Safer Internet Day 06 February
Splats Team Robot v Meanies e-Safety Show
As part of Safer Internet Day, on February 06, the pupils from Years 3 to 6 are learning and performing a show-in-a-day with Splats Entertainment e-Safety show.
The day is all about how we act online and in life. Each group of pupils work with the ‘Splats’ director where they learn their scene and then they make props in the classroom. The show is then being performed at the end of school at 2:30pm which we would like to invite you to attend. The day and performance is led by the ‘Splats’ director and the pupils join in and act out the parts.
It is a fun and light-hearted look at what is, of course, a very important issue of safety. The day is designed to get the pupils thinking, talking and developing their awareness of their online behaviour. We hope it will help facilitate discussion at school and at home and help the pupils be responsible and careful in their online activity.
Topics covered during the day include: keeping personal information safe; how we never know who we are talking to online; how to deal with any mean messages; how we never know how other people feel with what we say online; and if we are unsure of anything, we should always seek help from a trusted adult.
If you would like to come and watch the e-safety show, please complete the reply slip, on your child’s letter, and return to school as soon as possible as we have a limited number of spaces.
New school dinner menu
After half term, our school dinner menu will be changing. This menu, provided by our school meals provider Catering Leeds, will be served until the end of the summer term.
Our School Council have recently repeated a vegetable survey to find out children’s favourite choices. These preferences have now been incorporated into the new menu.
As well as on our website, the three week cyclical menu is also displayed on our dining room window 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. Following pupil and parent feedback, 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.
Safer Internet Day 2018
Pupils will be taking part in different activities to support their learning of this important subject. As well as in class learning, children will have the opportunity to work with the following external visitors.
We welcome ‘Splats Entertainment’ who will be delivering e-safety drama workshops for pupils from Year 3 to 6. Children will be learning and performing a show in a day. Please see your child’s letter to request tickets to watch this show at 2:30pm on 06 February.
D:side, an online safety charity, will be visiting classes Y1-Y6 on 01 and 02 February to deliver internet safety sessions with the following focus:
- What we use the Internet for (KS1)
- What is / is not safe to share online (KS1)
- What to do if we are not sure about the internet (KS1)
- Using emails safely (KS2)
- Social networking and safe profiling – including use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Chat, Oovoo, etc. (KS2)
- ‘Chatting’ with care (KS2)
- Responsible and safe use of the internet (logins, email, photography, password protection, personal information and self-protection). (KS2)
- Using text and picture messaging (KS2)
- Behaving responsibly (KS2)
Dave Hill, from d:side, will also be delivering an online safety workshop for parents/carers on Thursday 01 February at 2:30pm-3:15pm. There will be chance to find out what your child has been learning in this area, to give you some skills and knowledge to keep your child safe online and to ask questions on this subject. There will be limited places for this workshop so please complete and return the response slip, on your child’s letter, if you would like to attend.
If you are unable to attend the workshop, please refer to the guidance that will be sent home with your child published by the NSPCC/O2. Further guidance can be found on our website. There will also be a workshop for parents of older children later in the term, specifically looking at the use of social media.
Make-a-wish
This year, we’re supporting Make-a-wish as our school charity, chosen by the School Council.
Today, we welcomed John Russo, a volunteer from Make-a-wish, who told us about the charity, the kind of wishes they make happen and how the money we raise might be spent.
Children were asked to consider how we can support the charity over this year. They could either write a suggestion for their ‘I want to say’ box or pass on their ideas to their class school councillors.
Chick Cam 3!
We’ve now got seven chicks! We’ll start moving them to the breeder box today.
Chick Cam 2!
The streams on YouTube only last for 8 hours, so here’s the next one!
It’s 17:10 and we now have three chicks with one more arriving very soon! Once hatched, the chicks need to stay in the incubator for about 24 hours to ‘fluff up’ before they are moved to the breeder box.
Chick Cam!
Good morning. Click on the following link to watch the chicks in our incubator. Two chicks have hatched already and there should be more hatching today and tomorrow! Stay tuned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSUKPotLzS4&feature=youtu.be
Offline Computing
Recently, in our computing sessions, we’ve been learning all about the skills of computing without using a computer (offline). To learn about algorithms (ask your child what an algorithm is) and repetition (again, ask your child to explain this term to you) we played a simple game.
We had to create an algorithm that would get us from ‘start’ to ‘finish’. Then, as an added challenge, we had to find the quickest route. Some of us even took it a step further and added more obstacles to the grid to make the algorithm more tricky. When we shared our algorithms, some of us realised that we’d made a mistake so we had to use our de-_____ skills (can your child fill in the blank?).
To learn more about computing, visit Barefoot Computing. It’s a great resource to help teachers, parents and children understand some of the terminology associated with computing.
Solution Science
How is this egg floating in water?
Ask your child to explain how we made this fresh egg float. Look out for the following words:
- density
- solution
- solute
- particles
Wolf Boiled Alive!
This week, at Moortown Primary School, Y5 children became detectives as they attempted to solve a mysterious crime involving three pigs and a wolf.
Children, many of whom were working on their first case, were given evidence bags containing a range of items: quotes from witnesses, newspaper headlines, CCTV footage, a range of public reaction and an expert interview.
The young detectives were then set the challenge of solving the case! They quickly got to work and within an hour had come up with a solid theory which they hoped would stand up in court. (Ask your child what their theory was.)
After spending some time reviewing each suspect, victim and witness, the detectives were ready for the next step: a trial. With a make-shift court set up in the Y5 classroom, the children held their own court session. With the public’s imagination captured, the children took on a role for the session: juror, judge, media, lawyer, witness or ‘The Accused’.
Mr Catherall, a teacher at the school, said: “The court case was absolutely gripping. From start to finish, the quality of the questioning was exceptional and the responses from those in the dock were just as good! All involved in the case seemed to find the whole thing fascinating and hopefully much of the information will be retained for a long time!”
After much deliberation, the jury were eventually able to come to a unanimous decision on each of the three main suspects. To find out about the jury’s verdict, contact your own child. If you require more information on this fascinating case, there is a very informative video.
Here is a sketch (produced by a Y5 child) of the witnesses in the dock…
We’ll use this awesome learning next week as we write our own news reports.