Issue 13 2013-14

Newsletter Issue 13

Friday 6th December 2013

Dear Parent/Carer,

Thank you first of all to everyone who contributed to the Operation Christmas Child Shoebox appeal. The shoeboxes were collected on Monday and we had between 50 and 60 boxes to send overseas. I was also fortunate enough to hold an assembly on Monday where Vaughan and Alan from the British Legion presented the School Captains with the Poppy Appeal shield as Robin Hood was once more, the school who raised the most money for the appeal in the local Family of Schools. And as if that wasn’t enough, a huge amount of money was raised by our fabulous PTA on Saturday at the Christmas Fayre and I know that everyone who attended had an absolutely brilliant time.

Finally, thanks to those parents who attended the Parent Coffee Morning on Monday. There were some useful discussions to take forward around our chosen school agendas.

Assemblies

Thank you so much to all the parents who have turned up for the new-style Friday assemblies so far. We have had such wonderful positive praise and feedback for the new format and I am really glad that you feel that the assemblies are a more positive experience for you and your child. It’s also really wonderful to see more parents in school, who may otherwise have found it difficult to attend. Change is necessary in a forward thinking school and where safety is the issue; decisive action must always be taken.

Tournaments
As mentioned last week, a group of our children visited Rodillian on Monday to take part in a Netball tournament. This was a fabulous opportunity to get involved in a local sporting event. But that’s not all, because our Girl’s Football Team also attended a tournament on Wednesday evening at Garforth Academy. Although we did not win any of the tournaments, all children entered into the spirit of the events with real commitment and enthusiasm and we are all really proud of what they achieved. It has been a while since Robin Hood has had such involvement with the community sporting events so I am so grateful to Miss Mees, Mr Malley and Miss Pensom who are doing a great job of facilitating our involvement but also to the children and parents for their support.

Monies

If you need to hand money into school, please could you ensure that money is placed in a labelled envelope and posted into the secure silver post box at the front of the office please. Thank you.

2Build a Profile

In Reception, we have started to use a fantastic iPad app courtesy of 2simple, which allows us to securely capture moments of learning and match them up with the Early Years Framework objectives. It is used not only to evidence coverage, but to assess children’s attainment and crucially, to be able to share the learning with parents. These then form the children’s profiles. The 2simple film crew have been in school this week to film children and interview staff about the benefits of the app. This will be made into a promotional film to be used on the 2simple website, showing that Robin Hood is once more at the forefront of innovative practice.

A notice from Councillor Mulherin

Do not miss Robin Hood Residents Association’s annual Christmas Carol event tomorrow night!  RHRA’s fabulous volunteers from the local community have organised another great event to get Robin Hood in the Christmas spirit with well-loved carols played by Tingley Brass Band, hot soup and rolls to keep us warm, activities for children, the switching on of the lights on Robin Hood’s Christmas Tree and of course a visit from Santa!  The fun starts at 4pm on Saturday 7^th December at the Community Garden on Copley Lane (opposite Robin Hood Post Office).  We hope to see you there.  Best wishes, Cllr Lisa Mulherin.

Celebration Friday

Next Friday, you are invited into school at pick up time to come in and look at your child’s learning from this half term. Everyone is welcome.

PTA News

We hope you enjoyed the Xmas Fayre last week, we certainly did.  I will have a final figure of monies raised by next week.  Thank you so much to all those that helped out before, during and after the event along with everyone who attended, making it a very special day.  The raffle has been drawn and Clare has made attempts to contact the winners.  On each classroom door there is a list of all the winning names and numbers so if you would like to check the list you never know......  We will be arranging a PTA meeting early in the New Year to discuss the Fayre and decide on our next event, details to follow.  Should anyone want to contact us please do so at robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Dale

Nursery newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP
The children’s brains must be tired out this week as it has been assessment week! They have been showing us all the fantastic learning they have been doing over the past 5 weeks; the children have made lots of progress in phonics, reading, writing and numeracy and we are all very proud of their excellent achievements. Well done Nursery!

THIS WEEK

The children have been very giddy in literacy this week as they have been writing their Christmas lists to Santa. There were lots of exciting conversations taking place on Monday when they rifled through the catalogues choosing their favourite toys and showing their friends what they were going to ask Santa for. The writing the children produced was super and we are delighted to share their fabulous writing with the other teachers in our school. In topic the children have made some amazing wintry snow globes which look fabulous and will look great in your house. They will be available to buy from our shop at the nativity. In numeracy, the children have been spotting shapes in and out of context as well as playing shape bingo! 

NEXT WEEK
We will be learning all about the nativity story and we will be practising our Nativity performance, so please keep practising the songs at home. We will be making and writing our Christmas cards in literacy and preparing our calendars and making salt dough Christmas decorations. The Christmas decorations will be available to buy at our Christmas nativity shop. In numeracy we will be consolidating our maths learning and using our skills to play collaborative maths games.

CHRISTMAS NATIVITY DATES

Please help your child learn the nativity songs which can be found on the blog and help them learn their lines if they have them. Our dress rehearsals will be week commencing 9^th December so please ensure that their costume is in nursery by then. Our productions for the parents to watch will be on Wednesday 18^th December (Mon – Wed children) 9.30-10.00 and Friday 20^th December (Wed – Fri children) 9.30 – 10 am. Our Christmas shop will open at 10am where you will be able to buy some of the wonderful things your child has been making.  

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Steel and the Nursery team.

Reception newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP

The children’s brains must be aching this week as it has been assessment week, so they have been showing us all the fantastic learning they have been doing over the past 5 weeks. The children have made lots of progress in phonics, reading, writing and numeracy and we are all very proud of their excellent achievements. Well done Reception!

THIS WEEK

The children have been very excited in literacy this week as they have been writing their Christmas lists to Santa. There were lots of exciting conversations taking place on Monday when they rifled through the catalogues choosing their favourite toys and showing their friends what they were going to ask Santa for. The writing the children produced was great and we are very excited to share their fabulous writing with the other teachers in our school. In topic the children have made some amazing wintery snow globes which look fabulous and will look great in your house. They will be available to buy from our shop at the nativity. Thank you so much for providing your child with a jar. In numeracy the children have made some beautiful wrapping paper with a repeated pattern on. We will use the paper to wrap up all the lovely presents your child will be bringing you home for Christmas. In phonics they have learnt to read the Phase 3 sounds oo (book), oo (hoop), ar (car) and or (corn) and have learnt to read the tricky words; you, all, are, her, they and my. 

NEXT WEEK

We will be learning all about the nativity story and we will be practising our nativity so please keep practising the songs at home. We will be making and writing our glitzy Christmas cards in literacy. We will also be preparing our calendars and making our salt dough Christmas decorations. The Christmas decorations will be available to buy at our Christmas nativity shop. In numeracy we will be learning about money and the children will open their very own Christmas shops and they will use coins to buy the presents. In phonics we will be learning to read the sounds; ur (turn), oi (coin) and ow (cow). There are no specific words for the children to read this week but please ensure your child can read all the phase 3 words which are attached to the home learning.  

CHRISTMAS NATIVITY DATES

Please help your child learn the nativity songs which can be found on the blog and help them learn their lines if they have them. Our Dress rehearsal will be on Monday the 9^th of December so please ensure that their costume is in their locker by then. Our production for the parents to watch will be on Thursday 19^th December. The hall doors will open at 9.15am and it will start at 9.30 and end at 10am. Our Christmas shop will open at 10am where you will be able to buy some of the wonderful things your child has been making.  

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Lambert, Miss Pyatt and the Reception team.

Key Stage 1

Home Learning: This week please use the sheet/s provided to practice adding and subtracting. The children can either put the biggest number in their head and count forward (adding) or put the biggest number in their head and count back (subtracting). Please feel free to allow your children to also count on their fingers to help them solve the problems. You could do this as a game to see how many they can do against the clock!

KS1’s first Celebration Assembly:

Thank you to all parents and carers who attended our first Key Stage One assembly. We hope you enjoyed our showcase of learning and have been able to see much more of how many wonderful and rich learning experiences your children have at school.

The Jungle Book, Yorkshire Playhouse

Next week the children will be enjoying a trip to the theatre to watch the Jungle Book.

All Year Two children from Miss McSorley’s and Miss Pensom’s will be going on Tuesday 10^th December.

All Year One children from Miss Pensom’s and Miss Mees’s will be going on Wednesday 11^th December. Thank you to all parents who have paid for the cost of this trip. If any payments need to be made please do this at the front office with Mrs Smith or Mrs Holland.

PE Uniform

Earlier this week your child brought home a detailed letter on the new PE arrangements at Robin Hood. We are really looking forward to having two hours of PE a week! It is extremely important that the uniform stated is adhered too.

Monday: All classes outdoor.

Warm hooded top, warm jogging bottoms, white t-shirt and outdoor trainers.

Wednesday: All classes indoor.

White t-shirt, black or dark plain shorts.

PE uniform can be kept in school in your child’s locker for the duration of the half term if you so wish. If uniform is not brought in or worn your child will miss out on a play time. We thank you for your support in this matter and look forward to having more Physical Education within the curriculum. We know your children will enjoy it too.

Assessment Week:

This week the children have worked extremely hard to show off all of their fantastic learning since entering their new classes in September. The children have really shown how much they have already progressed in their new classes and these assessments will be used to inform teaching for the new year of 2014. Your children are amazing; it really is as simple as that!

Next week:

In Literacy your children will begin a unit of learning on instructions where they will be making a seasonal calendar and unique Christmas card. In Numeracy the children will also be continuing to develop their mental maths skills with lots of fun Christmas number games. They will continue to develop adding and subtracting quickly, doubling numbers and learning skills to add or subtract 9 and 11 from a number. In Topic the children will also be learning about the different seasons, the equator and why different animals are suited to different parts of the world.

Carols around the tree

This year our annual carols around the tree will take place in separate key stages. Key Stage One’s will take place on Friday 20^th December at the new time of 11.30am until 12pm. We hope to see lots of faces there to sing along with us and get you in the mood for a merry and enjoyable Christmas!

Important dates for your diary to do with parties and toys!

On Thursday 19^th December will be Key Stage One’s Christmas party. On this day your child will be able to bring in a separate labelled carrier bag their own party clothes to wear whilst partying. We would kindly appreciate any donations of savoury or sweet foods, drink (Squash or juice) plastic plates and cups.

On the last day of term, Friday 20^th December the children will take part in their annual toy day where they will be able to bring in a toy or game of their choice. Please make sure that all items are labelled with your child’s name and class. If your child chooses to bring in anything electrical please ensure this is fully charged at home.

Ten school days left until the Christmas holidays, time most certainly flies when you are having fun!

Have a lovely relaxed weekend.

The Key Stage One Team

LKS 2 Newsletter 

 

We have had another fun filled week of exciting learning in 3/4! The children have blown us away with their amazing attitudes towards their assessments and we are very proud of the great progress everyone is making. We have also been busy with rehearsals for our Christmas production and are very impressed with the children’s superb acting, singing and dancing. This year’s show is absolutely fantastic and we strongly recommend that you come along to see all of our amazing, talented children in 3/4. Our performances are on Tuesday 17^th December 2:00pm – 3:00pm and Wednesday 18^th December 6:00pm – 7:00pm.

Costumes for the show

The children in 3/4T will be dressed as elves, 3/4B dressed as fairies or in Christmas attire (jumpers, hats, scarves, etc.) and 3/4S dressed in Christmas attire or as reindeer. If you require any further details of costumes, etc. please do not hesitate to contact us.

Home Learning

As well as the children reading daily and practicing their weekly spellings, we would like everyone to be learning their Times Tables. We will now be testing the children weekly on a different times table as this will help us all greatly when solving multiplication and division problems. Links to any on line games to support your child with this will be on our phase blog. The times table we will be testing next week is the 11 Times Table.

Numeracy

This week in numeracy the children have been applying their written and mental strategies involving the four operations whilst tackling our numeracy assessment papers. We are really pleased with the children’s improvement in their mental maths scores and can already see how the children’s times tables knowledge is helping them to solve problems more quickly.

Literacy

This week in literacy, the children have continued to apply their persuasive skills to write a letter to Santa, trying to persuade him to visit by explaining why they deserve lots of presents this year. We have been impressed with how the children are developing their fantastic ideas into both compound and even complex sentences and how they are using lots of different adjectives to make their writing more interesting.  

Topic

This week the children have been working super hard designing and customising their own pumps. They have tried really hard to ensure they are copying their detail from their designs onto the final product. We have also been creating our own adverts to promote our products using lots of different persuasive techniques.

Spellings

These Spellings will be tested on Monday 9^th December. For this week’s spellings we are giving the children some of the trickier words from this half term.

Group 1: slightly, lightly, useful, truthful, doubtful, powerful, spiteful, skilful, lovely, nicely

Group 2: passed, jumped, shouted, tried, cried, travelled, explored, discovered, explained, funded

Reminders

       ·         Our last swimming session for this half term will be Friday 13^th December.

·         Please ensure your child has an art shirt in school at all times.
 

·         Now that the weather is turning colder, we ask that your child must bring a coat to school every day.
 

·         Just a gentle reminder to ensure all of your child’s belongings (especially PE kits, hats and gloves and school jumpers) are clearly labelled with your child’s full name.

Don’t forget to check out our blog where you will find lots more information about this week’s learning as well as important reminders and dates for forthcoming event. http://year34rhps.blogspot.co.uk/

Have a superb weekend!

Team 3/4

UKS2 Newsletter

 

News Roundup:

 

Another reminder about our Celebration Assembly:

As many of you may be aware the format for our Friday assemblies has now changed. We will now hold Phase Assemblies on a rota basis. These will continue to be celebratory and will help give parents who cannot attend every Friday, the chance to come along when it is their child’s turn to be involved. The forthcoming upper key stage 2 celebration assemblies have been scheduled for: Friday 10^th January, 2.30- 3.00pm followed by Friday 8^th February… we look forward to seeing you there!

End of term assessments:

A huge ‘well done’ to all the children in Year 5 and 6 for giving 110% to their end of term assessments. The children tackled the papers with confidence and have achieved some excellent results! Keep up the amazing effort to your learning everyone!

Year 6 Parent Consultations:

All year 6 children have received a letter about Parent Consultations for these children only to discuss your child’s progress and targets, well ahead of the formal end of year externally-marked assessments. Miss Hinton’s class appointments are on Monday January 13^th, Miss Gascoigne’s class appointments are Tuesday January 14^th and Mr Malley’s class appointments are Wednesday January 15^th. Each parent will be allocated a 15 minute time slot, therefore we ask parents/carers to specify a time on the letter which is most suitable and hand it into your child’s class teacher, or to the office. We will try our very best to accommodate all parents/carers, so do not hesitate to contact us should there be any major concerns regarding this.

Core Subjects:

Numeracy:

In Numeracy this week the children have been applying the 4 operations to create their very own ‘I’m a Celebrity’ camp by using compound shapes. The children have found the area of their shapes, including using Next week we will continue to apply the 4 operations to some multi-step Christmas problems!

 

Literacy:

In Literacy this week pupils have been finalising their letters of complaint to Alton Towers. The children have been busy including engaging and firm features to stress their anger at being turned away from Alton Towers, whilst stating what compensation would be suitable and recommendations that the park should take on board in order to improve customer service. We clearly have some strong-minded children who are not afraid to say their piece! Well done, everyone!

 

Next week pupils will be looking at the key features of a travel guide. They will then apply these features into their own Lapland travel guide. This festive topic will no doubt motivate children and help them in writing a very appealing and descriptive guide of what Lapland has to offer.

 

SPELLINGS: This week, the spellings are: prepay, prehistoric, premolar, precaution, prevent, adherence

adverb, although, almost, altogether. Your child has received a copy of these spellings which have been glued into their planner. They will be tested on these words on Friday December 13^th.

 

Other areas of the curriculum:

 

PE: This week pupils have continued to develop their own sequence routines by applying a range of key criteria including; rolls, balances, canon, flight and travelling. Each group has also learnt and refined the key skills needed to mount and dismount using the vault using the trampette.

 

Once again, please ensure that your child comes to school with the appropriate PE kit each week.

5/6M and 5/6MO PE sessions are on Mondays and 5/6G PE sessions are on now on Wednesdays. As the PE unit this half term is Gymnastics, the children only need their plain white PE t-shirt and black shorts.

 

 

Spanish:

This week in Spanish, pupils have continued to embed their pronunciation and spelling of the days of the week and months of the year.  Pupils have been putting their knowledge of los objetos de la classe (classroom objects) into sentences using the sentence starter ‘Tengo…’ (I have) and ‘No Tengo…’ (I don’t have).  Check out the Year 5/6 blog for photos of the amazing team work and the Spanish classroom objects made.

ICT:

During our ICT sessions, the children have been challenging themselves this week to program their robot to perform a tricky procedure which was to reverse in the shape of a square and then drive forward into an equilateral triangle.