Free tennis
Tennis For Kids is a free 6-week coaching course packed full of action packed games and activities designed as the perfect introduction to tennis for kids aged 5-8.
Courses are available locally at Roundhay Park tennis courts and Alwoodley tennis club.
In addition, free family open days will be running locally, at David Lloyd and Roundhay Park, over the next few months.
Bored in the car?
Next time your on a car journey, challenge your child (and you, and anyone else in the car!) with this number plate word power puzzle!
- Look at the three letters on the car in front.
- Use those letters, in that order, to create a word (it doesn’t need to start with the first letter).
For example, LS54TXS… Using TXS, you could come up with taxes.
Another (tougher) example: YK64EWV… Using EWV, the word could be screwdriver.
Goodbye
David Roundtree writes:
Moortown Primary is a happy and healthy place to learn, and also to work.
I was appointed as Headteacher around about this time of year, but way back in 2007. This has been my seventh teaching job. Having spent a year in a village school in Warwickshire, three years in a York school, a year working in a university, two years in Wetherby, three years in Harrogate and a year in a rural school as Acting Headteacher, it might have been predicted that I might stay at Moortown for maybe three or four years. The eight years and two terms proves how much I’ve loved my time here.
One of the first big changes we made was the logo. We went from this…
…to the familar orange, green and blue blobby people we see today.
The school councillors liked the different colours in the new logo, which they decided represented our different cultures, plus the jumping and dancing which represented energy and happiness, plus the connection of the characters as a symbol for friendships. (At the same time as this, we changed the uniform colour from dark green to red – another decision made entirely by pupils. I seem to remember this went down badly with the 2007-08 Year 6 pupils who wanted black tops – but the decision was a whole-school democratic one!)
This change might seem a bit shallow – just a cosmetic change? Not so. It helped to shift the culture of the school. It became a more dynamic, more modern, more forward-thinking place to be. And it led to our slogan: a happy and healthy place to learn – more than a slogan, really: something deep-rooted in what we do.
Following this came a new website. I hope you agree this gives you loads of information: ‘need to know’ facts along with ‘nice to know’ snapshots about all the great learning and activities that take place. Don’t forget the website offers lots of advice and suggestions about how to support your child at home, including lists of learning expectations for each year, for each subject. It’s a website that’s often copied by other schools – even in recent weeks, I’ve noticed content on websites in Leeds and London that seems really quite familiar!
The front playground used to be barren wasteland. A bleak and unused space is now a popular play destination, both during school and at the end of the day. Also implemented with the help of the school council, it’s another change which has proved really successful.
Not all the changes have been by choice, but we’ve always tried to approach everything we do with optimism and determination to be the best. When the government introduced changes in the curriculum, for example, this was an opportunity to overhaul ours: introduced more whole-school topics to reinforce the strong community culture we have, and we increased the amount of flexibility we have so we can adapt what we’re doing to match children’s interests. When the government increased the importance of grammar in schools, we were already ahead of the game but we took the opportunity to develop staff and children’s grammar skills even further. And when the government abandoned levels, we took the opportunity to implement a simpler, but more powerful, way to assess children’s learning and identify next steps for children. …mmm…lots of change introduced by those ‘experts’ in government (!).
Since 2007, there have been lots of changes amongst the teaching staff, too. Before actually starting, I was fortunate enough to be part of the recruitment of three teachers: Mrs Weekes as Inclusion Leader, and two newly-qualified teachers, Miss Kieran and Mr O’Leary (now teaching in Sweden and Dubai, respectively). Miss Hewson and Miss Beatson came first (now teaching in York and London). In 2010, a record four new teachers joined: Mr Owen, Mr Wilks, Mr Redfearn (known as the boyband!) and Miss Hazell. (Mr Redfearn enjoys teaching success in Manchester and Miss Hazell in Harrogate.) Mrs Maver as Assistant Headteacher came and went around this time, too. In 2013, we had another round of big change when Miss Rushbrooke, Miss Valentine and Mrs Keating joined us, and most recently we’ve welcomed Mr McKeon, Mrs Wells and Mr Catherall. In all this, Mrs Burke and Mrs Taylor have stood the test of time!
There have been some challenges. For example, our Ofsted inspection of 2011 was tough; despite being judged outstanding, it was hard to accept comments about the Reception class because we’d made lots of improvements. (I’m really proud about the wonderful things that happen here these days, and lots of experts from the local authority agree.) Sadly right now, we’re experiencing another challenge: we are missing the care and guidance of Mrs Wilson. (Mrs Weekes and I visited just yesterday, and she’s doing well, and was keen to hear about all the goings on.)
Nevertheless, I’m proud of so many things here at Moortown Primary.
I’m proud that amongst all this teacher turnover, we’ve seen some brilliant teaching, and we continue to do so – the teaching team we have now is quite probably the best we’ve ever had, and that includes our great teaching assistants. I don’t have space to list them all here, but they do a wonderful job. The office team and site staff, too, are quite probably the best we’ve ever had, too. Mrs O’Malley and Mrs Russell are the face of Moortown Primary and we’re all lucky to have such a friendly face!
Equally, I’m proud of our children. They are polite, pleasant and positive, always great ambassadors for our school. I’ve loved seeing children in Reception grow in confidence and skills over the years. It’s such a privilege to be able to observe so many different characters approach their learning, their friendships, in fact, their lives, in different ways.
School leaders are another reason to be proud. Mrs Weekes has done a fantastic job in supporting me as Deputy Headteacher; she, combined with the passion and commitment of Mr Owen and Mr Wilks, have been great colleagues to lead Moortown Primary in the last few years. Talking of school leaders, the governing body has grown in skills and effectiveness over the years. When I joined Moortown Primary, Janice Rush was new to the role of Chair; she was replaced my Becky Lawrence. Both have been fantastic Chairs. In the autumn, there will be a vacancy for a new Chair as Becky steps down. Whoever this may be, I’m confident the governing body will continue to provide a powerful balance of support and challenge, and remain committed to making the best strategic decisions for the school. Whilst you might not have direct experience of the governors, be assured we’re all privileged to have such an effective team.
Finally, I’m proud of you, our parents, too, and thank you for all your support over the years. This might be as parents who talk to us and tell us their thoughts, whether in person or in surveys or such like (we do listen, and we do try to respond), or simply as parents who take the time to say hello or goodbye each day.
Thank you to all pupils, staff, parents, school leaders. You’ve all helped to make this the happy and healthy place it is today.
New SEAL theme
At Moortown Primary, we’re dedicated to the value of SEAL in promoting a happy and healthy place to learn. However, we’re always thinking about other ways to meet our children’s needs and interests. That’s one of the reasons we choose to sometimes break away from the national SEAL themes to do something different.
This half term, we’ll think about our rights and responsibilities and, importantly, that if we have rights, we also have responsibilities. Children will consider their rights and responsibilities at home, at school and in other places. These may include:
Their right to eat food, their responsibility to eat healthily.
Their right to a good education, their responsibility to listen to the teacher.
Their right to use the internet, their responsibility to go on appropriate websites.
Each week this half-term, we’ll concentrate on a different area:
- Week beginning 18 April: learning
- Week beginning 25 April: playing
- Week beginning 02 May: expressing an opinion
- Week beginning 09 May: staying safe
- Week beginning 16 May: being healthy
- Week beginning 23 May: general
Perhaps you can support your child’s learning by discussing and promoting rights and responsibilities at home, too.
Matheletics has changed...
…to Spellodrome!
Two years ago, we entered into a three year contract for the whole school. We’ve incorporated Mathletics sessions into the weekly routine in school, and classes have sometimes been given Mathletics Practice Makes Perfect homework. Of course, we also hoped that you would encourage your child to log-in regularly at home, too.
As a school, we’ve been really happy with Matheletics. However, with one year left in our current contract, we thought it was time for a change. Spellodrome is created by the same people, so we’ve decided to swap to this for the final year.
Why?
Well, put simply, our children’s spellings need to be better. Despite being one of the top performing schools in the country in the phonics screening check which Year 1 children do (we received a letter from the Department of Education congratulating us for having 100% of children pass in 2015), our children’s spelling accuracy isn’t good enough.
We’re finding many children use their phonics knowledge to spell words which are phonetically readable, but not accurate. By this we mean, for example, Moortown might be Moretown, English might be Inglish, phonics might be fonicks. (I’ll include a couple of other examples below.) All these words can be read, but there are so many ways to make sounds in our language, and children are choosing the wrong ways (not weighs!).
Also, many children aren’t applying some common spelling rules which would really help – and which teachers practise a lot with their classes:
- double up for a short vowel sound (think of the difference between hoping and hopping; able and apple; diner and dinner)
- drop the ‘e’ for ‘ing’ (take becomes taking – no ‘e’; like becomes liking; accommodate becomes accommodating)
- drop the ‘y’ for an ‘i’ (so try becomes tries; party becomes parties; quality becomes qualities)
So, for the next year at least, the whole school is using Spellodrome. Please, please make sure (not shoor!) your child is regularly logging in.
Also, and probably more importantly, they should be reading. Reading will help to familiarise children with correct spellings in the correct contexts – and has so many other benefits, too (studies have found that children who read fiction for pleasure have increased empathy and better mental health in years to come).
Testing times...
Do you have a child Year 2 or Year 6?
If so, they will be taking the national curriculum tests (SATs) in May 2016. The tests will provide information about how your child is progressing, compared to children the same age nationally. The results are used to ensure that schools are teaching their pupils the essential knowledge and skills in the subjects that are the early building blocks. This is to ensure every child reaches their full potential. There are changes to the tests this year at both key stages. This is because the tests are based on the new national curriculum, which your child has been taught since September 2014.
The Standards and Testing Agency has published a leaflet and short video for parents about the 2016 tests.
PTA event coming up...
PTA writes:
Cheese and wine evening
Friday 22 April, 7.30pm for an 7.45 start
Dear parents / carers
Over the last year, the PTA has organised some memorable quiz nights for parents and carers. These have been very popular, and thanks to your support we have raised large amounts of funds which have gone towards the new school library and building the field fund.
With this in mind we are pleased to invite you to our first PTA cheese and wine evening. We promise you a fun evening trying out hand-picked wines to compliment a range of specially selected cheese. The cheese will be provided by cheesemonger George & Joseph of Chapel Allerton and the wine by Majestic Wine.
Join us for the evening to find out more about the selected cheese and wine from the experts, and take part in the tasting to see if you agree with their selection! There will be the opportunity to buy your favourite cheese to take away after the tasting, and you could also win great prizes on the night by entering the raffle or taking part in the cheese and wine quiz.
Tickets cost £10 per person, which includes the cheese and wine tasting, and the disco after the tasting. A range of drinks will be available to purchase from the licensed bar throughout the evening.
Please note that this is an over-18 event only, and friends and family are welcome.
Tickets will be sent in book bags prior to the event.
We look forward to seeing you on the night for what will be a fun evening!
Please contact the school office no later than the 18 April to book tickets.
Are you keeping up with ways to support your child to stay safe...?
…or just hoping they will stay safe on their own? You wouldn’t expect them to cross a busy road without teaching them and checking they know what they’re doing – it’s pretty much the same for online safety!
Each week, Parent Zone produces a newsletter full of useful advice, and their website is packed with other great ways to support your child. They update content every week, usually on a Thursday afternoon, so don’t miss out on the latest articles and information for parents. In this week’s newsletter…
Nude selfies: understanding why
A film explaining what they are, and what parents should know about them.Setting safety and privacy settings for social media apps
If you want to set parental controls on apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, here’s how to do it.Self-harm: what parents should know
Why do young people self-harm and what can you do to help them? Expert advice from SelfharmUK.Teens on Tinder
Shockingly, 13-year-olds can legally use Tinder. Here’s what parents need to know about the popular dating app…In case you missed it: Don’t pay the price for your child’s online fun
Parents sometimes end up paying unexpectedly large phone bills and don’t know why. PhonepayPlus, the premium rate services regulator, explains what to look out for when giving your child a mobile device…
Three or free?
Increasingly, we’re noticing children who are not speaking clearly enough – and this is having a negative effect on their spelling.
Listen to your child as the say words like ‘three’ and ‘the’. More and more children are saying these words in a way which sounds like ‘free’ and ‘vuh’ or ‘fuh’ – all words that use ‘th’, in fact.
We know this is simply because children are not learning to stick their tongue out to make the ‘th’ sound – maybe it’s a bit lazy, maybe it’s because they never learnt, maybe it’s because the London accent (where this is more historic) is heard so much these days. When we prompt children, the vast majority can do say ‘th’ perfectly.
Does this matter?
Well, yes. This week, a child told me in a Maths lesson that the cost of something was ‘free’ – he meant £3. In the same week, a good writer demonstrating his ability to use a wider bank of words begun a sentence with ‘Furfermore, …’
If the way children pronounce words means that someone can confuse what they say, or that they end up making mistakes in spelling a simple word like ‘further’, then yes, this does matter.
As Mrs Burke tells her class in phonics lessons, saying ‘th’ is the only time your child is allowed to stick their tongue out at someone – please help your child get out of this habit, whatever their age!
How are you feeling?
Across school, we’ve been trialling the use of colours to represent children’s emotions. Children are then encouraged to think whether this is a blocker or driver for their learning.
- ‘I feel blue because I am calm.’
- ‘I feel red because I had a fall out at lunchtime.’
- ‘I feel orange because I am excited to celebrate my brother’s birthday.’
Here is a new website to support young people’s emotional wellbeing in Leeds.
‘If you’re a young person, MindMate can help you understand the way you’re feeling and find the right advice and support. If you’re a parent, carer or professional, MindMate can help you support a young person you know.’
Children are also encouraged to speak with an adult, friend or use our class SEAL boxes to share any worries.
