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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.

DfE performance tables: learning

DfE performance tables are published today.  This year, they are more detailed than ever, covering everything from amount spent on resources to absence rates. 

Here’s an overview of learning in 2012-13 for Moortown Primary compared to other primary schools, based on 2013 Key Stage 2 results.

In the tables, there are many, potentially confusing, ways to compare schools and their 2013 results.  You can compare progress, percentage of pupils at expected level, how effective a school is in closing the attainment gap caused by poverty… You can compare test results against teacher assessment, how well children with low attainment perform compared to those with high attainment…

Here are some headline figures:

• proportion reaching Level 4 or more in reading, writing and maths combined is 93% – almost 20 percentage points higher than national (75%) or Leeds (74%) figures
• proportion reaching Level 4B (a mid Level 4, which the current government describes as a level indicating a pupil is ‘secondary ready’) or more in reading, writing and maths combined is 89% – significantly higher than national (63%) and 14th place amongst all 251 Leeds primaries
• proportions making expected progress is also very high: 100% in reading and maths, and 96% in writing – about 10 percentage points higher than for England as a whole, or Leeds overall
• the average level for our pupils was a 5C, which matches quite a few schools in Leeds, but only two schools had a higher level (5B)
• 32% of pupils attained a Level 5 in reading, writing and maths combined – easily putting us in the top 10% of Leeds schools for this measure

Well done to the 2012-13 Year 6 class, to Ms Hazell, Mrs Raseta and to all the previous teachers who have supported the class.

Free physical activity after-school clubs

You may have noticed on the latest menu of after-school clubs, for the Spring term, that our physical activity clubs are FREE!  This is one of the ways we are spending Government funding given to all schools for PE and school sport, encouraging children to take part in a range of physical activities.  In order to maximise the long term impact for our school, both pupils and staff, we are looking at the most sustainable ways to invest the funding.  Further details of some of the projects we are involved in will shortly be posted on the website.

In the meantime, if you have any feedback about our after-school clubs please speak to Mrs O’Malley.

06 December 2013

This week is talk time homework.

Should everyone have the right to electricity in their homes?

Although we all have homes with electricity, not everybody does! Do you think it is fair that not everybody can access electricity? Discuss this with somebody at home and we will have our own discussion in class next week.

Attendance matters

Our attendance data is looking great so far this year – thank you to all of you who are respecting new guidelines around avoiding term-time absence, which is having a big impact on our attendance and therefore on your child’s learning.  The table below lists attendance this year up until 22.11.13 (final column), which you can compare with the same period last year, and the overall figures for the whole school year.

Don’t forget that each row for last year and this year is a different group of children, so you might want to compare Year 1 last year (95.8% for this period) with Year 2 this year (97.7%) – a great improvement for the same children (and parents / carers) here!

Attendance data is something which Ofsted and other educational bodies look closely at.  For example, Fischer Family Trust reports on attendance by breaking down figures for different groups in school.  They report, for example:

• children who attain well at Moortown have better attendance figures than similar children nationally
• most ethnic groups (but not all) have better attendance than the same groups nationally
• boys and girls have the same attendance data at Moortown

Once again: thank you to all parents / carers who are trying hard to maintain good attendance for their child.

08 November 2013

This week our homework is practice makes perfect.

I can tell the time.

We have been learning how to tell the time this week. All of the children have completed similar tasks in lesson but a bit of extra practice will make sure we’re ready to take on a challenge next week. Give them every opportunity to be telling the time throughout the day too, especially for o’ clock, half past and quarter past.

This homework is due on Wednesday 13 November.

Have fun, you marvellous mathematicians!

25 October 2013

There will be no homework or spellings over the half term but if you want to do some work with your child, here are some suggestions.

• Read every day, asking questions about what is happening and how they feel about the book.
• Whenever you use numbers (cooking, shopping, temperature etc…) discuss them with your child. What do they know about that number? How much is it? How much change do I need? Is it colder or warmer?
• Encourage them to write. Maybe they could keep a diary for one day of the holidays and we can stick it into our class diary so that everybody could read it.

“We’re eating a balanced meal.”

Last week, Year 2 were introduced to some new friends who helped us know how to eating healthily. We met Donny Dairy, Colin Carbohydrate, Victor Vitamin, Peter Protein and Freddy Fats. First, we sorted different foods into the five food groups.

Then, we planned our own balanced meal by choosing

• three items of food from Victor Vitamin and Colin Carbohydrate (the food groups we should eat most of)
• two items of food from Donny dairy and Peter Protein
• one or no types of food from Freddy fat.

On Friday, we made our meal and all ate a healthy, balanced meal together.

 When asked who had enjoyed their meal, here was the response!

Love talking!

Parents sometimes ask us why we set Talk Time homework occasionally.

It’s important to help your child with speaking and listening because:

• Your child’s ability to speak and listen well will be a good foundation for their future learning
• If they are good speakers and listeners they will do better at reading and writing
• If they can communicate well with others, it will help them to make friends more easily
• They will become more independent and be able to learn about the world
• Your child will learn to express their feelings and not become frustrated so easily

At school younger children will learn to:

• Think about what they say and choose the right words
• Speak fluently and confidently
• Listen to instructions from the teacher
• Listen to their classmates before speaking and take turns

As they get older they will:

• Join in group discussions and make useful points
• Present to an audience, expressing their opinions clearly
• Take part in decision-making and debate
• Learn how language varies in different situations

How can you help?

Put listening to your child first:

• Show your child how to be a good listener by listening to them and others
• Be patient: don’t interrupt or finish their sentences for them
• Give your child your attention: don’t check your mobile phone at the same time as they are talking to you, for example
• Show you’re listening: ask questions about what they say, ask their opinions
• Listen to your child reading aloud regularly

Be a clear speaker:

• Speak confidently, using the right words and set an example by talking in full sentences
• If English is not your first language, the most important thing is that you speak your own language confidently and well
• Use clear, simple directions for tasks and behaviours
• When your child follows direction, show you notice: praise them for listening to you

Get involved every day:

• Discuss their day with them when you see them after school
• Try to have a family meal together as often as possible
• Encourage your child to talk about their views and interests with others
• Ask them about their homework and get involved with it
• Switch off television and laptops well before bedtime: chat or read a bedtime story together instead

Have fun speaking and listening together:

• Play family games together, like I Spy, Charades, Chinese Whispers and Articulate
• Nursery rhymes, songs, jokes and puppets are an important way of helping younger children learn language
• Re-tell familiar stories and have fun making up your own
• With older children, read books and poetry aloud together
• Discuss and debate issues in the news

…and look at these websites for a few more ideas:

• www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/songs
• www.ican.org.uk
• www.literacytrust.org.uk
• www.britishcouncil.org
• www.talkingpoint.org.uk

Taking it to the kids

Following the official launch of the Leeds United Foundation Taking it to the kids scheme, we look forward to welcoming the coaches to work with Year 1 and 2 in the Summer term, as part of their curriculum PE.  The scheme, open to schools across Leeds, provides access to football coaching, promotes healthy living and aims to strengthen links between the club and communities.