Friday 3 October 2014

Issue 5 2014-15


Newsletter Issue 5

Friday 3rd October 2014

Dear Parent/Carer,
This week I have observed several lessons in Reception and Year 3/ 4 and also had the chance to show our School Improvement Advisor (Tim Richards) around, visiting almost every classroom. I am delighted to let you know that the quality of the teaching and learning in school is absolutely fantastic. Mr Richards was clearly impressed by not only the conduct of the children, but the learning behaviours as a result of consistently outstanding pedagogies.
Building update
Miss Hinton, Mrs Wathen, Mrs Smith, Mr Reynolds and I recently attended our monthly progress meeting regarding the building work. The rear extension which will house the new staffroom and toilets is ahead of schedule and apart from some minor delays on brick and blockwork, all other aspects of the phases are currently on schedule. Under the new lay out of the site, we have carried out fire drills as safety remains a key priority. For your reassurance, Bermar (the contractors) also carry out rigorous internal monthly safety checks on the site.
Harvest Festival
Please note that there has been a change to the Harvest Festival arrangements. Instead of taking place at Lofthouse Church, we (with Reverend Mandy Rhodes) will host the celebration in school on the morning of Friday 17th October for the school children only and again at 2:20 pm for parents. KS1 will lead the proceedings so please be aware that although all parents are welcome, only KS1 will be in attendance during the afternoon celebration.
Black History Month
During October, it's Black History Month and to begin this focus, children from Years 1 to 6 will be thinking about their own identities- who they are, where they come from and how they perceive themselves. To help the children be prepared for this, we would appreciate it if parents and carers could spend a little time discussing answers to questions such as What's your nationality?  What is your religion? What groups do you belong to? Where have you lived? Where do you live now? Children in Key Stage One will be using this information on Tuesday, children in Lower Key Stage Two on Wednesday and children in Upper Key Stage Two on Thursday. Thank you.
Rothwell Library
This week pupils from Reception were invited to see the dinosaur they had made which is on display at Rothwell Library. They brought along their families to see “Spike” and to enjoy a story time. The children had made the stegosaurus in the summer term of last school year, when they were in the Nursery.  Spike, as he is called by the children, was made as part of the topic on Dinosaurs.  He measures 1metre tall and a massive 260cm long. I am very grateful to Rothwell Library for displaying our artwork, which was once more the result of a project led by our amazing Mrs Chin. 

Rothwell event
Whilst on the subject of Rothwell Library, Caroline, the librarian has asked us to pass on that there is a free family RSPB Information Event on Saturday 11th October from 10.30am at the library (no need to book) for those families who are interested in nature and would like to learn more about the RSPB.

Swimming hats
Please be mindful that if your child is in Year 4 and does swimming on a Thursday, that they MUST wear a swimming hat, as is policy at the pool. Thank you.

PTA news

This week and next will see the invite for the Halloween Disco on 22nd October, going to all pupils.  Nursery, Reception and KS1 will have their disco 3:30p.m until 4:30p.m. and KS2 will have their disco 4:45p.m. until 6:00p.m.  We are still in need of volunteers to help out on the night so if anyone parents, grandparents, carers are able to help out please contact us at robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com.

We will be collecting any unwanted clothes (even those that are no longer fit for wear), linen and general bric-a-brac after the half term break.  The company Skycycle will be collecting your unwanted items from 9am on Monday 3 November.  This is brilliant way of raising money for the school and this year we will not be having our usual Christmas Fayre so this is an ideal time to clear out any unwanted items ready for Christmas.  Bags will be sent out shortly with details of when and where they can be dropped off.

This year,  we are organising a Christmas Craft Fayre, a number of the stalls have already been booked so, if anyone would like a stall, or knows of friends or family members that would like one please get in touch with Emma Womersley who has kindly offered her organisational skills, womersleys@tiscali.co.uk.

Lastly as Christmas is creeping round the corner, when you are doing your shopping online, if you register with “The Giving Machine” prior to making your purchase then the school will receive a donation from the company you are buying from.  www.thegivingmachine.co.uk, click on “join” and Robin Hood Primary School.

Have a lovely weekend, everybody.

Mrs Dale
 
Nursery newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
Well done to our fabulous learners who are continuing to settle in to the Nursery routines. We have overcome the tiredness of the first full week and we are having lots of fun. The children have settled in to the lunch time routine and are becoming more independent each session. Please look on our blog for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Nursery. http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/
THIS WEEK
In our literacy sessions this week, we have shared the story of ‘Where’s My Teddy’ by the fabulous author Jez Alborough. We have even been outside in our Nursery forest and acted the story out using props. The children brought their favourite teddies to school and they have joined in with lots of fabulous maths activities where we have talked about size and ordered different sized objects !  I think I can safely say that all of the teddy bears have had a lovely time in Nursery!
NEXT WEEK
We will be reading the story ‘The Rainbow Fish’ by Marcus Pfister. This is a story about friendships and supports our activities which are planned to encourage the children to find out more about each other and develop new friendships by being kind, considerate and caring. Again, the home learning task has been planned especially to support this, so please make sure all home learning comes into school. Thank you.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
·       Home learning is sent out weekly and will prepare your child for the learning that will happen the following week.
·       Learning logs need to come into school every week along with reading bags
·       Please engage with the home learning and ensure you read for 5 minutes daily.
·       Each week your child will have a PE session in the big school hall. They do not require any kit but they do take their socks and shoes off. If you could practise doing this with your child at home it would be a great help to us and encourage them to be independent.
Thank you!
Mrs Harley and the Nursery Team
Reception newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
We have settled well into our routine in Reception and this week we were visited by Mrs Dale and Miss Hinton who came in to see our fabulous learners in action! Thank you for engaging with our weekly words and home learning tasks, it is wonderful to see how proud our children are when they receive a certificate for getting a hundred percent. Please look on our blog for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Reception at http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/
THIS WEEK
In our literacy sessions this week, we have shared the story of ‘The Rainbow Fish’ by the author Marcus Pfister. This book is brilliant for the children’s social and emotional development as it explores friendship choices and the way that our actions can make others feel. In numeracy we have been very impressed with the children’s grasp of prepositions and they loved our Rainbow Fish games. This week we will be finding out what they know about repeating patterns. In our phonics sessions we have been practising reading the sounds g, o, c, k and the words dad, had, back, and, get, big
NEXT WEEK
We will be reading some stories about families and talking about our family life and why we love our families so much. In literacy the children will be creating a family book and writing a sentence underneath each lovely picture. To support our topic please can you send in a family photograph on Monday morning; please make sure this is a spare copy as we will need to cut it up. In phonics we will be practising reading and writing the sounds ck, e, u, r and words him, his, not, got, up and mum. Please help us by continuing to give your child lots of opportunities to practice reading the sounds and words each week as we have a different set introduced on a weekly basis. In Numeracy we will be working on 2D shape activities, recognising and naming the shapes as well as talking about their properties.
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 read for 5 minutes daily and help your child learn their spellings.  
·       Please make sure that your child has a PE kit in school; it can stay in their locker and come home every half term holiday.
·       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.
·       If you have time to do some extra practice on phonics, have a look at Mr Thorne http://www.mrthorne.com/ and Phonics Play http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm for some fun activities which will support the teaching and learning in school.
 Thank you
 Miss Lambert, Mrs Steel and the Reception Team
 
Key Stage 1
Home learning
It has been lovely to read all of the lovely comments you have been making in your child’s reading record over the last few weeks and to see how much progress they are making. Please be aware that it is your child’s responsibility in Key Stage 1 to change their reading books as and when they need.
For this week’s number facts please could you support your child in the following:
·       Your child has been practising all week so they should be able to impress you with their skills. Please practise one more and one less with your child up to 20, 50, 100 and then 1000.They have also been learning how to order numbers up to 100 and then up to 1000.
The children have been producing some fantastic home learning in their learning logs and it has been great to see all of the extra writing they have been doing at home. Their handwriting is looking beautiful!
Numeracy
This week in numeracy we have been focusing on more and less and what these two words mean. We have been practising quick fire 1 more and 1 less questions up to 100 and then up to 1000. We then moved on to using the greater than and less than sign (e.g. 5>4 five is greater than 4, 3<5 three is less than five). We have also referred to this sign as Allie the Alligator; the alligator always eats the biggest number. There is a lovely song on Youtube to help the children with their understanding of this sign - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Efzu2slaI.
We then moved onto ordering numbers first up to 100 and then up to 1000. There is a fabulous caterpillar ordering game http://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/caterpillar-ordering which has different levels so you can choose the most suitable for your child’s ability.
Literacy
Caterpillar update! Our caterpillars have now formed their cocoons and we have moved them into the butterfly house. We are eagerly waiting for them to emerge as beautiful butterflies.
In literacy this week we have been learning lots of different facts about butterflies; did you know butterflies taste with their feet? And no 2 butterflies are the same, they all have unique patterns? Ask your child if they can tell you any more interesting facts they have learnt. They have then used these facts to compile a leaflet providing information all about butterflies and caterpillars.
Topic
In topic this week we have started our design and technology learning. We are designing and sewing our own animal bookmarks. They are already looking fabulous and we can’t wait to see the finished products by the end of next week!
P.E. Kit
Please make sure all of your child’s P.E. kit is labelled. We have had a few cases of missing items of kit so please can you check your child’s P.E. kit and if there are any pieces of clothing that aren’t your child’s please bring them back and give them to your child’s class teacher. Thank you in advance
Have a lovely weekend.
The Key Stage One Team
Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter
It’s been another fantastic week in Year 3/4. We were visited by Mel, a real archaeologist, on Monday who shared some of her amazing artefacts and stories about life in the Iron Age. The children thoroughly enjoyed dressing up as superheroes on Tuesday to really help them bring their literacy learning to life and we were all very proud showing off our super learning at our first showcase assembly of the year. Thank you to all parents and carers who came along to share the celebration afternoon with us. It was wonderful to see so many children standing tall and being extremely proud of their efforts so far this year.
Numeracy
This week in numeracy we have continued to work on our rounding skills by rounding different measures to the nearest 10, 100, 1000 and whole number. Please visit the blog for more information and extra resources to support your child’s understanding of this topic at home. Next week we will be turning our focus to the mental and written strategies for addition and subtraction in preparation for our assessments. We will also be testing the children on their 7 times tables.
Literacy
This week has been a ‘super’ week. The children have been creating their very own superhero and then writing an information text about them, complete with arch enemies, weaknesses and friendly sidekicks. Next week we will be continuing to develop our texts, making sure we include LOTS of adjectives to describe. Please see the blog for extra resources to help your child with their sentence level learning at home.
These Spellings will be tested on Monday 6th October. Please support your child in practicing their spellings every day to help them achieve 10/10 in their spelling test every week.
Group 1: peas, leaf, meal, team, eagle, jeans, peanuts, peach, teacher, beast
Group2: metal, petal, capital, natural, hospital, barrel, travel, cancel, temple, scramble
Other areas of the curriculum:
In PE we have continued to develop our throwing and catching skills indoors and apply these skills in game situations during our outdoor lessons.  
In Topic this week the children were visited by Mel, an archaeologist from Manchester University who came in to speak about life in the Iron Age and the types of burials that the people were given. She showed us several artefacts and really helped the children gain a better understanding of just how different life was so long ago. The children have also begun putting together their information posters to accompany their models with the hope that they will eventually be placed on show in Leeds City Museum – watch this space!
In music, 3/4B have begun to compose their own musical masterpieces using the instruments available on the iPads. 3/4T have been practising their recorder skills when learning to play a new song and 3/4M have begun their percussion sessions using a variety of instruments.
In ICT we have continued to programme our animations in Scratch in order to tell a funny joke. We have added movement and speech and will start to look at adding sounds and music next week. The completed outcomes will be uploaded to the school website and blog very soon.
Reminders
·    Please ensure your child’s labelled PE kit is kept in school from Monday-Friday every week
·    Now the weather is turning cooler, please can we ask that ALL children wear a coat to school and that it is labelled clearly with their name?
·    Please can we ask children to bring in any old newspapers and cardboard ready for our DT topic next week?
We hope you have a wonderful weekend in the Autumnal sunshine.
Team 3/4.

Upper Key Stage 2 Newsletter
Upper Key Stage 2 Celebration Assembly
Just a reminder that our first celebration assembly will be held next week, on Friday 10th October, from 2.30- 3.00pm. We welcome any parents and carers to come and celebrate the fantastic start that our pupils have made to the year. We will also be opening the classroom doors after school and giving pupils a chance to share their wonderful learning. We look forward to seeing you next Friday! 
Year 6 Numeracy SAT Workbooks
All of the Year 6 children have been given a Numeracy Study Guide and a workbook. The Year 5/6 teachers just wanted to remind all children that if they wish to bring this in to school to share what they have completed, then they will be rewarded with a Head teacher’s sticker after every five pages they complete. The children are more than welcome to bring this in to school to practice during quiet reading sessions at registration time, however class teachers will stamp them and reward stickers on a Monday morning when planners are also checked
Numeracy
In Numeracy this week pupils have been learning how to subtract larger numbers quickly and accurately. Pupils have also calculated fractions of amounts and percentages! We have been blown away by the way pupils have applied these strategies into some Harry Potter themed problems! Next week in Numeracy we will be learning all about multiplication, including using strategies such as the ‘Chunking’ method to multiply whole numbers and decimals. The children will also be applying these strategies to some theme park area problems.
Literacy
This week in Literacy, pupils have been writing their very own non-chronological report - all about Mount Everest! This has been a fascinating topic and some of the formal language and sentence structure has been extremely sophisticated! Next week, pupils will turn their attentions to persuasion and write a travel article all about the Great Barrier Reef! Pupils will spend time identifying and analysing persuasive features; before experimenting with these features in their own writing. The spellings for next week are; heather, heat, please, pleasant, woman, women, mean, meant, fried, friend. Your child has received a copy of these spellings and will be tested on Friday 10th October.
Topic
During our Geography sessions this week, pupils have been introduced to the seven natural wonders of the world. Pupils have been placed into research teams to investigate a natural wonder. Using their research pupils will be planning an outcome which will inform their audience of the fascinating detail and history relating to their selection.
ICT:
In ICT, the children have been drafting their own posts about our current topic, ‘Our Great Earth’.  The children have successfully logged on to the blogger page as an authorised user, have written a reflective comment and next week they will be adding a photograph to their post before they’re published.
Science:
In science this week we have been identifying, classifying and organising living things according to their characteristics. The children have been creating their own questions to classify living things and have then applied these strategies to creating their own classification systems for sorting living things according to their characteristics.
PE
In PE this week pupils have continued to focus on their throwing techniques. This week pupils have focused on the chest pass. As with previous throwing techniques, we have looked at the importance of correct footwork and the follow through when passing. Pupils have impressed with their accuracy in session and were able to challenge pupils by applying these techniques into drills involving speed, agility and quickness.


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