South Milford Moments
Weekly News Friday 15.11.19
Friendship Week
Our latest questionnaire showed that some parents were unsure about our school's approach to friendships and procedures for dealing with bullying. Hopefully, after sharing the pupil section of our good behaviour policy, the children will be able to explain with clarity the way that bullying is not tolerated and the part they have to play in preventing it from taking place. Attached to the newsletter this week is an extract from the good behaviour policy, to explain in more detail to you at home, too.
Children In Need
PTA News:
:: Raffle Tickets:
Raffle tickets are being sent home with the children for a prize draw at the Christmas Fair on Friday 22nd November.
Please return completed ticket stubs, along with the correct money, to the school before 8pm on Friday to be entered into the draw.
If you would like any extra tickets for friends or family, please contact the PTA at southmilfordpta@outlook.com
:: Christmas Fair Requests:
We are looking for donations of good quality children’s books and Christmas jumpers for the Christmas Fair.
Please leave any book or jumper donations with the school office before Wednesday 20th November
We would also appreciate any donations of buns, cakes or biscuits to sell at the café at the Fair. If you are able to donate any baked goods, please drop off at school before 5pm on Friday.
:: Dates for your diary:
Friday 22nd November, 6-8pm – Christmas Fair – join us at school for an evening of shopping, Santa and festive refreshments;
Friday 13th December - Christmas Pound Shop - please donate any unused gifts;
Monday 16th December and Tuesday 17th December – we will be running Christmas events for the children after school on these dates. More details coming soon.
Contact the PTA at southmilfordpta@outlook.com or on Facebook @SouthMilfordPTA
Quicksticks Hockey
Well done to the 10 year four children who represented South Milford playing hockey at Sherburn High. The two teams of five played will excellent skill and a real team spirit, especially considering the weather conditions.
The results are as follows:
7th Kellington
6th Monk Fryston
5th Kirk Fenton
4th South Milford
3rd Barkston Ash
2nd Athelstan
1st South Milford
Keep each other safe
Additionally, please can you not allow children to climb the trees at the end of the school day.
K'Bots
On Thursday the 14th of November Peter and Kenny from year 6 went to build K’bots (k’nex robots)!
They followed instructions to build it and modified it for 3 challenges: knocking over objects, THE BRIDGE OF DOOM! and sumo wrestling. They said they enjoyed it very much.
They were joined with another group from a different school and got points from each round. At the end Peter and Kenny’s group came 2nd out of 8!
Written by Peter McNicholas
School Office
Alternatively, children can return items to the school office via the plastic wallet in their classroom.
Thank you for your cooperation in this and working with us to alleviate the pressure on the school office.
Reading Meeting
Thank you to all of the parents who came to Tuesday night’s reading meeting. It was wonderful to be able to share the school expectations and guidance for reading at home with you all. If you were unable to come, don’t fear! We will be sharing the presentation and short modelled reading videos with you on our website. These include a home read with a book banded child as well as a read with a free reading child. If you have any questions regarding the delivery of home reading, please don’t hesitate to contact your class teacher or Mrs Houlden (English Lead).
Maths Mastery - New approach to teaching!
You may be aware that the school has been developing a Mathematics Mastery approach to support the teaching and learning of maths.
The principles that are central to Mathematics Mastery mean that maths lessons may look very different to what parents may have previously expected.
The main principles of Mathematics Mastery are:
Fewer topics in greater depth
Mastery for all pupils
Number sense and place value come first
Problem solving is central
What this means in practical terms is that pupils are not going to be accelerating through curriculum content, as they may have done previously, but going deeper into it through depth questions, problem solving tasks and reasoning about the maths that they are learning. We believe this approach is key to helping children become more fluent, well-rounded and confident mathematicians. As such, it is important for all children to be challenged, to demonstrate and reason their mathematical understanding in a number of different ways before moving onto the next concept.
As part of this we approach to maths we are now pleased to be following the White Rose Mathematics scheme which will replace our Abacus Maths Scheme.
White Rose Maths is an organisation that aims to work collaboratively with teachers across the country to improve mathematics teaching. Inspired and informed by robust, world-class research and global maths experts, the scheme aims to transform maths education and change the experience of maths forever. The White Rose approach aims to help all pupils to master mathematics.
Throughout the year we will be developing our approach to teaching different aspects of Mathematics Mastery and will keep you regularly up-to-date with newsletters.
Mrs Darbyshire will be running a meeting for parents to find out about the new approaches and how you can help your child in maths at home. The meeting will be held on Tuesday 3rd December 2019 at 6 p.m.
Please note that this meeting will be followed by a further meeting, commencing at
7 p.m. for parents and carers of Year 3 and Year 4 children to discuss the Year 4 Statutory Multiplication Check. See information below.
If you would like to attend this meeting please let the school office know, either by email/telephone or dropping them a note via the Fast drop box.
Multiplication meeting for parents of Year 3 and 4 children
As some of you may be aware, the Department For Education have confirmed that all schools will be expected to administer a multiplication test to their year 4 pupils from 2019-20. This test will take place in June 2020.
This multiplication tables check has been designed to help ensure that children in primary school know their times tables up to 12 off by heart. As well as being critical for everyday life, knowledge of multiplication tables helps children to solve problems quickly and flexibly, and allows them to tackle more complex mathematics later on in school.
Mrs Darbyshire will be running a meeting for parents to find out how we are supporting your child in learning their multiplication tables and how you can help your child at home. The meeting will be held on Tuesday 3rd December 2019 at 7 p.m.
Please note that this meeting will follow the Maths Mastery meeting, commencing at 6 p.m. for parents and carers of all children through school to discuss our approaches to teaching maths.
If you would like to attend this meeting please let the school office know, either by email/telephone or dropping them a note via the Fast drop box.
Changes to Maths Homework
As we are no longer using the Abacus Maths Scheme to teach mathematics in school, we will no longer be subscribing to Active Learn, the online Mathematics homework platform from 20th November 2019.
We would like the children in KS2 to continue to use Times Tables Rockstars to develop their recall of multiplication facts, preferably on a frequent (5 times a week) basis.
The parents of children in Year 1 and Year 2 will receive a separate letter next week giving them details of NumBots, an exciting new online platform for children in KS1.
Should you child require a new login for TT Rockstars or you have any difficulty accessing this online please contact your child’s class teacher.
School Photographs
Headlice
As there have been a couple of cases, we would ask you to check your child’s head as soon as possible. Please follow the simple routine below to ensure that you are doing all you can to keep head lice outbreaks to a minimum.
CHECK
- Your child’s hair once a week
- Use a proper detection comb to trap head lice.
- If you find live lice, consult a pharmacist for treatment advice immediately.
- If head lice are spotted, take a close look at the hair of all the family.
TREAT
- Please treat your child with a clinically proven treatment.
- Leave the treatment on for the recommended time for maximum effect.
- Repeat the treatment for a second time seven days after the original treatment to kill any eggs that may hatch after the first treatment.
- Check that all head lice have gone within two to three days of the final application of head lice treatment to complete the process.
- Continue to check for head lice on a regular, weekly basis.
Panto Letter
Dates for your diary
Winning Team
This week's Shining Stars
We celebrated the following children this week in Celebration Assembly:
Y1 - Joshua
Y2 - Toby
Y3 - Luke R
Y4 - Rory
Y5 - Jess, Isaac, Lennon
Y6 - Sofia
Curriculum Information
Please do see your child's class teacher if you have any questions about the topics.
South Milford Primary School
Mrs Lawrence
Email: admin@sm.starmat.uk
Website: http://www.southmilfordprimary.co.uk
Location: South Milford Community Primary School, Sand Lane, South Milford, Leeds, UK
Phone: 01977 682359
Twitter: @southmilfordcp