Spring/Summer term menu
The new school dinner menu, from our school meals provider, Catering Leeds, will be introduced after half term and this will continue for the rest of the school year.
As well as on our website, the three week cyclical menu is also displayed on our dining room window for you to discuss with your child/children. Have a look for the weeks ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are. If you would like a printed copy, please ask at the office.
School meals continue to be free for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. If your child is in Key Stage 2, please check for eligibility for free school meals. (It’s important to check for eligibility for younger children, too, because school receives additional funding for each child who is eligible for a free meal, even when they’re free in Reception and Year 1 and Year 2!)
If your child would like to start having school dinners, please inform the office. A combination of packed lunches and school dinners is also available.
Children are consulted on school meals through our regular School Council meetings. Feedback may also be given by speaking to an adult in school or completing a suggestions/comments slip and posting it in their class SEAL box.
Thank you to parents who also raise questions and give feedback. We can then ensure this is passed on to the kitchen staff.
Girl power? And how to promote it, for boys and girls.
We’re sad to read the research that came out this week indicating that girls begin to lose confidence in their talents at an early age:
Girls start to see themselves as less innately talented than boys do when they are only six years old, a group of US researchers has said. They said the “disheartening” results suggested the problem could snowball to affect future careers.
The study on 400 children, in the journal Science, initially found both five-year-old boys and girls thought their own gender was “brilliant”. But then only one year later, gender differences had emerged.
The study put sets of five, six and seven-year-olds through different experiments.
In one, the children were read a story about someone who is “really, really smart” but it is not clear who the story is about.
They then had to guess the protagonist from four pictures – two of men and two of women.
At age five, boys pick men and girls pick women around 75% of the time. But fast-forward a year to age six and boys are still picking men while girls are now slightly more likely to pick men too.
You can help!
Whether you have a daughter or a son, it’s important to combat gender stereotypes. Check out this list of great books that challenge traditional assumptions and perceptions. (Princess Smartypants is a great book, by the way!)
It’s also a good idea to emphasise hard work and effort with children, rather than some ‘natural gift’:
Fellow researcher Dr Lin Bian advised parents and teachers to emphasise the importance of hard work. She told the BBC: “[Studies suggest] that everyone does better when hard work is believed as the key to success.
“In our studies, girls might be particularly impacted by the messages focusing on ‘hard work’ – they became equally interested in playing the game as boys.
“Thus conveying the importance of hard work to success could protect and even promote young girls’ interests.”
27 January 2017
This week’s homework is Creative.
To research the Vikings.
Year 4 have been given the chance to do some research about a particular period of time prior to learning about it next week.
Get those creative Viking heads on!
27 January 2017
This week, the children have been given three spelling activities. They need to use these to help them to learn the words given last week.
Consonants and Vowels
Write your spellings words; use a blue coloured pencil for consonants and a red coloured pencil for vowels.
Stair steps
Write your spellings as ‘stair steps’.
Alliterative Phrases or Sentences
Choose five of your spelling words and write five alliterative phrases or sentences. An alliteration uses the same initial letter. You may include a word or two that does not begin the same letter. Be sure to underline your spelling words.
Examples: cooling condensation, important instruction, every emotion explains experiences.
27 January 2017
The homework this week is creative and links in with our learning in maths this week:
I can show what I have learnt about money.
In maths lessons, we’ve become familiar with different coins and made amounts using combinations of coins. For this homework, show off what you have learnt this week or show me some other learning or experience involving money!
27 January 2017
The spellings this week all have an le ending. This is the most common spelling for this ‘ul’ sound at the end of words.
| table |
| apple |
| bottle |
| little |
| middle |
| people |
| simple |
| smile |
27 January 2017
This week’s spelling task is to see how many words, from the spellings given last week, you can make using the letters in your homework book.
Cut the letters out (but don’t stick them down) – How many words can you make? This is a great way to practise and learn spellings.
The spellings given last week will be tested on Friday 03 February.
27 January 2017
This week’s homework is Creative and is due in on Thursday 02 February.
I can show what I know about a period of history.
Research a period of history and show what you have learnt.
- Research and record ten interesting facts about a period of history.
or
- Make a poster to show what you have found out.
Champion chariots
As we move through the different periods of time in our topic work, this week has seen us pay a visit to the Romans. Roman transport was our focus, especially chariots.
After designing, planning and resourcing, work began on making our very own chariots. Skills included measuring and sawing an axel to the correct size, adding wheels, shaping the front of the chariot and finally attaching it all.
Take a look at us in action.
The finished chariots look great!
27 January 2017
Our Practice Makes Perfect homework takes us back to Mathletics. Go on live Mathlitics throughout the week and gain 1000 points. There’ll be a prize across Y5 and Y6 for the person who earns the greatest number of points, too.