It’s Gold again!
The School Games Mark is a Government led awards scheme launched in 2012 to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community. Schools in England are able to assess themselves across bronze, silver and gold levels of the mark based on participation in competitions, extra-curricular sporting activities, sports leadership and local club links.
Once again, we’re proud to receive a Gold award!
Thank you to all pupils, parents and staff who continue to have such enthusiasm for participation.
Maps!
This week, as part of our geography learning (Where in the world?) we learnt all about maps.
We thought about different types of maps and when we might use them. Then, we had chance to look at a range of OS maps for different regions around the UK. We learnt about contour lines, map symbols and identifying physical features. We also used a great online resource to aid our understanding (you can access this at home, too).
After lots of fun learning, then came the real challenge: learning how to fold our maps away correctly! I had agonised over how to teach this effectively but there was no need; turns out, Year 5 are much better at folding maps away than I am!
The reading bug is catching on!
Check out this picture of some members of our class enjoying their library books during break time. It’s great to see children choosing to read; reading regularly (and often with an adult) definitely improves learning!
Well done, guys!
PS Thanks for the picture, Mrs Valentine!
Best of British themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 06 October: Best of British Autumn Favourites. Please contact the office if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
Where in Europe?
As part of our Where in the World? mini-topic, we’ve been learning about Europe: its countries, cities, capitals and the many things to see!
To learn this, we planned an inter-railing trip around Europe. We imagined we were going in August and planned our journey using the official inter-railing map. They were some things we had to do:
- visit eight places
- go somewhere near a mountain range
- go somewhere with a river
- go somewhere hot
- go somewhere cold
Once we’d planned our destinations, calculated our journey times and made sure we’d done all of the above, we used our research skills to find out what we could do in each place we visited.
Ask your child:
- Where they chose to visit?
- Why they chose there?
- What could they do there?
- Which country is______ in?
- Is that city a capital city?
Here’s some pictures of us in the early stages of planning our trip of a lifetime…
Autumn term school meals menu
Don’t forget our Autumn term menu is available to view on our website and is displayed on our dining room window. The menu, from our school meals provider Catering Leeds, follows a three week cycle. Have a look for the week ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are.
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.
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.
Sport England Primary Spaces award
You may have noticed some playground changes since we have returned to school. If not, ask your child to take you to the back playground and this is what you’ll see.
The installation of the MUGA (multi use games area), nets in the main playground and playground markings outside Year 5 are as a result of a successful application to Sport England under the Primary Spaces fund to help primary schools who have little outside space. We were awarded £30,000 to create a multi-sport area and our School Council were part of the decision-makers for the final designs.
The new facilities will provide vital facilities for curriculum PE and physical activity across the school day including playtime, lunchtime and after school. They have proved to be a hit in the first week back with children eager to use the new facilities and also watch (in a safe manner).
Thank you to Playscheme, the contractor responsible for the installation.
Welcome to Year 5!
We’re two days in to the new school year now and are starting to settle in to our usual routines. We’ve discussed some expectations for the year and are ‘ramping-up’ our learning.
We’ve already learnt lots across a range of subjects and even visited our school library (check out the pictures below). Each child now has a library book that they can (and should) be reading at home. We’re keen at Moortown Primary to ensure all children have a love of reading – you, and your children, will hear me talk about this a lot over the year! As it stands, our library session is on a Tuesday so children should bring their library book on this day (although I have advised them to bring it every day in case we decide to have a spontaneous read).
We’ve enjoyed a fantastic first two days and I can’t wait to watch each child develop and progress over the coming year. Stay tuned to enjoy the journey with us.
Last thing, if you have any questions, would like a quick chat about what we’re doing/how you can help at home/how your child is progressing, please do not hesitate to come and see me!
New SEAL theme – New Beginnings
As we start the new school year, our SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme focuses on New Beginnings.
We begin the theme with a manners SEAL statement, I can greet someone politely.
New Beginnings allows children the opportunity to discuss and reflect on how they or others may feel in a new situation or setting. This SEAL theme offers children the opportunity to see themselves as valued individuals within a community, and to contribute to shaping a welcoming, safe and fair learning community for all.
During the theme, the key areas of learning are empathy, self-awareness, social skills and motivation.
Through discrete SEAL lessons, circle times and across the curriculum, children will explore feelings of happiness and excitement, sadness, anxiety and fearfulness, while learning (and putting into practice) shared models for calming down and problem-solving.
New Beginnings supports the development of a learning community in each classroom where all members feel that they belong. Class contracts, produced at the start of the year, allow children to contribute to how they feel they can achieve a safe and fair learning community.
Does your child have a School Saving Club account?
If so, here are the paying in dates for this year (one each half term).
- Thursday 13 October 2016 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 08 December 2016 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 02 February 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 23 March 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 18 May 2017 3.15-3.45pm
- Thursday 13 July 2017 3.15-3.45pm
Children must be accompanied to the sessions.
If you can’t attend the dates, you can bring money to the office in a sealed envelope marked School Saving Club for the attention of Miss Hale.
Also, it’s not too late to open a School Saving Club account. Please ask at the office for an application form. 
As an added incentive for children moving to Year 3, their account will be credited with £10 once opened.