This week’s message (Friday 19 November 2021)
Hello! We’ve received lots of positive feedback about last week’s message, which was an overview of our curriculum and how you can support your child at home with the current school topic. Do check it out if you missed it. This week’s message has two parts: one about Covid (it’s been a while since we talked about it!) and one about the Monday Zoom sessions we’ve been offering.
Covid cautions
We’ve recently come across this useful website that gives you an update on cases locally. The first graph thankfully shows that cases in Leeds appear to be in decline. However, check out the second graphic which is a ‘heatmap’: the darker the colour, the more cases there are. This shows that cases amongst primary age children remain high. It’s for this reason that we’re having to remain really cautious – we’ve had to reluctantly cancel live Christmas nativity shows, for example (we’ll record them and send you a copy, though).
Please continue to be equally cautious. Keep your child at home if they have a Covid symptom so they’re not spreading the disease, and make sure they go for a PCR test (a test that is sent to a lab) to check if they have Covid as soon as possible.
Supporting your child at home
Thanks to everyone who’s attended one or some of the Monday evening Zoom sessions to help you support your child at home.
This week’s session is an important one for all – it’s about staying safe online. It’s the last one of a series of seven Zoom sessions to help you support your child. Starting at 6pm and lasting for just 30 minutes , the session will provide top tips and guidance.
Please come! Send us a message on the School Gateway app or email the school office. We’ll then email the Zoom joining details to all those who expressed an interest.
Watch the most recent two sessions here.
A session about Science and topic subjects…
And a session to support Writing…
Have a happy and healthy weekend.
Nursery rhyme week
This week, we celebrated Nursery Rhyme Week. In Literacy, we read Each Peach, Pear Plum by Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg. When reading the story, we played ‘I Spy’. The children were encouraged to describe where the characters are using prepositional language, for example, Cinderella is hiding behind the cupboard.
After reading the book, they had to find a nursery rhyme character hiding in the classroom. The children had a go at writing the character’s name or a sentence describing where the character is hiding.
Of course, the chilli challenges were all linked to nursery rhymes…
Building a wall for Humpty Dumpty.
Playing ‘Busy Bus’ with our friends in the maths area.
Baking a cake as fast as we can in the playdough area.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 once we caught a fish alive!
Helping Old Mcdonald on his farm.
The children noticed the dolls were sick, sick, sick. So, they phoned for the doctor to come quick, quick, quick!
Drawing part-whole models using 5 Little Speckled Frogs.
How many frogs are sat on the logs?
How many are swimming in the pond?
Reminders!
– Please return your child’s sound book on Monday 22 November.
– Christmas production clothing needs to be in school by Friday 26 November. Please make sure it’s in a labelled carrier bag.
Home-Link Challenge
Fun, fun, fun!
The Reception and Nursery children have had a fantastic day celebrating Nursery Rhyme Week and Children in Need.
19 November 2021
For this week’s spellings, create word shapes by drawing around them. Try to remember the shapes of each word.
Year 1
• do
• for
• friend
• full
• go
Year 2
• has
• he
• here
• his
• house
• is
• love
• me
• my
• no
19 Nov 2021
This week we would like you to learn these spellings that use the suffixes:
-ful, -ness, -less and -ly. We will be having a test on Thursday 25 November.
thoughtful
meaningless
successful
thankless
careful
aggressively
consciousness
hungrily
loneliness
happily
19 November 2021
Living and Learning is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.
I know how to STOP bullying.
As it’s Anti-Bullying Week, we’ve placed a strong emphasis on what bullying is and how to stop it. In fact, ‘STOP’ is an acronym that provides a clear definition of bullying:
Several Times On Purpose
An example of bullying would be someone saying on multiple occasions that you can’t join in with their game. On the other hand, getting upset/angry in the heat of the moment or accidentally bumping into someone wouldn’t be considered bullying. As part of your discussions, can your child identify examples of what bullying does and doesn’t look like?
Our school ethos statement is that our school is a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe. School will not be a happy and healthy place if we don’t know how to stop bullying.
‘STOP’ not only tells us what bullying is, but also how to make it stop:
Start Telling Other People.
Ask your child what ‘STOP’ means – encourage them to remember both: Several Times On Purpose and Start Telling Other People.
This week’s Remember 2s (R2s) are actions to take if you see, or are the victim of, an unpleasant behaviour:
- Challenge the behaviour with that person. It may well have been accidental or something not intended to be hurtful.
- Tell that person that you don’t like that behaviour and that you want it to stop.
- If the behaviour occurs again, let a trusted adult know so they can explore the situation.
Leeds Art Gallery
Today, we travelled into Leeds city centre to pay a visit to the art gallery. This visit enriched the children’s current art learning experiences.
Throughout the afternoon, the classes took part in two workshops. They studied pieces of abstract art by looking closely at the shapes, lines, colours, spaces and patterns. Then, the children were asked to recreate the shapes using their bodies.
I loved seeing all the different pictures.
I wonder how the artists got their ideas?
I never used to enjoy art because I can’t draw. Now, I am loving it!
Ask your child about this trip. Can they remember the meaning of abstract art?
This week’s bible story
Persevering in life: Hebrews 12:1-2
Click the link and read the story all about Patrician St John.
Reflection:
Think about what you want to do this year, what you want to achieve. I’m not talking about impossible things, but maybe learning a new skill, or doing better at something, reaching the next level. What if it isn’t so easy, what if it doesn’t seem to be working out straight away – will you give up? Are you willing to fail before you succeed? If you believe in God, what difference will that make?
Just a moment of silence while we think about these things.
Bible Bits:
Listen to what the Bible says about persevering:
“Be determined and confident! Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for I, the Lord your God, am with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
“Let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus….He did not give up…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, that you have given me the ability to succeed, not in everything, but in many things. Help me to play my part by working hard and not giving up. And thank you that you will give me extra help if I ask for it and trust in you. May what I learn not just help me but others too.
Amen
Science
This half term, we are being physicists as we are studying physic. Our topic is all about light. On Thursday we were understanding about darkness being an absence of light. To do this, we created a darkness den in the classroom and all had a turn experiencing it.
Although not completely dark, it was pretty close!
If we did it again, we agreed that we might use a few more blankets to shut out the light.
Follow this link to see our science vocabulary for this topic.
Remembrance Day
This week across the school, the children have been learning about the meaning of Remembrance Day. From reading activities to art, we have covered an array of learning. The Year 6s have been collecting for the poppy appeal daily and the donations have been very generous. On Thursday 11th we had a minute’s silence in the playground in remembrance and the children were all really respectful.
