We were pleased to be joined in school by Jane, a trained educator from SCARF for two days this week supporting our PSHE curriculum. Jane delivered several workshops across all years groups on Monday and Tuesday. She covered key topics such as emotional well-being, healthy lifestyles, relationships, and safety, providing age-appropriate activities and lessons to all the children, who also had an opportunity to meet Harold, the giraffe puppet (‘Healthy Harold’) and friends. Please look on Class Dojo as photos were shared by class teachers.
Dates for your diary
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 2 Class Assembly 9:00am, parents and carers are welcome
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, children can dress in ‘number’ non uniform, donations to NSPCC on ParentPay
Friday 8th February – Sunday 23rd February – Grue, Interactive Fantasy Exhibition at Damart Mill in Bingley – £5 admission
*NEW DATE* Tuesday 11th February – Friday 14th February – Years 1 to 6 will visit the Grue Interactive Fantasy Exhibition
Tuesday 11th February – FOPPS DISCO (see Class Dojo Events for details)
Wednesday 12th February – Mexican Day Lunch
Thursday 13th February – Year 3 Class Assembly 9am
Friday 14th February – 3:05pm – SCHOOL CLOSES FOR HALF TERM
Monday 24th February – SCHOOL REOPENS
*NEW DATE* Thursday 27th February – NCMP and Audio Screening for Reception (see email for details)
School News
Lunchtime changes
Prior to this week, the children in KS2 sat in mixed family groups from Y3 to Y6. This meant that children could be playing a game outside with their friends and then they would be called in to eat and by the time they came back out, the children they wanted to play with were inside having their lunch. We had feedback sessions with the children, and they asked if they could go in with their year group instead, so we made organisational changes to ensure that a whole year group goes in at the same time.
The new table groups and timings have worked really well during our initial trial period this week. After only 5 days these are the great improvements we have seen:
- The children are sat beautifully chatting with their friends while they eat
- They are getting a longer playtime outside with the children they love to play with
- Food waste has decreased significantly as they are sitting a bit longer rather than rushing to get back outside
- Sweeping up between sittings is no longer necessary as all food is stopping on plates or being eaten
- Children who didn’t like the hall at lunchtime because it was too noisy and busy are now sat happily with their friends
- Those children who need a little longer to eat their lunch, have space to do so as the next year group comes in, no child is ever made to leave their lunch, in fact we encourage them to eat it all
There have been a few grumbles this week about the children helping to clear up after their table has finished, but as stated above this is not even necessary now. The positive changes we have seen are great and we will continue to listen to the children if any further changes are required.
Thank you for your support and cooperation.
Attendance
We achieved our target for the second week running last week, 97% for our whole school attendance, well done!
Reception – 91.6%
Year 1 – 94.8%
Year 2 – 95.5%
Year 3 – 100%
Year 4 – 95.3%
Year 5 – 98.3%
Year 6 – 97.7%
A great achievement by Year 3 with 100% attendance. Well done to Year 5 and 6 too who achieved over our target.
Pride of Priestthorpe Awards
Early Years – Xander and Erin
Year 1 – Kitty and Dominic
Year 2 – Jasmine and Jack. L
Year 3 – William and Bella
Year 4 – Shane and Sky
Year 5 – Elshady and Alice
Year 6 – Eleni and Haris
Thank you to all those parents, carers and extended family and friends that joined us in our Friday assembly.
Early Years
Early Years have been ordering numbers to 10 and finding out about ordinal numbers.
Year 1
In Science, Year 1 have been learning all about clouds. We learnt what clouds are, the different types of clouds, how to identify them and then we completed an experiment to show how clouds work.
Year 2
Year 2 have been learning about constellations in science. We looked at lots of different constellations and some of the stories behind them. We then drew our star sign constellation.
Year 3
Year 3 have been using magnets to investigate how they attract and repel different materials.
Year 4
Year 4 took the opportunity to really get to know the main character of the book by interviewing the Lonely Beast. They wrote their own questions and recorded their answers as direct speech.
Year 5
Year 5 have started their ukulele lessons with the fabulous Mr Field. They are learning how to follow a beat, using their hands and feet to tap it out. They have been learning the strings on the instrument, how and where to place their fingers and how to follow basic music patterns and beats. They tell me it’s one of their favourite lessons!
Year 6
Year 6 have begun their final piece of artwork for their current topic of making your voice heard. In pairs or threes, they have had to come up with a message, used the skills of chiaruscuro, then adorned their picture with pictures relevant to themselves using a range of colour and mediums like pastel, watercolour and charcoal. We will finish the pieces next week.
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.
