Reading Workshop
Thank you to all the parents who attended the reading workshop during parents’ evening last night. Don’t worry if you missed it because the workshop will be running again during the parents’ evening on Wednesday 07 February between 5pm and 7pm.
The workshop provides tips and advice on how to support your child’s reading at home. The year 6 children running the workshop demonstrate games and activities to encourage a love of reading. If you have five minutes after visiting your child’s class teacher, then pop in and see what the children have to offer.
Below are some comments from parents who attended the workshop:
- “This was a useful and informative workshop. Useful for our two younger children.”
- “Good descriptive information to support at home.”
- “Really fun and enjoyable. I’d recommend coming.”
Amazingly atmospheric writing!
We’re thrilled to share two amazingly atmospheric examples of writing with you by Reece and Jacob in Year 6.
The children used one of the Year 5 and 6 Learning Objectives to develop the skills of using other writing as a model for their own writing. This isn’t simply copying another writer; instead, it’s using their work as inspiration, a model, for their own ideas and style. The original text was the wonderful ‘The Nowhere Emporium’ by Ross MacKenzie.
LO: To use other similar writing as a model
The shop was made of midnight black stone, embedded in little specks of silver and gold. The iron gate sat there in front of the grand oak door, guarding the entrance like a soldier. It had wooden beams which reached sky high which loomed ominously over the dusty street. Although the giant beams and the great gate looked quite foreboding, there was something calming and also quite mesmerising about the strange building. Just above a black, tinted, barred window were some letters that spelled out the name: The Midnight Mall.
Inside it seemed almost completely normal. The darkness ate at the light in the corners but that was all. Or at least it seemed like that was all. But if you focused a bit more you’d notice a green aura of light around all of the objects. The walls had cracks in them, the plants whacked each other with their branches even though the air was still. Small and very distant screeches could be heard if you stayed quiet. The place seemed quite intriguing yet kind of scary all at the same time, if you notice all those things. The shop with all this stuff that is quite mysterious can only appear at midnight.
Afterwards, it will be gone.
LO: To use similar writing as a model
The Master led Vindictus through the abandoned worn-out factory. The derelict building stood lifeless. Its crumbling chimneys and hanging gutters were clogged with moist, rotting leaves and the walls were pitted, as if they had been gnawed by hundreds of starving rats. Vindictus followed the Master through to the decrepit, ancient office. The Master snatched a worn key from a battered safe. They passed conveyor belts that hadn’t been used for a decade or two.
“Argh!” screamed the Master as a nightmare-ish, blood curdling wail erupted from a larger-than- life bat. Whilst the Master was hyper-ventilating, Vindictus asked, “Is this where you keep him?” pointing to a weather-worn prison cell. “I’m afraid we had no choice,” sighed the Master. “He was violent to the other boys but he is well fed.” The prison cell was dark and dreary. Boxes were scattered around the room. They contained unknown items. Although the entrance was damaged from constant usage, it was still firm. The boy inside was dreary, lonesome and unexcitable. However, there was something intriguing about him.
I’m sure you’ll agree that these are very accomplished! Well done to all our children. We could have chosen lots of their writing to publish!
3 2 1 DODGEBALL!
A huge well done to our Year 5 Dodgeball team. They entered their first competition organised by PE Partner at John Smeaton Leisure Centre today and they WON! They will now represent Scholes at the Leeds finals in June.
Can you claim your wristband?
We launched the 30:30 Wristband Challenge in the new year. We aimed to complete 30 minutes of physical activity during school time.
The other 30 minutes were to be done at home. If you’ve managed 10 days, you will receive a certificate.
If you have managed 80% of this half-term (38 days), you’ll receive a bronze wristband. Please return your completed forms back to school by the end of next week if you would like to receive your prize. If you need another form, please call in to the school office.
The Big Ink Cartridge Collection
WANTED!
School council are collecting used ink cartridges to raise money for our school and our chosen charity – The Donkey Sanctuary.
All collected used ink and toner cartridges are recycled in an environmentally friendly way and the money raised is donated back to us! The more cartridges we can collect, the more we can raise.
If anyone’s workplace throws their ink cartridges away, we’ll be happy to recycle them for you!
An ink cartridge recycle box is waiting for your donation in the main office reception.
Our Year 6 Reading workshop
Thanks to the parents and carers of Year 6 children who came to school yesterday evening for a Reading workshop. We’re really pleased to see so many of you taking the time to learn how you can best support your child at home.
Here are two examples of the great feedback we got:
‘The evening was very informative. It helped me understand what the reading SATs paper will be like and where I can help my child… Thank you for taking the time to give us an insight…’
‘I feel more comfortable with what [my child] is being taught and the support he is being given.’
Read the PowerPoint slides here: part one, part two and part three.
Watch a short video about the Key Stage 2 assessments (SATs) here.
One parent suggested the evening should be scheduled towards the end of the school for Year 5 parents, so they are more prepared for Year 6 from the outset. Thanks for the idea – we think it’s a good one and we’re going to organise this.
Be reading ready!
We hope your child is enjoying the opportunity to use their reading journals, which were sent home a couple of weeks ago. Although we set a target page for their group reading book, children should feel free to read further. Children should be using their journals to capture their thoughts about what they have read.
Here are some ideas of how to use your journal:
- word banks
- summaries
- questions about the character/ text/ plot
- predictions
- labelled diagrams from descriptions
- reviews
- author fact files
- lists of books read
- lists of new vocabulary
- glossaries
- lists of impressive words
Fantastic homework!
Recently, the standard of homework has been high. The pupils’ skills and dedication has been going from strength to strength! We’d love to show some of them to you!
We find them inspiring. They are creative; demonstrate the children’s interests; show research skills (without copying huge chunks from the internet!); maintain the high standard of presentation we expect; and are all relevant to the task set.
Following learning conversations and feedback in class, it’s been very clear that the children have really enjoyed the opportunity to research and present their findings.
They are fantastic – well done, everyone. Keep it up! We can’t wait to see next week’s homework!
Judo taster
On Friday, we all thoroughly enjoyed a Judo taster session. The children were very active in the session.
We had a go at a variety of warm-up activities, a range of holds and a couple of throws – it was brilliant!
What’s the matter?
Over the past two weeks in science, we’ve been learning about matter: reversible and irreversible changes, sieving, filtering, evaporating. The children have enjoyed a range of practical investigations. They’ve made great progress in their understanding of the terms and the differing properties of matter.
Ask your child to explain what is happening in these photos. Can they explain the scientific processes using some of the specific language?
