Responding to terrorism
Our current SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) has as its theme the 8 Rs for Learning, one of which is responding. This ‘R’ is around developing children’s ability to respond constructively and positively towards feedback about their learning. Similarly, responding constructively and positively is something we must do following events which feature from time to time in the news, such as the attacks in Paris on Friday. Children can’t avoid being aware of news stories such as this, and it’s important to support children appropriately. This website post is intended to help you support your child at home.
The terrible events in Paris on Friday highlights the very unsettled world in which we live. Deaths, explosions and violence are seen on 24-hour television, web and newspapers and children are often totally exposed to this media, often with no explanation. Some of our pupils may have visited Paris, played on a Tunisian beach or flown on a plane out of Sharm el-Sheikh. We don’t know what effect hearing about these events has on children, but we need to be sensitive to their needs, questions, concerns and fears.
There is very little information on the internet offering advice to help children understand terrorist events. Much of the information comes from America and dates from September 11 2001, or offers support after a school shooting. Below is some of the available material – do check them out before using them with your child.
- Helping Children Cope in Unsettling Times (Somerset County Council, 2010)
- Parent’s Guide to Talking to Their Children about War (City of New York)
- Tips for Parents on Media Coverage (National Child Traumatic Stress Network, USA)
- Talking to Children about Terrorism and War (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Books to help children explore world issues
After the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015, author Sita Brahmachari wrote in The Guardian about why it’s more important than ever to write stories for children that explore our differences and common humanity. The article includes a diverse list of contemporary authors whose books have helped children and young people understand and empathise with some of the most complicated situations faced in the world today. Download the list of books.
Takeover Day
Next Friday, 20 November, is Takeover Day.
What is Takeover Day?
It’s a national initiative organised each year by the Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield OBE. Takeover gives children and young people the chance to work with adults for the day and to be involved in decision-making processes. Children and young people benefit from the opportunity to experience the world of work and make their voices heard, while adults and organisations gain a fresh perspective on what they do.
Recently our School Council discussed how children could be involved in ‘taking over’ at school. Takeover activities will include school dinners (representatives from Year 4), the office (representatives from Year 5), assembly (representatives from Year 6) and KS2 tuck shop on 24 November (representatives from Year 2).
In addition there will be opportunities within class where children will takeover. For example, spelling/times table tests, parts of lessons, PE warm ups and guided reading.
Check our class news pages to see this in action.
Make a noise about bullying
Next week it is national anti-bullying week.
Our school definition has recently been reviewed by the School Council and remains unchanged.
‘Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally, several times on purpose.’
This year the theme of the week is Make a noise about bullying and our children are familiar with another STOP message to address this, start telling other people.
Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team will once again deliver Show Racism the Red Card workshops across school and in class children will discuss these aspects of bullying:
- Our definition of bullying (above)
- Types of bullying – cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion and belief, special educational need and disability
- What to do if children experience bullying. The key message is to tell someone (start telling other people)
Bullying resources can be found at…
- http://www.childline.org.uk/explore/bullying/pages/bullying.aspx
- http://www.bullying.co.uk/advice-for-parents/
- http://www.youngminds.org.uk/for_parents/worried_about_your_child/bullying
Children tell us what they would do if they were bullied: ‘I would tell an adult, teacher or someone I trust.’
All classes have access to their class SEAL box or a whole school worry box where they can tell an adult any concerns about bullying or any other issues.
Track and field stars
Well done to our athletics team who came second in the first round of the North East Leeds Sports hall athletics at Allerton Grange – a great achievement. It was a new event for the school and, despite a few nerves, everyone performed to the best of their ability in every event. Well done to all the children involved and to parents for their support. Look out for details of the next round.
If you’d like to continue athletics, there is also a local athletics club that runs at Scott Hall Leisure Centre.
Be safe, be seen
With lots of media attention on serious risks to children, it’s sometimes easy to forget the more traditional messages. With the dark nights now upon us, it’s worth (re)emphasising with your child the Be Safe – Be Seen message.
Cardiff Council’s Road Safety team have a great page on their website which also includes a number of other links and resources. There’s also a government site with some games.
Learning workshops
Learning Workshops, led by teachers in school, are organised to help you support your child at home.
Two different Learning Workshops took place yesterday. One was intended for Reception and Year 1 parents and it focused on phonics and simple number facts:
- “Well explained in terms of the current methods in phonics and Maths teaching. Teachers were open to questions. Thanks – much appreciated.”
- “Good overview of early learning concepts and teaching methods. A useful workshop – thank you.”
- From a parent with older children at school: “Always nice to have a refresher workshop as many things – about phonics especially – come back to me which I’d forgotten.”
The second workshop, at 6.00pm, was all about grammar and writing:
- “Great to go through all the grammar – it’s years since I was at school so a brilliant overview!”
- “Very helpful ideas to assist my reluctant writer at home.”
- “Thanks for the grammar web links.”
- “Very clear and practical presentation of the subject. Helpful tips. Mr Owen made it simple and funny.”
Thank you to the parents who attended.
Forthcoming workshops and other ways to support your child at home are in the calendar (look for the events in blue) and listed below:
- What is ‘mastery’? workshop – Monday 16 November, 2.30pm and 6.00pm
- Reception phonics teaching – 18 / 19 / 20 November
- Maths workshop – Monday 23 November, 6.00pm
- Homework open afternoon – Wednesday 02 December (only suitable for Y1 – Y6)
- Open morning – Tuesday 08 December
- Reception phonics teaching – 20 / 21 / 22 January
- Open morning – Wednesday 27 January
- Topic open afternoon – Thursday 17 March
- Reception phonics teaching – 27 / 28 / 29 April
Top vegetable choices
If your child chooses school dinners, they are served two portions of vegetables or vegetables and a portion of salad with each meal. As we are all aware of the importance of eating vegetables, all children have been consulted on their favourite vegetables based on the vegetables that currently feature on the school dinner menu. The most popular choices will now feature more regularly on the menu.
We would also like your views on school dinners. Look out for the school dinner survey due to be sent out next week.
8 Rs for learning - our new SEAL theme
This half-term, we’re thinking about the ‘8 Rs for learning’. This theme is about promoting good learning behaviour for your child. Each week, we’ll focus on different ‘Rs’. We use an animal to symbolise each ‘R’, which might help your child remember all eight – can your child remember which animal matches the correct ‘R’?
You can support your child at home – we’ve listed a few ideas to help you below. Ask us if you’ve any questions or comments.
Download top tips for promoting the 8Rs for good learning behaviour.
I can show I am ready to learn.
- Make sure your child is at school for a prompt start of 08:50.
- Make sure your child has had plenty of sleep so they are alert and ready to learn at all times.
- Encourage your child to ask lots of questions – that shows they want to learn!
I take responsibility for my own learning.
- Provide time and space at home so your child is able to organise themselves: their PE kit, reading book, homework, spellings and tables… Don’t organise everything for them!
- Make a link between rights and responsibilities: your child has the right to a great education, but needs to be responsible for their own learning.
I take a safe risk.
- Talk about the difference between a safe and unsafe risk. At school, we want your child to take a safe risk by having a go at answering, even if unsure; trying something new and attempting harder learning.
I am resilient.
- Encourage your child to keep going! Set a tricky challenge or puzzle for your child to do.
- Encourage your child to think of different ways of doing things.
- Don’t let your child win when they play a game – they need to experience losing, too!
- Celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn – be happy that your child found some learning hard and encourage them to ‘bounce back’ and learn from the experience.
I respond to feedback.
- Ask your child if they remember their ‘stars’ and ‘steps’ in English and Maths.
I am resourceful.
- Encourage your child to be organised so they can play with a range of different toys.
- Encourage your child to try new ways to solve a tricky problem.
I remember.
- Make sure they have time to learn spellings, number bonds and times tables – a little practice daily is best.
Play memory games:
- Kim’s game: show them objects for 30 seconds… can they remember all the objects?
- Can they build up the sequence, ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple and a bike.’… ‘I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a bike and a cucumber.’ etc … Take turns!
I reflect about my learning.
Talk with your child about what they’ve learnt, asking questions about:
- how they learnt
- why they learnt it
- when they’ll use their learning
- how they would teach this to someone else
- what learning might link with what they’ve learnt today
- etc
Attendance matters
The attendance data for the first half-term is below. Well done to Year 1, Year 3 and Year 5 whose attendance is all above the school average.
- Reception: 96.7%
- Year 1: 98.2% – a great attendance figure… well done!
- Year 2: 97.5%
- Year 3: 97.9% – just higher than the school average… keep it up!
- Year 4: 97.4%
- Year 5: 98.9% – this is really high… brilliant!
- Year 6: 97.7% – just a tiny bit lower than the school average… nice one!
'Warmest congratulations' from the DfE
We’re delighted to receive a letter (27 October 2015) from Nick Gibb, Minister of State for School Reform (part of the Department for Education), in which he expresses congratulations for the ‘very high standard of achievement in the 2015 phonics screening check‘.
The phonics screening check takes place towards the end of Year 1. The check is a short, ‘light-touch’ assessment to confirm whether individual children have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It will identify the children who need extra help so they are given support In Year 2 to improve their reading and writing skills. It consists of a list of 40 words, half real words and half non-words, which Year 1 children read to a teacher in school – in our school, this person is Mrs Weekes.
Mr Gibb’s letter says:
We want to ensure that every child develops a firm grasp of phonics which is why I was delighted to see your results. With 100% of pupils at Moortown Primary School reaching or exceeding the pass mark in the check, your school is in the top 2% of all primary schools in the country.
This year’s figures show that 99% of pupils who reach or exceed the pass mark in the phonics check go on to achieve at least the expected standard in Key Stage 1 reading, which underlines the importance of developing the ability to decode words effectively at an early age.
I am pleased to learn that you have ensured that all Year 1 children in your school have a firm foundation in reading, from which they can develop further and become increasingly fluent readers.
Thank you for your work in this vital area of a child’s early education and congratulations again to you and your staff for your hard work and professionalism.
Well done to all the Year 1 (now Year 2) children, and to the staff in our Reception and Year 1 class. Thank you, also, to parents / carers who support their child so well at home, practising spellings and reading regularly.
Incidentally, earlier this year, we received a similar letter from David Laws (26 January 2015), congratulating the school on our Key Stage 2 results for disadvantaged pupils since 2012.
