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14 March 2014

Here are this week’s spellings.  There will be a spelling test on Friday 21 March 2014.

14 March 2014

The homework this week is practice makes perfect and is due in on Wednesday 19 March.

I can find fractions.

We’ve been learning about fractions this week so this homework is an extension of that learning. All children have a worksheet in their books which they have to complete and hand in. Ask your children what methods they have been using to find the answers to similar problems this week.

Please come and see me if you have any questions.

14 March 2014

This is the third spelling week about verbs. This time, all the verbs contain a long vowel sound and end in e. This e is dropped when it’s changed to the continuous form.

As before, the verbs are listed in their infinitive, present tense, past tense and continuous (this form could be either past or present tense).

• Infinitive – I like to shop.
• Present – She shops very often.
• Past – She shopped all day long.
• Continuous (called the gerund) – She was shopping.  She is shopping.

Health heroes

This weekend, 15 and 16 March, at Eureka, there is a very topical health heroes Dragon’s Den event…

Meet some of the most important health heroes of the past at our humorous, playful and interactive Dragon’s Den style sessions.

• Why Florence Nightingale was the original ‘forces sweetheart’?
• Did Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accident?
• Why should we thank Louis Pasteur for healthy milk on our cereal?

Who’ll win your backing? You decide!

07 March 2014

Here are this week’s spellings.  There will be a spelling test on Friday 14 March 2014.

07 March 2014

This is the second spelling week about verbs. This time, all the verbs contain a short vowel sound which needs to be ‘doubled up’ when changed to the past or continuous form. As before, the verbs are listed in their infinitive, present tense, past tense and continuous (this form could be either past or present tense).

• Infinitive – I like to shop.
• Present – She shops very often.
• Past – She shopped all day long.
• Continuous – She was shopping or She is shopping.

07 March 2014

For all children in Year 1 – Year 6, the homework this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 12 March.

 I can respond to my reading.

This homework follows the wonderful costumes and learning inspired by World Book Day.

As always, some ways that your children can respond are listed below:

• Write a letter to a character or author.
• Interview a character or author.
• Annotate a page of a novel with words/phrases/sentences/ descriptions that you like and why (top tip: get a photocopy of the page, don’t annotate your actual book!)
• Create a book review.
• Create a comic strip which summarises the story.

Class assembly

Thank you for coming to our bear-themed class assembly.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

I was delighted to see the re-telling of We’re going on a bear hunt – it’s good to re-tell stories over and over again.  This develops a real awareness of story structure and language can be reinforced through repetition.  Plus: children love it!

Here are a few comments:

• ‘Really enjoyed the performance, especially the dancing.’
• ‘Fabulous!  Our first assembly.  Our the children were brilliant.’
• ‘Very well rehearsed.  Really enjoyed it.’
• ‘Great effort as ever.  Really well done.’

Thank you very much for your continued support.

Superhero yoga moves…and some relaxation

As part of our big topic, Heroes, Year 1 took part in a hero-themed yoga session.  After thinking about what is a hero, what makes a hero and who are heroes we became superheroes by using our bodies to do a variety of yoga postures.

Half-way through the school year…

With three half-terms already over, we’re now over half-way through the school year.

In the last year or so, much has changed in the education system nationally… The government has changed content of the National Curriculum, for example, which means that from September 2014, schools (except academies and free-schools) must follow a new curriculum. New attendance guidelines were introduced at the start of this year, as was performance-related pay for teachers. There are changes to assessment in Early Years and in the end of Key Stage 2 SAT tests. These are just four of many changes which take a great deal of time and effort to ‘iron out’ in order for governors to agree a school policy.

Locally, the landscape of education is also changing. There continues to be a significant demand on school places – in this area, that demand is high. Talk of school expansions in the Roundhay – Moortown area is commonplace. Pertinent to Moortown Primary, the field at the rear of the school has been sold to developers for housing and some land for community use. Mrs Rush, our Chair of Governors, has worked hard to try to secure land for us for a dedicated field for sports. Sadly, the needs of our children do not appear to be high on planners’ list of priorities – very frustrating in what is supposed to be a child-friendly city.

On a more positive note, the changes within our school have been great. Our three new teachers are doing a fantastic job. Thank you to all parents who take the trouble to comment favourably about Miss Rushbrooke, Miss Valentine and Miss Curry. The continued improvements to Reception have paid off, with local authority consultants judging teaching and learning to be outstanding. Again, thank you if you have provided us with feedback, in this case in the mid-year Reception survey. We’ll be acting on some of your suggestions, too. Another obvious change is the refurbishment of the ICT suite into the much more flexible ‘Space’ – and once again, thank you, this time for your support of PTA who have helped to fund all the kitchen equipment.

I’m confident the rest of this school year will be just as good.