News

Latest news from around the school

Marvellous manners

Posted on 27 June 2024 by Mrs Weekes

Many of our Year 6 children have been visiting their new high schools in preparation for their move to Year 7.

Sienna was one of our Year 6 friends who visited Allerton Grange  and she was picked out from 300 pupils as the most polite student. What an achievement, Sienna. Well done – we’re very proud of you!

Thinking of others

Posted on 24 June 2024 by Mrs Weekes

One of our Y3 friends showed that she really thinks of others by spending some of her spare time raising money for our chosen charity, the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.

She decided to make bracelets with loom bands and while her mum was working at a local fair, she sat alongside her and sold her bracelets (and made more) to raise money. She made signs explaining about the charity and about school choosing a different one each year.

She raised £18.40 which she’s brought in and we will pass it on to the charity for her.

Well done – an amazing gesture!

Our weekly message (Friday 21 June 2024)

Posted on 21 June 2024 by Mr Roundtree

It’s not been a great summer yet, has it? With the hope we might enjoy some sunnier days ahead, don’t forget to follow the NHS advice on sun protection for your child.

Sports Day

This year’s sports day takes place on Tuesday 02 July 2024 at Roundhegians Rugby Club LS8 2AT.

  • Key Stage 2 events take place 9.30am-11.30am
  • Reception and Key Stage events take place 1.30pm-3pm

(If weather conditions mean we have to change the date, the reserve date is Tuesday 16 July with the same timings.)

Spectators are welcome. Access to Roundhegians Rugby Club is from Chelwood Drive. Please bring your own seating. We’ll be walking the children to Roundhegians on the day so if you’re able to help accompany the children, please let the office know.

For Sports Day, our teams will be: White, Red, Blue, and Green (no political allegiances intended!). Your child will be told what colour team they’re in. If possible, please could your child wear a t-shirt matching their team colour.

Please ensure your child has their water bottle and a cap/hat at school. It would also be useful if you could apply sun cream before your child comes to school.

Normal lunch time and end of school collection arrangements still apply on this day.

Uniform

Every year, we review our Uniform Policy. We know some parents/carers like to start preparing early for the new school year, so please read the latest version.

Please note what we expect children to wear on PE days – it basically only involves a change for the bottom half:

item description additional notes
t-shirt indoor: plain white t-shirt (long or short sleeved)

outdoor: as above, plus the school uniform top

– for an extra layer, wear school top/fleece

– this can be a t-shirt or polo-shirt (shirts with logos are available, but not essential)

– avoid short tops (eg crop tops)

shorts plain grey/black shorts or PE skirt – avoid very short shorts
tracksuit bottoms plain grey/black tracksuit bottoms/leggings – ideal for outdoor use
footwear indoor: plain pumps/trainers

outdoor: plain trainers

– trainers can be those worn to school

– avoid bright colours

Annual survey

Your views count. Every year, we ask for your views and we follow up on as many as we can. Thank you to the 35 parents/carers who have already completed it. If you’ve not yes, there’s still time: please complete this year’s survey before the 05 July deadline.

Our weekly message (Friday 14 June 2024)

Posted on 14 June 2024 by Mr Roundtree

Don’t forget the school photographer’s in next Thursday to take class pics – please make sure your child is in uniform, even if it’s a PE day.

This week’s message comes from our Science and Foundation Subjects Leader. It’s about the final topic of the year.

Just before that: good luck to our Year 5/6 swimmers who are competing in the English Schools Swimming Association Primary National finals on Saturday at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.

What is this half-term’s topic?

Design and Technology is the driving subject for this half-term and it’s a great topic to finish the year! The focus for all classes this year is textiles (next year, it’s construction) so children will be busy designing and making products using fabric.

A key aspect of the Design and Technology curriculum is the understanding that products don’t just get made. Instead, they go through a design process that includes three key elements: evaluate, design and make. Think of this process as a cycle. For example, Moortown Motors want to create a new family car. Before the car is made, they need to evaluate existing products and talk to customers so that they’re clear about what the new car needs to have. They will then design the car and evaluate those designs. They may make a prototype of the car to help them evaluate the designs. Next, they’ll decide on a final design that will go into production and get made. This finished product will be evaluated and the whole process starts again.

Each phase has age-related specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic – see pages 14 and 15 of our Topic Curriculum Guide.

Years 1 and 2

The product children will be designing, making and evaluating is a hand puppet. They’ll start by learning about the design process before looking at and evaluating existing hand puppet products. They’ll then learn to use an over stitch and practise threading needles and tying knots. Following this, they’ll be introduced to all the materials they can use to create their puppet. Once they’re familiar with the materials, they’ll design their puppet. Next, it’s on to the making stage. They’ve already honed their sewing skills so they should be confident making and then decorating their puppets according to their designs. Finally, it’s evaluation time: children will compare their designs to their finished products. They’ll reflect on successes and things they’d do differently next time.

Years 3 and 4

The product the children will be designing, making and evaluating is a pouch. The function of this pouch is entirely up to them. It could be used to store some pens, trading cards, a shell collection. Children can be as creative as they like – as long as the pouch can be made using a 20cm² piece of felt!

Before they begin to design their pouch, they’ll learn about a famous designer and how they became a designer. They’ll also learn some important skills that a designer needs to have. Children will then evaluate existing pouches, with a focus on fastenings, and will then design their pouch. They’ll practise their sewing skills, becoming proficient using a running stitch. They’ll then begin to make their pouches. First, they’ll create a template which they’ll use to cut out the pieces. Next, they’ll join the pieces using their running stitch and create a fastening for their pouch. Finally, they’ll evaluate their designs by comparing them to their designs, testing whether they’re fit for purpose and reflecting on their successes and areas to improve.

Years 5 and 6

Children will be designing, making and evaluating a cushion. However, before they get stuck into their cushion, they’ll learn about some designers who changed the world: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, George Stephenson, Lewis Latimer and Jony Ive. They’ll learn about their creations and their impact and look for things that link the designers.

Following this, children will learn about the importance of design criteria when designing a product. After this, they’ll practise their sewing skills and learn how to sew using a backstitch. Next, they’ll evaluate existing cushions. They’ll then decide on the specific design criteria for their cushions and create their designs using an annotated sketch, detailing the dimensions of their product. They’ll learn about the importance of using sustainable materials when researching the filling used for their cushion (the plan is to use old, unwanted pieces of fabric to stuff the cushions rather than Polyfill so please have a look through your wardrobe and keep hold of any old t-shirts or other clothes as we’ll need them later in the half-term).

Children will use a template to cut out the shapes, use a backstitch to appliqué decoration to their cushion, before finally sewing the pieces together and stuffing them. The final stage is to evaluate the designs against the design criteria.

How can you help?

Talk to your child about what they have been learning in class. The class news page of the school website is a good place to go to find out more about what the children are doing.

The school library and local libraries will have some books about Design and Technology which your child will be able to borrow and develop both their reading skills and design knowledge.

Finally, there’s a lot of programmes on CBBC and CBeebies with a Design and Technology focus:

  • Bitz and Bob
  • Grace’s Amazing Machines
  • Junk Rescue
  • Maddie’s Do You Know?
  • The Dengineers
Finally, don’t forget to complete our annual survey – it’ll only take a few minutes and we do take on board as many views as we can.

Please complete our annual survey

Posted on 10 June 2024 by Mr Roundtree

At Moortown Primary, we’re always keen to hear your views. We hope that you let us know any questions, comments and concerns (as well as causes for celebration!) whenever these crop up, but we like to gather the views more generally at the end of the year – we do this via the annual survey.

Please complete the survey – it’ll only take a few minutes or so. You’ve plenty of time to do this – the deadline is 2pm on Friday 05 July 2024.

We can’t guarantee to meet the needs and wants of every parent / carer, but we do assure you that we consider all the points raise and aim to act on specific points that are raised by many, or a useful idea raised by just a few.

We’re looking forward to reading your views.

Our weekly message (Friday 07 June 2024)

Posted on 07 June 2024 by Mr Roundtree

We’re into the final half-term of the school year – it’s always a busy one, so please keep an eye on the school calendar. Coming up soon are a few things you might want to know about…

For children in Year 1 and some children in Year 2: Next week, children in Year 1 (and those who didn’t meet the standard who are in Year 2) will take part in an assessment around their phonics skills. Check out the government’s phonics screening check information for parents.

For children in Year 4: Also next week, Year 4 children will take an online assessment to check their quick recall of times tables and division facts. Check out the guide for parents. Keep practising on Times Tables Rock Stars!

For all children: On Thursday 20 June, the school photographer is in to take class photos.

Next week, look out for the link to our annual survey of parents and carers. too.

Attendance matters

At the start of every half-term, we review our attendance. For the full school year so far, up to the end of the Summer 1 half-term (Thursday 23 May), the whole school attendance figure was 96.8%. That’s comfortably higher than the national figure up to Friday 17 May for primary schools: 94.7%. Thank you for your support.

How does each class compare?

  • Reception: 94.0%
  • Year 1: 96.6%
  • Year 2: 97.7%
  • Year 3: 97.5%
  • Year 4: 97.7%
  • Year 5: 97.4%
  • Year 6: 96.2%

Let’s keep up this great achievement!

SEND support

SENDIASS support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents and carers to help with their related concerns or questions. They provide a free, impartial and confidential service through their website and online resources. You can self-refer to this service by contacting them directly. Find out more about SENDIASS in this short clip.

Here are the dates of forthcoming support sessions.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Did it float?

Posted on 05 June 2024 by Mrs Weekes

This was the big question for some of our Y6 friends on the first day of their residential.

After arriving safely, they started activities more or less straight away. Some great teamwork in building a raft and then seeing if it actually did the job – an exciting task! Even one of the group with an injury (not injured today but before they went) was able to be involved in building the raft and maybe they were glad when they couldn’t be part of the floating test!

Another busy day tomorrow with loads of activities planned. Thanks to Miss Wilson and Mrs Russell for giving up their time over the next couple of days – their weekend will be well deserved.

Our weekly message (Friday 24 May 2024)

Posted on 24 May 2024 by Mr Roundtree

Our message this week is a short one…

Positive Home-School Relationships

Governors have asked us to remind you about a recent policy – our Positive Home-School Relationships Policy. Please check it out.

And two things worth knowing about: one for Year 1 and 2 children, and the other for children in Year 4.

Year 1 and 2: Phonics screening check

In the week beginning 10 June, children in Year 1 (and those who didn’t meet the standard who are in Year 2) will take part in an assessment around their phonics skills. Check out the government’s phonics screening check information for parents.

Year 4: Multiplication tables check

In the same week (beginning 10 June), Year 4 children will take an online assessment to check their quick recall of times tables and division facts. Check out the guide for parents. Keep practising on Times Tables Rock Stars!

 

Have a happy and healthy – and hopefully drier – half-term week!

Triathletes of the future?

Posted on 20 May 2024 by Mrs Weekes

A group of KS2 children went to John Smeaton this morning to take part in the Brownlee triathlon specifically designed for primary children. They did a swim, a cycle ride and then a run. Great performance from them all and they represented school brilliantly. Not a bad start to the week!

Our weekly message (Friday 17 May 2024)

Posted on 17 May 2024 by Mr Roundtree

This week has been SATs week – the end of Key Stage 2 assessments. Well done to all the Year 6 children for coping so well. Well done also to adults in school for supporting our children, making sure the week isn’t a horrible one. Thanks to one of our governors who visited school to ensure the assessments were being managed effectively, going through a checklist of points to ensure robust procedures are in place.

Healthy eating

Our recent Living and Learning healthy eating sessions have included reference to the 5 a day message and the Eatwell Guide. Linked to this, the Just One More campaign, currently running across Leeds, aims to encourage increased vegetable intake by ‘just one more’ portion per day.

The campaign is to help people eat more vegetables by:

  • Consuming vegetables as snacks
  • Adding more vegetables into meals
  • Adding more vegetables when shopping
  • Growing vegetables at home or in community spaces
  • Sharing vegetables with friends and family
  • Choosing more vegetables at school

Give it a go – try ‘just one more’!

Handwriting and spelling

This comes from Mr Catherall, based at Scholes (Elmet) Primary but our Writing Leader across Sphere Federation

When it comes to writing, children have to think about a whole range of things in order to get their ideas down onto the paper. Some people liken writing to playing multiple games of chess at the same time – the demand on the brain is huge.

That’s why handwriting and spelling are so important. If children can write neatly and legibly without having to concentrate on this, it frees up lots of brain space for them to concentrate on other aspects of writing – like choosing the correct vocabulary.

It’s similar for spelling. If you can spell words automatically, your brain doesn’t need to waste power on thinking about this which significantly reduces the cognitive load on your brain.

In school, we place a huge emphasis on what we call the ‘Must Dos’
for writing – the basic skills needed to be an effective writer. A recent publication by Ofsted found that this isn’t always the case in primary schools.

With this in mind, we really appreciate the effort that goes into learning the weekly spellings at home – please encourage your child to learn these words. Also, if you’d like some help with how to support your child with their handwriting, check out our handwriting guide or speak with your child’s class teacher.

Finally this week, with just one more week of the Summer 1 half-term to go, you might like to check out the activities going on within Active Leeds this half term.