Newsletter Issue 8
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Friday 26th October 2012
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Dear Parent/Carer,
I would like to start the newsletter this week by thanking all of you for your support in ensuring that our first half term of the year has been successful. I personally feel that the atmosphere in school is the best it has ever been, teaching and learning is the best it has ever been and parental support is the best it has ever been. All ingredients to make sure our children are as happy and successful as they can be – and isn’t that just the point?!
PTA
A reminder that the PTA Autumn disco will take place on Wednesday November 7th. Please see posters around school for times. Thanks to Mrs Secretan, who has sourced a huge amount of Halloween themed goodies for the occasion! The Xmas Fayre plans are well underway. We are requiring unwanted gifts to sell at the Fayre, such as boxes of smellies, mugs, wine, beer, chocolates and good quality teddy bears. Also, if you work for a large company, it would be great if we could receive any good quality donations. It’s always worth an ask, I say! I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our PTA for their incredible work in organising two brilliant events in the first term alone. You are doing an amazing job!!
House Points
The Yellow team (our house point winning team for this half term) enjoyed their Disco Time yesterday with Disco Rich, who whipped up a storm on the dance floor! Richard will be providing the PTA Autumn Disco. If you would like to use him for your own children’s party, you can contact him on 07530882355.
Robin Hood Resident’s Association
I am an advocate for bringing the community together in a positive way and so would like to promote the Robin Hood Resident’s Association, who will be holding at least 4 key events each year. The next event will be held on 1st December 2012 between 4:30p.m and 6:00p.m when they will hold a celebration to turn on the lights of the first ever Christmas tree in Robin Hood. The winner of our logo design competition will be selected to turn the lights on and we hope to involve the Choir in singing some Christmas songs at the event. The event will take place in Robin Hood’s community garden opposite the Post Office.
Governing Body
I am pleased to announce the results of the Governing Body re- elections, which took place this week. Councillor Lisa Mulherin was re- elected as the Chair and we welcome Julie Newell into the role of Vice Chair. I look forward to working closely with Lisa, Julie and the rest of the Governing Body.
Construction Site
I would like to ask everyone to take extra care when walking up the path on Leeds road, past the turn in leading to the Persimmon Homes construction site. It has been brought to our attention that there has been some vehicle movement during school drop off and pick up times. A parent, Cllr Mulherin and I have made the site manager aware and are ensuring that there are contractual agreements which state that there can be no deliveries to or from the site during those times. The safety of our children is of paramount importance.
James Driver
I have some wonderful news. James informed me this week that he has received a date for his operation. He wanted me to let everyone know that he will going into hospital in time for his operation on 29th November. I am sure you will all join with me in sharing my very best wishes with the Driver family.
Lost property
We have a large amount of lost property on display outside the Year 1 classroom including a brand new coat. Please call in and have a look if you have lost anything.
Poppies
Poppies will be on sale from Monday 5th November so please remember to buy one so that we can raise the most money and retain the shield again.
Don’t forget to put your clocks back this weekend. With a two year old who likes to rise very early indeed, looks like I’ll be in for an extra early wake-up call on Sunday morning!!
Enjoy your break and I look forward to another fantastic half term as we lead up to Christmas.
Mrs Dale
Nursery newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
First of all I would like to say a huge well done to all the Nursery children for their amazing progress this half term! They have made excellent progress which no doubt you will have seen for yourselves at the parent drop in sessions. We would also like to say a big thank you to all the parents for all your support and encouragement over the last half term, the children’s amazing progress is down to your efforts too!
We finished off the half term in true style with a colour party just like Elmer’s. The children were dressed in lots of different colours and they enjoyed eating lots of different coloured food! It was certainly an interesting experience for our taste buds.
THIS WEEK
In phonics this week we have been playing ‘copy me do’ with rhythms and sounds; the children are becoming increasingly more confident with this so please try and play this game with your child at any opportunity. In numeracy we have been focusing on the numbers 4, 5 and 6 using the Numtums as well as thinking about repeating patterns like Elmer’s and sharing. The children loved the Smarties we were sharing. In topic this week the children made big Elmers and some lovely friendship bracelets.
FIRST WEEK OF NEXT HALF TERM
Our topic next half term is Celebrations which we are all very excited about! In the first week back we will be concentrating on Bonfire Night. We will be thinking about how we can describe fireworks - how they look and what they sound like. We will be reading the Story of Guy Fawkes and making our own firework music. In numeracy we will be focusing on ordering numbers and quantities. In topic we will be making an amazing firework display using syringes, teabags and pipettes to splatter our paint, we will then skilfully make our very own fireworks. For both groups on the Wednesday (7th November) we will be hosting a bonfire party. The children will make tasty treats and sing songs around a pretend bonfire. If possible please can you ensure they have a coat, scarf, hat and gloves and send them in with some traditional bonfire food for them to share with their friends?
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
It is important for the children to keep learning over the holidays so please encourage them.
· Please listen to your child’s fabulous reading once a day and comment in their reading record. Please feel free to drop in and change their books when you pick them up.
· Please practice counting to 10 and beyond with your child at any opportunity. Please also practise writing and recognising the numbers 1-6 with them.
· Please practise writing the first letter of your Child’s name and if they can do this try going even further with them.
· Please send in any cardboard tubes e.g. kitchen roll for rockets.
Finally I hope you all have an amazing half term and I hope you all go on many adventures.
Reception newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
First of all I would like to say a huge well done to all the Reception children for their amazing progress this half term! They have made excellent progress which no doubt you will have seen for yourselves at the parent consultations. During the parent consultations it was mentioned that parents would appreciate the home learning a little earlier on in the week so we will be sending it home on Wednesday after half term. Also it was apparent that the majority of parents were unsure about how we teach the children to read and phonics (as it has changed since we were at school) so we thought it would be a good idea for us to organise an evening next half term whereby you can come and see how we do it and have a go yourselves with the resources we use. So we will organise a date for next half term and confirm it in the next newsletter. We really value all your comments and suggestions so please do not hesitate to come to us with them.
THIS WEEK
We finished off the half term in true style with a colour party just like Elmer’s. The children were dressed in lots of different colours and they enjoyed eating lots of different coloured food! It was certainly an interesting experience for all of our taste buds. In phonics this week we have been practising saying and writing the sound; ss and writing all of our key words. In numeracy we have been focusing on repeated patterns using 3 shapes and sharing sweets evenly between our friends. In topic this week the children made big Elmers and some lovely friendship bracelets.
FIRST WEEK OF NEXT HALF TERM
In the first week back we will be learning about Bonfire Night. We will be thinking about how we can describe fireworks, how they look and what they sound like and learning the story of Guy Fawkes. In numeracy we will be focusing on ordering numbers, quantities and adding or taking away one. In topic we will be making an amazing firework display using syringes, teabags and pipettes to splatter our paint, we will then skilfully make our very own fireworks. The sounds of the week will be; j, v, w and x and the words are; will, that, this, then, them and with. Let’s see if we can get some more certificates! On the Friday (9th November) we will be hosting a bonfire party. If possible please can you ensure they have a coat, scarf, hat and gloves and send them in with some traditional bonfire food for them to share with their friends.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
It is important for the children to keep learning over the holidays so please encourage them.
· Please listen to your child’s fabulous reading once a day and comment in their reading record.
· Please help your child to write their second name and perfect their first name.
· Please practise counting, recognising and writing numbers to 20 with your child.
· Please re-cap reading and writing all their sounds, key words and tricky words.
· Please send in any cardboard tubes or other potential fireworks e.g. kitchen rolls.
Finally we would like to say a big thank you to all the parents for all your support and encouragement over the last half term, the children’s amazing progress is also down to your efforts. I hope you and your child have an amazing half term.
Key Stage 1
Home Learning
This half term in Numeracy the children have been counting lots and understanding the place value of numbers. Over the holidays please support your child in completing the Numeracy booklet on place value and word problems. This is designed to support the learning which has already taken place this half term in school.
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News
Parents Consultations
Thank you for taking the time this week to come and speak to us. It has been a pleasure to share with you all the amazing things your child has achieved so far. We expect a lot from all the children and they are really flourishing. It’s thanks to your continued support from home that we are able to continue to challenge them to develop and meet their potential. It was great to celebrate their successes with you!
Assessment Week
It might be the week before half term – but there’s no rest for the wicked! KS1 have had a very busy week with assessments. We’ve carried out assessments in Numeracy, Writing, Phonics and Reading
Next half term
Topic
Our topic next half term is ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and we have lots of exciting things planned! Here’s a glimpse of what’s to come:
· Make your own ICT story book on Smart Notebook
· Sew a hand puppet of one of the characters
· Conduct a science investigation into different materials to produce the optimum coat for a character!
We’ll also be exploring the British Isles in Geography and putting our creative skills to the test with lots of creative artwork.
Literacy
Our focus in Literacy is ‘narrative’ and we’ll be exploring 3 different stories:
· Where the Wild Things are
· We’re going on a Bear Hunt
· Gorilla
We’ll be re-telling and tweaking these stories in different ways, building on our knowledge of the structure of narrative and further developing our creative writing.
Numeracy
In numeracy we’re moving on to addition and subtraction. There will be big focus on rapid recall of number facts. To prepare you children for this topic it would be useful to spend a few minutes practising quick fire, simple addition and subtraction facts. Try the number bonds to 10 challenge – if you say ‘6’ your child says ‘4’. How many can you do in 1 minute? Then move onto number bonds to 20!
Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter
We have had an incredible week in LKS2 and have been extremely proud of the children’s sensible and mature attitudes towards their assessments. It’s been a great opportunity for the children to show off all of their amazing learning from across the half term, well done. We would like to congratulate our amazing achievers of the week from Mrs Moore’s class. Freya Reid and Lily Higgins were chosen for their great team work during ICT this half term. They successfully retold the beginning of the story of Oliver Twist, using animation, written narration and sound effects and Mrs Moore was so impressed with their patience and perseverance, well done girls!
Home Learning
For the children’s holiday home learning, we would like the children to do some research about a Victorian Invention. How they choose to present their information is entirely up to them. It could be a PowerPoint presentation, poster, video or a model! We look forward to the children blowing us away with their creativity in our first topic session after the break. Also next half term we will be sending our weekly writes home with the children every Friday. This gives you a great opportunity to look at and discuss with them how they have hit their weekly target. We would like the children to look at the teacher’s feedback and either re-write the piece or simply add another paragraph incorporating their new target.
Literacy
We were blown away when marking the children’s fabulous ‘Big Writes’ last week and were so proud that the children worked extremely hard to incorporate lots of audience engaging features, detailed paragraphs and amazing compound and complex sentences. Next half term we are learning how to write a variety of persuasive texts and how to argue opinions effectively. We will be writing letters to persuade Prince Albert
Numeracy
This week in numeracy the children have carried out assessments covering the different units we have looked at over the last 7 weeks. The children managed to tackle a variety of question types, ranging from level 2 to level 4. We were very pleased to see the huge improvement in the children’s mental maths scores and the ability to answer a question within a time limitation. We can see children in year 3/4 have been busy learning their times tables, well done. Next half term we will be learning both written and mental strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems.
Next half term
Next half term, our topic will be ‘Incredible Inventions’. We will be learning all about the incredible inventions of the Victorian era, as well as designing our own inventions and holding our very own Great Exhibition in the hall!
Spellings to be tested on Monday 12th November (the children already have their spellings for this Monday)
Group One
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Group Two
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sigh
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force
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sight
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friction
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high
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invention
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light
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persuade
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night
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exaggerate
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tight
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exhibition
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fight
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momentum
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fright
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weight
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slight
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resistance
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right
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movement
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Reminders
· PE kits need to come in on a Monday and be taken home on a Friday. Miss Thackeray’s and Mrs Moore’s class will now have PE on Tuesdays. Miss Snowden’s will have PE on Thursday
· Those children who have ‘home learning packs’ please ensure they are brought into school every Monday morning.
UKS2 News Roundup
· Our Achievers of the week goes to: Becca Bowes, Eleanor Brown, Jay Higgins, Luke Trueman and Lewis Hagan, for their amazing Tudor outcome. The children created a full-sized set of Tudor stocks to give us all a taster of what it was like to receive a Tudor punishment! They worked together so incredibly well – well done guys!
· Year 6 have been given their next Splat the SATs pack. Mrs Dale and Miss Darroch will be going through the papers with the children during the weekly Splat the SATs session, which is on Tuesday. Please ensure that papers have been completed by the following dates at the latest:
6th November
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Numeracy Paper A
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13th November
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Numeracy Paper B
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20th November
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Mental Maths
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26th November
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Thank you!
· Year 5 home learning – in preparation for next half term’s topic, we would like children in Year 5 to choose one country from South America and produce an information poster about it. You may want to include information about food, language, local attractions, homes, climate, sports and festivals; as well as any other information that you feel is useful. Please ensure punctuation is accurate and that you are applying your sentence level skills from this half term.
· Thank you to those who have supported Laura in the final stages of the Leeds Children’s Mayor Programme. Voting closes on November 5th so there’s just over a week to vote if you’ve not already done so! Simply visit our blog http://robinhood56.blogspot.co.uk/ and click on the link on the first post, which will take you to the page with voting information. Thank you for your support.
Reminders:
· After the half term holiday, the focus for PE will be gymnastics. 5/6G and 5/6B will have their lesson on Monday and 5/6M on Tuesday. Please ensure that you have a white T-shirt and black or blue shorts. Pumps can be worn though trainers are not suitable.
· Don’t forget to bring in your planners every day, especially on Monday when they will be stamped and signed – try to aim for at least 4 entries per week of reading and remember, stickers are up for grabs!
· Please continue to keep track of your daily steps for the Global Children’s Challenge. We have reached Africa and are progressing well!
Numeracy:
- Our focus this week has been written methods for multiplication and division.
- PRACTISE! Visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/maths/games?page=3 to practise the grid method for multiplication and bus stop for division.
- A link to these is also on the blog. Visit http://robinhood56.blogspot.co.uk/ and click on Numeracy! There’s also a link to practise for the next Times Tables Challenge using the Bingo Machine.
Literacy:
- The focus this week has been writing paragraphs for a horror story as well as ensuring apostrophes for possession and omission are accurate.
- The Apostrophe Song App is a fun way of learning apostrophes to your favourite style of music (pop, rock, hip hop or acoustic!) There are even quizzes too! It can be downloaded from the app store for 69p.
- You can also practise using apostrophes by playing the Who Owns What? Game at http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/en29punc-game-who-owns-what. Again, there’s a link to this on our blog by clicking Literacy.
Other areas of the curriculum:
- The afternoon curriculum this week has focused on Science. We have been discussing the various stages of a scientific investigation and looking closely at the different variables that are involved. We have also practised our data handling techniques by analysing the type of data before choosing which chart/graph to use. Next half term, we will be looking at the theories of evolution and inheritance.
- In PE this week, the children have been applying all of the football skills learnt over the half term to a longer mini-tournament, called ‘
- This week in Spanish, the children have been applying all of their skills from this half term to write and perform their own conversations about their food likes and dislikes. Fantasico!
- In Music, 5/6B have completed their percussion sessions looking at Samba compositions. They have conducted their own small groups incorporating changes in the dynamics. 5/6G have been applying all of their learning from this half term to a complex song which included notes B, A, G, C, and E on the recorder. 5/6M have been finalising their Garageband outcomes on the iPad – some fantastic learning all round!
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