Find out what's happening in school:

• Football

  Tue 25 Jun 2019 Mr B

  As ever, we have been very busy with sports recently. In the last few weeks, some of our Key Stage One children and some of our Y5/6 girls have been involved in football matches and competitions.

  Our Key Stage One teams competed against other schools in Garforth. For some of the boys and girls, it was the first competitive football they had ever been involved with. Both teams managed to pick up a few points, sharing a couple of draws and a win between them.

  Our 5/6 girls competed in the Leeds-wide St. Bart's Cup. There were over 50 primary schools from across the city involved. The standard of football was incredibly high, meaning we lost four of our games, but also managed to pick up a win and a draw. With only one exception, all the games were close.

  Finally, two girls teams played against two girls teams from Highfield Primary today. Our more experienced team won against Highfield 'B' and drew a 3-3 thriller with Highfield 'A'! Our other team was mostly comprised of girls who rarely or never play football, and it was great to see there was so much interest to take part. Though they lost both games, the progress some of the girls made over 35 minutes of football, and the skill and understanding of the game some of them showed, proved that they should be definitely be playing more regularly!

• Leeds recycling visit

  Tue 25 Jun 2019 Mr B

  Today, our eco-council were visited by Gush and Montse, Leeds City Council waste and recycling advisors. They gave the children all kinds of useful information about the 4Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover). The children learned about how the reduction of waste, and the reuse of objects, is even better than recycling, and about what can be recycled, how, and where. Gush and Montse showed us films to explain what happens to an object after we put it in the bin in Leeds, and why it is important we all do the best we can to reduce waste.

  The children gained lots of useful insights which they will be feeding back to their classes and which they can feed into our Sustainability Action Plan. A big thank you to Gush and Montse!

• Go Ape!

  Mon 24 Jun 2019 Mr B

  Today, our Year Six children went for their end-of-year treat trip to 'Go Ape' at Temple Newsam. We could not have been prouder of our children's behaviour on the bus journeys - they were courteous and sensible as they travelled alongside members of the public.

  Once at Temple Newsam, all the children got stuck in to the different ropes courses. All children challenged themselves, many having to get out of their comfort zone even the climb the ladders! Some were more confident or had done 'Go Ape' before, and raced around even the highest course. Others went a little more slowly and chose to stick to the lower levels. What was particularly lovely was to see how encouraging the children were to one another and how patiently they waited their turn - especially when someone ahead of them needed a little later to cross one of the bridges.

  Nothing could spoil our day, not even some very heavy rain at lunchtime, a half-hour break for one of the groups after thunder was heard (!), or the plentiful spiders in the toilets and lunchroom!

  Well done Year Six - all your staff had a great day, and we know you did too!

• Cricket - City Finals

  Mon 17 Jun 2019 Mr B

  Following our successes in the previous two rounds in Garforth and Wetherby, today our Year Five/Six cricket team competed in the city finals. We played in a group of five, knowing a first or second place finish in the group would take us in to the semi-finals.

   

  Having won our first game against Highfield, then lost against Pudsey Southroyd, we knew we would need to win our final two games to qualify. We beat Rothwell St. Mary's, meaning a victory against Adel would leave us second in the group. Adel, having also won two games of their three so far were in the same position as us, giving the game a 'knockout' perspective.

   

  We batted first and scored well, finishing on 252, with all our players contributing some runs. Adel began well and closed in on our total. As the final over began, we led by a single run. Eventually, we lost a close game by nine runs.

   

  All the players did fantastically well and the improvement over the previous few weeks, particularly in their bowling and fielding, was great to see! With many of the team being year fives, we can hopefully look forward to doing well in the cricket again next year!

• Climate Action Day

  Mon 17 Jun 2019 Mr B

  Last Friday, we held our first ever ‘Climate Action Day’. The day was held in response to the ‘Youth Strikes’ that have been taking place around the world in 2019.

  We were lucky to have lots of visitors in school to support us. Our visitors included representatives from REAP (Roundhay Environmental Action Project), who worked with Years Three and Four who were learning about the carbon footprint of the food we eat; student members of the Youth Strike 4 Climate activist groups from Leeds University and Notre Dame college, who gave our Year Five and Six children an ‘activist workshop’; two Leeds University students who are studying sustainability, and worked with Year Five and Six on a ‘sustainable city’ activity; academics from Leeds University who wanted to meet our staff and children to find out what the day was about; and four representatives from Garforth in Bloom who spoke to Key Stage 1 about plant growth and bees. Our three local council representatives, Mark Dobson, Sarah Field and Suzanne McCormack, also visited the school in the afternoon to meet with our eco-council.

  The children spent the day learning about why we need to protect our planet and what actions we can take, as individuals and as a school. We discussed small changes we can make in our own day to day lives that will make a difference, and we will be following up by writing letters to elected officials and business leaders, visiting the Leeds recycling facility with our eco-council and creating an action plan to improve sustainability in our school.

   

  As ever, our children were fantastic and made a wonderful impression on the different visitors who came into school over the course of the day:

   

  “Amazing enthusiasm and well-informed children!” (Roundhay Environmental Action Project)

  “Thank you so much. You’ve inspired us!” (The Climate Press)

  “Inspiring stuff!” (Roundhay Environmental Action Project)

  “It was a real pleasure. The children are a credit to the school!” (Councillor Sarah Field)