Our weekly message: Friday 31 January 2025
It’s the last day of January – what a busy month it’s been. If you celebrated the lunar new year, then a belated Happy New Year to you.
National storytelling week
National Storytelling Week starts tomorrow. It’s an annual event that celebrates stories and storytelling – it’s the perfect opportunity for families to share the joy of stories together. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication, fostering empathy and imagination in ways that resonate deeply with children. Whether through traditional folk tales, family anecdotes, or made-up adventures, storytelling helps children develop a love of language and encourages their natural curiosity about the world.
Join the at home by making storytelling part of your family routine. You can celebrate at home by reading a favourite book aloud with your child, recreating your own family stories and adventures or even acting out a tale together with props and costumes. Bedtime is a great time to bring stories to life, especially if you encourage your child to add their own twists to the tale. You could also explore audiobooks or visit your local library to find collections of folktales from around the world to share.
We know that children are more likely to enjoy reading if:
- someone reads to them regularly
- they find time to read
- they have books at home and at school
- they know a trusted person who can help them find the right books
- we make reading fun for them
- they are given a choice in what they read
Talking of reading…
World Book Day
World Book Day is on Thursday 06 March is another wonderful event that complements National Storytelling Week.
This year, we aren’t inviting children to dress up. (We alternate this each year.) Instead, we’ll mark the day in school with a host of fun and engaging reading-related activities. Amongst other things, we’ll hear teachers read aloud their favourite stories, spend time in other classes reading with different children and explore new authors and books. And remember to keep an eye out for a competition where you can win book vouchers!
National curriculum assessments
Primary school pupils in England take part in various assessments…
- Reception baseline assessment: within the first 6 weeks of entering reception
- Early Years Foundation Stage profile assessment: between April and June of the academic year in which they turn 5 (usually the Reception year)
- Phonics Screening Check: in June of Year 1
- Key Stage 1 tests: optional, these are at the end of Year 2
- Multiplication Tables Check: in June of Year 4
- Key Stage 2 tests (known as SATs): in May of Year 6
The government has updated its guides for parents about the different assessments.
Park up with respect
Getting to school by foot, scooter or bike is the happiest and healthiest. We know sometimes people might need to use their car – but if you do, please remember to park carefully. Check out this advice from Leeds City Council.
Finally, across the year we’ve been spotlighting the impact of a week away from school for a term-time holiday. This week, it’s the turn of Maths…
If your child was absent for five days in a row…
Daily maths lessons build learning in sequences of small steps. If your child misses five days of school, they’ll miss a large part of the sequence.
Our Maths curriculum is divided into blocks of learning (eg place value, fractions, length) that often last a week or two. If it’s the beginning of a new sequence that your child misses, it makes it much harder to understand the learning in the following weeks. If it’s the middle part of a sequence that your child misses, this means there will be gaps in their knowledge and skills. Either way, five days of absence means your child might well struggle to catch up or keep up.
Five days of absence would also mean your child misses the regular practice of calculation procedures and of recalling number facts and times tables times tables – all vital in developing fluency and confidence in Maths.
Have a happy and healthy weekend.
Our weekly message: Friday 24 January 2025
To start with, a couple of thank yous…
Thank you to those who were able to come to ‘Watch Us While We Work’ yesterday. We hope you enjoyed the session and were able to take some ideas away with you. We’d love to hear your feedback.
Also, thank you for your support during our Ofsted inspection this week…
It kicks off with a phone call on Monday morning. After that, there’s at least one more call from the Lead Inspector – ours lasted about two hours and covered lots of questions about the school. We then needed to work out a timetable alongside the Ofsted team – for us, this had to be around the four particular subjects they selected to inspect particularly closely. Following this, there are two days of inspection, from 8.00am to 6.00pm. There were two inspectors on Day 1 and one inspector on Day 2. They met with school leaders, visited lessons, observed playtimes and lunchtimes, spoke with pupils and teachers – a busy time! We’ll have the report in a few weeks. Until then, we’re not able to talk about the outcomes.
Cooking
Over the course of the year, your child has three opportunities to prepare food. A couple of things to remember…
- Please consider making a voluntary contribution (£3 to £6 to pay for the ingredients) so that we can continue to offer this. You might have already donated this year – if so, thank you.
- Don’t forget to alert us to any allergies your child has. We’ll do our best to adapt recipes.
For more about our Cooking curriculum, please check out our Cooking and Nutrition Curriculum Guide. (We’re in Year B this year.)
Next, a reminder about the importance of reading (and for your child to use their Reading Record)…
Read, read, read
Reading together at home is a wonderful way to bond with your child while fostering a love for books. Set aside a regular time each day for reading, whether it’s before bed, after school, or during quiet afternoons. Choose books that align with your child’s interests, from adventure stories to fantasy or even non-fiction, allowing them to explore different genres. Alternatively, choose something that they’d not normally read to expose them to new vocabulary. Take turns reading aloud to each other, using voices and expression – this helps build fluency and makes the experience more interactive and enjoyable.
To further enhance the reading experience, ask open-ended questions about the story, encourage your child to predict what might happen next, and discuss the characters or themes. Creating a cozy reading space with comfy seating and good lighting can make this time feel special. Remember, it’s not just about the quantity of books, but the quality of the time spent together, sparking your child’s imagination and making reading an enjoyable part of their daily routine.
In Key Stage 2, Reading Record activities should be about exploring the story to aid understanding and memory. We’ve listened to your feedback: this year, there are more, and more varied, activities to support this.
NHS Healthy Start
The NHS Healthy Start scheme helps young families on low incomes to buy healthy food and milk. If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have children under four and receive certain benefits, you could be eligible for NHS Healthy Start. Find out if you’re eligible and apply online.
Finally this week, another of our occasional messages about what a child misses if they’re absent for a prolonged time.
If your child was absent for five days in a row…
We know children are sometimes ill and have to spend time out of school – that’s inevitable. However, taking a week’s holiday during term-time means your child misses…
- over 4 hours of learning in Reading
- over 4 hours of learning in Writing
- over 5 hours of learning in Maths
- over 10 hours of learning in other subjects
- over 6 hours of opportunities for social time and play
Missing all this in one week means your child will miss significant chunks of teaching and will therefore have gaps in their learning.
Have a happy and healthy weekend!
Our weekly message: Friday 17 January 2025
The second weekly message of every half-term is always about our new topic – this half-term, it’s Geography. Before that, just a reminder about changes to penalty notices for term-time absences…
Penalty notices are issued per parent, per child (this means, for example, if there are 3 children in a family, each parent may receive 3 separate penalty notices).
In the Autumn term, Leeds City Council issued 2,908 penalty notices for term-time absences – usually holidays.
What is this half-term’s topic?
This half-term, your child is a geographer. The topic focusses on either environmental issues or natural disasters. Children in Years 1 and 2 will investigate their locality; Years 3 and 4 children will learn about volcanoes; and Y5,6 children are investigating climate change.
Check out our Topic Curriculum Guide for more information about key concepts (page 16) and age-related expectations and vocabulary (page 21 and 22).
Years 1 and 2
Children begin the topic by learning about the four countries and capital cities that make up the United Kingdom. They then go on to learn about the difference between human and physical geography features. They’ll then investigate human and physical features in their locality. The key part of this topic is to investigate their locality and identify what they like about it and why. They will also investigate something that could be improved and how it could be improved. For example, they may notice that litter is an issue and raise awareness of this issue with their peers in school, local residents and even a local councillor.
Years 3 and 4
Children will be learning about volcanoes. They’ll begin by learning about what lies beneath the Earth’s surface. They’ll investigate plate tectonics and how these move and the different types of volcanoes formed by this movement. They’ll learn about how mountains are formed and name and locate the tallest peaks in the UK – did you know that these peaks are the remains of ancient volcanoes? Next, they’ll move onto some specific case studies: Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland and Mount Vesuvius in Italy. They’ll investigate how volcanoes can be dangerous but also bring benefits to the people who live in their shadows.
Years 5 and 6
Children are learning about climate change. They’ll begin by learning about latitude and the link to world climate. They’ll then learn about what climate change is and what is causing it. They’ll look at three case studies to learn more about the consequences of climate change across the world: melting sea ice in Greenland, rising sea levels in the Solomon Islands and coastal erosion in East Yorkshire. Finally, they’ll consider how climate change can be slowed and whose responsibility it is.
How can you help?
Regardless of the year group your child is in, Google Earth is a brilliant tool to help develop children’s understanding of space, place, scale and interdependence. Zoom right in on your home and then zoom out to reveal the area of Leeds that you live in. Zoom further out to see what city you live. Zoom further for the county. A little further and you might start to spot some national parks. Further still and you can see the country that we live in. Keep zooming and you’ll see the continent we live in (though this isn’t labelled). Before you know it, you’re floating in space and circling the Earth!
Google Maps is another great tool for comparing places.
- Year 1,2: Can you find your school? Your classroom? Your house? Your local park?
- Year 3,4: Can you locate the two volcanoes you’ll be studying? Can you zoom into the craters? What similarities and differences can you see?
- Year 5,6: Use this mapping tool to investigate how a place has changed over time. We’ll be focusing on coastal erosion but you could find where you live and compare today’s map with one from fifty or a hundred years ago. What has changed and what has stayed the same?
Quizzing your children about some locational knowledge will help them to remember important information. We’ve listed some examples below. Use the age-related expectations in our Topic Curriculum Guide to find the right pitch for your child.
- Which continent do we live in?
- Which country do we live in?
- In which hemisphere is our country located?
- Which county do we live in?
- Which city do we live in?
- Which part of Leeds do we live in?
- Which four countries make up the United Kingdom?
Go to the library and get some geography-related books, especially an atlas. You could compare maps of the same place to see what type of information they show. For example, you find lots of maps of the United Kingdom. One might show the countries and capital cities. Another might show the mountains, rivers and National Parks. Another might give information about the climate.
For KS2 children, there are lots of different games and activities on the Ordnance Survey Mapzone website. We especially like the jigsaws in the Map Puzzles section of the Games. Click here for the website.
Also for KS2 children, there is lots of information and some tasks and quizzes on the BBC Bitesize website.
School meals are the healthy choice
Free school meals can support your child to stay healthy so that they can grow, learn and play! 🍽
Every day we make sure they provide the right balance of nutrients so children are ready to learn in the classroom.
To apply for free school meals, visit: https://bit.ly/41SqJ8t
Thank you to our incredible school catering team
A huge thank you to our amazing Catering team who work hard each day to cook, prepare and serve our school meals to a high standard 🤩
To find out if you are eligible for free school meals, visit: https://bit.ly/41SqJ8t
PE Partner: half term holiday club
During the February half term holidays, there will be some fantastic holiday clubs, run by PE Partner and one of them right here at our school!
These clubs are high energy, and children will engage in a wide range of sports, from football right through to dodgeball, hockey and basketball.
There will also be fun games that encourage both individual skill and also teamwork.
Early Bird prices of just £17 per day will be available until the 09 February 2025. On 10 February, the price will increase to £19 per day.
Book here
These clubs are highly rated by parents around Leeds. If you would like your child to attend, you can book a place here: https://pepartner.coordinate.cloud/list?name=Holiday+Club
Recommend a friend
School meals are tasty, nutritious, sustainable and delicious
Our school meals are cooked on site and freshly prepared using high quality ingredients.
Why not encourage your child to try the meat free option to help save our planet 🌎
To find out more, visit: https://bit.ly/41SqJ8t
Free school meals – are you entitled?
In January 2024, 8,435 pupils entitled to a free school meal missed out on a free hot, nutritious lunch.
Children are in school for 190 days every year, so think of the savings you could make by making sure they are signed up.
Contact the school office to find out if you’re entitled to free school meals or apply online by visiting: https://bit.ly/41SqJ8t
Our weekly message: Friday 10 January 2025
A belated happy and healthy new year to you all.
What a tricky start to the new term! Despite this, children came back to school on Tuesday cool, calm and collected, all ready for lots more learning! Thank you again for your understanding and support when we had to make the difficult decision to close on Monday.
New year, new contact details?
Let’s start with a short request: If you’ve got any new contact details for you or other contacts, please remember to let us know. We need up-to-date details for the people on our lists in case of emergencies. (The people on our lists are the ones you gave us when your child started school – in most cases, we should have details for three different people.)
Attendance matters
Our school attendance in the Autumn term was 95.3% – much higher than for the same term last year (93.8%). Brilliant!
Compared to other Leeds schools, it puts us around the middle place (116th place out of 223 schools. Compared to other schools nationally, we’re around the mid-point (decile 5: in the 40%-50% band).
Thank you for continuing to make sure your child gets to school as much as possible. (And a big thank you and well done to Year 5 pupils and parents for their attendance in particular: 97.5!)
As always, if you’re unsure, please check the NHS app: Is my child too ill for school?
Talking of attendance…
Don’t forget our Spring Attendance Competition!
All pupils with attendance of 97% or higher this half-term will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop voucher!
So… for the full Spring 1 half-term, Tuesday 07 January to Friday 14 February (six weeks), if your child comes to school 97% or more, their name will be entered into a prize draw. We’ll select one lucky winner on the last day of the half-term (Friday 14 February).
Money matters
This time of year can be difficult for many families dealing with additional costs and pressure on their household budgets. The Money Information Centre offers access to free, confidential, and impartial help and advice on a range of money-related matters, with a range of useful information about employment support, energy, fuel and food support and the healthy holidays programme.
Watch Us While We Work: you said, we listened
Our Watch Us While We Work and Topic Review sessions are really popular – lots of you attend these. However, some parents have told us being able to visit just one class is frustrating. We’ve listened.
The next Watch Us While We Work session is coming up – it’s first thing on Thursday 23 January.
This time, we’ve asked teachers to plan for two parts within the half hour session. This means after the first 10-15 minutes or so, you’ll get a chance to switch classrooms without disrupting the learning going on.
We realise this doesn’t help if you’d prefer to visit three classes or more because you’ve more children, but we think these 10-15 minutes parts are as short as they can be while making sure you still get the most out of them.
Enjoy your weekend – stay warm!
Weather update for Wednesday 08 January
Just like today, we aim to open as normal tomorrow.
Registers will be open for longer. Your child won’t be marked in as late if they arrive later than usual.
This is to make sure you can get to school safely despite the freezing weather.