News

League tables

The primary league tables have been published.

The Department for Education site publishes the percentage of children at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6) achieving Level 4 or more in both English (reading and writing) and Maths together.  It shows at Moortown Primary, this percentage has gone from 78% in 2009 to consistently over 90%.  In 2012, 94% of children achieved Level 4 or more.

What the league tables don’t show is the stories behind the data.  We’re proud of this figure: 94% continues to place us amongst the highest in the country.  But it’s a little lower than 2010 and 2011.  One child missed out on a Level 4 by a couple of marks in Maths but achieved Level 4 in English – this is shame, especially since Ms Hazell reports that the pupil was working quite securely at Level 4 for much of the year (perhaps SAT nerves or test technique let this pupil down on the day…?).  Another much-loved child has very specific special needs meaning he could not do the tests at all, but is included in our school results – parents and carers are often surprised to hear even pupils with quite extreme special needs are included in the league tables.

The BBC version of the league tables publishes the percentage of pupils reaching Level 5 (the level of a typical 14 year old) or more in both subjects.  Our percentage is 45%.

Again, it’s useful to put that figure in a context.  First of all, it’s very good, although not quite as high as some other high-performing schools.  Our data for this particular class of children shows 61% of pupils achieved Level 5 in English and 52% in Maths.  It can be a lottery of a kind to find out which of those children achieved Level 5 in both.

Additionally, the BBC describes this aspect of the league tables as ‘high-achieving pupils’.

However, we like to think that children who make lots of progress as high-achieving – and many of our children exceeded average progress expectations.

Moreover, in Maths, we have a high percentage of pupils who achieved not just Level 5 but Level 6: 13%.  This is a result of their hard work at home, in class and at supplementary sessions – our Tough Stuff Maths club!  (Very few pupils nationally achieved Level 6 in English – most teachers and headteachers were struck by just how hard the test for this was.)  This year, we continue to challenge and support those with potential to work towards this very significant level.

Well done to all our pupils in the 2011-11 cohort.  You achieved well socially, emotionally and academically.  We’re proud of you all.

Christmas news

We have a number of exciting events coming up:

PTA Christmas Fayre

The Christmas Fayre is taking place on Friday 14 December between 2.30 and 4.30pm.  As well as the popular Bun Stall, there’ll be games, tombola and an opportunity to visit Santa.  If you are able to help at the Fayre, please leave your contact details at the office.

Reception and Key Stage 1 Christmas Production

Hey, Ewe! Why are the sheep so restless?  Reception and Key Stage 1 families can find out by coming along to one of the performances on either Tuesday 18 or Wednesday 19 December.  A booking slip has already been sent home.

Key Stage 2 Carol Singing

To continue making a positive contribution within our local community, we have carol singing arranged for the last week of term.  On Thursday 20 December groups will be singing carols outside Marks and Spencer.  Year 3 and 4 will sing from around 10.30 to 11.00am and Year 5 and 6 from around 11.15 to 11.45am.  Please come along and support your child.  We understand that you may prefer for your child not to attend.  If you do not want your child to participate in this carol singing session, please leave a message at the office.

Class Christmas Parties

Key Stage 1 parties will be on Thursday 20 December and Key Stage 2 parties on Friday 21 December.  Party treats are funded by the PTA.

Finally, we hope you all have an enjoyable Christmas break and we’ll see you when school re-opens on Monday 07 January 2013.

Thanks...

At Moortown Primary, we work closely with other companies to enhance our curriculum.

This week, we’ve been delighted to welcome Theatre in Education back in to school to work with Y6 children.  Theatre in Education are great: they produce and perform quality drama which they then follow up with workshops which develop the personal and social awareness and understanding of our pupils.  This week, they’ve performed ‘One of Fagin’s Boys’.  Iona, one of our Y6 pupils, commented, “I think Fagin’s Boys was imaginitive although some of it was hard to understand. Also, I liked it because it was telling us what the life of a child in care might be like.”

We’ve also welcomed Yoga Bugs in to school.  They’ve worked with some of our classes – check out the pics in Y3 Class News for example.  YogaBugs are always popular visitors to school – they develop children’s physical and emotional health through yoga-inspired activity.  They bring stories to life through specially developed moves which combine fun with exercise: children go on wild adventures where they may roar like a lion, fly like a bird or blast into outer space!  Isabelle, who is in Y3, said, “I think it really calms you down and stretches your body.”

We’d also like to thank Leeds Festival Wind Quintet.  Recently, they played at the ceremony for turning on Moortown’s Christmas Lights.  They’ve since made a donation to school to spend on music – a very kind and thoughtful gesture.

Great partnerships!

Fantastic feedback

This week, we sadly say goodbye to one of our pupils, whose family are re-locating.

We’re very grateful to have received a letter informing us, with the following comments:

It has been a privilege for my child to attend Moortown Primary.  Since her first day, she has enjoyed every single day at school… We will always be grateful for the school’s nurturing environment and excellent education standards.

Reception class

Around this time last year, Ofsted inspectors visited school.  Whilst we were very happy with the school’s overall judgement of ‘outstanding’, we were disappointed that our Reception class was singled out as an area to improve.  Parents tell us (and told the inspectors) that they are happy with their child’s progress in the first year at Moortown Primary, but inspectors were less enthusiastic.

Since the inspection, we have thought hard about the next steps.  We didn’t want any knee-jerk reactions which would lead to only superficial improvements, if any.  Here’s how we’ve responded to the inspection so far.

This year, staff in the class are participating in a year-long project with a private, Early Years specialist, Early Excellence.  Six other primaries in the area are joining us.

Part of the project involves a visit from an Early Years specialist.  We’re delighted with the feedback so far; below are some extracts from her report.

• The staff team work extremely well together and support children’s interests sensitively.
• The staff were very tuned into the children and responded with useful ideas and possibilities that they could think about.
• Children are encouraged to share their work with each other and to celebrate good learning together at the regular plenary sessions.
• Staff were observed through the session pointing out and reporting to each other things that were happening all around the room and outside.
• Organisation of provision in the indoor space is challenging.  It is surprising how much staff have managed to fit in and are offering a good range of provision areas.
• There is a lot of encouragement for purposeful writing and mark-making in the areas – I like the writing wall in the role play area.
• The light and friendly ethos enables the children to feel secure and to take risks as they learn new skills and techniques.
• The headteacher is very supportive of development in the Early Years.
• The school clearly has a close-knit team that operates well together.

The report also praises the children in Reception, who ‘were observed working collaboratively together and talking spontaneously about their activities’.

As well as this project, we’ve invested in a lot of new furniture to help meet pupils’ needs even more, and new resources for children to play with and learn with.  Ofsted inspectors also advised that the school’s leadership team (the assistant headteachers and me, the headteacher) should improve their evaluations in Reception; with this in mind, a range of external experts will observe provision and evaluate it alongside the school’s leaders, and the headteacher will visit Reception classes in other schools to evaluate alongside other school leaders.

We believe the provision in our Reception class matched the good and outstanding teaching and learning elsewhere. Nevertheless, we are keen to move forward positively, and take the Ofsted recommendations as a constructive prompt to get even better.  We’ll continue to invest in training and resources to ensure the best provision and the best outcomes.

Promoting social, moral, spiritual and cultural development

We’ve always taken your child’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural development seriously – and we’ve been successful, too.  Ofsted (November, 2011) judges us to be outstanding in this area, noting:

Their outstanding behaviour, together with their maturity as members of the school community, is reflected in their respect for different cultures. This leads to outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. A typical comment from pupils is that, ‘in this school we are all equal. We treat each other from different religions equally’. 

But what do the terms ‘social development’, ‘moral development’, ‘spiritual development’ and ‘cultural development’ mean?  When I seek your views on this area of our work in the annual survey of parents and carers, we typically get fewer responses for this question – I wonder if it’s because of the slightly mysterious nature of of terms!

Here’s how the Department for Education define the four aspects, and some comments (in italics) about how we’re promoting them at Moortown Primary School, especially through the homework tasks we set.

Social development

Pupils’ social development involves pupils acquiring an understanding of the responsibilities and rights of being members of families and communities (local, national and global), and an ability to relate to others and to work with others for the common good. They display a sense of belonging and an increasing willingness to participate. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to make an active contribution to the democratic process in each of their communities.

It’s wrong to think that the best learning happens in a silent classroom!  At Moortown Primary, our classes are often buzzing with talk – talk for learning, that is.  We believe that lots of speaking and listening between pupils is vital – it’s a life skill and a great learning tool, too: it can help children develop their thoughts, check their answers for reassurance, embed their own learning… Linked closely with SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning), especially the current theme of Getting On, social development is happening all the time at Moortown Primary.  Teachers often set homework based around the SEAL theme; at the time of writing, for example, Mr Wilks and Mr Redfearn have asked the Year 3 and 4 children to do some Talk Time on different ways to get on with friends.  Next week, children in all classes are asked to consider bullying: what it is, what types of bullying there are, and how we can stop and prevent it.  Again, this stems from our SEAL themes and promotes social development.

Moral development

Pupils’ moral development involves pupils acquiring an understanding of the difference between right and wrong and of moral conflict, a concern for others and the will to do what is right. They are able and willing to reflect on the consequences of their actions and learn how to forgive themselves and others. They develop the knowledge, skills and understanding, qualities and attitudes they need in order to make responsible moral decisions and act on them.

Talk Time homework is the perfect way to have a healthy debate about a moral issue, and recently all the teachers in school set a moral question to consider at home: older children considered whether everyone should be paid the same wage (fitting in perfectly to their Big Topic, Rich and Poor); Y3 and Y4 children considered if households should have more than one car (linked to the All Aboard! Big Topic); and children in Key Stage One pondered whether animals should perform in circuses (which stems from the Roll Up! Roll Up! Big Topic).  As always with Talk Time homework, opinions which children have heard and considered at home (and hopefully some rich language, such as words like ‘Nevertheless,…’ and phrases like ‘I agree with most of what you say, but…’) are then a central part of class discussions.  Theses sorts of discussions, at both home and school, promotes social development, too! 

Spiritual development

Pupils’ spiritual development involves the growth of their sense of self, their unique potential, their understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and their will to achieve. As their curiosity about themselves and their place in the world increases, they try to answer for themselves some of life’s fundamental questions. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to foster their own inner lives and non-material wellbeing.

As well as the obvious ways to promote this through Religious Education and assemblies, we recently asked children to respond to what a religious festival means to them. This was a creative homework: I can show what Eid or Diwali means to me and my community.  Teachers were very impressed by the quality of the homework.  Later in the year, we’ll repeat this homework task for festivals from the Jewish and Christian faith.

Cultural development

Pupils’ cultural development involves pupils acquiring an understanding of cultural traditions and an ability to appreciate and respond to a variety of aesthetic experiences. They acquire a respect for their own culture and that of others, an interest in others’ ways of doing things and curiosity about differences. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to understand, appreciate and contribute to culture.

We value and respect children from all faiths.  Importantly, we value and respect children with no particular faith, too.  As an alternative to the homework described above, children might have chosen to respond from a cultural prompt: I can respond to a book I’ve recently read.  Again, the quality of the homework was great.  Later in the year, there will be an opportunity to respond to a film or television programme (your child’s chance to become a film or TV critic!) and to a work of art. 

As always, if you’d like to know more about this or any other aspect of the teaching and learning at Moortown Primary, please do contact me.

Can cakes be part of a healthy school?

In the last newsletter, there was an updated list of key dates for the year ahead.  The new dates included two PTA cake sales.

Following this, someone questioned whether we, as a healthy school, should hold such cake sales.  This is a good question – the more prompts we have to reflect on our practice, the better.  And the more prompts for parents, carers, pupils and staff to reflect on our diets and lifestyles, the better, too.

I like to think that it’s better to think about healthy and unhealthy diets rather than healthy and unhealthy foods.  Broccoli is a healthy food, but if we were to eat it all the time at the expense of other vegetables, our diets would be missing out.  The same goes for all food – a broad and balanced diet is what’s needed.  You can learn more with your child about the food pyramid, the eat well plate and look at our own guidance for healthy packed lunches for more advice.

So… My thoughts are that yes, cakes aren’t particularly healthy, but as an occasional treat, for most people, they’re fine.  After all, food containing fats and sugars do feature in the food pyramid and the eat well plate – just in a small amount.

That’s why the PTA’s two cake stalls are held with my full approval.  (At the same time, don’t forget, you’ll also have the opportunity to view some of the children’s work.)

New SEAL theme - Getting on

The SEAL theme Getting On covers four main aspects:

• developing the social skills of friendship
• working well together in a group
• managing anger
• resolving conflict

Group work takes place across all lessons and even at lunchtime and playtimes.  Some questions for children to consider are:

• Did everyone take turns?
• Did everyone listen to what other people thought?
• Did each person have chance to tell the group what they thought?
• If people had different ideas could the group reach a compromise?

The key areas of learning throughout this theme are empathy, managing feelings and social skills.

Within this theme is Antibullying Week, 19 November – 23 November.

New beginnings

“On my first day I felt excited and now I still feel the same happiness,” is one of the quotes from our new children talking about their new beginning at Moortown Primary School.

Is your child getting enough sleep?

Growing evidence suggests our children are losing out on sleep – with significant side-effects.

There is growing evidence that today’s children — particularly pre-teens and teenagers — are sleeping less than previous generations. A recent survey of 4,000 parents revealed that the average bedtime for a 10-year-old was 10.30pm, rising to midnight for a 15-year-old; 74 per cent of their parents thought that seven hours a night was enough.  However, a quick search on the internet reveals most sleep experts recommend primary children should be sleeping 10-11 hours each night.

Even a modest lack of sleep among children has been shown to have startling effects: in a study of children aged 10 and 12, those told to sleep on average 41 minutes less than usual for several nights were then tested for memory, reaction times and attention. They were found to be the equivalent of two years behind their classmates, who got 35 minutes more sleep a night than usual. A study of 3,000 US teenagers showed that those getting school marks between C and F were going to bed 40 minutes later than the students with As and Bs, and were also reporting more depressive moods.

Research shows that the number one culprit for this is technology before sleep. Televisions, games consoles, mobiles etc are too much of a temptation for many. This has the twin effects of pushing bedtime later and stimulating the brain at a time when it should be winding down. The bright light from the screen can also stop the body producing the hormone melatonin, which prepares us for sleep.

Below, sleep experts at Millpond Sleep Clinic set out some useful tips…

Bedtime: the six golden rules

1 Observe the one hour wind-down period, just as we did when they were toddlers. No homework within an hour of sleep; the best time is either after school or straight after dinner.

2 Limit screens: all screens off 30-60 minutes before sleep, and ideally devices should be on the landing a minimum of 30 minutes before sleep. Don’t be deceived if teenagers say their brains have evolved to ignore the phone in their room. “Anything in the bedroom will disturb you — people sleeping together always have poorer quality sleep than if they had slept alone and if we haven’t evolved to get used to that then it’s unlikely that we would have evolved to sleep with our smartphones,” Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, says.

3 Don’t go to bed hungry, but don’t eat a full meal within an hour of bed, either, as the digestive process delays sleep. Foods containing the amino acid tryptophan (bananas, chicken/turkey, wholegrain cereals and milk) are often cited as a sleep aid although many scientists say there is little evidence for their efficacy. “Whether tryptophan works or not, a glass of milk and toast or an oat biscuit with a banana an hour before bed is a healthy snack, so you won’t lose anything,” Mandy Gurney says. Avoid foods with refined sugar and caffeine.

4 Don’t begin in-depth conversations about life, exams and the universe in the last hour before bed, as social interaction is the most potent brain stimulation that exists.

5 Stop exercising three hours before sleep. Body temperature begins falling around the onset of sleep, but exercise keeps it high and delays sleep. “Exercise keeps your body temperature high and it’s also a stressor for the body, which keeps you awake,” Idzikowski says.

6 Keep the same bedtime rituals; the body knows what to expect and relaxes. A hot bath followed by quiet reading is the best way to ready the body. Rooms should be cool, quiet and dark. “A regularity of routine is amazingly useful,” Idzikowski says.