November 2013 NEWSLETTER
Dates for your diary
Tuesday 12th Nov
Wednesday 13th Nov
Friday 15th Nov
Wednesday 20th Nov
Thursday 28th Nov
Wednesday 4th Dec
Thursday 5th Dec
Thursday 12th Dec
Thursday 12th Dec
Monday 16th Dec
Tuesday 17th Dec
Thursday 19th Dec
Friday 20th Dec
Mon 6th Jan
Danube visit to Roundhay Park
Parent Consultation Evening
Children in Need
Great Fire of London workshop in school (Nile and Yangtze)
Whole school photos
Year 6 children Metro bus visit
Carols in Whinmoor Library – Nile
Amazon and Mississippi – Carriageworks theatre visit
Nursery Christmas concert
Whole School Christmas Performance 6.30pm – 7.30pm
Whole School Christmas Performance 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Whole School Christmas Performance 6.30pm – 7.30pm
Christmas Dinner
Celebration Assembly ‘Round the Tree’ 9.05am
Break for Christmas
School re-opens for Spring term
Training Days - remaining
Friday 24th January
Monday 24th February
Friday 20th June
Website www.whitelaith.leeds.sch.uk
Please remember to check the school website for information. You will find information about
term dates, lunch menus etc. on the site. We are also beginning to develop our class pages
so you will soon be able to find more information about what your child is learning in class,
examples of work and photos.
Parent Consultation Evening – Wednesday 13th
You should all have already received an invitation to parent consultation evening. Please
return your slips as soon as possible so that teachers can allocate appointments.
So that teachers can speak to all parents appointments are short – only 5/10 minutes. The
focus of the meeting is learning and the teacher will talk through your child’s current
learning, their attitude to learning, their targets and expectations. Please make sure you look
through your child’s books and Assertive Mentoring File before you speak to the teacher.
School Council Anti-Bullying policy and display
The school council have been working hard with their classes and with Miss Ambler to
produce their own leaflet to explain our Anti-Bullying policy. This will be available in the hall
during the evening – please make sure you visit the Hall to collect a copy.
Book Fair
The Book Fair is in school next week. Please do pop in at the beginning or end of the day
and during parent consultation evening and have a look at the books available. Books
always make excellent Christmas presents so now is a good time to buy. A percentage of
what you buy is given back to the school in books so the more you buy the more we can
have!
Winter weather – wellies, hats and coats
As you know, whenever possible we will try to play out at play and lunchtime and will only
stay inside if the rain is heavy. We will go outside in cold, wind and showery rain and drizzle
– it is always better for the children than staying inside!
For this reason please can I ask that you ensure your child has shoes/wellies, a hat and
warm, waterproof coat suitable for outdoor play in wet, winter weather.
We have a small supply of spare socks in school – if you are able to send any unwanted
socks to add to our collection please do so!
Attendance – well done!!!
Each half term I have to submit our overall school attendance figures to the local authority. We
monitor these figures carefully as do the authority.
I am thrilled to announce that last half term our overall school attendance was 97% - this is the
highest figure for the Autumn term we have ever had!
Foundation
Nile
Yangtze
Danube
Amazon
Mississippi
whole school total
% attendance
96.7
95.0
96.9
96.4
98.0
98.9
97.0
Mrs Galloway will continue to work hard to encourage and reward good attendance and
punctuality. She will also continue to remind individuals about the importance of good attendance
and punctuality and will monitor closely so that improvements are made. Please do not hesitate
to speak to her if you have any issues regarding attendance and we will do our best to help.
Children in Need – Great White Laith Bake-off and Wear PJ’s or Something Spotty
You should have all received an invitation from Miss Speck and the school council to join us for
our Children in Need events.
Please send your best buns to school on Friday - they will be judged and the winners announced
in assembly. The buns will be sold at playtime for 30p each.
Wrist bands are also on sale for £1. We have a limited number and they will be sold on a first
come first serve basis – please do not be upset if we run out and you are not able to have
one! (I am told they are on sale at Greggs!)
All children are invited to bring £1 to wear PJ’s or Something Spotty.
News from the Classes
Foundation
This half term our topic is Celebrations. We will be learning all about different festivals such
as Diwali, Hannukah and Christmas, finding out what happens at each celebration and even
tasting some traditional food!
In Literacy we will continue to learn lots of new phonemes and use these to read and write
many new words. We will be using our skills to help us write 2 word labels and short phrases
– remembering to use a finger space.
In maths we are beginning to add and subtract numbers using objects to help. We are also
investigating different ways to make numbers (eg 3+1=4, 2+2=4, 4+0=4).
Please continue to help your child at home by reading everyday and completing homework
each week. Don’t forget to write a comment about how they have done in their reading
diaries!
Nile
This half term our topic is the Great Fire of London. During our history lessons we will be
asking questions about the fire and ordering the events of the fire chronologically. In science
this half term we will be looking at different materials and investigating their properties.
During Art we will be looking at different materials to use for fire collages and thinking about
the appropriate colours to use for them. In Literacy we will be studying “Funny Bones” by
Janet and Allan Ahlberg and we will be using the book to help us write questions for the
characters. In RE we will be looking at different celebrations.
 PE will continue to be on Tuesday and children will need trainers in school on this
day.
 Could you also make sure children have their tracksuits in their PE bags.
Yangtze
This half term our topic is ‘The Great Fire of London.’ In Literacy we will be reading Samuel
Pepys’ 1666 diary and writing our own diaries. As the fire started in a bakery, we will also be
writing instructions to make bread.
In Science we will be finding out about the properties of materials. We will be carrying out
lots of investigations and will be writing our own non-fiction books about different materials.
In RE we will be learning about different festivals including Diwali and Christmas.
In art we will be creating fire pictures, using the skills of colour mixing and collage. We will
also be making our own houses from the Stuart time period.
Learning log homework will be given on Friday and is due in the following Wednesday. The
weekly spelling test will take place on Thursdays and children need to regularly practice their
sounds. The mental maths test will be taken each Friday.
 Practicing telling the time, doubling, halving, finding totals of coins and learning the 2,
5 and 10 times tables will really help your child with the mental maths tests this half
term.
 Please continue to listen to your child read each night and ensure they complete their
reading diary.
 PE will be on Tuesdays and Fridays this half term. Leeds United will be coaching us
for one of our PE sessions.
Danube
Firstly, a big thank you to all those who donated £1 on our ‘rainforest rescue day’ the
children had lots of fun dressing up and we raised lots of money to help endangered
animals.
This half term we will be continuing to study rainforests and forests, moving on to studying
the forests of Canada. In Science, we will be learning about the habitats found in Canadian
forests and studying how plants and animals have adapted to live in different environments.
In Literacy, we will be looking at traditional tales and popular twists and parodies that have
been based on traditional tales. In RE, we will be studying right and wrong.
 Our PE days are on Tuesdays and Fridays.
 Please remember to read every night and remind your child to make a comment in
their reading diary each night. Once a week they need to complete one of the
activities listed on the right hand side of their reading diary.
 Learning log homework is given on a Friday and is due in on the following
Wednesday.
 Spelling tests are on Wednesday’s for all groups with the exception of Miss
Adamson’s and Mrs Turner’s group, who will be tested on Thursday afternoons.
Amazon
This half term our Topic is ‘World War Two’ we will look in particular at evacuation, farming
and women’s roles during this time period. In Literacy, we are reading and writing about a
book called ‘Friend or Foe’ by Michael Morpurgo. In Science, we are learning about how we
see. In Design and Technology we will be making our own soup, based on what vegetables
were available during World War Two and our focus in R.E. is Christianity linking it with the
Christmas Story.
We will be carrying on with swimming on a Wednesday until Christmas and on a Friday we
will have a coach coming into school to teach PE. Every Friday we will complete our mental
maths test. Learning logs will be sent out on a Friday ready to be handed in the following
Wednesday.
 Please read every night and remind your child to make a comment in their reading
diary.


Swimming kit on Wednesday.
P.E kits in school at all times, for their PE lesson on Friday.
Mississippi
This half term we will be learning all about WW2 with a focus on evacuees and what happened in
Britain, on the home front, while the war was taking place.
In DT we will be designing, making and evaluating our own soup using only ingredients that could
be grown at home during the war.
In science we will be learning all about how we see things. Our class novel is ‘Friend or Foe’ by
Michael Morpurgo and we will be using this and our WW2 topic to inspire our writing. Our RE
topic is Christianity and this will be linked to the Christmas story.
Reminders:
 Please read every night and remind your child to make a comment in their reading
diary.
 P.E kits in school at all times, PE lesson on Tuesday.
Many thanks for your support
N Sheerin