News

New SEAL statement 1st March

This week our new SEAL statement is ‘I can respond to difficult situations in a positive way.’  You may need to use skills from our Getting on SEAL theme to acheive this, for example the peaceful problem solving process.

Happy and healthy learners - the proof!

Recently, some of our children expressed their views about aspects of emotional health as part of a three-year national study into the mental health of young people.

For the second year running, a significantly higher proportion of our children are positive about their school climate than others in Leeds and in the rest of England and Wales.

In addition, much fewer of our children show any signs of emotional and behavioural difficulties.

This shows what we all know: our children are happy and well-behaved and our staff are doing a great job in supporting this.  To sum up…

…happy and healthy learners!

Feedback about our school

Just before the half-term holiday, we welcomed three student teachers from York St John University.  They observed and helped out for a week in our school.  Here are some of their comments:

“The children were an absolute credit to you and a reflection of the excellent communication, joined up thinking and consistency that exists at Moortown.”

“You, your staff and the children have provided me with an extremely positive role model.”

The children have a fantastic attitude.

“Moortown Primary has shown me the high standards that can be achieved in a co-operative and caring school.”

“The children were a delight and the staff welcoming and always happy to help.”

It’s great to read comments like this which reflect the views of parents and the local authority representatives.

New SEAL theme and statement 22nd February

This half term our SEAL theme is ‘Good to be me’ and our first statement is ‘I can do something that makes me proud.’  The recent Moortown’s Got Talent event was a great way to launch this theme with many children sharing their talents and feeling very proud!

Training day

Leeds City Council has just told us that Local Council Elections will be on Thursday 06 May.  Moortown Primary is used as a polling station so school will be closed on this day.

Each year, schools close for five days to allow staff to take part in whole-school training and development.  These training days enhance teachers’ individual skills and knowledge and also help the school to develop in key areas.

This is the fifth and last of the training days for Moortown Primary School this year.  (Three were held early in September 2009 and the fourth was in January.)

What a busy week!

The last week of term proved an extremely busy one for all of us at Moortown.

The second Moortown’s Got Talent competition took place on Thursday 11 February.  Well done to all who took part, especially to the winners, Tiraj, Pviter, Akash and Vikram, who impressed the judges with their drumming.  A big thanks must go to Miss Kieran who organised the event, and to all other staff who helped out.

Also in the week was the School Council election for 2010-11.  Last year’s councillors made some big decisions, including how the front of school should be improved and then later choosing the play equipment.  I’m sure the new councillors will do just as good a job.  The councillors are:

Thanks to all the parents who came along to the Homework Open Afternoon.  This was an opportunity for you to look at some of the terrific pieces of homework that our children produce.

Finally this week, we welcomed three students from York St John University in York who were here to see the great work we do around inclusion and cohesion.  They were very impressed by the work we do, with compliments about our supportive, welcoming and friendly approach and the pupil-teacher relationships.

Next half-term, a highlight to look out for is the Mental Maths Workshop, an opportunity for you to come along and find out more about what we do and a chance to learn more and support your child in Maths.  The workshop will be on Tuesday 09 March, 6.30 – 8.00pm.  Wine and snacks will be available.  Hope to see you there!

School dinners

After the half-term, we will offer once again some school meals which contain beef.

The decision to remove beef was taken a long time ago.  Mrs Taylor, leader for health at Moortown Primary, and Mr Roundtree have recently met with the school nutritionist for Leeds Catering, who provide our school meals.  We all agree that beef can be a valuable source of nutrition and are keen to offer this.

Vegetarian options and sandwiches are still available.

Our caretaker

After Mr Duffey sadly passed away in the Autumn term, we were without a caretaker for our school.

I’m pleased to tell you that from Monday 01 February, Mrs Paula Barton began a new job in school: Facilities Assistant, a job which involves much of what Mr Duffey used to do in looking after the school.  Mrs Barton is already a familiar face around school – she’s our cook!  You’ll see Mrs Barton around school at the start and end of the day.

Someone you’re less likely to see will be our new Maintenance Assistant.  This is Mr Nigel Barton (Mrs Barton’s husband) who will do any maintenance and repair jobs around school.  Mr Barton will work when needed, and this will often be after the school day.

You may be interested to know that the money collected following Mr Duffey’s death will be used to buy a bird box as he loved birds so much.  We continue to miss him around school.

SEAL statement 1st February

This week our statement is ‘I can give a compliment.’  Maybe you might give the compliment to one of your friends in your class, another child in school or one of the adults who you see around school.  It will make their day!

SEAL statement 25th January

Our SEAL statement for this week is ‘I can solve a problem with a friend.’

Look out for the Peaceful Problem Solving posters around school to help to solve any problems.  The poster will give suggestions for how to sort out the problem by talking about it with your friend.  All the calming down strategies you looked at last week might come in handy!