Welcome back to all our children and families, it was great to see children return to school after the disruption caused last week. There has been a lovely buzz around the school and it is clear they’ve enjoyed the holidays. A new term brings with it lots to look forward to, starting with our new curriculum topics. If you haven’t done so already, please read the new curriculum information posted by class teachers on Class Dojo to find out more about what your child will be learning about in the next few weeks. We are also pleased to announce our dates for our Class Assemblies, a special assembly where children will share what they have been learning in school. Parents, carers and families are invited to attend, please see the dates below. These will all start at 9:00am.
Reception – Thursday 17th July 2025
Year 1- Thursday 20th March 2025
Year 2 – Thursday 6th March 2025
Year 3 – Thursday 13th February 2025
Year 4 – Thursday 19th June 2025
Year 5 – Thursday 22nd May 2025
Year 6 – Thursday 27th March 2025
Dates for your diary
JANUARY
Tuesday 28th January – Year 5 school trip to Saltaire (see email for details)
FEBRUARY
Tuesday 4th February – Year 5 Author Visit – Emily Parkin will be speaking about her book based on the life of Titus Salt
Thursday 6th February – Year 5 school trip to the Industrial Museum (see email for details)
Friday 7th February – Year 3 school trip to Cliffe Castle (see email for details)
Friday 7th February – NSPCC Number Day (more details to follows)
*NEW* Friday 8th February – Sunday 23rd February – Grue, Interactive Fantasy Exhibition at Damart Mill in Bingley
Tuesday 11th February – FOPPS DISCO (see Class Dojo Events for details)
Wednesday 12th February – Mexican Day Lunch
Friday 14th February – 3:05pm – SCHOOL CLOSES FOR HALF TERM
Monday 24th February – SCHOOL REOPENS
Attendance
Due to the disruption last week with the weather, no percentages of attendance were recorded. Please note if you notified us that your child was not in school due to be unable to get to school safely, this will not affect their overall attendance.
We are pleased to share with you that our whole school attendance this week is almost at our Trust target of 97%
Pride of Priestthorpe Award
This weeks’ Pride of Priestthorpe Awards go to…
Early Years – Louie and Lilah
Year 1 – Emmert and Lavanya
Year 2 – Jack. C and Ruby
Year 3 – Noah and Isaac
Year 4 – Matilda and Toby
Year 5 – Harper and Sophia. E
Year 6 – Bohdan and Henry
Thank you to all those parents, carers and extended family and friends that joined us in our Friday assembly.
What have we been up to this week?
Early Years
This week Early Years have been making fantastic junk models.
Year 1
Year 1 have been learning to tell the time on an analogue clock. We focused on o’ clock and half past the hour. We played a game of time dominoes together to consolidate the learning.
Year 2
Year 2 have been looking at time. We learnt how many minutes were in an hour and used cubes to represent this.
Year 3 and Year 4
Key Stage 2 have been making masks entirely from recycled materials to feature as part exciting art installation project at Damart Mill in Bingley. The event named ‘Grue’ is an interactive experience for children and families, created by artist Steve Wintercroft and will be taking place in February. Some of our Year 3 children also had their voices recorded this week as part of the project. Keep your eyes peeled for more information about this exciting event.
Year 5
In English Year 5 have been adding to their writing skills by learning how to use relative clauses to add extra information; making their writing much more interesting. They were given strips of paper which they had to sort into sentences that made sense. They then had to use the coloured strips to add in the extra information; not forgetting to add a pair of commas in the correct place.
Year 6
Year 6 looked at Symbolic Imagery in the form of Mayan spirit companions. Their spirit companions were based on their birth date. They first sketched their companions before placing them in an abstract picture that also included things relevant to their lives.
Important learning information
We use a range of Learning Apps in school, which can also be accessed at home. Please use the links below to practice key skills.
Times Table Rockstars is an award-winning maths learning platform where children can practice their times tables like a rock star! Certificates can be achieved every Thursday for the children who have made the most progress in terms of the biggest increase in accuracy that week. We also run in school competitions.
Times Tables Rock Stars – Times Tables Rock Stars
Accelerated Reader will allow children to read a book and then take an online quiz to test their knowledge and understanding of the text, and receive immediate feedback. Students respond to regular feedback and are motivated to improve their reading skills.
Spelling Shed uses the science of spelling to teach it to pupils. Using phonics as a base and drawing upon proven approaches such as teaching morphology, etymology, and orthographic mapping, as well as teaching spelling patterns. Children are set new activities on here each week.
