Friday, 7 February 2014

Issue 20 2013-14


Newsletter Issue 20

Friday 7th February 2014

Dear Parent/Carer,
Here is a round up of the events for this week, in what has been another very busy week in school.

Golden Owls
Thank you to all children who have submitted a short video to enter into the Golden Owls Awards. Miss Thackeray and Miss McSorley have taken time out of their lunchtime during the month of January to support children who wanted to put a video together. They are both very proud of the children’s creative efforts and now it’s just fingers crossed that a film is shortlisted and we can take part in the Awards Ceremony on April 2nd at Leeds Town Hall.

Sign 2 Sing
Thanks once more to Miss Thackeray who organised the Sign 2 Sing event which took place this week. The whole school joined together in the hall to simultaneously sign the song “Get up and sign”. Now in its fourth year, sign2sing has become a major national fundraising initiative involving over 300,000 primary school children and adults in over 1,000 schools in the UK and abroad.   The idea is that we collectively become Guinness World Record Breakers by singing and signing the same song, at the same time across multiple locations. Thank you to all who brought in your £1 donation, which will go to Sign Health. So far we have raised £171. If you have not donated but would still like to, you can continue to do so into next week.

Arts coordinators meeting
I was asked by ArtForms, Leeds to speak at the arts coordinators meeting on Monday at Temple Newsam House to advocate the arts and share with other teachers from around the city and country the wonderful work we do at Robin Hood with our creative curriculum and the arts. It highlighted to me once more, how we are at the forefront of best practice in so many areas of our curriculum and are recognized so widely for our excellence.

Disabled parking space
Please be reminded that the disabled parking space outside of the gate is for those who have a genuine disability and therefore a blue badge. Please be courteous to those who need that space by leaving enough space for those involved to be able to move comfortably in and out of their cars. I have received reports that some inconsiderate drivers are parking so close to the cars in the disabled space that there is simply no room to move. This is not acceptable.

Good luck to our shining stars!
I am so proud of Grace, Abi, Maddie (Y6) and Kassi (Y3), who will be dancing on Sunday night at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the West End of London. What an amazing opportunity to be able to dance and perform in front of such a huge audience in our capital city. Dedication, passion and hard work show how much you can achieve. Girls, go show those London folk how talented we Northerners are! Enjoy every moment.

PTA News
 
I'm sure you are all aware the Valentines Disco will be held next Wednesday the 12th February. Nursery, reception and KS1 are invited from3:45 until 5:00.  KS2 are invited from 5:15 until 6:45.  There will be hot dogs, crisps, sweets and drinks for sale along with glow sticks, tattoos, face painting and games for you to play.  There will be a parents/carers room selling teas and coffees for those wishing to stay during the disco.  Please could you ensure your monies have been handed in to the school office by 3:00pm on Monday.  One of our helpful volunteers will be going shopping that evening and we want to make sure we have enough food and drink to go around.
Bags 2 school is back on Tuesday 11 March.  The bags will be handed out after the half term holidays and need to be at school by 9am on the Tuesday morning (please do not bring before Tuesday as school have nowhere to store them).  If you have any old clothes or textiles you have no further use for please fill the bags (any bag will do) and drop off at school, let's see if we can raise even more money than last time, which was a whopping £180.


Have a lovely weekend everyone. I shall be celebrating my first born’s 6th birthday with a busy weekend of cinema, bowling, too much cake and a Michael Jackson tribute act (!!)

Mrs Dale

Don’t forget!

Our next parents coffee morning will be on Monday 10th February 2014 between 9 am and 10 am with Miss Thackeray in Friendly Faces. You are invited to come along with positive suggestions which are relevant to the agendas that we set. Any other issues can come directly to me. It is important that we use the limited time that we have together to best effect. The agendas for next time will be:

-    Home learning- Do you think the children get too much/too little? Is it purposeful? Any ideas for improvement.

-    Holiday projects- what do you and your child think of them?

-    Just a question for discussion- what would we think of a shorter summer holiday but longer half terms?
If you cannot make it, we value your views so you can email me at gaynor.dale@robinhood.leeds.sch.uk

Nursery newsletter

NEWS ROUND UP
Thank you for the amazing home learning we received again this week! Putting in the time to support your child really does give them a head start for their learning and really boosts their confidence as they love to share their knowledge! Have a look at our blog at: http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/ to see what has been happening and all our lovely home learning.
THIS WEEK

This week we have continued our topic of ‘Animals in their Habitats’ focusing on Jungle Animals. We shared the story of ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and the children have been encouraged to join in with the rhyming words. Rhyme is a very tricky concept so any support you can provide will be very much appreciated. In numeracy we have been playing games like hide and seek to develop our positional language skills and in topic the children have worked with Mrs Chin to make an amazing papier-mâché jungle world!

NEXT WEEK
Next week we will continue to learn about Jungle animals and we will be looking at alliteration too. So we will talk about Gerald the Giraffe and Sammy the Snake and encourage the children to think of their own alliterative words. As it is the final week of the half term we would really like to assess the children’s number and writing skills so for home learning can you please complete the attached sheet: Please encourage your child to do it themselves as far as possible so we can see what they can do!

·        Recognise and order the numbers to 10

·        Write the numbers underneath

·        Write their first name

HOW YOU CAN HELP US

·        Keep reading for 5 minutes every day if you possibly can.

·        Keep practising writing the first letter in your child’s name and beyond as soon as they are ready (some children are now writing their first name independently – which is amazing!)

·        Please complete the home learning task with your child (see above) to give us some next steps to plan in to meet their personalised learning needs after the half term.

Thank you for your continued support and we hope that you have a great weekend!

Mrs Steel, Mrs Chin, Miss Fox and Mrs Beckwith.
 
Reception newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
The children had an amazing time today when the animal workshop came in. They got a chance to touch and hold some of the animals from the rainforest. The children were ever so brave and the experience really brought the children’s learning to life. Thank you so much for all your donations at the Christmas shop, without you such an exciting experience would not have been possible.
THIS WEEK
This week our topic has focussed on the jungle and we have learnt all about the different animals we might find hiding in the deep dark jungle. The children have been printing this week and made some fantastic animal prints. They took their inspiration from the different animal skins. They also made some large scale papier-mâché animals including a lion and elephant. We will be displaying all the children’s fabulous art prints and large scale animals in our classroom so we are expecting it will look fantastic very soon.  In numeracy we have been measuring everything from our feet to books and the children are now confident with the concept. The children are really enjoying our very practical approach to maths. This week the children learnt to read the phase 3 sounds; ear, air, ure and er and wrote the Phase 3 tricky words; you, they, all, are, my and her.
NEXT WEEK
Next week we will be learning all about Kenya and the different animals that live there. We will be taking an aeroplane trip there and thinking about what we would pack to go on our safari trip. Then we will embark on our safari to see if we can spot the big 5.  The next day we will take a trip to Mombasa and meet the children who live there. In topic we will be learning about The Masai Mara tribe and we will make traditional symmetrical shields. In numeracy we will be learning our number bonds to 10 and our aim is to enable the children to be able to mentally recall them so please practise at home. In phonics we will be recapping all the Phase 3 sounds and words which were sent home last week for home learning. Unfortunately Miss Pyatt will not be in school next week as she has been called up for Jury service so please do not think she is having an extended holiday!
ASSEMBLY –
Next Friday (14th February) we will be holding our half termly assembly to celebrate and show off all the wonderful learning the children have been doing. It was great to see so many of you there last half term. The assembly starts at 2.30 in the hall so please arrive promptly.
We look forward to seeing you next Friday!
Miss Lambert, Miss Pyatt and the Reception team.
 
Key Stage 1
Home learning
Everyone did incredibly well with their reading last week. It is so important that the children read as much as possible at school and at home. Very well done! This week we would like you to do exactly the same things again but with a little more focus on the phonic sounds that we have covered this half term. We have provided a table outlining the sounds we have been working on. Please can you write down some of the words that you find containing our sounds.
Our incredible print workshop!
Keep your eyes peeled for the postman because he will be delivering a very exciting invitation to you imminently! Over the past few weeks we have been creating some beautiful art outcomes by printing with a vast range of different resources. We have practised repeating patterns with finger painting, explored overlay printing by layering up our designs, produced mono prints with jelly and designed block printing, rainforest themed creations. If you come to our workshop, not only will you be able to see our amazing outcomes, you will also be able to have a go yourself. So, whether you’re a dab hand or just want to learn something new, come on down! Our workshop will take place in the hall on Thursday 13th February from 2:15pm. Hope to see you there.
Laaandan!
Next half term our topic is going to be LONDON! To kick start this incredible topic we are having a day of exciting London themed activities. We are very lucky to be welcoming a historical specialist who will be re-enacting the Great Fire of London as William Petty. We will also be taking part in a whole host of creative activities – painting Big Ben, designing and making the Crown Jewels and drawing sewer rats! It is sure to be an action packed day which we’ve no doubt the children will thoroughly enjoy. To get into the swing of things we will be dressing up as people from the Tudor era. Please can you send your child to school dressed as a scruffy street urchin! (Typing Oliver Twist orphan into Google will give you plenty of ideas!)
Numeracy
Now that the children have secured their knowledge of directions we will be moving into fractions. Next week we’ll begin by halving objects, pictures and numbers before moving into quarters (and perhaps even thirds, fifths and tenths!) It is important that the children are exposed to fractions in as many different contexts as possible so we will be using lots of different visual resources to support their learning. Perhaps you could have conversations with your child about when they might use fractions in everyday life… sharing food, splitting a bill, sharing toys/sweets equally to name but a few.
Literacy
You will all get to see first-hand what we have been learning in Literacy when you read your invitation. We have been playing lots of different sentence games to really embed sentence structure as well as layering this up by teaching a range of persuasive devices such as rhetorical questions, humour and colloquial language. I’m sure you will agree that the children can be very persuasive when they want to be! To consolidate this learning around persuasive techniques we will spend the final week of term crafting a letter to a celebrity of the children’s choosing. It will be a lovely opportunity for them to apply all that they know in a context that really means something to them… and if Jonny Depp decides to visit our school as a result, then everyone’s a winner!
Have a lovely weekend.
The KS1 Team
 
Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter
Yet again, we have had a fabulous and exciting week of learning this week in Year 3/4! We have been super creative this week, making cocktails in numeracy, building Anderson shelters in topic, making an electrical board game in science and continuing with our informative World War 2 power point presentations during I.C.T. We would like to say another big Thank You to all parents and carers that managed to join us at our showcase assembly. We hope you enjoyed your rock buns! This week we took part in the Sign 2 Sing event in the hope that we will have broken the World Record for the most children signing and singing at the same time. We eagerly wait to find out if we have been successful! We would like to say a big Thank You to Callum who helped us learn all the signs to the song ‘Get up and sign’ and of course to parents and carers who donated money towards the fantastic cause.
Home Learning
As well as the children reading daily and practicing their weekly spellings, we would like everyone to be learning their Times Tables. We will now be testing the children weekly on a different times table as this will help us all greatly when solving multiplication and division problems. Links to any on line games to support your child with this will be on our phase blog as well as the Times Table Wall of Fame (a list of everybody who managed to score 12 out of 12 on their weekly test). The times table we will be testing next week is the 7 Times Table.
Numeracy
This week in numeracy the children have been looking at capacity. We have been reading scales and using our column addition and column subtraction methods to solve word problems. On Thursday we all got the opportunity to measure a variety of drinks and mix various amounts of each to create our very own cocktail! The children really enjoyed it and we certainly made some concoctions that had unusual tastes! Next week we will be consolidating our calculation skills when using the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). We will be applying all of these skills to answer a variety of problems and investigations.
Literacy
This week in literacy, the children have been writing to a male family member who had been called to war to update them on what life was like for us since the start of the war. We thought about our evacuation, the first time we met our host families, what life was like in the countryside and what it was like to return to London for a day during the Blitz and the devastation we witnessed. The children have done a fantastic job of empathising with World War 2 children – well done! Next week, we will be continuing to write our diary entries to document even more of the highs and lows of World War 2. The completed diaries will be on display at the end of term.
Topic
In our topic sessions this week we have been making Anderson shelters using corrugated card, paint, tissue paper and our super art skills. The children have done a fantastic job of these and we can’t wait for you to see them at the end of term!
Spellings
These Spellings will be tested on Monday 10th February.
Group 1: huffing, puffing, missing, hissing, kissing, bossing, messing, telling, passing, pulling
Group 2: thinner, thinnest, fatter, fattest, happier, happiest, chillier, chilliest, funnier, funniest
Reminders
·     Please ensure your child has an art shirt in school at all times.
·     The current weather is very changeable and so we ask that your child brings a suitable coat to school every day.
·     Just a gentle reminder to ensure all of your child’s belongings (especially PE kits, hats and gloves and school jumpers) are clearly labelled with your child’s full name.
·     As the weather is that little bit cooler at the moment, we would like to remind children to ensure they have an appropriate PE kit for our outdoor sessions on a Wednesday. Unless the weather is so severe, we will still be taking part in our outdoor activities, therefore we ask that all children have the following kit with them:
o    suitable footwear (trainers)
o    t-shirt/long-sleeved top
o    Full-length jogging trousers/leggings
o    Warm socks
o    Warm jumper (not their school sweatshirt)
o    Hat and gloves (optional).
o    Inhalers for those who need them.
These exciting sessions have been well received by everyone taking part and we would like to ensure that everyone is warm and safe whilst doing so.
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 wonderful weekend!
Team 3/4
 
UKS2 Newsletter
Thank you to all the parent, carers and grandparents who attended our phase assembly this afternoon.  We are sure you will agree the children have such a wide and creative curriculum and do so much within a few weeks since our last phase assembly. Please visit our blog to see the amazing learning in progress: http://year56rhps.blogspot.co.uk
Reminders:
Please remember the Times Table Challenge will be held on Tuesday 11th February.  There are some fantastic times table songs on Youtube, also check out the following website: www.teachingtablles.co.uk and select the bingo machine for the game we use in school.
Next half term we will be creating something very special in our art sessions. Therefore each child will need to bring in a plain pillow case if possible. It will be painted and cut up so unfortunately it won’t be returned in the same condition. If any parents/carers are able to spare any more pillow cases, this would be fantastic! Thank you in advance!
Achievers:
We are proud to announce the year 5/6 achievers for today’s celebration assembly. In 5/6G, Mollie, Amelia and Amelia wowed Miss Gascoigne with a creative and catchy song all about Ancient Greece! In 5/6H Miss Hinton and Miss Kaye have been particularly impressed with Max for his amazing improvement in his handwriting, and Lia for her ambitious vocabulary in her recent Alexander the Great biography. Finally in 5/6M, Emily has really shown what a fantastic science mind she has! Throughout the half term Emily’s enthusiasm and explanations of scientific processes has been simply brilliant! Congratulations and well done to all- these are some amazing achievements!
Core Subjects:
Numeracy:
This week in Numeracy the children have been learning about mean, median, mode, range and probability. The children have been busy finding the average amount of wrappers opened by the factory workers at Veruca Salt’s father’s factory when searching for the Golden Ticket! Next week we will be completing some end of term assessments and having some fun with addition and subtraction….Don’t forget Times Table Challenge is on Tuesday!
Literacy:
In literacy this week pupils have been drafting and publishing their biographies all about Alexander the Great. Each biography has been fantastic and has featured paragraphs about early life, later life and his conquests. We have all been impressed with the accuracy and detail that each biography has included. Congratulations to all! Next week we will be recapping on some grammar and punctuation areas including; subordinate clauses, prefixes, suffixes and word classes.
SPELLINGS: This week the spellings are: foresight, foregone, forecast, forehead, prehistory, predicted, preamble, deactivate, deface. Pupils have received a copy of these spellings and will be tested on Friday 14th February.
PE:
In PE this week pupils have focused on developing their communication skills in rugby. They have combined their previous learning of holding the ball, receiving the ball, the backwards pass and the side step, into small sided games.
Please ensure that your child has the appropriate kit in school for each session. Thank you in advance.
ICT:
This week the children have been continuing to compile their videos to raise awareness of cyberbullying using Photostory, Movie Maker, iMovie and iPhoto. The children have selected appropriate images and music to convey the serious tone of this issue!
Science:
In Science this week the children have grouped together materials based on certain properties, such as, if they are insulators (do not let heat/electricity passing through easily) or conductors (allow heat/electricity to pass through easily). We then discussed the usefulness of materials having these properties in everyday life.
Topic:
This week the children have continued creating their outcomes ready for presenting them. The children have shown fantastic teamwork skills during topic; splitting responsibilities equally between their groups’ and giving encouragement to each other.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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