Do you use the vampire technique?
As part of our focus on manners this week, Year 1 have been mastering the ‘vampire method’. I cover my mouth (when I cough, sneeze or yawn) is our weekly statement so we looked at why this method can help to prevent germs spreading. By coughing or sneezing into our elbow, germs are not spread into the air or on our hands which may contaminate other things.
Don’t forget to ‘use your sleeve to cough and sneeze’.
Netball stars
A team of Year 5 and 6 netballers recently took part in the Leeds North East High 5 festival at Roundhay School. Eventually finishing 6th out of 17 teams from local schools, this was a fantastic achievement. Well done to all the team.
‘I definitely want to take part again next year,’ commented one of the Year 5 players.
Our new SEAL theme for this half-term is…
…’Relationships’.
We begin the half term with a focus on manners: I cover my mouth (when I cough, sneeze or yawn) is our statement for this week. Children, and adults, will be taught the ‘vampire method’ for coughs and sneezes in order to prevent the spread of germs – ‘use your sleeve to cough and sneeze’.
Following this, the Relationships theme explores feelings within the context of our important relationships including family and friends.
It aims to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in three key social and emotional aspects of learning: self-awareness, managing feelings and empathy.
There is a focus throughout the theme on helping children understand the feelings associated with an experience that we all need to cope with at some time: that of loss – whether of a favourite possession, a friend, a family home, or a loved one. Although relatively few children are bereaved, most will experience losses of other kinds during their childhood; losing a home, losing friends because of moving house or changing schools, or losing a pet are examples.
We would therefore ask for parents / carers to alert us to any experiences your child has had that might make this area particularly difficult for them – for example, a bereavement.
Proposed development of former Yorkshire Bank playing field
A note from the Governing Body:
A meeting to discuss the possibility of secured school access to a part of the proposed Moortown Park was held on Friday 11 April.
This meeting was attended by representatives of Moortown Primary School, representatives of Leeds City Council, Fabian Hamilton MP and Councillors Sobel and Hamilton.
Prior to this meeting, Fabian Hamilton and the councillors had met with the developers to discuss the school’s request.
The school had requested some dedicated secure space to be used during the school day for sport and other learning. The outcome of both these meetings was that school’s request does not appear to be feasible and / or desirable in the opinions of those involved.
Additionally, it was felt by some parties that the governing body and the Moortown Parents Group should make an apology to the developers who have been very upset by the change.org petition which is directed at the local ward councillors and the Director of Children’s Services.
Whilst the governing body is very disappointed with this outcome we would like to reassure the developers that we do still support the development of a small number of houses and the provision of a park for Moortown which will undoubtedly benefit the community as a whole.
However, we do have every right to question our local ward councillors and the Director of Children’s Services as to why they do not appear to be supporting the school’s wish for a formal, secure sport and learning facility which could also be used by the general public outside of school hours.
Emre, Year 5
“When you need help with learning, you can just glance at the displays and they’ll help you.”
Emre, Year 5
A good news story…
We hear a lot of doom and gloom about the state of education in England – much of this stems from political interference and sensationalist journalism (in our opinion!). Here’s a story about how successful our young people are at an increasingly important skill: problem-solving. The story didn’t get quite as much coverage in the media, sadly…
“Graduates need core knowledge in subjects like maths and English, but they also need to be able to apply this to tackle complex and unpredictable tasks with confidence… Good problem-solving skills give young people an edge in the world of work and prepare them to move into top jobs and leadership positions.”
Mr Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders
Teenagers in England are “significantly above average” in problem-solving skills, according to the results of international tests. Whilst scoring relatively low in some international school tests (especially one known as the Pisa rankings), these latest global rankings from the OECD put England in 11th place.
The OECD puts England as second highest in Europe, behind Finland, in tests of how pupils can apply their knowledge. These problem-solving tests were taken at the same time as the Pisa tests, which compare how well pupils perform in maths, reading and science.
Rather than testing theoretical knowledge, the problem-solving tests examined how well teenagers could use their knowledge in practical questions. For example, it presented pupils with a range of information about different types of train tickets and asked them to work out the cheapest price for a journey.
These problem-solving tests were an optional extra following the Pisa tests taken in 2012 – and were taken by 44 out of the 65 countries and administrations in the Pisa rankings.
It found that pupils in England were much better than their performance in Pisa tests, despite not making the top 20 in any subject.
The OECD’s Michael Davidson suggested that Asian countries were particularly strong at learning information, but it seemed that pupils in England were above average at how this information was creatively applied.
The top performers remained Asian countries and education systems – but the Chinese city of Shanghai, which had been the top performer in Pisa tests, is ranked sixth in these more practical tests. England’s pupils’ performance puts them above countries such as Germany, the United States and Sweden.
These problem-solving skills were going to be essential for the future job chances of young people, said the OECD’s Francesco Avvisati.
Worryingly, a new National Curriculum for state schools in England takes effect from September 2014. This new curriculum has been devised under the current government and it places far less emphasis on using, applying and problem-solving skills, and far more on knowledge and facts and figures. At Moortown Primary, we are in the process of preparing for the new curriculum, and will ensure that problem-solving skills are not neglected.
Sorting Smarties
As it was the last day before Easter, and we had been looking at presenting and interpreting data, we had some fun with chocolate in maths! We had a look at a bar chart showing us what colour Smarties were in one tube. Each pair of children had a tube of Smarties and we needed to know which tube the chart was showing us.
We decided to pour our Smarties out and sort them into the different colours.
We then thought of a way to better organise our Smarties so that we could compare the packet to the chart more quickly. We created a pictogram of Smarties on our whiteboards.
Finally, we created our own bar chart of the information to find out whose packet matched the chart we first looked at. Shockingly, it didn’t match anybody’s and Miss Rushbrooke had to own up to eating that pack of Smarties already! So… we all ate ours too. Yum!
Holiday time!
We’re now two thirds of the way through the year!
It’s been a fabulous term and the Lion King has been a perfect ending to it. I was so proud of the class for their brilliant performances on Tuesday and Wednesday but especially for the enthusiasm they brought to every rehearsal and singing practice. The whole Animal Kingdom topic has been fantastic and there have been so many other highlights: the cute chicks; meeting and holding all the exotic animals; the mini-beast hunt (I’ve never seen so many woodlice!); and the great modroc animal sculptures.
The literacy and maths learning has been great this term as well. Ben has made super progress with his reading. Isabelle, Owen and Riya have produced some fantastic writing. In maths, Kieron has really impressed me with his calculating skills and Jorja is also showing she is a very confident mathematician.
Hope you have a wonderful holiday and I look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks!
It’s the Easter holidays…
…so we have no set homework or spellings, in line with our Homework Policy.
That doesn’t mean we expect your child not to be developing their skills in reading, writing and maths!
Your child should be reading daily – this could be fiction, factual books, a comic or newspaper, and could include being read to at bedtime, too.
It would be good to practise basic skills in writing by writing a letter or email to a relative, perhaps recounting a day-trip or reviewing a film your child watched.
We’re finding quite a few children are ‘squashing their sentences’ such as I went to Leeds City Museum it was really interesting which is wrong. It would be much better with punctuation to separate or a word to join:
- I went to Leeds City Museum. It was really interesting. (A comma isn’t strong enough to separate two sentences.)
- I went to Leeds City Museum – it was really interesting.
- I went to Leeds City Museum; it was really interesting.
- I went to Leeds City Museum and it was really interesting.
- I went to Leeds City Museum which was really interesting.
Finally, to improve calculation skills, please keep practising mental number facts which your child must know:
- number bonds (two numbers which add up to 10, 20 and 100 eg 3+7, 13+7, 30+70) – these facts should be known by children in Y1 – Y2
- times tables (up to 12×12) and the division facts with your child – children in Y2 should have rapid recall of x2, x 5 and x 10 at least
We know we mention these ‘basics’ a lot, but that’s because they involve practice, practice and more practice – we practise a lot at school, but your child will need to practise at home, too, if they are to truly succeed.
Learn more about current expectations for reading, writing and maths. However, do be aware that a new National Curriculum comes into effect from September, meaning these expectations have been raised and so many aspects of learning now feature in younger age groups.
Fantastic FREE Easter Holiday Events at Leeds Central Library
Thinking about what to do in the holiday? Need a rainy day contingency plan? There’s a lot happening this Easter at Leeds Central Library…
8th April, Children’s Library: The Worried Walrus Shadow Puppet Workshop
- 12:00-2:00pm
‘It’s Time for the Annual Animal Beauty Contest and first-time competitor Wendy the Walrus is so excited!’
Meet the star of The Worried Walrus and make your very own shadow puppets with The Carriageworks Theatre and Odd Doll productions. Wendy and her friends will help you build your own unique shadow puppet and give you a special stage to perform on. Bring it with you to The Carriageworks Theatre on Thursday 10 April to see Wendy the Walrus wow the beauty pageant judges when she re-thinks what real beauty is.
Go to www.leeds.gov.uk/carriageworks for theatre tickets and information
8th April, Art Library Reading Room: Who Goes There? Making Your Robot Room Guard
- 10:00am-3:30pm
Is your brother or sister always sneaking into your room when you’re not there? Wish you could have someone to keep an eye on things and warn you when they do?
That sounds like a job for the Guard-a-tron 3000. Come along to this workshop and you can build your own robot to stand guard over your room and sound the alarm if anyone tries to sneak in.
You don’t need to know anything about robots or computers to attend, but we’ll spend the day assembling a small computer and programming it to detect movement. If you can bring a laptop with you that would be handy, but isn’t essential.
*This event is supported by Child Friendly Leeds and therefore free, but the kit costs roughly £10 each. Please bring some cash along if you’d like to take your robot sentry home with you.
We’re delighted this event is facilitated by Adrian McEwen (creator of Bubblino) and Kirsty Sparrow
It is recommended for children aged 9+ accompanied by parent/carer. To book your place visit; www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/who-goes-there-making-your-robot-room-guard-tickets-10965972519
9th April, Children’s Library: Free Creative Writing Workshops – Fairytales & Fables
- 11:30am-12:30 – ages 5-7
- 1:00pm-2:00pm – ages 8-10
- 2:30pm-3:30pm – ages 11+
This workshop is designed to support children with this year’s National Young Writers theme Fairytales and Fables. In this workshop children will learn how to write a story inspired by a moral or lesson, learning about character and story structure to create their own story!
Places are free but limited, to reserve your space call 01132476016 or email enquiry express enquiry.express@leeds.gov.uk
12th April, Children’s Library: Saturday Family Drop-in – Spring Seed Sowing Workshop
- 1:00pm-3:00pm
This Easter Holiday come join us as we will be making recycled paper plant pots for you to sow sunflower seeds in and grow them on at home. Also enjoy stories, games and the usual Saturday fun.
16th April, Children’s Library: Create Your Own Adventure Story
- 2:30pm-4:00pm
Join author and theatre producer Daniel Ingram-Brown for a workshop using ideas from his new book, Rise of the Shadow Stealers. Create your own scrap-map island, populate it with characters and challenge them with death defying quests.
For more information call 01132476016 or email enquiry.express@leeds.gov.uk