News

Attendance matters

So far this year, our attendance rate is about the same as last year, which is impressive considering the amount of bugs going around just before Christmas. Here are the attendance figures for the first three half-terms (with last year’s data in brackets):

• Reception: 96.4%  (95.7%)
• Year 1: 97.7%  (97.1%)
• Year 2: 97.3%  (97.9%)
• Year 3: 98.2%  (97.5%) …This is great: the highest attendance in school!
• Year 4: 97.0%  (96.9%)
• Year 5: 95.7%  (98.3%) …Please do make sure your child is at school unless it is absolutely necessary.
• Year 6: 97.2%  (96.9%)
• Total for the whole school: 97.1% (97.2%)

Don’t forget we have another 100% attendance competition this half-term! Currently, 175 children have 100% this half-term so far!

BBC Radio Leeds Thank You Teacher Awards 2015

BBC Radio Leeds is launching its Thank You Teacher Awards inviting people from across West Yorkshire to nominate their most inspirational teacher. From pre-school to primary, secondary, FE and extra-curricular, this is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the work of teachers across the region.

They’re asking for a 250-word submission and for those aged 16 and under there’s a special category which means they can submit a short film about the teacher who most inspires them.

Closing date is Tuesday 31 March 2015.

The winners, runners up and nominators will be invited to a special Awards Ceremony at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on the evening of Monday 15 June 2015.

Visit the BBC Leeds website for the application form and terms and conditions.

Attendance matters!

Put simply: taking a term-time absence will affect your child’s attainment – this conclusion is based on data over the past five school years. Research shows:

• the higher the percentage of sessions missed across Key Stage 2, the lower the likely level of attainment at the end of Year 6
• there is a gradual decrease in achievement as overall absence rates increase
• pupils with no absence are 1.6 times more likely to achieve level 4 or above, and 4.7 times more likely to achieve level 5 or above, than pupils that missed 15-20 per cent of all sessions
• pupils with the lowest five per cent of overall absence rates are 1.4 times more likely to achieve level 4 or above in reading and maths tests and 3.3 times more likely to achieve level 5 or above in reading and maths tests than pupils with the highest five per cent of overall absence rates

This research is based on national data. At Moortown, the picture is similar:

Read the full story from the Department for Education here.

Read the research here.

Supporting your child's maths at home

This article is a thought-provoking read, and might inspire you to support your child in different ways; in it, Professor Jo Boaler sets out this list of top tips for parents who want to support their child in Maths:

1. Encourage children to play maths puzzles and games at home. Anything with a dice will help them enjoy maths and develop numeracy and logic skills.
2. Never tell children they are wrong when they are working on maths problems. There is always some logic to what they are doing. So if your child multiplies three by four and gets seven, try: “Oh I see what you are thinking, you are using what you know about addition to add three and four. When we multiply we have four groups of three…”
3. Maths is not about speed. In younger years, forcing kids to work fast on maths is the best way to start maths anxiety, especially among girls.
4. Don’t tell your children you were bad at maths at school. Or that you disliked it. This is especially important if you are a mother.
5. Encourage number sense*. What separates high and low achievers in primary school is number sense.
6. Encourage a “growth mindset” – the idea that ability changes as you work more and learn more.

More homework? No - more encouragement

We had a record number of parents / carers who attended parents’ evenings this week – thank you to all who showed up.

A small number of parents asked for more homework. Please bear in mind we asked your views about homework in the Annual Survey last year, and the findings were quite mixed: some thought there was too much whilst about the same proportion thought there was not enough. The majority agreed with us: the amount of homework we set is about right.

Taken from our Homework Policy, this is our rationale for giving homework:

Educational experience that a school by itself provides is limited; children benefit from wider, complementary experiences out of school. However, some prompts and guidance from school can direct these experiences and develop greater learning. We see homework as an important example of cooperation between teachers and parents / carers. An aim of our teaching is to promote independent learners; homework is one of the ways in which children can acquire the skill of independent learning.

We recognise the importance of quality family time; this policy should help to promote opportunities to be creative rather than labour over frequent worksheets or carry out activities that pupils and / or parents / carers may not understand.

Whilst homework develops children’s learning and independence, quality family time, play and free time are also important. Homework should not prevent children from taking part in wider activities such as those offered by out-of-school clubs and other organisations. Children develop their interests and skills to the full only when parents/carers encourage them to make maximum use of the opportunities available outside school.

Also in our Homework Policy is this statement:

We believe the frequency of homework set out here provides the right balance for pupils and meets the expectations of most parents (whose opinions we sought in the Annual Survey, 2014). Staff may occasionally provide additional homework; this will amount to two or three extra pieces across the year. As an alternative, staff will be happy to suggest to parents other ways they can support their child’s learning at home.

Please do not expect extra homework for you child to be set as a matter of routine. Governors want to protect teachers work / life balance, but – importantly – we believe extra homework would not be helpful for most pupils.

Parents' evening

In the Autumn term, at Parents’ Evening, we sent the first Learning Update to you – a document showing where your child’s attainment is. We did this because, in the Annual Surveys, lots of you told us you want more frequent updates about how your child is doing. The second Learning Update will be given to you at Parents’ Evening next week.

You will notice this version looks a bit different. This is because we’re trialling a new assessment system to track pupils’ attainment.

This change is a result of the current government’s decision to withdraw the system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s attainment and progress. Instead, schools are being encouraged to monitor and report whether children are on track to meet end-of-year age-related expectations.

Terms such as ‘Level 4’ or ‘Level 5’ are being phased out. The current Year 2 and Year 6 classes are the last who will be given levels at the end of the year. (A Year 2 child is expected to reach Level 2B or 2A; a child in Year 6 is expected to reach Level 4 and ideally at least a Level 4B.)

There are three important things to note:

1. The new National Curriculum has much higher expectations. Last term’s Learning Ladder was based on the old National Curriculum whereas this one is on the new, more demanding curriculum. As a result, you may find your child does not appear to have made progress – this is due to the higher expectations.
2. Schools are being encouraged not to push children too quickly towards learning in older year groups. Instead, children should develop “mastery” and “deep understanding” – this means ensuring children can use and apply their skills and knowledge more independently and in more circumstances. This point is most relevant in Maths.
3. Your child’s attainment  in spelling, punctuation and grammar (‘SPAG’) will be included in our amended Learning Updates, reflecting increased importance placed by the current government on this aspect of your child’s education.

At the moment, like all schools, we’re in a period of change. If you have any questions or concerns, please do speak with me or Mrs Weekes.

School council elections

Our current school councillors held their final meeting recently as we prepare to elect our new school council.

Children from every class, including Reception, are encouraged to prepare a speech to present to their class as part of the election process.  Our whole school homework before the election date will give children the chance to plan their speech.

Thank you to our existing school council who have been involved with many decisions and discussions throughout the year.  Most recently they have selected books for our library and pupil prizes as rewards in class.

Our second open morning

This morning, we welcomed more parents into school to watch some lessons – thanks to the parents who visited. We hold these open mornings because you tell us in the Annual Survey that you’d like to know more about how you can support your child at home.

Like our last open morning on 13 January, each parent watched the teaching and learning in two classes (30 minutes each), then discussed what they’d seen with Mrs Weekes and me. We’re very happy to receive feedback which was as positive as the last open morning. Here are some of the comments:

• “I really liked the focus on children’s needs and their abilities in the Year 1 class.”
• “The English lesson in Year 6 was very dynamic and interesting. The teacher interacted with the children really well. I received good tips from the teacher about how to support my child at home.”
• “Teaching assistants worked well.”
• “It was interesting to find out from the Reception teacher how children learn throughout the day.”
• “The Year 2 teacher was fantastic and the children were very happy and confident in their learning.”
• “Fantastic and a real eye-opener. Great to see two very different classes and teaching styles in action.”
• “I picked up some ideas that I will take home to help with my child.”

Parents encouraged us to have more, similar events. Based on this, we’ve planned in three open afternoons where parents can come in up to half an hour earlier than the close of school to look at homework and / or topic learning:

• Wednesday 04 March (homework review)
• Wednesday 18 March (Big Topic review)
• Friday 01 May (setting homework).

Please do try to attend.

Congratulations from the Minister of State for Schools...

We’re delighted to have received a letter (26 January 2015) from Rt Hon David Laws, Minister of State for Schools, congratulating us on our work with disadvantaged pupils:

It gives me great pleasure to write to you and congratulate your school on your key stage 2 results for disadvantaged pupils since 2012.

Your results show that you are highly effective in educating your disadvantaged pupils.  It is clear that you and your staff have provided your disadvantaged pupils with a good start in life and prepared them well for secondary school.

[The letter then refers to the Pupil Premium Awards.]

I would like to congratulate your staff, governors, parents and pupils for their hard work and success, and thank you for your leadership in making such a difference to the future success of your pupils.  Finally, I would also encourage you to share your achievements with other schools so that they learn from your strengths and experience.

Yours sincerely

David Laws MP

Our new neighbours

Some of you may know that, here at Moortown Primary School, we’ll soon have new neighbours. The building next door, which used to be Search Laboratories, is soon to become a nursery and a pre-school and after school care provider. Whilst we don’t endorse one provider over another, we thought you might like to hear more about this news as it’s so local to our school. Here’s a message from the new owners:

Hello there. I’m Helen Gration and I’m honoured to have gained planning permission to open the ‘Moortown Montessori Nursery’ next to your outstanding school.

Our passion for supporting children in their early years reflects the same values that have right here in your school – high-quality care, outstanding education, and staff with some of the best hearts in childcare. Our nursery will be open 7.30am – 6.30pm and there’ll be an out-of-school service for those who need it too. We already have two children’s nurseries in York where we have gained ‘outstanding’ judgements from Ofsted and we’ll be bringing those values with us.

Work on the Old Chapel next door will start very soon and we’re heading for an opening for the Summer term. We’ll keep you posted but, if you’ve any questions, you can email us on leedsmontnurtury@aol.co.uk. We look forward to seeing you in the neighbourhood!