A Message From Miss Quarmby
What a fantastic first week back for Summer 2 – and we’ve certainly hit the ground running! It has been lovely to welcome Miss Sharp into Year 1. She has previously worked with Mrs Moxon, and they are already proving to be a super team. Miss Sharp has had a brilliant first week with Y1LR (Y1RS) and is also really looking forward to getting to know Miss Emery’s class ahead of next year. She brings such positivity and a huge smile – we are delighted to have her as part of our team. This week, we were also proud to host Writing Moderation for schools across our Trust in Reception, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6. It was a great opportunity to share practice and celebrate the high-quality writing across Whitkirk – lots to be proud of! Our Year 4 children have begun their Multiplication Check and have been absolutely fantastic. I’ve been so impressed with their determination and commitment to doing their very best – they definitely earned their biscuit treat at the end! This will continue into next week. We will also be starting the Phonics Screening Check next week for our Year 1 children – we know they will try their very best. On Thursday, we welcomed Liz Zoccolan, Director of Inclusion for Red Kite Learning Trust, for a SEND review. She was incredibly impressed by our inclusive culture, the practice she saw in classrooms, and the support in place for our children. As she left, she shared how inspired she felt – we are so proud of this and would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Downes for her leadership in this area. Also, a huge congratulations to our pupils for their success in the Trust Times Tables Rock Stars competition over the holidays – Whitkirk were the winning school by a country mile, achieving more than double the score of the school in second place. What an incredible achievement – we are so proud! Finally, as we begin to think ahead to September, a gentle reminder that PE kit will be navy blue only, and shoes/trainers should be plain black with no bright logos or coloured laces. Thank you for your continued support. Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
KEY DATES FOR SUMMER 2:
- Year 4 multiplication check - w/c 2nd June
- Year 4 multiplication check - w/c 8th June
- Year 1 phonics screening check - w/c 8th June
- Whole class photos - 15th June
- Year 2 trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park - 23rd June
- Sports Day - 24th June
- Year 6 St Mary's Church experience - 25th June
- Training Day - 3rd July
- Year 3 Egyptians trip to Leeds City Museum - 9th July
- House Film afternoon - 15th July
- Diamond & Platinum Awards - 16th July
- Break up for Summer Holidays - 17th July
Attendance
This week, finishing in first place with 99.58% are RLE. In second place are YNAT, with 99.51% and in third place are 6NT with 99.43%. A shout out also goes to RJS, 1RS, 2CH, 2KD and 4CO who have also finished the week above our school target of 96.5%. The whole school attendance this week is 96.17%. Please remember look at the NHS guide Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk) This is used to determine which reasons for absence will be authorised or unauthorised.
let's take a look at what each year group has been up to this week!
EYFS
This week, Pre-school discovered that Tim the Travelling Turtle has been to the beach, after investigating clues from his backpack. To launch our new early geography focus, the children loved using their feet to explore the textures of sand and water! Throughout the week, Pre-School have taken part in seaside-inspired role play, including practising sun safety by putting on suncream and hats, creating their own fishing lines, building sandcastles and exploring small-world beach scenes. The children have also created some wonderful, vibrant sea creature collages using recycled materials. What a super week of creativity, exploration, and imagination!
This week in Reception, we launched our exciting new Big Idea, “Where Can We Travel?” We discussed different places around the world, shared holiday experiences, and talked about our upcoming journey into Year 1. The children then went on a treasure hunt, solving clues and amazing the Reception staff with their fantastic caption and sentence writing at each clue point. Their hard work paid off when they successfully discovered the hidden treasure of 100 Dojo points before enjoying a well-earned snack together. We are incredibly proud of reception and cannot wait for our summer 2 adventures together!
LOWER SCHOOL
This week in Year 1, the children had a fantastic time meeting illustrators Liz and Kate Pope on a live Zoom call! They shared their exciting journey to becoming illustrators and told us all about books they’ve worked on, including Havoc in the Hammock. The children asked some brilliant questions and were full of curiosity. We’ve also jumped into our new topics, exploring old and new houses in history. On top of that, we’re getting creative with Paul Klee in art and discovering how windmills work in DT!
In Year 2, we launched our exciting new topic on the Leeds West Indian Carnival! The children loved trying Jamaican foods such as jerk sauces, rice and peas, and plantain chips – which were definitely a Year 2 favourite. We also explored the vibrant costumes worn at the carnival and discussed their colours and patterns. Alongside this, we have practised telling the time to 5-minute intervals.
This week in Year 3 Science, we have dissected flowers to identify their different parts. We were able to successfully name the petals, sepal, stamen and carpel. In English, we have begun reading The Egyptian Cinderella and preparing to write our narratives! In History, we enjoyed studying why people settled near the River Nile in Ancient Egypt.
UPPER school
Year 4 have had a fantastic start to the half term! We've begun our Multiplication Tables Check and are really proud of how determined the children are to do the best they can. In History, we have launched our Big Idea, "Did the settlement by the Anglo-Saxons make Britain a better place to live?" This week, we made links to the Ancient Romans and the consequences of them leaving Britain.
It's been a brilliantly busy week in Year 5 as we start our final half term. It was hands on with lots of stirring on Wednesday afternoon in Science as we tested which solids would dissolve or end up suspended in the water. There was lots of fabulous scientific discussion on what dissolving and suspended meant. We even managed to test how the temperature of the water affected how quickly sugar would dissolve. In reading and writing, we started our new text 'The Boy at the back our the class'. So far, we have written in role as a new child starting school in strange new setting. We focused on getting lots of emotions into our writing.
Year 6 have had a super week getting stuck into some writing challenges about Camp Green Lake. We have been really impressed with their accuracy and presentation. In Maths lessons, we have been trying to forget the rubbish weather by learning the useful life skill of how to plan holidays and ensure we can get the cheapest flights! The children also began work on creating their own podcasts, which they are very excited about!