Newsletter
Issue 6
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Friday 10th October 2014
|
Well the weather has certainly turned and Autumn (a rather wet one!) has arrived. We have had our first rainy playtimes this week and given that we are six weeks into the Autumn term, I guess we should be grateful!
It continues to be a pleasure to greet you at the gate at least once a week and a lovely way to start the day. Thank you for the positive feedback that has come as a result of me doing this.
Thank
you to considerate drivers
I would like to extend a
message of thanks to those parents who are showing real consideration in
parking outside of the school and in local residential areas. It does make a
huge difference to all who live and work in the proximity whilst we continue
through challenging circumstances and great to hear that more parents are
accessing the Gardner’s Arms car park.
Health
and Safety on site
All children were treated to a
safety assembly this week, delivered by Bermar (the contractors on site). It
covered how to be safe on a building site and the children even got to meet
“Ivor Goodsite”, Bermar’s resident mascot! The children will be taking part in
a safety poster competition which will be judged in a few weeks. Winners will
be able to win generous book tokens.
Big
Draw 2014
The Big Draw 2014 will take place on Monday (13th).
All children will be engaging in drawing which may at times get messy. Please
provide your child with an old shirt or top. Our usual “family service” lunch
will not take place on Monday and Tuesday as the hall will be in use and
transformed into our own gallery of art work. Instead, lunch will be provided
in classrooms. Please come along at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday 14th
October as the hall doors will be opened for all to view the incredible art
work, which I know will be produced by our pupils.
Mrs
Mistry
With sadness, I must inform you that Mrs Mistry
will be leaving Robin Hood Primary School from the October half term. Mrs
Mistry has been with us for 4 years and has contributed significantly to school
life, not only as a brilliant Teaching Assistant but through her commitment to
the Arts and high quality displays across school. I shall be very sad to see her go as I'm sure you all will be. I hope you will all join me in wishing Mrs Mistry all the very best in her future ventures.
Moving forward
and learning together
Thank you to those parents who came along to our
first “Moving forward and learning together” meeting in the hall on Monday
morning. The feedback was very positive; thank you. We hope to see more of you
at the next one which will take place on Monday 1st December at 8:15
am and will be focussed around the agendas of:
· Our website-
what isn’t there that should be?
· The use of Twitter – ways to take this forward and engage more
parents
· Our blogs-
How we can get even more use out of blogs? What blogs should we keep/not keep?
If you are unable to come
along but have some points you would like us to consider regarding any of
these, then please contact either myself or Miss Hinton as everyone’s opinion
is valuable. gaynor.dale@robinhood.leeds.sch.ukclaire.hinton@robinhood.leeds.sch.uk
PTA news
Only two weeks to go to the Halloween disco
and we are busy making sure that we have enough food, drink, glo sticks and fun
games for you to all enjoy. Unfortunately at the moment we are rather
short on volunteers to help out during the evening. If there are any
parents, grandparents or carers that would be willing to help out, even if just
for half an hour, it would be very much appreciated. Please remember without
the volunteers, discos and other PTA events would not be able to go
ahead. We need help from 3:30pm until 6:00pm so if you are able to help
us out please either speak to anyone connected to the PTA before or after
school, I’m usually hanging around Yr3/4 entrance, nursery or reception and Kay
is at Yr5/6 entrance. Alternatively email us at robinhoodprimarypta@gmail.com.
Please note it appears that some of the disco
invites are showing an incorrect date. The slip and £1 needs to be returned to
the school office by 3p.m. on Monday 20th October.
Have a lovely weekend,
everybody.
Mrs Dale
Nursery newsletter
NEWS ROUND UP
Well I would just like to start by saying how smart the
children looked in their very first school photograph, I think you will agree
that they all looked wonderful! I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all
our families for engaging with our Learning Logs weekly, it is wonderful to see
how proud the children are to share the things that they have been doing, the
children are increasing in confidence every single day. Please look on our blog
for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Nursery at http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/
THIS WEEK
In our literacy sessions
this week, we have shared the story of ‘The Rainbow Fish’ by the author Marcus
Pfister. This book is brilliant for the children’s social and emotional
development as it explores friendship choices and the way that our actions can
make others feel. In numeracy we have been looking at different shapes and
colours. We have been very impressed with the children’s knowledge of shapes.
It would be really helpful if you could look for shapes in the environment with
your children.
NEXT WEEK
To support our Literacy please can you send in a
family photograph on Monday morning/Wednesday afternoon; please make sure this
is a spare copy as we will need to cut it up. We will be reading some stories
about families and talking about our family life and why we love our families
so much. In literacy the children will be using their pictures to make a ’family
tree’. In Numeracy we will be using different 2D shapes to make a house,
carefully selecting the shapes for the features.
HOW YOU
CAN HELP US
· Learning logs need to come into school every
Monday/Wednesday along with reading books and home learning. Please continue to
engage with the home learning and ensure you read for 5 minutes daily with your
child.
· Please help us by continuing to give your child
lots of opportunities to talk about what they have been learning. Talk
about the shapes you can see and the sounds you can hear in the
environment.
· Please send in a water bottle (no juice) and
a coat every day – we will be playing and learning outside whatever the
weather!
Thank you
Mrs Harley and the Nursery Team
Reception
newsletter
NEWS
ROUND UP
The
children and staff have had another great week in Reception and we were very
proud of how grown up they were this week when they responded to a fire drill
quickly and calmly – well done. Thank you for engaging with our weekly words
and home learning tasks, it is wonderful to see how proud our children are when
they receive a certificate for getting a hundred percent. We will be sending
home phase 2 alphabet mats – we have ticked the letters and sounds that your
child is confident with; we really need your support to ensure your child
learns the other sounds by the end of this half term. Have a look at our blog
for the latest information and to see what has been happening in Reception at: http://foundationstagenewsatrobinhood.blogspot.co.uk/
THIS
WEEK
In
our literacy sessions this week, we have shared some stories about ‘Our
families’ and the children have created their own family booklet. We have
discussed what our own families like to do and it is amazing how many daddies
(apparently) like to have a snooze on the sofa! We have also sent home slips
for you to book an appointment for parents consultations so please could you
make sure these are returned promptly. In numeracy we have been focusing on 2D
shapes and in our phonics sessions we have been practising reading the sounds ck, e, u, r and the words him, his,
not, got, up, mum.
NEXT
WEEK
We will
be reading one of our favourite books – We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael
Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. We will be focusing on verbally retelling the story
using drama which we will be recording to share with you at our Celebration
assembly on Friday 24th October. To support our topic please can you
send any conkers, leaves, twigs or stones that you may find when you are out on
autumn walks. Thank you. In phonics we will be practising reading and writing
the sounds h, b and f and words I, no, go, to, the, into. Please help
us by continuing to give your child lots of opportunities to practice reading
the sounds and words each week as we have a different set introduced on a
weekly basis. In Numeracy we will be counting and matching numbers as well as
considering how to order numbers, especially if some are missing.
DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
Our Celebration assembly on Friday 24th October 2.30-3.00 in the hall – all welcome.
Our Celebration assembly on Friday 24th October 2.30-3.00 in the hall – all welcome.
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
· Learning
logs need to come into school every Monday along with reading bags and home
learning. Please engage with the home learning and ensure you read for 5
minutes daily and help your child learn their spellings.
· Please
make sure that your child has a PE kit in school; it can stay in their locker
and come home every half term holiday.
· Please
send in a water bottle (no juice) and a coat every day
· Please
support your child to write their full name and give them lots of praise and
encouragement.
· If
you have time to do some extra practice on phonics, have a look at Mr Thorne http://www.mrthorne.com/ and Phonics Play http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm
For some fun activities which will
support the teaching and learning in school.
Thank
you
Miss
Lambert, Mrs Steel and the Reception Team
What
a lovely week we have had in KS1! All of the children have had super attitudes
towards their learning and have tried their best each and every day. Well done
KS1!
Home learning
·
10
spellings per week (5 mins X 3 times a week)
·
Recall
of number facts (5 mins X 3 times a week)
·
Reading
and/or using Bug Club. (10 mins X 3 times a week)
You
will find this week’s spellings in your child’s reading record. Those children
who have achieved 10/10 and those who have tried exceptionally hard will
receive one of our brand new certificates. It has been lovely to see so many
learning logs being brought into school this week and the children have come in
beaming with pride. We cannot emphasise enough how important your input is and
it will have an incredibly positive influence on your child’s progress. Have
fun! Please make sure you write in the reading record at least 3 times per
week. Your child will receive a sticker in their reading record the following
week for any documented learning. Thank you.
Thank you
Thank
you for replying to parent’s evening time slots so promptly. Everyone should
now have a ten minute time slot with your child’s teacher. We will speak to you
about how your child has settled in to their new classrooms and routines. We
will also share with you information around what levels your child is working
at and the next steps in their learning. We can’t wait to tell you how
fantastic all your children are!
Numeracy
Key
Stage 1 have been learning all about estimation and rounding. We have learnt
that when you estimate an amount, you are having a sensible guess. Being able
to estimate is a life skill and it helps us to be able to solve problems really
quickly. We have been really impressed with the strategies children have been
using when estimating, for example when estimating the amount of a large group
of objects, children have grouped the objects into small groups and then
counted up in 5’s or 10’s to find the overall the amount. Next week the
children will be doing some numeracy assessments. This isn’t anything for you
or your child to worry about; it is just a chance for them to show us what they
have learnt this half term. It also allows us to look at any areas that your
child may need more support on and for us to plan for their needs accordingly.
Literacy
In
literacy this week the children made a leaflet all about butterflies. We were
blown away with the varying amount of sentence starters within their writing
this week. This makes their leaflets interesting and engaging. In addition to
this, the children have been working hard to understand how to incorporate
higher level conjunctions into their writing, including however, even though
and despite the fact. Next week, the
children will be writing a non-chronological report all about animals, a topic
they know lots about! This will be marked and your children will receive a
level. You will be given these as part of your consultation on parent’s
evening.
Topic
We
have had such an exciting week in topic this week. The children have designed
their own animal bookmark and have begun making it from felt. Next week the
children will begin to sew their bookmarks using a range of stitches including
running stitch, over stitch and cross stitch.
Butterfly Update
We
now have two butterflies which have hatched out of their pupas. How exciting!
We are hopeful that by the time we get back to school on Monday all our
chrysalises will have turned into butterflies so we can release them into the
wild.
Have
a lovely weekend.
The
Key Stage One Team
Lower Key Stage 2 Newsletter
Thank
you everyone for another wonderful week; fabulous writing, tricky sums in maths
and incredible group posters about the Iron Age.
Home Learning
In
addition to spellings and reading, there is another piece of optional home
learning this week. You may have noticed a little bit of building work going on
around school at the moment… well the construction company are running a poster
competition for the children after they gave an informal assesmbly about site
safety on Monday. The posters need to explain the dangers of a building site
and the prize will be a book token given to two winners per class. The posters must
be A4 and you can use whatever material you like to decorate them; paint, felt
tips, pencil crayons – it’s entirely up to you. Entries need to be in by Friday 24th October. Good
luck!
Harvest Goods
This year’s Harvest Fesitval, which will be performed by KS1, is taking place in the school on Friday 17th October at 10:00. Due to limited space in the hall, this performance will be for children only. KS1 will then perform the assembly again at 14:20 for any parents who would like to come along. You are more than welcome to attend even if your child isn’t in KS1 . This year we are also collecting some food to give out to the local community. If you would like to donate, please can you send in some unperishable food with your child before Friday 24th October. Thank you.
Literacy
Our
two weeks of Superhero fact-file writing culminated in some incredible final
outcomes this week. The children have produced some stunning pieces of work
which will shortly be displayed in and around our classrooms. The
sophistication of their vocabulary choices has been outstanding. They are
really thinking carefully about the adjectives they choose to ensure they are
purposeful. Keep up the hard work and there will be more pen people before we
know it! Super duper!
Numeracy
This
week we learnt all about column addition and subtraction. The children have
practised the technique, focussing specifically on where to position their
numbers and making sure they are in the right columns. Take a look on the blog
for some useful activities to try at home. If you do any numeracy at home with
your child, it’s really useful to use lots of different words for ‘add’ and
‘subtract’ so they become familiar with the vocabulary.
·
Add:
plus, total, sum, altogether, more than, addition.
·
Subtract:
take away, minus, difference, remove, less, how many more.
Topic
In
topic we are trialling a new approach called ‘Project Based Learning’. The
children are working in small research groups and have produced some fantastic
presentations about a specific area of the Iron Age which interests them. They
have learnt to search for appropriate information, categorise it into themes
and present is clearly. The final posters are incredible! Next week we will
start making our Iron Age artefacts, some of which will be displayed in Leeds City
Museum!
Spellings
These
Spellings will be tested next week:
Group 1: bravely, clearly,
cheerfully, carefully, madly, neatly, nearly, really, weakly, weekly
Group 2: candle, ankle,
rectangle, symbol, single, difficult, signal, athletics, animal, Christmas
Reminders
We’re
very excited about this year’s ‘Big Draw’ which will be taking place on Monday
13th October. The theme for the day is ‘Our World’ and Lower Key
Stage Two are focussing specifically on South America. Please can you ensure
your child brings an old T-Shirt or art shirt to protect their clothes on
Monday? Have a lovely weekend!
Team
3/4
Upper Key Stage 2 Newsletter
Year 6 Numeracy SAT Workbooks
All of the Year 6 children have been given a Numeracy Study Guide and a workbook. The Year 5/6 teachers just wanted to remind all children that if they wish to bring this in to school to share what they have completed, then they will be rewarded with a Head teacher’s sticker after every five pages they complete. The children are more than welcome to bring this in to school, to practice during quiet reading sessions and at registration time. However class teachers will stamp them and reward stickers on a Monday morning when planners are also checked
The Big Draw.
It
is that time of year again where we will be getting creative (and a little
messy) on Monday October 13th for our annual Big Draw. We ask that
all children bring in an old shirt to wear whilst painting on Monday if
possible, thank you! Harvest
We are seeking donations of non-perishable goods as part of our Harvest celebrations. It would be lovely to have a bounty of food that we can distribute to the community after our Harvest festival on Friday 24th October. If anybody has any food to donate, then please send it in with your child to be placed on the worktops in the mall. Thank you in advance.
Leeds Children’s Mayor
A
huge ‘Well done’ to Amelie in 5/6G who was our finalist that was entered for
the Leeds Children’s Mayor competition. Her manifesto which explained her idea
for a more child-friendly Leeds has been submitted and we are awaiting the
results…..Watch this space!Leeds Junior Maths Challenge.
On Tuesday, Chit, Amelie, Eva and Videet went to Leeds Grammar School to take part in the annual Leeds Junior Maths Challenge. They took part in some exciting and brain-teasing maths challenges against thirty schools from across Leeds and guess what…. they are in the top ten highest-scoring schools, so they will be going back in November to compete in the finals! Congratulations, guys!
Times Table Challenge
The
first Year 5/6 Times Table Challenge of the year will be held on Friday October 17th. For
additional support with times tables, visit our Year 5/6 blog to access the
‘Hit the Button’ resource which is a great interactive game to help with times
table practice.Numeracy
In Numeracy this week, pupils have been learning strategies such as; the ‘Grid Method’ method to multiply whole numbers and decimals. The children have applied these strategies to some theme park area problems, to find the area of compound shapes – challenging stuff! Visit www.mathszone.co.uk and select ‘Calculating Multiplication and Division’ and then ‘Pencil and Paper’ strategies for a whole range of interactive resources to support children with these methods.
Literacy
This
week in Literacy, pupils have been identifying persuasive features that are
used in travel articles. Pupils have also identified; simple, compound and
complex sentences and experimented in extending and manipulating sentence
clauses. Next week, pupils will apply writing techniques in their assessment
for the Autumn term. The spellings for
next week are: common, money, senior, region, honour, hourly, crow, crowd,
fluid, fruit. Your child has received a copy of these spellings and will be
tested on Friday 17th
October. Topic
During Topic this week, the children have been working together to research a natural wonder of the world: Victoria Falls, The Great Barrier Reef and Mount Everest to name but a few. They have also enjoyed having the chance to be artistic and recreate images of the Northern Lights. They have learnt the science behind the Northern Lights and been inspired by photographs and video to create their own version of this natural wonder using paints, pastels and a range of techniques.
ICT
In
ICT, the children have been improving their own posts about our current topic,
‘Our Great Earth’. The children have all
successfully logged on to the blogger page as an authorised user, have written
a reflective comment and have managed to change the font and style of writing
to make their post more appealing to their audience. Science
In science this week we have been classifying plants and discussed how they are useful. We have learnt that they can be divided into 2 groups: vascular and non-vascular and have used scientific vocabulary to write a definition of this. In addition, we have also divided the vascular plants into 2 groups- Gymniosperms which are non-flowering plants and angiosperms which are flowering plants!
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