Reading
Every week, we have a ‘Love Of Reading‘ session.
The aim is to encourage the children to read for pleasure; the session allows them time to enjoy their chosen texts.
Alongside this, we’ll hear groups of children read as a guided session with an adult. This allows us to focus on particular skills required to aid reading for this age group. The age-related expectations can be found on the school website. These are worth looking through. They are used in reading as specific objectives and a focus for each group.
We began with the objectives below.
- Can fluently read a set text appropriate for their age.
- Apply phonic knowledge and skills to read unfamiliar words.
All children have been given a reading book and a target page. It’s very important that the children do not read beyond the set target page.
In addition to this, we encourage the class to bring books from home. Topic related books are always a good idea. The books can then remain in our reading area for others to enjoy – with your permission of course!
Around the World in 80 Days
This is our first class novel. We’ve read the first chapter and completed a retrieval activity based on who, where, why, when, how and what type questions. Ask your child what they know about the main character, Phileas Fogg, so far.
Where in the World?
Today, we began our mini topic of ‘Where in the World?’
The children studied maps, globes and atlases.
We started by looking closely at the United Kingdom. Then, the next step was to find all the capital cities.
- “Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland,” commented Harris.
- “The capital city of England is London,” answered Ethan.
Next, we’ll be looking at some aerial photos and identifying human and physical characteristics.
A great start!
What a great start!
The children returned to school today excited and ready to learn. We were impressed by just how quickly the class settled into a new routine.
It’s set to be a busy term full of exciting learning. We like to keep you up to date with what’s going on in class so please check this class news page regularly.
We begin with a mini-topic, ‘Where in the world?’
This will be a Geography-themed topic. The children will be learning to use an atlas, map and globe. We’ll study, name and locate countries and major cities around the world. As well as using ‘old fashioned’ methods to navigate, the class will look closely at modern technology (Google Earth) and how this has impacted on the way we can now easily locate places around the globe.
Place value, rounding numbers and comparing numbers are all on our maths agenda. Alongside this, there will be daily counting and times tables practise.
A lot of our reading activities will cross over and link to our topics. On a Wednesday, the children will have a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ session. Each group will be heard read from a guided book, focusing each week on a different skill necessary to aid comprehension and fluency. It is very important that your child has read to the given target page each week. During this session, we encourage the children to bring in a book from home. They’re welcome to keep this in the reading area for others to enjoy should they wish to.
Mr Owen and I are both around most of the time so please feel free to pop in if you’ve any questions or queries relating to your child or their learning.
Living and Learning
As we return to school, we begin our Living and Learning theme with a focus on manners: I can greet someone politely.
We’ll then continue by thinking about the ‘8 Rs for learning’. This theme is about promoting good learning behaviour for your child.
Each week, we’ll focus on two different ‘Rs’. We use an animal to symbolise each ‘R’, which might help your child remember all eight – can your child remember which animal matches the correct ‘R’?
You can support your child at home – we’ve listed a few ideas to help you below. Ask us if you’ve any questions or comments.
Download top tips for promoting the 8Rs for good learning behaviour.
I can show I am ready to learn.
Make sure your child is at school for a prompt start of 08:50.
Make sure your child has had plenty of sleep so they are alert and ready to learn at all times.
Encourage your child to ask lots of questions – that shows they want to learn!
I respond to feedback.
Ask your child if they remember their ‘stars’ and ‘steps’ in English and Maths.
I take a safe risk.
Talk about the difference between a safe and unsafe risk. At school, we want your child to take a safe risk by having a go at answering, even if unsure; trying something new and attempting harder learning.
I take responsibility for my own learning.
Provide time and space at home so your child is able to organise themselves: their PE kit, reading book, homework, spellings and tables… Don’t organise everything for them!
Make a link between rights and responsibilities: your child has the right to a great education, but needs to be responsible for their own learning.
I am resourceful.
Encourage your child to be organised so they can play with a range of different toys.
Encourage your child to try new ways to solve a tricky problem.
I am resilient.
Encourage your child to keep going! Set a tricky challenge or puzzle for your child to do.
Encourage your child to think of different ways of doing things.
Don’t let your child win when they play a game – they need to experience losing, too!
Celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn – be happy that your child found some learning hard and encourage them to ‘bounce back’ and learn from the experience.
I remember.
Make sure they have time to learn spellings, number bonds and times tables – a little practice daily is best.
Play memory games:
Kim’s game: show them objects for 30 seconds… can they remember all the objects?
Can they build up the sequence, ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple and a bike.’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a bike and a cucumber.’ etc … Take turns!
I reflect about my learning.
Talk with your child about what they’ve learnt, asking questions about:
how they learnt
why they learnt it
when they’ll use their learning
how they would teach this to someone else
what learning might link with what they’ve learnt today etc
As well as covering the 8Rs for learning, pupils will also learn about their rights and responsibilities.
Finally, we end the half term learning about democracy (one of the British Values). All children have the opportunity to experience democracy in our annual School Council elections. More details to follow.
Our full Living and Learning long term plan is available on the health pages and you can keep up to date with our weekly Living and Learning statements on the parent noticeboard in the playground and also on the school calendar.
Goodbye Year 4
All the staff in Year 4 would like to wish the class a fond farewell and lots of luck in Year 5. We have been so impressed by the children’s learning attitudes and desire to strive and do their best.
Each and every child has developed in more ways than I could list! They should all feel very proud of their achievements this year.
Thank you for all your support and the end of term gifts.
Enjoy the summer break! 
Mrs Freeman, Mr Owen, Mrs Charlesworth and Mrs Pearson
Holiday activities
Here are some more ideas for keeping active over the summer holiday.
Triathlon opportunities
Brownlee Centre Sessions
The Brownlee Foundation are also hosting bike and run sessions at The Brownlee Centre. Open to children aged 8 to 14 of any ability and delivered by friendly, qualified coaches.
Location: The Brownlee Centre, Bodington Way, Leeds, LS16 8NA
Time: Wednesdays 5.30pm – 6.30pm
Contact: 07878 187742 or contact@thebrownleefoundation.org
Junior Triathlon with Active Leeds
The Brownlee Foundation have teamed up with Active Leeds to give young people the chance to get into triathlon. A great opportunity if you’re aged between 10 and 14 to try out all three elements of triathlon and develop your skills in a fun-packed session.
Weekly Sessions
Location: Leeds Urban Bike Park (bike and run session)
Time: Mondays 4.15-5.45pm
Contact: 0113 277 2413
Location: Rothwell Leisure Centre
Time: Tuesdays 3.30-5.30pm
Contact: 0113 336 7530
Location: Armley Leisure Centre
Time: Tuesdays 6-7.45pm
Contact: 0113 336 7880
Location: Fearnville Leisure Centre
Time: Wednesdays 5-7pm
Contact: 0113 378 1260
Holiday Camps
Junior Triathlon holiday camps are also held at leisure centres across Leeds including John Charles, John Smeaton, Armley, Rothwell and Fearnville. Each holiday camp runs for two hours and includes swimming, static cycling and running apart from John Charles which runs a three-hour camp including swimming, cycling and running where participants need to bring their own bike/helmet. Children aged 9 – 15 are able to attend and further information such as dates and times can be found through under the tab ‘Triathlon Specific Training’
Go TRI events
Go TRI events are a fun introduction for juniors who are discovering triathlon and they are a great way to get further involved with the sport. Keep an eye on the website for upcoming events in your area.
Make-A-Wish skipping challenge
At the end of the Being Healthy themed week, we wore blue for our Make-A-Wish skipping challenge day.
There was some fantastic skipping on the day with many children challenging themselves with new skipping skills or improving the number of skips individually or with a partner.
Thank you for all the donations for our school charity.
We raised £196 for Make-A-Wish.
Balance, Pedal, Go!
This report highlights that, according to new research by Keep Britain Tidy, a third of primary school children have never been taught how to ride a bike.
We’re happy to say that following the recent Reception balance, pedal, go bike training sessions, 24 out of 30 children can now ride a pedal bike. Two children missed their final session so the number could be even higher! Prior to the training, four children could ride a pedal bike.
Well done to the Reception children who remained focussed through their sessions and used determination to achieve this key life skill.
These sessions were funded by our PE Premium and from the staff, parent and pupil feedback, this will be an initiative we will repeat next year too.
We hope the children will continue to develop their riding skills over the holidays – maybe going on a family bike ride; taking part in the Leeds Let’s Ride event on traffic free roads on Sunday 2 September; going along to a Let’s Ride Pop Up ride locally and most importantly using their bikes to travel to school when we return in September.
New school dinner menu
From September, our school dinner menu will be changing. This menu, provided by our school meals provider Catering Leeds, will be served until February half term.
Through liaison with Catering Leeds, the vegetable choices and jacket potato fillings requested by the children have been incorporated into the new menu.
As well as on our website, the three week cyclical menu is displayed in the parent/carer noticeboard for you to discuss with your child. If you would like a printed copy, please ask at the office.
Have a look for the days ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are. All children now make their main meal choice at the start of the day. This ensures they get their first choice of meal.
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. (It’s important to check for eligibility for younger children, too, because school receives additional funding for each child who is eligible for a free meal, even when they’re free in Reception and Year 1 and Year 2!)
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.
Children are consulted on school meals through our regular School Council meetings. Feedback may also be given by speaking to an adult in school or completing a suggestions/comments slip and posting it in their class I want to say box. We have a few new dishes on the menu which we encourage the children to try.
Thank you to parents who also raise questions and give feedback. We can then ensure this is passed on to the kitchen staff.