Key Stage One

Pupils enjoy learning about how children’s toys and homes have changed over time. They learn about seaside holidays in the past and significant events such as the Fire of London. They enjoy listening to stories, using CD Roms and learn how to ask questions using historical sources.

Key Stage Two

People enjoy learning about changes in their own area, in Britain and in other parts of the world. They enjoy studying aspects of British History such as the Vikings, Tudors, Victorians and Britain since 1930. They also study the civilisations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt. They learn how to use dates and vocabulary to describe the passing of time and use a range of sources of information including ICT to find out about the past, communicating their findings in different ways.

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to school. It was lovely to see so many parents at the Year 1 Class Assembly last week. All the children did a wonderful job and we are very proud of them. This letter is to tell you about the work we will be covering within the curriculum this year. Any resources or expertise you may have that would enhance the children’s learning in any of these areas would be much appreciated.

Our topic this half term is about our local area. The children will learn how to write letters and about the role of the Post Office, along with other buildings in our locality.  We will also be carrying out traffic surveys later in the term so please could you return the attached slip to give your permission for the children to work in small closely supervised groups outside the school grounds.

In ICT we will learn how to programme a mini robot (beebot) and how to give instructions on the computer. We will also use the computer to create graphs linked to our Geography topic and will take photos of the school grounds. We will also study how to use the internet and create e-books. Our RE topic is around worship in Christianity and Hinduism and we are planning to visit theHinduTemplethis half term. In Science the children will learn about forces and animals in the local environment and will create sculptures in Art.

In Literacy the children will study fantasy stories and poems this half term and recounts and information books after half term. It is important that you continue to hear your child read from their home reading book as often as possible. Books are changed weekly now on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If your child previously had their book changed on Thursday they will now have their book changed on Wednesday. Our class library day is Monday when children may select a book to take home and read from the library. In Maths this term our topics are the number system, calculating, measuring and understanding shape, data handling and number patterns.

In Music the children will explore instruments and symbols. PE this half term will take place OUTSIDE on Tuesday and Wednesday and the children will be taking part in Games. Please ensure that your child has their PE kit in school at all times – white T-Shirt, Black Pumps/trainers, Dark Shorts- and that each item is clearly labelled. Children may also wear jogging bottoms and tops if they prefer for outdoor games. Long hair must be tied back and all earrings removed.

Finally if you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to pop in and speak to us! We are looking forward to some better weather and a lovely summer term with Year 1!

Amy Houldsworth

Helen Mills

Vicky Loulie

Emma Garrod

• Food technology – from fruit salads in Year 1 through to biscuits in Year 5.
• Textiles – including designing and making Joseph’s Coats in Year 2 and bags in Year 6.
• Mechanisms – creating moving pictures and moving books.

Where possible these projects are linked to other curriculum areas such as Science, Literacy, Art or Music.

Children are encouraged to explore a variety of tools and materials (both specialist products and found objects) and to make decisions about how these are used. Through careful evaluation of their work they consider any changes that were made to their original plans and how effective their product is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/living_things/variation/play.shtml

Term Time Holidays

Governors on our Pupil Support Committee met last week and confirmed the decision that our school will not authorise any term time holidays from September of this year. Any holiday requests submitted for the present term will be dealt with under the existing policy.

Attendance

As we move into the summer term children will be taking part in a number of exciting annual events including Science and Nature Week, Health and Sports week, the Summer Fair and a Talent Show. To get the most from all of these activities good attendance and punctuality is very important. Different classes have been winning the 100% Attendance Cup after a run of wins by Y6 a few weeks ago – well done Y2 and Y3 over the last two weeks. At the end of each term parents/carers have been sent their child’s attendance record; this week, after meeting with Christine Edwards our Attendance Officer, I will be writing individually  to the small number of parents/carers of those children whose attendance is still below 90%.

Diamond Jubilee Lunch

Nicky, our cook, is providing a special lunch on the last day of this half term – Friday 1 June. If your child does not normally have a school meal and would like one on this day you can pay in advance: £1.80 Rec-Y4 and £1.85 for Y5+6.  All payments should be made by Friday 18 May. School dinner children do not have to do anything. A copy of the menu for the day is on the school notice board.

Mathletics

Our school has agreed to a trial of Mathletics, an online maths programme to support children’s mathematical development. All children from Y1-Y6 will be given a laminated login and password to access the site. Your child’s class teacher will introduce the programme to your child’s class and provide further guidance. If you would like any further information please see me or your class teacher.

Parent Governor

We had one nomination for the vacant parent governor position. Congratulations to Rachel Breach, mother of Harriet in Y1 who is duly elected to join our governing body.

Gym Teams

Well done to our Gym teams who took part in a city wide tournament at the John Charles Sports Centre. Our Y5/6 Foundation team won silver medals, Y5/6 Advanced won bronze and all the other teams performed brilliantly. Special mention to Lily Hogkinson who came second out of 40 children in her group. Thanks to Miss Mitchell, Mrs Sanders and Mrs Lewis who have coached the children so well all year in gym club.

Michael Brawley

Y6 Ingleborough residential 21-25 May

Science and Nature Week 28 May – 1 June

PTA Talent Show 30 May

Headingley Music Festival Saturday 16 June

Training Day: 18 June, 

Friday 29 June Headingley Cup 

Saturday 7 July Summer Fair 12-2.00pm

Health and Sports Week 9 – 13 July

Friday 20 July last day of term.

Year 5 have been designing biscuits to sell to different classes. Each group was assigned a target class. They started their project with an evaluation of existing products, focussing on taste, packaging etc. Next they carried out some market research in their target class to find out which shape, colour and topping the children preferred. They looked at their results and designed a biscuit from their findings. After that, they had to give their biscuit a name, slogan and logo. They used ICT to design packaging for their biscuits and they also filmed an advert to persuade their target class to buy them. After making one test batch of biscuits they were able to calculate how much it cost them to make one biscuit. They were then able to set the price of their biscuit and calculate how much profit they were likely to make. Finally, it was time to sell their biscuits! All groups sold out, and we made a class profit of £42.50. We haven’t yet decided how to spend it!

Let us know what you thought of the biscuits their tastes, packaging and prices, or if you have any thoughts on how we could spend our profits.

Please check out our video by clicking on the link below:

https://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/366274/title/biscuitsinyear5

A few items of news as we begin our summer term.

Homework    

Last term staff and governors agreed some changes to the way we set homework. In addition to the normal homework each class from Y1-Y6 will have a homework topic book. Homework will be set on a Thursday on a theme being studied by the class and the children will have two weekends to complete the work and bring it back into school on the second Monday.  The aim is to enable children to take some time over their work and show their creativity and interest, building up a book which shows their development over time. Homework was one of the areas from our questionnaire ( results on our website ) where some  parents and carers saw potential for improvement and governors and staff have discussed this feedback resulting in this new approach.

Term Time Holiday

At the last meeting of our governing body it was decided that our school will no longer authorise any term time holidays. In our existing policy, available on our website, holiday leave may be authorised in certain circumstances depending on children’s attendance. Our new policy, presently being drawn up by Pupil Support Committee, will state that our school does not authorise term time holidays, supporting our Ofsted target of raising attendance.

Class Assemblies

Y1 had a lovely assembly this morning – well done to all their staff and children who told us all about Victorian life in drama, costume, art and song.  Y5 have their class assembly next Wednesday morning and other classes during the term.

PTA: Summer Fair, Talent Show

Our Summer Fair is on Saturday 7 July from 12-2.00pm – thanks to our PTA for running this lovely annual event. The PTA is also running a talent show after last year’s successful evening. The event will be on Wednesday 30 May – further details to follow. I told the school in Monday’s assembly that children who are interested in taking part will be able to go to informal auditions with members of the PTA at lunchtimes in the week before the event.

Sun and shoulders

Although the weather is far from sunny at present we have had some warm weather and will have more as the term goes on. A reminder that when the weather is sunny children should not wear clothing that exposes their shoulders to the sun as this is both inappropriate for school and a sun burn risk. Thank you.

Harmony Week corridor

Thanks to all parents and carers who supported our Harmony Week before the Easter holidays. Mrs Lewis has been busy collecting all the art work completed by classes during the week and has put it up along the main school corridor. Do have a look if you get the chance and thanks to Mrs Lewis for her hard work.

Michael Brawley

Jane Tomlinson Fun Run Sunday May 13^th

Y6 Ingleborough residential 21-25 May

PTA Talent Show 30 May

Training Day: 18 June,   

Saturday 7 July Summer Fair 12-2.00pm

Friday 20 July last day of term.

This policy should be read in conjunction with general policy statements, policy statements and action plans for individual subject areas.

Rationale

The arts play an important role in the education of all our children. At Spring Bank the arts foster imagination and creativity, promote intellectual and aesthetic development, develop practical and perceptual skills, encourage the explorations of values and promote excellence and enjoyment.

The arts encompass art and design, music, dance, drama, literature (poetry and script writing) also media studies.

Aims

Through the teaching of arts we aim:

*  to promote personal, social, physical and cognitive development
*  to develop confidence and self esteem
*  to ensure that all our pupils have access to the arts curriculum
*  promote an awareness of our diverse cultural heritage
*  provide enjoyable learning experiences which value first hand experiences
*  maximise the expertise of specialist teachers and visiting artists.

Content

This policy is related to the National Curriculum’s programmes of study for the arts subjects. It covers outcomes using materials, techniques, skills and media usage, expressing feelings, ideas, developing thoughts and solutions also evaluating and appreciating. Learning experiences will in many cases be cross curricular promoting excellence and enjoyment. The arts will provide all our pupils with the opportunities to learn skills and knowledge, explore/express their feelings and evaluate and appreciate their own and others work.

Time

Art & Design

Foundation – Daily
50 minutes in KS1
50 minutes in KS2

Music

Foundation – Daily
30 minutes in KS1
40 minutes in KS2

PE

120 minutes in KS1
120 minutes in KS2

Drama (including Circle Time)

Foundation – daily
Cross curricular
1 hour plus in KS1
1 hour plus in KS2

As we move further towards a cross curricular approach and re-model the curriculum the arts will also be used as a tool to explore other curriculum areas.

In addition, time is allocated over the school year to specific events like Harmony Week, Black History Month, Health & Sports Week, class assemblies and school productions when pupils experience a wealth of timetabled arts experiences.

Out Of Hours Learning Opportunities

We offer a range of extra-curricular learning opportunities during lunch times and after school.

Key Stage 1

Lunch time art club Y5/6 paired with KS1 children. To start in half term 2.

Key Stage 2

Over the past 2-3 years we have run the following:

Drama Clubs, Music Club, Singing Group, Band, Guitar Club, Dance Club, Wake Up Shake Up Club, Christmas Arts Club, Pottery Club. In addition Children in KS2 have the opportunity to receive individual instrument tuition.

Teaching & Learning

Our approaches are many and varied and becoming far more cross-curricular. These may include whole class, individual or small group work, teacher directed activities, sketchbook work, outdoor work, visits to galleries, trips, contact with performers and artists.

Pupils are given opportunities to initiate, plan, develop, present and evaluate their own work, work on collaborative activities, including whole school initiatives so encouraging unity and partnership e.g. key stage murals, Christmas productions.

Pupils are encouraged to learn, understand and use appropriate vocabulary, terminology and symbols appropriate to the arts.

Skills are acquired in classroom teaching and developed through cross-curricular activities e.g. dance skills taught in lesson time could be used to express feeling and emotions about a character in history or literature.

Our pupils are able to extend learning and develop interests through study support activities. This will include input from outside agencies such as music suppot services, theatre groups, music groups and dance specialists. Pupils are given opportunities to take part in artist led activities.

Pupils of all abilities are encouraged to present aspects of their work and achievememts in arts through participating in concerts e.g. town hall festival concert, workshops, competitions, assemblies and productions. Opportunities are given for children to share cultural experiences and whenever possible parents are invited along. Through arts we aim to establish links with the local community. Those children identified as talented in the arts will be encouraged to participate in arts opportunities especially those related to a particular talent.

Support For Learning

Reflecting our belief in inclusion we ensure that all our pupils have access to the arts curriculum. Support staff are involved in supporting pupils with specific needs.

Assessment

Evidence for assessment comes from investigations, performances, teacher observations, questioning, work sampling and self and peer evaluation. Attainment targets and levels of expectation will determine individual achievement. Pupils from Year 2 upwards each have a sketch book which they keep with them throughout school as a record of their progress and development in art.

Arts Staff

All staff are involved in delivering the arts.

Responsibilites: -

Helen Mills – Music Co-ordinater
Jan Sanders – Art & PE
Jo Ward – Literacy
Becky Milburn (learning mentor) – Circle Time

Arts Facilities

Each arts subject has access to a wide range of resources. These include ICT, specialist materials and equipment for class use. We have lovely school grounds which we use for art. Over the past few years we have worked with Karen Babayan ( artist and parent) to produce a KS2 mural also Glynis Dixon, (teaching assistant and specialist art teacher) to create a KS1 mural. Both works of art are on permanent display.

Jan Sanders 2009