Cross country opportunities
We are pleased to invite KS2 children to compete in an upcoming cross country race as part of the Leeds Schools Athletics Association cross country programme of Saturday morning races. Children will compete against pupils from other Leeds schools.
The race will take place at 10am on Saturday 16th October at Cardinal Heenan (Tongue Lane LS6 4QE).
There are opportunities for Year 3 and 4 girls and boys (under 9) to race 900m and Year 5 and 6 girls and boys (under 11) to race 1500m. Once your child has completed their race, you are free to leave the event.
Please note, parents/carers are responsible for taking and supervising their child/children.
If your child is interested in taking part, please respond to the the message recently sent out.
We look forward to pupils representing our school at this event.
If you are unable to take part in this event, you may want to join the free Sunday morning junior parkruns held locally at Roundhay Park, Temple Newsam and Boddington.
Filtering as chemists
This week in Science, we have been learning as chemists.
We conducted an experiment to investigate whether paper, coffee paper or Binca material would make the best filter. See if your child can remember what filtering means!
We discussed how to conduct a fair test and brainstormed the method for our experiment.
After an engaging (and mucky!) experiment, we concluded that the coffee paper was the most effective filter.
After-school clubs return
Our autumn term after-school clubs return next week.
Here is the schedule that has recently been sent out to all children.
We invest part of our government PE and Sport Premium in subsidising these clubs and we hope to get as many children as possible active after-school.
If your child is interested in joining a club, please sign up via School Gateway or contact the school office.
A busy week in Year 5!
This week, Year 5 have challenged themselves to become more independent when completing their steps in writing.
We practised helping our partners by proof reading their writing and using dictionaries to correct our spellings.
On Friday, we reviewed our reading records. The task that was set this week was ‘draw it’ – where the children were set the task of drawing a picture based on the book they are currently reading.
Our reading record task for this Friday is fact file. Please ensure that you child has completed this activity by Friday and it is accompanied by your signature confirming that your child has been reading at home.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please ask!
We are chemists!
This half term, Year 5 have been learning about chemistry in science.
We have been learning as chemists.
Today, Year 5 conducted an experiment investigating whether various substances were soluble. Ask your child what the word soluble means!
If a substance is soluble, the substance and solvent makes a solution.
We tested three substances: salt, sand and sugar. In order to ensure a fair test, we used the same amount of solvent (water), ensured that the water was at the same temperature and left the substances to dissolve for the same amount of time.
We measured accurately…. 
Worked well in a team…. 
And made a logical conclusion based on our results.
Can your child remember which substances are soluble and which aren’t?
Times Tables Rock Stars!
Hello to all of you times tables rock stars out there!
Starting soon, we will be hosting our weekly TTRS competitions across all four classes in KS2.
The winning class each week will receive the coveted guitar and the three players with the top average score in each competition will get a certificate in assembly to celebrate their achievements and effort!
What you need to do:
Make sure your child has plenty of opportunities to practise their times tables at home. A rapid recall of times tables supports children understanding other mathematical concepts and can also help their understanding of new learning, too!
Practising regularly in short, sharp bursts is most effective!
Good luck!
Bike to School week and Let’s ride
Biking and scooting are one of the ways we encourage children to actively travel to and from school and next week we’ll be taking part in Bike to School Week (with Sustrans and the Bikeability Trust). We are pleased to be part of this UK-wide event, encouraging families to cycle, or scoot, to school. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate active school journeys and the positive impact it has on children’s health and wellbeing – as well as the environment.
Bike and scooter storage facilities are available by the side of the Year 4 classroom.
Also, taking place this weekend is the free Let’s Ride session held locally at the Brownlee Centre.
This free family community event is ideal for the whole family to enjoy cycling in a safe and friendly space. At the Leeds Brownlee Centre, Bodington Playing Fields, you can ride at your own pace as many times as you like with volunteers on hand to chat all things cycling.
Sign up for the event here.
Reading challenges…
Check out this photo of some Year 5s completing the reading record challenge ‘read in an unusual place’…
Can you think of a more peculiar place to read a book?
Reading records
Last Friday, your child was sent home with a brand new reading record. This is an exciting new scheme that has been introduced this year for KS2.
The new reading records offer the following benefits:
- it is a place for children to record the books/texts they’ve read and rate them out of five stars
- there are a range of activities your child will accomplish throughout the year based on what they’ve read (each week, details of this task will be posted on class news)
- it gives children a chance to enhance their love of reading during our weekly book club sessions in school
- it gives children ownership and responsibility of their reading
- it allows children to practise their oracy skills during book club sessions when they share what they’ve been reading
- it can be a place for parents to share with teachers the wonderful reading their child has been doing at home
If your child would like to complete a reading activity for this week – please feel free! We will decide on our whole class reading activity for next week, tomorrow.
You can find more details about this in the activities section of the reading record.
Any questions, please ask!
Happy reading!
Living and Learning: 8Rs for learning
Last week, Year 5 were focussing on the Eight Rs for learning. The Eight 8rs for learning are good learning behaviours that we aim to demonstrate during every lesson.
Challenge your child to name the Eight Rs for learning as fast as they can!
During our Living and Learning lesson, we were challenged to order the Eight Rs in order of importance. This was a particularly difficult task as all the children recognised the importance of each R. We engaged in a thoughtful and interesting debate where children were able to argue why they thought a particular learning behaviour was of paramount importance.
