Christmas dinner themed menu
Catering Leeds, our school meal provider, will be running a special Christmas themed menu on Thursday 15 December.
Please contact the office, by 30 November, if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
8 Rs for learning – our new SEAL theme
This half-term, we’re thinking about the ‘8 Rs for learning’. This theme is about promoting good learning behaviour for your child.
Each week, we’ll focus on 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 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 respond to feedback.
Ask your child if they remember their ‘stars’ and ‘steps’ in English and Maths.
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 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
Asking questions about WW2
Before half-term, we were fortunate enough to be able to email Mrs Weekes’ dad, who was evacuated from Newcastle during WW2, and ask him lots of questions about his experience.
Today, we received a response and were fascinated to hear all about it! However, there was a problem. Somehow, all the answers and questions had been jumbled up so we had to use our comprehension skills to match the questions to the answers. Once we’d managed to do this we studied the responses – it was very interesting. In particular, we were amazed at how little children were allowed to take with them: only some clothes!
Then, we thought about the characters in our class novel. Max and Anna are German refugees so we discussed the difference between refugees and evacuees (help at home by asking your child about this and discussing this topic in more detail). Finally, we pretended to be Max and asked some of our own questions.
Here are some pics:

On behalf of all of Year 5, I must say a huge thank you to Mrs Weekes and her dad for answering our questions.
Athletics club and competition
There are places available on the athletics after-school club, starting after the half term, if your child would like to come along.
The club will run on Monday 31 October and Monday 07 November, 3.15-4.15, in preparation for a local competition on 23 November.
Please inform the office if your child would like to join. We particularly need girls to join the team.
Class Assembly – tomorrow 2.40pm
We can’t wait to showcase our first class assembly of the year: Thursday 20 October 2016. It would be great if as many parents as possible could make it. Please be in school by 2.40 pm if you would like to watch.
Cookery after-school club
At cookery club this evening, the recipe was a simple vegetarian curry. Hope the children enjoyed their tea!
For those who didn’t attend, here is the recipe to try at home.

Bonfire Celebrations themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Wednesday 02 November: Bonfire Celebrations. Please contact the office if your child would like a school dinner on this day.

Independent Research Project
Yesterday, as part of our ‘Class Novel’ topic, we started our independent research projects.
Every child in Year 5 is completing a different project – wow! Some are making models, some are creating posters and some are making computer games! Each child is researching an aspect of life on the Home Front during WW2.
In our first session, we worked independently (and collaboratively at times) on our projects and made a fantastic start! Stay tuned to see how we get on.

School Saving Club
Does your child have a School Saving Club account in association with Leeds Credit Union?

If so, our next paying in date is this Thursday 13 October 3.15-3.45pm. If you can’t make this date, then the next one will be on Thursday 08 December at 3.15-3.45pm.
Children must be accompanied to the sessions.
If you can’t attend the date, you can bring money to the office in a sealed envelope marked School Saving Club for the attention of Miss Hale.
School Saving Club accounts can still be opened. Please ask at the office for an application form.
Children who are in Year 3 will have their account credited by Leeds City Council with £10 once opened.
New triathlon satellite club
This new club has recently started on Mondays from 4pm-5.45pm at Middleton Park bike hub and is suitable for all abilities.
Bikes are available if needed and the fun sessions will focus on improving running and cycling.