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Week beginning 27 September 2021

Posted on Sunday 26 September 2021 by Mr Catherall

Hi everyone

We hope you’re feeling happy and healthy at home. We miss having you in school but we want you to know that you’re still very much part of our school community. Enjoy your home learning for this week.

Maths

Follow this sequence of maths learning which is linked to addition and subtraction.

You don’t have to print the worksheet. Your child can write or draw their answers on paper. Your child’s learning will be most effective if you sit with them to pause the clip and check / praise / support your child as the clip moves on.

Practise times tables on Times Table Rockstars, too. If your child is in Y3, we’re concentrating on the 8 times table. If your child is in Y4, we’re concentrating on all times tables up to and including 12 x 12. Email the class teacher if you need your child’s login and password details.

(Suggested time: 30 minutes of Maths and 15 minutes of Rockstars daily)

Spelling

Look on the homework page to find this week’s spellings. They should choose some past spellings that they feel less confident with. Your child should complete one task each day.

  • Day 1: Generate more words linked to the spelling pattern or ‘rule’. You could look out for the words in the book you’re reading at home, or any other text, like a website linked to our science topic of Living Things and their Habitat.
  • Day 2: Practise the spellings using two of the ideas in our Super Spelling Strategies guide. (Set yourself and others at home a challenge of using some of the words when you’re speaking, too!)
  • Day 3: Write separate sentences, each containing one of the spellings. (Don’t forget to show off really neat handwriting and make sure you sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, exclamation mark (!) or question mark (?).
  • Day 4: Repeat Task 2 or 3.
  • Day 5: Get an adult at home to test you on your spellings. Practise any you spell incorrectly – you could write them out carefully until you’re sure.

(Suggested time: 15-20 minutes daily)

Reading fluency

This is the text we’re using in class this week to build up fluency skills.

In school, we generally follow this sequence:

  • Day 1: Read the text aloud with your child listening. Read it clearly and slowly, pointing to each word as you read. Have a chat about any unfamiliar words.
  • Day 2: Read aloud each sentence (a full short sentence or part of a longer sentence), and have your child read it back to you. Do this ‘echo reading’ for the whole text.
  • Day 3: Read the text and talk about the effect of the punctuation on how you read it – pauses for full stops and expression for exclamations (!) or questions (?). Your child reads the text aloud.
  • Day 4: Read together with expression (just like you practised on Day 3).
  • Day 5: Your child reads independently and fluently.

(Suggested time: 15 minutes daily)

Reading comprehension

We’ll be using this RIC text in class to practise comprehension skills. RIC stands for:

  • Retrieve: finding information in a text
  • Interpret: using clues in the text to unlock information
  • Choice: thinking about the author’s choice of words, techniques or organisation that make the text interesting and enjoyable to read

Follow these lessons from Oak National Academy. There’s a whole series of lessons, but start at Lesson 1 and work through, doing one (or maybe even two) each day. (If you’re self-isolating in your second week, stick with the series of lessons you’ve already started and aim to complete the full series.)

(Suggested time: 30 minutes daily)

Writing

Follow these lessons from Oak National Academy. There’s a whole series of lessons, but start at Lesson 1 and work through, doing one (or maybe even two) each day. (If you’re self-isolating in your second week, stick with the series of lessons you’ve already started and aim to complete the full series.)

(Suggested time: 30-40 minutes for each)

Topic

Our topic this half-term is about geography.

Follow these lessons from Oak National Academy and these lessons from Oak National Academy. There’s a whole series of lessons, but start at Lesson 1 and work through, doing one (or maybe even two) each day. (If you’re self-isolating in your second week, stick with the series of lessons you’ve already started and aim to complete the full series.)

(Suggested time: 30-40 minutes)

Science   

Our focus this half-term is about chemistry.

These six lessons from Oak National Academy link closely to what we’ve been doing in class. Start at Lesson 1 and work through, doing two or three in the week. If you’ve previously completed on of these lessons, have a go at the ones you haven’t completed yet.

If Science really motivates your child, you could also use look at these lessons all about practical Science.

(Suggested time: 30-45 minutes)

PE

Don’t forget to do some daily exercise!

Do two or three of these Five Minute Moves from Joe Wicks each day – spread them across the day as if they were playtimes, maybe!

Try working through this series of 25 lessons from the Association for Physical Education – do two or three in the week.

(Suggested time: 5 minutes daily, plus 30 minutes for the longer PE lessons)

Extra stuff…

As an extra (or as an alternative, if this helps to motivate your child)…

Fancy learning about a new religion? You don’t have to be religious to learn about, and appreciate, religions from all around the world. Check out this set of lessons from Oak National Academy – you could choose to focus on one religion or dip into each set for an overview.

What about some Living and Learning? While you’re away from school, you could check out these lessons on keeping safe!

Reading challenges…

Posted on Monday 20 September 2021 by Alice Needham

Check out this photo of some Year 5s completing the reading record challenge ‘read in an unusual place’…

Can you think of a more peculiar place to read a book?

Living and Learning: 8Rs for learning

Posted on Monday 20 September 2021 by Alice Needham

Last week, Year 5 were focussing on the Eight Rs for learning. The Eight 8rs for learning are good learning behaviours that we aim to demonstrate during every lesson.

Challenge your child to name the Eight Rs for learning as fast as they can!

During our Living and Learning lesson, we were challenged to order the Eight Rs in order of importance. This was a particularly difficult task as all the children recognised the importance of each R. We engaged in a thoughtful and interesting debate where children were able to argue why they thought a particular learning behaviour was of paramount importance.

 

Week 1

Posted on Tuesday 14 September 2021 by Alice Needham

Hello everyone!

I can’t believe that we are already in our second week! Year 5 have demonstrated fantastic attitudes towards their learning and I look forward to seeing how this will help them progress throughout the year.

So far, we have enjoyed…

Practising our linguistic skills in Latin…

Fine tuning our pocket passes in rugby…

Learning as part of a team…

And finding a quiet moment to enjoy some reading or drawing!

Looking ahead, we have a lot of exciting learning to look forward to this half term.

In maths, we’re learning about decimals and fractions.
In writing, we’re learning about how to write a diary entry. Ask your child if they can remember any key features of a typical diary entry.
In reading, we’re recapping how to answer retrieval, inference and choice questions. Our class novel this half term is Survivors – a fascinating read packed with short stories of bravery, resilience and danger. Ask your child if they can use their summarising skills to retell one of the short stories we’ve read so far.
In topic, we’re learning as geographers about the world we live in.  Check out this tool on Google Maps to see how school has changed over time. You could see how your own front garden has changed, too!
In science, we’re learning as chemists about the properties and changes of materials. Watch this space for reports on some exciting science experiments!

As of this week, Year 5 also have an in house TTRS competition. Every week, the child who has spent the most time on TTRS is able to randomly shout out a times table of their choice for the class to answer. Please encourage your child to log on so they have a chance of having ‘the power’!

As always, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if there is anything that I can help you with.

Miss Needham

10 September 2021

Posted on Friday 10 September 2021 by Mr McGriffiths

Our spellings this week are from the Year 1 common exception words list (words that do not follow the rules of phonics)

are

ask

be

by

come

The children will be tested on these words next Friday 17th September

When checking the spellings with your child, it is useful to put the word in a sentence so they understand its meaning.

Thanks to Roundhegians

Posted on Tuesday 20 July 2021 by Mrs Taylor

We are very grateful to Roundhegians Rugby Club for hosting our sports days once again this year and allowing us to use their excellent facilities.

Roundhegians have a variety of rugby training sessions, from under 6 through to under 17, and these sessions will resume on Sunday 5th September.

For more information, please contact their chair of junior rugby, Chris Fongwah (fongers.cfw@gmail.com).

Design and Technology

Posted on Friday 16 July 2021 by Mr Roundtree

This half term, Year 2 have been designing many different free standing structures. 

Each lesson, we have been given a design brief explaining what our design and technology task would be that day.
We then followed the design process: evaluate, design, make and evaluate for each of these structures.
The first structure we made was a strong and stable wall for Humpty Dumpty. We discovered that interlocking bricks were more stable than single-file bricks.
The second structure we made was a swing using frame structures. We learnt how triangles are the strongest shape and used this information to help us design our swings.
Finally, this week we built a stable, freestanding structure for Humpty Dumpty’s garden.. We learnt how to join structures together to ensure that they wouldn’t fall over.

Bikeability sessions

Posted on Sunday 04 July 2021 by Mrs Taylor

Next week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday), Year 1 will be taking part in their bikeability learn to ride sessions (that should have taken place this time last year!).

Here’s a reminder about the sessions.

Your child has the opportunity to take part in exciting cycling activities with the Cycle North Team, as part of the Leeds Bikeability Plus programme.

Specialist instructors will be in school leading Balance Bike and Learn to Ride sessions and every child will have a 45-minute session each day, 3 sessions in total.

What do Balance sessions involve?

Children will start out on special pedal-less balance bikes and take part in a series of fun activities aimed at building the confidence, spatial awareness and dynamic balance skills that will help your child to cycle. When ready, children will then progress onto pedal bikes with an aim to learn how to ride their bike independently without stabilisers.

Children who can already ride their bike without stabilisers, will take part in fun cycling skills sessions.

Balance bikes, pedal bikes and helmets will be provided for all children. If your child has their own pedal bike and they would like to use it, please bring it in for their sessions and remove any stabilisers beforehand. Bikes can be ‘parked’ outside the Year 1 classroom.

The sessions are planned to take place outside, so please ensure that your child is dressed for the weather, and preferably wear trousers or tracksuit bottoms and appropriate footwear.

PE kit is ok to wear on these days.

We hope the children enjoy these fun sessions to develop/improve this important skill.

Please contact us (carolinetaylor@spherefederation.org /jackiefreeman@spherefederation.org) if you have any queries.

 

It’s all change

Posted on Monday 21 June 2021 by Mrs Weekes

A few weeks ago, we shared the news that Mr Owen was moving on to a senior leadership position in a school in Manchester. Following a rigorous recruitment, Miss Needham (currently working in Year 2) has been offered a teaching position.

Since then, we’ve found out that there are going to be a few more changes in September…

Mr Parker has got a new job. As a new father, he has recently moved, and is currently travelling quite a long way each day. He’s now going to be working much nearer to home.  He will be missed for many different reasons including leading the school football team and leading other members of staff in great phonics practice.   That strong accent (you know what I mean) might mean that our phonics pronunciation changes totally!

Miss Rushbrooke is also starting a new job, again much closer to where she lives. She came to us very early in her career and has done a fabulous job teaching in Year 2, Year 6 and recently Year 4.  She is a wonderful and caring teacher and has done a grand job transforming our library into an engaging space that children want to be in.

Finally, Mrs Freeman, who’s been a member of staff at Moortown for many years, is going to go and work in another school within Sphere Federation. Mrs Freeman is excited by a new challenge in a new school, and we’re delighted to still work alongside her in many ways.

Changes like this can be unsettling but at Moortown Primary, we’ve a history of successful recruitment that helps to keep our school a vibrant and forward-looking place to learn. (Indeed, when Mr Owen joined, it was alongside three other new recruits. When Miss Rushbrooke joined us, so too did two others.)

As well as Miss Needham starting as a newly qualified teacher in September, we also welcome two more new teachers:

  • Mr McGriffiths, an experienced teacher currently based in London but returning to Leeds
  • Miss Birch, currently working in a nearby school.

Some of you may also remember Mrs Lake, who worked here a few years ago. Mrs Lake is teaching in Year 1 at Scholes (Elmet) Primary at the moment – we’re delighted that she’ll be returning to share a class with Mrs Taylor next year.

We’re sure that you will join us in congratulating those who have new jobs and wishing them all the best for the future, and in welcoming the new members of our happy and healthy teaching team.

Week beginning 14 June 2021

Posted on Friday 11 June 2021 by Mr Catherall

 Hi everyone

We hope you’re feeling happy and healthy at home. We miss having you in school but we want you to know that you’re still very much part of our school community. Enjoy your home learning for this week.

 Maths

Follow this sequence of maths learning which is linked to fractions.

You don’t have to print the worksheet. Your child can write or draw their answers on paper. Your child’s learning will be most effective if you sit with them to pause the clip and check / praise / support your child as the clip moves on.

Practise times tables on Times Table Rockstars, too. If your child is in Y3, we’re concentrating on the 8 times table. If your child is in Y4, we’re concentrating on all times tables up to and including 12 x 12. Email the class teacher if you need your child’s login and password details.

(Suggested time: 30 minutes of Maths and 15 minutes of Rockstars daily)

Spelling

Look on the homework page to find this week’s spellings. They should choose some past spellings that they feel less confident with. Your child should complete one task each day.

  • Day 1: Generate more words linked to the spelling pattern or ‘rule’. You could look out for the words in the book you’re reading at home, or any other text, like a website linked to our science topic of Living Things and their Habitat.
  • Day 2: Practise the spellings using two of the ideas in our Super Spelling Strategies guide. (Set yourself and others at home a challenge of using some of the words when you’re speaking, too!)
  • Day 3: Write separate sentences, each containing one of the spellings. (Don’t forget to show off really neat handwriting and make sure you sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, exclamation mark (!) or question mark (?).
  • Day 4: Repeat Task 2 or 3.
  • Day 5: Get an adult at home to test you on your spellings. Practise any you spell incorrectly – you could write them out carefully until you’re sure.

(Suggested time: 15-20 minutes daily)

Reading fluency

This is the text we’re using in class this week to build up fluency skills.

In school, we generally follow this sequence:

  • Day 1: Read the text aloud with your child listening. Read it clearly and slowly, pointing to each word as you read. Have a chat about any unfamiliar words.
  • Day 2: Read aloud each sentence (a full short sentence or part of a longer sentence), and have your child read it back to you. Do this ‘echo reading’ for the whole text.
  • Day 3: Read the text and talk about the effect of the punctuation on how you read it – pauses for full stops and expression for exclamations (!) or questions (?). Your child reads the text aloud.
  • Day 4: Read together with expression (just like you practised on Day 3).
  • Day 5: Your child reads independently and fluently.

(Suggested time: 15 minutes daily)

Reading comprehension

We’ll be using this RIC text in class to answer these questions to practise comprehension skills. RIC stands for:

  • Retrieve: finding information in a text
  • Interpret: using clues in the text to unlock information
  • Choice: thinking about the author’s choice of words, techniques or organisation that make the text interesting and enjoyable to read

Follow these lessons from Oak National Academy. There’s a whole series of lessons, but start at Lesson 1 and work through, doing one (or maybe even two) each day. (If you’re self-isolating in your second week, stick with the series of lessons you’ve already started and aim to complete the full series.)

(Suggested time: 30 minutes daily)

Writing

Follow these lessons from Oak National Academy. There’s a whole series of lessons, but start at Lesson 1 and work through, doing one (or maybe even two) each day. (If you’re self-isolating in your second week, stick with the series of lessons you’ve already started and aim to complete the full series.)

(Suggested time: 30-40 minutes for each)

Topic

Our topic this half-term is about design & technology.

Follow these lessons from Oak National Academy. There’s a whole series of lessons, but start at Lesson 1 and work through, doing one (or maybe even two) each day. (If you’re self-isolating in your second week, stick with the series of lessons you’ve already started and aim to complete the full series.)

(Suggested time: 30-40 minutes)

Science   

Our focus this half-term is about forces.

These six lessons from Oak National Academy link closely to what we’ve been doing in class. Start at Lesson 1 and work through, doing two or three in the week. If you’ve previously completed on of these lessons, have a go at the ones you haven’t completed yet.

If Science really motivates your child, you could also use look at these lessons all about practical Science.

(Suggested time: 30-45 minutes)

PE

Don’t forget to do some daily exercise!

Do two or three of these Five Minute Moves from Joe Wicks each day – spread them across the day as if they were playtimes, maybe!

Try working through this series of 25 lessons from the Association for Physical Education – do two or three in the week.

(Suggested time: 5 minutes daily, plus 30 minutes for the longer PE lessons)

Extra stuff…

As an extra (or as an alternative, if this helps to motivate your child)…

Fancy learning about a new religion? You don’t have to be religious to learn about, and appreciate, religions from all around the world. Check out this set of lessons from Oak National Academy – you could choose to focus on one religion or dip into each set for an overview.

What about some Living and Learning? While you’re away from school, you could check out these lessons on keeping safe!