Beach School – Whitby
What a great day we had learning in an outdoor and natural environment!
As we approached the coastal town of Whitby, the children enjoyed some spectacular views. In school, we have been studying the human and physical geographical features of Whitby so it was a real treat to see them for real!
The Yorkshire Beach School were our hosts for the day. The children were encouraged to develop curiosity skills and ask questions about their findings in the natural world.
The class worked in teams, leading and taking part in discussion and problem solving activities. They were given the freedom to explore and be creative in an ever-changing environment, connecting with nature physically and emotionally.
Shelter building
Shelter building is an excellent way to learn vital team building skills whilst using natural materials found at the beach. The children loved creating their own den and testing out its ability to survive the elements.
Rock pooling
Rock pooling is a fantastic way to explore all the crustaceans hidden below the high tide marks. After grabbing our nets, bucket and identifying cards, we began our searches.
Beach sculptures
Year 4 had great fun being artists; creating amazing sculptures on the beach using the natural resources that surrounded them.
Team building
The children took park in a variety of challenging and exciting team building games; from transporting stones between their knees to filling a tube with water whilst blocking any leaks.
Throughout our day trip to Whitby, we are proud to say that all the children were well behaved, polite and a pleasure to escort to the coast.
Living and Learning: Relationships education
Thank you to those parents and carers who attended the recent relationships education information sessions.
‘Very helpful to understand what information will be taught at each level and the terminology so we can use the same language at home.’
‘Lots of helpful information to help support learning.’
‘Pleased to have a clearer sense of what will be covered and how.’
‘Very helpful to understand what is covered and what vocabulary the children will be learning to be able to reinforce it at home.’
These sessions were aimed at making parents and carers more aware of some of the following aspects of our curriculum.
- What is our Living and Learning curriculum?
- What does relationships education currently look like throughout school?
- What is included in our Relationships and Sex Education policy?
Relationships education forms part of our Living and Learning for this half term and if you were unable to attend the session, our progression of learning (pg10) and the terminology (pg6) that may be used as part of this learning can be found in our RSE policy.
Let us entertain you!
Today, the whole school were invited to watch some of our talented musicians in action. Year 4 showcased their skills on the ukulele. Having learnt a few simple chords and some basic strumming patterns, the children confidently played some popular tunes for us to enjoy. 
Across the year groups, we have a selection of children who are learning to play the guitar. This group of musicians also demonstrated their skills.
Well done all!
Money Week – It’s party time!
Today, Year 4 took part in a Money Sense workshop. The children were asked to plan and organise a party.
Learning objectives:
• Identify what makes a good birthday party
• Plan and organise a party by making
decisions about what to include within
a set budget
• Identify costs and show an understanding
of value for money
For this lesson, we were joined by a volunteer from a bank. After hearing about her role, the children were able to ask our visitor some questions.
What’s it like working in a bank?
Do you need to be good at communicating with people?
How did you get into banking?
Why do people use banks?
Can people come to you for advice about money?
How is the bank, and its workers kept safe?
Year 4 worked in groups through a sequence of tasks. 
Firstly, they discussed some questions.
How can birthday parties be different?
How can they be similar?
What might people do at a birthday party?
What is the best birthday party you have
been to? Why was it so good?
Have you been to a party you didn’t enjoy?
Why didn’t you enjoy it?
Then, the class were encouraged to consider: 
Who will you organise a party for? Why did
you choose this child?
What type of party might they like? Why do
you think that?
What ideas do you have for a great party?
Why would these things make it a
great party?
Following this, how will we plan the birthday party?
When the groups had agreed a theme for their chosen child’s birthday party, they then needed to decide what will happen at their party and what they will need to provide to make it a success. Decisions were made as a group and roles were delegated.
What would you like to happen
at this party? Why?
What costs might be involved when organising this party?
How many people will you invite and how will you invite them? What is the cheapest way to do this? Why do you think that?
What will you give people to eat and
drink? Why?
Where could you buy the food and drink?
How will you know the best prices for the
items you need?
Where will you buy the cake? Will this provide
the best value? How do you know?
What type of entertainment will you provide?
How much will this cost? Could you have provided this entertainment any cheaper?
Using a price list activity sheet, each person had to fully cost the aspect of the party they were responsible for. As they were to be competing with the other groups, the children had to budget well to provide the best-value party. 
Finally, each group presented their work to the rest of the class. All the groups were under the given budget. Throughout this lesson, it was great to see some superb teamwork and lots of the children challenging themselves with the various mathematical calculations.
Walk to School Week competition update
For pupils who are completing the #WalktoSchoolWeek story this week, as school is closed tomorrow, the missing words for Thursday AND Friday can all be found on Friday in the usual locations. Happy Walking!
Remember to bring in your completed sheet on Friday to be entered in the prize draw for four £10 vouchers.
Big Pedal
Our involvement in the recent Sustrans Big Pedal initiative has been recognised in the latest Leeds City Council Influencing Travel Behaviour newsletter.
Thank you to all the schools who took part in The Big Pedal this year. An amazing 2299 schools across the country took part and 36 of them were from Leeds which is brilliant!
Well done to Moortown Primary School who came 38th out of 500 in the small school category!
It’s great to see such positive engagement in these active travel initiatives to ensure families have a healthy and active start to the day. Thank you to Moortown Living Street group for their support with our active travel initiatives.
Living and Learning: MoneySense
Over this week, we are holding MoneySense sessions for each class with support from volunteers from NatWest.
MoneySense is an impartial financial education programme that uses real-life experiences to help young people develop good money habits.
Catherine from NatWest, supported our ‘How we use money’ Year 1, 2 and 3 sessions yesterday and gave some great feedback.
Money Matters themed week – School Savings Club
As it is our Money Matters themed week, we are holding an information and paying in session tomorrow after school for the School Savings Club pupil accounts.
Jordan Francis, from Leeds Credit Union, will be available to give more details and hand out application forms for these pupil accounts. As there is not minimum deposit requirement, it is a great way for your child/children to learn the importance of money. Paying in sessions are held every half term.
As always, if you are unable to attend in person, please hand in any money to be paid in, to the office in a sealed envelope addressed to Mrs Tiffany.
Girls Golf Rocks
Would your child like to give golf a try?
Here’s details of a FREE local project targeting girls golf taking place in the half term break.
Geography: physical and human aspects
As we begin our next topic (Extreme Earth), Year 4 studied the layers that make up planet Earth. Then, we boarded an underground explorer and ventured deep below our feet. The children were fascinated by just how much goes on beneath us. Using a peach, we compared the internal structure of both the earth and the fruit. 
Following this, we went on to compare Leeds with the coastal town of Whitby. Using an atlas, map or globe, the children were asked to locate both places.
Remembering some prior learning, the class used some basic OS map symbols and the eight points of a compass to find and describe the whereabouts of each location.
I found the river that runs through Whitby. It is called the river Esk and runs for 45km. – Albie.
Albie was given the challenge to find the start and end points of the river. He tracked the flow of the river using Google Maps and commented on some of the geographical features alongside the water. Well done, Albie!
We discussed industries in both locations and Year 4 were able to confidently described aspects of human geography (eg land use, types of settlement) and physical geography (eg rivers and mountains, coastlines).
Living and Learning: I recognise the importance of money.
In preparation for our ‘Money’ themed week, Year 4 used their session today to discuss the importance of money. Lots of the children were able to recognise the reasons as to why we need money.
We need money to live.
Money is earnt.
When you are older, you need to pay your bills.
Saving money is important.
You can buy nice things.
It is good to see how much different things cost.
Money is not just cash.
Following this, we then thought about whether or not money makes people happy.
I think lots of money would make you happy.
What if you have money but no family or friends?
Money can help to make people happy because they might not worry about it.
Money can’t buy happiness.
Earning money might make some people feel happy because they have worked for it.
Well done, Year 4! Some very mature suggestions here.
Our ‘Money’ themed week begins on Monday 20th May.
