School News 2016/2017

Bike Ability

What is Bikeability?

Bikeability training provides the enhanced skills that children and young people need to ride safely on today’s busy roads
Certificates and shiny luminous badges for each level are awarded to children who successfully complete each course and children are encouraged and inspired to achieve all three levels, recognising that there is always more to learn and to enjoy on a bike.

Yorkshire Water Trip

Last week the year 5 and 6 girls visited Yorkshire Water in Headingly as part of International Women in engineering week.

On the visit we learnt all about the water works, how the water supply is cleaned and purified making it safe to be supplied to our homes and most importantly we learnt all about the different roles in which women have at Yorkshire Water.

Job roles differed from working in the command room to the science Laboratory, writing the flood and draught plans and working on the education outreach team.

The girls were a credit to the school and are mini scientist in the making. 

Science Club

We have a new exciting after school club taking place on Wednesdays.
Yesterday was the first session and was very well attended.
The activities included were: Changes in state. Gas, Liquids and Solids.
Understanding how materials can change state through environmental and chemical reactions....
The children had lots of fun, they can’t wait for next week.

Fire Fighter Charity 

Children and their families donated unwanted clothes to the Fire Fighters Charity. The weight of the clothes total was 34kg. We raised £10.20 for school and £2.72 for the charity. Well done to all the families who donated so generously.

Family Links 

Well done to our wonderful parents who completed the Family Links course in May 2017, thank you for attending and making the most of the course over the past 10 weeks.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Year 5 Maths

So far this term, Class 5 have been exploring all things angles. We began our maths work by discussing what is meant by an angle. The children came up with some fantastic and well-informed definitions during our discussions, many of them identifying them as part of a whole turn and as a property of shapes. Since our initial discussions, the children have gone on to explore angles through class-based and outdoor angle hunts, during which they were competing to find as many different angle types and they could in their immediate and nearby environments.

As they have developed their knowledge in this area, Class 5 have applied their skills to a variety of problem solving, investigative tasks. The children have used resources such as geoboards to make the connections between angles and shapes and have also taken their maths learning outside of the context of the classroom and explored shapes and angles in the playground. During this task the chn had to either prove or disprove the statement that triangles only contained acute angles.

The children have thoroughly enjoyed this unit of work so far and are keen to continue their learning journey.

Bradford University Visit

House Day

16.05.2017 

Edward Appleton house visited the Bradford Industrial Museum. During the visit they took part in a workshop which focussed on the art of noticing detail. As part of this the children were given a tour of the museum. In each of the different exhibits the children had to find their favourite part and sketch it, with special attention being paid to the finer details.

In the afternoon session they took part in a workshop which looked at the history of toys. This allowed the children to develop an understanding of how toys have changed, especially since the Victorian age, both in terms of how they are made and how the games have changed.

Alan Titchmarsh

On Tuesday 17^th May, ‘Alan Titchmarsh’, along with Mrs Byron, Miss Kosar, Mrs Capuvanno and Miss O’Gorman, ventured out to visit Cliffe Hill Castle. Upon arriving, the children were greeted by an eclectic collection of fascinating artefacts and works of art. As they ventured further in, they were blown away by the buildings grandeur and its Victorian inspired décor. The group were immediately gripped by guide and the hands-on workshops set up for them. In the morning, guided by the fantastic staff the children became expert observers. As they made their way around the galleries fascinating collections, the group compiled some fantastic sketches. After a quick break, the group abandoned their easels for lab coats and took part in a skeleton workshop. The children were engaged throughout. They used their found knowledge to make detailed observations and reasoned decisions about various skeletons that were dotted around the room for them to inspect. All in all, we had a fantastic day!

Ken Morrison house group went to the Industrial Museum as part of Fagley House Day. In the morning we became ‘toy detectives’ and found out about the clues that would help us to determine if toys were old or new. We looked at a range of toys and grouped them in different ways such as the materials they were made from, their colour or if they were old or new.  We then looked at three different dolls, dated them and placed them on a timeline.

In the afternoon, we went on a tour of the Industrial Museum and looked at the different machines that we saw in there. We had to observe carefully and draw the different parts clearly.  We used a view finder to focus our drawings and create the different patterns.

Fagley Primary is 'Outstanding'

INSPECTORS have heaped praise on a Bradford primary school, judging it “outstanding” in all areas.

The newly released Ofsted report into Fagley Primary School has seen the school rise from good to outstanding, with inspectors praising everything from pupil behaviour to the “uncompromising vision” of head Chris Parfitt.

The school has over 300 pupils, with a high number coming from minority groups. Since the last inspection in 2012 the school added a provision for two year olds, and this provision was also judged outstanding.

The report says: “As a result of the excellent relationships throughout school, behaviour is impeccable. An exceptional curriculum engages pupils highly effectively. Pupils thoroughly enjoy their learning experiences.

“The headteacher’s uncompromising vision that every pupil in school will make outstanding progress and aspire to be the best they can be pervades the school. As a result, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved rapidly since the last inspection.

“ No stone is left unturned in the quest for pupils’ success and in the care of families.

“The inclusion of everyone is central. Respect, empathy, diversity and equality are at the core of the everyday work of the school.

“ Parents are regular visitors to the school and are involved in training activities so that they can better understand what their children are learning in reading and writing and mathematics. As a result, parents are better equipped to help their children with their learning.”

The report says pupil progress in writing and maths was in the top 10 per cent of schools nationally. It adds: “Despite the prior attainment of this group of pupils being significantly below the national average, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average.”

Also praised are the school’s various after school clubs, and a partnership that sees Fagley support other local primary schools.

Mrs Parfitt said: “The report reflects the school ‘just as it is’ with sound statements reflecting the dedication and commitment of school staff and governors who are absolutely marvellous in their exceptional practice to enable every child to succeed and do their very best at school, at home and in the community, now and in the future.”

e-safety Event

Comic Relief 2017

Staff, children and their families raised an amazing £454.00 for Comic Relief on Friday 24^th March.

Thank you for your generous contributions.

Wonderlab

Class 4 visited the Wonderlab science exhibition at the National Media Museum. The children had the opportunity to explore the science exhibition where they found out about how sound travels, how light travels and how a flash can be used when taking a photograph. They went through the room of mirrors and investigated how mirrors reflect in a straight line. After this the children got to watch the Light It Up show and take part in a series of experiments where they developed their understanding of how light travels.

Week 6 - Book of the Week - Winners

Children’s names have gone into a ‘book box’ upon completing their book talk homework to a good standard. One child from each class will win and consequently keep a book of their choice. This is Fagley Primary schools way of rewarding fantastic homework reading that our children do every week – thank you!

Nursery Rhyme Time Challenge

"We have been learning some new nursery rhymes for the Bradford Libraries' 'Nursery Rhyme Challenge'. Families joined us on Friday 31st March to join in with the rhymes we have learnt. We had lots of fun showing parents our actions and it was lovely that so many joined us."

Class 1 visit to Sundown Adventure Land

Last week Class 1 went on the most exciting trip to Sundown Adventure Land, so they could learn all about stories and carryout lots of other fun activities.

The children were able to explore, climb and slide in Fort Apache, ride aboard the Rocky Mountain Railroad and walk around Lollipoppet Castle, being careful not to wake the dragon! Then it was on to Story Book Village where the children listened to their favourite stories, tried the chairs in the Seven Dwarfs House, played the piano in the Three Pigs House and got locked in a cage with Hansel and Gretel! The story of the Mouse’s Tale scared them a little but they soon forgot as the story lead them to a magical sleigh ride where Santa and Rudolf slept through the children’s excited chatter!

Driving a tractor through the winding hills and sailing downstream in a barrel whilst trying to avoid pirates and other surprises were definitely the highlight of the visit!

The Big Pedal

Look at all these bikes and scooters.

A big well done and thank you to all the children and parents/carers who have supported the school by taking part in 'The Big Pedal 2017'.

Today was our best day yet with an amazing 44 children choosing to cycle or scoot to school.

Charlie"I like coming here because it is fun. I will not take drugs", Anisa"this was the best lesson we have had so far, because I learnt so many new things", Ghizlan "I liked it when the boxes came around, I liked everything", Ahmed"I learnt that coffee and tea have a Drug in them", Neve"I liked everything because I learnt a lot", Marwah"I loved the activities, I thought they were very good and educational", Rhianna "it has been an interesting lesson and very good, I have learnt a lot about drugs", Hifzur"I liked it when we did the picture story", Kieran"I have learnt that medicine can be bad if we take too much", Chenai"I have learnt that smoking can damage your lungs", Raynah"I learnt that not all drugs are bad" and finally Abid"I loved learning about drugs".

Full Steam Ahead

Recently, Class 5 visited the Ingrow Loco museum in Keighley to support our topic work in class (Transport in Bradford). During the morning we had the opportunity to have a look around the museum and marvel at the incredible restoration work that was taking place. After this, we played games based on 'The Railway Children'. Just before lunch, we had the opportunity to go on the Keighley Worth Valley heritage railway. We took a 1950's restored diesel train from Ingrow to Oxenhope - the scenery was marvelous! In Oxenhope we looked around at the steam engines that were housed up before getting the train half-way down the line to have our lunch. We then dressed up as characters from The Railway Children before spending time at a station that was completely how it was a hundred years ago! Eventually, we got the train back to Ingrow and came back to school - tired but full of knowledge.

London's Burning

by Year 2

Class 2 have been exploring poetry. They created their own poem about The Great Fire of London using different types of sentences. Come and have a look in our books because we are very proud of what we did. We also created a class poem and used the Ipad to film it. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed creating it. 

Fagley raise funds for Comic Relief

24.03.2017

Faith Day

In Class 3 we were learning about the Hindu festival Holi that focuses on new beginnings.  People celebrate the festival by throwing coloured paint on each other.  We made dream catchers to leave the bad dreams of the past behind and focus on the positivity of a new beginning.  We also looked at the mixing of different colours on the dream catchers.

Mosaic

Our second group of year 6 students will be completing their final week of the Mosaic programme next week. The past 8 weeks have flown by and I have seen the year 6 students grow in confidence and maturity. They have learnt all about citizenship and what it takes to be a responsible citizen. We covered what it is to be a good role model, discussed global communities and gained an understanding of the higher education system. Year 6 have now received their upper school places to start Year 7 in September and they are looking forward to their transition to their new schools.

Next week year 6 will be working on their presentations to take to their graduation ceremony that will take place on Friday 28^th April. We hope that parents and carers can attend the ceremony to support their children and celebrate their success.

Well done year 6!

Family Food Together Project

Parents/carers and children are taking part in a six week course of cook and eat sessions facilitated by The Family Food Together project. The services provides a holistic service encouraging families to work with one another to explore healthy eating and lifestyles. Each session is a workshop of fun explorative tasks and activities followed by kitchen technique skills taught during the session and incorporate into preparation and cooking of a meal for the whole family to take home.

Some of the topics covered over the six week are

• managing household budgets 
• increased cost of food during school holidays          
• struggling to meet five a day targets due to financial constraints                                                                     
• Expensive local shops                                                                                                                                           
• Lack of confidence in cooking skills                                                                                                                            
• Frequent use of ready meals and sugary drinks

The families are having lots of fun during the session and have cooked some delicious meals.

Faith Day

14.03.2017

In Class 2 we were learning about the Hindu Holi Festival. It celebrates the beginning of Spring and focuses on new beginnings. People celebrate by throwing coloured paint and water at each other. We made a Happy Holi card using splatter paint and then wrote a poem about our own new beginnings. 

Pirate Adventure

To coincide with the recent Pirate Fun Day happening in Bradford City centre, Class 4 were lucky enough to turn into 'Captain Cat's Motley Crew'. We learned, through games and demonstrations, what life was like for pirates sailing on the seven sea. In the afternoon, we even had the chance to design our own pirate costumes & flags. These flags had to be menacing to scare other ships and I think we all agreed (even with the added glitter) that Class 4's designs definitely struck fear into the heart of 'Captain Cat' & his first mate 'Bowson Brains'!

The Big Pedal

20th-31st March

Week 5 - Book of the Week - Winners

Children’s names have gone into a ‘book box’ upon completing their book talk homework to a good standard. One child from each class will win and consequently keep a book of their choice. This is Fagley Primary schools way of rewarding fantastic homework reading that our children do every week – thank you!

Digital Leaders

House Day

8th March 2017

David Hockney house group went to the Industrial Museum as part of Fagley House Day. In the morning we became ‘toy detectives’ and found out about clues that would help us to determine if toys were old or new. We looked at a range of toys and grouped them in different ways such as the materials they were made from, their colour or if they were old or new.  We then looked at three different dolls, dated them and placed them on a timeline.

In the afternoon, we created pictures of the Industrial Museum and the different machines that we saw in there. We had to observe carefully and draw the different parts clearly.  We worked in groups to produce a set of large observational drawings.

Margaret McMillian house group went the Industrial Museum as part of Fagley House Day. In the morning we took part in an activity called The Art of Noticing.  Creating pictures of the Industrial Museum and the different machines in it.  We learnt how to observe carefully and how to shade.

In the afternoon we became toy detectives looking for clues to help us decide whether the toys were old or new. We sorted toys for different materials and how they worked.  We then looked at three different dolls and using the information we had learnt we were able to date and order them on a timeline.

On house day Ken Morrison went to Cliffe Castle. In the morning we were taught about skulls and skeletons of humans and animals. We had to become scientists and decide which skulls belonged to which animals. This was very interesting and we used our observation skills. We had to explain our reasons for our choices. After lunch we got the chance to play in the park which was lots of fun. In the afternoon we were able to explore the museum and draw sketches of the objects we found interesting. It was fantastic to just have the time to really notice what was around us. We used two words to describe every object we drew. At the end of the workshop we used our objects and words to create a poem. Miss Sutcliffe was extremely impressed with the variety of vocabulary that we used. After all the hard work we were ready to go home!

Edward Appleton house had an exciting and busy day at Cliff Castle.  In the morning,  we spent our time exploring the  various displays and exhibits around the castle. Using art of science and noticing, we sketched artifacts such as fossils and even stuffed animals. 

After lunch, we had time for a run, jump and swing around the playground before heading to our final workshop. In this we learnt about skeletons and used our scientific skills to identify different animal skulls. It was a fantastic day out for everyone.

On Tuesday 7th March, the group were excited to visit Cartwright Hall to learn about their collection including a famous Lowry painting. We arrived just before the workshop was due to start - what was in store for us? Before lunch we had a look at the famous collection of artworks and managed to sketch portions of these that caught our eye. Much fun and enjoyment was had by all. After wolfing down our lunch, the group was re-energised and ready for the second workshop. We started by looking at prints of LS Lowry's famous works, discussing what make them unique. We were then fortunate enough to see a REAL Lowry painting - it was extremely impressive. Following on from this, we completed three activities (dressing up, creating 3D models and looking at Victorian artifacts) before finally making our own giant Lowry-esque masterpiece.

Year 4 Visit the Industrial Museum

Class 4 really enjoyed travelling back in time for the morning as they attended a Victorian Classroom as part of their recent trip to the Bradford Industrial Museum. Some of our children even dressed for the occasion in typical Victorian school dress. We were enthralled by our school master Mr Ibbotson & even tried to master the art of using real 'dip pens'. The children got a real feel for what it must of been like to go to school in the Victorian age. Everyone was so engaged and did the school proud! Well done Class 4

Week 4 - Book of the Week - Winners

Children’s names have gone into a ‘book box’ upon completing their book talk homework to a good standard. One child from each class will win and consequently keep a book of their choice. This is Fagley Primary schools way of rewarding fantastic homework reading that our children do every week – thank you!

World Book Day - Year 2

On World Book Day Class 2 read ‘Penguin Problems’ by Jory John. The penguin had so many problems and we found the book very funny. We decided to write our own story called ‘Class 2’s problems’ which we made into a film. Miss Sutcliffe was surprised at how many problems we actually have!

World Book Day Prize Winners

02.03.2017

World Book Day

Mask Mania

at Fagley Primary School!

 Marvellous Masks were created by children and staff to celebrate World Book Day. Lots of discussions between children and children and staff around which character they would choose.  Children told me that it was really difficult to choose their favourite character as they read so many books and have so many favourites!

However, decisions were made and every child and staff member wore them to assembly where staff read experts from their favourite books whilst wearing their masks. At the end of the afternoon we thank parents for coming to reading events in classrooms at the end of the day.

Mask Winners chose a book that the school ordered for them which they then proudly took home.

Reception – Urwah – Where the wild things are

Year 1 – Daniyal – You can’t take an elephant on the bus

Year 2 – Muskaan – Nemos big adventure

Year 3 – Henley – Gangsta Granny

Year 4 – Krystal - Rat Burger

Year 5 – Mayeeda – Billionaire Boy

Year 6 – Aroona – Boy in the Dress

David Walliams seemed a popular author.

 A Big Thank you to Children and staff where Books really were the point and purpose of WORLD BOOK DAY.

What a show!

Well done to the children in Years 1,4 and 6 for their fantastic drumming concert.  They performed a selection of pieces they have been learning since September to their friends, teachers and families.  The concert was fantastic!

Week 3 - Book of the Week - Winners

Children’s names have gone into a ‘book box’ upon completing their book talk homework to a good standard. One child from each class will win and consequently keep a book of their choice. This is Fagley Primary schools way of rewarding fantastic homework reading that our children do every week – thank you!

Eden Camp Visit

Class 3, enjoyed a very cold but fun day out at Eden camp. We  enjoyed looking at all the different huts relating to WW1 and WW2. Before lunch, we found out what life was like during the Blitz.  The museum re-creates the war time using sights, sounds, smells and moving figures. It creates a unique atmosphere that makes you feel like you have travelled back in time. After lunch, we thoroughly enjoyed playing on the junior assault course to burn off some extra energy (and to keep warm!) Overall it was a fantastic day out. 

Sharing Stories

08.02.2017

Reception enjoyed a wonderful morning sharing one of its winter stories Jack Frost with parents. Children and parents were given the opportunity then to engage in activities linked to the story and its characters. Lots of fun was had cutting, sticking and colouring. Copies of the book were given to children so that they can continue the learning at home. 

Thank you to all who attended. 

RNLI Guest Speaker

On Tuesday 7th February the whole school were treated to an assembly delivered by the RLNI from Scarborough. The children learnt how to stay safe around many types of open water and were shown the different flags and taught what they mean on Britain’s beaches.  The children watched a video clip of the different types of rescues the RNLI carry out using the variety of equipment they have available to them.   Some lucky children got to dress up as lifeguards on the different rescues while  learning  what the different equipment was for and why it was important. 

Outdoor Reading Village

Our outdoor reading teepee's have been a huge hit with the children today.They are the first stage of our outdoor Reading Village.

Week 2 - Book of the Week - Winners

Children’s names have gone into a ‘book box’ upon completing their book talk homework to a good standard. One child from each class will win and consequently keep a book of their choice. This is Fagley Primary schools way of rewarding fantastic homework reading that our children do every week – thank you!

Yorkshire Water Trip

National Numbers Day

Last Friday was 'Numbers Day'. Year 2 played Maths games and had a class quiz. The winners of the quiz were proud of their certificates. It was lots of fun and we had to use our number knowledge and maths facts to help us. 

National Story Telling Week

02.02.2017

Parents have joined their children in the classroom as part of 'National Story Telling Week' they shared a story and then took part in practical activities all about the book they have read.

It looked great fun. Their chosen book was 'The Day the Crayons Quit'.

Recall Evening

31st January 2017

On Tuesday 31^st January the Year 6 pupils from last year (Year 7 now!) came back to Fagley to meet the present Year 6 for Recall Night.

The event is a part of the transition programme that the school holds each year to ensure that the pupils have a smooth transition to Secondary School.

The pupils from the previous Year 6 are invited back to school to meet the present Year 6 and talk to them about their experiences at Secondary School.

The children take part in social activities that enable them to mix and ask questions and give answers about how the move for the previous Year 6 found the transition.

The children find this experience very informative because they are able to build a picture of what the future holds for them before they experience the move themselves.

A lot of fears are alleviated on the night because the children get the full facts from the children that have already experienced the move.

Homework and detentions are always top of the list!!!!!

But our Year 6 children are so good at handing in homework they won’t have a problem with either!

The children were able to see the children in their Secondary School uniforms and how grown up they have become since leaving. The children looked very smart in their uniforms and it was very obvious how much they had grown and become more responsible for themselves.

The previous Year 6 shared planners and experiences with the present Year 6 and talked about how they had made friends easily and soon found their way around a bigger school.

The children then sat down together and shared a tea of pizza and fresh orange juice.

Photographs taken on the night along with a question and answer collage will be displayed in school for parents to come in and take a look at if they wish to do so.

Thank you to all the children and staff who made the Recall Night one to remember!

Cross Country

Well done to the pupils who represented Fagley at the Hanson Academy Cross Country event on Tuesday 31st January.   Despite the wind, rain and mud you gave 100%.  Well done!

Morrisons

Today the Year 1 went shopping to Morrisons at Thornbury. On their list were lots of ingredients to make Lemon Biscuits to sell on their very own market stall! Whilst in store the children had their own Pizza’s made fresh to their specifications, pulled faces at the fish on the fish stall and stared longingly at the fresh cream cakes!  The children searched the isles and shelves for the items on their list plus a few extra treats and paid for them at the checkout.  So watch out for Year 1’s very own market stall selling freshly baked biscuits coming shortly to school!

Book of the week

Children’s names have gone into a ‘book box’ upon completing their book talk homework to a good standard. One child from each class will win and consequently keep a book of their choice.  This is Fagley Primary schools way of rewarding fantastic homework reading that our children do every week – thank you!

Penalty Shoot Out

Well done to all year groups who took part in the Bradford City penalty shoot out.

A great effort by all involved with lots of money raised by the sponsorship you have received.

Your sponsorship total amount to be announced soon!

Valley Parade Visit

Class 2 visited Valley Parade, the football ground of Bradford City. We had a tour around the stadium and were able to ask and answer questions to find out lots of facts about the club.  We sat in the ‘posh’ seats and looked out across the pitch.  We also visited the memorial of the Bradford City fire and heard about the tragedy that occurred at the club.

Learning Through Stories

20.01.2017

Our story in Nursery for the next few weeks is Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. To introduce this story to our children and parents, we had a 'Learning Through Stories' session. We invited parents to join us for various activities relating to our story including: investigating floating and sinking, making our own tinfoil or playdough boats, colouring in penguins and making our own penguin puppets.

We then read the start of the story together. Everybody was given their own copy of Lost and Found so they can read it at home and find out how and if, the penguin gets back to the South Pole.

Rhyme Time

Monday 9th January

On Monday both nursery and reception were treated to a singing and rhyme session led by singer songwriter Becky Owen. Parents were invited too to share the experience and hopefully go home a little more equipped to sing with their children for both instruction and enjoyment. 

Children were given the opportunity to warm up their bodies ready to sing, engaging the body muscles they would need to belt out a good tune. 

New and old songs were shared including a greeting song to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle and a more unusual song about life and creation sung in Urdu.

A big thank you to parents who attended and to Becky Owen for kindly leading the session for us.  

RSPB

Friday 6th January

Today Class 2 had a visit from the RSPB and we completed a Bioblitz challenge. We were nature detectives and searched for mini beasts. We found woodlice, spiders, slugs, worms, snails and beetles. Class 2 had a great time looking for clues and welearned some new facts that we didn’t know before. We found out the adult worm have a saddle round their waists which helps us to identify if they are babies or adults.   

Festivities at Fagley

Welcome back and Happy New Year from all at Fagley Primary School!

In the lead up to the Christmas break there was plenty of ‘Festivities at Fagley’ to get us in the Christmas spirit.

Including:

Christmas Jumper day

A Christmas coffee morning

Family Christmas dinner

Reception class’s version of ‘The Nativity’

Even a visit from Santa

Thank you to all parents for attending the events to support your child and contributing to the fundraising efforts for ‘Save the Children’ charity on Christmas Jumper day.

Where in the world would you enjoy a good book?

Children at Fagley Primary School regularly enjoy a good read.  Being in the top 5% of good readers in England their teachers and parents are very proud of them.  Where they would like to read is really the question???

Staff have gone the extra mile (or should we say chapter!) and spent a staff meeting making models of buildings across our world and into our hidden jewels of imagination.  Igloos to Austrian chalets.  It's all good at Fagley.  Feel welcome to come and have a look; sit, relax, choose a book and have a jolly good read - somewhere.

Our Shining Stars

Nativity 2016

Reception performed an amazing nativity today to children, parents and staff.  They sang to us, danced for us, acted and interacted with the audience, giving us special messages to take away and think about.  Parents said that they would 'remember this moment forever' as their child held everyone's attention as the Christmas story unfolded before our very eyes.

Parents Class

Last week Class 2 invited parents into our Maths lessons. We were learning about different ways to solve multiplications. E.g. arrays and repeated addition. We did lots of fun activities that the parents also joined in on. They said they enjoyed seeing how hard their children work!

Nursery Christmas Crafts

We invited parents in to Nursery to join us for a Christmas Craft session. Children and their families made Christmas hats and cards, Christmas tree decorations, paper chains and made bags of reindeer food for Christmas Eve. It was lovely that so many parents and grandparents joined us and we hope you enjoyed it as much as the Nursery staff!

Cycling to Success

To celebrate the achievements of the children who have taken part in cycling club since September school hosted a cycling club presentation event.

Parents were invited to see their children receive their certificates, watch a presentation of what activities and skills they have learnt at the club, a bike doctor safety talk and most importantly see them be presented with their bikes and helmets to take home.

Each child who attends the club termly will be awarded with a second hand refurbished bike for them to take home and enjoy. The bikes have been checked my Ian from Sustrans who makes sure they are all safe and ready to be taken home, Ian also gave a talk about safe cycling and the importance of wearing our helmets correctly.

A big thankyou to Ian from Sustrans for all his help at the event and to all the families who took part.

Cook and Eat

Families joined Mrs Duxbury and Claire each Thursday for 3 weeks as part of our after school cooking lessons.

These sessions provide the parents and child with a time to work together, bond, share ideas, learn new skills and see their child progressing at school.

Each week they focused on a new recipe and made a batch of food taste test with the rest of the cooking group. They then prepared a batch to take home to cook for the family to eat and enjoy at home.

Well done to all the families who attended the sessions you made some delicious meals for all of us to enjoy.

Mosaic Graduation 2016

On Monday 5th December 15 students from Fagley Primary School graduated from the Mosaic programme at Leeds Trinity University.

It was a celebration of their achievements in which parents, carers and staff attended to watch them be presented with their certificates and see them in their cap and gowns.

We also watched their presentation as part of the ceremony in which they told us all about what they enjoyed most about Mosaic.

Well done to all the students who have achieved so much through out the programme you should be very proud of yourselves.

Christmas Food Appeal 

Your kind donations of any long life food goods would be greatly appreciated.

We will send all the donated food to Bradford North Food Bank who support families through out Bradford. 

 The food bank are in desperate need of items such as:   

Tinned meat

Tinned carrots

Tinned sweet corn

Long-life milk

Instant mash

Long life squash and juice

Thank you 

Mosaic Week 8 and 9

In our final weeks we looked at Global communities and cross cultural understanding. We reflected on what topics we have covered and what we have learned over the past 9 weeks.

We also prepared our graduation presentation to share at the ceremony.

Piles of Presents 

On Thursday 1st December classes received piles of presents to open daily until the end of term. 

Read, read, read - our children just love it!

Fire Fighters Charity

25.11.2016

Children and their families donated unwanted clothes to the Fire Fighters Charity.  The weight of the clothes totals 73 kg with raised £29.20 for school and £7.30 for the charity.  Well done to all the families who donated so generously.

Dog Trust Visit

25.11.2016

Class 1 had a four legged visitor today - Winnie, a very special dog from Dogs Trust. The children enjoyed learning about how to care for and look after a dog correctly.  Winnie was very patient and enjoyed being brushed, stroked and played with. Oliver discovered dogs have five senses like humans and tasted different foods (human!)  While Floyd had to find a ticking dog toy. We hope Winnie will visit us again soon.

Animal Adventure

On Tuesday we were very excited to have a visit from Animal Intuition. Mags visited us with lots of different animals. We even got to stroke and hold some of them! We met two snakes called Crunchy Nut and Chloe and learnt that they like to eat mice. Some of us met a pair of rats called Cinderella and Belle. They were very fast and liked to nuzzle in people's armpits where it was dark and warm. A tortoise called Timotei walked round for strokes and we felt her hard and smooth shell. Finally, we all met a tarantula and some of us were brave enough to hold it. Daniel's and Amelia's Mums were also very brave and held the spider!

House Day

22.11.2016

Alan Titchmarsh house visited Bradford Industrial Museum.  We took part in a 'Toy Detective' workshop where we had an opportunity to investigate - and play with! - many modern and past toys.  We then worked in teams to sort the toys in different ways, including by what they were made from.  Did you know some toys used to be made from animal bone?  Later in the day, we took part in 'The Art of Science and Noticing' workshop.  We were reminded of different drawing techniques like shading and smudging to help us represent objects more accurately.  We then explored the museum with our clipboards, drawing details from objects that caught our individual eyes.  At the end, we discussed what we noticed and cleverly organised our observations to create little but unique poems.  Here is a picture of Ava reading one aloud - as loud as she could over the exciting noise of the mill's machinery in action! 

On Tuesday 22nd November, 'Edward Appleton' along with the teachers Mr Carter and Mr Jaques visited Cartwright Hall. The group were immediately engaged with the exciting hands-on workshops. During the first session, the group became intrepid observers. With help from the fantastic guide, children of all years experienced the variety of exhibitions and worked away on their brilliant sketches. After a quick lunch break, the group learned about the famous Artist, L.S. Lowry. Hand-on activities, including 3D models and dressing up were particularly appreciated by the group. This was topped of with creating a HUGE Lowry-esque landscape together. All in all, a brilliant day!

Takeover Challenge

Year 2

Fagley raises money for Children In Need

18.11.2016

Big Swing Adventure

The session supported the children with self esteem, making friendships, resilience skills, problem solving and awareness of others.

It also gave the children responsibility and a sense of feeling connected to the real world and the outdoors.

The children had a great time and thanks go to Samina Tariq at Barnados for arranging the visit. The staff had the big swing were great with the children and hope that more children will use the facility, which is free of charge after school and in the holidays.

Attendance Award

Year 1 children celebrated receiving the attendance cup for good attendance six times, with a visit to Leeds Town Hall to see the films ‘Stickman’ and ‘Room on the Broom’. The children thoroughly enjoyed their visit and were impressed with the town hall itself. They are all determined to continue to win the attendance cup each week!

Year 1 RSPB Experience

On Friday Year 1 had a visit from the RSPB, they helped the children to carry out a bioblitz of our school grounds. The children found lots of insects, plants and observed some birds in the sky and in our school grounds. The children also found out different things they can do to help bring birds to our school grounds.

Year 6 - Talk For Writing Assembly

Fagley Bird Watch

Class 6 were visited by the RSPB on Friday. During the session, children found out how to identify different birds from images and recordings of their songs. We played bird 'Guess Who' to practise identifying birds, before moving outside to bird watch for real. In groups of three, we viewed the treetops and bushes, seeking birds. We had to be really quiet, so as to not frighten the birds away. Binoculars were used to identify birds from afar. We were surprised at how many magpies we saw. At the end of the session we compared our bird-watching findings and discussed ways of making our school more bird friendly. 

Fagley Primary Shows Their Respect

Fagley Nursery Super Stars

Shakespeare Workshop @ Eccleshill Library

Year 5

09.11.2016

Family Links – Starts 14^th November

A new course of Family Links for parents of children at Fagley Primary School and Children Centre.

'On average 8 out of 10 parents who take part in a Family Links course report significant improvements in their children’s behavior and family life. Research shows improvements in parental mental health, and increased self-efficacy in emotion and affection, empathy and understanding, and discipline and boundary setting'.

 The course is a 10 week programme which take place over a 2 hour slot weekly. This is a great time to meet other parents/carers, share and learn from others experiences, make friends and give something back to you.

 Our trained practitioners ensure it is always a welcoming nurturing environment and ensure they offer you as much support and advice throughout the course.

If you are interested in attending message or speak to Claire in Fagley Primary School or Janet in Fagley Children's Centre

The course Starts on Monday 14th November from 1:00-3:00pm.

Crèche available for children aged 0-4 years.

Fun at Fagley

Snow Day

09.11.2016

Mosaic – Week 7

9^th November 2016

Today’s session was all about ‘Citizenship’. We discussed what makes a good citizen? How does a good citizen should behave and represent themselves?

We then mapped our own school and located what is in the building and how we use each of its facilities. We asked the questions, what does it mean? Who is in it? What is in it? What would they add to it to make it better?

We then asked students to think about the people who are in the school? What do they like about the people and what qualities do they bring?

Students suggested they would like add a swimming pool, a doctor’s surgery, a cinema, a zoo and extra school year groups such as years 7 and 8.

We discussed the extra citizens we would need in school such as a life guard and a zoo keeper.

They said a doctors surgery would be useful if they were poorly at school, they could see the doctors right away, we also discussed all the extra learning that could be done in the zoo, they could learn lots about all the different animal in the zoo as well as how to look after them,

Well done year 6, great imaginations!

Parent Gym

6^th October – 24^th November

It has been a pleasure to host Parent Gym over the last 3 weeks at Fagley Primary school.

 We have had an impressive number of parents attend each week to take part in the course.

 Parent Gym is a series of six workshops proven to increase parents’ skills and confidence and so improve the behavior and wellbeing of their children.

 Each week’s session is devoted to a different topic and comes with its own unique Parent Gym magazine packed with practical tips. 

The highly participative sessions explore a vast range of questions such as "how can I get my child to open up?" "How can I resolve family disagreements in a positive way" or how can I build my child's resilience"

 The topics we have explored so far are CHAT, LOVE and BEHAVE.

 Still to come are CARE, DISCOVER and TOGETHER. We look forward to welcoming parents back over the next 3 weeks.

 More information can be found on the Parent Gym website: www.parentgym.com

Speakeasy - 12^th September – 7^th November

Over the past 8 weeks x10 parent with children ranging from nursery to year 6 have been taking part in Speakeasy.

The main aim of the course is to encourage and enable parents and carer’s with the skills to provide sexual health education in the home, to help them talk to their children about relationships and to support their children’s learning and understanding of these issues.

Parents are taught through group discussions, flipcharts, role-play and games.

Well done to all the parents that took part and completed the course.

If you are interested in taking part in the next speakeasy course please contact Claire at in school.

Nursery Rhyme Time

07.11.2016

We have had a very busy day making lots of things to help us to sing nursery rhymes. We made a spider for Incey Wincey Spider, a fish with numbers on for Once I Caught a Fish, a sparkly star for Twinkle Twinkle and we even made a Humpty Dumpty. Lots of Mums and Dads came to join us and help with making things. 

The children have really enjoyed being able to work with their parents and are looking forward to taking their crafts home and being able to share the songs with the rest of their family.

Cat Protection Visit

07.11.2016

Today, the children at Fagley Primary school were visited by the Cat Protection. Kirsty the education officer spoke to the children about to care for their cats correctly.  All the children attended a special assembly.  Nursery and Reception children were visited in their classrooms.

An interesting fact:

A study carried out by Cats Protection shows that children aged between six and seven have a better understanding of health and illness if their families own a cat. The findings also show that children who live in households with cats have a better knowledge of healthy eating and the importance of exercise.

If you would like to find out more about the Cat Protection then please visit their website: http://www.cats.org.uk/

Mosaic – Week 6

2^nd  November 2016

This week in Mosaic we explored ‘Good Communication’.

What does good communication mean? How do our feeling effect the way in which we communicate?

Working in small groups the children were asked to come up with as many feelings and emotions they could think of. We then asked the children and parents to think about the body language and facial expressions associated with each emotion.

 We discussed the importance of body language and how that can make us appear more approachable to our friends and peers if we reach out our hand, open up our arms and greet a stranger with a handshake these gestures show trust, openness and compliance.

 We also discussed the importance of always speaking clearly and maintain eye contact, this shows we are interested and engaged in the conversion we maybe having.

 Well-done year 6 for taking part in the many role plays and for offering such great support to one another.

Yorkshire Town and Cities Week

Exhibition

Friday 21st October 2016

Year 4

As part of Yorkshire Cities Week, Class 4 visited the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds.  We learnt how people's health depended on how much money they had in the past.  We had great fun exploring artefacts and building a picture of lives of real Leeds' citizens in 1842 - we even got to dress up as them and explore dark, dirty Victorian streets.  Back to 2016, and we then had a great time exploring The Life Zone - look at the size of those teeth!

Year 1

As part of their work on journeys and British Town and City week, Class 1 visited Skipton. The journey began on a bus to Bradford and then the train to Skipton. The children discovered the outdoor market, the library, hotels, shops and an enormous castle.  After a guided tour of the castle finding out many interesting facts it was back on the bus and train to Fagley.   

Year 2

On Wednesday Class 2 visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield. We had a fantastic time sketching the sculptures and then making our own using mod-roc. The children were amazing and showed excellent teamwork when creating their surreal sculptures. 

Mosaic – Week 5

12^th October 2016

This week in Mosaic we explored ‘Improving confidence.’

 This week’s session consisted of 2 practical games, this was a lot of fun as well as a great opportunity for everyone in the group to support each other and help build each individuals confidence.

 The first game was ‘The string game’ one person begins the activity by giving a compliment to another person in the circle, while passing them a ball of string. The person giving the compliment should hold one end of the string while they pass the ball on, before returning to their place in the circle. Each person takes a turn to complement each other.

 Once everybody has had a chance to offer a compliment and a good strong web has been established, we reflected as a group on how it felt to receive a compliment and how we could offer these gestures during the school days to be nice and supportive to our peers.

 We then took part in an activity called weighing emotions. We used a weighing scales to demonstrate both negative and positive emotions. Each of the weighs we had either had a negative or positive emotion on them, we used these to express how we were each feeling and focused on weighing up any negative feelings we have with a positive feeling. We discussed the positive emotions and learned that when we feel good about ourselves, we feel more confident.

Year 4

On Thursday 20th October, Class 4 were treated to a drama workshop that transported them back almost 2000 years to the Roman invasion of Britain.

We became Roman soldiers in a tireless century and learnt about battle tactics and military formations.  A busy forum was recreated right in the classroom, with lots of trading and activity...until rumours of Boudicca's rebellion came through!

We are looking forward to learning lots about this this half term!

Year 2 go 'Nutty' for Nouns

Mosaic – Week 4

5^th October 2016

 Today was ‘Doing your best’ and ‘Understanding the education system’.

 In today’s session the parent and children worked in separate groups to explore today’s topics.

 Today the children had discussions around ‘doing your best’. In small groups we each took turns to complete the following sentence:

 Recently, I tried my best at….. And it made me feel good because…..

 We then discussed why it is important to try our best and discussed the satisfaction we feel when our good work and efforts are recognized by others.

We discussed motivation and what’s makes us want to do our best.

Aroona and Callum took part in a ping pong ball activity in which they had to keep the ball bouncing for a prize, the first one to drop the ball would be out and not win the prize. We discussed how having a prize to win and a goal to achieve they tried extra hard and it made them want to do well.

 We discussed when we feel good about something and have been successful, we are more confident and likely to try it again.

 Parents discussed with mentor their own education, how did they feel about school? How can they motivate their children to achieve?

Parents gained a clear understanding of what is next on their children’s educational journey and how they can support them to achieve.

Year 6 Viking Adventure

Year 6 had the pleasure of a Viking visitor last Thursday. During the visit, the class explored Viking life as courageous sailors, settlers, hard-working farmers, enterprising traders and ingenious craftspeople.

We realised that most people believe the Vikings to have been a vicious group of barbarians, who continuously launched attacks on Saxon monks. In truth, the greatest battle most Norsemen had was in trying to feed their families and attempting to keep them sheltered.

We found out that the Vikings were fantastic explorers, who thrived and spread out, travelling as far as Russia and North America.

Throughout the visit we handled replica artefacts, which had been made by our class visitor. Children asked countless questions, acted in a mock fight and even journeyed outside to see how the Vikings lit fires. We loved seeing history being brought to life.

Year 2 are out of this world!

As part of our integrated curriculum topic about Space, we visited Jodrell Bank. We went in a planetarium and found out about the different planets and constellations.  We also found out about the equipment used in space and about the huge telescope that is at the space centre.  While we were there we also had the chance to make our own rockets and launch them!

Mosaic – Week 2 & 3

21^st & 28^th September 2016

In week 2 and 3 we explored the ‘Roles of men and women in society’. We discussed role models and what qualities they possess.

We worked in groups and looked at images of recognised people within society and how they play a part in been role models.

 Examples of role models were Jamie Oliver and the work he has done with the school food matters campaign and Jaquline Wilson for all the wonderful children’s book she has written.

 In week three we looked at job roles. We discussed how men and women all have the same capabilities to carry out the same job roles as each other. As long as you have the right training and skills men and women can equally carry out jobs such as plumber’s, police officers, engineers, nurses and teachers.

Year 4 Positive Lifestyle Visit

Class 4 visited the Positive Lifestyle Centre at Bradford City FC.  We learnt about different emotions to do with bullying - how victims and other people feel.  We shared our ideas through drama and practised good team skills all morning.  Leah, Awais, Anthony and Krystal were the most impressive team members from our four teams - look at their proud smiles as they stand with their prizes!

Year 3 Vikings

On Thursday 15th September, class 3 had a very special Viking visitor in school.  We had a roaring day, pretending to be real Viking.  We raided   a Saxon village, rowed a long ship and even made up our own Viking chant.  It was interesting to learn new facts about Vikings.  Did you know that Viking helmets didn't actually have a horn on them?

Mosaic

On Wednesday 14th September we welcomed Parents, Children and Mentors to school to take part in 'Mosaic' a 10 week programme which aims to bridge the aspirations - attainment gap.

The programme seeks to equip young girls and boys with the skills to connect education to work at an early age through mentors from professional backgrounds acting as role models, so that young people can aspire to careers in a range of different sectors.

This week was ‘getting to know one another’ and was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. We encourage all parent and carers to attend with their children to ensure they get the most from the programme.

The next session will be 21^st September from 9:00-10:00am.

999 Emergencies

Tuesday 13th September

Today, Year 5 and 6 children received student first aid training.  Caroline from St John's ambulance spent the day teaching the children many life saving skills.The children practiced putting one another into the recovery position and discussed how important it is to always ensure that the casualty's airway is open.  Thank you to St Johns ambulance for a fantastic training session. 

Year 1 Journey to Haworth

Thursday 8th September 2016

Last Thursday Class 1 went on a journey aboard the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. We watched our steam train hook up to our carriage and away we went.  Not long into our journey the train went through a very long tunnel the train went very dark and we could smell smoke but we were soon out into the sunshine again. The train stopped at a few stations on the way and more people got on.  We ended our journey in Haworth the Station Master helped us climb out of our carriage as it was a big jump.  We walked onto the bridge to watch the train speed of to the next station and got covered in smoke!!  We walked a short way up the cobbled street to the part where we had a picnic and a play in the park.  Then it was back through a secret path to the train station to board our steam train back to Keighley.  A fun day was had by all!!