Our weekly message: Friday 06 June 2025

We hope you had a happy and healthy half-term break.

Have you had a chance to complete our short annual survey? It’ll take just five minutes or so. You’ve still plenty of time – the closing date is Friday 20 June.

Themed week: Being healthy

Our next themed week is the week beginning Monday 07 July. This is the second of two themed weeks each year.

Learning will be based around how to be healthy physically and emotionally.  A variety of events and visitors are planned to help us deliver this key aspect of Living and Learning.

Drug education

D:side will deliver drug education sessions to all classes. Information for parents and carers about these sessions will be available from d:side on Friday 11 July from 3.00pm-3:30pm. Weather permitting, you’ll find Dave in the main playground.

Sports Day

As part of the week, you’re invited to watch your child take part in our annual Sports Day:

• Thursday 10 July
• Key Stage 2: 9.30am – 11.30am
• Reception and Key Stage 1: 1.30 – 3.00pm
• Roundhegians Rugby Club, LS8 2AT

Personal best challenge

Our Junior Leaders have suggested for all children to take part in a fundraising personal best challenge event during the week. Money raised will go to our school charity, Yorkshire Air Ambulance. We request a £1 minimum donation for this event which can be made on School Gateway.

Healthy way to travel to school

This themed week is a good opportunity to think about a healthy way to travel to school. We encourage children to use an active and sustainable method of transport, maybe parking further away from school (Marks and Spencers offer car park spaces to park and stride), scooting, biking or walking to school. We’d love to see their active travel photos (send photos to moortownoffice@spherefederation.org by Thursday 10 July). There will be a prize draw at the end of the week for children to win a voucher.

Can you help?

If your job involves an aspect of health and you can support our Being Healthy themed week by coming into school, please contact the office to pass on your details.

A few other things…

Due to the rising costs of visitors to school, we’re inviting you to make a small contribution: £2 per pupil will help us to pay for visitors and ensure themed weeks like this one can continue in the future. If you choose to contribute, you can do this on School Gateway. Thank you for your support with this.

Due to the nature of the activities planned, children are allowed to wear PE kit all week. Please respect our Uniform Policy for what to wear on PE days.

We’ll keep you up to date about events during the week on the Class News pages on our website.

Thank you for your support to keep Moortown a happy and healthy school.

Staying safe in the sun

Now that summer’s here, it’s important to remember to stay safe in the sun. Please remember to apply sunscreen to keep your child safe.

Every day matters

Our whole-school attendance figure is 95.2%. This means we’re above national figures: 93.3% for all schools and 94.9% for primary schools.

All the classes are above the 93.3% national figure. Particular well done to Year 3 and Year 4 children…

• Reception: 96.2%
• Year 1: 94.2%
• Year 2: 94.7%
• Year 3: 97.2%
• Year 4: 97.6%
• Year 5: 96.6%
• Year 6: 97.8%

Thank you for making sure your child attends school as much as possible.

Well done…

One of our Y5 friends has been selected to be part of Opera North next year, performing in different parts of the country. This is an amazing opportunity – hopefully, she’ll remember us when she’s famous.

Our weekly message: Friday 23 May 2025

Happy half-term! We can’t believe we’ve reached the end of Summer 1 term so quickly.

Targeted training

We’ve the third of five training days in school today. On training days like this, the teachers across Sphere Federation gather together and benefit from training that’s age-specific. This means that teachers in each phase (Early Years, Years 1/2, Years 3/4 and Years 5/6) receive training that helps to support their teaching in specific age groups. Today, teachers have been planning, practising and preparing for three different subjects: PE, DT (Design and Technology) and Maths.

The training our teachers receive was recognised by Ofsted in all three of the school’s inspections:

• ‘Professional development for all staff is exemplary. Leaders have planned high-quality training.’ (Moortown Primary, March 2024)
• ‘The professional development available for all staff is of high quality, and they appreciate the collaborative support shared among the schools in the federation.’ (Scholes (Elmet) Primary, May 2024)
• ‘The school ensures that staff receive regular, high-quality training and development. This contributes to staff having excellent subject knowledge across a range of subjects.’ (St James’ CE Primary, January 2025)

The last two training days are on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 July, meaning the Summer 2 term ends on Friday 18 July.

Uniform update

Every year around this time, we review our Uniform Policy. You’ve told us in previous annual surveys you like to have the policy well in advance so you can start to prepare for the new school year. Read the 2025-26 Uniform Policy. There are a couple of minor changes:

• additional guidance around footwear – choose shoes that are safe to run around for healthy, active playtimes (eg avoid Crocs)
• additional guidance around hair accessories – hair bands, bows and other accessories should be minimal: as small as possible and not too bright

Talking of uniform…

Top tip

Are you thinking of having your child’s ears pierced? Please do this at the start of the summer holidays to allow for healing time. Advisors recommend no earrings are worn for PE. We expect children to remove earrings before the lesson and put them back in after the lesson. This will be carried out by the child. If they’re unable to remove or put their earrings back in by themselves, they must not wear them on the day they have PE.

Well done…

This week, a group of our Key Stage 2 pupils took part in the Brownlee Foundation Mini Triathlon event at John Smeaton. This is always a popular and oversubscribed event and it introduces the children to the elements of triathlon – a swim, a bike ride and a run.

Well done to all the children for taking part, showing great determination and supporting each other. Check out the pics on one of the Y3/4/5/6 Class News pages.

Happy and healthy place to play

The recent lovely weather has seen The Green being used to its full potential. There have been some great examples of cooperation and different age groups playing together. Here’s a mini-world that some of our children spent a whole lunchtime creating. Great to see this during lunchtimes!

Finally this week… Have you completed our annual survey yet? It’ll only take a few minutes.

Have a happy and healthy half-term holiday.

Our weekly message: Friday 16 May 2025

Well done to all our Year 6 pupils for completing the end of Key Stage 2 assessments this week.

This week’s message is a short one.

Annual survey

Our weekly message: Friday 09 May 2025

In the next few weeks, different statutory assessments take place. They kick off next week with the end of Key Stage 2 assessments (the SATs) which Year 6 children will sit. Early next half-term, Year 4 pupils do the Multiplication Tables Check and Year 1 pupils (and some Year 2 pupils) do the Phonics Screening Check. We wish all the best to all our pupils.

Cooking lessons

This term, your child will enjoy preparing a snack or meal – it’s the third opportunity in the year to develop food preparation skills.

• Years 1 and 2: Children will prepare fruit bars, practising skills such as weighing, mashing and mixing
• Years 3 and 4: Children will sieve, knead and glaze (amongst other skills) to make savoury scones
• Years 5 and 6: Children will use similar skills to make bread

Please alert us to any allergies your child has. We’ll do our best to adapt recipes.

For more about our Cooking curriculum, please check out our Cooking and Nutrition Curriculum Guide – they include the recipes and background information including the food preparation skills children will practise. (We’re in Year B this year.)

School meals

We’ve been informed by Catering Leeds, our school meals provider, that school meal prices are going to significantly increase from September. We’re told the increase in prices is to cover rising food costs and increased labour rates for all frontline catering staff. Catering Leeds has also taken the decision to charge a management fee on top of their school meal costs. This also has a knock-on effect to the prices that we need to charge parents/carers for meals.

As a result of this, we’ve had to make difficult decisions. From September, the price of a school meal for children in Nursery and Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be £3.05 per day.

Children in Reception and Years 1 and 2 will continue to receive Universal Infant Free School Meals (unless there’s any new legislation on this).

As you will no doubt have heard in the news, school budgets are becoming increasingly tight. We have no choice but to pass on the cost increases to parents/carers to ensure we have as much money as possible for teaching, learning and providing a varied curriculum for our children.

Last year, we explored school meal costs, comparing with average costs across the country. The conclusion was that prices charged by Catering Leeds were reasonable. Next year, we’ll explore whether an alternative catering provider would provide better value for money.

Here are some actions we’ve taken to try to limit the burden for you:

• Last year, we explored school meal costs, comparing with average costs across the country. The conclusion was that prices charged by Catering Leeds were reasonable.
• On hearing the news about the increase, we’ve checked prices with local schools but in a different local authority – the prices they charge are in line with the £3.05 per day costs we’re having to introduce.
• Next year, we’ll explore whether an alternative catering provider would provide better value for money.

Travelling to school consultation

This comes from Tim Taylor, Director of Transport Services for West Yorkshire Combined Authority and is mainly for parents of children in Years 5 and 6..

We are writing to make you aware and encourage your input into a public consultation.

As a parent or carer, you will know the importance of good transport options including public transport, walking, wheeling and cycling, to connect children and young people to education and opportunity. This should be convenient, safe and affordable, no matter where you are in West Yorkshire.

Here at the Combined Authority, we are working hard to deliver an integrated, sustainable and reliable transport system that connects all parts of our region so everyone can access the places they need to live fulfilled lives, including access to education.

We are therefore undertaking a consultation to get your views on how we can best support travel to school. This includes our policy regarding dedicated bus services to secondary schools, and how children and young people travel to their place of education in the future.

As a parent or carer of a child currently in primary school and likely to be considering options for secondary school, we want to understand you and your child’s needs, to help shape our future plans.

Your views will help us create a new, sustainable travel to school strategy, with any resulting changes to secondary school services not expected to be introduced until September 2026 at the earliest.

Transport for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and school bus services to primary schools are not part of this consultation and will remain unaffected.

We want to understand what’s most important to you when choosing a secondary school and learn more about your future travel arrangements. It’s important to share your views whether your child walks, wheels, cycles, travels by bus, car, train or uses a dedicated school bus.

The consultation opens on 23 April and you’ll have until 11 June 2025 to participate.

Find out more and complete the survey.

Our weekly message: Friday 02 May 2025

This week’s message introduces our new topics in Key Stage 1 and 2 – History topics.

This half-term, we’re historians. We’ll develop our understanding of people and events in Britain and the wider world.

Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary. See pages 28 and 29 of our Topic Curriculum Guide.

Each phase also has key historical concepts which will feature within most lessons. These historical concepts are themes that are revisited, strengthened and deepened during your child’s journey through the History curriculum. See page 23 of the same document.

Years 1 and 2

In this topic, children learn about two significant individuals who stood up for something they believed in. Nelson Mandela is famous across the world for his devotion to equal rights for black people in South Africa. Leonora Cohen was a suffragette from Leeds who fought passionately for the right to vote for women. Children will learn about what they believed in, what they did and the impact that they had. They’ll also consider what they believe strongly about and how they can make a change.

The key concept that children will learn about in this history topic is inequality.

Years 3 and 4

In this topic, children learn about the Leeds West Indian Carnival. They’ll learn about the carnival’s founder, Arthur France, and how he came to Leeds from the West Indies. They’ll learn about how Arthur and friends started the carnival. They’ll then use a range of historical sources to study how the carnival has changed and how it has stayed the same. Children will finally learn about the origins of West Indian carnivals by learning about slavery and the slave trade.

The key concepts for this topic are trade, inequality and power.

Years 5 and 6

In this topic, children learn about what life was like in Britain during World War II. Children begin by learning about how the war began. They’ll then learn about the mass evacuation of Jewish children from Germany to Britain. Next, they’ll learn about the Blitz and the evacuation of British children from towns and cities to the countryside. They’ll then learn about the role of women. Finally, they’ll investigate life after the war. They’ll learn about how the opportunities for women narrowed again and also the important role that immigration from Commonwealth countries played in helping Britain to rebuild after the war.

The key concepts for this topic are invasion, inequality and power.

How can you help?

Talk to your child about what they have been learning in class. Our Class News page is a good place to go to find out more about what the children are doing.

Find some books from the library which match what your child is learning.

Visit Abbey House Museum as they have some artefacts relating to suffragettes and Leonora Cohen – it’s also a great visit, regardless of which period children are learning about. Leeds residents also get free access to nearby Kirkstall Abbey which is great to explore on a sunny day.

Leonora Cohen also has a blue plaque on a house she lived in on Clarendon Road in Woodhouse. Your teacher would love to see a selfie of you with her plaque!

Nelson Mandela Gardens in Millennium Square commemorates Mandela’s visit to Leeds when he has presented with the Freedom of the City. It’s a small, calm space well worth visiting if you’re in the city centre.

For World War II, Eden Camp is a great visit. Also in North Yorkshire is the  Yorkshire Air Museum which will be of particular interest to anyone wanting to learn more about the planes used during the war. A bit closer is the Royal Armouries which has weapons and armour from a wide variety of time periods and places around the world.

Finally, it’s a little while away but a visit to the Leeds West Indian Carnival in August will give children the opportunity to experience the event in real life!

Number one in the UK

Another one of our pupils has made it to number one ranking in the UK. One of our Y4 friends is now number one in the UK for under -9s in blitz chess. During the holidays, he participated in a tournament, winning all 18 games; his score is 1709 with second next best player being 1437!

Blitz chess is a fast-paced game of chess where each player has a limited amount of time, typically 10 minutes or less, to make all their moves.

This achievement is very impressive – I might have to get some chess lessons from this young man as I have never been able to play. Amazing!

Our weekly message: Friday 25 April 2025

We hope you enjoyed the Easter break.

Relationships and Sex Education

Coming up in the weeks commencing 02 June, 09 June and 16 June, children from Year 1 to Year 6 will take part in Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) lessons. These are part of our Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum (PSHE, or ‘Living and Learning’, as we call it).

We want parents/carers and pupils to feel assured that RSE is delivered at a level appropriate to both the age and development of pupils, and to feel safe to voice opinions and concerns relating to the provision.

The lessons are led by children’s class teacher. They take place in a safe learning environment and are underpinned by our school ethos and values.

Nationally, all primary schools are required by law to teach Relationships Education and Health Education. At Moortown Primary, we’ve provided RSE lessons successfully as part of Living and Learning for many years.

We refer you to these sections of our RSE policy:

1. Section 9 provides a list of the vocabulary that will be used (pages 7 and 8)
2. Section 11 includes an overview of the topics that will be covered (page 11 includes a table to show the learning across each year group)

We know that you may have some issues / concerns. If you’d like to find out more, discuss any concerns, or speak to someone in more detail about the teaching and learning planned for this important aspect of your child’s education, please contact Mrs Weekes.

Similarly, you have the right to request that your child be withdrawn from some or all of the lessons that can be regarded as ‘sex education’. For our school, this comprises lessons in Year 6 on what human reproduction is and how babies grow. Please see the government’s factual guide to RSE for parents: Understanding Relationships and Health Education in your child’s primary school: a guide for parents. If you wish to withdraw your Year 6 child from RSE, please contact Mrs Weekes to discuss the matter. See page 6 of the RSE policy for more information about your right to withdraw your child.

We’re committed to working in partnership with parents. Feedback indicates that the overwhelming majority of parents are highly supportive of our Relationships and Sex Education programme.

Attendance matters

Our whole school attendance figure up to the Easter holidays is 96.2%. The national figure for primary schools is 94.8% and it’s 93.3% for all schools. It’s great that we’re above the national averages.

• Reception:  95.2%
• Year 1: 94.1%
• Year 2: 94.1%
• Year 3: 97.4% – amazing attendance!
• Year 4: 97.5% – astounding attendance!
• Year 5: 96.9%
• Year 6: 97.7% – awesome attendance!

Well done and thank you to all of you who make sure their child attends school as much as they can.

Dermot O’Leary

Most of you will know Dermot O’Leary as a TV and radio presenter. Did you also know he’s a children’s author, too? On Tuesday, our Year 6 pupils visited another Leeds school where he was promoting his new book, Spy Fox and Agent Feathers.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Year 3 and 4 footballers

Today, ten of our year 3 and 4 footballers took part in the Leeds Well School Partnership Year 3/4 football competition at Goals.

We had a great day of back to back matches and all the children were determined, resilient, focussed and worked together as a team supporting each other.

The team fought to secure second place in their first round league and put in some brilliant performances across the day.

A special mention to our goalkeeper who made some amazing saves throughout the day.

Well done to all the children for representing our school so well.

Top class swimmer

Our friend in Y3 (with flippers for feet!) has another title to her name! She has been striving to be number one in the UK and she has acheived her goal. She is now number one across the UK for 50m in the butterfly stroke! She was the only 8 year old girl to swim it in under 50 seconds. She swam her race against 12 year olds and although nervous she rose to the challenge and was  awesome.

Well done – amazing achievement!

Our weekly message: Friday 04 April 2025

Last week, we were sad to say goodbye to Miss Lowry, our Reception teacher. Miss Lowry had taught at Scholes (Elmet) Primary (one of our Sphere Federation partner schools) for many years, and was covering for Mrs Wood. But the goodbye was alongside a big hello to Mrs Wood (teaching Monday to Thursday) and Mrs Brown (teaching Friday). 

Did you see the Year 3,4 production? We were so impressed by the singing and solo performances!  Every child put so much effort into it. Well done to all.

Easter events

Last week, we mentioned this guide from Child Friendly Leeds to help children and families in Leeds navigate their way through the Easter holidays. You might also want to check out another guide from Active Leeds – anyone up for some paddlesports?!

National Youth Strategy

The government is creating a new ten-year National Youth Strategy to tackle the challenges for this generation of young people and to ensure every young person can thrive. The strategy aims to bring power back to young people and their communities to improve youth focused services.

Rhe government wants to hear the views of children and young people aged 10 to 21 (and up to age 25 with special educational needs or disabilities).

Encourage your child to complete the survey to share with the government what they think on a range of themes.

If they don’t have time to complete the survey, then encourage them to share their quick thoughts with the government on what could be improved.

Need some help?

MoneyBuddies is the biggest independent money advice service in West Yorkshire. They offer free, impartial debt advice, budgeting support, letter writing, energy bill saving, income maximisation services and more.

They’re an independent organisation that works in partnership with Leeds City Council, Councillors, other leading charities in Leeds, The Leeds Debt Forum and the Community Fund ( Big Lottery) to deliver Money Buddy sessions across Leeds. Their sessions are delivered by dedicated staff and volunteers.

Have a happy and healthy holiday. We’ll see you again on Tuesday 22 April.