Leeds Schools Sport Association Cross Country
A number of children have recently represented school and competed in the Leeds Schools Sport Association Cross Country races.
The date of the next race is Saturday 02 March 2024 at Woodhouse Grove.
In the meantime, have a look at our physical activity guide to see how to get involved in athletics.
Write like a poet workshop
Year 5 had a visitor this morning from the British Library to do a ‘write like a poet’ workshop. We started off by introducing ourselves with actor voices and actions.
We then spent some time talking about the British Library and found out that they have a copy of every book that has ever been published (magazines – with toys included – and newspapers too). In addition, we found out that robots look after all of their books so, of course, we too became robots ready to look after the books.
Then, we looked at how poems need to change over time. The author James Berry wrote “ You will need to revise it, make it better, polish it, make it better, make it become into the shining spirit of your idea. And making.”
The children practised their oracy skills: fluency and pace; voice projection; and tonal variation.
Next, we looked at poet Grace Nichols. We discussed unknown vocabulary and talked about the meaning of the poem. We identified that the whole poem is a metaphor! The disco is actually describing our solar system.
The children then had a brilliant time playing word association to help prepare them for their own poems. We battled 1 vs. 1.
After the excitement, we had a relaxing time writing our very own first draft of a poem.
Help at home: Find and read 3 poems from different poets.
Art: Henry Moore and Thomas J Price
Year 5 have linked their Art learning with their Geography skills. To start off, the children looked at the inspiration of some of our focus artists: Henry Moore and Thomas J Price. The children found out that Henry Moore was inspired by nature and used the curves in his sculptures to depict the Yorkshire countryside. Whereas, Thomas J Price is inspired by urban life and has lots of his work displayed in cities. We then used atlases to find where the artists grew up and marked these on our maps.
Help at home: Find out where our other featured artist, Barbara Hepworth, grew up and the inspiration for her sculptures.
Guided Reading Week 4
Here are the target pages for this week’s guided reading. These need to be read by Friday 8th December.
The Boy and the Tiger: end of book.
Extra Time: up to chapter 34/page 159.
Flood and Fang: up to chapter 10/page 131.
Dirty Bertie: up to page 122.
Kensuke’s Kingdom: up to chapter 8/page 117.
We are chefs!
This week, Year 5 made tomato and lentil soup! We worked in small groups to prepare the ingredients and then cook them. We made sure that we washed our hands and wore our aprons for hygiene reasons.
We used the bridge cutting method and the claw cutting method to cut up our ingredients. These methods are the safest way to cut food as they help us from hurting ourselves!
Help at home: Have your child show you the bridge and claw cutting methods.
Writing: Figurative Language
Year 5 have been identifying and selecting different types of figurative language. This is to help them when they come to write their narratives about a sculpture coming to life.
We then turned into detectives and found figurative language in an example text.
Help at home: Identify the different types of figurative language in the text above or create your own examples.
Drop Down Morning
This morning was a little different to our usual mornings: we had drop down morning. This is where we recap our topic units from last year.
To kick-off the morning, Year 5 revisited their computing journey so far. We also discussed the key vocabulary and played Pictionary.
Then, we moved on to look at the Ancient Greeks; we focused on the innovations that form the legacy of the Ancient Greeks. We first looked at which other civilizations were happening at the same time and then discussed innovations. We found out that Ancient Greece created a LOT! Here are some: democracy, philosophy, the water mill, the crane, medicine and the Olympics. The children then took part in a Kahoot (an online timed quiz) to show off their learning.
Finally, we moved on to Geography where we talked about all things volcano. We looked at where volcanoes can be found; key vocabulary; the difference between magma and lava; and if we thought volcanoes were good or bad.
Help at home: Research recent volcanic events and discuss their impacts.
PE: Gymnastics
This half-term, we are becoming gymnasts. For the past couple of weeks, we have been focusing on travelling, whether that be low, high, quick or slow. We were able to travel into spaces and sequence a range of different movements. We have then had a lesson to explore the apparatus with controlled and balanced movements.
We will be moving on to sequence different jumps and perform routines.
Writing: Narratives
Today, Year 5 became the artwork at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Over the next 3 weeks, the children will be writing a narrative about the sculptures coming to life. Year 5 put themselves in the shoes of the statues and pretended to awaken after years of being frozen. Take a look at some snapshots of their movements:
We discussed different sculpture’s back stories, if they were good or bad, where they would go and what they would be thinking at that time.
Help at home: Discuss how these sculptures would move if they came to life. 
Cross country stars
*UPDATE* Four of our Year 3 runners have qualified for the Leeds School Games cross country final!
On Friday, twenty two Key Stage 2 children took part in the Leeds North East School Games Cross Country festival at Roundhay High School attended by 900 pupils.
We had a great start from our Year 3 runners with 4 children coming in the top 10! After that, we saw some excellent efforts from the rest of the children throughout the afternoon with great support and encouragement from the other pupils.
Well done to all the children who took part and represented the school. We are sure there will be some qualifiers for the next race, the Leeds final. Watch this space!
Thank you to the parents who came along to help and support at this event.
It was a brilliant event. The Team Moortown spirit was very strong.
If you’re child would like to take part in cross country, have a look at our physical activity guide for details of local running clubs and junior Park Runs.
