Mad about Minibeasts
We have been learning all about the Number 5.
Look at the different ways we can represent 5.
Here’s some of our nursery children talking about the ways to make 5. The numberblocks episode ‘a part of me’ is a great way to explore this.
Minibeasts
Our caterpillars are here and they’ve started to build their cocoons, we’ve been taking extra care around them so they won’t be disturbed. Look out for some caterpillar artwork!
Help at home.
Have a minibeast hunt in your outdoor space or at the park. Can you find any minibeasts? How many legs can you see? Do they have a pattern? Do they have wings? Let us know at Nursery what you find.
Next week
We will continue reading “Mad about Minibeasts”
Living and Learning: I know the importance of 5 a day
For our living and learning session this week, Year 3 looked into the importance of healthy eating. We discussed as a class how many fruit/veg a day we are currently managing to eat, and set ourselves some goals to further improve.
We also looked into influences and healthy choices when deciding what to eat and drink. Year 3 discussed the importance of a healthy, balanced diet and used their learning about different foods groups from earlier this year to help.
After the session the children felt confident talking about the following statements:
Help at home:
Discuss these statements in more detail at home so your child understands the importance of healthy choices when eating and drinking.
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!
Our weekly message: Friday 04 April 2025
It was lovely to see so many of you at our Easter service at St James Church this week. We were impressed by our children’s confidence in reading aloud to an audience.
PTA Easter competition
Did your child enter the PTA Easter competition to design an Easter egg? We had loads of entries – it’s been really difficult to pick a winner from each year group. Well done to:
- Reception: Savannah
- Year 1: Cian
- Year 2: Ellis
- Year 3: Ryan
- Year 4: Kiara
- Year 5: Valerie
- Year 6: Lilly
Easter events
Last week, we mentioned this guide from Child Friendly Leeds to help children and families in Leeds navigate their way through the Easter holidays. You might also want to check out another guide from Active Leeds – anyone up for some paddlesports?!
National Youth Strategy
The government is creating a new ten-year National Youth Strategy to tackle the challenges for this generation of young people and to ensure every young person can thrive. The strategy aims to bring power back to young people and their communities to improve youth focused services.
The government wants to hear the views of children and young people aged 10 to 21 (and up to age 25 with special educational needs or disabilities).
Encourage your child to complete the survey to share with the government what they think on a range of themes.
If they don’t have time to complete the survey, then encourage them to share their quick thoughts with the government on what could be improved.
Thank you to Year 3
Recently, Year 3 children took time to organise and clean up our school grounds. They’d noticed some equipment was missing and that there was some litter around the edges of our school field. They took matters into their own hands and got to work! The children were absolutely fantastic and showed good teamwork and perseverance.
Need some help?
Sometimes people need a bit of help from time to time. Wetherby and District Foodbank might be able to help you.
Check out the information below to find out more about when they’re open, how to use them, and the areas they cover. There’s also information about MoneyBuddies, the biggest independent money advice service in West Yorkshire.
Over Easter, there are activities for children whilst parents and carers can share concerns and get confidential advice. There’ll be Easter Eggs, too!
Have a happy and healthy holiday. We’ll see you again on Tuesday 22 April.
Writing
We are preparing to write a spooky story based on the online video: Alma.
https://www.literacyshed.com/alma.html
The children were instantly hooked in and have shown lots on enthusiasm towards their work.
As we work towards our final written piece, we have been learning how to link clauses using dashes, semi-colons and colons.
How to use dashes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCg860btDfg
How to use semi-colons:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcpaQc8VbU8
How to use colons:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2iYA1sQUZQ
Here are some examples of our work:
She looks at the doll – the doll stares back. Honey.
Alma stared at her Doppel-ganger; the doll looked back at her with a creepy smile. Amelia.
Alma tried the door – it was bolted shut. How would she get in? Madeleine.
Alma looked at the clone; it glared at her like it was ready to fight. Kamile.
The chalkboard, filled with names, determined the next victim – Alma wrote her name beautifully. Summer.
As she peered through the frosty window, the doll-twin stared at her – it was as if they knew each other. Valerie.
The doll was an exact relica of her: green eyes, blue hat, pink gilet and red scarf. Chloe.
Alma knew she was alone; so she thought. Aubree.
Help at home – Ask your child to describe when they would use a dash/semi-colon/colon. Can they give an example? Role play them teaching you how to use them. Write spooky sentences using this week’s spellings.
Spring 2
Welcome back! This half term our theme is Let’s Grow, Let’s Go.
Our first focus book is The Train Ride by June Crebbin.
We will also be talking about our exciting class trip to the National Railway Museum next week.
We’ve been learning all about the Number 2! We counted 2 objects out, subertised 2 (said on sight), learned that “a part of me is one, a part of me is one and the whole of me is two” and went on a hunt around Nursery to find ways to represent two.
As we explored lots of activities in provision relating to Little Red Riding Hood we’ve been working on our pencil grip. It’s something that will make a big difference when the children start school.
Help at home: Draw or paint a picture, showing them how to hold their pencil/paint brush in a ‘tripod’ grip. We’ve been drawing our favourite foods this week so they might want to add to that.
Timetable update: PE will now be on a Thursday morning so please send the children in something comfortable such as jogging bottoms and trainers on Thursdays.
Reminder – World Book Day
It’s World Book Day on Thursday 06 March. This year, we will celebrate by bringing our favourite book to nursery to share with our friends. Please make sure that your child’s name is in their book. If you can stay a little bit longer at drop off on the Thursday morning, we’d love for you to share a book with your child or to join in with some of the World Book Day activities that will be in provision. It’s always a day that we really enjoy at nursery, so please join in if you can.
We hope that you all have a happy and healthy half term and we’ll see you on Monday 24 February.
Classifying Animals in Science
Today, Year One worked together to classify animals into mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. They used their knowledge of animal characteristics—like fur, feathers, scales, and where they live—to sort them correctly.
Isaac ” I know it is a bird because it has feathers and a beak.”
Ada “Amphibians have webbed feet and live on both the land and in the water.”
Ava “Fish use their gills to breathe!”
Help at Home
- Spot animals in books or outdoors and ask, “Which group do they belong to?”
- Discuss their features—Does it have feathers? Does it lay eggs?
Living and Learning – NSPCC’s Speak Out Stay Safe
As part of our learning about knowing how to seek help and keep ourselves safe, we joined the NSPCC for an online assembly about Speaking Out to Stay Safe. We loved discussing what we might worry about and how we could get help.
Shae’s reflection at the end of the session summed it up perfectly:
Children can have a sack full of worries and may need help.
It’s great that the children know it is normal to have worries and even more importantly that they have lots of ideas of how they can get help for those worries.
Living and Learning – Personal boundaries
As part of our learning this week, we have thought about assessing risk and ensuring we, and others, are happy and healthy. As part of this we thought about personal boundaries. We thought about why personal boundaries are important to us and to others.
