News

Latest news from around the school

Fab feedback

Posted on 16 January 2018 by Mr Roundtree

Moortown Primary frequently welcomes visitors from other schools. Recently, two senior leaders visited from another successful school in Leeds. This is what they had to say:

We really liked the joined up thinking in terms of a whole school approach to the curriculum and in particular how there is a joint focus for all of the classes – this is something that we are going to give a lot of consideration to in the next academic year.

It was also clear how the teaching staff challenge their pupils to refine / explain their answers in greater detail – we were struck with how confident and articulate the children were.

Attitudes to Learning – in every class, the pupils were engaged and visibly enjoyed their learning.

Some spelling support

Posted on 15 January 2018 by Mr Roundtree

Have you checked out out Learn More pages? They contain lots of tips and ideas to support your child at home.

In particular, look at the Help Your Child page. On here, we’ve just published a new guide to support your child with their spellings – it’s full of ideas to learn spellings in an active way. Encourage your child to try out the ideas. They won’t all suit, but some may end up being their favourite – and most effective – strategy!

Attendance matters

Posted on 03 January 2018 by Mr Roundtree

Our attendance figures for Autumn are really encouraging – thank you to all the parents and carers who have helped to ensure children are in school as much as possible.

The whole school attendance figure is 96.8%. This is a little higher than for the same period last year (96.3%), which we’re really pleased about. Let’s aim to get higher than 97.0% by the end of the Spring term.

The year group totals are:

  • Reception: 94.9%
  • Year 1: 97.2%
  • Year 2: 96.7%
  • Year 3: 96.3%
  • Year 4: 97.5%
  • Year 5: 97.5%
  • Year 6: 97.2%

Well done especially to Years 4 and 5, both of which have attendance quite a lot higher than the school average!

Living and Learning

Posted on 01 January 2018 by Mrs Taylor

Living and Learning sessions are held weekly, in class, to promote social and emotional aspects of learning and other areas of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE).  This half term we have two main themes, from our long-term plan.
  • Drug, alcohol and tobacco education (DATE) 
  •  Keeping safe and managing risk
Internet Safety Day, 06.02.18, is part of the keeping safe and managing risk theme.  More information will follow about this.
We begin the half term with a focus on manners and in particular interruptions.  Children will consider what is a valid interruption, for example an emergency and what alternatives are there to interrupting?  Children across school are encouraged to use our brain, buddy, boss system to try to avoid interruptions.  This means they would first think themselves.  Then, they could try asking a friend and the final option would be to ask the adult.  This encourages the children to become independent and take responsibility.

Here are the weekly Living and Learning statements, for this half term, to support this learning.

  • I don’t interrupt (with my mouth or my hand).
  • I can make things better.
  • I know what a drug is.
  • I am aware of risks.
  • I make safe choices.
  • I stay safe online.

Be mindful

Posted on 16 December 2017 by Mrs Taylor

At this busy time of year, mindfulness can help children to take control of their emotions.

During our recent themed week, all children took part in mindfulness workshops to learn a variety of techniques to use at school and at home.  Here’s a reminder of a few of them that might be useful for over the holidays.  A mindfulness newsletter/parent guide will be sent out in the new year.

Breathing hug

Start with both arms in the air.  Put one hand across your tummy and the other on your shoulder.  Breath slowly in and out.

Breathing tree

In a standing position, raise your arms as you  breath in and release your arms back down as you breath out.

‘Ok’ breathing

Make an ‘o’ sign on your tummy button to represent that it is ok to feel different emotions.  Slowly breath in and out.

Mindfulness bottle

This is a bit like a snow globe.  Shake it up and watch it.  Simply watch the disturbance as it begins to settle – as does our mind.

Take a bottle, add glitter and food colouring and seal tightly.

Road Safety Pantomime ‘The Gift of Life’

Posted on 07 December 2017 by Mrs Taylor

Yesterday, all pupils watched this lighthearted show that delivered important road safety messages.

Pupils joined Santa and Rudolf as they travelled back in time to prevent young Neil Downe from being knocked down. Whilst being fun and interactive, the pantomime covered the following road safety themes:

  • the Green Cross Code
  • seat belts
  • be bright, be seen
  • safer cycling

Ask your child about the performance and what messages they took away.

Fab feedback!

Posted on 07 December 2017 by Mr Roundtree

In a time when many local authorities have stripped away the support they previously provided to school, Leeds continues to provide support to its schools. Our School Improvement Advisor visited recently and had lots of positives to tell us about:

The qualities of teaching… endorse the strong end of year outcomes, which have become typical of Moortown. Informal observations across the school verified the good subject knowledge and understanding of the national age related expectations for each member of the teaching team. For example, in Year 1, the temporary teacher led a writing session whereby pupils of all abilities were able to reap success.

Maths teaching observed… provided evidence of the school’s focus on lesson starters designed to develop arithmetical understanding. In each lesson, good subject knowledge was apparent.

It is very clear that pupils understand why they should behave well, rather than doing it because they are told to. Behaviour in each of the lessons seen was impeccable.

The early years classroom provides a well organised, welcoming and productive environment in which children can learn. Very well modelled behaviour and expectations from adults result in children quickly working well together, developing positive behaviour and an eagerness to try new things.

The Topic Book scrutiny evidenced a rich curriculum whereby children are afforded frequent opportunity to apply their reading, writing and mathematical skills beyond the core curriculum. The children’s books evidence an equality of demand for all abilities. Books also evidence a wealth of lessons that provide for ‘active learning’ opportunities…

Cross Country qualifier

Posted on 03 December 2017 by Mrs Taylor

Congratulations to Grace in Year 6 who finished 6th in the Year 6 girls Leeds East North East Cross Country race at Cardinal Heenan school last week to qualify for the Leeds final next year.

Well done to all children who represented school in traditional cross country weather.  For some of the children, this was the first time they have taken part in a competitive event and spirits were still high despite the weather.

Terrific times tables

Posted on 01 December 2017 by Mr Roundtree

By the end of Year 4, children are expected to know their times tables and corresponding division facts up to 12 x 12, as stated in the National Curriculum. They should be able to recall a multiplication or division fact within about five seconds.

A couple of weeks ago, we checked this for children in Key Stage 2 – and got some really encouraging results.

Out of a total score of 25, children in Year 4 got an average of 21.2 out of 25 – and, of course, there are still two more terms to keep on improving.

We’ve seen similarly encouraging results in Years 5 and 6. 100% of the Year 6 children scored over 20 out of 25, and their average score is 24.6.

In school, we explore times tables so children have a secure understanding of the concept of multiplication and division, and the various patterns and sequences related to each times table. There’s also regular practice in each class. We’ve also introduced regular tables to practise at home, followed by times table tests each Friday. Thank you for supporting your child with this.

If you’re confident your child knows their tables, don’t forget to help them know related facts. So, 3 x 8 = 24, which means…

  • 8 x 3 = 24
  • 24 ÷ 8 = 3
  • 24 ÷ 3 = 8
  • 30 x 8 = 240
  • 3 x 80 = 240
  • 30 x 80 = 2,400
  • 3 x 0.8 = 2.4
  • and so on!

Top tip! 7 x 8 = 56 is probably the hardest fact to know. Here’s a way that might help… Reverse the statement: 56 = 7 x 8. Can you see the sequence of the digits? 5, 6, 7, 8… 5 6 is 7 8s…

Crazy carpet dangerous driver

Posted on 01 December 2017 by Mr Roundtree

The article below is taken directly from the Yorkshire Evening Post website. We’d like to thank the parent who has reported this shocking incident to the police.

Leeds driver spotted with huge carpets obscuring his windscreen

A father walking his child to school had a shock when he spotted this car with its windscreen obscured by CARPETS. The man saw the overloaded vehicle in Moortown while dropping his son off at nearby Moortown Primary School. When he challenged the man driving the Ford estate, he was told he could still see where he was going despite the two large carpets strapped to the roof rack.

“I was just about to cross the road when I saw the car with its windscreen almost entirely covered by the carpets. The driver had the window open and I saw him adjust the position of the carpet as it had moved while he was driving. I asked the driver why he was driving dangerously, and he said ‘I always do it like this’ and that it was ‘OK, because I can still see where I’m going.’ ”

He took the photo at around 9am on Thursday morning.

“Complacent attitudes towards driving are becoming a real concern for me and my family. I’ve also recently witnessed people using mobile phones while driving, driving along the footpaths, parking on pavements, speeding and even a van driver eating a bowl of cereal while passing the school gates at drop-off time.”

The driver has been reported to police.