Otley Ashfield Primary School Blog

Indian Musical Instruments

2012-02-29T16:50:00.001Z

This week we have all had chance to play Indian instruments:

The pitch bending sitar.

The hammered harp-like santoor.

The loud dhol!

Ostinato rhythms, called talas were played on tablas (a type of Indian hand drum):

We were accompanied by a drone (a continuous pitched sound) provided by an Indian harmonium. As well as listening to traditional Indian and modern Indian music from Bollywood, we have listened to English musicians who have been inspired by Indian music, such as the Beatles and the Imagined Village.

You can sing along with a Gujarati song ‘Ame sau vala tara bal’ at the following link:

http://www.singup.org/songbank/song-bank/song-detail/view/20-ame-sau-vala-tara-bal/

Klezmer music

2012-02-24T13:14:00.000Z

Oak Class have started on a new topic about Judaism. Mr Ross invited one of his friends to demonstrate to Oak and Elm what Klezmer music sounds like! She was called Seonaidh. We really enjoyed the music and asked Seonadih about Klezmer music, and about a band that she was in. She told Oak that the main 3 instruments are: clarinet, fiddle and an accordion. She also told us that this type of music is often played at weddings. The music started off slowly and then got faster and faster and was very exciting.Miss Carpenter played a song with Seonaidh, and she was fantastic!

Oak Class then learned some Jewish Circle dances in the Hall. First we were shown some basic dance steps and then we split into groups to create our own Circle dances .

Miss Carpenter played her Accordian for us and we each demonstrated the dance in front of the rest of the class. We worked really hard at this and had a great time.

Key Stage Two synagogue trip

2012-02-15T11:43:00.000Z

During the last week of the half term key stage two went on a trip to the Etz Chaim Synagogue in Leeds. Whilst we were there we learnt about the traditions of the Jewish faith and what happens inside a syngagogue.

We were able to do some sketches of some of the signs and symbols that we found inside.

We looked at the different prayer books that they use.

This is where they keep copies of their holy book the Torah.

This is a smaller version of the Torah. It is written and read out in Hebrew. Did you know that Hebrew is written from right to left?

Boys and married women have to wear hats inside a synagogue at all times, as a sign of respect.

We had the opportunity to ask questions and look at the different artefacts they keep inside their synagogue.

Mrs Warren samples some of Elm class' growth potion

2012-02-15T11:30:00.000Z

In Elm class last half term we became a little bit obsessed with Harry Potter and turned our classroom into a potions laboratory!

One of the potions that was made was a growth potion. We decided to test it out on Mrs Warren. How successful do you think our potion was.....

Miss Dowding, Mrs Estell and Mrs Hey - three of the tallest teachers in the school, all had to look UP at Mrs Warren for the first time ever! You can tell by the smile on her face that she was incredibly excited!

Tag Rugby

2012-02-15T11:24:00.000Z

Elm class thoroughly enjoyed their Tag Rugby coaching session. They were even able to teach Miss Dowding a few skills during the session!

Oak Class Spanish

2012-02-03T14:58:00.000Z

Ashfield’s Oak Class

In Oak Class we have Mrs Harper for Spanish. We have been learning about clothes.

Here is Dean dressed up in lots of really silly clothes with Mrs Harper we tried to name all of the clothes that he is wearing. What can you see that he’s wearing? :

A scarf, A tie, A woolly hat, A summer hat, A shirt, A pair of sunglasses, gloves and an umbrella in his hands.

Mrs Harper, is from secondary school (Prince Henry’s Grammar School).

By Grace

Tag Rugby Fun in Year 2

2012-02-02T11:41:00.000Z

Today Year 2 enjoyed a Tag Rugby taster session.

Winter walk

2012-01-25T11:23:00.000Z

Cinderella's Ball

2012-01-25T11:18:00.000Z

An explanation about separating rocksalt

2012-01-25T10:58:00.000Z

Tom’s Big Write

If you want to separate rock salt (salt and sand) you first need to add water as this will dissolve the salt. Then the brown sloppy mixture can be filtered with a funnel and filter paper. Put a funnel into a jug and then put filter paper in the funnel. Carefully pour the mixture into the filter paper. Allow the watery mixture to seep through the filter. The mixture will separate into saltwater and sand. Leave the sand to dry.

Then you have to take a pan, fill it with the saltwater and boil it. This will separate the salt and the water by turning the water into vapour because if a liquid gets hot enough it evaporates, turning it into vapour. To collect the vapour you can take a tray that has been in the freezer and hold it over the pan upside down. The cold will condense the steam back into water, turning it from a gas into a liquid. After a minute the tray will feel wet.

If you check the pan, there should be a white substance at the bottom. That is salt. Overall the sand and salt successfully separate.

Glossary:

Dissolve turns into part of the liquid

Vapour gas/steam

Evaporate turns a liquid into a gas

Condense turns gas into liquid

Pattern day

2012-01-25T10:57:00.001Z

Trip to the shops

2012-01-25T10:45:00.000Z

Key Stage 1 Trip to Abbey House Museum

2012-01-25T09:58:00.000Z

Last Friday Willow and Silver Birch class went on a trip to Abbey House Museum. In class we have been learning about homes from the past. We had such an exciting day exploring the old cobbled streets and learning about life in Victorian times.

Here is how the Victorians washed their clothes:

Hmm, this clothes soap doesn't smell as good as Mummy's washing!

Victorians had to grate soap to make washing powder.

They used a posser to mix laundry while handwashing. This helped to get rid of all the dirt and built fantastic muscles!

Then they took the wet clothes out of the washing tub using tongs.

Victorians used wooden clothes pegs when hanging up clothes to dry.

Celebrating our Successes

2011-11-28T17:05:00.000Z

We want to share with you the success of our pupils

We were delighted that the vast majority of our Y6 pupils gained a level 4 in English (the expected level for their age).
Nearly half of these pupils achieved a level 5 in maths, which is far higher than is expected- what an amazing result!
Overall our pupils performed better than the average for Leeds schools/national expectations.

We will continue to teach our pupils with a fun and exciting curriculum so they achieve the best they possibly can.

Well done to pupils and teachers!!!

Ashfield musicians have got talent!

2011-11-03T18:10:00.000Z

Joshua has only been learning guitar at school for a month, yet he can already play the Queen classic 'We Will Rock You'. Move over Brian May! Follow the link to download an mp3 recording:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bzr-8Q0TxPtUZWEwYmJiNmEtMGVlZS00ZjQ4LTkwYjYtYjEzYzdkOTU2MGVl

Alisha has mastered Taio Cruz's hit 'Dynamite':
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bzr-8Q0TxPtUMzFjN2I2NmUtOGFmOC00NWFlLTlkZmUtYWNhZDFhNDQ1Zjg4

Iyanna has shown excellent musicianship to play a clarinet duet:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bzr-8Q0TxPtUNmRjMjA3MjItMzRkYi00ZmViLWE5NjItMDMxZjAyN2RhNWI3

Times Table Fun in Year 2

2011-10-19T19:01:00.001+01:00

Learning times tables off by heart is one of the most important aspects of Maths.

In Willow Class we have begun by learning our 2, 5 and 10 times tables.

Here we are using the trim trail to learn our 2s.

What is 10 lots of 2?
10 x 2 = Δ

Willow Class Assembly

2011-10-19T18:37:00.000+01:00

Willow Class rounded off their topic on Nelson Mandela by presenting an assembly all about him and the system of apartheid in South Africa. We even had a Mrs Parker look a like introducing our assembly - see if you can spot her in the photos!

After school athletics clubs

2011-10-17T21:07:00.000+01:00

Key Stage One Athletics Club

Key stage one athletics club runs on a Monday straight after school. We have been doing some circuit training practising throwing, catching, jumping and sprinting. Have a look at some of the pictures to see what we've been getting up too....

Look out how strong we are!!

Key Stage Two Athletics Club

Last week we were practising the high jump. We were challenging ourselves to see how high we could jump over the bar. Take a look at some of us in action....

Elm class trip to the Chevin

2011-10-11T18:50:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday 11th October Elm class walked up to the Chevin to take part in some different Autumnal activities. Check out the pictures to see what we got up too....

We were able to identify which trees certain leaves had fallen from using this guide to help us.

We collected leaves and seeds from lots of different trees that had fallen off and were scattered al over the ground.

We came across some different insects, and some snail eggs.

We learnt what plants need to grow and played some games to show how seeds are spread:

We had a lovely morning getting wet and mucky!

Harvest festival

2011-10-11T18:26:00.000+01:00

Last week at Ashfield we had a harvest assembly to celebrate harvest festival. Each class contributed with their own little performance.

Please look through and comment on the pictures. We would love to know what you think!

Silver Birch performed Dingle Dangle Scarecrow for us. They even made their own little scarecrows which they held up for us all to see.

Willow class lead us all in a rendition of cauliflower's fluffy...

Maple class were very brave and sang their harvest song in front of the whole school!

Beech class sang the African song Siya hamba.

Elm class came up with a dance to the song the circle of life. Their movements represented what takes place during harvesting.

Oak class talked to us about why we celebrate harvest, not just here in the UK but in other parts of the world.

Niamh Show and Tell

2011-07-20T11:52:00.000+01:00

Niamh brought some photographs of her holiday for show and tell. This photo is of Niamh andf her sister Isla.

Niamh is sitting on a cannon at Bamburgh Castle.

Niamh is trying archery.

Shake Bar

2011-07-19T19:58:00.001+01:00

The Maples celebrated their fantastic behaviour this year by visiting the shake bar in town.

It was fun to go the milkshake bar because it was exciting (Olivia).

I liked giving the stickers out (Grace).

I liked my smartie milkshake (Evan).

I liked my milkshake (Amy).

We saw a strange thing: a man with a parrot on his shoulder (Bradley).

I liked my chocolate milkshake (Kaitlin).

Frog Frenzy

2011-06-23T11:35:00.000+01:00

K and M arew writing about the tadpoles.

B & R are investigating.

One of the Acorn Children brought tadpoles into the base. We set up an observation area to look at them and do some observational drawings.

What did we learn?

Tadpoles swim a lot and really fast.

How to look after them.

They need pond water.

They turn into froglets first and then into frogs.

The tadpoles eventually lose their tails.

You have to put a rock in the water so they can crawl onto it when they become frogs.

Show and Tell

2011-06-23T09:51:00.000+01:00

Kaitlin found something very interesting in her garden at the weekend. She brought the photos in to show us and then did a 'show and tell' to the whole class!
She told us about what she fed and what they did when they found it.

Can you bring something interesting for show and tell?

The Debate: Should we build a road on the Island of Struay?

2011-06-08T15:00:00.000+01:00

We have been learning about living on an island just like Katie Morag who lives on the Isle of Stuay. Today we were talking about transport on the island and comparing it to transport in Otley. We decided to have a debate: Should we build a road on the Island of Struay? We had a group of old islanders, a group of young islanders and a group of councillors. Each group got together to discuss their reasons for or against building a road, then we held our meeting.
See the pictures below.

At the end of the meeting we had a vote and it was decided that a road would be beneficial to the island because it would make all parts of the island more accessible and it would bring more visitors to the island and therefore more money.

Playground Leaders

2011-06-07T13:38:00.002+01:00

School council expressed an interest in starting up playground leaders for lunch and breaktimes. Miss Bavin has been running the club at Golden Time. The volunteers have been learning playground games, wake-up shake-up routines and will be doing conflict resolution to support children in solving friendship problems.

Wedding Fever

2011-05-26T23:42:00.000+01:00

Our work on the Royal wedding began with recreating what we had seen on the television.

Don't Kate and Wills look fabulous!

The Royal Wedding really inspired the children in Maple and Acorn classes and so we decided to extend the work and look at weddings in general. We decided to invite Mrs Patel in to tell us all about Hindu weddings

She showed us the clothes that people wear.

And we even got to try them on.

Mrs Perring tried on the sari- doesn't she look beautiful!

Pirates and Princesses Day

2011-05-26T23:31:00.001+01:00

Pirates and princesses took over the Early Years unit on Wednesday. Have a look at some of the things they got up to...

We role-played and then wrote a story together.

The Acorns made sandwiches for the party.

We played on the pirate ship.

We wore the hats we'd made earlier in the week.

Arr...

Making our own pirate ship in the large construction area.

Using maps to find treasure.

Exploring Sounds

2011-05-26T18:00:00.002+01:00

Maples have been exploring the sounds that different musical instruments make. Here the children are trying to recreate the sound of the sea.

The Day Pirates Invaded Maple Class- a story by Maple Class

2011-05-26T11:38:00.004+01:00

Yesterday Maple class was taken over by a gang of pirates and princesses.
The Maples began the day by telling their own story about pirates and princesses.

Once upon a time there lived a band of nasty pirates. They had heard about a ball that the princesses were having in Maple Class.

The dastardly pirates kidnapped the beautiful princesses and took them aboard their ship.

The pirates celebrated with rum and dancing.

The princesses- locked away in the ship's dungeon began to cry.

They stopped when they heard the music and decided to have a dance with the pirates.

When the dancing had finished they decided they wanted to stay on the ship and so became pirate princesses.

And they all lived happily ever after.

KS2 Roman Day

2011-05-26T09:53:00.000+01:00

This half term the whole of Key Stage 2 have been using the Romans as a learning topic.

Beech have been using Roman Numerals in Maths, and designing, making and composing descriptive writing pieces about Roman helmets in D.T and Literacy. We have been learning all about the history of the Romans and some of the famous characters in history such as Julius Caeser and the Gladiators.

This week Key Stage 2 had a very special visitor. A real life(!) Roman Centurion came to Ashfield to teach us more about Roman life, show us some artefacts and weapons; teach us some Roman games and pottery skills; and whip us into shape by training us to be a Roman army.

Below are some pictures and video of the Year 3/4 day on Wednesday.

Ella tries on a Roman auxiliary soldier dress.

Roman Games

Getting ready for battle.

This Week in ICT Golden Time Club...

2011-05-20T14:49:00.001+01:00

We have been learning how to create our own
animations using Windows Movie Maker.

Here is some of our finished work:

Musical fun in Willow!

2011-05-10T15:34:00.000+01:00

This afternoon in our music lesson we had great fun exploring pitch using the xylophones.

Golden Time at Ashfield

2011-05-06T15:30:00.000+01:00

This week at ICT Club we decided to take some photographs and video clips of all the different Golden Time Clubs going on around school. We also used Text Ease and Word to write about Golden Time.
See our work below.
Golden time

Golden time is a fantastic way to have fun! There are all sorts of clubs to choose from! For example…

· Fizz books

· Netball/hockey

· I.C.T

· Table tennis

· Messy art

But there’s one other club that everybody dreads…

MINUTES OFF!!!

If this happens it means that you’ll loose time from your

Golden time meaning they’ll be less time to have fun!

One of my favorite clubs is Fizz books! You can go on the internet, play games. Everything!

Concentrating in Construction

Fun in Fizz Books

Great Gardening

Messy Art

Energetic Netball

Solar powered boats

2011-05-03T16:38:00.002+01:00

The Year 5 children from Oak Class and some of the year 5's from Elm class went to West Leed's CLC for the day to learn how to make their own boats that were powered by solar panels. They had to build their boats and connect them up to the solar panels to make their motor power the boat across the water.

Check out some of the pictures of the day and see how well they got on....

The boys are testing how the strength of the sun that will be converted in to energy.

Putting the boat together.....

Showing off their finished boats...

Practice time before the race...

Getting ready to race!

Outside-Water Safety Presentation

2011-04-19T14:48:00.003+01:00

Today Beech class benefitted from an Outside-Water Safety presentation by Leeds City Council, and learnt how to be safe around rivers, lakes, the sea and other open water.

Below is an example of a life-saving technique we learnt.

Traditional Maypole Dancing

2011-04-19T14:41:00.000+01:00

Miss Carpenter helped Beech class perform a Traditional Maypole Dance.

Dream Catchers

2011-03-31T13:36:00.002+01:00

Charlie was really pleased to finish this dream catcher on his last day in the Orchard Centre.

Logan really liked choosing the beads and feathers which he added to decorate the dream catcher.

First we had to make criss-cross shapes across the wire frame.Then we wound the frame with wool.

Josh was pleased with all of his hard work.

Scott took his dream catcher to show every one at school and at home.

Harry finished his and we hung it with the others on our BFG display.

Children in the Orchard Centre have been doing lots of work related to the BFG by Roald Dahl. We have written about our dreams and made dream jars, written about the giants from Sophie's viewpoint and tried to find definitions for all of the BFG's very stange words like 'kidsnatched' and 'strawbunkles'.The most exciting activity was making dream catchers. We think they look wizzpoppingly good!

Stan Kenyon award

2011-03-28T17:23:00.000+01:00

We were very proud to win the overall prize at the prestigeous Stan Kenyon Challenge award. Stan Kenyon himnself said that he was most impressed with the standard of the children's writing, which showed their full understanding of the topic.

Here are some examples of the childrens' writing and their finished models.

Comic Relief Fun!

2011-03-28T12:50:00.000+01:00

Silver Birch in fancy dress for Comic Relief!

Flying the Coup

2011-03-28T08:38:00.000+01:00

The Maples have now said goodbye to their feathered friends as they have been re-homed with a parent. On Thursday we took the opportunity to do some observational drawings of them, we all noticed how much bigger they had got in only a week.

Maple Class Prima Ballerina

2011-03-28T08:32:00.000+01:00

Take a look at O wearing her ballet costume. On Friday 25 March O took her ballet exams, fingers crossed she passed!

Beech Class Den Workshop

2011-03-22T15:27:00.000Z

Beech class were blessed with glorious weather today as Chris from Den Experiments showed us how to work in a team to design and build a den.

The Design Phase

The Build Phase

The Testing Phase

Everyone had an amazing day. THANKS CHRIS!

Something Funny for money!

2011-03-20T16:42:00.000Z

In Elm everyone made a fantastic effort to dress as something funny for money! Check out our outfits...

We especially loved the fairy dances in the something funny for money talent show!

Red Nose Day FUN!

2011-03-18T13:29:00.000Z

We sold Red Nose Day buns

Niamh made some Red Nose Day biscuits to share.

Grace was in charge of the money for the buns.

Oliver made some Red Nose Day buns at home.

Mrs Longstaffe did her circus act for all of us! Here she is as the Strong man!

Silly string fun!

Ball juggling

Red Nose Day FUN!

2011-03-18T13:16:00.000Z

Red Nose Day FUN!

2011-03-18T13:12:00.000Z

Eggsalent News in Maple Class!

2011-03-17T20:55:00.000Z

As I am sure you are all aware by now, Maple Class have become the proud parents of 6 chicks!

The eggs began to crack on Tuesday.

The first chick hatched at lunch time on Tuesday.

Followed by five others on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

Our first task after they hatched was to name them. We wrote down the name choices and then has a class vote. Say hello to...

Horace

Bluebell

Woody

Jess

Jacob

and finally Buzz.

We have been keeping a close eye on them and writing a diary about what the chicks have been doing (though mostly, in the words of Connor, they hav been "fast asleep").

Punctuation Karate

2011-03-08T18:44:00.000Z

Pupils in Oak Class have been practicing their use of punctuation. They created silly positions to remind them of particular pieces of punctuation, to put on their working wall in the classroom. Here are some of them with a simple reminder and example of the job that piece of punctuation can do.

Capital letter and full stop – are the two pieces of punctuation which demarcate a sentence.

An exclamation mark –acts like a full stop and shows:
shock;
anger;
a command;
or something ironic.

A question mark - acts like a full stop and shows that a question has been asked.

An apostrophe for omission shows where a letter is missing, while an apostrophe for possession shows that something belongs to someone or something.

Speech marks - show where direct speech begins and ends.

A comma - can separate items in a list or demarcate clauses in a sentence.

Lazily, Fred lay on the sofa.
In wonderment, I stared into space.
At the new shiny skatepark, Bob attempted a backflip.
Two long days ago, I went to my grandma's house.
Although I love milk chocolate, I hate dark chocolate.
I got some crisps,whilst I was at the shop.

Brackets - are like a little aside to the reader by the author, often showing the author's opinion.

A dash – is used like a comma to separate clauses in a sentence – but with more emphasis.

A colon - says stop – here comes a list.

A semi colon - separates long phrases in a list, which often have commas within them.

An ellipses - says dum dum dum – a cliff hanger – or shows when someone’s though or speech is cut off.

Flex Dance Reports

2011-03-08T18:15:00.000Z

Two members of of Oak Class wrote this report about our Flexdance experience.

In Ashfield, we had an active day on Monday 7th March 2011, from classes Beech to Oak (Y3-Y6). We have been dancing all day long. A very lovely lady called Sam came in to teach us.

All of the classes danced to different songs: Beech class danced to It's On by Camp Rock; Elm class danced to Get your Head In The Game by High School Musical cast and Oak class danced to Dynamite by Taio Cruz. At first some boys at school thought it would be a bit boring, but after about ten minutes, they turned around and said, "I really like this dancing after all."

Each class had a stunning performance to show off all the fabulous things they had learned, at the end of the day. Everyone was enthusiastically joining in with the dance and trying their hardest to make this an excellent performance. All of the children who participated wanted this event to happen again.

On Monday 7th March, each class in KS2 enthusiastically performed a dance, taught by Sam, an adult expert in Flexdance. First half of Beech Class performed Camp Rock 2's It's On.

Then after that fabulous performance, the other half of Beech class and Orchard steped up. One child even did break dancing! A lot of the teachers were astounded!!!

Calmly, Elm class had their share. They danced to High School Musical's Get Your Head In The Game. They all danced to the beat howing excellent rythm.

Eventually, it was Oak Class's turn. They put all their effort, heart and sul into it. They performed Dynamite by Taio Cruz. There was even a lift included in it.

After everyone had danced fabulously, the teachers could not believe that the boys had enjoyed it so much. (Initially most of them weren't that keen.) Everyone got a huge round of applause, however Sam got the biggest round of applause, because KS2 couldn't have done it without her.

Please also look on the main area for a video of all of KS2's dances.

Football Report

2011-03-08T17:55:00.000Z

The football team wrote this report themselves and assured me that it was completely unbiased!

On Friday 4th March, Ashfield had a match against Carlton, on a full sized pitch, with full sized nets.

After the long journey there, we realised that Carlton wanted to play eleven a side, however we only had eight players. This meant that their team had five subs. to swap on and get a break whereas we had none.

Not long after our first striker took the ball and smashed it into the back of the net. This happened two more times - a hat trick! A couple of minutes after, stricker number two came with a smashng goal. We were four goals ahead.

At half time, Carlton scored three goals in a row, which made the score four, three to us.
Finally, the game was over. Luckily, we kept our lead and so we won. Although we were shattered, we fully enjoyed it and would like to play Carlton againb (because we were so well matched) but on our smaller pitch this time.

Ashfield's Got Talent.

2011-03-07T15:24:00.000Z

Key stage two show their diversity and get their groove on, performing Flex Dance routines for the whole school. Check them out...

Beech Class1:

Beech Class 2:

Elm:

Oak:

Monday Morning: Beech class get their groove on...

2011-03-07T12:26:00.000Z

Beech class practising some funky moves for an assembly dance performance.

Victorian Day at Bradford Industrial Museum

2011-03-03T17:10:00.000Z

Oak Class enjoyed their trip to Bradford Industrial Museum, pretending to be Victorial children in the school room for the morning.

A full inspection of hair and nails is carried out before children are allowed into the school room.

Drawing with a ruler!

Writing with an ink pen and ink well

The monitors ensure that everyone has the correct equipment.

Science lessons involve chanting what the teacher says not doing experiments.

A prayer is said everyday.

Design An Ideal Community

2011-03-03T17:00:00.000Z

Oak class have been making models of buildings, which could be part of their ideal community. Mrs Dixon, from Pastures Milk Company, worked with the children to show them how to use recycled products to make these models. The children decided the properties their houses should need and set about designing and making them.

Next they will write a persuasive descriptive explanation for the judges of the Stan Kenyon competition as to why their buildings should be part of an ideal community.

Look in two weeks for these reports and the finished buildings.

2011-03-03T16:55:00.000Z

Oak class learned about controls in ICT, creating a program to operate traffic lights.

They wrote reports about the process and videoed their initial attempts so that they could analyse them together and make improvements from there.

A report about using traffic lights

On CoCo we were learning about traffic lights and how to control them. Consequently, we had to use procedures, outputs and inputs to work the traffic lights, but some people got really annoyed with the

program CoCo because they couldn’t get it right at first.

However, everybody got over their stress and asked each other for help, therefore they got the hang of it.

Since everybody worked well together as a team they managed to get on with their traffic light procedure.

After that people who had finished their procedure got to use a small, black, traffic light that Mrs Brown had made a couple of years ago. The traffic light had bulbs in to make it light up, there was a red plastic film, yellow plastic film and a green plastic film to give it its colour, also it had a buzzer for telling people when it was safe to cross.

Coco traffic lights

In ICT we have been using programmable traffic lights. We had to use a program called CoCo. Originally it was tough but it got gradually easier. We had to plug the traffic lights into a control box, which we had to plug into the computer and if our program worked it would help us cross the corridor. But people were on scooters which made the corridor exceptionally treacherous! It was exceedingly enjoyable.

Coco Traffic Lights

In ICT we have been experimenting on a program called Coco on a file called Traffic Lights. Mrs Brown has been helping us on this challenging but pleasurable project. Whilst we have been working on this, Mrs Brown and some other pupils in our class have been building an amusing model of some realistic traffic lights. Sometimes we got befuddled but we never gave up because we had some very accommodating teachers such as: Mrs Brown,

Mrs Whitehead and Mrs Thompson.

Subsequently, when Mrs Brown had finished building her masterpiece, came the satisfying part. Mrs Brown asked

Miss Bavin whether we could borrow some miniature Early Years scooters. Zooming across the floor on our scooters was exhilarating and it made us feel jovial. Using the procedures to control the traffic lights enabled us to traverse the corridor safely.

Coco traffic lights

We have been using CoCo to make a list of actions, (also known as a procedure) for the traffic lights. It has been a breathtaking experience. However, some people found it arduous to write procedures. Nevertheless, week by week, it progressively got easier.

We first tested it in the classroom, then we were divided into groups. Down at the I.C.T suite, we started making our problematical procedures. The procedures came to a difficult part. But eventually we managed to get past that and ended up completing our procedures.

We watched videos of our first attempts and decided what to improve together.

Video 1 The lights went straight to red and the driver drove dangerously through them.

Video 2. Orange and red lights came on at the same time.

Video 3. The driver was an amber gambler. The red light needed to stay on for longer.

Video 4. Perfection!

World Book Day

2011-03-03T14:23:00.000Z

Here is Willow Class all dressed up for World Book Day.

Can you spot Aslan the Lion, Sleeping Beauty or our Periodic Table?

Who else can you see?

Book Day in Maple Class

2011-03-03T14:06:00.000Z

In Maple Class we dressed up as characters from nursery rhymes to link with our theme over the next few weeks. Can you guess who we are from the clues made up by Maisie?

This character got scared by a spider!

This character has a garden.

This character got washed away by the rain.

Whatever the Weather

2011-03-02T16:47:00.000Z

Our Geography topic at the moment is Whatever the Weather. Here are some of the activities we have been taking part in:

What shall I pack for a trip to Antarctica?

Can you locate 3 countries: UK, Australia and Antarctica that have contrasting climates?

And today's weather is ...

Enjoying a story with Miss. Meg in Orchard

2011-03-02T16:46:00.000Z

Children were engaged as Miss. Meg read to a group of children during World Book Week.

Music on the playground

2011-03-02T16:43:00.000Z

When it was sunny Miss Carpenter took Elm class outside to play and sing some musical games.

Otley Science Fair

2011-03-02T16:40:00.002Z

Oak Class learned about sustainable energy with Dr Marty Jopson.

We especially focussed on solar energy because of our solar panels.

Dr Jopson helped us to create a solar game with pingpong balls to entertain customers at the fair.

We researched different types of energy to inform the citizens of Otley. This research will be posted soon.

Fun with pushes and pulls!

2011-03-02T16:39:00.000Z

T , H and L enjoyed using our new construction kit and made vehicles that could be moved by pushing and pulling.

Solar Powered Hoover Wheelie Boots- They're 'wheelie' good!

2011-03-02T16:37:00.000Z

For our 'Fix it for the Future' Challenge the children completed learning logs with the aim of designing an eco-friendly gadget. Here you can see C's design which includes wheeled boots connected to a solar powered hoover.

Fun in Maths!

2011-03-02T16:34:00.000Z

This morning the children were set the task of measuring themselves up for a new outfit. They started off by deciding which measurements they would need and then paired up to measure each other.

Dance

2011-03-02T16:33:00.000Z

In PE we listened to some robotic music and came up with our own movements to create a sequence in time with the music.

We started off coming up with three movements in pairs and then joined another pair to create our final sequence.

What do you think of our performances? Can you give us any suggestions to improve our dances next time?

Musical Instruments

2011-03-02T16:19:00.000Z

In Elm class we have designed and made our own musical instruments. Check out a few of our examples:

Road Safety Talk

2011-03-01T16:35:00.000Z

Today we had a visit from 2 Police Officers who came to talk to us all about road safety.

These children are demonstrating the Green Cross Code:

Stop, look, listen and cross safely with an adult.

We then talked about how to cross safely using a Pedestrian crossing and what the sequence of the traffic lights looks like.

Finally we had a visit from Percy the Police Car!

Writing Instructions

2011-03-01T11:57:00.000Z

Here is a really good example of an instructional text.Perhaps you could try making a sock puppet at home.

Instructions on how to make a horse sock puppet

What you need

Brown sock
Furry wool
2 buttons
2 googly eyes
Red felt for a tongue
Black felt for the ears
Needle for sewing

What to do

Take a sock.
Cut out a red felt circle for the mouth.
Sew the mouth onto the sock.
Wrap the wool round your fingers.
Knot it together.
Cut one side of the loop.
Sew the mane onto the puppet.

Percy the Police Car

2011-03-01T11:44:00.001Z

Today children in Acorn and Maple classes had a visit from Percy the police car. He came to tell us all about road safety. The Maple Class children then composed their own sentences to describe the photographs that we took.

The police car said hello. (Boe)

Olivia, Bradley and Nathaniel are doing the actions for road safety. (Maisie)

The actions are stop, look and listen. (Olivia)

PC Lal showed us how to use the traffic lights.

Sock Puppets

2011-03-01T11:44:00.000Z

The children from the Orchard centre have been making sock puppets. Each child designed and made their own puppets and then recorded how they made it by writing instructions. We think they look fantastic so please meet...Snakey, Freddie the Horse, Beak Boy, Fergus, Jack Sparrow the Werewolf and Piggy.

After writing the instructions we wrote and practiced a play which we are hoping to show to some other classes in school.

Wildlfe area

2011-02-28T15:21:00.000Z

A group of students from Shipley College have worked really hard to improve our wildlife area. It was looking very overgrown and full of nettles and in need of some TLC. They managed to clear, trim and repair areas such as the woodland walk, the seating area and the pond.Thank you so much to all the students we really appreciate your hard work.

We are now looking for signs that the frogs have returned and wondering if there will be any frog spawn soon. Watch this space!

Oriental Dancing in assembly

2011-02-18T13:19:00.000Z

Beech are the Trim Trail Testers

2011-02-17T12:03:00.000Z

Earlier, Beech class took some well deserved time outside the classroom to give the Trim Trail a thorough workout!

PE in Maple Class

2011-02-16T15:03:00.000Z

The Maples are a very energetic bunch and we love PE on Fridays! At the moment we are concentrating on travelling in different ways- moving under and over different equipment. We are learning to talk in sentences about what we have been doing. Some children are even trying to evaluate their work by saying what they have done well and what they could do better next time!

Green Base House

2011-02-16T15:00:00.000Z

The Maples and Acorns have finally been able to use the outdoor house and have been very excited about it! There has been some fantastic role-play work going on and I have had some wonderful imaginary cups of tea lately!

The Green Team

2011-02-16T14:39:00.000Z

Ashfield has a 'Green Team' who are enthusiastic about saving our planet. Last year they ran successful campaigns to get everyone recycling and turning the standby buttons off . Have a look at our page on the school website http://www.ashfieldprimary.ik.org/p_Eco_School_Page.ikml to see the fantastic work they have done so far.
The team will be returning to action after half term looking for ways in which they can help make our school even more eco friendly.
Do you have any ideas for how we can make school more environmentally friendly? Post your ideas and let us know!

Fairy Tale Fun

2011-02-11T13:08:00.000Z

The children in Maple Class have been re-telling lots of fairy tales using a range of props. We particularly liked using the new puppets.

The children have set up their own role-play area. They decided what props they would need to help them re-tell the stories they have been looking at.

The Maples are getting very good at re-telling traditional tales. They loved the 3 Bears Cottage and enjoyed showing the Acorns how to use the props to re-tell the story.

Kung Hei Fat Choi

2011-02-11T13:04:00.000Z

Happy New Year!
The children in Maple and Acorn Classes have been learning all about Chinese New Year.

In red base we made our own Chinese lanterns, which really helped us develop our cutting skills.

We made fans, which we had to fold carefully.

We created our own traditional wishing tree. We wrote what we wished for on red paper and then threw our orange and red paper on to the tree.

We explored Chinese writing and used printing materials to recreate our own.

We practised using chop sticks in preparation for our visit to the Chinese restaurant.

The children also looked at traditional lion dancing, they used fans, parasols and musical instruments to create their own version of the dance.

Acorn Class have a taste of China

2011-02-11T12:52:00.000Z

The Early Years unit was the scene of much excitement on Friday when Mr Chan arrived to cook Chinese food for the children in Acorn Class.

The children turned red base into their own restaurant, laying and setting the table foir just the right amount of people.

The children really enjoyed the noodles.

The prawn toast was absolutely delicious!

Early Years has never been so popular- lots of pupils and staff came to visit us that day- we wonder why???

All the staff and pupils would like to say a big thank you to Mr Chan for cooking us such wonderful food and helping us to understand a bit more about chinese culture.

Maple Class Visit 'Po Sang' Restaurant

2011-02-11T12:37:00.000Z

As part of our work on Chinese New Year, Maple Class visited the 'Po Sang' Chinese restaurant in Ilkley.

We were all exhausted after Miss Bavin speed-marched us down to the bus station.

All the Maples tried to use the chop sticks- some children were very good after they had practised in the unit the day before.

It was nice to sit with our friends at the restaurant.

We tried lots of food including noodles, sweet and sour chicken, prawn toast, spring rolls and prawn crackers.

Silver Birch at the Toy Museum!

2011-02-04T12:34:00.000Z

                                  The children surrounded by toys at the Toy Museum!

The museum had lots of old toys the children enjoyed looking at here is a 'Zoetrope!'

Silver Birch`s class trip to Ilkley Toy and Manor House Museum!

2011-02-02T12:42:00.000Z

The class waiting for the bus to Ilkley!

2011-01-24T15:43:00.000Z

In Elm class we have been looking at discussion writing. We held our own class debate about the issue of whether or not children should have to go to school.

Both sides were able to put across their argument fairly and equally, thanks to our chairperson who kept everyone in order.

It helped us to understand how important it is to always consider both sides of an argument, which helps us to draw our own final conclusions.

Phonics in the Snow

2011-01-19T14:14:00.000Z

When it snowed recently, we didn't let the weather stop our learning! Instead we had our phonics session out in the snow, it was wonderful to write in!

Wonderful Writing!!!

2011-01-19T14:11:00.000Z

Children in Maple and Acorn Classes have been buzy bees lately, producing some wonderful writing!

Key Stage 1 Performance

2011-01-19T14:07:00.000Z

Just a few snaps of the wonderful performance that KS1 gave at Christmas, we hope it brings back fond memories!

Musical Instrument Designs

2010-12-15T10:31:00.000Z

Children in Oak class have researched, designed and made their own musical instruments. They were designed to create suitable sound effects for our school production 'Scrooged'. Their design specification stated they had to be made almost entirely from reused materials such as plastic bottles, biscuit tins and cardboard boxes. They had to think about how they would make their instrument vibrate to create suitable noises. Some children even thought about how to create quiet/loud and high/low pitched noises.

Tom explains how his musical instrument creates spooky noises.

Tim created a design which allowed the musician to change the tension of the elastic bands to create higher and lower pitched sounds.

Charly included portability in her design specification, therefore she included a useful neck strap in her design.

Leearna explains her design and reflects upon how she would change her design if she had the opportunity to make it again.

New maths topic!

2010-12-09T14:02:00.000Z

The girls giving each other intructions with Santa`s sleigh using the new positional words they have learned!

Born in a Barn programmes!

2010-12-09T13:59:00.000Z

A, L and J designing their "Born in a Barn" programme covers.

Born in a Barn!

2010-12-09T13:51:00.000Z

J shows his design for the programme cover of our Christmas production "Born in a Barn!"