Author: Mr Roundtree

Where in the world?

For the past three weeks, we have had a mini topic of “Where in the world?”.

The children have been learning all about the world around them: which town they live in, which country their town is in and the names and locations of the continents and oceans.

They have enjoyed listening to a song about the continents to help learn their names and a song about the oceans, too. Today, we put all of that knowledge together and labelled both the continents and the oceans.

This lesson linked in with our homework – “I know some Where in the World facts”. Here are some facts that we knew.

  • Eliza – ‘I learnt how to say hello in Spanish “Ola”.’
  • Ellie – ‘I learnt the 5 oceans – the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Southern and the Artic.’
  • Jack – ‘I learnt how to say good afternoon in different languages – Buenas tardes (Spanish) boa tarde (Portuguese) bonne après-midi (French) guten nachmittag (German).’
  • Daisy and Emilija – ‘We learnt the names of the different continents – Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, Antarctica, North America and South America.’

21 September 2018

This week’s homework is Talk Time and is due on Thursday 27 September.

This half term, our Christian value is friendship. In school and in collective worship, we’ve been looking at what makes a good friend and examples of being a good friend from the Bible. With your family, discuss the following questions and be prepared to talk about your answers on Friday 28 September – make notes (or ask an adult) in your homework book to help you.

What qualities do you look for in a friend?

There’s an old saying that goes, “In order to have good friends, you have to be a good friend.” What does that mean? Do you think it’s true? Why? What are the benefits of having friends who are different from us?

Living and Learning: I can take a safe risk and be responsible

In our Living and Learning session, we talked about taking safe risks and taking responsibility for your own learning. We discussed what responsibility is and decided that when you are responsible for something it is up to you to make sure it happens.
Jack told us that it is the children’s own responsibility to make sure that they take their things to school, not their mum’s responsibility.  Louie told us that each child is responsible for their writing – we discussed this and decided that children are responsible for making their writing neat and making sure they write enough. Leah told us each child is responsible for bringing their PE Kit. When asked about homework, Ava said when the teacher asks you to do it you have to do it. We decided together that when the teacher gives you homework it is your responsibility to make sure you do it.
We talked about risks and what kind of risks are safe and what kind of risks are not safe. We decided as a class that it is safe to put your hand up in class and have a go at answering a question. We also decided it is safe to try new activities and to try to read a book that looks tricky. Talking about doing work you are not sure you can do Willow told us, “If you don’t know how to do it, you can try it and take a risk.”

A wonderful ‘well done’!

It’s great to receive a letter from Leeds Learning Improvement Team congratulating us on how well we’re doing…

Initial analysis of attainment and progress at St James’ indicates that you have made significant improvements in your school’s reading, writing and mathematics combined results.

We are pleased that the work which your school has undertaken has had positive impact and trust that your engagement with the Leeds Learning
Improvement team has supported these improvements.

Congratulations to the whole team for their dedication and hard work which is positively affecting outcomes and will improve the life chances of all these children.

Living and Learning: to be ready and to respond

This week our living and learning statement is “I can I am ready to learn and I can respond to feedback“.

We talked about how we can show we are ready to learn.

Jack said, “We need to look at the teacher, have your book out and get a pencil ready.”

Dexter said, “We follow instructions.”

Willow said, “We are ready by listening, looking at the teacher and doing whatever they ask you to do.”

We talked about feedback and how we use it to know what we did well and how to improve. The things that help us improve are our next steps in our books.

14 September 2018

This week’s spelling homework is a spelling task due in on Thursday 20 September.

Year 1
In your child’s homework book, you’ll see the 100 High-Frequency Words. By the end of year 1, children are expected to read and write these words. Therefore, we will begin by learning to spell some of these words.

This week’s task is to choose 5 of your spelling words. Write a silly sentence for each of the chosen words.
the       and
to          I
said     of
he        was

Year 2

In your child’s homework book, you’ll see the Year 2 Common Exception Words. By the end of year 2, children are expected to read and write these words. Therefore, we will begin by learning to spell some of these words.

This week’s task is to choose 5 of your spelling words. Write a silly sentence for each of the chosen words.
after               should
any                 could
again             would
because        who

Friendship…

…is our Christian value this half-term.

At St James’ CE Primary School, we learn about Christian values that help us to become well-rounded citizens in society. These values have been chosen by our Church Council, a group of pupils who advise us on aspects of our provision. The values are woven into our everyday school life. Each half-term, we focus on a Christian value that is embedded into our collective worship and our reflection areas. This half-term, we consider friendship.

‘A friend loves at all times.’ – Proverbs 17:17

True friendship enables each person to grow and ensures that the unique individuality of each person is recognised. Friendship is the special relationship we have with certain people – a friend loves and cares for you at all times.

Christians believe that God’s friendship towards us will last forever. Friendship is a partnership of shared experiences, talents, interests and enthusiasms.

Why did the Church Council choose this Christian value? ‘Because Jesus is our friend and he is everyone’s friend even when we’re naughty.’ (Year 1 Church Council member)

Home challenge: We can learn a lot about friendships from the books we read. Find a book that models a good friendship. Write its title on a post-it note and stick it in the reflection area in your classroom.