Author: Mrs Hogarth

Living and learning: I know the importance of 60 active minutes

This week  we were very lucky to try our hand at Heely’s. If you’ve never heard of them, they are shoes with wheels! The workshop allowed the children to try an new sport and this linked brilliantly with our living and learning statement for this week about being active for 60 minutes a day.

The first big challenge was putting the shoes on and attempting to get the knee and elbow pads on! Once we were kitted out, we were taught how to position our bodies to get the Heely’s to move smoothly. This was harder than it looked. The adults even had a go although I’m not sure we should’ve done! By the end of the session, we were all feeling a lot more confident – there were still a few people wobbling about though!

Walk to School Week

Next week is ‘Walk to School Week!’

Can you support us and our local community by leaving your car at home? We are setting the children the challenge of walking to school for 5 days. In class, they will sign a pledge and collect stickers over the week for each day they walk. Each child will receive an activity book with fun tasks to complete at school too. If you live far away and need to travel by car, try leaving your car at St Phillips church in Scholes or at The Buffers pub and walk the rest of the way.

Good luck – get walking!

Reading – poetry

We have been enjoying ‘There’s a Rang-tan in my bedroom’, a poem that links to our geography topic. It identifies the threat that humans pose to the Amazon Rainforest and the diverse ecosystem that lives there. The children were quite moved by the poem. They were given the opportunity to perform the poem, drawing on their oracy skills. They used prosody, read with fluency and pace and portrayed the emotions brilliantly. They are definitely becoming more confident at reading aloud.

Help at home: Find a poem that you can read aloud together at home. Can your child read it fluently and with expression and self-assurance?

Geography: What is a rainforest?

We have been exploring the Amazon Rainforest this week. The children have a secure understanding of the location and climate of this region now. They studied the four different layers of the forest and how this offers up a huge variety of plant and animal species. Discussions took place about how the rainforest is different to the forests we have in the UK. Earlier in the week, the children researched the Dalby Forest and understood its location and uses. These are two very contrasting locations.

Help at home: Can your child remember the name of the four layers of the rainforest? Can they describe the vegetation and animals that exist within each layer?

Living and learning: I recognise the importance of sleep

In the 5,6 phase we have been discussing how important sleep is and how this can impact your every day life we all know how good it is!

It plays a vital role in use being happy and healthy. It can boost our immune systems and it allows us to fight off diseases and our bodies can repair themselves. It can give you more energy and allows you to focus on your learning at school. If you don’t get enough sleep, it can really impact your mood – leaving you grumpy and irritable.

The recommended amount of sleep for children is between 9 and 13 hours a night. Did you get enough sleep last night?

19 March 2024

This half-term, our spellings are linked to the rules and strategies we’ll be learning in class:

  • homophones: draught, draft, dissent, descent, proceed, precede, wary, weary
  • applying rules: prefixes and suffixes
  • spelling patterns: unusual patterns (eg bruise, guarantee, vehicle)
  • spelling patterns: unusual patterns (eg yacht, immediately)
  • etymology: phone, micro, tele, graph, auto, geo

Each Friday, you’ll be tested on 8 of the words from the list below.

draught bruise muscle language thorough
draft bargain programme misbehave microwave
amateur weary rhyme lightning miscommunicate
ancient wary marvellous reconsider vehicle
disbelieve environment precede rhythm telephone
awkward foreign proceed shoulder deescalate
committee mischievous parliament descent stomach
community autograph submarine decent yacht

 

PE – basketball

This half term, we are developing our basketball skills. Today we were learning how to pass the ball with increasing accuracy – using bounce and chest passes. The children increased the distance of their throws to add more challenge. We then used our skills within Possession Ball – a fast paced team game. There was some brilliant dribbling and passing and even better communication between the children We ended the lesson working on our personal best challenges. How fast can we dribble the ball between a set of cones? They will do this each week and hopefully break their previous records!

Road Safety

The road safety team from Leeds City Council visited the 5,6 phase today. They began by sharing statistics about how much accidents on our roads cost society each year. It was explained that roads and strategies to keep our roads safe, are paid for by the tax payer and we were shocked at the cost implications. It costs a whopping £55, 000 to install and run a speed camera!

The children were given maps of the local area and they had to locate their houses. They had to think about what the roads are like in their area and choose road safety measure that would make trips to the local amenities safer. They were given a budget of £100, 000 to spend and we thought it would be easy! Little did we know how expensive things were, like speed bumps and pedestrian crossings. The activity was enjoyable and also got the children working collaboratively.

Year 5 Theatre Visit

We were very lucky to take year 5 to John Smeaton today to watch their version of Beauty and the Beast. This was a fantastic opportunity for the children to see what facilities there are at a local high school but also to experience what it would be like if they were to study drama at secondary school.  The students were absolutely fantastic and the performance was very memorable. The acting was great and the singing was super, with a lot of the children performing solos. It definitely taught our children the importance of self-confidence, hard work and teamwork. Our children behaved so well and even helped to tidy up before we left. They represented our school brilliantly.

Year 6 Football Tournament

Last night, our year 6 footballers went to Wetherby High School to take part in a tournament against other local schools. It was the first opportunity that our girls team have had to play against other teams. Everybody played fantastically and it was great to see Scholes embrace mixed gender football teams. Whilst we didn’t win any trophies, there were lots of goals scored and loads of great teamwork. Harry worked hard throughout, to the point where he was exhausted and Lily saved some great shots in goal.

A fantastic effort by everyone! Thanks also to the parents who transported the children and stood in the drizzle for 2 hours – you are amazing too!