Tennis Taster!
Living and Learning: I know what a drug is.
Year six were delighted to welcome Dave from d:side to talk with us today.
We spoke about what drugs are, who uses them and why.
We talked about how they can help your body, but only if they’ve been prescribed to you by your doctor or given to you by an adult to suit your illness and age.
We also talked about how they can harm your body and how to keep safe.
As always, Y6 asked thoughtful questions, shared maturely and listened politely; they should be very proud of themselves.
Vocabulary Games
There are several simple but fun games we’ve been playing to keep on top of our computing vocabulary. 
Game one: describe the term to the person without saying what it is. For example: “It’s when you break down a task into small steps!” would be a great description of decomposition.
Game two: everyone in the group has a word on their head. They take turns to ask yes or no question in order to determine their term. For example: “Am I something that exists digitally?” could be used to determine if you have the word content on your noggin.
Game three: one person stands in front of the group and they have a word on their head. The rest of the group has to describe what the term is without saying predetermined words. For “digital footprint”, our banned words were “mark” and “internet”.
Tricky! Give it a go at home.
Animals Adapt
In our Science lesson this week, we investigated how animals with blubber are more adapted to a cold environment than animals without. Challenge your child to fill in the gaps with the words below – the ones from our Science vocabulary list for the half term are in bold.
- inherit
- evolved
- survive
- thin
- adapted
- environment
Living and learning: d:side visits
This half term, our Living and Learning focus includes staying safe. We have arranged for visitors to come into school to help to deliver this key aspect of education.
We have been working with d:side for many years and they will be visiting school to deliver sessions based around drug education and e-safey sessions to coincide with Safer Internet Day (11 February).
d:side is a comprehensive drug & alcohol education programme that encourages children to make positive & healthy life-choices whilst promoting a pro-active attitude to life. They focus on developing the children’s knowledge, skills & attitude, whilst equipping them with the appropriate life skills to successfully manage sensitive situations with peers & encourage a positive approach to life.
As part of these visits, there are two specific parent/carer information sessions.
Tuesday 21 January 3.05-3.30pm d:side drug education informal information session (open to all parents)
A d:side representative will be available to provide information about your child’s drug education learning with d:side and answer any other related enquiries.
Tuesday 04 February 2:50-3.30pm d:side e-safety informal information session (open to all parents)
A d:side representative will be available to provide information about your child’s e-safety learning with d:side and answer any other related enquiries.
Please contact school if you would like to attend.
Tennis opportunities
Today, Year 2 – Year 6 pupils have taken part in tennis sessions to give children a taster of tennis and to promote sessions starting locally at Chapel Allerton Tennis and Squash Club.
Celebrate Yorkshire themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Thursday 16 January. Please contact the office, in the next few days, if your child would like a school dinner on this day (no action needed if your child normally has a school meal on this day).
Living and learning this half term
- Drug, alcohol and tobacco education (DATE)
- Keeping safe and managing risk
Here are the weekly Living and Learning statements, for this half term, to support this learning. There will also be some whole school homeworks on these themes.
- I don’t interrupt (with my mouth or my hand).
- I can make things better.
- I know what a drug is.
- I know how to seek help.
- I make safe choices, including online.
- I can assess my own risks.
Wellbeing Advent Calendar
In Y6, were always thinking about ways to be mindful. We’ve been completing these small activities for 5 or so minutes every day to look after our wellbeing.
Kirsten said, “It’s nice to let your mind relax for a few minutes.”
Packed lunches
At Moortown Primary, our packed lunch guidance includes:
- information about the different food groups
- how to put together a healthy, balanced packed lunch
- links to recipes and ideas for healthy packed lunches
This week, our packed lunch guidance will be emailed to parents and carers and sent home to children who have a packed lunch in school.
Packed lunches should be in a secure named container. No sweets are allowed – instead, we encourage lots of fruit or vegetables. Water is available on all tables for children who choose a packed lunch. However, your child can bring their own drink in a non-breakable container – please avoid fizzy drinks.
Change4life provides lots of ideas for healthy packed lunches including suggested swaps.
As an alternative to packed lunches, school meals, including a vegetarian option, are a great choice and are prepared daily in our kitchen. Children are offered a choice of main courses and desserts and they select their main meal choice at the start of the day. Catering Leeds provides food which meets national Food Standards criteria. School meals can be combined with packed lunches.
Free school meals are available to all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. They are also available to some older children according to family income. It’s important to register for entitlement to free school meals, even if your child has a packed lunch or is in a younger class – this is so we can receive additional funding (called the pupil premium) which we can use to help your child. Please check if this is something you might be entitled to.
