Issue 34 2013-14

Dear Parent/Carer,

We have had a lovely few days of being able to go up on the top field and playground with the warm sunshine; how I love summer! Please ensure that your child has a sun hat, a water bottle and that cream is applied before coming to school so that everyone can stay sun safe!

Lunchtime Supervisor’s training

As you know, plans are afoot to improve our lunchtimes next year; both indoors and outdoors. I was present this week at some training which I had arranged for the lunchtime supervisors around the theme of “Making lunchtimes positive”. It was a fantastic inspirational session, where we all received some fantastic ideas and tips to take forward into next year. I am particularly encouraged by the way our supervisors embraced the training, contributing very positively and sharing what they think will be an effective way to improve our lunchtime provision. Session 2 will take place in two weeks.

Key Stage 1 SATs

Our Year 2 pupils carried out their SATs tests this week. I was able to check in on each class to see how things were going and was so impressed to see how calm and maturely the children were approaching the assessments; this amazing attitude to learning is becoming evident in the high standards that appears to be emerging on marking the papers. Well done!

Before and after school

For the safety of other, please can you ensure that children on bikes and scooters do not ride around the playground before and after school. Can I also remind you that dogs are not permitted on to the school grounds, regardless of their size. This is out of respect for others and the safety of our pupils. Thanks.

Confirmation Preparation

Reverend Mandy from Lofthouse Church has asked me to pass on details of the following event for Year 6s. A confirmation preparation course for Year 6 pupils will take place on Tuesday evenings in Church, beginning Tuesday 1st July at 7pm. The course will run for 6 sessions and other dates are 15th July, 29th July, 26th August, 30th September and 7th October, with the Confirmation Service on Sunday 19th October. As you may expect, I will be including DVD clips (and games) too, so there should be some fun involved! Interested parents should contact Mandy on revmac63@googlemail.com or 01924 823286, with the child's name, address, date of birth and date and place of baptism.

PTA News

By now everyone should have received their invitation to the Shorts & Shades discos which will be held next Wednesday (18^th).  Nursery, Reception and KS1 3:45 – 5:00p.m. and KS2 5:15 – 6:30p.m.  Don’t forget your £1 and slips need to be in the school office by 3pm next Monday.  If anyone is able to bake or purchase any buns for us to sell on the evening it would be very much appreciated.

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter along with the Active Team the PTA will be holding the Tour de Robin Hood and raising money for some fantastic equipment for the playground.  We would be grateful for any help you could provide during the week commencing 23^rd June ensuring the children get plenty of drinks and encouraging them to complete their activities.  A few parents have come forward to offer their help which is fantastic.  As always we still require more.  If you are able to help that week please contactrobinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com or Miss Mees. The children will be carrying out their activities on the following days:  Reception - Wednesday morning, KS1 - Monday, Lower KS2 - Tuesday, Upper KS2 - Thursday.

Please keep accessing the School Calendar on the Robin Hood Primary School website for information regarding up and coming events. Thank you.

Have a great weekend everyone.

 

Mrs Dale

Nursery newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP

Thank you for all your amazing home learning. The children had clearly got involved with lots of discussions before dressing their person for cold weather and it was really helpful ahead of our learning this week. Thank you too, to Mr and Mrs Matera who came into Nursery last week to support our learning about Spain.

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 taken a boat and snow scooter through the ice to visit the Arctic Circle. The children enjoyed pretending we were dressing for cold weather and were very impressed with Mr Hobson’s boat handling skills in rough weather! We have packed our suitcase for cold weather and talked about what we could put in a postcard home. In topic we have been learning about freezing and melting water using arctic animals and making delicious ice lollies!

NEXT WEEK

It is assessment week again! This will be a fabulous chance for the children to show us just how much progress they have made this year. I will be looking at their achievements in writing, reading, numeracy and phonics. This information will be used to pass on to your child’s next teacher. So ahead of this for home learning can you encourage your child to practice writing their name, and the numbers to 10. Could you also encourage them to read to you, focusing on the tricky words such as ‘a’, ‘is’ and ‘the’. Thank you.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US

·        Please complete the home learning tasks to prepare your child for next week’s learning (see above)

PLEASE NOTE the following diary dates:  Nursery will be CLOSED on Wednesday 2^nd July 2014

This week you should have received your invitation to our Nursery Graduation and Garden Party! (Wednesday 16^th July) Please can you let us know whether or not you will be able to attend by 30^th June?

We will also be doing outdoor PE this half term so please can you send your child in trainers each Wednesday? Thank you for your continued support, have a lovely weekend.

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

Reception newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP

This week we have all climbed on board a ship and travelled to the Arctic Circle. We packed all of our warm, toasty clothes and set off on our adventure. Elsie told us all about her trip to the Arctic Circle when she went to see Santa. Thanks for sharing it with us Elsie, it was really interesting to hear about your adventures!

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 recording our adventures in the Arctic Circle in our travel diaries. We also discovered some ice in our classroom and the children have been thinking about how ice is made and why it melts. They found lots of Arctic animals in the ice. In topic the children made some yummy ice lollies and we enjoyed eating them. We also investigated the effects of putting a coat on our snowmen and whether it made them melt quicker or stopped them melting. In numeracy we have been grouping objects in groups of 2, 3 and 4. In phonics the children have been learning the long i sound y (cry) and i (find).

NEXT WEEK

Next week is assessment week. This is your child’s final assessment for this year and these results will be sent to the local authority. The children will be busy flexing their brains. We will be going on a train to the seaside next week where we will be engaging in lots of different seaside activities. In literacy we will be packing our bags and writing all about our adventures in our travel diary. In topic we will be preparing for our seaside party on Friday by making lots of bunting for our outside area. Next week in numeracy we will be learning all about shapes and ways to describe them. In phonics the children will be learning the long o sounds; ow (snow and grow) and the split digraph o_e (home, cone).

PLEASE NOTE the following diary dates:

Next Friday (20^th June) to celebrate the end of our journeys topic we will be hosting a Reception Seaside Party. You are invited to come along to the Reception playground at 11am where there will be lots of seaside activities set up for you to enjoy with your child. At 11.30 we will move up to the field where you can enjoy a picnic with your child (please bring your own picnics, blankets and picnic chairs).  

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 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 (your child’s new book band are on Bug Club) and please share all their adventures with us using the learning log.

·       Please note we will be doing outdoor PE this half term so please ensure your child has an appropriate outdoor PE kit and trainers.

Have a fantastic weekend - Miss Lambert, Miss Pyatt and the Reception Team.

Key Stage 1

Home learning

Next week the home learning will be slightly different for the Year One and Year Two children.

Year One children

Next week the children will be completing the Year 1 Phonic test. Please continue to flash card as many real words or alien words as possible with your child. You can help your child break the word up if necessary and then put it all back together.

Year Two children

Please continue to support your child with words ending in ‘ing’ and ‘ed’. You can ask your child to write sentences with these types of words in.

E.g. Wayne Rooney was running so fast to the ball and then he scored the best goal ever!

Showcase Assembly - Thank you

Once again, we thank you for your support in our final Key Stage One Assembly of the school year. It has been lovely for the children to have more opportunities to showcase their wonderful learning and for so many more parents and carers to come and see in more detail what is happening across the Key Stage One classes.

Final Assessment week of the year!

WOW! All the children in Key Stage One really are FANTASTIC! Across the week the children have completed a range of assessments in reading, writing, spellings, phonics and numeracy. The children have tried their very best and really have shown how hard they have worked across the year. Your child’s final assessment levels from this year will be shown on the end of year school reports. We are so proud of all the children. A very well done to you all!

Literacy

Next week, the children will be spending time reflecting on their school year. The children will start the week by looking back at all the subjects, all the different activities they have taken part in and all the wonderful creations they have made. They will also get the opportunity to look back at their books from across the year which will really show the children how far they have come! The children will then spend time discussing what they have liked the most, what they have enjoyed making and what they would like to improve on next year. This will be sent home on the children’s front covers of their final reports and we know you will be so proud of your children when you see them!

Numeracy

Next week we will begin a two week unit on time. The children will start the week by reading different times (analogue and digital). This will include o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to. The Year 2 children will also look at reading clocks within 5 minute time frames. Any practice of reading or telling the time will help your children immensely! At the end the week the children will be working with a partner and making a poster about all that they have learnt about telling the time.

Topic

Sewing begins in Key Stage One next week! The children will be making their own stuffed sea animal! Sewing is a difficult skill to master and the children will be learning different stiches, how to sew two pieces of material together and then fill it with stuffing! We know the children will have lots of fun doing this and that the outcomes will be brilliant!

Have a relaxing weekend!

The KS1 Team

Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter

It’s been a busy week in Year 3/4. We have been learning lots of new songs in music and playing some fun games at the same time. Some of these will be showcased in our Voices Foundation assembly next Friday 20^th June at 2.45 – 3.00p.m. We have also been getting very messy in science when investigating whether a solid can be a liquid at the same time. The children really enjoyed following the instructions and seeing the ‘Slime magic’ happen before their eyes. Details of how to make the slime will be posted on our phase blog.

Residential meeting for the current year 3’s

The meeting for the parents and carers of the current year 3 children who are interested in going on residential next year will be held next week on Tuesday 17^th June at 3:30p.m. The meeting will allow us to share information about the dates and cost of the trip as well as some of the activities that the children will be taking part in. The meeting will be held in the school hall. If any parents or carers are unable to attend the meeting, we will put all of the information onto our phase blog; http://year34rhps.blogspot.co.uk/

We would like to congratulate all of the children who continue to read and practise their times tables daily, despite the sunny weather being a distraction.  Next week will be our final assessment week of the year and we are looking forward to seeing the children apply all of their super learning from across the year. With their continued efforts and positive approach towards their learning, we look forward to celebrating their success with you in their end of year reports.

Numeracy

This week the children have been looking at position and direction using co-ordinates and the 8 points on a compass. They have begun to create their own treasure map and will continue with this next week, writing a set of positional and directional instructions for the treasure hunters to follow.

Literacy

This week in literacy we have been continuing to write biographical texts and this week’s focus was on the life of tennis player Andy Murray. We have continued to look at the use of adjectives to describe nouns and have developed our use of time connectives to help us order the facts chronologically.  

Spellings

These Spellings will be tested on Monday 16^th June.

Group 1: I’ve, she’s, he’s, somebody, nobody, there’s, who’ll, they’ll, you’ll, you’re

Group 2:  country, busy, mystery, guess, instead, build, enough, language, rough, pleasant

Art

During our topic sessions this week we have been getting very arty. We have studied the work of American Artist Keith Haring and have created our own oil pastel pieces showing sport in action. The children used real life stills from key sporting moments and transformed them into super works of art. Examples of the outcomes are available to see on our blog and even in the school corridor – please do come and have a look.

Science

Science this week was very interesting. The children continued to identify everyday examples of solids, liquids and gases and reinforced their understanding of the properties of each with a game of bingo. We then moved onto looking at whether a solid could be a liquid at the same time. Using a secret slime recipe, the children set about trying to prove the theory correct, making lots of mess in the process. If you would like to make your own magic slime, have a look on our blog for details.

Reminders

·    As part of our history curriculum we will be going on a trip to watch the Horrible Histories production of ‘Barmy Britain’ at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre on Thursday 17^th July. The cost of the trip is £18 and we would like the children to bring a packed lunch and wear their school uniform. If you would like any information regarding the trip please see a member of the 3/4 team at the end of the school day.

·    Showcase Assembly on Friday 27^th June at 2.30p.m.

·     As the weather is hotting up, please ensure your child brings a refillable water bottle, a sun hat and sun block as we will be spending more time outside.

·    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.

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

Robinwood

HUGE congratulations to the Year 6 children who went to Robinwood! The children were an absolute pleasure to take on residential and it was so wonderful to see everyone having such a fantastic time - well done Year 6, you really made us proud! Another big well done to the year 6 children who stayed behind; it was so lovely to hear that you too had a great week, and acted as mature mentors for our younger children. Miss Mees, Miss McSorley, Miss Pensom, Miss Lambert, Miss Pyatt and Mrs Steel were so grateful for all your help....well done!

Year 6 Cycling Proficiency

Year 6 children have been given a slip with the dates for their Bikeability Cycle Training. On their training days, the children need to come to school suitably dressed for the weather that day (tracksuit bottoms or trousers) Please make sure that bikes brought to school for the training are in a roadworthy condition.

Year 6 Leaver’s Assembly

Just a little reminder that pupils are welcome to bring in a photograph of themselves from when they were younger for the Year 6 Leaver’s Assembly. Please hand them in to your child’s class teacher and we will return them 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).

·         Sports Day- Monday 7^th July (parents welcome for the afternoon class races).

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

Year 5:

Numeracy:

In Numeracy this week, the Year 5 children have been learning all about common multiples and factors, prime numbers and common denominators. The children have become so much faster and more accurate with their multiplication skills, which has been great to see. We can’t wait to see if there are any new Times Table Challenge winners on Friday 27^th June!

Literacy:

In Literacy this week, the children have been writing application forms to apply for an Active Leader role. The children have been trying to persuade The Active Team that they should be selected by explaining the qualities that they can bring to their chosen role. Spellings for next week are: allowed, aloud, draw, drawer, principle, principal, led, lead, alter, altar.

ICT:

This week in ICT pupils have been analysing their own photography taken around school. Some of the skills used by the children have been executed wonderfully, however pupils have been encouraged to critique their work and suggest improvements for the next session.

PE:

Please can all pupils ensure that they have a PE kit in school all week. Pupils should be bringing their kit in on a Monday and taking it home on a Friday. As we are now in the Summer term, more PE opportunities will be occurring regularly. We will aim to have PE sessions outdoors, therefore we ask that the children bring in their normal PE kit (plain white t-shirt, dark plain shorts – no separate outdoor kit needed) and a pair of suitable trainers. Should the weather be poor, we will have PE indoors.  The children have been told that if they would like to, they can bring in a roll on deodorant for after PE sessions (no sprays allowed).

 

  

Issue 33 2013-14

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope you all had a wonderful half term break and are ready for the exciting lead up to the summer holidays.
There are lots of exciting events taking place this half term. The dates are posted on the “Calendar” section of the school website for your convenience.
With our Finnish visitors and our Year 6s return from the Residential trip this evening, the half term has got off to a very busy start. Year 6 set off bright and breezy on Wednesday morning to Robin Wood and Miss Gascoigne has been giving me regular updates on the fabulous time had by all. We hope that the children came back full of enthusiasm following their adventure.

Message Board

Just a small reminder that the message board is available on the website for non-urgent school based queries. Once you have posted a message, it needs to be approved through our admin then I can reply. I do try and check the message board every few days so that replies are timely. As recommended at the recent parent coffee morning, we have also included a link to the message board through the “contact us” tab.

Website update

We have moved the tab “See our learning” to the front page of the website for easier access. This tab showcases some of the learning that has taken place in each phase. I feel strongly that you as parents are aware of the wonderful learning which takes place in classes. We have enjoyed a fabulous increase in attendance at phase celebration assemblies but we want to ensure that those parents who may be unable to attend do not miss out on what is happening in their child’s phase.
There has also been some useful E-Safety info added into the “Parents and Carers” tab. This includes some websites which may be useful when teaching your child about E-Safety at home.

Shorts

I have noticed that a small number of pupils are coming to school in black shorts as the weather turns warmer. These are sometimes unsuitable in length. Please be reminded that girls are to wear skirts or long trousers to school as is policy. As the weather is warmer I am happy to accept knee length shorts. Thanks.

Voices Foundation Assembly

A special assembly will take place on Friday 20^th June to showcase the fabulous outcomes of school’s involvement with the Voices Foundation program. Foundation and Key Stage 1 will perform between 2:30 - 2:45 and Key Stage 2 will perform between 2:45 - 3:00. You are all more than welcome.

PTA News

In connection with the Active Team at school we are holding a sponsored event to celebrate the "Tour de France".  This will take place on the 23, 24, 25 and 26 of June.  To enable this event to go as smoothly as possible we require a little help from any parent/carer who is available during the morning or afternoon of the above dates.  We appreciate that many people do work during the day, but if anyone happens to be available to help out please contact robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com.

The above mentioned “Tour de Robin Hood” will be a fantastic active opportunity to raise money which will be used for equipment for our new and improved lunchtimes next year. If you can support at all, I would be so grateful.

Have a great weekend everyone.

 

Mrs Dale

Nursery newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP
Welcome back to the last half term of the year! It was lovely to see everybody back today and all full of stories about trips and activities they had been involved with over the holidays. Our classroom looks amazing; we have a busy seaside area, travel agents (where I booked a sneaky holiday!) and a fabulous caravan.

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 jetted off on an aeroplane to Spain this week. It was very hot so we were lucky we had thought about summer clothes and how to keep safe in the sun. We have been writing postcards about our adventures and are really focusing on writing down all the sounds we can hear and making sure we form all letters correctly. Names are coming along brilliantly so thank you for your support with that. In numeracy we have been recognising numbers, counting and matching and writing numbers all by ourselves!

NEXT WEEK

We will continue with our Journeys theme and will be travelling by boat to the Arctic Circle. We will be deciding what to take with us and packing our suitcases. We will also be writing a postcard to tell you about all the things we saw and did. Again we will be focusing on hearing and writing initial sounds in words. In our topic sessions we will be making some ice lollies and talking about what happens to water when it freezes and then thaws out again. For home learning can you encourage your child to ‘dress’ the attached person in appropriate cold weather clothing. They can use any medium they like so we are hoping to see paint, gel pens, collage materials and chalks (or anything else they choose). The most amazing ones will be on display in Nursery.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US

·       Please complete the home learning task to prepare your child for next week’s learning (see above)

·       Please ask your child to read to you for five minutes every day. By now they should be working on spotting the sounds we have learned in phonics and a couple of the tricky words (I, no, go, into, my etc.)

·       Keep practising writing their full names and numbers 1-5 then 1-10

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.

We will also be doing outdoor PE this half term so please can you send your child in trainers each Wednesday? Thank you for your continued support, have a lovely weekend.

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


Reception newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP

The children bounced into school on Monday eager to tell us all about the adventures they have had over the holidays. They are really enjoying our new topic of journeys! We have a busy seaside area and a bustling airport and aeroplane.

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 jetted off on an aeroplane to Spain this week. It was very hot and we have all been making sure we are being safe in the sun. We have been writing a diary recording all of our adventures whilst we have been in Spain. We are now really focusing on the children’s handwriting so please help them practise their handwriting as much as possible.  In numeracy we have been working out addition and subtraction problems using different methods including, objects, fingers, numicon and number lines to ensure that they understand the two concepts. In phonics the children have been learning the long i sound ie (pie) and i_e (lime).

NEXT WEEK
Next week we will be boarding a boat and heading off to the cold Arctic Circle. We will be deciding what to take with us and will be busy packing our suitcases.  We will be recording our adventures in a diary using our best handwriting. In numeracy we will be practising counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s and we will be grouping objects into groups of 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. We have an exciting week of topic planned! We will start by locating the cold countries on maps and then we will be making ourselves some very yummy ice lollies. We will also be carrying out an investigation to see what happens when we put an ice cube in a coat! What do you think?

PLEASE NOTE the following diary dates:

Reception Seaside Party on Friday 20^th June from 11a.m. - 12p.m. 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.
Miss Lambert’s graduation will be in the hall from 9a.m. - 10a.m. on the 15^th July.
Miss Pyatt’s graduation will be held from 2p.m. - 3p.m. 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 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 (your child’s new book band is on Bug Club) and please share all their holiday adventures with us using the learning log.

·       Please note we will be doing outdoor PE this half term so please ensure your child has an appropriate outdoor PE kit and trainers.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Miss Lambert, Miss Pyatt and the Reception Team.

 

Key Stage 1

Home learning

This week the children have been working incredibly hard in preparation for our assessments next week. We have been very impressed with how much quicker the children are becoming at mental recall. They are learning to pick out the key terms/information from problems in order to answer questions. Please can you spend some time this weekend practising rapid recall of number bonds. Begin with number bonds to ten (7 + 3), then move into number bonds to 20 (17 + 3), then multiples of 10 that make 100 (80 + 20), and finally mixed digits that make 100 (47 + 53). Understanding and rapidly recalling these number patterns will help the children to solve all kinds of different problems.

Seaside trip

Let’s hope the rain disappears before our trip to Scarborough on July 10^th and July 11th! Please can you return your permission slip to the office if you haven’t already done so. Without this permission slip your child will not be able to go. If you need another letter, Mrs Holland in the office will be able to help you.

Arts week

At the beginning of July the children in KS1 are very lucky to be taking part in Arts Week. The work the children produce throughout the week will form part of ‘Arts Award Discover’ – the first stage of a nationally recognised, accredited qualification in the arts. The children will have the chance to work with professionals from a range of different fields: art, photography, ballet and song writing. The week will culminate in a showcase demonstrating the wonderful things they have achieved. The showcase will take place during the afternoon on Thursday 3rd July. There will be more details to follow but we wanted to give you this date should you wish to make arrangements to attend. It promises to be a fun filled and extremely creative week.

Literacy

We have experienced just how sneaky and mischievous the children in KS1 can be this week! At the beginning of the week the children watched ‘The Black Hole’ video as a stimulus for writing. Your child will be able to tell you all about it, or you can watch it for yourself if you type ‘the black hole’ into YouTube – it’s great! The children wrote their own creative story detailing all the weird and wonderful things they would do if a black hole were to come into their possession. They have been pinching from Greggs, reaching into Kinder Eggs and even sneaking through the door of Morrison’s staff meeting! Their stories were engaging, interesting and beautifully presented. They really were a joy to read – thank you and very well done! Shortly we will be starting a poetry unit which will involve performing, reciting and writing lots of different poems.

Numeracy

Very well done to all the children in KS1! They have had a very busy week consolidating all the skills we have learnt through the year. It’s very rewarding to see how much the children have learnt and are able to apply in order to solve a range of problems. We’re feeling very proud of you all. After assessment week we will be learning all about time. Perhaps you could have a look at some digital and analogue clocks around your home to familiarise the children with the basics of telling the time.

Topic

The children have applied the listening skills they have been learning in Philosophy to work collaboratively on a project this week. Our new topic is the seaside, which the children have been very excited about. They have watched videos, looked at pictures and read lots of information about the seaside in order to form an argument for or against the question: ‘is the seaside the best place to live?’ We allowed the children free reign as to how they presented their argument. Some groups made posters, others devised a puppet show and some produced news reports. We have been incredibly impressed with how mature and sensible the children have been working independently in this way. We are very much looking forward to watching your final presentations next week.

Have a lovely weekend. Fingers crossed for sunshine!

The KS1 Team

 

Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter

What a fantastic week we have had this week in year 3/4. The children have all returned after the half term break with enthusiasm and excitement as we embark on another fun-packed half term. We hope to share many of our outcomes at the end of the half term at our Showcase Assembly on Friday 27^th June at 2.30pm. Thank you to all parents and carers who attended our showcase assembly at the end of last half term. I’m sure everyone who attended will agree that is was a wonderful event and the children were extremely proud of their achievements over the half term.

Residential meeting for the current year 3’s

We will be holding a residential meeting for the parents, carers of the current year 3 children who are interested in going on residential next year. The meeting is to share information about the dates and cost of the trip and we will be sharing a video of the centre. The meeting will be held on Tuesday 17^th June at 3:30pm in the school hall. If any parents or carers are unable to attend the meeting, we will put all of the information onto our phase blog; http://year34rhps.blogspot.co.uk/

Home Learning

Once again, we have been inundated with learning logs from the half term break. 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 at the end of the half term.  

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 8 Times Table.

Numeracy

This week the children have been practicing our written strategies for solving problems involving the four operations. The children have then applied these methods when solving word problems involving money and measures. Next week we are looking at position and direction. We will be learning how to read a compass and following directions and plotting co – ordinates on a grid.

Literacy

This week in literacy we have been learning how to write a biography. We have looked at various famous people’s biographies to spot the key features and have been practicing writing in third person. The children then wrote a biography all about David Beckham’s life ensuring that their opening paragraph gives a brief over view of his life and then they wrote about his key events and achievements in chronological order. Next week we will be practicing our compound and complex sentences and will be using these to write biographies all about last year’s Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.

Spellings

These Spellings will be tested on Monday 9^th June.

Group 1: want, were, what, when, water, with, where, to, too, two

Group 2:  dance, distance, advance, difference, notice, place, surface, entrance, science, practice

Topic

This week we have begun our very interesting unit titled ‘Sports Report’. The children have been learning all about both the Olympic and Paralympic games. They wrote a recount about the memorable moment by the athlete Derek Redmond, crossing the line with a torn hamstring and created a new Olympic medal. Next week we will be studying the artist Keith Haring and creating sporting pictures in his style. These will be displayed in the Y3/4 mall for you to come and admire.

Science

Our new science topic for this half term is changing states of matter. This week children have been identifying the similarities and differences between solids, liquids and gasses and next week we will be investigating how these can change.

Reminders

·    As part of our history curriculum we will be going on a trip to watch the Horrible Histories production of ‘Barmy Britain’ at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre on Thursday 17^th July. The cost of the trip is £18 and we would like the children to bring a packed lunch and wear their school uniform. If you would like any information regarding the trip please see a member of the 3/4 team at the end of the school day.

 

·    Showcase Assembly on Friday 27^th June at 2.30pm

 

·    The current weather is very changeable and so we ask that your child brings a suitable coat and a water bottle to school every day.

 

·    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.

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

Le Grand Depart

Although year 5/6 has been somewhat quieter this week, year 5 have been enjoying the build up to Yorkshire’s Grand Depart! Through researching and reading about the tour this week, pupils have applied their knowledge and creativity into a number of wonderful outcomes; including their very own clothing range and breath taking poetry! This is just the beginning of the excitement and there will be some wonderful events in the coming weeks.

Road Safety

Earlier this week, our year 6 pupils spent some time with the local road safety team. Through some fun games and activities the road safety team were able to educate our pupils on the importance of being safe on the road. I know that the team were particularly impressed with the maturity and awareness that our pupils brought to all the sessions.

Times Tables Challenge:

The last week of term saw the most gripping finals of the times tables challenge to date. It was so hard to separate the finalists, however after several nail biting rounds; we managed to find our winners. Huge congratulations to Lucy in 5/6G and Danika in 5/6M for their coolness under pressure. Very impressive girls!

Literacy:

This week in literacy pupils have structured their Tour de France ideas into some superb poetry. We are always so impressed with how inspired the pupils are to write poetry- although they don’t always like to admit it! Next week pupils will be developing their Active Leaders applications. Lessons will focus on formal application styles and providing evidence of their own experiences. The spellings for next week are; threw, through, guessed, guest, herd, heard, profit, prophet, allowed, aloud. Your child has received a copy of these spelling and will be tested on Friday 13^th June.

Numeracy

In numeracy this week, pupils have been learning different strategies for mental addition and subtraction. This has involved rounding numbers to the nearest ten, adding and then adjusting. Next week the children will be investigating different qualities that numbers can have including; common factors, common multiples and prime numbers.

Art: Printing

This week Mrs Chin has helped to inspire our year 5 pupils with some Le Tour de France printing. From using a selection of materials and paints our pupils have produced some iconic designs featuring Leeds architecture. The final outcomes were fantastic and the t-shirts produced are colourful, unique and above all cool! Huge thanks to Mrs Chin for helping deliver this wonderful idea.

ICT:

In ICT this half term the children will be looking at photography and film. We kicked this week off with a photo shoot of the school. Children learnt and applied different photographic techniques such as: shots from above, action shots and the rule of thirds.

Science:

Science this half term will be about living things! Pupils will be looking at the different classes from the animal kingdom. Next week we will be exploring the different lifecycles of these classes.