A message from Mr. Dawson
I can’t quite believe that we have just passed the halfway stage of this half term. We have had another amazing week here at Whitkirk! The children are really focusing on their learning and have been producing some fantastic work – particularly the Y2 stories based on Edward the Emu. You may have noticed that we have purchased some more outdoor equipment for the large playground. The children have really enjoyed being engaging in more activities at playtimes and lunchtimes. The music teacher has also been able to come back into school this week and is giving Y3 children the opportunity to learn how to play the ukulele. Some KS2 children are also continuing to learn the guitar and violin, so we will hopefully be able to showcase our musical talents soon!
Thank you for not parking on Templegate Walk and considering pedestrians’ safety – even with the poor weather conditions we have experienced this week. Let’s hope for better weather next week, as the after school clubs will be beginning then!
Harvest Festival
We are pleased to announce that our typical calendar of events is well and truly resuming! Before the pandemic, each year, we would visit St. Mary's Church to perform a Harvest Festival for our family members. This year, this will take place on Thursday 21st October. We would be delighted if family members were able to join us to celebrate harvest. The exact timings of performances will be confirmed early next week.
PTA updates - exciting news!
The PTA would like to offer a warm welcome (and welcome back) to all parents and children for the new school year! With no more COVID restrictions in place, we are looking forward to bringing some exciting events to school this year to raise funds to support our children’s school experience. Dates for your diaries so far…
- .Friday 22nd October – Halloween Pumpkin Trail. We will be getting in the Halloween spirit and creating a spooktacular trail for the children around the school playgrounds, with scary snacks and ghoulish games to try out too!
- Saturday 27th November – Christmas Fair. 2021 will see the return of the Christmas Fair with stallholders from the local community, fair-ground rides, and a visit from the big guy himself.
Christmas Card Designs – we have made an early start with the cards this year, children have already completed their designs in school, and they should be ready for you to view and order online in October.
To learn more about the PTA at Whitkirk Primary School and keep up to date with our plans please follow our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/FriendsOfWhitkirkPrimaryPta.
We can’t wait to bring lots of fun events back to school this year and hope to see you there!
Attendance:
Each week, we aim for whole school attendance of 97%; this week, our attendance is 93.96% so we are below this target. Please continue to try and attend school every single day. We know that at this time of year, cold, flu, and bugs begin to work their way around. We will keep washing our hands and ensuring good ventilation in classes to play our part in keeping everybody well.
- First place is Y2KD1 with 99.5%
- Second place is Y2KDO with 97.1%
- Third place is Y4CO with 96.8%
Let's see what our classes have been up to this week:
Reception:
This week in Reception, we have been reading the story, ' Our Class is a Family'. The book describes how your school and class is like a second family. We then described what makes our class and each other unique and special. We looked closely into mirrors to celebrate our similarities and differences as unique individuals. In maths this week, the children have learnt how to accurately count objects. The children followed a three-step process. First, line the objects up. Next, touch count each item one by one. Then finally, identify the total amount. It has been wonderful to see the children independently applying their maths learning and completing challenges in the areas of provision within the classroom. On Thursday, the children took part in their first PE lesson! All members of staff were impressed with the children's independence, when changing and listening skills in the hall. It was a pleasure to see the children enjoying their first PE lesson experience and taking part with such enthusiasm!
KS1:
Year 1 pupils have well and truly become creative authors this week in our Talk4Writing sessions. We innovated The Little Red Hen as a whole class and now this week we are inventing our own stories by changing the main character The Little Red Hen. We had the children creating ‘The Little Fluffy Sheep’ and ‘The Little Yellow Duckchick’. We made our own story maps to help us with our writing. This week in maths, we have been counting in 2’s. We have been exploring what comes in pairs and the children had some great ideas, including eyes, shoes, socks, and gloves. We have used these concepts to begin to solve number sentences. Here are the children singing beautifully and counting in multiples of 2.
It has been another busy and exciting week in Year 2! As geographers, we used our compass points and geographical knowledge to navigate our way to the adventure trail. As mathematicians, we have used arrays to solve multiplication problems and used grouping to solve division problems. We have been honing our PE skills with the Leeds Rhinos coach.
LKS2:
What a great week in Year 3! The children have been making lots of progress in all areas of the curriculum, particularly English and Maths! In English, we have been exploring expanded noun phrases, using adjectives and prepositional phrases to add more detail to our sentences. We had lots of fun using the thesauruses to find more ambitious adjectives! In Maths, we have been learning the formal methods for multiplication and division. It has been amazing to see how hard the children have been working to master these new methods. Year 3 have certainly shown a lot of resilience and perseverance! We had particular fun in science this week, creating our own skeletons to show our understanding of the functions of skeletons. Check out the pictures of the children’s masterpieces!
Wow Year 4! You have amazed us once again this week! We have continued reading Stitch Head and have used it as a stimulus for our writing - a diary entry in role as one of the characters. The children's writing has really made us smile - their imaginative ideas bring their writing to life! In maths, we have been learning a formal method for multiplication and division. Once again, their resilience and perseverance has meant that their confidence has grown throughout the week. 4CO are continuing to enjoy their swimming sessions. We are really proud to see how they are putting their all into the lessons. 4AR have been enjoying designing their biscuit packaging and have produced some work to be really proud of. Well done Year 4!
UKS2:
Year 5 have had a brilliant week this week! We have continued reading our class text, Cosmic, and have used this to write some great character descriptions! In maths, Year 5 have been trying really hard and persevering with their work on division. We have also investigated shadows in Science and had a look at why there are different time zones across Earth. During RE, we made collages to show how Jewish people feel visiting the Western Wall - we were so pleased with how all of the children worked together in their groups for this lesson and they produced some lovely collages. Overall, a fabulous week from Year 5!
Ask a Year 6 pupil about their highlight at Whitkirk this week and it is likely to be creating 'Blood Soup'! As scientists, they worked in groups to research the parts and their function of blood. After finding key information, they were able to collect plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets from the 'blood bank'. As mathematicians, the Y6s have shown amazing progress with long division using a new method and have shown excellent learning behaviours to be very proud of! In English, they have created some wonderful character descriptions of Johnny and the Countess! Well done Year 6!
Credits:
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