Business as usual!
Posted on 05 June 2017 by Mr Roundtree
As you know, today we had to close school for the day following the extensive flooding.
After heavy rain on Saturday 27 May, the first weekend in the half-term break, our site superintendent discovered on Tuesday morning a very wet school. Since then, she, plus other staff, and some parents, too, have worked tremendously hard: mopping, cleaning, heavy lifting, ripping up carpets…
Thank you to all the parents and carers who helped. Staff have talked lots today about how wonderful you all were, and how grateful we all are. There are too many to name, but we very much appreciate your hard work and great enthusiasm.
Thank you also to the staff who have helped today, and particularly those who were able to come in during the holidays. A big thank you especially to Miss Grainge, Miss Hague, Mrs Craggs, plus Mrs Myers and Mrs Drake.
Thank you for your co-operation and understanding today. We look forward to seeing you and your child back in school tomorrow.
Have a happy and healthy half-term
Posted on 27 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
It’s the half-term holidays!
There are lots of things going on in and around Leeds. To find out more, check out Breeze for what’s coming up right across the city for children and young people. Visit Leeds lists lots of events listed, including their Top 5 suggestions. Leeds City Council‘s own website is certainly worth a look, too.
Whatever you get up to, have a happy and healthy half-term holiday.
See you all again on Monday 05 June.
How do we respond to children's concerns after events such as the Manchester attack?
Posted on 23 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
This morning, we woke up to the dreadful news of the terror attack that took place in Manchester last night. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of all those that lost their lives and the many people that were injured as a result of the atrocity.
Your child may be upset or worried about news events such as this one. The following may be helpful websites may be useful:
Childline presents a general overview of worries of the world, and this includes attacks, extremism and bullying.
BBC Newsround advice is more specific to the Manchester attack, offering simple information and advice for a child or young person who is upset.
Child Bereavement UK supports families and educates professionals when a baby or child of any age dies or is dying, or when a child is facing bereavement. There’s a link on their homepage to this leaflet on supporting a child after a frightening event.
Winston’s Wish is another charity that supports bereaved children. They’re offering specific advice on how to respond to children and young people affected by the media coverage of the incident in Manchester.
What I thought about the SATs this year...
Posted on 22 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
…by a Year 6 pupil.
Now that the SATs are over, we’ve asked one pupil to give us his thoughts on how the tests went.
Reading: “In the Reading paper, we had to read extracts from two stories and one factual article. I liked the second story because it wasn’t very dramatic at first but then then it got more exciting.”
Grammar and Punctuation: “My favourite paper in SATs was English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling because it wasn’t too easy and it wasn’t too hard. In my opinion, the hardest question was one about subordinating conjunctions.”
Maths: “The hardest SATs paper was the third Maths paper because some Maths I find easy and some Maths I don’t. The trickiest question was one about the cost of items.”
Keeping your child safe online
Posted on 16 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
Have you checked out these useful resources yet?
Think U Know is a great website for children and young people – there are pages that cover children aged 5-8, aged 8-10, aged 11-13 and aged 14+. There are also really useful pages for parents/carers.
The NSPCC also has great guidance to the social networks your child might be using.
Finally (for now!), Vodafone has been particularly supportive of parents with their Digital Parenting magazine. They’ve produced this for five years now. The magazine is available as a downloadable pdf.
Key Stage 2 SATs
Posted on 11 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
Many of you will be aware that this week, our Year 6 pupils have been sitting SATs tests. On Monday, they had an hour-long Reading test; on Tuesday, they had a Grammar and Punctuation test and a separate Spelling test; yesterday, they had two Maths tests (one on arithmetic, which focussed on calculations, and one on reasoning, which is about using and applying their mathematical skills in problem-solving). Today, there is one more Maths test (another reasoning one). We wish all our Year 6 children lots of success.
The SATs tests can be a stressful time, but our children have performed well. Thank you for your support at home in making sure your child is in school, feeling as relaxed as they can be, and bright and alert having had enough sleep the night before.
The Department for Education places a great deal of importance on these tests as one way to measure a school’s performance. To this end, representatives from the local authority make unannounced spot-checks on schools to check that the administration of the tests is all done correctly – checking, for example, that the papers have been stored securely beforehand and that they are not opened privately before the tests are due to begin. The Department for Education also encourage schools to arrange a monitoring visit from someone who is able to check proceedings from a more independent standpoint; they suggest a governor or someone from a local secondary school.
It’s hard to arrange a visit from the latter – lots of primary schools would want a teacher to visit in the same week, so secondary schools struggle to provide this. However, we did arrange visits from governors who checked what was going on. One governor report describes checks on ‘Where test scripts are securely kept, who has access / keys. Observed securely sealed scripts, removal, opening and distribution of scripts.’ (Her report continues to describe the secure proceedings over the course of a morning.) Thank you to those governors who carried out this extra check to ensure there is no maladministration.
Thank you also to the staff who have provided help and reassurances to our children, and again to you, for your support. Most of all, thank you to the Year 6 children for putting in lots of extra effort in this tough week.
Caution...
Posted on 08 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
From time to time, we like to alert you to any new trends in online activity that we think you should know about. There’s a new website called sayat.me. Here’s how the site describes what to do:
1. Create your personal feedback web address
2. Spread the link through Twitter, Facebook, Skype, etc.
3. Read what people think about you
4. Publish your favourite feedback
‘Your favourite feedback’ might sound positive. However, inevitably there will be young people who see an anonymous feedback tool and spot an opportunity to be abusive and offensive.
There is growing evidence of the harm that this site has already created. Safeguarding leaders are reporting a growing number of incidents of damaging cyberbullying as a result of it.
Please make sure you keep an eye on what apps and websites your child is using, and how they’re using them.
Attendance update
Posted on 06 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
The more time your pupil is in school, the more good learning they can do. In Leeds overall, primary attendance is at 95.9% and secondary at 93.9% for the 2016-17 academic year to date. The city has made great improvements in school attendance, with more children and young people in school and learning.
At Scholes (Elmet), attendance is 97.0%. This is a great figure, well above the Leeds average.
You might also like to see how each year group is doing. Figures in green are higher than the school average – well done especially to pupils (and their parents/carers) in Year 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5!
- Reception: 96.0%
- Year 1: 97.3%
- Year 2: 97.1%
- Year 3: 97.2%
- Year 4: 97.7%
- Year 5: 97.5%
- Year 6: 96.4%
Top tips for a good (and safe!) read
Posted on 03 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
Books about safeguarding-related issues
We all love a good story. Stories can make us laugh, cry, shudder and think. Reading stories out loud with your child is a valuable opportunity to build up the relationship with your child. It’s good to spend some relaxing time together, and stories can help us both learn and think about the lives of others.
We all have our favourite books. However, the following book lists might help you to identify some new stories you might not know.
Books focusing on identity, belonging, conflict, migrant and refugee experiences
Books about kindness, compassion and empathy
Testing times...?
Posted on 02 May 2017 by Mr Roundtree
End of Key Stage 2 SAT tests take place next week:
- Monday 08 May: reading
- Tuesday 09 May: grammar, punctuation and spelling
- Wednesday 10 May: maths (arithmetic and reasoning)
- Thursday 11 May: maths (reasoning)
The Standards and Testing Agency has produced a leaflet and videos aimed at parents with children in year 2 and year 6. They provide information on the purpose and format of tests, how parents can support their children and how results will be reported.