Spooky stories …
This week we’ve started getting ready for our next piece of writing … the start of a spooky story!
Today we’ve been hunting for words, phrases and sentences that we could use in our spooky writing.
We’ll collate our best ideas to use as a reference when we do our own writing to help us use ambitious vocabulary.
We look forward to sharing our spooky stories with you in a couple of weeks. If you’d like to help your child at home, you could share a spooky story together. There are a list of recommended spooky stories for Key Stage 2 here: https://www.booksfortopics.com/booklists/topics/literacy-reading/horror-spooky-stories-for-ks2/
Happy half-term break
It’s been another great half-term in Year 4!
Reflecting on our experiences this half-term, the children say that they’ve particularly enjoyed:
- the triathlon
- stealing the chocolate cake from the staff room
- using the cubes for improper fractions
- playing netball
- winning the TTRS trophy
- being faster at TTRS than Mr Nash
- learning about Arthur France
Although we are all ready for a rest, we cannot wait for all the fun we have lined up for the Summer Term!
We have reminded the children that they can use their Living and Learning knowledge to help them stay safe this half-term holiday. They know they need to:
- stay hydrated if they are particularly active or the weather is warm.
- use sun cream and wear a hat if the weather is sunny.
- stay active to keep them physically and mentally healthy.
- eat ‘5 a day’.
We’ll be doing our times tables check when we return to school in June so please do keep those multiplication skills ‘topped up’ by playing TTRS for short bursts regularly during the holidays. We ask for 15 minutes per week.
I look forward to seeing everyone happy and healthy back at school on Monday 2nd June!
Mrs Poole
Brownlee Triathlon!
This week, KS2 took part in the Brownlee Foundation Triathlon event! All of the children represented St James well and completed the whole course with huge smiles on their faces! The children had to swim, cycle and run their way to the finish line, working together and spurring each other on. We even got to meet Jonny Brownlee, who very kindly took a photo with our school! Thanks to all parents and adults who helped organise the event. Here are some fantastic photos from our day:
Philosophy Friday – Only people from the West Indies should go to the Leeds West Indies Carnival. Do you agree or disagree?
We now know where to find the West Indies on a map and have also learnt about the culture of the West Indies. We found out that Arthur France travelled to the UK when he was in his early 20s and, inspired by how much he missed the joyful spirit and community feel of the West Indies, set up the Leeds West Indies Carnival as well as other community projects.
This lead us to ponder, should it just be people from the West Indies who should go to the West Indies Carnival?
We were unanimous in our decision… everyone should go to the West Indies Carnival!
Oliver was keen to highlight the benefits of being able to learn about a different culture if you went to the carnival. He also thought people should try new things which they could do if they went to the carnival.
Emily explained that there would be ‘more happier faces’ if everyone mixed together and enjoyed the carnival. She expanded on this by imagining how joyful it would be to sing and dance together.
Help at home: You might want to attend the Leeds West Indies Carnival and see what it is like in real life! Details can be found here: https://leedscarnival.co.uk/
Times Tables Check
This week, all of the children have practised the times tables check using the DfE system that they will use for the real check in a few weeks.
More than half of the children scored their personal best and it is great to see children working hard to learn the facts that they aren’t 100% confident with.
Help at home: Please keep playing TTRS at home! We ask children to play for 15 minutes per week which will earn them a place on our TTRS wheel in Achieve and Believe assembly!
A visit from Leeds Rhinos!
St James had a very exciting visitor from the Leeds Rhinos in today during our Collective Worship. Ian came in to talk to the children about teamwork and inclusivity – two key skills that help us to be happy and healthy in our school. We got the opportunity to learn about the different teams that Leeds Rhinos have, such as: men’s and women’s rugby; netball; a wheelchair rugby team and many more. The children responded really well when discussing the importance of inclusivity, teamwork and stereotyping, particularly in sport.
Ian also reminded us of the fantastic offer from Leeds Rhinos for pupils to go and see one of their matches! If you/your child is interested in this, discounted tickets can be purchased through school. Here are the details of the match:
Leeds Rhinos vs Hull FC
Friday 16th May
Kick off: 20:00
Living & Learning – But I’m not tired!
This week we have been learning about the importance of sleep. We were surprised to find out that we should be having 10-11 hours of sleep per day to be at our best the next day.
We shared our top tips for a good night’s sleep and learnt a few new ones from our research:
Help at home – encourage your child to keep a diary of how much sleep they are getting. Is it enough? If not, can they try one of the strategies above to help them sleep better?
With thanks from members of St James’ Church
You may remember that we made Holy Week booklets last half term that we shared with parishioners at St James’ Church.
This week we received a thank you card!
‘… At St James’ Church, my husband and I were given the Holy Week booklet you had made. It was so good to see that you knew, from your school lessons, the Easter story.
We kept your booklet and put it with other Easter cards we had received. The three beautiful pictures and your written information about each one was wonderful as well as the cross on the front page …’
I often boast how proud I am of the efforts and work of Year 4 but it’s particularly lovely to share that with people in our wider community.
Well done, Year 4! You made some people’s Easter that little bit more special!
Living & Learning – I know the importance of personal hygiene
Earlier this week, we had a detailed discussion about the importance of personal hygiene. The children summarised their key learning beautifully:
Help at home:
Discuss things that you do at home to maintain your personal hygiene. Children could try different hand soaps and different toothpastes to see if they have a favourite!
Welcome back!
Hello and welcome back!
I hope you have all enjoyed the Easter break; I can’t wait to see everyone back tomorrow for the Summer Term!
Although this is only a short half-term, we’ve got lots of exciting things planned:
Topic – History – we’ll be learning all about Leeds West Indian Carnival. Have you been to the carnival? If so we would love to hear about your experience and share any photos you have.
Maths – we’ll be learning how to add and subtract fractions. Children will also bring home their fortnightly arithmetic quizzes. If you would like any questions to practise with your child at home please let me know.
Writing – inspired by Michael Rosen’s poem Chocolate Cake, we’ll write a story about sneaking in to the staff room to take a tasty treat!
Reading – it’d be great to make our Friday Book Club even better by sharing the challenges the children do in their Reading Record. If you need a new Reading Record let me know.
PE – we’ll continue our swimming lessons on Tuesdays and also be developing our skills in Netball on Thursdays.
Science – we’ll be learning about different habitats and how humans can positively and negatively impact them. If you have visited any interesting habitats we would love to see your photos and hear about your experience.
RE – we’ll be finding out what happened at Pentecost.
Food Technology – we’ll be making savoury scones.
Do let me know if you have any questions or if you have any experiences you would like to share with the children!