What is our identity?
In the first week of this half term, we had a jam-packed week celebrating our community and talking about our identity. To finish the week off, children were invited to come to school wearing something that identified themselves to a different community.
There were some amazing examples and it was great to see how many things that our children identify with. Here is a photo of some of our children from Reception to Year 6.
Wellbeing Advent
It’s one day late, but you might like to try this out with your child…
The lead up to the winter break can be a fun and exciting time. For some though, it can be anxiety inducing and stressful. Young Minds has created a series of wellbeing advent calendars, customised for primary and secondary children.
Our weekly message: Friday 29 November
This week, our Living and Learning statement has been ‘I can talk about my feelings’…
When you’re reading aloud with your child, or talking about what they’ve been reading independently, or even chatting about something you’ve both watched together, invest some time talking about the feelings of the characters. The more comfortable your child is at this, the more able they’ll be at managing their feelings. (And a good message is that all feelings are okay, but the behaviours they lead to may not be okay – it’s okay to feel angry, for example, but not okay to act in ways that hurt others.)
Terrific times tables
Every year, children in Year 4 take part in the national Multiplication Tables Check. The national data was released this week. The average score across the country was 20.6 out of 25.
At Moortown Primary, our average score was 23.6 – much higher than national. Not only that, whilst 34% achieved full marks (25/25) nationally, 73% of our children achieved this perfect score.
Well done to the children (our current Year 5 children). Thank you for making sure your child learns their times tables. Check out our information and advice about supporting your child with this.
Learning to read, reading to learn
The shift from learning to read to reading to learn is a crucial milestone in a child’s educational journey.
In the Early Years and Key Stage 1, children focus on learning how phonics works and decoding words (that’s ‘sounding out’ the letters into sounds – phonemes).
As they move towards the end of Year 2, children use reading as a tool to explore and acquire knowledge across subjects like science, history, and geography. This can help develop thinking, comprehension, and the ability to use information they have read.
Mastering this skill empowers learners to independently research, solve problems, and engage in lifelong learning. Encouraging reading a wide range of texts and promoting curiosity ensures children are prepared to thrive in an information-rich world.
Help at home: make sure your child reads at home every day, and encourage them to be enthusiastic readers by talking about what their reading, whatever that is – comics, stories, factual books…
Have a happy and healthy weekend.
North East Leeds cross country
** UPDATE ** Eight of our runners have qualified for the Leeds cross country final – congratulations!
Today, thirty of our Key Stage 2 children took part in the Leeds North East School Games Cross Country festival at Roundhay High School attended by twenty nine schools.
We had a great start from our Year 3 runners with three children coming in the top 15 including an amazing third and fifth place! Then, an effortless first place by one of our Year 4 runners was a great achievement. After that, we saw some excellent efforts and determination from the rest of the children throughout the afternoon with great support and encouragement from the other pupils.
Well done to all the children who took part and represented the school. We are sure there will be some qualifiers for the next race, the Leeds final. Watch this space!
Thank you to the parents who came along to help and support at this event.
If you’re child would like to take part in cross country, have a look at our physical activity guide for details of local running clubs and junior Park Runs.
Some of the children who took part, are regular runners at the Leeds Schools Sports Association Saturday morning cross country races. Details will shortly be sent out for the next race on Saturday 14th December.
Our weekly message: Friday 22 November
This week, we start with an important message…
Did you read this news story this week? We were so sad when we read it.
We’ve a long list of online safety tips but three simple ones to follow are:
- make sure your child is only online in a shared room like the living room or kitchen where there are others around – and that also means have no mobile devices in the bedroom
- talk to your child often about what they’re getting up to online
- check your child’s mobile device regularly, just like you might check on who they’re playing with at the park – why not set an alarm on your phone a couple of times each week to remind you
Online safety has been our Living and Learning theme this week: I know how important it is to make careful choices when online. Each week, check our school calendar for the Living and Learning theme.
Oracy
This half-term, your child will be continuing to practise their oracy skills throughout all of their learning.
Oracy is your ability to communicate and express yourself effectively. It’s about having the vocabulary to be able to say what you want to say and the grammatical awareness to structure your thoughts in a logical way.
Good oracy skills have loads of benefits…
- it increases engagement in learning
- it improves academic outcomes
- it develops wellbeing and confidence
- it equips students to thrive in later life
Help at home…
- Be an oracy role model: model good speaking and listening skills to your child, and when they’re in ear-shot.
- Don’t ‘dumb down’ your language: try not to avoid using more complex vocabulary. Instead, use complicated language but then succinctly explain what it means eg succinct means short and quick
- Complete the talk time homework: these are a great opportunity to have a conversation and model good oracy skills.
Fab feedback
Following the Me and My Community themed week, we’ve had some great feedback from our visitors. Here’s a couple of comments:
- ‘Just saying a big thank you for Friday. The children brought much joy and happiness to our residents. The teacher was lovely and very accommodating and the children’s manners and behaviour was outstanding.’ (Moor Allerton Care Centre)
- ‘I had such a lovely day of delivery and I was so impressed with your young people. Their behaviour, attitude, and participation in the workshops was amazing and they were a credit to you and the school. I hope they enjoyed the day as much as me.’ (Diversity Role Models)
Have a happy and healthy weekend – and stay warm!
Our weekly message: Friday 15 November
Thanks for your Children in Need donations this morning – we raised £230.93.
As we always do, the message this week – second week of the half-term – is all about our new topic in Key Stage 1 and 2. The message comes from Mr Wilks, who leads Science and foundation subjects across Sphere Federation.
What is this half-term’s topic?
Topics are the vehicle for delivering much of the learning in the foundation subjects (eg History, Art, Geography, Design Technology). This half-term, we’re artists. We’ll develop our art knowledge and skills.
The learning this half-term has two aspects to it:
- art appreciation and history: your child will learn about some specific artists and their work
- art process: your child will practise and develop skills by creating art
Each phase has age-related knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic. Please see pages 10 and 11 of the Topic Curriculum Guide.
We’ve also produced an Art Curriculum Guide which gives you more information about how art is taught in school and the different ‘visual and tactile elements’ that pupils will be learning about and using in their lessons.
What’s happening in each phase of school?
Years 1 and 2
Children will learn about two featured artists across the half-term: Georges Seurat and Bridget Riley. They’ll compare their art, talking about similarities and differences. They’ll discuss what they like and dislike about the art and how it makes them feel. They’ll also learn about the artists’ lives and where in the world they lived.
In practical art lessons, children will hone their artistic skills and knowledge by sketching objects using pencil and developing painting skills inspired by Bridget Riley and Georges Seurat.
Years 3 and 4
Children will learn about the work of two architects: Christopher Wren and Zaha Hadid.
They’ll compare and contrast the buildings that these architects designed. They’ll look at the influence of classical Greek architecture on the two architects and look for examples of this in buildings locally and nationally. In practical art sessions, children will develop observational drawing skills, before focussing on creating sketches and drawings of buildings on different media.
Years 5 and 6
Children will learn about and study the work of two designers: William Morris and Orla Kiely.
They’ll look at examples of products that use their designs and then focus on the designs, analysing them using technical vocabulary. They’ll also compare the designs, spotting similarities and differences.
In practical art lessons, children will sketch their own designs inspired by Kiely or Morris. They’ll then create relief prints of their own designs which they’ll turn into a wallpaper design using a design website.
How can you help?
Talk to your child about what they’ve been learning. The Class News page of our website is a good place to go to find out more about what your child is doing.
Familiarise yourself with the artists and the artwork that your child will be learning about in class. Look in books or on the internet for pieces by the artists and talk about them. Find art by other artists that you like and compare it to the featured artists. If you feel confident, you can go into more depth using the topic-specific vocabulary. However, if not, leave that to the teachers and just enjoy looking at the pieces and asking general questions:
- What do you like or dislike about the art?
- How does the art make you feel?
- What colours can you see?
- Can you spot influence of Greek architecture in buildings (eg columns or pediments)?
The Tate Gallery has a good children’s website with games and activities which children can explore.
If you’re in Leeds, the Leeds Art Gallery and Henry Moore Institute are both free to enter and if your child has already visited during a trip, they can be the tour guide and show you around!
Finally this week…
Next week is Road Safety Week. As the clocks have changed and the nights are darker, the week highlights the importance of road safety. Check out these road safety tips and just look at how important bright clothing is at this time of year…
Our weekly message: Friday 08 November
What a busy week!
Me and My Community week
This week, children have been enthusiastically learning about all things community-related as part of our Me and My Community themed week.
Highlights included Grandad Wheels, sessions considering stereotypes and diversity, and self-esteem workshops. Speak with your child about some of the learning they’ve done this week linked to communities.
There’s another themed week later in the year – Being Healthy.
Our new school charity
Part of our Me and My Community themed week involved the selection of our school charity. Last year, our charity was Leeds Hospitals Charity. This year, the shortlist was selected by the Admin people across Sphere Federation. The six charities were then discussed in class before our new Junior Leadership Team met to agree the final charity.
They’ve selected Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
We’ll raise some money across the year for the charity – the main way will be collections at Christmas and end-of-year performances.
STOP!
Next Tuesday (12 November) is Anti-Bullying Day. This year’s theme is Choose Respect and we’ll be taking part in Odd Socks Day on this day.
Odd Socks Day celebrates that we’re all unique. Children are invited to wear odd socks (with their uniform), marking the fact we’re all different in some way. Part of Anti-Bullying Day, the 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.
Our weekly Living and Learning statement next week is I know how to STOP bullying. This is one of the most important Living and Learning statements. Make sure you and your child talk about our two STOP acronyms:
- Several Times On Purpose
- Start Telling Other People
Beyond next week, please keep talking about these – one’s a definition of bullying and the other’s a solution. Talk about the differences between falling out and bullying, and between a one-off situation and something that’s happened more than once.
Check out this anti-bullying advice for parents and carers.
Every day matters
Our whole school attendance figure for Autumn 1 is 96.3%. This is a bit lower than the 2023-24 figure of 96.6% because of chicken pox and other recent bugs. However, we’re still in the top tenth of schools nationally for attendance, which is brilliant!
Linked to this is the second of a series of messages about what a child misses if they’re absent for a prolonged time. We know children are ill sometimes – that’s inevitable – but regular holidays or unnecessary absences mean children really struggle. This time, we focus on Reading.
If your child was absent for five days in a row…
If your child misses five consecutive days, it’s likely there would be gaps in their knowledge, confidence or skills.
- In Reading lessons, we practise a wide range of reading skills like prediction, performing poetry and inference.
- Your child would also miss reading texts which would support their writing skills; we analyse model texts before we write them.
- They’d miss our fluency text for the week, too, meaning they’d miss out on the opportunity to develop their confidence when reading aloud, and to discover a range of new words or facts about our current topic.
- If your child’s in Key Stage 1, they’d miss out on five daily poem sessions and five class story times – really popular times for children.
- If your child’s in Key Stage 2, they’d miss their new target page agreed with the rest of their group in Book Club and miss out on the discussion about the story so far.
- They’d miss out on a few chapters of the class novel and could be confused for the rest of the book.
- Missing five days means a child would miss out on their weekly library visit – they’d not be able to choose a new library book.
We have a new Junior Leadership Team
After a very busy day at the polling station, we have a new Junior Leadership Team. The votes have been counted and verified and we would like to say ‘Congratulations’ to:
Poppy & Milan, Teddy & Rowan; Lucas & Samanvi; Joshua & Ana: Archie & Nathaniel; Raushan & Evie; Maya & Charlie.
We’re confident that they will represent their classes really well; they also have a very important job, in a couple of weeks, in helping to choose our new school charity.
Well done to everybody who made a speech; it’s not an easy thing to do – it’s amazing that so many of you had a go.
Happy half term to you all. See you on 04 November 2024.
Our weekly message: Thursday 24 October
This week’s message is one day early because tomorrow is a training day.
What happens on a training day?
Training days are exactly what they say on the tin – a day jam-packed with training for teachers to make sure they’re all fully skilled and prepared. In recent Ofsted inspection reports, the impact of the training we provide for teachers across Sphere Federation is rated highly:
Teachers have secure subject knowledge… 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 Ofsted inspection report, 21-22 May
Professional development for all staff is exemplary. Leaders have planned high-quality training.
Moortown Primary Ofsted inspection report, 19-20 March
At the training day tomorrow, teachers from across Sphere Federation will gather for five different learning sessions: phonics teaching; using technology as a teaching aid; gymnastics; Art skills; and Living and Learning.
Talking of Living and Learning…
Living and Learning
‘I use what I’ve learnt in Living and Learning’ was this week’s Living and Learning statement. It’s an opportunity for teachers to return to some of the learning this half-term, including rights and responsibilities, protected characteristics, and democracy. Help at home…
- talk to your child about what they’ve learnt
- check out our Living and Learning Curriculum Guide – page 6 gives you an overview of next half-term’s mental wellbeing theme
Our school charity for 2024-25
Each year, our Junior Leadership Team select a charity to support – we ask for donations after Christmas and Summer productions for example. Last year, our charity was Leeds Hospitals Charity. This year, the shortlist was selected by our Admin staff across Sphere Federation. Start thinking about each of these below, so your child’s ready to pass on their views to their Junior Leader representative in Me and My Community week.
- Yorkshire Air Ambulance is an independent charity providing a lifesaving rapid response emergency service to 5 million people across the whole of Yorkshire. Money raised keeps both of their air ambulance helicopters maintained and in the air.
- Leeds Mind provides help and support for people who may be experiencing issues impacting on their mental health and wellbeing.
- Willow Foundation supports young adults, aged 16 to 40, who are living with a life-threatening or life-limiting condition.
- Action Against Hunger aim to save the lives of vulnerable people affected by hunger. Action Against Hunger fights hunger and malnutrition around the world, because no child should ever suffer or die from it. Stop hunger today.
- Zarach‘s mission is to end bed poverty in England. It believes no child should live in poverty. All children should have their basic needs met so that they can achieve their full potential in life. Give every head a bed.
- Leeds Hospitals Charity has been nominated again. The charity aims to support patients, families and staff. They fund for lifesaving equipment, treatments, research into rare diseases and home comforts.
Cooking
Across the year, we hope that every child in Key Stages 1 and 2 will learn food preparation skills. We need voluntary donations for ingredients so that we can offer this. Thank you for the donations so far – they total £236. If you’ve not yet donated, please consider it. A donation of £3 to £6 will ensure we can offer all three food preparation sessions:
- Year 1 and 2: fruit smoothies, overnight oats, and fruit bars
- Year 3 and 4: egg pots, chopped tomatoes and garlic, and savoury scones
- Year 5 and 6: vegetable and chickpea curry, pasta bake, and bread
You can make your donation using the School Gateway app.
For more about our Cooking curriculum, please check out our Cooking and Nutrition Curriculum Guide (we’re in Year B this year).
Happy and healthy and safe
We’re confident that all the things we do are effective in keeping children safe – Ofsted (19-20 March) confirmed this:
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
…but we like to make sure we go over and above, so we can keep getting better and better. That’s why we arranged for an external audit of safeguarding here at Moortown Primary.
Last Tuesday (15 October), someone from the local authority visited us to carry out a comprehensive check and evaluation – in total, there were 75 points, from statutory processes to best practice, covering a wide range of different aspects of safeguarding: recruitment, staff training, teaching pupils about staying safe, health and safety…
We’re delighted to say the audit went very well:
- 67 areas were rated green (meaning safeguarding arrangements are in place and meet the required minimum standard)
- 8 areas were rated pink (safeguarding practice identified as exemplary)
Thanks to Mrs Weekes and all the pupils and staff who were involved.
Finally… Over half-term, why not get involved in Leeds Festival of Play. Check out the list of organised events.
Applications for Reception 2025
Applications for a Reception place for September 2025 can be made from 01 November 2024 to 15 January 2025.
Guidance on applications can be found on Leeds City Council’s You Tube video about applying for a school place.
If you’d like to come and have a look around our school, our next open sessions are on Thursday 14 November at 1.30pm and Friday 29 November at 9.30am. No need to book – just turn up!