Find out what's happening in school:

• The Mammoth Museum

  Thu 26 Oct 2017 Mr. B
  On the final Thursday of the half-term, years three and four transformed our school hall into a 'Mammoth Museum' for the afternoon to showcase all the wonderful work they had done in connection with their Stone Age topic. Children from years five and six were first to visit the museum, with parents, carers and grandparents invited later in the afternoon. The work was absolutely fantastic - most of it is still displayed around school in the Forest of Knowledge - and the visiting crowds were understandably impressed! Thank you to the Y3/4 staff for working over their lunchtimes to prepare the museum, and of course, to the children in  Y3/4 for working so hard to produce such excellent work!

  

• Inspire Events - October 17th, 18th, 19th

  Sun 22 Oct 2017 Mr. B.

  Thank you to all parents, carers and grandparents who attended one of the three Inspire workshops last week. The events were fantastic and it was great to have so many visitors in school!

  Please read on for a brief description of the sessions, links to the short films we watched at the start, and small selection of your kind feedback comments.

  These Inspire sessions had a similar structure to a Maths lesson and introduced the parents, carers and grandparents who attended to the ‘Fluency, Reasoning and Problem Solving’ model used at Strawberry Fields, as well as to the level of expectation in the Maths curriculum for years five and six. Afterwards, the parents, carers and grandparents went to the children’s classroom where the teachers had organised a short presentation of some of the term’s Topic work, themed around Brazil. There was then an opportunity for the adults to look at the children’s books, talk about the work and raise any questions with staff.

  At the start of the session, the parents were shown the following films, both of which were discussed in the context of the ‘Growth Mindset’ we try to encourage in all our children.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Dn2KEjPuc

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aItZKnWL_R4

   

  FEEDBACK ON THE SESSIONS

  Did you enjoy the event? If so, why?

  “Yes – it gave me insight into how and why you use teaching methods.”

  “Enjoyed it very much. Lovely school. Kids seem very happy. Wow!”

  “Yes. The welcome, organisation, initial briefing and the overall relaxation of the group. This continued into the classroom session and the opportunity to see his work with him explaining.”

  “Yes. It was great to see the kids working and trying it ourselves.”

  “Well organised, very informative and enjoyable. A great way for the school and pupils to showcase their work and teaching strategies.”

  “Yes. I enjoyed the interaction and to learn the school is allowing children to thrive with no limits.”

  “Really enjoyed every minute.”

  “Very informative and well planned.”

  “I learned a lot more about the type of Maths taught and as a result I now know how to help.”

  “It was great to see the techniques you use with the children.”

  “I really enjoyed spending time in school with my son. It is great to see his work improving.”

  “Yes – a good insight and helpful tips for supporting learning.”

   

   

  If we were to do another Inspire event in the future with a different theme, would you attend again?

  “Definitely!”

  “Anytime, different subjects would be great to see.”

  “Yes. It was good to see the actual work they are doing and it was good to visit the classroom.”

   

   

  Do you feel that you learned more about your child’s educational experience at Strawberry Fields?

  “Very much so.”

  “Yes. It was good to see the work and how they have to explain their reasoning, not just work out the answer.”

  “Yes – it was interesting to find out about the Strawberry Fields methods used in lessons.”

  “Yes – I realised how hard the Maths is!”

  “I have learned a great deal about their experience.”

   

   

  Did you find the films at the start informative/interesting?

  “Yes – I will be looking at these again.”

  “Yes. It was good to see that children no matter what level are all encouraged to develop and improve.”

  “Both set the scene and directed our thoughts appropriately.”

  “Yes – the content was thought-provoking.”

  “Great motivation.”

  “Very. It helps explain the reasons for the approach to teaching and reinforces positive mental approach to all things we do in life.”

  “Yes. Pleased to hear the children get to see programmes that breed confidence.”

   

   

  Do you feel better able to support your child with their Maths learning as a result of attending the session today?

  “Yes. It is good to know what standard of work is expected and how to get them to learn the same as they do at school.”

  “Yes – even just in a questioning/reasoning nature as to why that is the answer.”

  “Yes. We can make games relevant and reinforce their learning.”

  “Yes, knowing the structure used to help the learning will help with supporting my child’s learning.”

  “Yes – applying the learning to everyday situations.”

   

   

  Do you have any further comments?

  “We loved the dice games and will be playing these at home with our grandchildren. A great eye-opener.”

  “I would like more chances like this.”

  “Fab morning!”

  “Inspire mornings are always enjoyable, great to come to.”

  “Would be happy to attend again in the future.”

  “Keep these type of events running. Fantastic to get involved in our own child’s learning.”

  “Good to see all the hard work by all.”

  “Experience of the school was relaxing and friendly.”

  “A good morning, and good to look at the school work in class.”

  “Thankyou.”

  

• Harvest Festival

  Tue 17 Oct 2017 Mr. B

  Last week's Harvest Festival event, led by our Key Stage 1 children, was a really lovely experience. Donations came in from right across school and the celebration itself was so well attended we ran out of chairs! We were lucky to have a visit from Tara McMillan from St. George's Crypt, who told us a little about the work they do with the homeless and disadvantaged, and about how our school's donations would help. Hazel Booth from St. Mary's Church also came and spoke to us. The celebration fitted really well with our weekly ethos statement, 'I know there are people less fortunate than I am'.

  1/2JG sang lovely rendition of 'Dingle Dangle Scarecrow', 1MM acted out The Enormous Turnip and 2JS recited a Harvest poem and told us abut their favourite foods. Thank you to those who attended, and for all your positive feedback.  

  

• Girls football

  Tue 03 Oct 2017 Mr. B

  Our Y5/6 girls took part in a football tournament at Garforth Academy yesterday. The standard across the whole competition was high and it was good to see some members of our team improving match-to-match. Over the five games, we won twice, lost twice and drew once. The overall winners were Green Lane, with whom we drew 1-1. Everyone played well and Lily-May scored four goals, including two in one match.

  The attitude was excellent, with all matches conducted in the right spirit and admirable honesty displayed by Amber in our goal saying a disputed goal for East Garforth had crossed the line and should count!

  

• Team GB athlete visit

  Tue 03 Oct 2017 Mr. B
  Yesterday, Strawberry Fields was visited by Beth Dobbin, a Team GB athlete who is hoping to represent Great Britain at next year's Commonwealth Games in Australia. She is the current British under-23 200-metre sprint champion. She told us about her determination to succeed despite her setbacks with injury and illness. Every class also had a short circuit training activity led by Beth. Many thanks to those parents who collected sponsorship or sent in donations. We raised money for school funds and to help support Beth's training.

  

• MacMillan Coffee Morning

  Sun 01 Oct 2017 Mr. B.
  From Tuesday to Friday mornings this week, our school hall was transformed into a café as parents across school were invited in to enjoy a warm drink and a cake with their children, all in aid of the MacMillan 'Big Coffee Morning' fundraising initiative. Leftover cakes were sold in the staffroom and after school on Friday. We were  very grateful for the response of our parents and staff, both for their generous financial contributions and for the home-baked or shop bought contributions they sent in. In total, we raised £795.97! A massive thank you to anyone who contributed in any way!