News

How can we do Talk Time homework?

Homework at Moortown Primary can be based on Creative Homework, Practice Makes Perfect and Talk Time.

This week, many classes have Talk Time homework.  In the Year 5 Homework page, Mr Owen has helpfully added some extra detail and top tips which are also noted below for all children, parents and carers to benefit from:

Research shows direct links between the spoken language children use and are exposed to and their written language.

So, please, for this discussion:

• Turn the TV off!
• Get a few adults together if possible to join in.
• Ask the adults to go first – “I think it would be a good idea to ban all advertising of junk food ______ because _____.” and then “I totally disagree! It’s OK to advertise burgers etc because ______ although _____.” This gives children a chance to see some connectives (because and although) in action and how adults disagree politely.
• Use some words you don’t think your child uses / knows and explain their meanings.
• Put a comment in their homework book.

SEAL statement 10 Jan

This week we are focussing on our second ‘R of learning’, risk-taking, and our weekly statement is “I can take a safe risk.”

As part of our 7 Rs topic we will be looking at how taking a ‘safe risk’ can have an impact on learning.  This may include ‘having a go’ in class, for example:

• asking a question
• putting  your hand up to answer a question
• working with someone different in class
• making suggestions in group work

Happy children, happy staff

At Moortown, we listen to the views of everyone in our school community.

We regularly ask our children for their opinions.  Recently, children have expressed their views on topics, their learning and how safe the school feels.  Each year, we also ask parents / carers for their views in the Annual Survey.

It’s important to also listen to the views of staff in school, whether teachers, teaching assistants or support staff.

I’m delighted that, once again, we’ve had a very positive response to the Annual Staff Survey; for example:

• 100% enjoy working at Moortown Primary
• 100% feel valued and supported and feel they are treated fairly and with respect
• 100% feel they have access to training when they need it

This all confirms that Moortown Primary is a happy and healthy place to work as well as to learn!

SEAL statement 04 Jan

This half term we are focussing on 7R’s of learning in place of our usual SEAL topic.  The first statement is ‘I can take responsibility to learn well.‘  

We shall be looking at a different area of learning each week, starting with responsibility.

Taking responsibility for learning may include:

• using listening skills in lessons
• asking questions
• contributing and working well in a group to complete a task
• bringing guided reading books, spelling books etc to school when needed
• learning spellings and tables at home
• completing homework

SEAL 'thought'

Managing emotions, in particular anger, forms an important part of our SEAL Getting On theme.  This comment was posted by a parent in response to our calming down statement:

Prophet Muhammad gave this advice:

“When one of you becomes angry while standing, he should sit down.  If the anger leaves him, well and good; otherwise he should lie down.”

This is said because the likelihood of you lashing out, harming anyone and getting out of control is very difficult whilst sat down and almost impossible whilst lying down.

Thank you for this comment.

Calendar working again

Google tell us they have fixed the bug that was causing our calendar to display events on the wrong days, so we’ve reinstated it to the site.

Sorry for any confusion that was caused by the problem.

Problems with our calendar

We use Google Calendar to publish our timetable of events, meetings and holidays. Unfortunately, Google has identified a bug which is causing events to be shown on the wrong days. They’re working on the problem; until they find a fix we’ve taken the calendar page down.

The next few important dates on our calendar are:

• Tuesday 14 December, 2.15pm – Reception, Y1 and Y2 Christmas production
• Wednesday 15 December, 2.15pm – Reception, Y1 and Y2 Christmas production
• Thursday 16 December, 2.30 to 4.30pm – PTA Christmas Fair
• Friday 17 December – school closes for the holidays
• Tuesday 04 January – school reopens

Sorry if you’ve been confused by our calendar recently!

SEAL statement 06 December

‘I can see things from other people’s point of view’ is the final SEAL statement for our Getting On theme.

This follows on from our work last week on solving problems where, as part of the problem solving process, children are encouraged to listen to each other to consider their feelings.

To close or not to close...?

The BBC website has described the dilemma headteachers face regarding whether they should close their school or not.  Schools can’t please all parents on this issue: this week, most parents have praised us for staying open whilst many other Leeds schools haven’t, but there have been one or two parents complaining that we should also have closed.  Today, many parents wanted to know if we would be open tomorrow – but closing our school is a last resort and a decision I don’t take lightly.

The article lists many different factors and conflicting opinions that have to be considered.  For example, people have today been advised that they should only travel when it is “essential”. The Department for Education regards travelling to school as essential and says both staff and pupils should try to do so safely, but the National Union of Teachers disagrees, arguing that “essential” should mean emergency services, gritters etc.

When making a decision to stay open or close, my main priority is safety: the safety of children, obviously, but also the safety of parents and carers who need to collect their child, the safety of staff who face challenging journeys home, and even the safety of our neighbours on Shadwell Lane, a road that can get severely clogged up with traffic (this has in the past blocked emergency vehicles from gaining access).

At Moortown, we’re lucky in that many staff live locally. Teachers and support staff stayed for as long as they could today: Mr Owen and Mr Wilks, for example, stayed until after lunchtime so that they were around to provide extra supervision, and then faced very long journeys home on foot, whilst Mrs Weekes, Mrs Wilson, Mrs O’Malley, Mrs Sherriff and Mr Wilson stayed throughout the day ensuring those children still at school were safe, and that parents need not dangerously hurry to school.

I’m extremely grateful to all staff for their efforts and to parents who collected their child as soon as it was safe to do so.

Please continue to be patient and check our website for the most up-to-date information, which will be in the blue Twitter box.  You might also like to receive the tweets on your mobile phone – text follow moortownprimary to 86444.  This is free and works for all networks except T-Mobile.

SEAL statement 29 November

This week our SEAL statement is ‘I can use peaceful problem solving to sort out difficulties.’

As part of our Getting On SEAL theme the children look at the peaceful problem solving process to sort out any ‘getting on’ problems with each other.

This approach to resolving problems encourages children to:

• ensure they both feel calm (using calming down techniques)
• tell each other how they feel
• come up with their own solution to solve the problem

Look out for the Peaceful Problem Solving poster displayed around school and reminder cards can be found on keyrings in all classrooms.  (Download it, too, so you can use it at home.)