Author: Mr Roundtree

The Wizard of Oz – writing

The performance of The Wizard of Oz this week was one of the best we have seen at Scholes (Elmet) Primary School.

The acting, singing, scenery and story telling left us all wanting more.

Not only that, but experiences like this provides a stimulus to help us to write. It makes our writing more meaningful and easier to put pen to paper.

In Year 3/4 we have been working on direct speech within a story. So, this was an ideal opportunity to create dialogue between characters.

Here is our writing sequence:

  • watch and retell the story of The Wizard of Oz
  • recap by looking at photographs from the performance
  • add speech bubbles for what the characters said
  • turn speech bubbles into written direct speech

Here are some examples of our work that we feel proud to show off:-

By Alex, Connor and Imogen.

18 April 2019

Times tables 

We are currently recapping the times tables learned so far this year.

Year 3 times tables practise the 3, 4 and 8 times tables (up to x 12).

Year 4 times tables practise the 6, 7 and 9 times table (up to x 12).

Please use the practise sheets given out on Thursday to support your child’s learning.

Use the times tables link on our website for more worksheets.

18 April 2019

Spelling

Negative prefixes

This week, to improve the children’s spelling and understanding of unfamiliar words, we’d like them to do two things:

  • Write a list of lots words that use a negative prefix (see the list below).
  • Write lots of them in sentences.

Examples of negative prefixes:

in – inaccurate ir – irresponsible un – unimaginative mis – misunderstand
im – impossible il – illegal dis – distrust de – defrost

17 April 2019

This week’s homework is Talk Time and due on Thursday 25th April.

We have started our new mini-topic ‘Seeing’ and would like the children to discuss the following question:

Is sight the most important sense?

 Think about:-

  • All of our senses – what are they?
  • How important are they for us live?
  • Why do we need them?
  • How would you manage if you didn’t have your sight?

Living and Learning – knowing the difference between being proud and showing off

The Year 3 and 4 children were feeling very proud of their fabulous performance of ‘Eddie and the penguins save the world’.

They were committed to their performance by learning scripts, songs and dances.

Well done for all your hard work and effort.

We had a wonderful discussion about the  difference between showing off and feeling proud of your achievements.

Here’s what the children said about showing off:

“Don’t show off and steal someone else’s happiness.” Charlie

“Showing off is like boasting and that’s not good.” Abi

Topic review open afternoon

We were delighted to welcome so many of you to the open afternoon today. You had a chance to join in a reflection session as we approach the end of the second Big Topic of the school year, which has been based around a class novel. Here are some of your comments:

  • ‘It was great to see the children recalling and reviewing what they’d learnt. Great how children were all involved. Very impressed with their understanding and discussion on resilience.’
  • ‘I was very impressed with the children’s ability to evaluate their progress and work and how well they work as a class.’
  • ‘I love these opportunities to come in.’
  • ‘It was nice to see the full context of some of the work they mention at home.’

Marvellous maths! Fab feedback!

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve welcomed around 30 teachers and deputy head teachers from schools across Leeds wanting to find out more about our approach to maths: teaching for mastery. As well as hearing about our approach there were opportunities to observe lessons in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in our school. We’ve received some fantastic feedback.

  • ‘Seeing the lesson was invaluable. I’ve learnt so much that I can’t wait to apply in my own classroom.’ (Leeds teacher)
  • ‘I loved observing the lessons this morning, seeing how mastery looks in a school where it’s really embedded. Thank you, Scholes.’ (Leeds deputy headteacher)
  • ‘Just wanted to give you some feedback from my staff. They absolutely loved the session! In particular, seeing the lessons and reflecting on their own practice. Thank you.’ (Leeds headteacher)
  • ‘Thanks again for another brilliant morning. All the delegates loved it. Can I say a huge thank you to you and your school.’ (West Yorkshire Maths Hub specialist teacher)

Our children were brilliant, not at all fazed by large groups of teachers observing them learn. We’re very proud of them.

E-saftey in Scholes.

As part of our internet safety learning, we have been looking at the different types of websites and their uses.

First, the children discussed their understanding of  website addresses, URLs and what they stand for.

https://www.ready.gov/volcanoes 

http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/mountains/volcanoes.htm

In particular, we looked at the difference between ‘safe’ websites with encrypted security  and those which are not secure.

We did this by checking the padlock on websites and those which have https and not just http. The ‘s’ shows us how this is secure.

We also looked at different domain names and what they are short for, like .com, .co.uk, .org, .gov, .net.

Then, we searched different website types and discussed what we found out.

Thinking of a holiday in term time?

If so, please: think again.

Amongst the continued talk about Brexit (or not to Brexit!), you might have missed this news story from yesterday: The number of fines issued to parents in England for taking children on term time holidays has almost doubled in a year, statistics show.

Penalty notices rose by 93% to almost 223,000 in 2017-18. In Leeds, there were 2620 fines for term-time absence caused by holidays – that’s 25 pupils in every 1,000, which averages out to about eight pupils at Scholes (Elmet) Primary.

“Unauthorised family holiday absence” was the most common reason for attendance fines, the Department for Education (DfE) said.

In our school, governors have agreed an attendance policy that’s clear: we can’t authorise a holiday in term time – we value learning too much to authorise a disruption in children’s education. If you do anticipate your child may have to have a day or more off school (to attend a funeral or a parent’s graduation, for example), please do speak with the Head of School and also ask at the office for a form to complete.

Marvellous Maths spreading to other schools

At Scholes (Elmet) Primary, we’re proud of all our great teachers who are doing such a good job. Mrs Allaway not only teaches in school, but she also regularly supports other schools as a Specialist Leader in Education and as a Maths Mastery Specialist.

Last week, lots of teachers from other schools came to visit. We’re happy for this to happen as we want the best for all children, not just our own. We’re even happier when we receive great feedback!

One of the delegates commented, ‘I loved observing this morning – not only to see how effective Maths looks in an experienced school but also to see how the classroom and resources are set up. Thank you, Scholes!’

And a headteacher also sent some feedback: ‘Just want to give you some feedback from my staff yesterday… they absolutely loved the session! In particular, seeing the lessons and reflecting on their own practice. Thank you.’

Thanks and well done to Mrs Allaway and Mrs Latham, who taught Maths whilst the visitors were present in her classroom.