Newsletter
Issue 11
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Friday 21st November 2014
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Dear Parent/Carer,
Well done to Lower Key Stage 2
who did a marvellous assembly this
afternoon. I must make a special mention to Mrs Moore this week, who has
organised that our Year 4 pupils can receive certificates and badges for their
swimming achievements. This is something that is new for us and I feel that
recognition of children’s achievements in this area of our sports curriculum is
really important.
Welcome
trainees
This week we have welcomed our
Trinity University trainees who will be carrying out their final year
placements this year. Aylish Brady, Chloe Darby and Alice Johnson join us under
the supervision of Miss Mees and Miss Gascoigne, our Key Stage 1 and Upper Key
Stage 2 leaders.
Thank you to Dip
Last Friday in
Reception, we had a special visit from Mrs Beckwith’s son-in-law, Dip. He very
kindly gave up his time to come in and teach the children about the traditional
story of Rama and Sita as part of the children’s learning about Diwali. As well
as the story, he also gave the children experience of playing traditional
Indian drums and dancing.
Operation
Christmas Child and other charities
I would like to take this
opportunity to thank the school community very much for your generous
contributions to the charities that we have supported this term. As well as the
Poppy Appeal and Children in Need, many families have also taken the time to
create a shoe box of goods which will be shipped to give children in severely
deprived areas of the world something to open at Christmas. The School Captains Lewis and Lia helped
carry and load the 82 boxes into the collection van earlier this
week. We're looking forward to finding out where the boxes are sent to.
My assembly on Monday touched
upon the amazing work of all these charities with a focus on the 100 year
celebration of when the First World War started and the real life story of the
Christmas Day truce.
Phase
2 building update
The building work continues to
go well. Providing the work stays on schedule, we should be able to access our
new staffroom and my new Headteacher office on Monday December 15th.
At this point, access through the school from the mall to Year 3/ 4 will be
possible. From December, the school office will be rehoused in the temporary unit
outside of the school (currently the temporary staffroom) whilst work is
completed on the space which currently houses the office, reprographics room
and staff toilets. At this point, work will also start on the expansion of the
school hall to knock through to where my Headteacher office is currently
located. We will hope that disruption to the hall will be kept to a minimum but
we will aim to keep you informed every step of the way. We will keep you
updated with new access plans for January before we break up for the Christmas
break
PTA news
We are busy putting the final
touches to the Christmas Craft Fayre which promises to be a massive success
with over 30 stalls attending, food and things to keep the children
entertained. A huge thank you needs to go to one of our lovely Mums Emma
Womersley, she has worked so hard over the last few months getting everything
together to ensure that this year’s fayre is one to remember.
Unfortunately despite Emma’s best efforts we haven’t had any response to our
request for help in last week’s newsletter. The success of the fayre (not
forgetting the money we raise for your children) depends solely on volunteers,
like yourself. If you are able to offer any time whatsoever on Saturday
29th (it doesn’t need to be all day) then please contact us in the
usual ways. Visit our Facebook page (Robin Hood Primary School PTA),
e-mail us (robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com) or follow us on Twitter
(@robinhoodpta).
Could I please second the plea
for helpers on Saturday 29th November. It is through the good faith
and commitment of our parents and community that we can have these fantastic
events. Just an hour or two would be a help so please do come forward if you
can help. Drag along any other friends and family; the more the merrier. I find
teenage ex-pupils are particularly accommodating!
Have a great weekend
Mrs Dale
REMEMBER!
Moving forward and learning together
Monday 1st December at 8:15a.m. and will
be focussed around the agendas of:
· Our website-
what isn’t there that should be?
· The use of Twitter – ways to take this forward and engage more
parents
· Our blogs-
How we can get even more use out of blogs? What blogs should we keep/not keep?
Nursery newsletter
NEWS
ROUND UP
The
children have had another fabulous week as we have enjoyed finding out about
other celebrations such as weddings, christenings and birthdays. The children
have been really enthusiastic to share their own knowledge and experiences and
alongside their celebration photographs; this has really helped the children to
make sense of their new learning. Have a look at our blog for the latest
information and to see what has been happening in Reception at: http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/
THIS
WEEK
We learned
all about general celebrations including
weddings and christenings. We have practiced our mark making skills in literacy
and have been looking at bumpy lines, zig zag lines and straight lines. We have
also practiced making circular marks to develop pre – writing skills. We have
enjoyed building different sized towers and counting in maths and the children
have really enjoyed creating their own flowers cards in our topic activity. We
have been very busy and have had lots of fun!
NEXT
WEEK
We will
be learning about Advent and the things Christian people do to prepare for
Christmas. We will be preparing a class advent calendar in our creative
sessions and will be looking at numbers in our maths sessions. Our home
learning task this week is to make a Christingle for your child which we will
use during our literacy sessions to form the basis of our speaking and
listening activities.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
· Learning
logs need to come into school every Monday for beginning of week children and
Wednesday for end of week children.
· Please
continue to engage with the home learning and ensure you listen to your child read
for 5 minutes every day. Thank you
· Please
make sure that all clothing is clearly named and if your child comes home in
spare clothes, please could you wash and return them as soon as possible.
· Please
send in a water bottle (no juice)
and a coat every day.
Thank
you for your continued support
Mrs Harley and the
Nursery Team
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Dates
for your diary.
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Wednesday
17th December 10:45a.m. – ‘Christmas singing’ (Beginning of week children)
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Friday
19th December – 2:15p.m. - ‘Christmas singing’ (end of week children)
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Reception newsletter
NEWS
ROUND UP
The
children have had another fabulous week as we have enjoyed finding out about
other celebrations such as weddings, christenings and birthdays. They have been
able to use their own photographs and experiences to make sense of their new
learning and have really impressed us with their knowledge. Have a look at our
blog for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Reception
at: http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/
THIS
WEEK
We learned
all about general celebrations
including weddings, christenings, anniversaries and birthdays. There has been
lots of busy baking going on and the children enjoyed selling their buns to
raise money for Children in Need. During
numeracy sessions, we have looked at one
more/one less and in phonics we have focused on qu as well as recapping on all the letters and sounds we have
taught in Phase 2 and 3 since September.
NEXT
WEEK
We will
be learning about Advent and the special things Christian people do to prepare
for Christmas. Our home learning task this week is to make a Christingle for
your child which we will use on Monday to introduce the topic to the children
and will form the basis of our speaking and listening activities. In our topic sessions the children will be
working collaboratively on making a class advent calendar for each Reception
class and will all make an individual window that will then be numbered and
opened on the appropriate day. In Phonics will introduce the sounds ch
sh th ng. The Key words are the Tricky words: you, they, all, are, my, her. In our
numeracy sessions we will be learning about ordinal numbers and number sequencing to 20.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
· Learning
logs need to come into school every Monday along with reading bags and home
learning. Please engage with the home learning and ensure you listen to your
child read for 5 minutes every day and help your child learn their spellings.
· Please
make sure that all clothing is clearly named and if your child comes home in
spare clothes, please could you wash and return them as soon as possible.
· PE
kits need to be in school every Friday.
· Please
send in a water bottle (no juice)
and a coat every day.
· Please
support your child to write their full name and give them lots of praise and
encouragement.
Head lice - You should have all received a letter
about head lice last week. We are asking ALL
parents including those with boys to check their child’s hair daily.
Thank you
Miss Lambert, Mrs Steel
and the Reception Team
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Dates
for your diary.
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Friday
12/12 Performance
9.30-10.15
and 2.15
– 3.00 (ticket only – more information to follow)
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Thursday
18/12 Christmas
shop in Reception 2.45 – 3.00
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Friday
19/12 Christmas
party – wear party clothes/bring food
– more information to follow
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Key Stage 1
What
an amazing week we have had, full of learning! Thank you so much for all the
boxes you have brought in so far. The children have made some amazing models of
stages using them.
BOX PLEA!!!!!!!
Please keep
bringing any boxes, yoghurt pots and kitchen rolls into school rather than the
recycle bin, so that the children can continue to make amazing model theatres.
Home learning
The
compulsory home learning each week is:
· 10
spellings per week (5 mins X 3 times a week)
· Recall
of number facts (5 mins X 3 times a week) – Please continue to practice
number bonds for 5, 10 and 20. E.g 3 + 2 = 5 What other ways can your children
show this?
· Reading
and/or using Bug Club. (10 mins X 3 times a week).
· 5
times tables.
Numeracy
Next
week in Key Stage 1 we will be moving on to subtraction. We will be giving the
children number sentences to work out. First we will start with small numbers
up to 20 then as the children become more confident we will use higher numbers.
We will be using the following methods to work out subtraction number
sentences.
· Counting objects by moving objects
away.
· Counting backwards on a number line or
a number square.
· Putting the biggest number in their
head and then counting backwards (15 - 3 = 12)
· Counting back in tens from any number
e.g. 32, 22, 12, 2
· Using partitioning. (This is where you
split the number in to tens and units and then put a line through what you are
subtracting).
Literacy
Next
week we will be continuing to read the same book as last week. In Year 1 this is “We’re going on a Bear
Hunt”, in Year 1/2 this is “Gorilla”
and in Year 2 this is “Where the wild
things are”. Next week the children
will be writing their own stories based on the stories we have been reading,
but they will be changing either the characters, the setting or the plot of
their story. They will be trying to incorporate the different punctuation that
we have concentrated on this week. This may include: Capital Letters, Full Stops, Exclamation Marks, Question Marks,
Ellipses, Brackets, Commas and Speech Marks.
Christmas Play Dates
Dates for your diaries:
Monday 15th December – KS1 Afternoon
performance 2:00 - 3:00
Tuesday 16th December – KS1 Morning
performance 9:30 - 10:30
Tuesday 16th December – KS1 Late night
performance 5:00 - 6:00
Your child will have been given their
part in the Christmas play this week. Please make sure that their costume is
brought into school by Monday the 8th of December. The Year 2
children have all been given speaking parts to learn so please practise them
with them as much as possible.
Trip
to see the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Thank you to all parents and carers who
have paid for our up and coming trip to the Theatre. Please can you return any
permission slips with monies in to Mrs Holland and Mrs Smith at Reception. The
cost of the trip is £15.00. Without the permission slip your child will not be
able to attend the trip.
Outdoor PE kits
Now the
weather is turning colder please ensure your child has the correct outdoor PE
kit. They need the following; long jogging bottoms, trainers and a warm hoodie
or jumper. We are happy for their PE kits to be left in their locker all week.
Have
a lovely weekend.
The
Key Stage One Team
Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter
Well,
what a fun and exciting week we have had in year 3/4. Tricky sums, dancing, persuasive
speeches and lots of fact finding has meant the children have been working
extremely hard. The children have been
engrossed in our British Monarchy topic and have thoroughly enjoyed finding out
about all about the Tudor times.
Literacy
This
week in literacy the children have been learning all about the positive and
negative aspects of King Henry VIII’s life.
This was to help the children to write a persuasive speech to the nation
in order to try and convince the people of Britain to replace King Henry with
themselves. We began the week by watching videos and recording facts about King
Henry VIII. We then sorted facts out into positive and negative to ensure we
gave a balanced argument. The speeches sound really good and the children have
been working hard to include a variety of persuasive techniques including
superlatives and comparatives. We are looking forward to finishing them off
next week and performing them to the class.
Numeracy
The
children have been tackling some tricky multiplications this week using the
grid method. For the Year 3’s, this will have been the first time they have
been taught this method and they have all tried extremely hard. Year 4’s have
been practicing the grid method and also applying it to a range of different
contexts, including money and finding the area of shapes. It has become evident
this week that many children are still not secure with rapid recall of times
table facts which are fundamental when multiplying and dividing numbers. We
would therefore appreciate your continued support in helping your child to learn
all of their timetables. If you would like any support, please ask your child’s
class teacher or visit the blog as we would be more than happy to offer any
assistance.
Topic
This
week during our topic lessons the children have been conducting their own
research into the Tudor period. They found out all about the Tudor monarchs,
Battle of Bosworth, Henry VIII and Tudor life. The children were highly
motivated to research lots of facts using a variety of sources. We then had a
class debate to decide whether Henry VIII was actually as bad as he is made out
to be. The children did very well to make their points for and against and did
well to back up their opinions with valid reasons.
Christmas Play
Costumes
The
year 3/4 Christmas play is just around the corner and by now all children that
have expressed an interest have been cast their parts. To make the play even more of a success we
would like children to come dressed in costume suitable for their part. Please
don’t feel as though you need to go out and spend money on costumes. If you
need any assistance, come and speak with your class teacher and we will be
happy to assist you. We would like to
invite children who are narrators and also the year 3 children to come dressed
Christmassy. This could be anything from a sparkly jumper to a christmas
pudding!
Spellings
These
Spellings will be tested on Monday 24th
November.
Group 1: zoo, food, boots, moon, roots,
broom, spoon, shampoo, tooth, balloon
Group 2: happened, exclaimed, suggested, whispered, manufactured, stated,
questioned, explained, identified, recalled
Reminder
· Please can we remind all parents that children are required to
bring reading records into school every Monday for class teachers to see. We
ask that children read as much as possible at home and a minimum of three times
per week.
· Please ensure that your child comes to school every day with a
water bottle.
· PE kits, both indoor and outdoor, should be brought into school on
Monday and remain in school until Friday.
· Please ensure that your child comes to school wearing an
appropriate coat and that all clothing has your child’s name labelled clearly.
· The dates for our Christmas performance are;
Tuesday
16th December – 2:00-3:00 pm
Wednesday
17th December – 5:00- 6:00
Thursday
18th December – 9:30- 10:30
3/4 Team
Upper Key Stage 2 Newsletter
Celebration Assembly
Our
Autumn 2 Celebration Assembly will be on
Friday November 28th at 2:30pm. The children will be showcasing
some of their fantastic learning from this half term and the classroom will be
open afterwards if you would like to look at even more! We hope you can make
it!
Planetarium
On
Tuesday November 25th, a planetarium will be visiting the school.
Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 children will have the pleasure of experiencing the magic
of the solar system inside an inflatable dome, which will take them on a
journey through the galaxy in keeping with our Space science unit.
Leeds Junior Maths Challenge
Another
huge congratulations to Amelie, Chitua, Eva and Videet for taking part in the Leeds
Junior Maths Challenge final on Monday. The children competed against many
other schools from the Leeds area to tackle some challenging problem solving
activities. The children worked so well as a team to investigate the problems
and their mental maths skills were so quick and accurate. Although they just
missed out on being placed in the top three schools, we are still very pleased
with the children for their attitude, effort and commitment to this and we are
proud to have had them represent our school! Well done!
Skipping Day
On
Wednesday 26th November pupils will enjoy a skipping day. Here
pupils will experience skipping workshops from specialist providers. Throughout
the day pupils will also research and present their findings on the body’s
response to exercise. Pupils need to come dressed in appropriate sportswear for
the full day. Thank you.
Numeracy
In
numeracy this week, pupils have been learning all about percentages. The
children have been very busy finding various percentages of amounts, before
increasing and decreasing prices in the Far, Far Away restaurant from the film,
Shrek! Next week, the children will be developing their learning about
percentages even further, by using knowledge of 10%, 1% and 50% to find harder
fractions, such as: 35%, 22% and 9%. The children will be applying these
strategies to some shopping questions associated with purchasing some of the
toys featured in the film, Toy Story.
Literacy
In
literacy this week pupils have worked hard to write their newspaper article
based on a climate change story. Children have really enjoyed being news
reporters for the week and wrote some really detailed and formal articles-
which explained the story well. Next week, pupils will be spending time
practicing using high level connectives and conjunctions, as well as developing
their proficiency around using wider punctuation marks, such as: colons, semi
colons and dashes. The spellings for next week are: interrupt, language,
leisure, lightening, marvellous, mischievous, muscle, necessary, neighbour,
nuisance. Your child has received a copy of these spelling and will be tested
on Friday 28th November.
Topic
This
week, the children have been continuing to explain how Global Warming occurs,
by using key geographical vocabulary. Pupils have worked hard to explain the
relationship between Global Warming and the effect that this can have on our
environment through Climate Change.
Science:
In
Science this week, we have been learning about the orbit of the Earth and the Sun
and how this impacts life on Earth. Children were then challenged to work in
groups to create their own demonstration to show their understanding of these
concepts. This challenge involves working as a team, creating a script and
creating or researching pictures and diagrams that would help their audience
visualise these presentations. This project will run into next week’s science
lesson and we look forward to viewing all the finished presentations.
