National Santa Dash

On Friday, all children took part in the National Santa Dash. This event was all about having some fun whilst being active.

We’ve decided to extend this event: we’ll be holding an Easter and Summer Dash, too! Our goal is to allow pupils to set some targets and improve on their personal bests through the year.

Here are some photos – enjoy!

Our weekly message: Friday 06 December

Stuck for a gift idea? Check out the National Book Tokens website: book recommendations (for adults and children), activities, and a chance to win a £100 book token!

It’s a busy time of the year but have a look at this Leeds guide for free and low-cost things to do this winter – from opportunities to meet Santa to a chance to enjoy a festive mystery matinee.

It’s the countdown to Christmas, but there’s still lots of learning to prioritise, too. Keeping daily routines helps your child to manage such an exciting time. Please remember to stick with our Uniform Policy.

Measles

Did you know measles is on the rise in this area? Measles is highly infectious. It can lead to serious complications including fits, damage to the brain, or even worse. Unvaccinated children are most at risk of severe complications from measles. Check out this information from Leeds LA, covering symptoms and how best to protect you and your family.

Science

This rest of this week’s message comes from Mr Wilks, our Science and Foundation subjects leader. The message is about what your child’s currently learning in their Science lessons…

Year 1

Pupils are currently learning about different materials. They’re identifying objects made out of different materials and describing them using appropriate adjectives (eg soft, hard, rough, smooth). They’re working scientifically, for example, to investigate whether different materials float or sink.

Next term, they’ll learn about different types of animals. They’ll work scientifically by identifying and grouping animals. They’ll also learn about carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.

Year 2

Pupils are also learning about materials. They’re exploring a range of different materials and their uses. They’re explaining why a certain material is or isn’t appropriate for a particular use. They’re working scientifically by, for example, investigating whether different materials are waterproof or not.

Next half-term, they’ll be biologists as they’re learning about plants. They’ll explore the types of plants that grow in the school grounds. They’ll also learn about different parts of plants. They’ll work scientifically by conducting an enquiry into whether plants grow healthier in the light or in the dark.

Year 3

Pupils are learning about rocks. They’re describing rocks according to observable characteristics. For example, does the rock have layers? Does it have visible crystals? Is it rough or smooth? Hard or soft? They’re working scientifically by grouping rocks according to these characteristics.

Following this, they’ll learn about soils and then fossils. They’ll learn about the fossilisation process and a female scientist: Mary Anning.

Year 4

Pupils are currently learning about the different states of matter (solids, liquids and gases). They’re classifying things as solids, liquids and gases. Some of these are tricky, for example, sand behaves like a liquid (it pours and takes the shape of its container) but it’s a solid. Pupils are working scientifically by carrying out an enquiry about how the temperature of water affects the time it takes for ice to melt. As part of this unit, they’re also learning about the water cycle.

Year 5,6

Pupils are learning about electricity this half-term. They’re drawing circuit diagrams using symbols to represent the different components. They’re working scientifically by investigating the effect on different components when the current in a circuit is changed.

After half-term, they’ll move on to learn about light. In this unit, they’ll learn about how light travels in straight lines, how shadows are formed, and they’ll work scientifically by investigating how the size of a shadow changes when the distance from a light source changes.

Help at home

Talk to your child about their learning in class. Check out the Class News pages as they may have some posts about Science learning. Your child may want to recreate an experiment they’ve done at school or have a different question they’d like to investigate. Or, you can look up fun, practical science experiments you can do at home with everyday objects.

Get outside and take notice of the natural world. A large proportion of the primary science curriculum is devoted to biology so here are a few ideas which will support this:

• Talk about plants and animals that you see at different times of the year. Now is a great time to spot deciduous and evergreen trees.
• In December/January look out for winter flowering plants like snowdrops, pansies or camellias.
• Try taking a photo every week from of a green space in your locality. Take it from the same position so that over the weeks and months you can see how the landscape changes.
• Go on a nature walk. Make a list of ten things to try to find on your walk and see how many you can tick off. It’s been three years and I still haven’t been able to tick woodpecker on my list!

Wellbeing Advent

It’s one day late, but you might like to try this out with your child…

The lead up to the winter break can be a fun and exciting time. For some though, it can be anxiety inducing and stressful. Young Minds has created a series of wellbeing advent calendars, customised for primary and secondary children.

Our weekly message: Friday 29 November

This week, our Living and Learning statement has been ‘I can talk about my feelings’…

When you’re reading aloud with your child, or talking about what they’ve been reading independently, or even chatting about something you’ve both watched together, invest some time talking about the feelings of the characters. The more comfortable your child is at this, the more able they’ll be at managing their feelings. (And a good message is that all feelings are okay, but the behaviours they lead to may not be okay – it’s okay to feel angry, for example, but not okay to act in ways that hurt others.)

Terrific times tables

Every year, children in Year 4 take part in the national Multiplication Tables Check. The national data was released this week. The average score across the country was 20.6 out of 25. At St James’ CE Primary, our average score was 21.2 – higher than the national. Well done to the children (our current Year 5 children). Thank you for making sure your child learns their times tables. Check out our information and advice about supporting your child with this.

Learning to read, reading to learn

The shift from learning to read to reading to learn is a crucial milestone in a child’s educational journey.

In the Early Years and Key Stage 1, children focus on learning how phonics works and decoding words (that’s ‘sounding out’ the letters into sounds – phonemes).

As they move towards the end of Year 2, children use reading as a tool to explore and acquire knowledge across subjects like science, history, and geography. This can help develop thinking, comprehension, and the ability to use information they have read.

Mastering this skill empowers learners to independently research, solve problems, and engage in lifelong learning. Encouraging reading a wide range of texts and promoting curiosity ensures children are prepared to thrive in an information-rich world.

Help at home: make sure your child reads at home every day, and encourage them to be enthusiastic readers by talking about what their reading, whatever that is – comics, stories, factual books…

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

Our weekly message: Friday 22 November

This week’s message is a short one. It starts with a particularly important point…

Staying safe

Did you read this news story this week? We were so sad when we read it.

We’ve a long list of online safety tips but three simple ones to follow are:

• make sure your child is only online in a shared room like the living room or kitchen where there are others around – and that also means have no mobile devices in the bedroom
• talk to your child often about what they’re getting up to online
• check your child’s mobile device regularly, just like you might check on who they’re playing with at the park – why not set an alarm on your phone a couple of times each week to remind you

Online safety has been our Living and Learning theme this week: I know how important it is to make careful choices when online. Each week, check our school calendar for the Living and Learning theme.

Oracy

This half-term, your child will be continuing to practise their oracy skills throughout all of their learning.

Oracy is your ability to communicate and express yourself effectively. It’s about having the vocabulary to be able to say what you want to say and the grammatical awareness to structure your thoughts in a logical way.

Good oracy skills have loads of benefits…

• it increases engagement in learning
• it improves academic outcomes
• it develops wellbeing and confidence
• it equips students to thrive in later life

Help at home…

1. Be an oracy role model: model good speaking and listening skills to your child, and when they’re in ear-shot.
2. Don’t ‘dumb down’ your language: try not to avoid using more complex vocabulary. Instead, use complicated language but then succinctly explain what it means eg succinct means short and quick
3. Complete the talk time homework: these are a great opportunity to have a conversation and model good oracy skills.

Have a happy and healthy weekend – and stay warm!

Our weekly message: Friday 15 November

Thanks for your Children in Need donations this morning – we raised £129.93. The collection bucket will be out again this afternoon.  

As we always do, the message this week – second week of the half-term – is all about our new topic in Key Stage 1 and 2. The message comes from Mr Wilks, who leads Science and foundation subjects across Sphere Federation.

What is this half-term’s topic?

Topics are the vehicle for delivering much of the learning in the foundation subjects (eg History, Art, Geography, Design Technology). This half-term, we’re artists. We’ll develop our art knowledge and skills.

The learning this half-term has two aspects to it:

• art appreciation and history: your child will learn about some specific artists and their work
• art process: your child will practise and develop skills by creating art

Each phase has age-related knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they’ll learn, use and apply across the topic. Please see pages 10 and 11 of the Topic Curriculum Guide.

We’ve also produced an Art Curriculum Guide which gives you more information about how art is taught in school and the different ‘visual and tactile elements’ that pupils will be learning about and using in their lessons.

What’s happening in each phase of school?

Years 1 and 2

Children will learn about two featured artists across the half-term: Georges Seurat and Bridget Riley. They’ll compare their art, talking about similarities and differences. They’ll discuss what they like and dislike about the art and how it makes them feel. They’ll also learn about the artists’ lives and where in the world they lived.

In practical art lessons, children will hone their artistic skills and knowledge by sketching objects using pencil and developing painting skills inspired by Bridget Riley and Georges Seurat.

Years 3 and 4

Children will learn about the work of two architects: Christopher Wren and Zaha Hadid.

They’ll compare and contrast the buildings that these architects designed. They’ll look at the influence of classical Greek architecture on the two architects and look for examples of this in buildings locally and nationally. In practical art sessions, children will develop observational drawing skills, before focussing on creating sketches and drawings of buildings on different media.

Years 5 and 6

Children will learn about and study the work of two designers: William Morris and Orla Kiely.

They’ll look at examples of products that use their designs and then focus on the designs, analysing them using technical vocabulary. They’ll also compare the designs, spotting similarities and differences.

In practical art lessons, children will sketch their own designs inspired by Kiely or Morris. They’ll then create relief prints of their own designs which they’ll turn into a wallpaper design using a design website.

How can you help?

Talk to your child about what they’ve been learning. The Class News page of our website is a good place to go to find out more about what your child is doing.

Familiarise yourself with the artists and the artwork that your child will be learning about in class. Look in books or on the internet for pieces by the artists and talk about them. Find art by other artists that you like and compare it to the featured artists. If you feel confident, you can go into more depth using the topic-specific vocabulary. However, if not, leave that to the teachers and just enjoy looking at the pieces and asking general questions:

• What do you like or dislike about the art?
• How does the art make you feel?
• What colours can you see?
• Can you spot influence of Greek architecture in buildings (eg columns or pediments)?

The Tate Gallery has a good children’s website with games and activities which children can explore.

If you’re in Leeds, the Leeds Art Gallery and Henry Moore Institute are both free to enter and if your child has already visited during a trip, they can be the tour guide and show you around!

Finally this week…

Next week is Road Safety Week. As the clocks have changed and the nights are darker, the week highlights the importance of road safety. Check out these road safety tips and just look at how important bright clothing is at this time of year…

Remembrance Parade

Thank you to the children who took part in the remembrance parade in Wetherby this weekend. It was lovely to see so many St James’ faces in the crowds too. Today, we’ll be having a one minute silence to remember those who have fought in conflict both past and present.

Our weekly message: Friday 08 November

What a busy week!

Me and My Community week

This week, children have been enthusiastically learning about all things community-related as part of our Me and My Community themed week.

Highlights included some junior leaders visiting Warm Spaces (a volunteer service providing lunch for people in our community), sessions considering stereotypes and diversity, Year 5 children visiting Wetherby’s community radio station Tempo FM to talk about the themed week, and of course a visit from Wetherby’s mayor this morning!

Speak with your child about some of the learning they’ve done this week linked to communities.

There’s another themed week later in the year – Being Healthy.

Our new school charity

Part of our Me and My Community themed week involved the selection of our school charity. Last year, our charity was Leeds Hospitals Charity. This year, the shortlist was selected by the Admin people across Sphere Federation. The six charities were then discussed in class before our new Junior Leadership Team met to agree the final charity.

They’ve selected Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

We’ll raise some money across the year for the charity – the main way will be collections at Christmas and end-of-year performances.

STOP!

• Several Times On Purpose
• Start Telling Other People

Beyond next week, please keep talking about these – one’s a definition of bullying and the other’s a solution. Talk about the differences between falling out and bullying, and between a one-off situation and something that’s happened more than once.

Check out this anti-bullying advice for parents and carers.

This half-term’s Christian value is…

…compassion.

At St James’ CE Primary School, we learn about Christian values that help us to become well-rounded citizens in society. Each half-term, we have a new Christian value that will be embedded into our collective worship and our reflection areas.

This half-term, we focus on compassion.

‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ Ephesians 4:32

The definition of compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is hurting, in pain, or has misfortune and is accompanied by a strong desire to help the suffering. Christians believe that Jesus is the greatest example of someone with true compassion. Not only did Jesus have compassion and heal people from physical suffering, he also showed the greatest compassion when he died on the cross for our sins.

A Junior Leadership Team member thinks this value is important because, ‘It helps you understand what they’re feeling and how to help them and then makes the school a happier place’.

It’s not always easy to show compassion, especially when we feel like the person deserves their misfortune, but we try to show compassion to all who need it whether they are the same as us or different.

Help at home!

Talk to your child about compassion.

• How can they show sympathy for a friend?
• Is there anyone in school who is very compassionate?
• Talk about a time when you were compassionate or someone was compassionate towards you.

Our weekly message: Thursday 24 October

This week’s message is one day early because tomorrow is a training day.

What happens on a training day?

Training days are exactly what they say on the tin – a day jam-packed with training for teachers to make sure they’re all fully skilled and prepared. In recent Ofsted inspection reports, the impact of the training we provide for teachers across Sphere Federation is rated highly:

Teachers have secure subject knowledge… The professional development available for all staff is of high quality, and they appreciate the collaborative support shared among the schools in the federation.

Scholes (Elmet) Primary Ofsted inspection report, 21-22 May

Professional development for all staff is exemplary. Leaders have planned high-quality training.

Moortown Primary Ofsted inspection report, 19-20 March

At the training day tomorrow, teachers from across Sphere Federation will gather for five different learning sessions: phonics teaching; using technology as a teaching aid; gymnastics; Art skills; and Living and Learning.

Talking of Living and Learning…

Living and Learning

‘I use what I’ve learnt in Living and Learning’ was this week’s Living and Learning statement. It’s an opportunity for teachers to return to some of the learning this half-term, including rights and responsibilities, protected characteristics, and democracy. Help at home…

• talk to your child about what they’ve learnt
• check out our Living and Learning Curriculum Guide – page 6 gives you an overview of next half-term’s mental wellbeing theme