Kind comment
Supportive… purposeful… encouraging… welcoming… positive… polite… friendly… helpful… inclusive… tolerant… supportive – Wow! What a list of positives!
Like lots of schools, Scholes (Elmet) Primary benefits from the advice and support of SEN (Special Educational Needs) specialists. Recently, we received some positive feedback from one of these specialists who has been to our school several times over the last year and has always commented what a great school it is. Along with the required reports, he added a kind comment:
Also, just wanted to say what a pleasure it was to be in your school for the day just before half term. I visit dozens of schools across Leeds and have seen some excellent practice but rarely have I been in a school where there is such a mutually supportive, purposeful, encouraging and caring ethos as I see at Scholes. Staff are extremely welcoming, positive and open to ideas. Every child I have encountered on my visits to the different classes was polite, friendly and helpful. Their inclusive, tolerant and supportive attitudes have had a highly positive effect on the children who I visit in your school.
Change4Life healthier snacking
Have you see the recent Change4Life campaign encouraging children to have no more than two packaged snacks per day to reduce their sugar intake? Remember fruit and veg are always the best snack and count towards your child’s 5 A Day.
The campaign is launched as Public Health England reveals half the sugar children consume comes from unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks. Children in England are eating nearly three times the recommended amount of sugar. Too much sugar can lead to harmful fat building up inside and serious health problems, and also painful tooth decay.
Living and Learning this half term
- I cover my mouth (when I yawn, cough, sneeze). Get your child to demonstrate the ‘vampire’ method to family members at home.
- I can say something good about myself. It’s important that your child can confidently talk about themselves in a positive way.
- I pay compliments in a sensible way. Try paying compliments each day to each other!
- I receive compliments in a sensible way. Some children struggle to hear positive words about themselves, but this is important for self-esteem. Try paying (and listening) to praise and compliments.
- I know the difference between being proud and showing off. We encourage compliments to be paid – but encourage your children to know the balance between being having self-esteem and showing off.
- I recognise my talents. Talk to your child about talents, whether academic, physical, social or emotional.
Super Skippers
The whole school enjoyed sessions delivered by Jodi Corcoran from Skipping School this week. The primary aim is fitness through fun and she includes every child in the sessions, regardless of their skills. There is a clear pathway through the skills to ensure all children make progress. After all the sessions, there was a celebration assembly for the whole school. Lots of children demonstrated their achievements.
Please bring skipping ropes into school after half term so the children can continue to improve their skills.
See children demonstrating the skills below for more skipping ideas. Which ones can you do?
Tweaking our timetable
At Scholes (Elmet) Primary, we’re always looking for ways that we can keep getting better.
One example is timings of the school day. A few terms ago, we trialled a new approach to the school day. This included moving Wake Up, Shake Up to 10am to give our children a ‘brain-break’ after an hour of great learning, and moving assemblies to the afternoon to give us the opportunity to come together and reflect on our day. Both staff and children told us they liked the changes so we adopted the changes at the start of this school year.
Next half-term, we want to investigate whether a slight tweak to our new timetable will be even better. This only applies to children in Key Stage 2 and doesn’t affect the start and end of the school day at all. The change will involve moving lunchtime to a little later – 12.10. This gives our older children an extra ten minutes of valuable learning time in the morning, but more importantly allows lunchtimes to be slightly ‘staggered’ so we can accommodate more easily children having their lunches.
We’ll keep you informed on how the trial has gone.
Feeding back to our governors
Thank you to all the parents / carers who came to school yesterday for the parent-teacher consultations. It was great to see so many of you there. As well as a chance to meet your child’s teacher, there was a Reading Workshop led by pupils and a chance to speak with governors.
Governors were delighted to have the opportunity to meet with you and hear your views.
One thing that was mentioned as something we could do better was sending text messages to both parents. We completely understand this would make life easier for you. The problem is the cost implications because school pays for each text it sends. At Scholes, instead of sending 300+ texts, it could make it 600+ each time. A better solution is to download the app. This means that we can send both parents (and anybody else, like a grandparent) free messages. (Download the app: If you have a smartphone, please download School Gateway from your Android and iPhone app store. If you’re having trouble logging in, it may be because we don’t have your current email address and mobile phone number on record. Please call the school and we’ll update the details on our system.)
The second key concern was about high schools. Some of you have heard about various options for Wetherby and Boston Spa High Schools. This seems to have stemmed from some communications sent by either Boston Spa and Gorse Multi-Academy Trust, or by the local authority. This letter contains the most recent communication about the issue from the local authority – contact us for any more information if you like.
Here’s a selection of other comments…
- ‘We have no issues at all with the school. All the children love coming to school and I know they are very safe here.’
- ‘There is a very friendly and positive atmosphere. The teachers respect the parents (not like at the school they have moved away from). They are very safe at school. [A problem] was dealt with and sorted very quickly. The children here look after each other very well. I’m very happy with the school.’
- ‘The school is really open and honest. They were really quick to share key information about the changes to my child’s teacher. Miss Hague has been really supportive as my child required some additional help in school. The new head seems to be turning it round.’
- ‘Mr Gathercole is a fantastic teacher. He puts the fun into teaching and is really nurturing of my child. My child is making good progress. My child is really happy here. Good to see leaders having a presence in the playground.’
- ‘I’m very happy with the school. The school communicates with parents well and the new website is good – my child asked if he could use it to do phonics at home and I found it very easy to use. Safety at school and behaviour are very good.’
- ‘The teaching staff respond and offer help when needed. I am very proud of both my children. They have made excellent progress thanks to the school.’
- ‘[My son’s] really happy at school and loves to come each day. He is safe at school. I’m really proud of the progress he has made in four months. He brings books home and loves reading them. The school communicates well with us.’
- ‘It’s a lovely village school. All the staff in Reception are great, I have received lots of relevant information to help my child settle. I also use the school website for information, it is really informative.’
- ‘This is a lovely village school. My children are happy and safe. I really like to see the heads in the playground – it makes you feel you can talk to them. The Ofsted inspection was not a true reflection of what you feel in the school. All staff are really committed.’
- ‘I have three children who have all been through the school. I just have one in Scholes now. She is making good progress. I was supported when I came into raise a concern – it was resolved really quickly.’
Thanks, everyone, who attended the consultations, whether you spoke with governors or not.
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.”
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.
