group has been given a book to read at home. This will last for this half term.
During our Book Club sessions each Friday, each group will discuss what they have read so far and share their reading record activities related to their book. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the children to explore characters and storylines more than they might do normally!
Every Friday during Book Club, each group will be given a new page to read to for the next Friday.
What to remember:
- Your child has a book that they need to read every week (up to a chosen point marked with a post-it notes).
- The reading record activity needs to be completed using their new book.
- A comment from a grown up needs to be written in their reading record.
- Group reading books and reading records need to be brought in every Friday.
Help at home by listening to your child read their new book and asking them questions about the book to help prepare them for class discussions.
I look forward to hearing the children’s discussions next week!
Thanks, Miss Birch
Science – What are soils made of?
In science, we have been learning about what soils are made of.
Soils are everywhere and they’re very useful. They are amazing in helping plants grow and provide homes to lots of little organisms.
We made careful observations when finding our own soil samples from different areas of the school.
We looked for the 3 main parts of soil:
1. small rocks
2. organic matter (dead and rotting plants and animals – humus)
3. water
We then compared our soils to sandy, chalk and loam soil and decided our soil was most like the loam soil.
Help at home by searching for the 3 main ingredients in soil you can find outside! What does the soil look like? Is it dark in colour?
Food Technology – Bruschetta!
This morning, Year 3 have been making Bruschetta. We were so impressed with their knowledge and skills at each stage of the recipe.
The main skill we were practising was cutting with a knife. The two different techniques that we used were the bridge and the claw. We used the bridge to safely and securely cut the tomatoes into small chunks. We used the claw to cut the basil up into smaller pieces.
We then used a garlic crusher to squeeze the garlic into our tomato and basil mixture. It’s safe to say the room smelt very strong!
The final challenge was to spoon the mixture onto the sliced and toasted baguette without making a mess and then to dig in… some of them gave it a 10/10!
Help at home by re-making the recipe the home. It’s been sent home with your child today. Could you add something new; ham, cheese or salmon?
Leeds Beckett tennis
This week, Nic and Sky, tennis coaches from Beckett Sport Juniors, came to deliver a tennis themed assembly.
Here are the details of a special offer they are offering for Moortown pupils.
Topic: What are volcanoes? Are they good or bad?
After spending this half term learning as much as there is to know about volcanoes, it was the children’s time to show off their knowledge.
They created a poster style spread in their books. Here are just some of the amazing ones they produced!
They thoroughly enjoyed this topic and we immersed ourselves by writing reports about volcanoes and learning about rocks in science too.
Help at home: Keep an eye out for recent volcanic activity around the world. This is a great place to start: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c340r9zgpnkt