“On Your Bikes Burley!” Lots of bike related activities have taken place this term including the arrival of our brand new bike shed. It was officially opened by Hannah C from Year 3/4 after she won the design a Tshirt competition. After completing a ‘Safe Route to School’ session, led by Emily from Sustrans, Year 6 are now able to cycle to school. Emily has also completed sessions with many year groups with the ‘Remove the Stabilizers’ sessions proving very popular. Year 6 spent three afternoons taking part in the ‘Bikeability’ scheme run by Bradford Council. After an initial assessment and briefing, the training took place around the streets of Burley. The children were shown how to cycle safely on the streets and the need to be aware of possible dangers around them.
A Very Wet Trip – Part One It rained torrentially all day but it didn’t stop Year 1/2 having a fantastic time at Harlow Carr, Harrogate. The day started in the Learning Centre, looking carefully at unusual seeds and planting lettuces. The second session allowed the children to explore the gardens. They visited the treehouse, maze, birdhouse, ‘logness monster’ and park. The trip was arranged to initiate the creative curriculum theme of ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’.
Linking Schools: Byron – Burley The link activities with Byron Primary School have continued to grow this year. Lots of work and ideas have been shared between the schools and we have visited one another on a few occasions. Year 5 visited Byron for a day this term completing music, art and environmental activities followed by Byron visiting us for more shared activities. Year 1 have also enjoyed a visit to Byron this term where they took part in team games.
A Very Wet Trip – Part Two The weather has really tested us this term and... yet again the heavens opened on the day of a trip. On what turned out to be a record breaking day for rainfall, Year 5/6 set off on their trip to Bolton Abbey. Spotting a range of river features was the aim of the outing to make real the learning from the classroom. The children's attitude to defeating the horrendous conditions was fantastic; they set about enjoying the trip and learned as much from it as possible. A huge thank you to the Cavendish Pavilion who allowed 100 very wet and muddy children into their newly refurbished restaurant and even provided hot drinks. Without that opportunity to dry out and eat our lunches in the warmth, we would have had to come back early.
Award Winning Author Visit A group of Year 5s (and approximately 20 children from other local schools) thoroughly enjoyed spending a day with the famous Author Wes Magee. They learnt all about Wes's experiences as a writer as well as working together in a workshop to create their own books.
The Secret Diary of an Olympic Athlete Year 5/6 wowed their audience with their performance ‘The Secret Diary of an Olympic Athlete’. The very topical play told the story of how the trials and tribulations of school PE lessons had helped to turn a person who hated sport into a gold medal winning tri-athlete.
Water-Sports Day Yet another casualty of the weather! We tried to run sports day twice and the weather beat us both times with rain falling and a very boggy field. A real disappointment for the children and the staff – especially Mrs Brumfitt who spends so long getting it ready and had worked hard this year to change the format so everything could happen in the afternoon. Hopefully all year groups will find a moment of dry weather to hold a mini sports day before we break up. Fingers crossed for next year.
Go! Key Stage One children were entertained with a theatre performance titled ‘Go’. Through following the story of a young boy called Frankie, the children learnt about the value of a balanced diet and the five a day challenge. They were also shown the importance of exercise and found out how the heart works.
An Olympic Effort On the week beginning 28th May, we held an Olympic celebration. Throughout the week, the children worked both in their classes and with other children across the school. As representatives of different countries, they took part in lots of exciting learning opportunities. There were both sporting and creative events available. The week started with an opening ceremony and ended with a closing ceremony to celebrate the great achievements of the children. By the end of the week, many children were walking around proudly wearing their especially produced Burley Oaks bronze, silver and gold medals. T-shirts were presented to children for having shown true Olympic spirit. Some of the work which was produced during the week is now on display in an exhibition at the Manor House in Ilkley. It will be there all over the summer so pop in and have a look. We wanted to end the week with a bang: something exciting and unusual which would involve lots of our community. To link in with our Royal Jubilee celebrations, it was decided to attempt to break the Guinness World Record of “The Most People Wearing Paper Hats at a Single Venue”. After three red hot, sunny days, the challenge day arrived and the rain began! Undeterred, we endeavoured to carry on to complete a wet and soggy attempt. The number of people through the gates was a staggering 525. 23 people had to be removed from the final number as hats had to be worn throughout the 11 minute attempt. By the end, this was proving quite tricky with the wind and the hats deteriorating by the minute. Therefore, our final recorded number of participants was 502. The current record is 390 so once verification is complete, we are hoping we can say “Burley Oaks Primary School – World Record Holders!”
5…4…3…2…1…Star Centre Mrs Blaythorne’s English group had an amazing morning at the Star Centre, Keighley. They learnt about space with incredible hands on experiences. They undertook life – like Mission Control simulations, drove a planetary rover, conducted experiments in the laboratory, put on a space suit, travelled to mars and collected rocks - all in one morning. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the photos!
Wow Starts When possible we try to kick start our new themes with an exciting start to get the children interested and engaged immediately. Year 3/4 started back after the Easter break as Ancient Greeks. Throughout the day, they learnt about the origins of the Olympics, found out about Greek culture and traditions, tasted some Greek-style food and learnt to speak Greek too! Year 5/6 were taken into the hall and found a strange inflatable tent had been erected which was a mobile planetarium. Once inside, there was a 360° view of the night skies.
Sculpture On Display Year 3/4 made some fabulous clay tiles showing different buildings in Burley-in-Wharfedale. The tiles were made into a 3D sculpture which now sits proudly in the village library. Mrs Ashton and Mr Edwards would like to apologize for having to make lots of noise in the library constructing the wooden frame…sshhhhhhhh!
Busy, Busy Reception As always, the children in Reception have been busy throughout the term. A visit to Burley playground and a Wheel Day helped them investigate forces. You may also have spotted them around the streets of Burley when they held their own special Olympic torch relay. This term is also a really important time in Reception for making sure the children and parents joining our school in September are ready and positive. There is an opening evening for parents, reading sessions for the children (with coffee and biscuits for parents), Burley Little School pay a visit, our staff meet the children in their nursery setting and then there is the hugely popular Teddy Bears' Picnic.
"Roll Up, Roll Up!" A group of Year 5/6 children have taken part in an Enterprise Club this year. You may remember from the Spring term edition that the children (in two teams) entered a competition to pitch their ideas for a market stall to a Dragon’s Den panel. Our successful teams were invited to run a stall for a day in Keighley and to compete in the Market Challenge. They had to work hard to source and order their stock, calculate their profit margins and ensure their stall was eye catching. On the day the children were fantastic entrepreneurs who worked extremely hard to set up their stall and run it confidently. At the end of the day, the Stationery Group had managed to break even whilst 'Football Mad' made over £100 profit. Well done and thank you to the parents who helped on the day.
A Fond Farewell to Year 6 Congratulations and good luck to our Year 6 pupils who will be leaving us at the end of the year to move on to their secondary schools. Following on from the SAT tests, the children are busy in the last term rehearsing their performances and taking part in activities to celebrate their school experiences. It is also our priority to ensure that all children are prepared and confident about their move. The Transition We have very strong links with Ilkley Grammar School and the other schools the children move onto it. As well as IGS, we have children moving to Ermyisteds, St Mary’s and Woodhouse Grove this year. The children who go to IGS are involved in three transition events: discovery day, welcome morning and sports day. Unfortunately, the sports day was cancelled this year due to the bad weather. IGS have visited our school to talk to the children and there has been a ‘delegate’ scheme where identified children have experienced further opportunities to find out about and visit the school. All the children went to the Metro Centre, Bradford, to have training on using public transport to get to school. The Celebration To congratulate the children for all their hard work and to celebrate their time at Burley Oaks, Year 6 enjoyed a day trip to Flamingo Land. It was a fabulous day, especially as the sun was shining and the park was nearly empty - meaning no queues! You may have spotted the children wearing their leavers’ hoodies which were specially designed with the names of each Year 6 child on. The Leavers’ Disco was a super night of dancing! Year 6 will spend their final hour at Burley Oaks performing their leavers’ concert to their parents and the school. Handkerchiefs at the ready!