Monday, 30 September 2013

Issue 4 2013-14


Newsletter Issue 4

Friday 27th September 2013

Dear Parent/Carer,

I would like to start this week by extending my thanks to those who are able to give some time to read with our children. It is lovely to have parents in school and the reading practice is invaluable for our children.

The week got off to a great start this week, with Reception and Nursery dressing up as their favourite book characters as part of a special themed day; I was greeted in the hall during Monday’s assembly by a multitude of princes and princesses, superheroes, pirates and animals. It was smiles all round!

Industrial Action

You are all no doubt aware that several teacher unions are holding strikes on Tuesday October 1st. To my knowledge at present, the school will remain open. Please assume that if you do not hear anything, it will be business as usual. Thanks.

Comenius projects

Plans are under way once more to continue our collaboration with colleagues in Finland and Sweden as we look forward to phase 2 of our “Developing Outstanding Schools” and “Welfare and Health in School Education” projects. We look forward to welcoming our visitors from Finland on October 9th, where they will observe how we put provision around children with special educational needs and look at teaching strategies for our foundation (non-core) subjects. Please visit the Comenius section of our website for more details about the projects so far.

Another polite request

Please be reminded that parking on the zig zags outside school is prohibited, as is using the disabled space without a badge. Once more, I am receiving complaints about the careless behaviour of parents who are not dropping their children off safely. I am shocked to discover that some parents are using the entrance to the staff car park as a place to carry out ‘U’ turns during peak times when children and parents are crossing. Cones are now in place to stop this. The safety of our children and their families should be everyone’s priority.

The Big Draw is coming!

October is the month of The Big Draw; The Campaign for Drawing’s month long national drawing event, which (as the name suggests) aims to get everyone drawing. We are huge supporters of the campaign at Robin Hood and are now about to embark on our third year of being involved with the event. Mrs Mistry and Mrs Chin, two of our highly gifted support staff, are finalising the plans for our day of activities. We want to give you plenty of advance notice to come and join us after school on Tuesday 15th October to see the works of art on display as our hall is transformed into an art gallery. Doors will open at 3:00 p.m. Please come and join us if you can.

 PTA News
Just a quick reminder that Bag2school day is on Friday 4 October. Please fill your blue bag with good quality second hand clothing, paired shoes, belts, bedding etc. This will really help the PTA to raise some extra cash for school as Bag2School pay us for everything they can re-use. Unfortunately, due to a lack of storage space, we cannot accept the filled bags until the actual date. Clare, our chair, will be available on the day to direct you where to leave them ready for collection (please do not hand them to the ladies in the office as they will already be busy at that time!!!). Please have a sort through your wardrobes and see if you can help us!!!
Also our AGM is next Friday on 4 October. Please meet us at 3:30 outside the school office and support your school.

 
 
Don’t forget to keep your non perishable food donations coming in as part of our harvest celebrations.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Dale

Next Parent’s Coffee Morning
Agenda for discussion
Monday 7th Oct  9:00am- 10:00 am
 
Email your views:
gaynor.dale@robinhood.leeds.sch.uk
·         Communication with parents- update on how we aim to improve and what measures have already been put in place.  Your views.
·         Spanish pupil exchanges- a good idea? Your views
·         Residential trips for Y56 abroad- a good idea? Your views


Nursery newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
The children looked fantastic on Monday and Thursday dressed up as their favourite book character and it was great to see their big, excited smiles as they came into the classroom. They had an amazing time role playing with their friends and it was a super way to start off their learning for the week.
THIS WEEK
This week our literacy has been based around the children’s favourite book. We have focused on the characters in the book and the setting. Whilst the children were decorating a mask for their favourite story character, they were also telling the adults what they knew about the different people that appear in their favourite stories! We used the book ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ as a stimulus too and the children were encouraged to act out the story using rhyming language and then work collaboratively to make a super class display. In numeracy we have continued to count to 10 and back and the children have been spotting numbers around the indoor and outdoor classroom and playing shape dominoes which was lots of fun!
NEXT WEEK
Next week we are learning all about our families. In literacy we will be watching clips of ‘The Incredibles’ and thinking about all the different super things our families can do. We will be making superhero puppets of either Mum or Dad and we will be encouraging the children to hold their pencils correctly using the tripod (three fingered) grip and drawing on the correct facial features. In topic we will be making something special to bring home. In numeracy the children will be ordering two members of the Incredible family by size and talking about smallest and largest groups of objects.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
·         Please listen to your child read for at least 5 minutes every day. Encourage them to hold the books and turn the pages by themselves and if you can ask lots of questions to support their comprehension skills that would be fabulous.
·         Please bring books and reading records into Nursery every week so that we can change the books and let you know how your child is getting on in Nursery.
·         Please continue to encourage your child to put on and take off their own coats, shoes and socks (I know this is time consuming but we would really appreciate your support!)
Thank you very much and we hope you have a lovely weekend
Mrs Steel, Mrs Chin and Miss Fox
Reception newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
The children looked fantastic on Monday dressed up as their favourite book character and it was great to see their big and excited smiles as they came into the classroom. They had an amazing time role playing with their friends and it was a super way to start off their learning for the week.
THIS WEEK
This week our literacy has been based around the children’s favourite book. We have focused on the characters in the book and the setting. On Wednesday we took our literacy session out of the classroom and into the hall where we drew all the different settings in the story we’re going on a tiger hunt. The story ended with us seeing a real tiger in the hall and having to quickly run back to the classroom. In phonics this week we have been practising recognising and writing the sounds; g, o, c and k and reading our key words of the week which were dad, back, had, and, get and big. It was great to see how many children got 100% and got to visit Mrs Dale for a Headteacher’s sticker. In topic we started the week off by listening to an audio track about the setting of a story which the children had to act out and really imagine that they were there. Then at the end of the week the children used a variety of materials including play dough, glitter feathers, leaves, wood and sand to create a 3D model of a story setting with a partner. They also made some fabulous character masks and spent time outside role-playing various different stories. On Tuesday the wicked witch had left us a chest of her things and a note to tell the children to have a go at making her a special potion. The children really embraced the learning experience and there were some super recipes for the witch written in our witches den. In maths we were learning the concept of 1 more and 1 less and the children have now really started to understand what the word less means.
NEXT WEEK
Next week we are learning all about our families and the people we love. In literacy we will be watching clips of The Incredibles and thinking about all the different super things our families can do. We will be making superhero puppets of each member of our family and writing repeated sentences underneath e.g. My mum can… In topic we will be making our families a special secret present which the children will bring home for you towards the end of the week. In numeracy the children will be ordering The Incredibles family from smallest to tallest. In phonics we will be learning to recognise the sounds ck, e and u and learning to read the words; him, his, not, mum, up and got.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
·        Please listen to your child read for at least 5 minutes every day. Help them spot the sounds we have been learning and help them sound out and blend simple words. Don’t forget bug club!
·         Please have a look at your child’s name writing book and practise their target with them.
·         Please encourage your child to show you their wonderful learning at home and engage with the home learning that is been sent.
·         Have a go at the ICT games we have been playing in class.
Have a lovely weekend
Miss Lambert, Miss Pyatt & the rest of the Reception team
 
Key Stage 1
Home learning
This week we have been learning all about the importance of a healthy, balanced diet to ensure a healthy body and mind. We have tasted food, researched the food groups, learnt about hygiene and even put together our own exercise video!
For home learning this week we would like the children to design their dream meal (one, two or three courses – it’s up to you!) To ensure a balanced diet, the meal must contain something from each of the food groups: carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, dairy, protein and a smidgen of the fatty foods section.  Try to think about the food pyramid and discuss the fact that it’s so important to eat large amounts of carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables. The children will be able to tell you why.
Juice bottles
To continue the theme of health and wellbeing we’ll be designing and making our own smoothies next week. If you indulge in any smoothies or juice over the weekend, please can you save the bottles for us to have a look at? We would like to gather lots of ideas to make our labels both authentic and original.  
Trip
Our trip to Morrisons is fast approaching and we haven’t received many permission slips. If you haven’t completed your slip please can you do so as soon as possible and post it through the letterbox outside the school office. Without written permission the children will not be able to come with us and it would be such a shame for anyone to miss out. If you need a new letter just call into the office and they will be more than happy to help you.
Jumpers
With the changeable British weather unable to make its mind up, one minute we are hot and the next we are cold. Consequently, we are finding more and more discarded jumpers and cardigans in class at the end of the school day.  Please can you ensure your child’s name is written clearly on the label so we can make sure the right jumper/cardigans go home with the right people. Thanks.
Changing books
I know there have been a few questions about changing books and whether there are set days for children to do this. The children can get a new book to take home whenever and as often as they like. You are welcome to come into the classroom with them after school to have a look at our books and pick some together. There is no set day and we encourage the children to take responsibility for changing their own books whenever they have finished one. The more they read the better.
Numeracy
Our numeracy learning has been all about place value; getting to grips with units, tens, hundreds and even thousands. We use the ‘malteser system’ to help children grasp the concept of place value. Ask your child and I’m sure they would be more than happy to share it with you. In a nutshell – a unit is one malteser, a bag of maltesers represents one ten, a box represents one hundred and a bucket represents one thousand. It’s a useful visual representation of what each column means. When partitioning the children can either draw maltesers or progress to numbers. To embed this learning it would be useful to ask you child simple questions like “How many tens are there in 76?” or “What is the value of 2 in 321?” Next week we will be building on the children’s knowledge of place value by progressing into ordering numbers. If you do practise any ordering at home, try to include numbers with zeros in lots of different places. It’s the tricky zero that catches people out for example 709 and 790.
Literacy
Literacy has been action packed this week. We kicked off on Monday by going on a tour of KS1, tasting different food types in each room. Needless to say this was a very exciting morning and the children pushed themselves to taste some things they had never seen before. Their faces whilst sucking a lemon were extremely entertaining! Alongside learning about all the different food groups, our main focus has been adjectives. The children have generated some incredibly impressive and appropriate adjectives which they will be able to use in their very own healthy food booklet next week. To help generate and share even more ideas we facilitated some peer led learning by sending adjective spies into different classes for the morning.
Topic
The children will no doubt be ready for the weekend because we have been very active this week. In addition to planning and filming our own exercise videos we also experimented to find out what happens to our bodies when we exercise. This helped to consolidate our learning from last week about all the different parts of the body. The children seem to be really enjoying the topic and we are very excited to see what they will produce next week.
Have a lovely weekend.
The KS1 Team
 
 
Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter
Wow what a fantastic week we have had in LKS2. It’s been full of great learning and super sensible attitudes. We are particularly impressed with the amount of reading the children are doing at home and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your support with this. To ensure we can reward all of the children for the amazing reading they are doing at home, please ensure they bring their reading record signed on a Monday morning. Our achiever of the week this week is the extremely talented Amisha Teeluck for always going the extra mile with her home learning and impressing Miss Snowden every day. 
Numeracy
This week, we have been learning how to round to the nearest 10, 100 and even 1000. The children have really impressed us with then rounding different coin values to the nearest 10p and pound. Next week we will be learning lots of different written and mental strategies in order to solve addition problems. Home learning: your child will have received a selection of questions and problems from this week’s learning as a means of embedding and securing the learning that has taken place. Please also continue to support your child with their learning of their times tables and basic number bonds to 10 and 100. These basic number facts underpin almost everything that we cover during numeracy lessons. Thank you. Next week’s time’s table focus will be the 4 X tables…get practising!
Literacy
This week we have been learning all about how important it is to use a variety of adjectives in our writing to make it more interesting and exciting for the reader. We have then been using these to write exciting diary extracts as a Viking, describing all of the jobs we do and our roles in a Viking village. Next week we will be learning how to use adverbs in our writing to describe how people move and speak. We will then be using these to write a diary entry as a Viking child, detailing all of the events of their day.
Spellings
These Spellings will be tested on the 7th October. Please support your child in practicing their spellings every day to help them achieve 10/10 in their spelling test every week.
Group One
Group Two
hay
familiar
clay
choose
tray
forward
play
forget
pray
explain
say
captain
hooray
elbow
runway
empty
crayons
sugar
holiday
pattern

 
Other areas of the curriculum:
In PE we have taken inspiration from Olympic gymnast video footage and have been continuing our gymnastics by practising our rolls and balances and putting them into sequences.
In Topic we have been continuing our studies about the Vikings. We have spent some time finding out about the jobs the Viking women and children did and have begun our own weaving for a school display.
In music, 34B have continued looking at the instruments available in garage band using the iPads. 34T have been learning a new song on the recorders and 34S have been learning how to play percussion instruments.
In Science we have been looking at the investigation process involved when carrying out experiments and have focussed on how to turn data into graphs and charts.
Reminders
·        Please can all Year 4 children remember to bring their swimming kit and goggles if needed every Friday in a bag large enough to fit their entire uniforms and shoes in – we don’t want to lose any belongings. Children may also bring a snack to eat on the coach on the way back to school. This can be a cereal bar or a piece of fruit – no crisps.
·        Please ensure your child’s PE kit is kept in school from Monday-Friday every week.
·       As the weather begins to turn that little bit cooler and wetter, please ensure your child has a suitable outdoor coat/jacket.
Have a fabulous weekend! Don’t forget to check out our blog: http://robinhoodprimaryyear34.blogspot.co.uk/ 
Team 3/4
 
UKS2 Newsletter
News Roundup:
Splat the SATs:
Well done to group 1 and group 2 Year 6 children this week. These children have been very organised for their Splat the SATs sessions with Mrs Dale and shown great enthusiasm and maturity.  Group 1 and 2 will continue next Tuesday October 1st and group 3 and 4 will continue on Tuesday 8th October. Once again, each group will attend every other week during this half term. Please ensure you have your SAT packs in school the entire time, they can stay in your tray until your session.
Leeds Children’s Mayor
Just a reminder to the Year 6 children who are interested in entering the Leeds Children’s Mayor competition. Manifestos, posters and slogans need to be handed into school by Wednesday October 2nd so the Year 5/6 teachers can choose one entry to be submitted to the final on Friday October 4th. The teachers need to enter the winning manifesto electronically, therefore time is needed for us teachers to type it up and have it submitted electronically before the deadline. www.breezeleeds.org
Achiever of the Week:
Our Achiever of the Week must go to Alex in 5/6G for his absolutely amazing handwriting this week, he has been trying so hard to take care with his presentation and all his determination to succeed has really paid off… Keep it up, Alex, well done!
Core Subjects:
Numeracy:
This week we have been learning about rounding and estimating length, mass, capacity and time. The children have been handling equipment used for measuring and have been very competitive when estimating the weight of various items. Next week, we will be learning how to add and subtract using written methods to support our calculations; this includes increasing and decreasing fractions and percentages of amounts.
Literacy:
This week pupils have been continuing to apply their skills in writing a successful recount. Our writing has focused specifically on the 49ers and hardships they experienced in the quest for gold. Next week our writing concentrates on diary entries. Pupils will be identifying the key features of a good diary entry and applying their skills from the perspective of different individuals on board the Titanic. 
SPELLINGS: Next week, the spellings are: guidance, knew, environment, knight, thistle, conscience, gnat, wreckage, knife, rhythm.
Your child has received a copy of these spellings which have been glued into their planner. They will be tested on these words on Friday October 4th.
Other areas of the curriculum:
PE:
This week, 5/6G have been furthering their street dance moves… the children in 5/6G may bring in their street dance clothing next week for our PE session on Tuesday if they wish, to get into character! 5/6M have now combined the electric slide with a full sequence of line dancing steps. We are continuing to perfect the timing and quality of our steps before our final performance towards the end of term. 5/6MO have revisited the key rock & roll moves from previous learning. Pupils are currently choreographing their own whole class rock & roll performance.
Once again, please ensure that your child comes to school with the appropriate PE kit each week. PE this half term is indoors; therefore the children will need to wear black shorts and a white t-shirt, indoor pumps or bare feet too. Miss Gascoigne’s class may wear long tracksuit bottoms or leggings for our street dance sessions as we may need to use our knees at times.
5/6M and 5/6MO PE sessions are on Mondays and 5/6G PE sessions are on Tuesdays.
Spanish:
In Spanish, the children have been enjoying continuing to learn about different objects and places in the school. This week, they practiced their conversational Spanish to describe where objects were using the sentence starter ‘Alli esta’. Why not see if your child can remember what that means?
Science:
This week in Science, the children re-capped some scientific terms and vocabulary. We have been learning about making sure an investigation is a fair test and understanding what independent, dependent and constant variable means. The children also practiced their graph drawing skills by presenting information in a bar chart, line graph or scatter graph. Next week, we will be learning how to draw conclusions from our scientific investigations.
ICT:
In ICT this week, the children have been carrying out research for the theme for their motion ICT collage, using Smart Notebook. They have been encouraged to find images and quotes which support this theme and next week will be starting to combine these with the motion techniques they’ve learned in previous weeks to create very effective outcomes!
BLOG
As you know, we have re-launched our blog this year. However, we are currently awaiting the link to replace the old link on the school website. In the meantime, you can find it at the web address below. We plan on building this up over the year so the children can show off their learning in school, as well as it being a place for parents to find the newsletter, spellings and information about the achievers.
 
Visit our blog: http://year56rhps.blogspot.co.uk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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