Welcome!
What a great start to a new year!
All the children returned to school today looking very smart and eager to learn. Well done to all for demonstrating a mature attitude on their return to school and the start of a new term. Keep it up!
There’s going to be plenty going on in class during the new term so be sure to stay tuned to our class page – there will be lots of news regarding our learning as well as handy hints and celebrating achievements.
If you need to contact us at any point, please feel free to pop in. Mr Owen and I are happy to help wherever we can.
We are both looking forward to getting to know the children, a year full of learning and even a bit of fun!
New SEAL theme – New Beginnings
As we start the new school year, our SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme focuses on New Beginnings.
We begin the theme with a manners SEAL statement, I can greet someone politely.
New Beginnings allows children the opportunity to discuss and reflect on how they or others may feel in a new situation or setting. This SEAL theme offers children the opportunity to see themselves as valued individuals within a community, and to contribute to shaping a welcoming, safe and fair learning community for all.
During the theme, the key areas of learning are empathy, self-awareness, social skills and motivation.
Through discrete SEAL lessons, circle times and across the curriculum, children will explore feelings of happiness and excitement, sadness, anxiety and fearfulness, while learning (and putting into practice) shared models for calming down and problem-solving.
New Beginnings supports the development of a learning community in each classroom where all members feel that they belong. Class contracts, produced at the start of the year, allow children to contribute to how they feel they can achieve a safe and fair learning community.
Does your child have a School Saving Club account?
If so, here are the paying in dates for this year (one each half term).
- Thursday 13 October 2016 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 08 December 2016 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 02 February 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 23 March 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 18 May 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 13 July 2017 3.15-3.45pm
Children must be accompanied to the sessions.
If you can’t attend the dates, you can bring money to the office in a sealed envelope marked School Saving Club for the attention of Miss Hale.
Also, it’s not too late to open a School Saving Club account. Please ask at the office for an application form. 
As an added incentive for children moving to Year 3, their account will be credited with £10 once opened.
Have a happy and healthy holiday
It’s the summer holidays at last, so there are no homework or spelling activities. Enjoy the holidays instead!
Does your child spend less time outdoors than prison inmates? A survey suggests three-quarters of children do, as the time spent playing in parks, woods and fields has shrunk dramatically due to lack of green spaces, digital technology and parents’ fears.
Research shows that playing outdoors promotes social skills, improves vision, reduces stress, increases attention span and provides vitamin D.
What healthy changes are you making?
Last week, our SEAL statement was I can make a healthy change.
It was great to hear all the changes that children were making and also encouraging their family to take part in.
Here are some examples from Year 3.
Children were also encouraged to travel to and from school on foot, by bike or scooter. The class with the most healthy changes and sustainable journeys were Year 5 with over 200 counters!
Here are some suggested healthy changes for over the holidays.
- Try tennis for free – these sessions continue monthly during the summer and are held locally at Roundhay Park tennis courts.
- Local leisure centres offer a range of holiday activities.
- Maybe you took part in the recent Sky Ride event and want to know how to maintain your bike? Halfords are running free bike maintenance sessions.
- The Little Gym is now open locally at the Moor Allerton Centre offering classes and summer camps.
- The Change4Life Sugar Smart app allows you to check levels of sugar in foods. How much sugar is in your snack? Is it time for a change?
- Change4Life and Disney have teamed up again with a 10 Minute Shake Up summer adventure, inspired by Disney Pixar’s Finding Dory.
We hope you have a happy and healthy active break.
School Saving Club
Our next paying in session for children who have opened a School Saving Club account is this week: Wednesday 20 July 3.15pm.
It’s not too late to open an account. Please ask at the office for an application form.
Sports day Tuesday 19 July
Preparations are under way for this year’s sports day to be held on Tuesday at Roundhegians Rugby Club. Access to Roundhegians will be the pedestrian entrance off High Moor Avenue.
Please note: this year, we’ve swapped the morning and afternoon so that KS2 children compete from 9.30am whilst YR and KS1 start at 1.15pm. The format will remain the same with various races and also field events for KS2. Medals will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd and all children will be rewarded for taking part.
Another change is that children should come to school in their PE kit and they will stay in their kit all day. This includes, if possible, their team t-shirt – blue, red, green or white. If your child doesn’t have a t-shirt in their team colour they should wear their normal PE kit and they will be given a bib matching their team.
They will also need their water bottle, a hat and sun cream applied before school.
We look forward to seeing you there to support.
£117.77 = lots of pennies!
Remember all the pennies collected by each class during the recent Money Matters themed week?
They were then used to create a penny trail in our playground.
After lots of counting (thank you to Mrs Russell), our total amount raised is £117.77.
Thank you for all your contributions. The total will now be split between our two school charities.
Digimap Steve Backshall competition
Thank you very much for your entries to the Steve Backshall competition.
Unfortunately, our entries were not chosen as winners. Copied below is their announcement of the winners:
Thank you so much for entering our Digimap for Schools Wildlife Maps competition to win a school visit from Steve Backshall. The standard of entries was amazing and has totally delighted us. The judging panel met at the Royal Geographical Society and whittled the entries down to a shortlist. Steve Backshall then selected the winner. The delay in responding to you all was caused by Steve’s busy filming schedule and I am sorry it’s taken so long to announce a winner.
It was a difficult task to judge from all of the excellent entries, and the team thoroughly enjoyed looking through the variety of wildlife photos and the questions relating to the photos. Finally, Mengham Junior School in Hayling Island was selected as the overall winner, and will soon have a visit from Steve Backshall. The wildlife presenter, naturalist and all-around adventurer will spend a morning with the school next week, taking the winning class on a nature walk and talking to the school.
There were also two runners-up, from St John’s Mead Church of England Primary School in Eastbourne and Kitebrook Preparatory School in Gloucestershire, who will receive signed books from Steve Backshall. More information about the winning entry is on our blog today https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2016/07/digimap-schools-competition-winner-announced/#more-21740
Thanks to Jack Elliott in Year 6 for letting me know about the competition and asking if we could enter. I know that some people had issues getting logged into the program and uploading your entry. I’m sorry about this. The password on the letter was correct and I’ve given feedback to Digimap.
Olympic themed menu
To celebrate the forthcoming Olympics, Catering Agency will be running a special themed menu for school dinners on Monday 18 July. Please contact the office if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
