You ‘watched us while we work’…
Thank you to the parents and grandparents who came to school today for the second of our Watch Us While We Work sessions of the year. This is an opportunity for you to get a flavour of what goes on in school – you might pick up ideas on how to support your child at home, you might be more aware of the high expectations around reading, writing or maths, or you might even notice how we react to minor behaviour problems.
Here are some of the comments:
- ‘Excellent interactions with children’
- ‘Literacy with Y5/6 – quite amazing how much has changed and upped the levels!’
- ‘Behaviour and overall engagement of all pupils was fantastic.’
- ‘I was amazed at the knowledge that all the children were able to show – and confident to show.’
- ‘The lesson was very engaging and thought-provoking.’
- ‘It was good to visit two different classes and enjoy two different subjects, seeing different approaches.’
- ‘Very impressed by communication between staff and pupils.’
That’s great feedback – thank you very much.
Following our last Watch Us While We Work session, some parents told us it would be even better if they were able to visit their own child’s class. We appreciate this might nice, but we do know it often disrupts learning. However, do look out for a chance to visit the class: on Monday 12 March at 2pm, we’ll have a Topic Book Review session. Classes will be reaching the end of their second Big Topic – Life Forces. This is a chance to come in and find out more about the learning that’s gone on during topic lessons.
In case of snow…
It’s been many years since Scholes (Elmet) Primary needed to close due to extreme snow – and we don’t intend to close this week, either, despite the weather warnings for parts of the UK which you’ll have heard.
If snow is bad, we have to make decisions based on various factors, including how safe it is for our staff to travel to school.
We will communicate if school is closed by text, email, Twitter and a news post on the website (which then uploads to Facebook, too).
We won’t take this decision lightly. However, if we do, we’ll aim to make the decision by 08.15 am at the latest. Until that point, please assume school will be open.
Scholes in Bloom winners!
Well done to the children who designed a flowerbed for outside our school. Your ideas were amazing!
Look out for the winning design – this will be planted very soon.
KEIOTSUKE (attention) – we’re doing judo!
All classes in school enjoyed some judo this week. Reception and Key Stage 1 were introduced to judo by Glynn from Sportif Judo and were thoroughly active for the full session – foot grabbing, pushing, pinning and bulldozing each other!
The Key Stage 2 classes also experienced a second session, building on skills from last month. They improved and developed their pinning, rolling and throwing techniques. If you’d like to continue judo, fliers were sent in book bags.
30 Active Minutes
A huge well done to the first group of children who achieved their bronze wristbands as part of the 30:30 challenge. As well as improving our fitness levels, this also has an impact on self-esteem and self-image (our Living and Learning focus this half term). It’s been proven that children who are physically active throughout the day are happier and more confident. So, aiming for 60 active minutes is great for physical and mental health.
Their photos are on our podium display just inside school.
They will now progress on to the silver challenge. If you didn’t complete the bronze challenge, it’s not too late. Spare copies of the recording sheets can be collected from the office. To help achieve the 30 active minutes at home you could check out the new site that the BBC have launched, called Super Movers, that combines learning and exercise.
Happy and healthy learning at home
Thank you to everyone who attended parent-teacher meetings recently. It’s great to see that almost all parents / carers took the time to hear how their child is progressing and to find out more about how to support their child at home.
Talking of support at home, the Learn More section of our website has lots of different top tips. Go to Help Your Child.
Of course, there are loads of games and activities online, too. Perhaps there’s too much – going on-line can be overwhelming. Here are two sites we suggest – useful for children of any age.
We really like IXL. Here, you’ll find pages for every year group, with activities to practise English and Maths skills. There are usually well over 100 pages for each subject. This could be overwhelming, but each subject is then broken down into helpful sub-categories. (For example, in Year 6 Maths, these are sections on Numbers and Comparing, Place Value, Addition, Understanding Fractions etc.)
This site is especially good to explain – and avoid – a common mistake in writing: ‘run-on’ sentences, which we call ’squashed’ sentences in school. These are two (or more) sentences that are squashed together. For example:
In half-term, I went to the cinema I saw Early Man it was great!
In this example, there are actually three ‘chunks’ (clauses) that all make sense and need to be split up (using a full stop or a dash or a semi-colon):
In half-term, I went to the cinema. I saw Early Man – it was great!
The sentences could also be joined with a conjunction:
In the half-term, I went to the cinema and I saw Early Man – it was great!
On IXL, there’s at least one activity to practise this in Y3-Y6 – start with the Year 3 one, even if your child is older.
The BBC Bitesize website has recently been updated – it’s probably best you avoid the old archived one, so use this link. The site contains pages on most National Curriculum subjects and it’s definitely worth checking it out.
Speak with us about other ways to support your child at home.
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?