Hastings Classes Winter Wonderland

To celebrate their work this half term on the topic Gallery Rebels, Hastings Class have designed and made 3D art sculptures to create a Winter Wonderland. Thank you to everyone who came to school last night to enjoy a deluxe hot chocolate or mulled wine and a walk around our very own Lady Elizabeth Hastings Winter Wonderland.

Functional Fitness with Elite Sports

On Friday, 10 children from Gasgoigne class represent our school at Elite's Functional Fitness competition. The children really worked hard with Mrs Lewis returning back saying how really proud she was of the sports-ship all our children displayed. Well done - here are the results

1. Airedale 799
2. Sandal 680
3. Altofts 674
4. England Lane 595
5. Willow Green 589
6. Oyster Park 584
7. Featherstone All Saints 570
8. Darrington 555 
9. Simpsons Lane 499
10. The Vale 496
11. Lady Elizabeth 483
12. Newton Hill 474
13. Streethouse 454

School Dinners

Leeds Catering are now planning their February 2020 menus and are now bringing in delicious climate –friendly menus, reducing carbon emissions from food production and increasing the amount of vegetables in Pupils meals. The changes have been spurred on by the IPCC’s (intergovernmental panel) report on climate change. Leeds City Council declared a climate emergency in March 2019 and is committed to making Leeds carbon neutral by 2030. School meals are a great place to start reducing the City’s carbon footprint. Catering Leeds are the catering provider for the majority of primary schools within the City. They work with the Leeds City Council Health and Wellbeing Service team, plus food awareness organisation Pro-Veg to reduce the carbon footprint and improve the nutritional profile of the meal. Some of the changes that will be introduced include:

·        More Vegetarian and Vegan dishes – we have a non- meat day each week, vegetarian day and vegan options

·        Renaming plant based dishes to make them more appealing to everyone

·        Adding more vegetables into main dishes, sauces and desserts such as parsnip in flapjack

·        Increasing raw vegetables with a main course, such as finger vegetable sticks with a pizza and pasta day.

All this, in addition to the fantastic colourful salad trollies Catering Leeds provide in school which provide pupils with a rainbow of salad and vegetables.

Their ongoing commitment to the Leeds Healthy Weight Declaration is also apparent in this menu, with smaller portions of cake being served, always accompanied with fresh fruit. The savoury dessert of cheese and crackers with fresh fruit wedges also makes a re-appearance. At only £2.40 per meal they also offer value for money.

Forest Schools

This half term Wheler Class are enjoying Forest School led by Elite Sports.

Launching Autumn 2 topics with Memorable Experiences

Each half term class topic change. To ignite children's curiosity and to inspire teaching and learning  each topic is launched with a memorable experience.

Wheler's Class Topic for Autumn 2 is Paws, Claws and Whiskers 

Mrs Joynes, an animal owner was invited into the classroom to talk about looking after her pet rabbit. Before the visit, the children to thought of questions they might ask Mrs Joynes about feeding, grooming, cleaning, playing, training and exercise.

Lotherton's Class Topic for Autumn 2 is Muck, Mess and Mixtures

Mr Tomlinson held a ‘Messy mixtures morning’! Allowing the children to experience a variety of weird and wonderful mixtures that they felt with their hands and feet. The children were able to create messy mixtures from cornflour and water, paint, jelly, shaving foam, body lotion, soap flakes and clay, enjoying ladling, pouring, touching and exploring with their senses

Gascoigne's Classes Topic for Autumn 2 is Blue Abyss 

Gascoigne Class visited Manchester Sea Life aquarium to gain a unique insight into the world of the deep. The children observed aquatic life, finding out about the different species that live in the depths of the world’s seas and oceans. Also the children watched and drew different creatures and recorded information in notebooks or on tablets, paying special attention to the variation within and across species. Aditionally, the children listened to experts talk about different animals, asking questions to help them learn more.

Hastings's Classes Topic for Autumn 2 is Gallery Rebels  

Hastings class visited Leeds art gallery to view their art exhibition. The children engaged in conversations about work seen, discussing artistic features such as composition, colour, form and meaning and used the signage and explanations to find out information about the art work. The curator showed the children around the exhibition and talked about the artworks exhibited encouraging the children to discuss about what they could see using artistic language, recording favourite images and forms in their sketchbooks,

Our Collective Worship Focus Autumn 2.1

This week we will be inviting, including and inspiring our school community to consider

Dignity - -Human dignity, the ultimate worth of each person, is central to good education.

Our Harvest Donations

Today, I dropped off all the food that had been donated to school to the The Trusell Trust food bank in Pontefract. https://www.trusselltrust.org/what-we-do/ They were very appreciative of the donations and said that many people would benefit from the generosity shown. Thank you.