Living and Learning: Money Matters themed week 20 May
Our next whole school themed week Money Matters, based around money and financial education, will be taking place from Monday 20 May 2019. A variety of events and visitors are planned to help us deliver this key aspect of our Living and Learning curriculum.
During the week we will include looking at questions including:
- What is money?
- Where does money come from?
- How do we spend money?
- How do we manage money?
To launch the themed week, on 20 May, we will be holding a Hotshots fundraising event, led by PE Partner, to raise money for our school charity, WWF. During the day, each class will be able to take part in the Hotshots event, with each child having three chances to score a goal and their fastest time recorded. All children will receive a certificate with their fastest shot and medals will be awarded for the fastest boy and girl in each class. Sponsor forms have been sent home and children are encouraged to raise money for this event. These should be returned, with any money raised, by the end of the themed week (Friday 24th May).
Another way we will be raising money for our school charity is by having a penny trail at the end of the week. Children are encouraged to bring in any 1ps and 2ps to their class and a trail will be created using all the money brought in at the end of the week.
Did you know we offer a School Savings Club account, in association with Leeds Credit Union, available to all pupils? Jordan Francis, from Leeds Credit Union, will be available from 3:00pm – 3:45pm on Wednesday 22 May to give more information about the account. This will also be the regular half termly paying in session for pupils who already have an account.
Finally, if your job involves an aspect of finance and/or money and you can support our themed week by coming into school, please pass on your details to the office.
Living and Learning: Money Matters themed week – School Savings Club
During our Money Matters themed week (20 May), we will be holding an information and paying in session for the School Savings Club account.
The account, run in association with Leeds Credit Union, is open to all pupils. Jordan Francis, from Leeds Credit Union, will be available to give out more information and application forms should you want to open an account for your child. As there is not minimum deposit requirement, it is a great way for your child/children to learn the importance of money. We hold paying in sessions every half term.
This session will also be for children who want to pay in to their existing accounts. 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.
Active Schools Dance Festival
As part of our involvement with Active Schools, two teams of dancers have taken part in the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 dance festival today at Ralph Thoresby. With a total of eighteen routines performed, it was a great showcase of dance.
Congratulations to all the children who performed their routines with confidence on the ‘big stage’. A special well done to our Key Stage 1 team who won the award for ‘Best Choreography’. A great achievement!
Thank you for Miss Marsden and Mrs Charlesworth for running the after-school clubs in preparation for the event.
Thank you as well to parents who helped with transport.
Pupil voice: School Council investing their library budget
- The Usborne Book of Fariytales and You Choose in Space by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart (suggested by Reception)
- Meg & Mog Collection by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski and Geronimo by David Walliams (Y1)
- Lego Star Wars Movie Collection (Y2)
- Dr Who Collection and Six Animal Adventures by Michael Morpurgo (Y3)
- Tracey Beaker Trilogy by Jacqueline Wilson and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown by Jeff Kinney (Y4)
- The Parent Agency by David Baddiel and The Bolds Series by Julian Clary (Y5)
- Tin Tin by Herge and Secret Nightingale Series by Lucy Strange (Y6)
Gymnastics in the sun
Y5 have started a new unit in PE – gymnastics! It was made even better by being able to have our lesson outside in the glorious sunshine.
We practised travelling and jumping in different ways …
… like this brilliant tuck jump …
… and practised balancing individually and in a group …
… making sure we were always safely in control of our movements.
We performed a simple routine to the rest of the class and gave each other feedback about what was good and what could be improved.
Space
Y5 kicked off their learning about Space with all things technological!
First, we analysed five websites to help us answer:
“Why do we have night and day?”
We discussed each web page’s ease of use, age appropriate level of information, and whether it had any features that made us trust it. Challenge your child to explain what these features were. Finally, we ranked each page.
Next up, it was time to find out for ourselves! We combined a couple of clips from (trusted) BBC Bitesize and our own research to create a short film using iMovie to explain our original question.
We had to write a script…
… work well as a team …
… speak loudly for the camera …
… direct each other …
… and edit our videos …
… before finally watching our efforts on the big screen!
Ask your child to explain why we have night and day, how shadows move and lengthen and where the sun rises and sets.
Allerton Grange visit
Year 5 enjoyed another trip to Allerton Grange, this time to visit their sports leaders and try out some fun activities.
“My favourite was the basketball because you had to dribble and shoot into the hoop,” said Zara.
“My favourite part was the basketball because you got to dribble and it really helped you and the shots were into a really high hoop. It was really fun,” said Zidaan.
Serenity’s favourite was the rugby station. “The sports leaders were really funny and they kept pretending they won but they didn’t!”
The Arabic Alphabet
After Miss Wilson’s trip in the Easter holidays where she learnt about the Arabic alphabet (albeit a very condensed version), Year 5 were challenged to write their name in Arabic!
Luckily for Miss Wilson, lots of children in Year 5 can speak or are familiar with the language so they were on standby, ready to help with pronunciation or letter names. (Thanks, Nayaab!)
“It was cool to do some Arabic at school!” said Darien.
It was great to hear about the eventful or relaxing breaks the children had! Welcome back, everyone.
Living and Learning: Healthy Minds
- 15 April I use good table manners. Think about good table manners at home – not pointing our cutlery at someone or speaking with food in our mouths, for example.
- 22 April I recognise emotions in myself and others. Recognising emotions is an important first step in helping us manage our emotions. For example, it’s ok to feel angry, as long as we try to manage it in a way that doesn’t negatively affect other people. It’s great to feel proud as long as it doesn’t lead to showing off. Being aware of different emotions – both positive and negative – is an important basis for good mental health.
- 29 April I recognise mental health is important. Increasingly, we hear about the importance of mental health. Talk at home about different ways to help mental health. This might include restricting screen time, getting enough sleep, and taking time – even just five minutes – as a family to relax and recuperate after a busy day.
- 07 May I can describe and use ways to calm down. We all get worked up from time to time – how do different people calm down? We’ll explore different strategies to calm down, and encourage our children to adopt one or two of these. These may be some of the mindfulness techniques children have been taught or counting to ten, going for a walk, getting a glass of water – discuss what works for you and your child?
- 13 May I recognise the importance of money. In the final week of the half term, we have the second themed week of the year: a money-related week. This Living and Learning statement helps to introduce the week.
- 20 May I make choices about my money. Linked to the Money Matters themed week, we’ll explore different choices: to spend or to save, for example.
The topic of mental health can be introduced to children through this text.
Living and Learning – Body Image
This half term, Y5 have been learning about why it’s good to be us. We also learnt about body image.
We watched a shocking video which showed the extensive airbrushing models undertake and discussed why this is damaging! Ask your child to explain why.
Advertising is all around us. It’s for everybody and should be representative of everybody. We watched some clips of more empowering advertising that might make people feel better about their body image.
