Ready to learn
It’s the summer holidays and, in line with our homework policy, there is no formal homework set over the six-week break.
That doesn’t mean that your child won’t be learning! We learn all the time – and so do children, whether it’s through play, day-trips, independent reading, discussions at home…
And of course, you’ll be keen to support your child at home so the basic facts aren’t forgotten. Please think about key English and Maths knowledge that you can gently practise over the holidays:
- number bonds: knowing pairs of numbers that add to make ten, like 3+7=10 and therefore 10-7=3). When your child is secure with pairs that total ten, can they extend this knowledge to pairs which make 20 (13+7=20, for example) and 100 (such as 30+70=100) – make this fun by using some sweet treats or how about stringing ten loom bracelets on string and then hiding some and making the link with the ones that are left (how many are hidden if you can see three bracelets?)
- times tables: Year 2 children should have an emerging knowledge of the 2 times table and the 10 times table at least, and children who have just finished Year 4 should know all their times tables (up to 12 x 12) and the division facts, too (7×8=56 so 56÷7=8) – think about chanting some times tables or buying an app to practise just a few minutes every day to keep your child’s knowledge sharp!
- reading: lots of reading over the holidays will help your child in lots of different ways – visit the local library; take part in our Extreme Reading competition; if you’re going to a theme park or museum, read the leaflet and the website… there are loads of opportunities to build in reading as a daily activity!
- writing: reading will help your child’s spellings and writing style, so don’t force lots of writing, but do try to encourage some useful, purposeful writing – write some postcards to friends and relatives , or send some emails instead, and make lists for what to pack on holiday, or what to buy if planning a sleepover.
Check out this guide about supporting learning, useful whether it’s term-time of holiday time!
Finally, make sure you enjoy the summer break!
Extreme reading
This summer, we want everyone from Moortown Primary to be reading! Reading in bed, reading in the garden, reading at a relative’s house, reading on a train or plane – reading anywhere and everywhere!
Whilst we teach reading skills at school, every child needs lots and lots of opportunities to practise their reading skills and, of course, to read for pleasure. It’s important that your child reads regularly – it’s a life skill we use all the time, after all. It doesn’t matter whether they’re reading a good story, some fascinating factual books, websites, comics, or anything else. In fact, the more they read and the wider they read, the better.
This summer sees the return of the Extreme Reading competition! We want you to send us a picture of your child reading… in the most extreme place they can think of! A few years ago, someone was captured reading on top of a letter box, in a tank, buried in sand… There’s a book voucher for the best pic from Reception (that’s next year’s class!), Y1,2 and Y3,4 and Y5,6 and next year’s Y7 – so our current Y6 pupils can enter!
Send your pic to headteacher@moortown.leeds.sch.uk
Amazing attendance!
Thank you to all parents / carers (and children) who have supported us this year: we are proud to have the highest attendance rate for the last 7+ years (the best since I’ve been headteacher).
The school total is 97.3%. Here is the class breakdown:
Reception: 96.1% – a high figure for Reception, where children tend to be less resilient to illnesses
- Year 1: 97.2%
- Year 2: 98.2% – the highest figure here, so special well done to all!
- Year 3: 97.5%
- Year 4: 97.1%
- Year 5: 97.4%
- Year 6: 97.4%
Leeds and national figures for the last four years have also improved. In 2010-11, national attendance was at 94.4% and this year it’s at 96.3%. Our attendance used to be lower than nationally. It’s a terrific achievement that our attendance is now higher.
10 minute shake up
Change4Life and Disney have teamed up to help your kids have fun and move more this summer. Sign up for the 10 Minute Shake Up Pack and you’ll get a FREE stopwatch, fun activity cards, Disney themed wall chart and stickers – all inspired by your kids’ favourite Disney characters!
The 10 Minute Shake Up games are a fantastic way to help your kids get the recommended 60 minutes or more of physical activity they need every day. Being active helps your kids maintain a healthy weight and helps their heart and bones stay healthy. Visit the 10 Minute Shake Up Zone for loads of fun game ideas.
Moortown field / proposed park
A message from Janice Rush, Chair of Governors:
Dear parents / carers
I write to inform you of the most recent news regarding the former Yorkshire Bank sports ground.
A meeting was held on Tuesday 15th July between the school, representatives of Leeds City Council Parks & Countryside department, representatives of Moortown Community Group, local councillors and the developers.
Agreement was reached that a small piece of land behind the school and extending towards Shadwell Lane would be given for exclusive use of the school – the rest would become a public park. Although probably not big enough for large sporting events like Sports day, the land will be for outdoor play and learning activities and will not be able to be built on.
The school will be responsible for fencing, landscaping and maintaining this area. Initially we need to find at least £16,000 to fence the perimeter. Local councillors have very kindly donated £5,000 from funding they have available, meaning we have to raise £11,000 – so have a look down the back of the sofa and see what you can find (!).
The PTA will be looking for grants over the summer and will begin fundraising next term; if you have ideas, please get in touch with them.
Regards
Janice Rush, Chair of Governors
Inspired by the Tour de France?
What an amazing spectacle the Tour de France has been this weekend.
If you have been inspired to get on your bike then next week we are having a bike, scooter and walk to school week alongside our Staying Safe week.
Each day this golden lock will be placed on a random bike or scooter, in our storage area. If it is your bike or scooter you will be the lucky winner of a £20 voucher, kindly donated by the Chapel Allerton branch of Edinburgh bicycle cooperative.
On Wednesday, from 8:30am, Edinburgh bike cooperative will be visiting school for a Dr bike event. Children who bring their bike to school can have a free bike maintenance check to ensure their bike is in its best condition. Edinburgh bike cooperative will be with us all morning checking bikes and also providing bike maintenance sessions for Year 5 so they can maintain their own bikes.
Would you like to explore cycle routes across the city? Leeds City council have produced a series of local cycle maps. Additionally, Go:cycling offer a range of free cycling services.
Staying safe themed week
Next week, we have another themed week in school. Your child will be learning all about staying safe in lots of different situations, such as…
- Monday: water safety, e-safety
- Tuesday: safety whilst taking part in sports such as skateboarding and trampolining
- Wednesday: bike safety checks, first aid, safety at sea
- Thursday: school is closed due to industrial action
- Friday: road safety, drug education, how engineering can make buildings safe
(Not all children will participate in all the sessions – we can’t fit it all in!)
A few things for you to bear in mind:
On Monday, Y5 and Y6 parents are invited in to watch an e-safety performance.
Every day, we want children to be walking, cyycling and scooting to school – your chance to encourage good road safety skills as they do so. Each day, a golden lock will be placed on a random bike or scooter. The winner will get a £20 voucher to be spent at the Edinburgh Bicycle shop in Chapel Allerton.
On Friday at 2.30pm, it’s the PTA Summer Fair. At the Summer Fair, there will be a stand run by the police about road safety.
And your challenge? Make sure you encourage your child to stay safe, but in ways which mean they can still have freedom to be adventurous and independent!
Are you a recycling hero?
To celebrate Recycling Week and Le Grand Depart, Leeds City Council is giving away a fantastic prize to one of Leeds’ recycling, reducing and reusing heroes.
Sharing a recycling ‘selfie’ could win tickets for two of the best seats in Leeds to watch Le Grand Depart, and inspire the rest of the city to recycle for Leeds, too. Just take a quick picture of any way you reduce, reuse and recycle to save waste from landfill and cash for our city’s services, then post it on facebook.com/leedswastedocs or tweet them to us at @LeedsWasteDocs.
It could be a photograph of your child recycling waste electrical equipment through our WEEE Bank or using the schools recycling bins… anything that keeps waste from going to landfill sites. Whether you’re doing this for the first time, or you’re a committed recycler – we want to see and share your efforts.
Closing date is early next week so get snapping and sharing.
Important dates
Important dates for the rest of this term:
- Fri 13 June: school photographer takes end-of-year class photos
- Wed 18 – Fri 20 June: 24 of the 30 Y6 children go on their residential
- Wed 25 June: Y1 and Y2 are off to the seaside!
- Thurs 26 June, 3.15pm: presentation to Y5 parents about next year’s residential
- From Mon 30 June to Fri 11 July: new Reception children visit school
- Fri 04 July: non-uniform day…PTA ask that you make a donation for the Summer Fair
- From Mon 07 July: themed week about taking safe risks
- Tues 08 July: end-of-year reports are sent home
- Wed 09 July, 2.00pm, and Thurs 10 July, 6.00pm: Y5 and Y6 summer production of Oliver Twist
- Fri 11 July, 2.30pm: PTA Summer Fair
- Mon 14 July: transition afternoon, when children visit their new teacher (this year, we invite new Reception children into school for a third visit)
- Wed 16 July: Sports Day (location to be confirmed – I’m trying to sort this out with the Leeds Children’s Services)
- Thurs 17 July: Y6 Bowling evening
- Fri 18 July, 2.40pm: Y6 Leavers’ Assembly
- Mon 21 July: Reserve Sports Day
- Tues 22 July: Attendance Assembly, when certificates and prizes for good attendance will be awarded
The last day of term is Tuesday 22 July.
…and for next year:
We start the school year on Tuesday 02 September following a training day on the Monday.
The other training days are:
- Friday 24 October
- Thursday 07 May
- Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 July (meaning you’ve an extra-long holiday in 2015!)
New Reception children start school in the week commencing Monday 15 September.
Governing body news
Mrs Janice Rush, our Chair of Governors, writes this review of the school year and the activities of the governing body…
At the start of this academic year, the governing body decided to reconstitute under new government guidelines. We kept the same number of governors overall but made some changes to how we select governors. There are still five elected parent governor positions but the majority of governors are now appointed on the basis of the skills they can bring to the school, the most important of these being the ability to ask questions to make sure they challenge and support – this ensures the school is providing the best it can for all our children.
In January of this year, as Chair of the Governing Body, I was designated as a National Leader for Governance which means I will spend some time working with other governing bodies in the area and can bring back ideas to ensure Moortown Governing Body keeps working at a high standard
Parent governor elections were also held in January. Mrs Deyes was re-elected and Mr Millar elected, both for a term of four years. Our local authority governor (Councillor Charlwood) stepped down in February prior to the birth of her second child and the position has yet to be filled.
As most of you will already know, the Governing Body has spent much of this year working with various groups to try to secure some playing field space for the school. At the time of writing nothing has yet been finalised.
Teaching, learning and curriculum sub-committee
The Teaching, Learning and Curriculum committee is made up of six governors, Mr Roundtree and members of the school’s Senior Leadership Team as required. The main purpose of the committee is to discuss and monitor all aspects of the school’s work around pupil attainment and progress, but this year it has also been ensuring that a new curriculum has been designed and is ready to be fully implemented in September in line with new government regulations.
The committee has met every term and link governors for Curriculum Enrichment, Standards and Achievement (Maths and English), and Early Years have held regular meetings with relevant staff to monitor how all areas of the school are performing.
Pupil support sub-committee
The Pupil Support committee is made up of four governors, Mr Roundtree and members of the Senior Leadership Team as required. The main purpose of the committee is to discuss and monitor all aspects of the school’s pastoral work which includes areas such as attendance, behaviour, safeguarding, SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural provision) and health.
The committee has met every term and link governors for Child Protection, Heath and Inclusion, have held regular meetings with relevant staff. These meeting are to cover such areas as ensuring all Child Protection policies are fully understood and are correctly implemented by all staff, and to monitor how the government PE grant is being spent to improve provision.
Resources sub-committee
The Resources committee is made up of six governors, Mr Roundtree and Mrs O’Malley. The main purpose of the committee is to ensure that the school spending remains within budget and that all funds are spent wisely to best meet the needs of the pupils. From September, this committee will also have to ensure that the performance management process for staff is being correctly implemented and any pay decisions made are in line with our policy.
The committee has met every term but quarterly reviews have also been held with the local authority finance officer and a governor attends the monthly budget meetings.
A governor has also accompanied Mrs O’Malley on regular premises inspections.