Ripon Cathedral School Update

Week ending Friday 2nd December 2022

Christmas is coming....

Christmas Fair - Thursday 8th December

It has been 3 years since our last Christmas Fair. Please do come along after school on Thursday 8th December from 3.15pm - 5.00pm. There will be a range of stalls and activities that will help to raise funds for the school. For any animal lovers, you will even be able to pet a baby goat with its mother!

Christmas Jumper and Christmas Dinner Day - Wednesday 7th December

We are all looking forward to our annual Christmas lunch on Wednesday 7th December.To help make the occasion even more festive, children are more than welcome to come into school wearing a Christmas jumper!

Coffee and Cake Monday 5th December at drop off

On Monday 5th December, after drop off, the governors will be sharing cake and coffee (or tea if you would prefer!) in the school hall. This is an opportunity to chat to governors, along with our inclusion and SEND lead, Mrs Spencer.

We do hope you can come along.

Money day

reception and Nursery learn about money and work on a visit to Spa Gardens

Early Years Visit to the Spa Gardens

What a fun-filled morning of learning Nursery and Reception had visiting the Spa Gardens today. The children walked brilliantly, observing many jobs that people do to earn money and putting into practice the road safety knowledge they have learnt about in school. Great fun was had exploring the Spa Gardens for evidence of the seasons and we even managed to stay quiet for long enough to be able to observe the birds and squirrels without them moving away! After finding everything for our seasonal treasure hunt, there was just enough time to have fun playing amongst the autumn leaves before setting off to Thomas the Bakers where each child bought a delicious gingerbread treat. A big thank you to Thomas the Bakers who were very accommodating of the 36 excited little learners who came to visit them! We have thoroughly enjoyed spending our Money Day learning that adults go to work to earn money and putting into practice how we can spend money to buy things that we need and lovely little treats like gingerbread men too!

Work in the community By Year 1

Year 1 thought about individual strengths, interests and weaknesses inside and outside of school. We thought about strengths and interests needed for different jobs in the community and then drew what job we would like to do and the strength or interest we have that would help us to be good at that job.

"I want to be a specsavers man so they can see." - George

" I want to be a vet because I love animals." - Sophia

" I want to be an artist, I am good at drawing." - Felix

Later, we thought about people whose job it is to help us in the community. We initially thought of police, doctors and firefighters but then we came up with lots more ideas including: dentists, opticians, shop workers and swimming teachers.

Year 2 investigate wants and needs

In Year 2 today, we had a discussion about what money actually is and the different ways in which we can spend it, use it, and define it!

Harvey – Money can measure a person’s wealth.

Hugo – Money measures the value of different things. Some things are more expensive, some things are cheap.

Lottie – People use money all over the world but sometimes it looks different to ours in the UK.

Skye – Money is a physical thing or it can be a bank transfer that is accepted as a payment for something you want or need to buy.

We did some activities looking at the different values of money, how we can organise it and the different ways in which we can total up our money. We had a class discussion on what we think we need to buy with our money, and what we want to buy with our money and the differences between those items and the difference between their importance. Year 2 also came up with some lovely ideas on how we can keep our money safe, and where we can keep our money safe. We had suggestions such as: the bank, keeping it safe with our parents, in a safe, in a piggy bank, and in your purse, wallet or hand bag!

Year 3 - What is a budget?

In Year 3 we discussed what a budget is and why it is important. We talked about what is happening to prices at the moment and why people might not be able to afford things. The children thought about things that we need compared to things that we want. Using our budgeting skills, we worked out if we could afford all the items we needed on our shopping list, did we need to put anything back? Finally, we priced up a healthy meal for our family.

Year 4 Money Challenge

The children in Year 4 combined their learning in Design Technology (DT) with Money Day. Mrs Shawcross set up a special shop where children could buy items to help make their DT gifts. They had to think carefully about their budget and the items that they could afford for £2. We look forward to seeing how they use the materials to create an end product.

Year 5 explore aspirations and workplace stereotypes

The children in Year 5 have been identifying job interests and aspirations for the future. They thought about occupations that they would like to pursue, such as footballers, forensic scientists and builders and the associated skills that would be needed to achieve goals. The children thought about the qualifications needed for different roles and the importance of education.

Year 6 learn about managing money

Year 6 have learnt about managing a budget, debt and gambling. We looked at what gambling is, the negative consequences of gambling, how it can be addictive and lead to debt. We discussed the importance of knowing when to quit if people choose to gamble. We found out about how debt can affect your life and the lives of others and looked at the support in place for anyone having trouble with gambling or debt. We also looked at a model pay slip and learnt about the automatic deductions that are taken for national insurance and tax. We researched the cost of monthly bills and utilities and calculated how much we would have left over from the average wage in the UK. We were all quite surprised to learn that money never stretches as far as we would like!

Year 3 STEM Project, posting biscuits

Year 3 have successfully completed their STEM project this week. They have been investigating how to send biscuits safely in the post. The project started by understanding how fragile biscuits are, by making them to take home (without being damaged). Year 3 thought it was important to evaluate existing packaging to inform their own designs and looked at a range of biscuit products. Maths knowledge was a must to create nets of 3D shapes, which they then transformed into packaging using DT cutting and joining techniques. They did this using computed aided design to inform their design ideas. The class thoroughly enjoyed solving this biscuit-based problem, discovering design problems and working together to discuss how they could be solved.

Question of the week

Spiritual Council have developed a new set of 10 Big Questions to make us all think! We have been exploring some of their questions in worship and this week we thought about the question posed by Ariana in Year 5, 'What makes us human?' Each class shared their ideas and we had some great responses.

'God chose us to love one another and look after the world.' Year 4

'We can feel kind and show compassion to others.' Year 4

'Our personalities are unique and we have friends.' Year 3

'Our facial expressions make us human.' Year 3

' Our genes make us human.' Year 1

'Our DNA and individual characteristics make us human.' Year 6

'It is about the way we think and are able to reason.' Year 6

'We have opportunity to explore our world and work.' Year 2

'We have the freedom to be ourselves and live life in all its fullness.' Year 2

'Our emotion and feelings and how we express ourselves.' Year 5

Stars of the Week

Every Friday we share who is star of the week in each class in our Celebration Worship.

Year 1

Exceptional effort in phonics lessons and nativity practice.

Year 2

Isabelle for trying her hardest with her assessments and being kind and inclusive with everyone.

Year 3

Freya for an outstanding non-chronological report on Russia. She researched and compiled interesting information. It was brilliant. Well done.

Year 4

Missy for having an amazing attitude with all learning especially in maths. Well done Missy.

Year 5

Alanya for her increased independence across all subjects, answers given in class and super gymnastics.

Year 6

Jack for having an improved growth mindset this week, working hard in maths and participating well during lessons.

Phones and technology

Just a reminder that children should not bring mobile phones into school along with smart watches that connect to phones or take photographs. We do allow children in Year 5 and Year 6, who have permission to walk home, to have a phone for safety reasons. However, they must be handed in to a member of staff at the start of the day and must not be used whilst on the school premises.