This week’s message (Friday 22 April 2022)

With bright sunny days, what a great week to kick off the Summer term! We hope you all had a lovely break.

Attendance

Our whole school attendance is at 93.8% – that’s a drop from 04 March when we last reported.

Reception: 94.0% – that’s a rise since 04 March, so thank you!
Year 1: 95.2%
Year 2: 95.6%
Year 3: 90.4%
Year 4: 92.6%- that’s also a rise since 04 March, so well done!
Year 5: 95.2%
Year 6: 94.7%

It’s really clear from our assessments that children who attend school regularly are the most successful. Please make sure your child is coming to school as much as possible and getting to school on time.

Please remember that we’re not allowed to authorise term-time absence unless it’s in exceptional circumstances, and if you do need to request term-time absence it should be done in advance using a form you can collect at the office.

Updated NHS Covid symptoms lists

The NHS COVID-19 symptoms in adults and symptoms in children have been updated. Are you aware of all 12 possible symptoms?

The official advice is that adults and children who have symptoms of a respiratory infection, including Covid, should follow the UKHSA guidance. Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare and resume normal activities when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend.

Have a happy and healthy weekend.

This week’s bible story

11 I have told you these things so that you can have the true happiness that I have. I want you to be completely happy. 12 This is what I command you: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15: 11-12

Have a think about an occasion when you have argued with someone and found it difficult to resolve.

Do you know of any conflicts or wars taking place anywhere in the world? Unfortunately, conflicts are continuously occurring as humans try to share the world.

Whether an argument occurs between two people or between nations, the situation is still a conflict. Having conflicts is part of being human. If we did not have differences of opinion, we would never see anything in a new light or change a view that we have wrongly held. However, what is extremely important is the way in which a conflict is handled. If conflicts between large groups of people get out of hand, they can become bigger and bigger until they become wars. The way in which we manage conflict can enable people who have different opinions to work peacefully together for the better.

When we think of peace we often think of:
– freedom from war
– freedom from disputes
– freedom from worry and anxiety
– peace of mind
– quietness, silence, stillness

In the Bible, in Matthew 5.6-8, it says that people who work for peace are happy. In John 15.11-12, Jesus says that we will be happy if we care for others.
Most world religions value the importance of peace.

Reflection:

How could you contribute to peace around the world? Maybe you could try harder to listen when someone has a different opinion to your own. Maybe you could walk away if you feel angry with someone. There are many little things that we can do to contribute to the peace of the world.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for giving us the ability to make others feel better.
Help us to share our lives together in peace.
Help us to love and care for those who need us.
Help us to care for our families and friends.
Please help us to play our parts in encouraging peace in the world.
Amen

This week’s message (Friday 01 April 2022)

I don’t know about you, but it’s been a busy week for us…

…because we’ve been recruiting new teachers across our three schools this week. We had an incredibly high number of applications: 184 in total. We want to recruit the very best teachers so our recruitment process involves inviting lots of people in so we can watch them teach – we observed 43 teachers across Monday (Moortown), Tuesday (Scholes) and Wednesday (St James’) mornings. Following this, we invited some people back in the afternoon – we interviewed 15 candidates across the three days. Somewhat exhausted, we’re also delighted by the high calibre of people we met. We’ll update you more about staffing next term.

(A funny aside to this: on one of the mornings, one Year 4 pupil approached the head of school unprompted, and without knowing the reason for the visitors in school, to offer her views and grades for the three teachers who had visited the class!)

It’s April Fool’s Day!

But this year, I promise there are no jokes in the weekly message. Last year, I announced the departure of Miss Beatson. Despite including the words ‘April’, ‘fools’ and ‘day’ in the news item, and then warning readers to be wary of April Fool jokes, it did seem to trick quite a few people! I’m on my best behaviour this year.

It’s Easter!

Well, not quite yet. Unlike other local authorities around us, Leeds has fixed Easter holidays – the first two weeks in April, even if Easter doesn’t fall in the holiday. This year, it does – just! We’ll be open again on Tuesday 19 April.

This Easter, schools from across the city are taking up the Love Exploring Leeds Inter-School Challenge. Help us join the challenge by using the free Love Exploring app to play augmented reality games with your child – like the new Mega Mini-Beast game, developed in consultation with bug experts at Leeds Museum.

The app uses the magic of augmented reality to bring to life magical sights on a smartphone – like the giant butterflies and ladybirds created for the Mega Mini-Beast game. There’s a Dinosaur Safari to play, too.

Love Exploring is available at 15 Leeds parks. By getting active as a family and answering questions on the interactive quiz, you’ll score points which link to our school. There are points for every question answered and for every 100m you walk. All participating schools win a prize. The family with the most points wins an iPad.

The challenge runs from today to 6 June. Look out for special activities in libraries and parks in May.

From all of us, have an egg-cellent Easter.

This week’s bible story

Jesus is friends with Zacchaeus: Luke 19: 1-10

Have you ever heard the story of Burglar Bill – Bill goes out every night. Getting into houses through open windows and taking things. Until one night, Bill found a baby, and that changed his whole life …

There is a Bible story about a man who stole from other people. He took extra money when he gave them their tax bills and became very rich on all the money that he stole. Zacchaeus was a little man and that small people can’t see in crowds. Read the story of Zacchaeus to find out what happened to him.

Reflection:

Jesus loved everyone when he lived on the earth. It didn’t matter how bad people were, Jesus was always there for those who needed him. This is true for us too – no one is so bad that God doesn’t love them. And the more time we spend with God – praying, thinking about him, finding out about him, the more we want to be like Jesus; kind, helpful and good. Just like Zacchaeus, Burglar Bill changed his ways and tried to be more like Jesus by loving those around him. Even though Burglar Bill and Zacchaeus made the wrong choice, God forgave them and continued loving them.

Prayer:

Dear God,

Thank you that Jesus loved Zacchaeus even when he wasn’t making the right choices. Help us to love all of those around us.

Amen

This week’s message (Friday 25 March 2022)

This week’s message comes from Miss Beatson, our Head of School…

We’re now coming to the end of the Spring term and, with the warmer weather and lighter evenings, it certainly feels like Spring’s in the air. The sunny, dry days have meant the children have been able to play on the school field and use the playground equipment more often – it’s certainly brought a lot of fun to our playtimes.

It’s clear from absences that Covid is still very much present in the community; thanks for your vigilance and support in trying to keep our staff and children safe.

Thank you to everyone who attended the parent-teacher meetings last half term. This half term, teachers will send home your child’s second Learning Update of the year – look out for them on Wednesday.

This week, it was fantastic to be able to hold our first PTA event in two years! The cake sale was a great success and I’d like to say a big thank you to the parents who have re-launched the PTA and to everyone who donated baked goods. We will let you know how much we’ve raised as soon as we’ve had a count up.

Thank you to all those families who are giving a little bit more time in the morning to park further away from school. This really helps with the parking and congestion on Hallfield Lane and it helps keep the roads safe for all our children. Even better, if you can, please leave your cars at home and walk to school as much as possible.

Finally, a reminder about our Easter celebrations next week. We’re looking forward to seeing lots of decorated eggs for the Easter egg competition on Monday. On Thursday, we are going to St James’ Church for our Easter Service – parents/carers are welcome to attend.

I hope you have a happy and healthy weekend – it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday (and don’t forget to put your clocks forward this weekend!).

This week’s bible story

Peter’s story (Based on Mark 8.27-38, Mark 14.15-72 and John 13.36-38)

Have you ever told a lie to keep yourself from getting into trouble? You don’t have to answer the question out loud, just to think about it.

Have they ever let a friend down, rather than get into trouble? Again, don’t answer outloud, just remember how it felt if they have.

In the bible, Jesus had 12 disciples – these were special friends of his that helped him. One of his closest friends was a man called Peter. Peter, even though he was Jesus’ friend, was someone who did both of those things. Read Peter’s story (Based on Mark 8.27-38, Mark 14.15-72 and John 13.36-38)

Reflection:

Why do you think Peter behaved as he did. Peter was confused: how could anything so awful happen to God’s Special One?; his fear of arrest; his fear of the palace guards; his courage in following Jesus as far as he had; his loyalty to his friend despite his cowardice.

How do you think Peter felt when he heard the cock crow. Do you think he could ever be friends with Jesus again?

Jesus meet Peter again for the first time after he had risen from the dead. He asked Peter three times if he loved him, once for each time he had denied him (John 21.15-19). Jesus told Peter then that he would have an important part to play in telling the world about him; and he did – but that’s another story!

Prayer:

Dear God,
When we are frightened:
Please help us.
When we don’t know what to do:
Please help us.
When we are tempted to lie:
Please help us.
When we let our friends down:
Please help us.
When we are sorry and want to make amends:
Please help us.
Amen.

This week’s message (Friday 18 March 2022)

Almost exactly two years ago, schools were closing for the start of the first lockdown. Numbers of Covid-positive cases are rising again, and we’re really noticing that in our Sphere Federation schools – we’ve had close to ten staff members absent each day this week.

On a much more positive note, with daffodils springing up and the weather looking brighter, it’s really starting to feel like Spring.

This week, amongst the various messages, we’ve one related to Covid. We’ll start with an important one about reading…

The benefits of reading at home

A recent news article caught our eye. The article talks about a research study about trips to museums and art articles, which suggests that such activities don’t improve exam results. (The article also points out other research indicates cultural trips like these have lots of other benefits, even that they ‘could actually lead to a longer life’.)

What we thought was more significant was the findings about reading – findings that come as no surprise:

…researchers did find that reading activities by both parents and their children played a role in exam grades. They measured activities such as reading for pleasure, visiting a library and discussing books at home. Such activities boosted GCSE scores by a significant amount.

Parents often ask how they can support their child more. Our advice would always be to make sure your child’s reading and talking about what they’re reading.

Brighten someone’s day

The theme of this year’s Comic Relief fundraiser is ‘You’ – inspiring people to do something, however modest, to brighten someone’s day. A lot of those uplifting actions, we’d venture, can easily be accomplished online. Check out this poster highlighting ways that we can all spread some much-needed happiness through the digital world. What about each person in your household agreeing to do one thing each week?

Dealing with worrying content online

In contrast, this poster addresses the timely and delicate issue of speaking with children about worrying content they’ve seen online. Your child, by now, could well be very aware of the situation in Ukraine, even if they’re not quite old enough to comprehend it fully. Many will have watched or read potentially upsetting news items online covering the invasion – and, in all likelihood, will need extra reassurance from trusted adults during these unsettling days. Check out the practical advice on raising the subject with young ones, allowing them to express their concerns, and helping them to avoid feeling overwhelmed by their fears.

Covid vaccination for at-risk 5 to 11 year olds

The Department for Education has asked us to share the following information with parents and carers of at-risk 5 to 11 year olds…

Children aged 5 to 11 years who are in a clinical risk group or who live with someone who is immunosuppressed can get the COVID-19 vaccine, in line with advice set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Eligible children include those with diabetes, immunosuppression, learning disabilities, and other conditions as outlined by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in the Green Book.

Vaccinations help to increase protection against COVID-19, which is particularly important for those with underlying health conditions.

Further information is available in the guide for parents of children aged 5 to 11 years published by UKHSA. We have published some frequently asked questions on the vaccination programme including information on eligibility, accessibility and advice for parents of children at high risk from COVID-19. Following advice from the JCVI, healthy 5 to 11 year old children will also be offered two 10 microgram doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The NHS will prepare to extend this non-urgent offer to all children during April.

As we said at the start of the message, it’s really starting to feel like Spring’s in the air. Enjoy that feeling this weekend!

Year 5 & 6 ‘rulz’… Yeah, it does!

Our cloakroom has a plethora of compliments, boosts and celebrations of friendship! It’s only March and I think we’re rapidly running out of space!

It’s great to see the children being so positive about their classmates.

If children catch someone being friendly, kind, helpful or just generally being an all-round top person, they can grab a chalk pen and scribe on our communal cloakroom wall to share that moment with us all! Nice one, Y5/6!

Quick Beats

In today’s music lesson, we’ve explored Quick Beats – it’s an app used to create different styles of drum beats, like grime, hip-hop and Latin.

We mirrored our iPads onto the board so we could share our beats with our classmates – everyone was impressed at how cool our beats sounded!

Nicholas – ‘Scarlet’s beats were wild because it sounds like it’d be played in the jungle!’

Joe – ‘Evie’s beats made me feel like I was at a disco!’

Siana – ‘Jess’ beats were upbeat and energetic.’

The children have been given their log-ins so that they can have a go at accessing Quick Beats at home.

This week’s bible story

The Son Who Left Home: Luke 15:11-32

Jesus told many stories that are recorded in the New Testament. His stories were often about everyday events that all the people could relate to, but they had a special purpose – they were told to help people understand more about God. Usually, the stories, or parables as they are called, spoke for themselves, but sometimes they had to be explained. Let me now tell you one of Jesus’ best-known parables.

Read the story of the son who left home.

Reflection:

Jesus told this story to show how much God loves us. Just like the son in the story, we often want our own way and do not think of the consequences. We make foolish mistakes and come to regret them later. Just like the father in the story, though, God never stops loving us and is always ready to forgive us when we admit our wrongdoing.

Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Forgive us, we pray, for the times when we have acted foolishly.
When we have wanted our own way and not listened to good advice;
when we have not considered the thoughts or feelings of others.
May we be prepared to forgive others when they are sorry for hurting or upsetting us, just as you are prepared to forgive us when we admit our wrongdoing.
Amen.