What a wonderfully busy week we have had in school this week. Monday started with a visit from author Emily Parkin who wrote and illustrated the book “Titus Salt and How He Built Saltaire”, she read her book to our Year 5 class who have been learning about Saltaire as part of their History Topic. Year 2 kicked off our annual class assemblies with a fantastic performance showcasing their hard work so far this year, thank you to all Year 2 families that came to join us. Year 5 had a great time at the Industrial Museum on Thursday and Year 3 are enjoying their school trip to Cliffe Castle today learning about Ancient Egypt. We have celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week all week in school, Mrs Noutch has been nurturing and supporting several of our children and we have shared a number of links that may help our families at home. Number Day was also a success, our children have enjoyed doing fun Maths activities this morning and we have raised a brilliant £76.50 for NSPCC, thank you to all those families that have donated, we will keep the payment item open on ParentPay until next Friday.
Dates for your diary
FEBRUARY
Tuesday 11th February – Friday 14th February – Years 1 to 6 will visit the Grue Interactive Fantasy Exhibition
Tuesday 11th February – FOPPS DISCO (see Class Dojo Events for details)
Tuesday 11th February – Mexican Day Lunch – please see menu for details
Thursday 13th February – Year 3 Class Assembly 9:00am
Friday 14th February – 3:05pm – SCHOOL CLOSES FOR HALF TERM
Monday 24th February – SCHOOL REOPENS
Thursday 27th February – NCMP and Audio Screening for Reception (see email for details)
*NEW DATES* MARCH
Thursday 6th March – World Book Day (more details to follow)
Monday 17th March – Thursday 20th March – Year 6 Bikeability
Thursday 20th March – Year 1 Class Assembly – parents, carers and families are welcome
Friday 21st March – SCHOOL CLOSED FOR TRUST DATA DAY
Monday 24th March – Parents’ Evening 3:30pm – 6:00pm (more details to follow)
Wednesday 26th March – Year 5 and 6 Puberty Workshop
Wednesday 26th March – Parents’ Evening 3:30pm – 5:30pm (more details to follow)
Thursday 27th March – Year 6 Class Assembly – parents, carers and families are welcome
Monday 31st March – SCHOOL CLOSED FOR EID
School News
Staffing changes in Year 4
I am sure that many of you are aware that Mr Hogg joined us in September to cover Miss Cooper’s maternity leave. Miss Cooper is now ready to return to school so unfortunately we have to say goodbye to Mr Hogg at the end of next week.
Miss Cooper is excited about her return and she has spent a number of days with us this half term. She will return after the February half term break and will be teaching in Year 4. Miss Cooper will be teaching Year 4 on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Mrs Cutting will be back in class two days a week to teach Year 4 on a Thursday and Friday.
Whilst we realise that a change of staff during the year means a transition for the children, they already know Mrs Cutting very well and Miss Cooper has been spending time in class and working with Mr Hogg to enable a seamless handover.
We are very sad to be saying goodbye to Mr Hogg and we would like to thank him for everything he has done since joining the Beckfoot Priestthorpe team. I am sure that you will join us in wishing him all the best in his next teaching post.
Many thanks,
Mrs Gunning
Priority Feeder School to Beckfoot School
We have updated our website with clear information about Beckfoot Priestthorpe being a priority feeder school to Beckfoot School. You can find more information on our admissions tab on our website. It is important to note that if your child attends Beckfoot Priestthorpe they will take priority over children who live in the priority area and those children that have a sibling in the school but do not live in the priority area.
Protocols updated
Our Attendance Protocol and Anti-Bullying Protocols have been updated and can be found on our key information tab on our website.
Attendance
Our whole school attendance last week was 95.5%
Reception – 100%
Year 1 – 91.4%
Year 2 – 93.1%
Year 3 – 97.4%
Year 4 – 95.3%
Year 5 – 100%
Year 6 – 93.5%
Well done to Reception and Year 5 who both achieved 100%, and Year 3 for achieving our target of 97%.
Pride of Priestthorpe Awards
Early Years – Elliott and Wandy
Year 1 – Lewis and Jaxson
Year 2 – Emily O and Lia
Year 3 – Jessica and Selina
Year 4 – Max and Alicja
Year 5 – Joani and George
Year 6 – Owais, Haris and Shay
Thank you to all those parents, carers and extended family and friends that joined us in our Friday assembly.
Early Years
Early Years have been learning about different types of birds.
Year 1
In Year 1 this week we have been focusing on numbers to 50 and using a variety of manipulatives to represent each ten.
Year 2
Year 2 have painted the 8 planets in the solar system. We used these in our class assembly this week.
Year 3
Year 3 have started their DT topic. We will be sewing a small cushion and we have begun by practicing running stitch and cross stitch.
Year 4
This week Year 4 have been learning about The Body and have been making a model of the digestive system.
Year 5
Year 5 had a fabulous time at Bradford Industrial Museum. The experience really brought our learning to life and the children were fascinated with the stories of the lives of Victorian children working in the mills. We learned about how Bradford was central to the weaving of high quality cloth and took part in activities which explained the whole process from the fleece of the sheep to fine dresses and suits. We then listened and observed the clatter of the many machines and imagined what it must have been like for the children working there. Our last workshop was our Victorian school experience where we were given a taste of the Victorian classroom! They children said that they preferred it to now!
Year 6
Year 6 have now completed their art topic entitled ‘Make my Voice Heard’. Here is all the artwork together on both art display boards.
Important learning information
We use a range of Learning Apps in school, which can also be accessed at home. Please use the links below to practice key skills.
Times Table Rockstars is an award-winning maths learning platform where children can practice their times tables like a rock star! Certificates can be achieved every Thursday for the children who have made the most progress in terms of the biggest increase in accuracy that week. We also run in school competitions.
Times Tables Rock Stars – Times Tables Rock Stars
Accelerated Reader will allow children to read a book and then take an online quiz to test their knowledge and understanding of the text, and receive immediate feedback. Students respond to regular feedback and are motivated to improve their reading skills.
Spelling Shed uses the science of spelling to teach it to pupils. Using phonics as a base and drawing upon proven approaches such as teaching morphology, etymology, and orthographic mapping, as well as teaching spelling patterns. Children are set new activities on here each week.
