Nursery Open Morning
Are you looking for a nursery place for September 2024? Do you have any friends or family who are looking for a nursery for their child to join?
Why not come to our nursery open morning on Saturday 29 June, 10.00 am at Scholes (Elmet) Primary School and have a look around. We offer 15 and 30 hours places for 3 and 4 year olds.
Staff will be available to show you around and answer any questions you may have.
Our weekly message (Friday 03 May 2024)
May is the month of SATs for children in Year 6, and – like most schools – as we approach the end of the school year, there are various assessments for children in each year group. Ask your child’s teacher if you’ve any questions, comments or concerns. You might like to check out this NHS guide to help reassure your child, too.
We’re pleased that in Sphere Federation, we now have an officially trained senior mental health lead, as part of the government’s commitment to offer this training to all eligible schools and colleges by 2025. The extensive training supported the senior mental health leads to develop and implement a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. It’s important that any mental health issues or wellbeing concerns can be addressed on a bespoke, individual or small group scale. Having a SMHL now gives us the ability to identify specific need and monitor the impact of any support or intervention.
The rest of this week’s message is about one particular assessment. It’s mainly for parents and carers of children in Year 1. It might also be useful for if you’ve a child in Year 2 or Reception.
Phonics Screening Check
The Year 1 phonics screening check is for children in Year 1, and children in Year 2 who didn’t meet the threshold in the previous year. It checks that children are on track to become fluent readers who can enjoy reading for pleasure and reading for learning.
The screening check is a way for teachers to ensure that children are making sufficient progress with their phonics skills to read words. It helps to identify whether your child needs additional support at this stage so that they don’t fall behind in this vital early reading skill.
The check assesses phonics skills and knowledge learned through Reception and Year 1.
We make sure it’s not a stressful process for each child. It’s carried out by a teacher – usually the Year 1 teacher – who will be well-equipped to listen and understand children’s level of skills.
It checks if your child can sound out and blend graphemes (letters) in order to read simple words. This includes phonically decodable one-syllable and two-syllable words, eg cat, sand, windmill. There is also a selection of nonsense words which are referred to as pseudo (or ‘alien’) words eg brip, snorb. Pseudo words are included in the check specifically to assess whether your child can decode a word using phonics skills and not their memory.
The check is not about passing or failing but checking appropriate progress is being made. If children do not reach the required standard, then the teacher will be in touch to discuss plans and offer additional, tailored support to ensure that your child can catch up. Children progress at different speeds, so not reaching the threshold score does not necessarily mean there’s a problem. Your child will re-sit the check the following summer term.
School will report your child’s results to you by the end of the summer term as well as to the local authority.
Help at home by supporting your child to say each sound in the word from left to right. Blend the sounds by pointing to each letter – /b/ in bat, or letter group /igh/ in sigh, as you say the sound. Then, run your finger under the whole word as you say it. Talk about the meaning if your child does not understand the word they have read. Work at your child’s pace. Always be positive and give lots of praise and encouragement.
Mindful Kids
It really does feel like Scholes has talent! Yesterday I posted about one of our Year 5 children reaching a black belt in Taekwondo and today I’m letting you know about one of our Year 3 children who has set up his own website called Mindful Kids
Not only has Sam written all the coding and done all the programming, he’s also come up with all the content!!
Check it out.
Sam we’re really proud of you – what an achievement.
School Journalist: The Transition to High School
This week, we’ve another update from our now lone reporter, Jimmy in Y6.
The transition from primary school to secondary school can seem daunting. Our year 6s have just entered their final term at Scholes. It is a good time to check in with our leavers about what lies ahead for them and to look back at their time at Scholes.
I interviewed Thomas, Alex and Emma on this topic to find out their thoughts.
What has been your greatest moment in primary school?
Emma: Getting a school job.
Thomas: When I did some very good cooking that expanded my horizon around flavours and recipes
because my passion is cooking.
Alex: Probably when I scored a volley from the halfway line two days in a row in football earlier this
year! (Editor’s note: I know this is true as I was on the same pitch!)How do you think that high school will be different to primary school?
Emma: We’re going to have to move around different classrooms a lot.
Thomas: It will feel a lot more grown up because we will have to take ourselves to our own
classrooms and there will be a lot more responsibility.
Alex: There will be a lot more people, much harder learning and a lot more homework, but I can cope
with that.What are you most worried about going into high school?
Emma: Making new friends because all of my friends are going to different high schools.
Thomas: All the new people and different personalities that I will face.
Alex: The teachers and how strict they’re going to be.
It is very normal to feel this way and have anxieties about moving to secondary school. I interviewed a year 7 from Lawnswood school who I know through an out of school activity. She said that within her first month at high school, she had already made a new circle of friends and had found it
surprisingly easy to settle in.
Well that’s all, folks. See you next week
Well done, Jeevan
You may remember a short while ago we shared with you that one of our Year 5 pupils had reached the dizzying heights of attempting to go for a black belt grading in Taekwondo!
You’ll be pleased to know that Jeevan found out, only last week, that he was successful in achieving 1st Dan black belt.
Congratulations, Jeevan. We know how hard you’ve worked and how many competitions you’ve entered. Your hard work has paid off. We’re incredibly proud of you.
Our weekly message (Friday 26 April 2024)
This week’s message comes from Mr Wilks, who leads on Science and Topic…
What is this half-term’s topic?
This half-term we’re geographers. The topic is Explorers.
In this geography-driven topic, we’re comparing a place in the United Kingdom with a place in another country. Year 1,2 children are heading to Kenya in Africa, whilst Year 3,4 children are having a mini-break in Venice. Finally, Year 5,6 children are trekking through the Amazon Rainforest in South America.
Across the year groups, children will develop their understanding of some key geographical concepts:
- Location is a position (eg a country, a city), often described in a clear, precise way (ie using a latitude and longitude). It is separate from people’s perceptions and experiences.
- Place = location + meaning. This will include the physical and human geography that make a place unique. Importantly, place is not rigid. It is changing and can be perceived in different ways.
- Scale is defined by the relative sizes of places. This could be differences in area, population or distances. Scale can also be defined by our view of the world. For example, we may consider an aspect of geography on a local, national and international scale.
- Interdependence is the idea that the world is connected and that countries or individuals do not act in isolation. Our actions here affect people in different countries around the world, for example, food, energy, holidays, climate.
Check out our Topic Curriculum Guide for more information about key concepts (page 15) and age-related expectations and vocabulary (page 18 and 19).
Year 1,2
Children have begun the topic by learning about the different continents and oceans in the world. They’ll learn about the equator and how it splits the Earth into two hemispheres. They’ll then focus on a specific continent, Africa, and a specific country within that continent, Kenya. They’ll then compare a city in Kenya, Nairobi, to Leeds with a focus on the physical and human geography of these two places. They’ll then take a visit into the countryside and compare features of the Yorkshire Dales with a National Park just outside Nairobi.
Year 3,4
Children will develop learning about the equator and hemispheres by learning about the tropics and climate zones. A focus on European and world cities and countries will follow and will link to climate zone learning. They’ll then focus in on Venice in Italy and its physical and human geography which they’ll compare with York. They’ll learn about the positives and negatives that tourism brings, putting themselves in the shoes of both tourists visiting the places and locals who live there. Finally, they’ll learn about the problems posed by flooding in both localities and the solutions introduced to limit the consequences of flooding.
Year 5,6
Children will learn about the different types of biomes found on Earth and how these are linked to climate. They’ll then focus on the biomes found in Brazil and the UK. They’ll then focus on Brazil more generally, building their understanding of it as a place. Next, they’ll focus on the Amazon Rainforest and its importance to Brazil in terms of the economy as well as its importance ecologically. They’ll learn about the threats to the rainforest and the impact that deforestation is having. Finally, children will learn about what Brazil needs to do to slow deforestation and what we can do to slow deforestation.
How can you help?
Regardless of the year group your child is in, Google Earth is a brilliant tool to help develop children’s understanding of space, place, scale and interdependence. Zoom right in on your home and then zoom out to reveal the area of Leeds that you live in. Zoom further out to see what city you live in. Zoom further for the county. A little further and you might start to spot some national parks. Further still and you can see the country that we live in. Keep zooming and you’ll see the continent we live in (though this isn’t labelled). Before you know it, you’re floating in space and circling the Earth!
Google Maps is another great tool for comparing places. Try the street view option and you can walk along a street in Nairobi and a street in London. Take a drive through the lush Yorkshire Dales and compare this to the Kenyan countryside. You could wander down the Shambles in York and compare this to the streets in Venice. You can also compare images of the same street from different points in time.
Quizzing your children about some locational knowledge will help them to remember important information. I’ve listed some examples below. Use the age-related expectations to find the right pitch for your child.
- Which continent do we live in?
- Which country do we live in?
- In which hemisphere is our country located?
- Which county do we live in?
- Which city do we live in?
- Which part of Leeds do we live in?
- Which four countries make up the United Kingdom?
If you can, go to the library and get some geography-related books, especially an atlas. You could compare maps of the same place to see what type of information they show. For example, you find lots of maps of the United Kingdom. One might show the countries and capital cities. Another might show the mountains, rivers and national parks. Another might give information about the climate.
For children in Key Stage 2, there are lots of different games and activities on Ordnance Survey Mapzone. I especially like the jigsaws in the Map Puzzles section of the Games.
Also for KS2 children, there’s a lot of information and some tasks and quizzes on BBC Bitesize.
Scholes in Bloom flower bed competition winner
Larraine came in to our assembly in school on Monday this week. She announced the winner of the competition. It was chosen because of the eye-catching design featuring lovely bright coloured stripes and a love heart. The winning design will be made using flowers in the bed outside the school on Morwick Grove.
Well done to the runners up too.
Scholes Reading Champion
In January, Leeds School Library Services set a competition to search for KS2 Reading Champions. They were looking for children who advocate for reading within their school and those that encourage others to develop a love of reading. Schools were invited to nominate one person and we nominated Olivia from Year 5. Olivia is not only one of our school librarians but she also supports younger children in developing their reading skills. She also has a real passion for reading for pleasure.
Whilst Olivia was not the winner on this occasion, the library service emailed school to say just how impressed they were with Olivia’s entry.
“Olivia’s love of reading shines through and the judges were very impressed with all the work that she puts into ensuring that the library is a welcoming space for other children. It is also fantastic that Olivia supports KS1 children with their reading, hoping to instill in them the same passion for books that she has…she certainly is a star!”
Olivia, we’re very proud of you. Well done – you are definitely a Scholes Reading Champion.
Our weekly message (Friday 19 April 2024)
We hope your Easter break was a good one. As usual in our first message of the term, we kick off with an attendance update…
Amazing attendance
For the full Autumn and Spring terms (04 September 2023 to 28 March 2024), our whole school attendance figure is 95.8%. This continues to be above the national figure – thank you.
All the classes are doing well – they’re all above the national attendance figure for primary schools (94.6%), so well done to everyone.
- Sunshine (Miss Parling): 94.7%
- Rainbow (Mrs Allen-Kelly and Mrs Flynn): 95.2%
- 1A (Mrs Brown and Mrs Wilkins): 95.5%
- 1/2B (Mrs Latham): 96.1%
- 2C (Miss Young): 95.8%
- 3/4A (Mrs Paterson): 96%
- 3/4B (Miss Iveson): 96.4%
- 3/4C (Mrs Wadsworth): 96.2%
- 5/6A (Mr Wain): 95.9%
- 5/6B (Mrs Hogarth): 95.4%
- 5/6C (Mr Lindsay): 95.3%
Contact details
Finally, a quick reminder: if there are any new contact details for you or other people on our records, please remember to let us know. We need up-to-date details for the people on our lists in case of emergencies. (The people on our lists are the ones you gave us when your child started school – in most cases, this will be three different people.)
Special needs support
Leeds SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice Support Service) have some drop-in sessions coming up if you’d like to receive information and advice about SEND services in Leeds. They’re also running a series of specific events.
Finally, when one of us stands at the school gate at the start and end of the day, we love to hear a friendly ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’. It’s something we’ve been working on across the year – not only is it a polite thing to do, but it helps to develop children’s confidence and positive relationships. We’re really pleased to see that more and more often, children are doing this naturally. Thank you for helping us with this, too!
School Journalists
Hello there!
Today, we will be informing you on the latest news around school.
On the last Tuesday before the holidays, we watched the Y3,4 production. It had a Roman bake-off theme, was funny and was very exciting. There lots of standout performers, including: Lorien, Lani, Theo and Joseph. But, everyone played a very big part and it took a lot of time to master the brilliant play.
We interviewed Lewis in Y3 (a very good joke teller) on this.
How did you feel performing?
I wasn’t too nervous as we did a lot of rehearsing. I felt comfortable telling the jokes on stage as I’ve already performed on the piano.
How did the play go?
Really well. Everyone was part of the play and it went smoothly. Everyone delivered their lines well.
Did you enjoy it?
I love being on stage and it felt even better being one of the main characters and the audience really enjoyed it.
We also interviewed Lani in Y4.
Was the play enjoyable?
Yes, it was really fun and a great experience.
What was your favourite song?
Bake. It was a really catchy tune.
What was it like being on stage?
I enjoyed it a lot but I did feel nervous as well because I had to deliver a lot of important lines.
In other news, starting this week, martial arts classes will be happening every Thursday. We had an assembly last week where some special visitors who are martial arts instructors from British Military Martial Arts came and told us about the new club.
If you’ve read our previous articles, you will already know that we have quite a lot of talent in martial arts around school.
Thank you for reading!