Welcome back!
Years 5 and 6 have had a really positive start back at school in 2024.
With lots to look forward to, the children have flourished through opportunities to learn in different ways, such as through our fantastic forest school!
Linking to our Vikings topic, some children decided to build a Viking-inspired den outside in our woodland area! They used what they had learnt in their previous lesson to understand and make decisions on what their Viking home might’ve looked like back in 800AD.
Spellings for this half-term
Spring Attendance Competition
St James’ CE Primary is a happy and healthy place to be – and maybe even a lucky one, too!
Look out for our attendance competition next half term. All pupils with attendance of 96% or higher will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop vouchers!
So… for the full Spring 1 half-term, Monday 08 January to Friday 09 February (five weeks), if your child reaches a good level of attendance – that’s 96% – their name will be entered into a prize draw. We’ll select one lucky winner on the last day of the half-term (Friday 09 February).
Remember, arriving late for school counts as an unauthorised absence. This affects a child’s overall attendance figure, and that might mean they lose out.
So far this term, 40 pupils have 100% attendance and 80 pupils have over 96% attendance – well done to the children and their families!
Upcoming Gymnasts!
This half term, our school PE focus has been gymnastics.
We have been learning and practising fundamental movement skills, such as jumping, balancing, rolling and travelling in different ways. This week, Years 5 and 6 have put their fundamental movement skills to the test on our school equipment! We had to make sure that we followed our safety protocols whilst moving around the hall and using our equipment. Here are some pictures of the children in action!
Living and Learning: Anti-bullying week
For our anti-bullying week, years 5 and 6 have been listening, discussing and supporting each other with anything and everything around bullying.
In our school, we know that bullying is when something negative happens:
Several
Times
On
Purpose
If we experience this, we know to Start Telling Other People.
Recently, we have been focussing on online behaviours and what respectful behaviour looks, feels and sounds like online. The class were very engaged and responsive during this discussion, providing definitions of respectful behaviour, along with advice and support to people who may have been treated unkindly online.
Here are some of the pupils with their definitions of respectful behaviour:
Help at home:
Check in with your child about their online experiences. Make sure they feel happy, healthy and safe when accessing online content and guide them in continuing to make safe and respectful decisions online.
Children in Need
Thank you for all your support raising money for Children in Need.
We have raised £140 for the charity.
Helping out our environment
To end the last half-term, Years 5 and 6 decided to write a letter to Miss Beatson in hope to transform our school gardening area into a fresh, healthy space. This came about from our Geography topic – we had been working hard in learning the importance of plants, trees and green spaces around us.
Thankfully, our letters were a huge success! We spent an afternoon in the lovely rain, getting our hands dirty and working as a team to improve a part of our school. The children thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and we’re really proud of our achievement. Here’s some photos below of the garden area, before and after the transformation!
Reading: Tom Palmer
This year, some children at school attended an online workshop with author Tom Palmer. Tom Palmer has been in touch to let us know about some local events he is attending in half term.
Message from Tom
For children and families – I am also coming to Leeds on Thursday 2 November 2023 :
* Farsley Book Festival – 10am-11am more here
https://trumanbooks.co.uk/event/flf-kids-day
* Chapel Allerton Library – 2pm
* Pudsey Community Hub and Library – 4pm
Living and Learning: I respect others
Our Living and Learning statement last week was…
I respect others
Year 5 and 6 have been learning about equality and discrimination. We have looked at many scenarios where an individual (or group) was being discriminated against. We discussed what these reasons might be and what we would do to change the world if we could.
Then, we had a look at the Equality Act (2010) and our protected characteristics that we can’t be discriminated against. Pupils were mature, engaged and active in this learning, which resulted in some fantastic discussions and advice for others.
Here are the nine protected characteristics:
- sex
- sexual orientation
- gender reassignment
- disability
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- religion or belief
- race
- age
We will continue to focus and test ourselves on these characteristics throughout the year.
Help at home:
Have regular conversations with your child about the nine protected characteristics. Ensure the children fully understand what discrimination could look like, and who they could talk to for help/advice.
Spellings for the first half term
Below are the 40 spellings for this half term. Please continue to learn these at home. There will be a test every Friday on 8 random words from the list. If your child is finding it difficult to learn the words, have a look at our Super Spelling Strategy document on the school website – it’s got some great ideas!
