Money Money Money!

After a very busy ‘Me and My Money’ week, we wanted to share how we finished it all off. During the week, there were lots of donations of copper coins and we had so many, we were able to write ‘MOORTOWN’ in coins and we even had enough to create part of the school logo.

Thanks for your generous donations and thanks to Mrs Taylor for organising a great week.

Leeds Schools Sports Association Saturday morning cross country race

Key Stage 2 children are invited to compete in an upcoming cross country race as part of the Leeds Schools Athletics Association cross country programme of Saturday morning races. Children will compete against pupils from other Leeds schools.

The race will take place on Saturday 25th November at Wharfe Meadows Park, Farnley Lane, Otley, LS21 2RW from 10am.

Please note, parents/carers are responsible for taking and supervising their child/children at the event. There will be a parent representative at the event.

There are opportunities for Year 3 and 4 girls and boys (under 9) to race 900m and Year 5 and 6 girls and boys (under 11) to race 1500m. Once your child has completed their race, you are free to leave the event.

Please sign up by giving consent online or ask at the office if you would like further information about the race.

Living and Learning: anti-bullying day and odd socks day

On Monday, all children will be learning about bullying and how to STOP bullying as part of the national antibullying week.

Our Junior Leadership Team have recently reviewed our bullying definition. As part of this, we use two STOP acronyms: Several Times On Purpose Start Telling Other People – one’s a definition of bullying and the other’s a solution.

On Monday, we will also be taking part in Odd Socks Day which celebrates that we’re all unique. Children are invited to wear odd socks to school, marking the fact we’re all different in some way.

Odd socks day sends an important message to pupils that they should be allowed to be themselves, free from bullying. It helps us celebrate anti-bullying day in a fun and positive way.

Help at home: Talk about our school definition of bullying and the differences between falling out and bullying, and between a one-off situation and something that’s happened more than once.

This week’s message (Friday 10 November 2023)

This week’s been a busy one – the first of our two themed weeks in the year. This one’s been Me and My Money. Ask your child what they’ve been learning about. Our Living and Learning Curriculum Guide lists the learning that we’ve been focusing on in school – see page 17.

Sticking to Living and Learning…

Bullying, Odd Socks and STOP

Next Monday, 13 November, is Anti-Bullying Day. This year’s theme is ‘Make noise about bullying’ and we will be taking part in Odd Socks Day on this day.

Odd Socks Day raises awareness of our differences, individuality and personal choice. Your child can come to school wearing odd socks (with their uniform) to celebrate what makes them unique.

Check out this parent and carer pack about bullying.

Remember our two STOP acronyms about bullying:

• the definition: Several Times On Purpose
• the solution: Start Telling Other People

Attendance matters

The whole-school attendance figure for Autumn 1 half-term was 96.9%. The national figure from 11 September to 13 October 2023 was 93.7% – we’re over three percentage points higher than national! Thank you for making sure your child attends school as much as possible.

Here’s a breakdown for each class…

• Reception – 91.5%
• Year 1 – 96.8%
• Year 2 – 98.3% – brilliant!
• Year 3 – 98.4% – amazing attendance!
• Year 4 – 97.9%
• Year 5 – 98.6%
• Year 6 – 96.7%

Remember to check this new NHS website if you’re not sure whether your child is ill enough to miss out on school.

Rocking Rockstars

If your child’s in Year 3, 4, 5 or 6, they should be practising their times tables regularly at home – a little every day is best for most children. Children in Year 4 are expected to know their times tables with quick recall, and the matching division facts – check out this guide.

A good way to practise is to use Times Tables Rock Stars. The Times Tables Rock Stars website has just been updated, including:

• intro video
• parent guide
• the importance of times tables
• FAQs
• free downloadables

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Me and My Money week - school charity donations

Donating money is one choice people might make when using their money.

As part of our Me and My Money themed week, we welcomed visitors from St Gemma’s Hospice, our current school charity, to hear how they have been using our donations over this year.

We have raised a staggering £1500 across the year so thank you for all of these donations. St Gemma’s Hospice are very grateful for this support.

There is one more way we can donate money this week and this is by bringing any spare 1ps or 2ps into class to deposit in each class’ saving jar.

On Friday, we shall be having a money trail with all the coins donated so please bring any spare change before then.

Here are Year 2 counting their coins so far.

Outstanding outcomes

We’re really proud of our 2023 end of Key Stage 2 outcomes. They’re well above the national outcomes.

Recently released by Ofsted is another way to view the outcomes: using percentiles. This means, basically, putting all the schools in England in order from lowest to highest outcomes, and then dividing them into 100 similar performing groups, with the first percentile being the lowest performing groups and the 100th percentile being the top-performing group.

All of the outcomes listed below are regarded as being ‘significantly above national’ – considerably higher than the national assessment figures in 2023.

Attainment at expected standard

• Reading: 96th percentile
• Writing: 100th percentile
• Maths: 95th percentile
• Reading, Writing and Maths (combined): 98th percentile
• Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling: 100th percentile

Attainment at greater depth standard (the higher standard)

• Reading: significantly above national and in the 96th percentile
• Maths: significantly above national and in the 96th percentile
• Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling: significantly above national and in the 98th percentile

Progress

• Reading: significantly above national and in the 91st percentile
• Writing: significantly above national and in the 98th percentile
• Maths: significantly above national and in the 95th percentile

Well done to all the pupils in the 2022-23 Year 6 class.

This week’s message (Friday 27 October 2023)

It’s our last Friday’s message of Autumn 1 half-term.

Today’s a training day in school. All the teachers across Sphere Federation have gathered together to learn more about Maths, PE and Art. They’re learning about it in a carousel of phases – Early Years and Y1,2 in one, Y3,4 in another, and Y5,6 in the third.

In last week’s message, we announced our new Junior Leadership Team. This week, we thought you might like to read some of their favourite aspects of Moortown Primary…

• YR Edie – “I like being a JLT leader and wearing my badge.”
• YR Gurjeevan – “I love Phonics!”
• Y1 Avraj – “Our PE lessons are fun because we get to play fun games.”
• Y1 Thomas – “I like school because we get to play dodgeball, basketball and dodgeball in the MUGA.”
• Y2 Isla – “I like learning new and tricky words in my writing lessons.”
• Y2 Henna – “I like assemblies because Mr Wilks asks us lots of questions and I can put my hand up and answer them.”
• Y3 Jayan – “I enjoy learning how to multiply and divide tricky numbers in Maths.”
• Y3 Ralph – “I like Wake Up Shake Up because we get to exercise and it’s like a mini PE session.”
• Y4 Luke – “I like Maths because I enjoy learning methods like column addition and subtraction.”
• Y4 Nate – “The kind environment makes me feel happy and relaxed.”
• Y5 Will – “I like the playgrounds because there’s lots of space to run around.”
• Y5 Ayanna – “I enjoy assemblies, especially Tuesday Viewsday because we get to learn about different topics.”
• Y6 Danny – “School trips are always entertaining and fun!”
• Y6 Penelope – “I loved reading with Reception because we got to mix with the younger children and learn about them.”

These comments now feature at the foot of the homepage of our website, too.

Leeds City Council Admissions Policy – consultation

Leeds City Council is running a public consultation on the 2025/2026 admission policy for Leeds community and voluntary controlled schools. You can share your views until 4 December. Share your views.

It’s been an extra long Autumn 1 half-term – eight weeks. Lots of children are tired – a break will be welcome to relax and recuperate. We hope you’re able to enjoy a longer weekend and a great half-term break.

This week’s message (Friday 20 October 2023)

This week’s message comes from Mrs Weekes…

This week’s message (Friday 13 October 2023)

Our Living and Learning message this week has been about respecting yourself. Have a conversation at home about this. What can your child feel especially proud of at home? And at school? Share examples of you feeling proud, too. How can feeling proud and believing in ourselves help us?

Junior Leadership Team

We’ve recently launched this year’s Junior Leadership Team election process. Our Junior Leadership Team (JLT) is one of the ways that children are encouraged to take an active part in pupil voice.

The election process allows children to develop an understanding of one of the British Values, democracy, with two representatives from each class chosen democratically by their peers.

Here are some of the qualities our current Junior Leaders think are needed to be an effective JLT member:

• use the 8Rs for learning
• be respectful and polite
• help others
• be a good speaker and listener (to members of your class and in the meetings)
• share and be confident with your ideas
• let others speak
• accept the views of others even if you don’t agree
• be friendly and approachable
• follow our school rules and make good choices in class and around school

This week’s whole school homework is all about the election and democracy, ready for the elections next Thursday 19 October.

Talking of pupil voice…

The Big Ambition

The Children’s Commissioner for England has recently launched ‘The Big Ambition’ to hear directly from children, young people, and parents across the country.

This is an opportunity to hear from all children, in every part of the country and in every setting. The survey will be used to encourage policymakers to think about children and young people’s needs, to ensure children’s voices are reflected in the decisions that will affect them in years to come.

Encourage your child to take part in The Big Ambition survey. 

Measles

Measles cases are rising across the country.

• 9 out of 10 unvaccinated children can catch measles if someone in their class has it.
• 102,000 children starting school in England are at risk of catching measles.

Check your child is up to date with their MMR vaccinations.

Measles is highly infectious and if left unvaccinated nine out of ten children in a classroom can catch the disease if just one child is infectious.

I hope Friday 13th hasn’t been bad luck for you! Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Great British Brunch Menu - Thursday 09 November

On Thursday 09 November, we’ll be serving a ‘Great British Brunch’ menu, in place of the usual option. Here’s a copy of the menu.

No need to pre-order. Just order, as usual, on the day.