06 February 2015
For all children in Year 1 – Year 6, the homework this week is talk time and is due in on Wednesday 11 February.
I can prepare a speech (School Council elections).
or
I know the importance of voting.
It’s time for children to consider if they would like to stand for election for our new school council. With two representatives from each class, chosen democratically by their peers, all children at Moortown Primary are encouraged to take an active part in pupil voice.
Elections for our new school council will take place next Thursday 12 February with our polling station and ballot boxes at the ready. Candidates will have the opportunity to give their election speech to their class on Wednesday 11 February.
What makes a good school councillor has been considered by our current school council.
- ‘Communicating with others – pupils and adults.’
- ‘Having good listening skills to know what to contribute in meetings.’
- ‘Thinking of realistic ideas to suggest in meetings.’
Hints for your speech include:
- What skills and abilities would a good school councillor have?
- What are you particularly good at that would help you to be a great school councillor?
- What do you think would make the school better? What could you do that people would really like?
- Think of things that are realistic, maybe that you could do yourself, rather than having to ask other people to do?
Thank you to our current school councillors for all their ideas and contributions over the last year. We hope you have enjoyed this role and responsibility and you are welcome to stand again for election.
Good luck to all children who decide to stand in the elections. Results will be announced in our assembly on Thursday 12 February.
If you choose not to stand in the election then you should consider the importance of voting.
30 January 2015
This week’s homework is Practice Makes Perfect and is due Wednesday 04 February:
I can design a webpage to promote a cure.
This homework links perfectly with our English learning of promotions. On Wednesday, Miss Valentine suffered from a terrible bout of ‘bananaritis’ after eating a banana at playtime! Luckily, Mrs Freeman had recently purchased a bottle of Moortown’s Marvellous Medicine which cured Miss Valentine’s feverish temperature, chesty cough, itchy, spotty skin and fatigue.
Your child is required to create a webpage promoting Moortown’s Marvellous Medicine, remembering to include TEARS (ask your child to find out what this means!).
23 January 2015
This week’s homework is Talk Time and is due Wednesday 28 January:
I can talk about different strategies to stay calm.
As our SEAL theme this half term is Good to be Me, it’s important to think about ways we can stay calm and relaxed in a range of situations. Chat with your child about times where they may not have been calm and what they did, or could have done, in order to stay calm.
Please indicate that you’ve supported your child with their Talk Time homework by signing against the notes your child has written in their homework book.
Below is the guidance for Talk Time homework, taken from our Homework Policy:
The purpose of Talk Time homework is to encourage a conversation around children’s current learning. Children shouldn’t spend a lot of time on the presentation of the Talk Time homework. Instead, children should make notes, which will act as a prompt when it is discussed in class the following week. For this reason, teachers tend to give verbal feedback during their talk time session in class. We want our children to be expert talkers, using a variety of sentences and expressions, and able to back up their points or disagree with others in a polite way – this is more important than written notes for Talk Time. Simply: it’s hard to be a good writer if you’re not a good speaker, so Talk Times using ambitious words, useful phrases, interesting sentences is the best way to support your child.
16 January 2015
The homework this week is creative and is due Wednesday 21 January:
I can show what I’ve learnt about Samba.
Anything goes with this creative homework! Some suggestions could be:
- a presentation about facts your child has learnt
- a music tutorial focussing on drum rhythms
- a quiz (which could be used to test the knowledge of the class!)
This homework marks the end of our Samba mini-topic so be sure to support your child to show as much as they know!
From our Homework Policy:
Creative
This is where your child’s creative juices can flow! Creative homework is an opportunity for your child to choose whatever they want to demonstrate some learning. For example, Y3 and Y4 homework previously has been: I can show what I know about food chains. Your child could present all their learning in so many different ways, from a diagram with notes to a story or comic strip. Parents’ and carers’ role is to support, encourage, help but (obviously) never to take over and do the homework! Teachers always look forward to seeing how creative children can be. If you notice the work has not been marked, please don’t worry. Teachers will have looked at and celebrated the homework in another way – the work might have been viewed by the whole class using a visualiser which allows the work to be projected to the whole class and a discussion of ‘stars and steps’ will happen. Peer assessment is also effective – children are very able to share what’s good and what needs improving! These sorts of verbal feedback strategies are often more effective than a written comment because it’s more instant and it makes sure the child understands (and their work is praised publicly!).
09 January 2015
The homework this week is Talk Time and is due Wednesday 14 January:
I can talk about how I manage my feelings.
This homework links to our SEAL theme for the next five weeks: Good to be Me. Chat to your child about different feelings they may have and how best to manage them. Try offering advice or switch the conversation around by asking your child for advice to manage a particular feeling – it’d be a great way to find out their strategy for managing feelings.
Please indicate that you’ve supported your child with their Talk Time homework by signing against the notes your child has written in their homework book.
Below is the guidance for Talk Time homework, taken from our Homework Policy:
The purpose of Talk Time homework is to encourage a conversation around children’s current learning. Children shouldn’t spend a lot of time on the presentation of the Talk Time homework. Instead, children should make notes, which will act as a prompt when it is discussed in class the following week. For this reason, teachers tend to give verbal feedback during their talk time session in class. We want our children to be expert talkers, using a variety of sentences and expressions, and able to back up their points or disagree with others in a polite way – this is more important than written notes for Talk Time. Simply: it’s hard to be a good writer if you’re not a good speaker, so Talk Times using ambitious words, useful phrases, interesting sentences is the best way to support your child.
05 December 2014
The whole school homework this week is creative: children are invited to respond to something from either a cultural or spiritual perspective.
I can show what I know and think about something cultural.
We’d like children to present their responses about a recent book they’ve read, film they’ve watched, piece of art they’ve looked at, piece of music they’ve listened to – anything cultural in fact. We’re interested to read some sort of description (a summary, for example) and then your child’s opinions. This review might include pictures, an interview (your child could write a fictional script between himself/herself and the artist, for example), a letter (eg to or from a character, or perhaps even the author) – anything which might include your child’s responses!
However, your child might prefer to do the following:
I can show what I know about a festival.
Over the course of this term, some children in school will have celebrated a religious festival of some sort. This might have been
- the Muslim festival of Eid ul Adha, this year in October
- the Sikh and Hindu festival Diwali, also in October
- the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, coming up in December
- the Christian festival (of course, celebrated by many non-Christians, too) of Christmas
- the Chinese New Year festival which next year will be in February
There are lots of other festivals and celebrations which you and your child together might want to reflect on, from the anniversary of the crowning of Selassie (a festival which might be celebrated by Rastafarians) to the Winter Solstice (a Pagan festival). You can also research more festivals.
We invite children to respond to the sentence above – they might include a recount (like a diary entry), pictures, an interview (perhaps in a script). Your child might also choose to research a completely unknown festival, or they might even think about creating a brand new festival, one that everyone will celebrate.
Whether inspired culturally or spiritually, your child’s homework is due on Wednesday 10 December.
21 November 2014
Following our Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds themed week, our whole school creative homework this week is:
I know how to have a healthy body and healthy mind.
Each class has taken part in a variety of learning this week including a range of visitors to support our teaching of keeping healthy bodies and healthy minds. These include physical activities such as karate, tai chi, tennis, Leeds United football, assemblies by Leeds Rhinos and Leeds anti-social behaviour unit, class talks by Heart Research UK, d:side (drug education), various parents with health-related jobs and visits to Tesco for their Farm to Fork scheme and Allerton Grange. Class-based learning has also included dental health, hand-washing, the importance of sleep and breakfast, healthy eating and food preparation and mental health.
Your child could present this creative homework in a variety of different ways:
- a quiz which tests the knowledge of other children
- art work
- poetry
- a poster
- writing: diary, story, letter, instructions, report
- a rap
- a mindmap
- your own creative idea
We look forward to seeing your creative ideas to demonstrate how to keep a healthy body and healthy mind.
Please return this homework by Wednesday 26 November.
It’s half-term…
…so there’s no specific homework this week, apart from ensuring your child spends at least 20 minutes each day reading and 5-10 minutes learning their number bonds / times tables.
Enjoy your October break. If you stay in Leeds, check out all the activities the museums and art galleries have on offer.
Ready to learn
It’s the summer holidays and, in line with our homework policy, there is no formal homework set over the six-week break.
That doesn’t mean that your child won’t be learning! We learn all the time – and so do children, whether it’s through play, day-trips, independent reading, discussions at home…
And of course, you’ll be keen to support your child at home so the basic facts aren’t forgotten. Please think about key English and Maths knowledge that you can gently practise over the holidays:
- number bonds: knowing pairs of numbers that add to make ten, like 3+7=10 and therefore 10-7=3). When your child is secure with pairs that total ten, can they extend this knowledge to pairs which make 20 (13+7=20, for example) and 100 (such as 30+70=100) – make this fun by using some sweet treats or how about stringing ten loom bracelets on string and then hiding some and making the link with the ones that are left (how many are hidden if you can see three bracelets?)
- times tables: Year 2 children should have an emerging knowledge of the 2 times table and the 10 times table at least, and children who have just finished Year 4 should know all their times tables (up to 12 x 12) and the division facts, too (7×8=56 so 56÷7=8) – think about chanting some times tables or buying an app to practise just a few minutes every day to keep your child’s knowledge sharp!
- reading: lots of reading over the holidays will help your child in lots of different ways – visit the local library; take part in our Extreme Reading competition; if you’re going to a theme park or museum, read the leaflet and the website… there are loads of opportunities to build in reading as a daily activity!
- writing: reading will help your child’s spellings and writing style, so don’t force lots of writing, but do try to encourage some useful, purposeful writing – write some postcards to friends and relatives , or send some emails instead, and make lists for what to pack on holiday, or what to buy if planning a sleepover.
Check out this guide about supporting learning, useful whether it’s term-time of holiday time!
Finally, make sure you enjoy the summer break!
11 July 2014
This week’s whole school homework is creative following our themed week, Staying Safe. It should be returned by Wednesday 16 July.
I know how to stay safe.
Throughout this week, a variety of visitors have worked with classes to deliver key learning about different aspects of safety. These include:
- water safety (lifeguard – Mr Glass and RNLI)
- scooter training (Mrs Strange)
- bike maintenance (Edinburgh bicycle cooperative)
- skateboarding (sk8 safe)
- trampolining (Roundhay high school)
- food/kitchen safety (school kitchen)
- first aid (British Red Cross)
- e-safety (One day creative)
- road safety (Leeds City Council)
- drug education (dside)
- safety within engineering (Mr McDermott)
- bike security (police)
Alongside these external visitors, children have been learning other aspects of safety within their class.
The creative homework is a great opportunity for your child to demonstrate their learning from this week. They could:
- write a poem
- produce a quiz
- create a comic strip
- produce an information leaflet
- create a crossword
- …or anything else they can think of.
