Let’s Get Active!
As part of our commitment to being a happy and healthy school, we’re continually looking at ways to increase the physical activity undertaken within school. The UK Chief Medical Officers found that, “the latest evidence shows there is a clear link between physical activity and chronic disease.” We want to reduce this risk by ensuring that our children can achieve the recommended 60 minutes, or more, of physical activity per day. The government wants schools to provide 30 minutes of this.
In response to this we have launched the 30:30 Wristband Challenge.
Y1-6 children should have brought a recording sheet home. We’ll be taking part in the challenge in school and are encouraging children to continue this at home as well. We already do 10 minutes of Wake Up, Shake Up per day (join in here). We are now striving for 10 minutes of running per day and a further 10 minutes using interactive online resources. The Change for Life website has fun ideas how you can achieve 30 active minutes at home, too.
Thank you from The Donkey Sanctuary
Today we received a thank you letter from The Donkey Sanctuary for our donation of £264.20 which we raised at our Christmas productions.
The Donkey Sanctuary is a registered charity which not only offers local children, many with additional needs, the opportunity to interact with the donkeys but also works to protect and rescue neglected animals.
Have a look at their website for more information.
Attendance matters
Our attendance figures for Autumn are really encouraging – thank you to all the parents and carers who have helped to ensure children are in school as much as possible.
The whole school attendance figure is 97.1%. It’s a little lower than for the same period last year (97.4%), and we’ll keep an eye on this, but overall, it’s good to see the figure remain above 97.0%.
- F2M (Miss Eckersley’s class): 97.3%
- F2L (Mrs Flynn’s class): 97.2%
- 1K (Miss Parling’s class): 97.5%
- 1/2V (Mrs Latham’s class): 97.1%
- 2KL (Miss Lowry’s and Mrs Wilkins’ class): 97.0%
- 3/4C (Mr Gathercole’s class): 96.1%
- 3/4E (Mrs McCormick’s class): 96.5%
- 3/4PN (Mrs Allaway’s and Miss Lake’s class): 97.3%
- 5/6C (Miss Barrott’s class): 97.7%
- 5/6F (Miss Bainbridge’s class): 97.4%
- 5/6M (Mr Lindsay’s class): 96.2%
Well done especially to Class 1K and Class 5/6C, both of which have attendance quite a lot higher than the school average!
Pride and presentation
A huge well done to those children who were chosen for our ‘Pride and Presentation’ award. Each class selected someone who they felt had either improved or shown consistency in the presentation of their work.
Our winners were Freya, William, Leyla, Seth, Millie, Freddie, Samuel, Charlie and Livdeep. They were each given the opportunity to select a book of their choice, kindly paid for by FOSP.
Well done to you all – we are really proud of you.
Top tips for a stocking filler!
Looking for a stocking filler?
Below is a list of the class novels which will be read in school next half-term. To read before, or alongside, will help your child get the most from these wonderful stories.
- Key Stage 1: Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann
- Year 3 and 4: Akimbo and the Elephants by Alexander McCall Smith
- Year 5 and 6: The Nowhere Emporium by Ross MacKenzie
Fab feedback #2!
On 07 December, we published some feedback from our School Improvement Advisor. Since then, he has been in school again to review how well we’re doing in relation to the recommendations set out in the recent HMI follow-up visit.
We’re pleased, once again, with the great feedback we’ve received…
…discussion with pupils at this visit demonstrated their improved confidence in being able to talk about learning… The differences between the previous visit and now evidenced a remarkable shift in pupil confidence and ability to talk about learning. On this occasion, pupils were clear about the impact of tighter success criteria on their learning. Likewise, they were far more confident in their ability to talk about their responses to marking… and how this embeds learning. The pupils were equally well-informed in their understanding of how teachers are providing them with a series of lessons on the same concept and how this builds a clear learning journey.
…the maths subject leader in attendance at the meeting demonstrated a high degree of comprehension and perception in regard to effective approaches to maths teaching. This expertise and clarity of understanding will stand the school… in good stead for improving pupil mathematical knowledge and understanding.
Fab feedback
In a time when many local authorities have stripped away the support they previously provided to school, Leeds continues to provide support to its schools. Our School Improvement Advisor visited recently and had this to say:
Through the observation of teaching and a comprehensive learning walk, it is the view of the SIA that Scholes no longer has the feel of a school requiring improvement… leaders have worked very hard to ensure pupils are cared for and are now achieving well. Previous weaknesses have been robustly challenged and the fruits of this work are beginning to be reflected in pupil outcomes… An observation of teaching suggests that without exception, teachers have good subject knowledge.
Terrific times tables
By the end of Year 4, children are expected to know their times tables and corresponding division facts up to 12 x 12, as stated in the National Curriculum. They should be able to recall a multiplication or division fact within about five seconds.
A couple of weeks ago, we checked this for children in Key Stage 2 – and got some really encouraging results.
Out of a total score of 25, children in Year 4 got an average of 19.0 out of 25 – that’s a really big jump from when we tested the same children in the summer term (when they were in Year 3), and, of course, there are still two more terms to keep on improving.
We’ve seen similarly encouraging results in Years 5 and 6. 90% of the Year 6 children scored over 20 out of 25, and their average score is 23.6.
In school, we explore times tables so children have a secure understanding of the concept of multiplication and division, and the various patterns and sequences related to each times table. There’s also regular practice in each class. We’ve also introduced regular tables to practise at home, followed by times table tests each Friday. Thank you for supporting your child with this.
If you’re confident your child knows their tables, don’t forget to help them know related facts. So, 3 x 8 = 24, which means…
- 8 x 3 = 24
- 24 ÷ 8 = 3
- 24 ÷ 3 = 8
- 30 x 8 = 240
- 3 x 80 = 240
- 30 x 80 = 2,400
- 3 x 0.8 = 2.4
- and so on!
Top tip! 7 x 8 = 56 is probably the hardest fact to know. Here’s a way that might help… Reverse the statement: 56 = 7 x 8. Can you see the sequence of the digits? 5, 6, 7, 8… 5 6 is 7 8s…
Subscribe to First News and raise money for school
Sphere Federation has teamed up with First News to offer a fantastic opportunity which will help us raise money for our school.
The children love reading First News in school and now you have the chance to get a great offer and have First News delivered to your house every Friday for your kids to enjoy at home.
To make things even better, for every subscription parents take out using our unique voucher codes X17SFED we’ll get money back to put towards our school.
To subscribe, please click here.
Save money by downloading the School Gateway app
If you have a smartphone, both you and the school can save money when you download the ‘School Gateway’ app from your app store (Android and iPhone).
Once you’ve downloaded the app, our texts will be delivered to you as instant app messages, saving us the cost of texting.
Any messages that you send to school using the app will be FREE of charge to you.
It’s quick and easy to do. All you need to activate the app for the first time are your email address and mobile number that school holds on record for you. If you have trouble logging in, please call or email the school office.
We’re aiming to get 80% of parents using the app – please help us achieve this.