This Week…
Our busy week began with a large pair of legs hanging from the ceiling!
I wonder who it could be?
Many children were inspired to write and draw about the unexpected visitor up in the clouds.
In Maths, we have been measuring the giant’s footprints and ordering beanstalks.
Using laptops, we have created pictures based on the story – Jack and the Beanstalk.
We have loved enjoying the sunshine and getting out in our outdoor area to create our own fairy world and for some birdwatching too.
Another amazing week in Sunshine and Rainbow!
5/6 Certificate Celebration
This weeks certificate winners are…
For great learning…
Sonny – you have returned to school with a brilliant attitude and put 100% into your learning. Keep it up!
For sport and physical activity…
Charlie H – for demonstrating hard work and a mature attitude during cricket this week. You were great at demonstrating your skills. Well done.
For living and learning…
Ellie – you contributed so well to the discussion about where to find help. You were sensible and mature. Thank you.
Well done everyone!
Homework Heroes!
We have had a great response to the creative homework this week about Biology. The children were asked to show their own knowledge of the digestive and circulatory system. They could present this how they liked: a diagram, a model or even just a written explanation. It has been lovely that so many parents have emailed the homework in. This means we can celebrate their work in the homework review and enjoy seeing what each other have done at home – so thank you.
Help at home: reading
Reading is super important. In fact, we think it’s one of the most important things you can do to support your child at home.
Some studies have found that children who read regularly are more likely to be happy in adulthood, more likely to earn more money and more likely to do well in all school subjects.
Whilst we understand life is busy, we’d love it if you could read with your child every day (ideally for about 20 minutes but anything is better than not reading at all).
This article has a handy reading for parents guide if you’d like any more information or tips.
Our Reading Activities leaflet will provide lots of activities to make reading an even more enjoyable and active experience for all. Check out the ‘Help Your Child‘ section of our website for a range of guides and tips for helping your child across a range of subjects.
Some common questions about reading:
When should my child have their reading book and reading diary in school?
If your child is in 3,4O or 3,4N they should have their reading book and reading diary in school every Friday. If your child is in 3,4E they should have their reading book and reading diary in school every Monday.
Now my child is in Year 3 or 4, should I still sign their reading diary?
Yes. We’d love it if you could sign their reading diary and leave a comment at least once a week. We think it’s a really important link between school and home.
My child can read fluently. Should they still read aloud to me?
Ideally, yes. They can spend time reading on their own, too – we encourage this. However, it’s really important that children still practise the skill of reading aloud. It helps improve their confidence and improves their ability to read with expression. Being read to is really important, too – so don’t underestimate the power of a bedtime story!
The book my child has brought home is too easy / hard. What should I do?
This will rarely happen but if you do think your child’s book isn’t the right level please get in touch with their class teacher (our email addresses are at the bottom of this post).
If you have any other questions, comments or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your child’s class teacher. While we don’t encourage you to do this on the playground (to reduce numbers and enhance social distancing), we encourage you to email us instead.
3,4O – olliecatherall@spherefederation.org
3,4E – emmamccormick@spherefederation.org
3,4N – nicolawadsworth@spherefederation.org
Design and Technology
As our Leeds West Indian Carnival topic continues, we are learning more about costume designs and the designers who made them .
Arthur France and Hughbon Condor have designed many winning carnival Queen costumes. Hughbon Condor is actually an engineer and has always enjoyed bringing his ideas to life.
So, we had a go at the design process by researching a theme, sketching ideas and asking our troupe about our ideas.
Here are some…
Electricity
Year 5/6 have begun their new science unit ‘Electricity.’ The children have been learning about the scientific symbols for the components that make up an electrical circuit. They confidently used vocabulary such as: cell, switch, wire, buzzer and motor. They had to test different circuits using equipment to see if they would work. They did an excellent job with their predictions. Here are some photographs of the investigation…
New History Topic – vocabulary
This week, we have started our new history topic – The Leeds West Indian Carnival. It’s a new topic for children and teachers, and we’re loving the learning so far.
As a class, we looked at programmes and videos from the carnival, dating back to 1977. We’ve learned alot about how life has changed over time and how these primary resources can help us learn about life in the past.
We’ve studied the location of the West Indies in the Caribbean sea and the human and physical geography of the islands.
Also, many questions were answered:
- What is a carnival?
- What is a procession?
- What is immigration?
Some of these words are in our vocabulary list. We found that drawing pictures on our whiteboards helped us to understand the meaning of the words. It was fascinating to see the different creations and how we all have our own way of ‘seeing’ words. It was good to share our drawings in the class and learn from one another.
Here are some photos…
All together again!
We’ve had a fabulous first week back all together again; tiring but fun! It’s been lovely to see everyone back in Nursery, learning and playing together with friends.
This week, we’ve also welcomed some new families to Nursery. Our new green group members are settling in really well and are already becoming familiar with our routines and beginning to form friendships.
Here are a few photos so that you can see just how happy and busy everyone has been!
Next week, we will continue to help children to settle back into Nursery life and we will also read ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and plant our own beans.
Reminders
- Make sure that you are prompt for your child’s drop off and collection times. Please don’t arrive too early or collect later than your group’s time. Thank you for your support with this.
- Please respect social distancing and wear a face mask on school premises (unless you can’t for medical reasons).
- Is your child’s water bottle NAMED? We have lots of bottles without names which makes it very tricky to give them out and make sure duplicate bottles aren’t mixed up.
- Does your child have wellies in Nursery? We play out in the rain and mud, so all children need to have a pair at Nursery.
3,4NV class news
3,4 NV
Well done for a fabulous first week back! It has been wonderful to have everyone back in school. You have settled in quickly and have worked really hard all week – you must feel very proud!
This week, we have enjoyed reading ‘The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse’. We have discussed some of the messages within the book and how these relate to everyday life.
Here is one of our sketches based on the ideas from the book:
Today, we have enjoyed reading and sharing books during Book Club.
Yesterday, Mrs Richardson gave our class some plants to look after. We can’t wait to water them regularly and watch them grow. We will keep posting pictures of them.
The certificate winners for this week are:
Living and Learning – Aurora
- For being confident at school and having a positive attitude. Well done.
For great learning – Darcey
- Well done for neat handwriting and taking pride and care with your work.
For Sports and physical activity – Olive and Bethenny
- Thanks for showing everyone the dance moves in WUSU!
Our TT Rockstar for the week is Harry Y4! Well done.
Finally, here are a couple of pieces of writing from Home Learning activities that I promised to post. Great writing!
Well done for a fantastic week everyone. Enjoy the weekend.
Mrs Wadsworth, Miss McAleer and Mrs Richardson
Welcome Back to Reception!
Welcome Back!
What an absolute JOY it has been to have everyone back together this week in Reception. The children have been amazing and have really enjoyed being back in the classroom with their friends. Here are some pictures of what we have been up to:
We’ve spoken lots this week about our feelings and how it is normal to miss people at home after being with them for such a long time. We also introduced our new ‘Mood Monsters’ areas, where the children can sit, talk or bring a picture fan to an adult to express how they are feeling. At the start of the week, Rainbow class made ‘Hands of Positivity’ to display in the window. We focused on why we are happy to be back at school. Here are what some of the children said:
“I can play with everyone”- Charlie
“I’m looking forward to stories”- Alice
“It feels like a party!”- Max
“I like the writing area”- Archie
“Cause it’s great here!”- Toby
“I missed school”- Bella
“There is more people to play with”-Abby
British Science Week
We’re celebrating British Science Week 2021 ! We have been so lucky in Reception, as Professor Myers has visited us with an experiment every day this week! We’ve observed:
-The ingredients needed to make an egg bounce!
-How plants (daffodils in this case) absorb water; using food colouring to see the slow process of it dying the stem and petals from the inside as water is transported around the flower.
-The density of water, oil and honey; how they separate when combined together.
-How to get a skewer through a balloon without it popping!
We know lots of you have enjoyed taking part in Professor Myers’ experiments during lockdown. For this week’s Home-Link Challenge we’d like you to re-create one of the experiments we have done in class this week or choose one of your own from the British Science Week website.
Mother’s Day
Rainbow Class have recorded a song to wish you all a lovely Mothering Sunday.
(Tune: Jingle Bells)
Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day, Happy Mother’s Day,
Here’s a gift, just for you, On this Mother’s Day,
I’ll clean my room, I’ll make my bed, I’ll pick up all my toys,
I’ll be good, just for you, on this Mother’s Day!
Reminders
Red Nose Day- Friday 19 March 2021
For Red Nose Day we will be having a non-uniform day. Children are invited to wear something red. There will be buckets to collect voluntary donations as you enter school.
