News

Annual survey results 1

Thanks to those of you who completed the Annual Survey in the summer term. The number of completed surveys fell to just 39 this year – we hope those of you who chose not to return the survey remain perfectly contented! Remember, if you ever have any questions, comments or concerns, please do speak with an adult in school.

Here, we present a summary of the main part of the summary: the 14 statements on page one:

My child is happy to come to school. 95% agreed and two respondents weren’t sure. We’re delighted that we continue to be a happy and healthy place to learn. Visitors almost always remark on what a happy school we are. Thank you to all staff for this – they are always positive and pleasant, and this helps to ensure our children are, too.

My child learns a lot in lessons. As above, 95% agreed and two weren’t sure. Another high result, which is great. Of course, we’d like this to be 100%. In this particular survey, one respondent was anonymous so we can’t respond directly to address this uncertainty, whilst the other has a child who we know was being challenged a lot – perhaps the child had recently said one particular lesson was easy and the parent / carer had been influenced by the remark. We encourage anyone who is unsure to make sure they speak to their child’s teacher if they have a concern – don’t leave it until the end of the school year when it might be too late! You should also try to attend the open sessions in school where you can watch the teaching and learning process. 

The school helps my child to do as well as (s)he can. 82% agreed; 15% were unsure; one person disagreed. We have two open mornings when parents / carers are invited into school to watch teaching and learning: 30 minutes in one class, 30 in another followed by 30 minutes to review what was seen and ask questions with Mr Roundtree and Mrs Weekes. Please, if you’re unsure, try to attend these – they’re on Tuesday 08 December and Wednesday 27 January, both from 9.00am to 10.30am. Parents who attended last year were impressed with the teaching and the behaviour management systems we have in place.

I know how well my child is doing at school. 82% agreed whilst 18% were unsure. Last year, we moved away from assessing with levels and this might be the main reason why there is a higher than usual number of you who are unsure. We hope the way we’ve decided to communicate your child’s attainment will be clearer this year. You’ll be told at parents’ evening (Monday 19 or Tuesday 20 October, and Monday 08 or Tuesday 09 February) and in the end of year reports, and can get updates whenever you want to by speaking with your child’s teacher. We encourage as many of you as possible to attend the ‘What is Mastery?’ workshop (Monday 16 November, 2.30pm), which will help to explain the government’s shift in emphasis away from rapid progress to more secure learning with greater depth.

Adults in school explain to me how to support my child at school. As above, 82% agreed; 15% were unsure; one person disagreed. This year, we’ve got more workshops and open sessions than ever before – if you’re unsure about how to support your child, do try to come to as many of these as possible. And if you can’t, then there’s more support and guidance on our website this year, too – check out the Calculations and Expectations pages to start off with. Of course, we can’t explain how to support your child if you don’t speak with us or check the website, so please tell us if there are other ways you’d like to support your child.

Teaching at this school is good. 92% agreed and three respondents weren’t sure. We’re pleased with this result. Like before (we can’t stress this enough!), if you’re unsure or have a concern, then try to attend the open mornings, or speak with Mr Roundtree or Mrs Weekes.

Teaching at this school helps my child to develop skills in communication, reading, writing and mathematics. 100% agreed. We’re delighted that you all agreed with this, arguably one of the most important statements.

I am happy with my child’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. 90% agreed; three of you weren’t sure and one person disagreed. We support spiritual, moral, social and cultural development to an extent that other schools have been inspired to use some of the same planning processes and ideas we use at Moortown Primary. Our last Ofsted inspection was a while ago, but spiritual, moral, social and cultural development was judged to be outstanding then – we’ve not neglected it since. Check out the SMSC page in the Learn More section to find out more about what we do. We do want to assure everyone we take this aspect of school life very seriously. Please speak with Mr Roundtree or Mrs Taylor, who oversees SMSC, with questions and comments.

Behaviour is good at Moortown Primary. 92% agreed and three weren’t sure. We’re proud of our Relationships and Behaviour Management Policy – it focuses on pupils’ choices (we label choices as good or bad; we never label pupils in the same way) and rewards positively and frequently; perhaps most of all, it’s consistent right across school. Visitors praise behaviour of our pupils all the time and our policy and processes, such as the warnings system, are often copied by other schools. In the past, as with this year, those who say they are uncertain often say this because they’re not around during the school day to observe the behaviour. (It’s also worth remembering that children quite often have a tendency to mention to their parents when someone has been given a warning – it’s more ‘news-worthy’ – rather than what is far more common: good choices!)

Behaviour is good in lessons. 82% agreed and the rest were unsure. Parents and carers often tell us they choose ‘unsure’ as they don’t get to see what it’s like in class, which is understandable. Do try to attend the open mornings (Tuesday 08 December and Wednesday 27 January, both from 9.00am to 10.30am). Last year, those attended commented on the excellent behaviour from all pupils.

The school deals with all types of bullying well. 85% agreed and the rest were unsure. Like the comments about behaviour, parents and carers often tell us they choose ‘unsure’ as they haven’t encountered a problem with bullying: ‘Unsure about bullying as it’s never been an issue with my child’ was one comment this year. We’re not complacent, however, and are conscious that bullying might arise amongst any group of children in any school, including ours. We use two useful phrases here: Bullying is when someone is hurt physically or emotionally ‘several times on purpose’ and pupils should ‘start telling other people’ if they fall victim to bullying, or witness it. Please help to support this – and remember to be vigilant at home to on-line bullying, too.

My child feels safe at school. 100% agreed. That’s a great result, and one that is consistently 100% over the years.

I am happy that my views will be listened to. 82% agreed and the rest weren’t sure. We do listen to your views, and will always try to act on them if they are reasonable and useful. We can’t act on requests for extra homework for specific children, or authorise term-time absences for specific families, or allow siblings to leave early because another child has an appointment – these are possibly the three most common areas for views to be expressed. We follow policies strictly and consistently and want the best for all our children and staff – this is the fairest way. If there’s a situation where you don’t feel your views have been listened to, speak to your child’s teacher in the first instance; failing that, speak with Mrs Weekes or Mr Roundtree; failing that, you might decide to submit to governors a formal complaint – you should follow this path, though. Thankfully for all concerned, most concerns can be sorted out easily and happily for all.

I am happy with the after-school clubs on offer. 82% agreed whilst 15% weren’t sure and one respondent disagreed (but didn’t offer reasons or suggestions). We’ve asked you for specific comments about after-school clubs in previous Annual Surveys. The conclusion then – as it is now – is that we can’t please all of the people all of the time – however much we’d like to! We’re pleased to have only one parent / carer indicate they were unhappy with the clubs. This parent, whilst anonymous, did indicate that their child was in Year 1. The range of clubs does vary each term and they does rely on a good level of uptake if they are to run. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for a club – or might even want to volunteer to lead one – contact Paula or Nicky in the office.

Of the 39 completed forms, only two parents / carers indicated that they disagreed, and they did so for a total of four statements:

• The school helps my child to do as well as (s)he can.
• Adults in school explain to me how to support my child at home.
• I am happy with my child’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• I am happy with the after-school clubs on offer.

We’d love to find out more about the reasons why these parents disagreed but there were no additional comments that expanded on the points. Regarding the first two points, I do encourage them – and as many of you as possible – to come along to the workshops (where teachers talk through ideas to support your child and ideas to do at home) and open sessions (where you can spend time watching English, Maths, topic reviews and homework reviews) – feedback from parents last year concluded these are great in supporting learning, and that adults in school were doing a great job in teaching the classes. Dates are in the diary (and were on the newsletter) so you can plan ahead, and we’ll send reminders out, too.

Newsletters

This term’s newsletters have been emailed and paper copies will be sent home later this week.

This year, we’ll publish the newsletters on the website, too. Here are the first half-term’s…

• Year 1 and Year 2 newsletter
• Year 3 and Year 4 newsletter
• Year 5 and Year 6 newsletter
• The whole school newsletter

Reception provide their own newsletters and lots of photos, top tips and news on their class news page.

Rugby world cup activities

As the Rugby World Cup approaches, Roundhegians are organising activities for both children and adults at their local facilities.

Every minute counts...

Is your child ever late for school? Did you know…

• 5 minutes late each day = 3 days of school lost in a year
• 10 minutes late each day = 6.5 days of school lost in a year
• 15 minutes late each day = 10 days of school lost in a year
• 20 minutes late each day = 13 days of school lost in a year
• 30 minutes late each day = 19 days of school lost in a year
• 19 days lost in a school year is likely to lead to one whole grade lower in SATs across all subjects

Too much screen time?

You might have heard about this research recently. Although it focuses on older pupils, we think it’s just as relevant for primary-aged children: too much screen-time can undermine learning.

An extra hour a day of television, internet or computer game time in Year 10 is linked to poorer grades at GCSE, a Cambridge University study suggests, as reported by BBC on-line.

The researchers recorded the activities of more than 800 14-year-olds and analysed their GCSE results at 16. Those spending an extra hour a day on screens saw a fall in GCSE results equivalent to two grades overall.

The researchers analysed the habits of 845 pupils from schools in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk at the age of 14 years and six months. They researchers correlated the data with the pupils’ GCSEs, taken the following year.

Pupils who did an extra hour of homework and reading performed better than their peers.

On average, the 14-year-olds said they spent four hours of their leisure time each day watching TV or in front of a computer. The researchers found an additional hour of screen-time each day was associated with 9.3 fewer GCSE points at 16 – the equivalent of dropping a grade in two subjects. Two extra hours of screen-time was associated with 18 fewer points – or dropping a grade in four subjects.

Interestingly, a teacher in school accidentally discovered similar results. When teaching about data and statistics, she asked the class how many TVs were in the home. Broadly speaking, those who reported fewer TVs in their homes were children who were making the best progress.

Friday football returns

Our Friday Football Club is open to everyone in school, from Reception to Year 6. The new season starts on Friday 18 September.

This is a great way to get younger children to learn the basics of football – passing, control and dribbling. The sessions are delivered in a fun and engaging way, ensuring all players get lots of touches of the ball in a non-pressurised activity, encouraging them to use both feet and develop their fundamental skills.

For the older children, they train like the professionals in the unique Total Footballers Clubs; they work through a fun skills and games programme developed by an in-house ex-professional footballer and delivered by qualified F.A. coaches. They’ll learn new skills as well as develop the ones they already have. Most importantly, they’ll have fun doing it with a football at their feet.

Want to sign up? Please follow the online booking process.

Want to know more? Please contact TSC Sports and Dance Coaching on 0113 3226115 with any questions you may have, or ask Paula or Nicky in the school office.

Grammar, punctuation and spelling

The last news post about reading offered you lots of different ways to support your child’s reading. Here are some more ways to help your child whilst reading; these are more related to helping your child’s understanding of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Word

• What does … mean?  Can you think of another word that means the same/similar?
• Which word tells you that… ?
• Which word describes… ?
• Find two verbs / adjectives / adverbs on this page.
• Pick a descriptive word from the text, write it down and, using a thesaurus, write down five synonyms (different words with almost identical or similar meanings) and antonyms (words of opposite meaning) for that word.
• Write down any words you had difficulty reading.
• Write down any words that you don’t know the meaning of, then find them in a dictionary and write the meaning.

Phonics

• Can you write a list of other words with the ‘oo’ sound in (or choose a different sound, depending on sounds in book).
• Using one or two words from this list, write your own sentence.
• Can you find these sounds in another book?
• How many words can you find on this page beginning with ‘c’ or ‘br’ or ending in ‘ck’ (again, choose a letter string that is appropriate – think about what spellings your child has recently been learning).
• Play ‘I spy’ with words that begin with ‘br’, ‘cl’, ‘dr’ for example.

Punctuation

• Can you find the speech marks, exclamation marks, question marks, full, stops, commas?
• Can you write some sentences using some of the above punctuation?

SEAL New beginnings

As we start the new school year, our SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme focuses on New Beginnings.

We have three new members of staff making a new beginning at Moortown, Mrs Wells, Mr McKeon and Mr Lawton, alongside new children joining our school and our new Reception class.

‘I make someone feel welcome‘ is the first SEAL statement to launch the theme.

New beginnings allows children the opportunity to discuss and reflect on how they or others may feel in a new situation or setting. This SEAL theme offers children the opportunity to see themselves as valued individuals within a community, and to contribute to shaping a welcoming, safe and fair learning community for all.

During the theme, the key areas of learning are empathy, self-awareness, social skills and motivation.

Through discrete SEAL lessons, circle times and across the curriculum, children will explore feelings of happiness and excitement, sadness, anxiety and fearfulness, while learning (and putting into practice) shared models for calming down and problem-solving.

New Beginnings supports the development of a learning community in each classroom where all members feel that they belong. Class contracts, produced at the start of the year, allow children to contribute to how they feel they can achieve a safe and fair learning community.

Reading

Just as the summer started, the papers were full of articles about ideal holiday reading for adults and children alike. (I think ideal holiday reading is any reading you want to, whether it’s in the holidays or not!)

How many books has your child read this holiday? More importantly, what sort of discussions have you had with your child about what books you’ve been reading, and of course what they’ve been reading. (I’ve already had chats with Mrs Weekes and Miss Valentine about my summer reading. including a great children’s book, ‘Grace‘ by one of my favourite authors, Morris Gleitzman.)

As we approach the end of the holidays, it’s an ideal time to reflect on what we’ve read – and start the new school year off taking a positive, encouraging approach to your child’s reading.

Encourage your child to read anything and everything: a story, leaflet, brochure, comic, flyer, advert… It could be for pure entertainment, or with a different purpose: to use a recipe, make a shopping list, read street signs, or any kind of text!  The more varied reading your child does, the less likely they are to be put off reading a text.  Don’t be too pushy either – texts which are too difficult can put children off (harder books might be best left to bedtime reading); all children should be able to read their reading book 90-95% accurately and fluently in order to enjoy and gradually progress in their reading.

• Build reading accuracy – as your child reads aloud, point out words they miss and help them sound out and read them correctly.
• Build reading comprehension – talk with your child about what they’re reading, asking about new words and what new information they’ve learned.
• Read together every day – don’t forget reading aloud to your child at bedtime reading can count, too!
• Don’t overlook non-fiction texts – spend time talking about pictures and diagrams.
• Visit the library regularly – did your child take part in the local libraries’ Summer Reading Challenge (see News article on 13 July 2015)?
• Use the Internet – find out more about the books your child has read or would like to read next, and just enjoy surfing the internet for facts and figures about whatever interests your child.

Enjoyable, regular and short practice is the best way for your child to progress and learn through reading.  Make sure your child spends 10-15 minutes reading each day and use the guidance below to ensure (s)he is getting the most from every book they read.  The questions will need to be varied according to the book and your child.  The book may lend will to developing knowledge, phonic, punctuation, writing or comprehension skills.

Don’t attempt to try to cover all the bullet points! It might be a good idea to focus on just one of these areas every few days or so, or just choose a question from two or three sections.

Comprehension

• Did you enjoy the story – why?
• What happened at the start / in the middle / at the end?
• Was there a problem?  How was it resolved?
• How would you have resolved the problem?  Can you think of another way?
• What would you do if …
• What was the main idea of the story?
• Can you summarise the story in a couple of sentenced?
• Try to predict what will happen before the story ends.
• Write about a memory or experience of your own that is similar to something you’ve read in your book.
• Write a letter to someone telling them about the book and your opinion of the book.
• Construct a time line to fit the story.  Include all the main events

Characters

• Who are the characters?
• What do they look like?
• What kind of clothes do they wear?
• How did the character feel when …?
• What kind of mood was the character in?
• What kind of personality do they have? Kind, caring, nasty, bully, liar, friendly, quiet, noisy …?
• What does it say in the text that makes you think this?
• What do other characters think or say about this character?  Why do they feel this way?
• How does your character treat other people in the book?  How does the character change throughout the story?  Explain and give support for your answers.
• Can you re-write the story and include your own character?
• Write a description of the main character – their looks, the way they dress, the way they talk and their personality.
• Draw and label a character or a setting from a description in the book.

Story setting

• Where is the story set?
• Imagine you are in the story …
• What can you see?  What can you hear?  What can you small?  What can you feel?
• Can you write a description of the story setting using adjectives?  eg I found myself standing in the middle of …
• What is the weather like?

Non-Fiction

• Research the subject further using the internet or local library.
• Write down in your own sentences some facts you have learnt from the book.
• Can you think of anywhere we might be able to find additional information about this?
• What do the pictures or diagrams in this piece of information add to the text?
• How are these different to the pictures you might find in a story?
• Can you point out: a heading, sub-heading, caption, diagram, introduction, contents page etc?
• Why has the author organised the information in this way? (You could refer to sections and sub-sections, bullet points etc)
• How do you feel about …?  Can you explain why?

Reading really matters

We’re loving the new website to support parents and carers with reading: Read on. Get on.

It contains lots of great advice and help, including story starters and lots of hints and tips. There are links to other useful websites and there is a way for you to check your child’s progress.

Here are some top tips listed on the website. Although it’s all about supporting reading, it’s interesting to see that these tips are ways to support your child’s speaking and listening skills (so they should really help with Talk Time homework tasks, too!).

• When talking with your child or looking at books together, help them to focus on what you are saying: Turn off the TV, the radio or the mobile. Removing distractions helps your child
• Get down to the child’s level or bring them up to yours. This helps get their attention. Young children find it difficult to listen while they are doing something else.
• Say their name first to help them stop and listen. Make sure your child can see your face when you are talking together. The gestures and facial expressions help give clues about what you’re saying. For example, a smile, a ‘thumbs up’.
• It’s important to talk at the right level for your child. If your child is mainly using one word sentences, use one or two words sentences with them. An example is ‘Find shoes’ when looking at a story page with a picture of shoes.
• If your child uses longer sentences to talk, use longer sentences with them. Ask ‘Find the man with the black hair’‘, or ‘Where is the rabbit jumping?’
• Conversations are more than questions and answers. When you talk to your child, try to comment on what they say and do. In the park, say something like “I love going down slides”. Then wait to hear what your child says next.
• When sharing stories together, comment on what your child shows an interest in. Repeat back to your child what you know they meant, even if they didn’t say it quite right. This helps encourage them to keep trying.
• Children need time to plan what they are going to say. Say something to your child then wait for them to put their thoughts together before answering. Always show your child that you are listening. This shows them that you are interested and like talking with them.