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Owls in Moortown Primary

As part of our nocturnal animals mini topic, we had some nocturnal visitors in the first week back after Easter. Five different owls came to see us and we even got to hold them! Two barn owls, two eagle owls and a snowy owl took to the stage and we learnt all about them. Here are some things we found out.

• Owls have two ears; one on top of their head and one on the bottom. This is so they can hear prey and know if something is above trying to catch them.
• Owls create a nest in stones on the ground so that their eggs won’t roll away.
• There are five types of owl in Britain; these are the barn owl, long-eared owl, short-eared owl, tawny owl and the little owl.
• Amazingly, owls can turn their heads 270 degrees! This helps because they can’t move their eyes side to side like we can.

09 May 2014

This week we will be going back over our ten times table.

Lots of us are familiar with this so make sure you learn division facts as well; for example:

• 2 x 10 = 20, so…
• 20 ÷ 10 = 2

09 May 2014

This week marks the start of our final big topic of Year 2 – ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’.

I can show what happens at the seaside.

This is creative homework so think about what different things you cold do to show all of the different things that happen at the seaside.

You could…

• Make a brochure
• Create a slideshow
• Draw a map of a seaside
• Write a story
• Interview different people you might meet there

Friday is the last day to comment on plans for the field…

…so please don’t leave it too long if you support or object to the plans.

• Go to Leeds City Council planning site: https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/online-applications/
• Type the reference number 14/01839 or enter Allerton Grove into the search field.
• Click on the Comments tab. You’ll need to register so that you can make comments.

It doesn’t take long to register, but it does take a while for these log-in details to take effect, so don’t leave it until the last minute.

So far, there are 20 objections, 19 of which cite factors relating to the school’s needs as a key reason.  Here some of the comments made so far:

The Reserved Matters include detailed designs for the Urban Park which now exclude any reference to the sports pitch for the use by Moortown Primary School.

The Delegation Report for the Outline Application refers to the sports pitch in the following item:

10.14 [quote from Delegation Report is made here]

10.15 [quote from Delegation Report is made here]

This shows that officers were including the future provision of a formal sporting ground which could be used by the school as part of the reasons they were recommending it be approved.

All through the consultation with the school and local community the provision of this sports pitch for the use of the school was of highest importance as highlighted in the developer’s design and access statement.

14 April

My objection is based on the following points:-

1. All previous application submissions to this point have made reference to specific amenities being made available to Moortown Primary School, however this has not been included in the Section 106 agreement or the subsequent Reserved Matters application. Had this not been included from the start of the process then further objections would have been raised.

2. The existing use of the land by the school for sporting activity over many years will be lost due to the landscaping that is included in the application.

3. The school is looking to preserve existing rights, not improve them. As the new park will be public this will require a secure area being provided, and this provision is completely absent in the current proposal.

4. The current proposal goes against the National Planning Framework which aims to uphold a good standard of amenity for all existing occupiers. This is clearly not the case as these proposals provide no allocated space for the school.

02 May, second objection listed on this date

As a resident of Moortown I strongly object to this planning application. In the outline planning application all parties were led to believe that there would be space and amenities available for Moortown Primary children to access, subsequently at this point I had no objection as I do not oppose the small development of houses or the park. However, at this point it has become clear that this was not accurate information and that actually the children will not be given any green space to use. The suggestion that they use a public park is ludicrous, safeguarding is paramount and the children of the school need to continue to be educated in an environment that they feel safe in.

The children have been using the current amenities for many established years, this means that the school is not asking for something they never had, they are asking for their rights to be upheld and the children’s access to outdoor space to continue. It is simply a request to preserve the little the school already has.

There is an opportunity here to teach the next generation about healthy eating as they grow their own produce, the importance of exercise, team sports and the great outdoors and it seems archaic to be taking these away from children in the current obesity crisis that this country is in.

02 May, second objection listed on this date

In addition, Sport England has lodged a statutory objection.

There are some comments in support, too; all these come from Moortown Community Group in one overall letter of support.  Some of the points they support are below:

Much thought has been given to the tree planting… The children’s play area is particularly appealing… We agree that this park will make a contribution to Leeds as a child friendly city but there are also many older people living nearby who may prefer some quieter corners for sitting…

Because the comments are available in a different format on the Leeds City Council planning (case file) website, full comments are not as easily quoted here, hence a link to the full letter from Moortown Community Group is made here.

02 May 2014

This week’s homework is practice makes perfect.

For the last couple of days, we’ve been learning about weight and units of measurement.  For homework, I would like the children to look around the kitchen cupboards to see the variety of different weights recorded on the packets.  If they want to do a bit more, then they could weigh the packets to make sure the recorded weight is correct.  They know that 1000 grams is the same as 1 kilogram so it would be useful to refer to this in your discussion when they are doing their homework.

Homework is due in on Wednesday 07 May.

02 May 2014

Here are this week’s spellings.  Please note that the spelling test will be on Thursday 08 May.

02 May 2014

The spellings this week all contain the ending sion. You’ll notice that this ending makes the same ‘shun’ sound as last week’s spellings.

Can you also spot the words which have a double up for a short vowel sound?

02 May 2014

This week’s homework is practice makes perfect and is due in on Wednesday 07 May. 

I can answer questions about a text.

I’d like the children to carefully read the text they have been given and answer the questions – this will test their comprehension skills as well as reading. This is a great way to ensure your child is understanding what they’re reading whilst building on skills we’ve learnt throughout the year so far.

A busy week

There has been no relaxing this week – loads of learning and some unusual visitors.

25 April 2014

Here are this week’s spellings.  There will be a spelling test on Friday 02 May.