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09 September 2016

In a change to past practice, children will no longer be given a list of words to learn each week before being tested on the Friday. Instead, we will focus on the same spelling rule for two weeks. This will allow children more time to learn, and retain, the spellings. One week, children will be given a task or activity to complete. The next, they will be given a list of words that follow the rule.

This week’s spelling activity is due on THURSDAY 15 September 2016.

Sort these words according to the sound the ‘ough’ letter string makes when you say the word.

For example, when you say ‘enough’, the ‘ough’ letter string makes an ‘uff’ sound.

09 September 2016

In a change from last year, spellings will be tested fortnightly, not weekly. This means there won’t be a test next week. Instead, you should spend more time not just practising the words but looking for other words which have the same sound in them. Sometimes, you will have spelling challenges do to to help your children deepen their learning of these and other words which fit the ‘sound’ or spelling rule .

Because of this extra time and practice, when it comes to the tests, the children won’t just be tested on the words in the initial list. I will choose some of the words from the list and some other words which fit the theme (the children will have been exposed to these extra words in class learning). Also, in future tests, some of the words from previous tests will be recapped to check that children are remembering what they have learnt. Children in Year 2 will be tested on ten words.

For the next few weeks, we’ll spend time recapping the different vowel sounds and their alternative sounds.

This week, it’s the long ‘a’ sound which can be written in different ways: play, rain, grey, plate, eight.

Here are the words your children should learn:

• shake
• mistake
• train
• Spain
• spray
• Monday
• they
• grey

Take a look at the sheet inside your Homework book called Can you become a master of spelling? This has lots of different strategies for learning words. Find a few which work for your child.

If you have any questions, please ask.

09 September 2016

This week’s second homework is Mathletics and is due on THURSDAY 15 June.

You have been assigned three Mathletics tasks.

Children should log on to Mathletics and complete the three tasks (they are related to our learning this week).

Once again, if you experience any problems logging on to Mathletics please come and see me. If the problem cannot be resolved, children will be given time on a Wednesday lunchtime to complete the activities.

09 September 2016

In Year 5 and 6, children receive two pieces of homework each week. This allows them more opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning outside of the classroom. Inside your child’s homework book is a parent/carer guide – it would be useful for you to have a quick read of this.

This week’s creative homework is due on THURSDAY 15 September.

I can show what makes a good learner. 

This is a great opportunity for us to think about what we can do in class to make us successful learners. In class, we discussed several ways in which children could respond creatively:

• a board game
• a video
• a comic strip
• a poster
• a 3D piece of art
• an interactive quiz

There are other ways, too. The key point is that children are able to show the characteristics of a good learner through a creative response. I can’t wait to see them.

09 September 2016

This week’s homework is Talk Time and is due on Thursday 15 September:

I can make someone feel welcome.

This week, we have started to think about our new SEAL theme, ‘New Beginnings’. Our SEAL statement next week is I can make someone feel welcome and we would like the children to think about how they might do this.

Speak with your child to see what they could do or say to welcome someone, maybe with reference to our three new children in class. This will also help children to develop empathy skills to consider how others may feel in certain situations.  As well as the school setting, you might also want to consider other examples such as other groups like brownies, sports clubs, at parties and even visitors to your house.

In our SEAL session next week, we shall be considering this statement through discussion and also drama.

Please see below for talk time guidance in our homework policy:

Talk Time homework: this involves a discussion topic eg ‘Should animals be kept in zoos?’ Children should make notes (even pictures, diagrams etc) ready to participate in a class / group discussion on the topic. Please make sure you write a comment about the Talk Time discussions in the homework books.

Top Tips:

• Turn the telly off!
• Sit around the dining table!
• Have a chat and share opinions and ideas!
• Children should talk with family, friends and each other.

What a great comment!

It was great to read this recent Facebook comment:

First day back I noticed the basketball courts in the main playground, look great, the first thing my 2 kids (in separate classes) said to me at home time on the first day was “mum you have to see the back playground” it looks fantastic! & my son explained the MUGA meaning! We love it & it’s a fab edition to this awesome little school.

We’re all very excited about the new equipment. The back playground will be even better when we get a bit of extra land from the old field – this will happen hopefully next year.

Sport England Primary Spaces award

You may have noticed some playground changes since we have returned to school.  If not, ask your child to take you to the back playground and this is what you’ll see.

The installation of the MUGA (multi use games area), nets in the main playground and playground markings outside Year 5 are as a result of a successful application to Sport England under the Primary Spaces fund to help primary schools who have little outside space.  We were awarded £30,000 to create a multi-sport area and our School Council were part of the decision-makers for the final designs.

The new facilities will provide vital facilities for curriculum PE and physical activity across the school day including playtime, lunchtime and after school.  They have proved to be a hit in the first week back with children eager to use the new facilities and also watch (in a safe manner).

Thank you to Playscheme, the contractor responsible for the installation.

Welcome to Year 5!

We’re two days in to the new school year now and are starting to settle in to our usual routines. We’ve discussed some expectations for the year and are ‘ramping-up’ our learning.

We’ve already learnt lots across a range of subjects and even visited our school library (check out the pictures below). Each child now has a library book that they can (and should) be reading at home. We’re keen at Moortown Primary to ensure all children have a love of reading – you, and your children, will hear me talk about this a lot over the year! As it stands, our library session is on a Tuesday so children should bring their library book on this day (although I have advised them to bring it every day in case we decide to have a spontaneous read).

We’ve enjoyed a fantastic first two days and I can’t wait to watch each child develop and progress over the coming year. Stay tuned to enjoy the journey with us.

Last thing, if you have any questions, would like a quick chat about what we’re doing/how you can help at home/how your child is progressing, please do not hesitate to come and see me!

Great start Year 6!

Welcome back to your new – and final – school year. Year 6 have made a fab start with lots of hard work going on already but lots of us have been surprised that we can still be having fun. We’re well on the way reminding ourselves about reading and writing numbers (up to 10,000,000) and recapping on nouns, verbs and all sorts of other word classes.

Our Where in the World topic has begun and we’re busy planning an inter-railing trip around Europe and there’s lots to think about:

• How many countries can we visit?
• How long should we stay in each place?
• What do we want to do there?
• How long will our journey be from one place to another – and should we travel over night and sleep on the train?

We worked really well together to get an amazing trip planned.

We had to use lots of Maths skills and map skills as well as problem-solving and working together.

We’ll put up a post to show you our final plans when we’re done.

School Saving Club

There is currently an added incentive to open a School Saving Club account with Leeds Credit Union.

All children in Year 3, who have an account, will be credited with £10 from Leeds City Council.

Take a look at this video to find out more.

If you are interested in your child opening an account, please contact the office.  We have half termly after-school paying in dates where children can pay in money into their accounts.