Thinking about our next Big Topic

In preparation for our upcoming Big Topic, we put our heads together to think about what we’d like to learn and do. The next Big Topic will be Time Travel and Year 5 and 6 will be exploring entertainment through the ages.

There were hundreds of great ideas which Mr Catherall and I now need to seive through but here are a few to give you a taster:

• create a marble run using woodwork skills
• learn some ballroom dancing
• create our games using our computing skills
• write a promotional text for a game
• work out the costing and profit for putting on a theatre production

We look forward to starting this topic in the week beginning 16 January and will keep you updated on what we’re doing.

New SEAL theme…Good to be me

Our new SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme for this half-term, Good to be me, focuses on three main areas of learning:

• Self-awareness: feeling good about yourself, taking risks.
• Managing feelings: understanding feelings, and why and how they lead us to behave the way we do – particularly the feelings of being excited, proud, surprised, hopeful, disappointed, worried and anxious and standing up for yourself.
• Empathy

This theme explores feelings in the context of the child as an individual, developing self-awareness and helping the child to realise that it really is ‘Good to be me’. The theme is about understanding our feelings as well as considering our strengths and weaknesses as learners.

As part of our current science mini topic, What’s the matter?, children will also ask ‘What’s the matter?’ from a social and emotional point of view, understanding feelings and thinking about how they can solve problems.

The theme also links with Moortown’s Got Talent, our upcoming annual talent show.

The key ideas and concepts behind the theme of Good to be me are:

Building emotional resilience

Children need to become resilient if they are to be healthy and effective life-long learners.

Coping with anxiety and worrying

Worry and anxiety are major features in many children’s lives. Many children have good reasons to be anxious. Exploring worries is important.

Calming down

Although getting stressed, anxious or angry are important and useful emotions, sometimes these feelings can be overwhelming.

Assertiveness

The theme encourages children to become assertive – that is, able to recognise and stand up for their rights while recognising and respecting the rights of others.

Understanding feelings and how they influence behaviour

The theme explores the relationship between ‘thinking’ and ‘feeling’ and the way each impacts on our behaviour. It looks at Flight or Fight rapid response to situations of threat and our responses to feeling threatened / under stress.

‘I respond to difficult situations in a positive way’ is the first SEAL statement for this theme.

Merry Christmas

Just a quick message to say Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays. Have a well-earned rest but keep up some reading over the break.

We love reading!

Our Creative homework was to convince someone that they should love reading and we had some very persuasive pieces of homework:

• stories to read
• PowerPoint slides telling us about the benefits of reading
• sequels to existing books
• videos

Here are some for you to enjoy.

School Meals

Our school dinner menu is usually changed on a termly basis but this is now changing to half yearly.  Our new menu will therefore be from February 2017.

When we return from the Christmas holiday, we will start on Week 3 of our current menu until the new menu is introduced.

What forces are in action here?

We’ve been learning all about forces for our mini topic and, once we understood pushes, pulls, levers and pulleys, we created our own Rube Goldberg machines. The children worked in groups and planned and made their creations all from their own ideas once we’d explored and researched examples of them through the internet.

Here are a couple of our machines. Our first one had a little hiccup but we really liked their pulley at the end to raise the flag. The second was our most successful; they even managed to sound the buzzer! You’ll see just how excited we were that it worked.

https://youtu.be/S0KjxWH24_Y

https://youtu.be/HUijnyElfWI

Homework review

Thanks to those parents who joined us for our weekly homework review. As I expected, there were a number of brilliant homeworks, celebrating the great learning we did throughout STEM week.

Here are a few of our favourites.

Great job, Year 6!

Sports stars

As part of our involvement with the Leeds North East School Sport Partnership and Active Schools, we have recently entered two sporting competitions.  A huge well done to all children who took part.  For a few, this was their first opportunity to represent our school.

Leeds North East Primary Schools Sportshall Athletics

Fifteen pupils from Year 4, 5 and 6, took part in this action-packed competition, at Allerton Grange, comprising of many field and track events.  It’s always a well-contested event and the children competed well against other local schools.

• ‘I enjoyed everything I did.  Our team was very positive.’
• ‘It was a great experience that wasn’t too competitive.  I loved it!’
• ‘I enjoyed the competition because there were lots of events to choose and do.’

Thank you to Mrs Bald and Mrs Russell for taking the children to this event.

Leeds North East Primary Schools Cross Country Festival

Eighteen pupils participated in the Leeds North East Primary Schools Cross Country Festival at Cardinal Heenan.  There were over 650 young people taking part in the races and over 100 pupils in each race.

A particular well done to Grace and Megan who came 7th and 10th in their Year 5 girls race.  Also, children commented on the resilience of Ripley who took a fall in the mud but got himself up and then continued to overtake many other runners!

• ”I thought it was good because it was different and my mum used to do cross country too.’
• ‘It was really good because even if you don’t like running too much, like me, you still had a fun time.’

As always, we thank staff and parents who helped with these events.

School Saving Club paying in session

Our next paying in date for School Saving Club account holders is Thursday 08 December 3.15-3.45pm. If you can’t make this date, the next one will be on Thursday 02 February at 3.15-3.45pm.

Children must be accompanied to the sessions.

Alternatively, you can bring money to the office in a sealed envelope marked School Saving Club for the attention of Miss Hale.

School Saving Club accounts can still be opened.  Please ask at the office for an application form.

Children who are in currently in Year 3 will have their account credited by Leeds City Council with £10 once opened.

Physical activity – the facts

In August 2016, the Government released its Childhood Obesity Strategy. This document outlines actions which will address the rising rates of childhood obesity.

Yorkshire Sport Foundation have produced the following poster with statistics and key information from the strategy.

We continue to monitor and improve our physical activity provision (see our current PE Provision Plan (pe-and-sport-premium-2016-2017) and our previous PE Provision Plan (pe-and-sport-premium-2015-2016).