Issue 32 2013-14

Dear Parent/Carer,

And so we finish another half term; this one seems to have gone quicker than any other this year. It’s been a very busy one and I look forward to the last stretch leading to the summer holidays.

My thanks again to those parents who came along to the Parent’s Coffee Morning on Monday and who emailed me to give their views on the effectiveness of websites and blogs and the quality of school’s parental engagement. Some very valid and useful points were raised to enable us to move even further forward as a school. We aim to continue these meetings into next year as we have found them really helpful to form part of our school evaluation. Thanks to all who contributed.

Early Years moderation

We received a moderating visit at the start of the week which involved external practitioners validating our teacher judgments of children’s achievements in the Early Years. It was a very successful visit with the moderators agreeing fully with the team’s judgments and giving us some very positive and complimentary feedback about the Foundation Stage provision more generally. My thanks and well done to the Early Years team.

Visitors

The week after half term, we will be welcoming several visitors to our school. On Monday, three teachers from Manor Farm Primary School in Buckinghamshire will be coming to observe our pedagogies and carry out some writing moderations. This visit is on the recommendation of a Headteacher who has had links with the school through the Developing Outstanding Schools project. I took his comments as a compliment that he couldn’t think of a better school to send his teachers in order to see good practice.

We will also welcome four Finnish visitors on the Tuesday to learn about how we engage with parents, promote inclusive practice and assess using the 2buildaprofile app.

Staff update

I am able to share some updates regarding our staffing structure for next year. Although the final teacher class allocations are still being finalised, I can confirm that three appointments have been made for next year. Kirsty Harley, Eddie Knight and Jodie Marriott will all be joining us as new members of staff. We will sadly be saying goodbye at the end of the year to Miss Pensom, who will be relocating to Manchester, Miss Bailey and Miss Kaye. More specific details will follow early next half term.

Red Team

Well done to the Red Team for being this half term’s house point winners. It was a close call but someone had to win! The children in the Red Team enjoyed an afternoon of team games in the hall with Mr Knight and Mrs Mistry, with crisps and a drink for extra energy!

Cereal boxes

Year 6 need cereal boxes for a project after half term. Please don’t throw your empty boxes away but bring them in for our teachers to use- Thanks.

PTA News

Thank you to all who attended the meeting last night.  A lot of the organising was discussed for the shorts and shades disco.  If anyone is able to help out on that night at either disco please would you contact us at robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com.  The more parents/carers we have to help on the night the better the time the children have.  As half term is next week, I'm sure lots of you will be visiting places of interest or theme parks. Could we ask that if you visit somewhere others would enjoy, please enquire if a donation could be made to our raffle, whether it be for tickets or vouchers etc.  We have a letter that the company may require that we can forward onto you if it is needed.  Have a lovely week.

Have a great half term break.

Mrs Dale

 

Nursery newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP

We can hardly believe that we are coming to the end of another fabulous half term. This week I have been assessing the children and have been amazed at the fantastic learning that has been going on. We have also had some lovely weather and we were pleased to see so many of our children wearing sun hats and sun cream. If you haven’t done so already, it may be worth bringing a hat and a bottle of sun cream to Nursery and leaving them in a bag on your child’s peg. Please keep looking on our blog for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Nursery at http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/

THIS WEEK

We have been learning even more about dinosaurs and have shared the story ‘Dinosaurs love Underpants’. This story has some fabulous rhyming couplets and it has been great to see the children picking up on the rhyming words and adding their own. We have decorated our own pants using a variety of mediums and these will be displayed on a washing line in Nursery very soon!

NEXT HALF TERM

We will start our new topic of ‘Journeys and Growing’. In the first week, we will be learning about the country of Spain, talking about their cultures and experiences as well as going on a (pretend) plane journey in the hall with our Reception children. We will be thinking about the things we might want to take on our trip and sending some postcards home. To support the children’s learning we are hoping to have a traditional Spanish party with flamenco dancing on Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US – Holiday home learning

Please could you bring in some traditional Spanish food/drink for your child to share at our parties. Thank you. In addition we are sending home a few activities to complete over the week which will consolidate the sounds we have been learning and prepare the children for next half term. Tricky words should be ‘read’ on sight without any sounding out. The other words will need to be decoded by blending the sounds to read e.g. m-a-n (man). If you need any help or support, please let me know. Thank you.

PLEASE NOTE the following diary dates:

Nursery will be CLOSED on Wednesday 2^nd July 2014

We will be holding Garden Parties/Graduations for the Nursery children on Wed 16^th July times to be confirmed.

Thank you for your continued support, have a lovely week, let’s hope the sun shines!

Mrs Steel, Mrs Chin, Miss Fox and Mrs Beckwith.

Reception newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP

The children have wowed our socks off this week in their assessments! Their progress this half term has been incredible and this is all down to the children’s determination, motivation and desire to achieve! They have worked so hard and have definitely made the whole team break up for half term with huge smiles on our faces! Well done you are superstars!

Please keep looking on our blog for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Reception at http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/

THIS WEEK

We have been reading the story dinosaurs love pants. In numeracy the children have made their very own pants for the dinosaurs making sure they used a repeating pattern. In numeracy the children have been on an exciting dinosaur hunt and we have watched our very own dinosaur egg hatch! They also completed some amazing star writes about what they had learnt about dinosaurs. The children’s writing has really progressed, which is fantastic to see. In topic the children have made some yummy dinosaur fossil biscuits and Miss Abbey reported back saying they were amazing at measuring the ingredients and following the instructions.

NEXT HALF TERM

Next half term our topic will be all about journeys. Our classroom will be transformed into a summer wonderland! In the first week back we will be going on an aeroplane to the sunny country of Spain! We will be involved in lots of Spanish activities including having tapas (inspired by Oscar) and enjoying flamenco dancing. We will round our Spanish week off with a Spanish party so please can your child bring in some Spanish food on Friday the 6^th of June. Next half term is also guaranteed to be very sporty and we will be going out onto the field for our PE lessons, so please ensure your child has a pair of trainers with their PE kit. The children will also need their sun cream, hats and water bottles in their lockers every day next half term.

PLEASE NOTE the following diary dates:

Please note that our Reception assembly for next half term will be on the first Friday after half term (Friday the 6^th June) at 2.30pm in the hall. Please bring your binoculars to see if you can spot any ferocious dinosaurs.

We will be hosting a Reception Seaside Party on the 20^th of June from 11am-12pm. The children will be selling all of the wonderful summer items they have made and then we will all be going for a picnic together on the field.

Finally to celebrate the children finishing Reception, we will be holding graduation parties. Miss Lambert’s graduation will be in the hall from 9am-10am on the 15^th July. Miss Pyatt’s graduation will be held from 2pm-3pm on the 15^th of July.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US

·         Please ensure your child can write their first and second names.

·         Please read and engage with the home learning as this informs you of what your child must be able to do to reach a good level of development.

·         Please read with your child for 5 minutes every day and please share all their holiday adventures with us using the learning log.

Have a fantastic bank holiday weekend and May half term break.

 Miss Lambert, Miss Pyatt and the Reception Team.

Key Stage 1 Newsletter

Home learning 

Over half term please continue to spend 10 minutes or so a day reading, spelling and doing sums with your child around all four functions. Have conversations about the equals sign meaning that both sides of the sum are balanced (whether that be with one number or another sum, i.e. 2+5 = 4+3). Can your child balance such sums? The Year 2 children also have brought home a SATs style booklet so that they can continue to practise worded problems over the holidays in preparation for the SATs in week 2. Please do one or so a day to help your child to understand what the question is asking them to do and talk about which strategy they would use to help them to figure it out.

The children have new spellings in their reading records this week but please make an effort to practise the spellings from across the half term. These spellings are selected to ensure your child is operating at the age related level within reading and writing. We will be testing the phase phonics spellings again in week 2 (your child’s teacher sent a copy of the words specific to your child home at Easter).

Water bottles

Thank you!! We might just have cracked the water bottle fiasco. Keep sending your child in to school next term with a water bottle for their lunch box and one for class – remember though that their classroom water bottle can’t have juice in it!

PE kits!!

After a note of congratulations, unfortunately there are still children who aren’t equipped with an appropriate PE kit for indoor and outdoor PE. This past week has been so warm that it is not practical or hygienic at all for them to do PE in their school uniform. Every child needs: shorts, a white t-shirt, socks (so many children don’t have socks and sprinting/running is painful without socks), sports trainers, leggings or tracksuit bottoms and a jumper for if the weather is colder. Our PE sessions are still on a Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning. It is not fair for children to miss their PE lesson because of not having a kit.

Literacy

Well our narrative unit is almost over (we are having one more week on it next half term because we’ve enjoyed it so much!) and the children have produced some beautiful and imaginative stories! We have spent this week thinking about the climax of our stories, where either something happy and exciting or something scary happens! Alongside writing this final section the children have also spent time copying their stories up into their very first ‘published’ novel, which they have brought home with them for you to read and enjoy forever!

Numeracy

Our unit on measurement has drawn to a close. We have been revisiting find the difference and taking away alongside looking at scales related to weight (Year 2), length (Year 1-2) and capacity (Year 1). The children are reading and drawing scales with more and more accuracy and are even working with addition/taking away/find the difference problems with half measures. Do keep on using scales at home over the half term…and feel free to bring the produce in!

Topic

The children have really enjoyed using their D&T model cars to conduct scientific experiments. We have learnt all about forces this week and how nothing can move without a push or a pull. We thought about our daily routine and play times and categorised everything into a push or a pull, like brushing our teeth, getting dressed and riding our scooter to school. The children then got into groups and thought about a question that they wanted to investigate about the speed of their car and what might affect it. We had questions around the gradient of a ramp and some that looked into what would affect the speed more, going over fluff or felt. We measured the distances of the cars each time and have really started to think more about fair tests – by sending the car from the same place every time and making sure that nothing other than the material from our experiment touches the car on its way.

Have a lovely half term together!

The KS1 Team

Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter

A super week to finish off our half term! The children have continued to work their hardest right up until the last day – what a fantastic attitude! We hope you enjoyed our showcase assembly and felt as proud of your children as we are seeing all their incredible learning! We wish you a lovely week off and look forward to see all the children back refreshed and ready for the final half term!

Home Learning

Once again, we have been inundated with learning logs jam packed full of extra home learning. We hope you enjoyed seeing a selection of the children’s work displayed during the showcase assembly.  It has been wonderful to see so many children taking a lead in their own learning and completing such a variety of tasks during their own time. We cannot wait for next half term for another influx of fantastic work! Just a gentle reminder that we are no longer sending home photocopied resources for home learning. We have saved many resources onto the phase blog for you to download at home along with links to games and activities that we have been using in class. There are also paper copies of resources from in class often available daily for the children to take home. We would also like the children to continue to read daily and ensure they are recording this in their reading records so we can reward their efforts with stickers! In addition to this, the children should be practising and learning their spellings and Times Tables as this is a key still that the children will require for next half terms learning. The times table we will be testing the first week back after half term is the 8 Times Table. We are really impressed with the children’s continued effort with learning their times tables and all the children who are getting 12 out of 12 are celebrated on our  blog ‘Wall of Fame’ on a weekly basis. We had great fun during our times tables challenge, the children all tried their best to beat their previous score and it was, as always, a close call between the finalists. Well done to the Winners!

Numeracy

This week the children have been focussing on telling the time using analogue clocks, before writing them in digital format. The children were really eager to show off their new time telling skills as they repeatedly came and told us what the time was. We looked into AM and PM, 24 hour time and even looked at timetables similar to those we would need to read to catch a bus. It would be fantastic if you would please continue to ask your child the time at home for some extra practice. First week back after half term we will be revisiting the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and applying these to real life problems, including money!

Literacy

This week in literacy, the children have planned and written an exciting story based in Temple Newsam. The children have tried super hard to include conjunctions, action (verbs), dialogue (speech) and description (adjectives). Next half tem, we shall be focussing on biographies based around famous sports personalities.

These Spellings will be tested on Monday 2^nd June.

Group 1: can’t, don’t, they’ve, didn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t, hasn’t, hadn’t, we’ve, you’ve.

Group 2: done, none, love, breakfast, money, honey, front, wonderful, worry, tongue.

Topic

This week we have been finishing off our super letters. The Year 4s have been writing thank you letters to the wonderful staff at East Barnby to thank them for such a fantastic time and for taking care of us so well. The year 3’s have been writing to Mrs Dale to persuade her to let them go on a residential when they are in year 4. We hope you enjoyed hearing a small sample of some of our Year 3 and 4’s fantastic work! Next half term, we shall be looking at a variety of sports personalities to correspond with various sporting events around the world!

Science

In science this week the children have finished writing up their friction investigations from last week and have been analysing the results to form a conclusion. We have looked at magnets and have sorted materials depending upon whether they are magnetic or not. Next half term, we shall be looking at the human body!  

PE

This week we have been practising our multi-skills by doing some circuit training! The children really enjoyed this, completing sprints, hurdles, side-stepping, ladder work, skipping and more! We are so impressed with the children and are excited to start training for sports day next half term!

Reminders

·    A residential meeting for Year 3 parents will take place on Tuesday 17^th June at 3:30pm in the hall.

·    Please ensure all of your child’s belongings (especially PE kits, hats and school jumpers) are clearly labelled with your child’s full name.

·    Year 4’s, please remember to bring your swimming kit every Friday!

·    Remember the children have two PE units a week now, one indoor and one outdoor so please ensure they are bringing the correct kit each week.

·    As the weather is getting warmer, can all children please be provided with a named water bottle, especially on PE days?

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 events. http://year34rhps.blogspot.co.uk/

Have a fabulous half term holiday!

Team 3/4

Upper Key Stage 2 Newsletter

Year 6 Residential

All children who are joining us on the Year 6 residential have received a letter with a few reminders..... Don’t forget to meet us in the hall, with your luggage and any urgent medication which is clearly labelled, at 8:30am on Wednesday June 4^th. The teachers will take a register, so please make yourselves known. All the children will receive a luggage label which they will need to attach to their luggage whilst they are waiting. We are going to have such a fantastic time!

Year 6 Bikeability Training

All the Year 6 children have received a letter regarding some cycling training. The children are invited to participate in a cycle training course which will teach them techniques for riding safely on the road. We therefore ask that the form sent home is returned back to school by Tuesday June 3^rd.

Year 6 Leaver’s Assembly

We are approaching that time of year already where we are preparing to say farewell to the current Year 6 pupils. In preparation for the assembly, we are asking the children to bring in one of their cutest photographs of themselves when they were younger. If they can be handed in to their class teacher, we will scan them in and hand them back to you as soon as possible.

Year 6 Dates for the Diary:

·         Fish & Chip lunch Thursday 10^th July

·         Year 6 Prom – Thursday 10^th July (5:00pm – 6:30pm).

·         Leaver’s Assembly – Friday 11^th July (2:00pm).

Year 5 Printing

The Year 5 children will be printing whilst the Year 6 children are on residential. We will be printing some arty images onto t-shirts which support the Grand Depart, whilst also incorporating features of Leeds. The children will need a plain white t-shirt to print their design onto by Wednesday June 4^th.

Core Subjects:

Numeracy:

In Numeracy this week, the children have been applying all mathematical operations to solve puzzles and problems to enable them to solve the clues to crimes! The children have proven to be very good detectives!

Literacy:

In Literacy this week, the children have been writing their own horror stories! Figurative language and punctuation for effect has been used so incredibly well, to create some very scary and thrilling horror stories!

ICT:

This week, the children have been finalising their iMovie projects to create a high quality advert or documentary to promote their chosen place in Leeds. The children have successfully used many of the features that the software has to offer and the final projects have been to a very high standard!

We hope you have a fabulous half term holiday!

 

Issue 31 2013-14

Dear Parent/Carer,

Well done to all of our Year 6 pupils for their totally amazing attitudes to learning this week! I started the week with an assembly about optimism and turning negative thoughts into positive ones; I really feel that the children took this on board. The Year 6 SATs are now over and our oldest pupils really did a magnificent job of staying upbeat and positive. Each morning, they came in with smiles on their faces but I do think the biggest smiles were seen this morning!! We are proud of each and every one of our children and would like to thank parents in supporting us to keep the children calm and confident.

Big Dance

What a lovely day for a dance. The whole school carried out The Big Dance this afternoon on the playground. All working together in unison, the performance was again, stunning. This is our 3^rd consecutive year being involved in this national event and each year the children really do themselves proud.

Mrs Moore

It was lovely to receive a visit in school from Mrs Moore this week. She is looking radiant and loving life with her little boy, Charlie. She visited the classrooms briefly and caught up with many of the children who were very excited to see her.

Reports

Teachers are starting to get busy writing end of year reports for your children. You will receive your child’s report on Friday 11^th July, unless your child is in Year 6 in which case you will receive the report on Wednesday 9^th July due to their earlier than normal leaving date.

Loom bands

Please can I ask that children remove their “Loom Bands” before they come to school. I understand that they are the latest craze and everyone wants to wear them (my son included!) but they are not suitable for school and some children seem to be in competition with each other as to how many they can wear at once! If seen, children will be asked to take them off and leave them in their tray. Thank you.

Parent Coffee Morning

Don’t forget:
The next parent coffee morning will take place this Monday (19^th May) with Miss Thackeray in Friendly Faces. The agendas for discussion will be:

·         Website and blogs- how well used are they? How could we make them more engaging/useful for your children?

·         How do you rate our improved parental engagement this year?

If you are unable to come, please do not hesitate to share your views with me at: gaynor.dale@robinhood.leeds.sch.uk

Home learning logs

I have had many visits to my office from children who have engaged so well with their learning logs at home. Thanks very much to those who have encouraged their children to record their learning and bring it in to be celebrated; it’s wonderful to see so many children making the choice to carry out some extra learning.

PTA News

We will be having a meeting next Thursday, 22nd, from 8pm at the Gardeners Arms.  We will be discussing the forthcoming shorts and shades disco and welcome as much support as possible.  If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to be involved please let us know at robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Dale

Nursery newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP
Thank you for your fabulous home learning and time spent reading with your children. It was lovely to see so many of our children being positive about self-registering in Nursery by writing their own name and delighting in showing off their skills! Well done everybody.

Please keep looking on our blog for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Nursery at http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/

THIS WEEK
We are continuing to learn about dinosaurs and have been sharing some of the ‘Harry and the Dinosaur’ stories. The children have really enjoyed these as well as drawing a picture of their favourite dinosaur and having a go at writing its name underneath. As you know we have started to introduce some letters and sounds ahead of Reception and I was delighted to see how many children were having a go at forming letter shapes!

NEXT WEEK

It is assessment week again! I have to say they do come round quickly and I am looking forward to seeing how fabulous our little learners are. Ahead of this for Home Learning, it would be great if you could ask your child to read to you and then write me a comment in their reading record book letting us know what they can do easily and what they find a bit tricky. In numeracy next week we will be starting to think about each child’s individual next steps. This week we have been completing dot to dot puzzles to check they are secure with their sequencing and this has shown where we need to focus. Please can you have a look at your child’s with them (attached) and have some discussions around number sequencing with them? Thank you.

PLEASE NOTE the following diary dates:
Nursery will be CLOSED on Wednesday 2^nd July 2014
We will be holding Garden Parties/Graduations for the Nursery children on Wed 16^th July times to be confirmed.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US

·       Please complete the home learning tasks with your child (see above) ahead of their first day back

·       Keep practising writing names (first and then second) and encourage your child to read to you for five minutes every day.

Thank you for your continued support, it really is making a difference to your child!

Mrs Steel, Mrs Chin, Miss Fox and Mrs Beckwith.


Reception newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP

Thank you for your fabulous home learning and time spent reading with your children. It was lovely to see so many of our children bouncing into class with their fantastic posters about herbivores and carnivores. We also loved the videos that Harvey, Evie and Hayden had produced - they were fabulous! Well done everybody.

Please keep looking on our blog for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Nursery at http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/

THIS WEEK

We are continuing to learn about dinosaurs and have been sharing some of the ‘Harry and the Dinosaur’ stories. The children have written their very own fact file about dinosaurs for the museum, so that other children can know as much about dinosaurs as they do by reading their fact files. In topic they have used marbling ink to create wonderful and mystical dinosaur eggs - hopefully none of them will hatch over the weekend!

NEXT WEEK

It is assessment week again! I have to say they do come round quickly and I am looking forward to seeing how fabulous our wonderful learners are. Ahead of this for Home Learning, it would be great if you could read with your child for 5 minutes every day, ensure they can read and spell all of their phase 5 words and practise any number concepts they are unsure of. There is more detail in the home learning that was sent out on Thursday. Next week in literacy we will be reading the story Dinosaurs Love Underpants and writing about a mysterious dinosaur egg that we have found in our classroom. In numeracy we will be designing some underpants using repeated patterns and we will be talking about the properties and names of 2d and 3d shape.

PLEASE NOTE the following diary dates:

We will be hosting a Reception Seaside Party on the 20^th of June from 11am-12pm. The children will be selling all of the wonderful summer items they have made and then we will all be going for a picnic together on the field.

Finally to celebrate the children finishing Reception, we will be holding graduation parties. Miss Lambert’s graduation will be in the hall from 9am-10am on the 15^th July. Miss Pyatt’s graduation will be held from 2pm-3pm on the 15^th of July.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US

·       Please complete the home learning tasks with your child (see above and the home learning)

·       Keep practising writing names (first and then second) and encourage your child to read to you for five minutes every day.

Thank you for your continued support, it really is making a difference to your child!

Miss Lambert, Miss Pyatt and the Reception Team.

Key Stage 1

Home learning
In addition to reading and spelling practise please can you practise adding three or four small numbers together with your child. For example: 4 + 2 + 6 = 12 or a more difficult option might be 11 + 12 + 14 + 16 = 53

There are different ways your child could solve these types of problems:

·    Count using their fingers.

·    Look for number bonds to ten (4 + 6 make 10) to make the sum easier and then add on the extra units.

·    Draw what the sum looks like with the malteser system. (This is where one unit equals one malteser and a packet equals 10 maltesers. If you would like any further support on this method please speak to your class teacher).

·    Adding all the tens together and then seeing what units are left.

If your child finds it difficult to spot patterns or to solve number problems in their head then it is always best to draw or work with objects so your child can visualise the numbers

Year 1 Phonics Test

At the end of Year One all the children are required to take a Phonics test. This is a selection of 40 words that your child has to show they are able to read. The children will be tested in their reading of real and pseudo words (in child speak this is the name of alien creatures!). When reading with your child please continue to support them through:

·         Recognising different sounds (e.g. short vowel sounds and long vowel sounds)

·         Breaking up words then putting the word back together.

·         Trying to break up the word in their head and then saying the word in full.

If you would like to receive any more words or information on this test please speak to Miss Mees or Miss Pensom who will be happy to provide with more words or answer any questions. Also, feel free to make up some of your own alien creature names! There are so many you can choose from: ulf, fot, lub, zeb, quorg, farl you could go on forever!

Celebration assembly

Thank you very much for attending the celebration assembly. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! The year has gone so fast and each half term the children really do amaze us with all of the learning they do and the outcomes they achieve. We are very proud of all of the children!

Literacy

So far the children have learnt about the importance of a juicy “opening” (which describes a character) and a “build up” (that creates a description of a setting). Next week the children will be finishing their learning of a story mountain by spending time working on the “climax” and “resolution” of a story. The climax is where the character meets something or someone and a problem may occur! If you do any learning around stories at home useful words the children can use are time connectives (First, next, then, after that and finally). Also any development of a sentence through using conjunction such as “and, because, so, but” all help to create interesting and developed stories. For example:

It was beautiful and sunny. I felt so happy because I could see the treasure! I heard a noise so I went to look outside. The birds outside were really noisy but I was enjoying watching them fly through the air.

Numeracy

Next week the children will be finishing their unit on measure! All the children have enjoyed learning about length, weight and capacity. Next half term the first week back will involve the children in each class focusing on different areas to support them before their final assessment of the school year. After this the children will then be learning all about time. Any language spoken around this area will benefit your child greatly! O’clock, half past, quarter past, quarter to, am, pm are a few of the words your children will be using next half term.

Topic

The children have been really enjoying the Disney topic! This week’s learning involved designing and making a car for a Disney character. The children have loved learning about the different parts of a car (wheels, axel and chassis). Next week the children will be using the cars they have made to take part in some interesting science investigations!

Have a fantastic weekend and let’s hope the sun is shining!

The KS1 Team

Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter

It’s been another busy week in Year 3/4 this week. We have been busy putting the finishing touches to our performance for the Big Dance which we performed on the playground on Friday. Fingers crossed we will have contributed to breaking a world record – watch this space!  

We have also been practising our performances for next Friday’s showcase assembly where we will be sharing so many of our outcomes from the last half term.  The assembly will start at 2.30pm and will be open for all parents and carers of children in Year 3/4 – we look forward to seeing you there.

Home Learning

Once again, we have been inundated with learning logs jam packed full of extra home learning. It has been wonderful to see so many children taking a lead in their own learning and completing such a variety of tasks during their own time. Many examples of these fantastic outcomes will be shared on our blog as well as at our Showcase Assembly next week.  Just a gentle reminder that we are no longer sending home photocopied resources for home learning. We have saved many resources onto the phase blog for you to download at home along with links to games and activities that we have been using in class. There are also paper copies of resources from in class often available daily for the children to take home. We would also like the children to continue to read daily and ensure they are recording this in their reading records so we can reward their efforts with stickers! In addition to this, the children should be practising and learning their spellings and Times Tables as this was the key skill that has let many children down when trying to calculate multiplications, divisions and fractions this half term. The times table we will be testing next week is the 7 Times Table. We are really impressed with the children’s continued effort with learning their times tables and all the children who are getting 12 out of 12 are celebrated on our  blog ‘Wall of Fame’ on a weekly basis. Next Friday will also be our penultimate Times Table Challenge. We can’t wait to see who will get through to the final and who manages to beat their score from last half term.

Numeracy

This week the children have been continuing with their learning about fractions. We have been finding fractions of numbers and have been identifying equivalent fractions. Some of us have even been looking at converting improper fractions into mixed number fractions. Please see the website for extra information and examples of our learning to use at home. Next week we will be looking at time. We will be looking at analogue and digital time and will be learning about days of the week and months of the year. Please help your child to practise these skills at home over the weekend. 

Literacy

This week in literacy we have finally got to the end of our adventure stories. The children have been doing their best to include adjectives, adverbs and powerful verbs as well as super sentence openers. Some of them have also been trying super hard to include embedded clauses and adverbial clauses. Next week we will be analysing our stories and will be finding ways of improving them to make them even better.

These Spellings will be tested on Monday 19^th May.

Group 1: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, May, June, July, August, September, October, November

Group 2: wrong, wrinkle, wrist, wreck, wrapper, wright, wrote, wrap, necessary, especially

Topic

This week we have been writing letters. The Year 4s have been writing thank you letters to the wonderful staff at East Barnby to thank them for such a fantastic time and for taking care of us so well. The year 3s have been writing to Mrs Dale to persuade her to let them go on the same trip next year. Examples of these letters will be read out in our showcase assembly next Friday.

Science

In science this week the children have been writing up their friction investigations from last week and have been analysing the results to form a conclusion. Some of us have begun to look at magnets and have sorted materials depending upon whether they are magnetic or not. Next week we will be carrying our further investigations into magnets and their properties.

PE

This week in PE we have been extremely busy practising our section of the Big Dance routine. Our final performance was fantastic! The children worked so hard and remembered every single step. We are very proud of you!

Reminders

·    Please could any children who have received merits and awards outside of school please bring these in by Thursday next week to be photographed in time for our showcase assembly on Friday? Thank you.

·    Showcase Assembly on Friday 23^rd May at 2.30pm

·    Please ensure all of your child’s belongings (especially PE kits, hats and school jumpers) are clearly labelled with your child’s full name.

·    Remember the children have two PE units a week now, one indoor and one outdoor so please ensure they are bringing the correct kit each week.

·    As the weather is getting warmer, can all children please be provided with a named water bottle, especially on PE days?

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 events. http://year34rhps.blogspot.co.uk/

Have a fabulous weekend!

Team 3/4

Upper Key Stage 2 Newsletter

Year 6 SATS

Congratulations to our year 6 pupils who are finally across the SATs finishing line. The positive attitude and application to the assessments was wonderful to see. We are so proud of the efforts of all our year 6 pupils and I’m sure they can now breathe a huge sigh of relief. The final half term now looms and we’re sure that our year 6 pupils will continue to impress us in their final few weeks. 

Water bottles:  

As the weather is getting warmer, can we please ask that children have water bottles available in school. Also please remember that fruit juices and fizzy drinks are not allowed in school. Thank you.

Year 5’s

The Year 5’s have had a fantastic week in the hall. As usual the children have shown fantastic attitudes to learning. We spent our week creating different outcomes to exemplify the Year 5 cohort and to remember our time in Year 5. Firstly, we made some self-portraits inspired by Andy Warhol and Van Gogh. Also children enjoyed working in their teams to create their own sports. We had a chance to try out our sports and then created a detailed guide of how to play! Finally, each child created a page for a scrap book highlighting memorable moments of the year.

Numeracy:

In Numeracy the Year 5 children have been learning about fractions, including simplifying fractions, converting improper fractions to mixed numbers and ordering fractions. This has included using their knowledge of times tables to when multiplying and dividing. Next week pupils will be applying a range of mathematical skills to solve some murder mystery problems.

Times Tables Challenge:

Speaking about time tables, it is that time again! Times Table Challenge will take place on Friday 23^rd May. To practise visit www.teachingtables.co.uk and click on the Bingo Machine for the interactive game that we use in school. Remember we play at 1 and 0 seconds- so you need to be quick!

Literacy:

Next week in literacy pupils will be developing their own horror story. Lessons will focus on developing setting, character and building tension. I’m sure pupils will have the teachers trembling from their chilling story lines! The spellings for next week are; cough, enough, plough, although, dough, thought, ought, brought, through, sought. You child has received a copy of these spelling and will be tested on Friday 23^rd May.

Topic:

The children have collected all their research about the topic of Leeds and are beginning to create their outcomes. This will involve creating a factual piece about a building or place in Leeds.

ICT:

The children will also be presenting their topic work through an i-Movie. They have previously learnt the different skills to create an i-Movie and are now putting these into practise. The children have spent this week selecting appropriate high quality images to accompany their audio and text.

Science:

This week in science, pupils have continued their work on the human body.  The children have looked at the purpose of muscles and discussed how these help support the bones.  We even investigated which muscles were used during different exercises. The children were very creative when playing charades to learn the names of the different muscles within the body.