Newsletter Issue 30 |
Friday 11th May 2012
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Dear Parent/Carer,
Dragons!
After our Foundation Stage Pirates and our Key Stage One London City Gents of recent weeks, we have had real live Dragons in school this week. These were ‘Dragon’s Den’ style Dragons from Leeds City Museums Service who have been putting our Year 5 & 6 product pitchers through their paces. The product chosen by the Dragons will be used on actual products for sale at the Leeds Museums. I was fortunate enough to be able to listen in to some of the pitches… which were of fantastic quality. We have many great entrepreneurs in Year 5/6 and some absolutely fantastic products. All of the Dragons told me how very impressed they were with the school and with our children.
This exciting topic was designed from scratch and brought to life by Mrs Dale. There is a great deal of time and effort required to create and co-ordinate such a rich topic. I am very grateful to Mrs Dale for her brilliant work in developing this fabulous opportunity for our children.
Leavers and arrivers
As is often the case, we will be saying farewell to several members of staff this summer as well as welcoming new arrivals to our fantastic school.
Miss Nicholls will be leaving this summer to take up an exciting new post in Dubai. We wish her well in this new venture and life experience. Miss Bradshaw will be leaving us to take up a new post as an Early Years Education Consultant with Wakefield City Council. Again, we wish her every future success.
We will be welcoming Miss Pyatt, Miss McSorley and Miss Pensom to the Robin Hood team in Foundation Stage and Key Stage One from September. We are currently in the process of making further teaching appointments in order to give us significant extra teaching capacity for next year. I am delighted to announce that Miss Fox will be graduating from her apprentice role to join us as a full-time member of our Support Staff from September. Her story is a fantastic one. Gabby is an ex-pupil at Robin Hood. She joined us as an apprentice and has been inspired not only to become a member of our Support Staff but also to aspire to become a teacher. Gabby’s determination and willingness to set herself challenging goals are worthy of great respect and our full support.
Staff changes are an inevitable and, indeed, a desirable trait of an outstanding school. I know that this can be a concern for parents, but we should look to the experience of the past few years at Robin Hood to throw light on and draw reassurance from such changes. Schools should be vibrant, dynamic and evolving places. We have consistently improved the quality of teaching and learning at Robin Hood over the years. This has been achieved through a rigorous focus on staff development and on encouraging staff to be creative and ambitious. This leads staff to grow professionally, ‘move through the ranks’ and, ultimately, move on to pastures new. This has been a very successful model for Robin Hood over many years. Our children receive an outstanding provision.
I too will be joining the ranks of our leavers this summer. I have enjoyed a wonderful period of my professional life at Robin Hood, one that I liken to a love affair. I feel a very deep affinity with the school, its pupils, staff and community and the decision to move on has been an incredibly difficult one for me. The post that I will be taking up from September is one that I simply found too compelling to refuse. I will be leaving behind a vibrant and very strong school full of great children, great families, great teachers and great leadership. There will be time for farewell speeches, etc in due course. I think it will suffice for me to say at this point that it has been (and continues to be) a privilege to serve the community at Robin Hood. Councillor Lisa Mulherin, our Chair of Governors, writes next to explain the immediate next steps for the leadership of the school from September.
Message from the Chair of Governors
Like you, I will be sorry to see Mr Wilson leave Robin Hood. He has made an incredible contribution to the school and local community over almost ten years service here. It is to his immense credit that he leaves us in a strong position moving forward, with a talented team of staff who are committed to his vision and belief that every child is able and deserves the best support, encouragement and school environment to fulfill their potential. We have been very successful for many years in growing our own outstanding teachers and outstanding leaders and you can be assured that the school is in safe, experienced and knowledgeable hands from September.
Due to the timescales involved and the critical importance of making the right choice for the long term, the Governing Body will not be rushing to make a permanent Headteacher appointment from September. There will therefore be a period where an “acting” appointment needs to be made. We are meeting as a Body on Wednesday to discuss the next steps and I will be able to share more information with you in next week’s newsletter. I will also be writing to you regularly over the course of the coming weeks to keep you informed of developments as they happen. Mr Wilson will be with us for the rest of the school year until he formally takes up his new role in September, supporting the school leadership team and Governing Body as we begin the next exciting phase of our journey.
In the meantime, notwithstanding Mr Wilson’s own comment that there will be time for farewell speeches at the end of the summer term, I am sure that you will join with me in thanking him for his dedication to Robin Hood for so many years. Through his leadership he has inspired a new generation of teachers to excel, putting into practice the skills and ethos that he has instilled to ensure that pupils at Robin Hood enjoy the best school experience and leave us equipped with confidence and self belief for the challenges ahead.
Lisa Mulherin, Chair of Governors
Have a fabulous weekend,
Mr Wilson
NURSERY NEWS ROUND UP
The children have rounded off their learning about Pirates this week and seem to have really enjoyed the topic! They have had lots of fun imagining they have been sailing over the seas and on the hunt for treasure!
THIS WEEK
We have been making wanted posters as the pesky pirate, Captain Pepper, had decided to take our very own Bob for his own pet!! Make sure when you’re out and about you keep an eye out for him!
Within number we have been continuing to learn about the properties of shapes, and have extended our learning to naming 3D shapes. The children have been sorting and matching everyday items deciding whether they are like a cube, a cone or perhaps even a sphere!
NEXT WEEK
We will start a new aspect of our Island life topic and we will be learning all about dinosaurs! The children will be finding out some fascinating facts and discovering what the world was like all those years ago!
Within numeracy we will be practising our recognition of numbers, counting out to match numerals, and developing our turn taking skills, playing games like dominoes and snakes and ladders.
How you can help us
· Practise simple drawings with your child, labelling the pictures they draw.
· Use magnetic letters, flour sprinkled on a chopping board to practice forming letter shapes, and spelling simple words.
· Develop counting skills by sharing out sweets, having a picnic with a teddy, making sure each has a plate, a cup etc.
· Spend time colouring pictures, concentrating on filling the whole space with colour, choosing different colours and staying within the lines.
Many thanks for your continued support
Have a fabulous weekend.
Miss Bradshaw and the Nursery team
RECEPTION NEWS ROUND UP
We have had another great week in Reception with the weather, although a bit chilly, fine and dry most of the time! As the weather is so changeable at the moment please can you make sure your child brings a coat to school every day? A lightweight waterproof jacket is fine and they can keep it in their locker if you prefer. Please can you check all coats (and other items of clothing) are clearly named? Thank you.
THIS WEEK
We have finished off our Pirates topic learning about Captain Pepper and his quest for an unusual pet that will make him famous! We have been learning about the history and origins of the different pirate flags and the children have designed and painted their own flags during our topic sessions. In numeracy we have followed written clues to treasure hunt for golden coins in the outdoor area and we have started to learn about 3D shapes.
NEXT WEEK
We continue with our Island Life topic and will be moving on to learn all about Dinosaurs. The home learning this week (see below) will feed directly into this and we would be really grateful if you and your child could do some research together. We will be starting off looking at fossils and investigating the facts that we have found out about the dinosaurs, thinking carefully about what we are basing our evidence on. Inside we will be setting up our own archaeological site to excavate our own fossils and of course there will be plenty of digging in the outdoor area in the hope that we might find our own dinosaur!
HOW YOU CAN HELP US
- By completing the home learning and bringing it in on Monday morning so we can mark the children's fabulous learning. Next week we are moving on to our topic of Dinosaurs: ahead of this can you support your child to research some information about the dinosaurs and write three sentences underneath a picture of their favourite dinosaur making sure they have correctly spelled keywords /capital letters /full stops /finger spaces /letters sitting on the line and formed properly /a connective to join your sentences (and, but, because)
- REVISIT all 45 reception keywords (read and write) (they are in green text on a previous blog post)
- To read the words: took, school, think, home, who, didn’t.
- To practice forming the letters r, b, n and h
- To listen to your child's fabulous reading for five minutes every day
- To support your child to read, write and order numbers to twenty.
Key Stage One Newsletter
It's been another busy week in Key Stage One! The children have been lending their learning to many things including story writing and electricity. Time really does fly when you are having fun! We would like to say a massive thank you for all the fantastic home learning about electricity that has been brought to school this week. This has included real circuits, video presentations, Power Points, Posters, home made wind mills, the list is endless. Your support in your child's home learning really is very important and we really do appreciate the effort and time that is spent at home.
Key Stage One Blog
The Key Stage One Blog has had a re-vamp! Please visit http://www.robinhood.leeds.sch.uk/pupils/blogs.php to see how wonderful it is! The Blog is full of your children's learning at school, home learning and any important news or updates. It is an excellent way for us to celebrate your child's learning with the world! We would like to thank Mrs Mistry and Mrs Steel for the time and effort spent around the blog and sharing all the fantastic things that happen in Key Stage One each and every day!
This week
Numeracy
In Numeracy the children have been learning all about capacity. We have been understanding the difference between millilitres and litres. The children have also been measuring liquids, adding different amounts together, finding the difference, sharing amounts, dividing amounts, the list is endless!
Literacy
Each class has been continuing their story writing and have finished creating their second story. This will be shared with you at the end of this half term. The children have produced fabulous front covers and their stories are amazing! Please support your child at home in their writing by supporting them in their handwriting and punctuation. This includes the use of Capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, brackets and ellipses.
Topic
The children have had lots of fun this week learning about electricity! They have been investigating what a conductor is and different conductors in the classroom. They have also been making different types of circuits and understanding the dangers around electricity.
Next Week
Numeracy
The children will be learning all about weight. They will be understanding the difference between grams and kilograms, measuring different amounts and solving lots of different word problems! These will include all four operations; addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Please support your child at home in using scales or why not even bake a cake. We could get these photos straight up on our Key Stage One Blog to share with the world how fantastic you are!
Literacy
The children will be looking at different stories to help them with their story writing.
Year 1 - Up
Year 1/2 Cars
Year 2 - Alice
We will be continuing to build on our knowledge and use of the story mountain (Opening, problem, build-up, climax, resolution and ending) and planning our next amazing story!
Topic
The children will be focusing on the History of Walt Disney and creating their own Charlie Chaplin style dramatic scene to match a piece of music. We are sure the children will love making these and we look forward to watching the outcomes!
Have a lovely weekend,
The Key Stage One Team
We've have had another fantastic and energised week full of magical learning in year 3/4. We would like to thank everybody for visiting our fabulous LKS2 blog. It's a great place for the children to be using our Literacy and Numeracy Area and consolidating the skills they are learning in class. You can also find on our blog the weekly newsletter, spellings and achievers, which are updated every Friday. We have also been really impressed this week to see lots of children gaining their air miles from all of their fabulous reading at home.
Numeracy
This week, the children have been using their knowledge of the 24 hour clock to read a variety of timetables and they have been using these to solve a variety of problems. We have also been using calendars to plot and place different events from the Moshi Monsters travels. E.g. The Moshi Monsters arrive in Australia on May 6th and leave for Fiji
Literacy
In Literacy this week, we have continued our focus on traditional tales by looking at Jack and the Beanstalk. We have been busy making comparisons between the traditional and alternative versions of the story. The children have then carefully planned and written their very own imaginative versions of the story. We have been blown away by their imaginative ideas and how they have successfully used action, description and dialogue to move their stories on.
PE
The children have being working extremely hard to learn our section of the choreographed big dance routine. We are looking forward to performing it as a whole school on Friday 18th May and hopefully breaking a world record.
Reminders
· Please ensure your child brings their indoor PE kit every Monday and leaves it in school all week.
Year 4s will need to bring their swimming kit every Friday and remember to take it home to have it washed.
· Please make sure your child's belongings are clearly labelled.
· It is very important that all children have a water bottle in school to ensure they remain hydrated throughout the day.
Spellings
Group 1
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Group 2
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1. they'll
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1. knowledge
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2. you'll
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2. knock
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3. you're
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3. knee
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4. it's
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4. knight
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5. it'll
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5. knit
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6. I'm
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6. knew
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7. Monday
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7. knife
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8. Tuesday
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8. know
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9. Wednesday
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9. known
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10. knuckle
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Thank you, have a lovely weekend,
3/4 Team
UKS2 News Roundup:
- Congratulations to Mrs Brook’s sewing group who are this week’s achievers. All of the children have shown great care and attention to detail when sewing their cushions for the 2012 celebrations. These unique designs incorporate ribbon, buttons and intricate stitches and are truly fabulous. We can’t wait to see the finished products.
- We would like the children to begin collecting more examples of magazine and newspaper adverts which promote particular products. These adverts will be analysed in class in preparation for the creation of our own adverts in topic next week.
- We would like to thank all of Year 6 and their parents/carers for their fabulous effort and dedication to the revision for the SATs next week. The assessments are an opportunity for the children to show off what they have achieved over the last few years. We are confident that our Year 6 children will do us all proud next week and look forward to sharing the results later in the year.
- Final details about the Year 6 residential were given out this week. If anybody requires any further details, please contact school.
Numeracy:
- The focus this week has been around finding percentages and fractions of given values. The children have focussed on both written and calculator based methods to tackle some rather tricky problems. We have also been looking at handling data in the form of pie charts, bar graphs, timetables and pictograms.
- Next week: Year 5 will be learning about mental addition and subtraction methods; including adding/subtracting and adjusting which will help us improve the speed and accuracy of mental skills.
- Home Learning – please ensure you practise your times tables and number facts regularly. These facts are essential to everyday numeracy and underpin so many of the tasks we tackle in the classroom as well as everyday life. Remember, there are now two very large, shiny trophies up for grabs- one for Year 5 and one for Year 6! This website has LOTS of interactive games available to practice! http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/interactive.htm
Literacy:
- This week the children have been writing a review of a holiday destination. We began the week by writing a review and then spent the rest of the week refining, editing, amending and improving our paragraphs to ensure they incorporated well organised and developed points with personal opinions and experiences.
- In reading, the children have been reading and comparing various poems about rain. They have also been reading about segregation in
America - This week’s spellings are: television, comprehension, attention, extension, revision, definition, alliteration, station, motion, and caption.
- Next week in literacy the children will be putting their powers of persuasion to the test by planning and writing their own formal invitation to the launch party of the winning product design at
Leeds Museum
Other areas of the curriculum:
- In Topic, the children prepared and presented their own pitch of a product design to a panel of judges. The children had to ensure they considered the target audience, the selling price and any unique selling points when presenting their ideas. The winning design will be announced very soon and will be placed onto real products and sold in the
Leeds City Museum - In PE we have been putting the finishing touches to our section of the Big Dance routine. This will be performed as a whole school next week in an attempt to break a World Record.
- In RE, we have continued our research into the Buddhist religion and have begun to put together our own beginners guide.
- Visit our blogs!
- 5/6B http://robinhood56b.blogspot.com/
- 5/6D http://robinhood56d.blogspot.com/
- 5/6G http://robinhood56g.blogspot.com/
