Friday 21 November 2014

Issue 11 2014-15


Newsletter Issue 11

Friday 21st November 2014

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?

Those who cannot attend are encouraged to contact either myself or Miss Hinton as everyone’s opinion is valuable. gaynor.dale@robinhood.leeds.sch.uk                         claire.hinton@robinhood.leeds.sch.uk
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
 
Dates for your diary.
Wednesday 17th December 10:45a.m. – ‘Christmas singing’ (Beginning of week children)
 
Friday 19th December – 2:15p.m. -  ‘Christmas singing’ (end of week children)
 
 
 
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.
·       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.
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
Dates for your diary.
Friday 12/12 Performance 9.30-10.15
and 2.15 – 3.00 (ticket only – more information to follow)
Thursday 18/12 Christmas shop in Reception 2.45 – 3.00
Friday 19/12 Christmas party – wear  party clothes/bring food – more information to follow
 
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.
 
 

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