Yeadon Westfield Infant SchoolOur blogs
Date: 13th Feb 2026 @ 2:30pm
Where has the time gone? The children settled back into the rhythm of school brilliantly after their Christmas break, and it has been a joy to see how quickly they re-engaged with learning.
Our topic this term has been Castles, and the children have been thoroughly captivated from the very start. Our areas of provision have allowed the children to explore what castles look like, what life was like inside them, and even how castles were attacked and defended!
Literacy
In English, we explored The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, where the children reimagined the traditional tale of The Three Little Pigs. This time, the story focused on the three little wolves and the Big Bad Pig. The children created their own alternative endings, deciding what happened to the Big Bad Pig, and their ideas were imaginative, humorous, and a real joy to read.
The children also spent time exploring The Tunnel. They rewrote the story in the first person, imagining themselves as the hero. Their writing showed excellent use of descriptive language, particularly through expanded noun phrases, and they carefully sequenced events using time adverbials. Miss Dales and Mrs Sharp have been blown away by the quality of the children’s writing. We are continuing to work on punctuation, neat handwriting, and spelling, particularly Common Exception Words.
Topic (Science, History, Geography & Art)
Our learning across the wider curriculum has been closely linked to our castles theme. In geography, the children have been using maps and locating Skipton Castle. In history, we learned how castles were attacked and defended, as well as how toilets have changed over time. The children were very relieved to discover that we no longer use moss and a stick after going to the toilet!
In science, lessons have been very practical as we explored the properties of materials and discussed which materials would be best for building a castle. We concluded our work on martials by conducting an experiment to see which material would work best to keep a teddy bear’s feet dry!
In art, the children have been designing and creating a personal Coat of Arms that represents them. Over five weeks, they developed their drawing and painting skills, explored texture, and produced some fantastic final pieces that they were very proud of.
Maths
We have been extremely busy in maths this half term. The children have covered place value, addition, subtraction, fractions (½ and ¼), and measuring. Learning has been very hands-on, with lots of practical resources used to support understanding. We will continue to consolidate these skills next half term. Addition and subtraction can be particularly tricky concepts to master, so any extra practice at home would be greatly appreciated.
PE
In PE, our focus has been on skipping, and the progress the children have made has been outstanding. All adults in school have commented on how skilled and confident the children have become this year.
The children were also visited by the Super Skipper Festival for an additional skipping workshop. Jodie worked with the children on a range of skills, including the side straddle, single bounce, and side swing, among others. She commented on how fabulous the children were, praising their politeness, engagement, and how capable they were throughout the session. During our outdoor PE sessions, the children have been working in pairs and larger groups to attack and defend targets.
Reading
The children in Year 2 take part in whole-class reading sessions almost daily. These sessions help to develop confidence, pace, fluency, comprehension, and reading with expression. Please continue to read at home with your child at least three times a week.
Reading books should be returned on Monday mornings and will be changed and sent home again on Monday afternoons. Our library day is Tuesday.
Thank you again for your continued support this half term. It has been a busy and exciting one. If you have any questions, please speak to a member of the Year 2 team and we will be happy to help.
Many thanks,
Mrs Sharp
Date: 13th Feb 2026 @ 2:25pm
Well we’ve done it, another half term completed. The children have once again worked hard and have been so engaged with their learning. They are loving the topic on Castles especially making their own Coat of Arms in our art lessons. They know all about why and where castles were built, who lived in them and how they were attacked and defended. Hopefully, they can also tell you the names of all the different parts of a castle. Try asking them what arrow loops are! The children are now well prepared for when we visit Skipton Castle in the Summer Term. I’m sure you will enjoy looking at all their work during the shared learning visits.
The children have learnt about keeping safe around medicines, when to take them and who can give them. In Science they have learnt about different materials and have investigated material properties. They really enjoyed the investigation to find a suitable material to make some waterproof boots for a teddy! They love being scientists. In RE they have learnt about making good choices and they have had some interesting discussions! The weather hasn’t allowed for as much time in our outside provision but the children have still been physically active with extra time in the hall accessing different games areas. We have also had time to bake Medieval bread and learn about Chinese New Year. The children have also been thinking about how to keep them selves safe on the internet. This is so important so please take some time to talk to your child about this.
We are so proud of the progress the children are making in maths, reading and writing. Please find time at home to read with your child as it really makes a difference and remember to send the reading books back in every Wednesday! Library books are changed on a Tuesday.
It has been another busy half term and we are now half way through the year! Thank you for your continued support. See you next term and hopefully we will see some sunshine!
Mrs Whitehead and the Year 1 Team
Date: 13th Feb 2026 @ 2:24pm
Wow, where has time gone? Another half term done and dusted! We now have Miss Holmes and Mrs Shaw in Reception and the children have adapted to this change so well. They’ve had another amazing half term of learning through play, exploring new resources and becoming an integrated part of the school.
We have spent a week thinking about E-safety and the importance of asking a grown up for help if we are unsure about anything when using tablets, computers or other devices. The children have listened to some lovely stories that cover the importance of staying safe online.
In phonics and literacy, the children have been focusing on recognising digraphs and have been working hard on their letter formation when writing words and sentences. They all continue to try so hard and it is a joy to watch them grow in confidence each and every day.
The children are challenging themselves when reading in school and hopefully are enjoying sharing their reading books at home. Thank you for your continued support with this. We are asking that you try to hear your child read at least three times a week and leave a comment in the yellow reading record. Please return your child’s reading book to school by Wednesday and we will send a new one out every Friday.
The children have continued to work hard in maths. This half term we have covered adding, subtracting and sharing with numbers to 10. We are encouraging the children to count objects reliably up to ten and developing the skills of counting objects to 20 (and beyond). We are now working on the numbers 11-20. We are really proud of how the children engage during our carpet sessions and then independently access their own learning through our provision.
Tapestry is working well. Thank you for sending in photos and videos of your children at home, keep sending them in. We love seeing what they get up to and we think it is equally important for you to see how happy and busy they are in school! Please remember to 'like' any of our Tapestry posts so we can see who we are reaching.
Next half term we will be thinking about Fairy Tales and story language. The children will be working in groups to retell the stories. If you have any fairy tales at home, please share them with your children over the holidays.
Enjoy your break and we look forward to another exciting term in Reception.
Team Reception
xxxx
Date: 13th Feb 2026 @ 2:22pm
This term we have welcomed Mrs Lofthouse and also some new children and we have been so proud with how they have settled, begun to make friends and been welcomed by our old children into our Nursery team.
Our focus this half term has been Nursery Rhymes and the children have loved singing (with real gusto!) and acting them out over the past few weeks. We've enjoyed Humpty Dumpty, Incy Wincy Spider, Old McDonald had a farm and Once I caught a fish alive. Our favourite so far though has been Miss Polly had a Dolly. This week we have turned our home corner into a doctor's surgery and we have witnessed a very organised doctor’s office with children taking lots of messages and writing notes and also many successful treatments and operations!
In phonics we have been continuing to fine tune our listening skills, orally blend words and learning to clap the syllables in words. We have been practising speaking in sentences and making sure we pause between the words and say them clearly. We have also begun learning our sounds and the children have impressed us so much by remembering them and saying them correctly!! So far, we have learnt, s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,g,o.c and k
In maths we have been working on our counting skills. The children are getting brilliant at remembering to touch an object first and then say its name. a vital skill to have when counting accurately in Reception. We have also been continuing our work on amounts and have been investigating for example capacity, talking about “too much, too little and just right”.
In provision, we have tested our observational skills bird watching, spotting different birds in our outdoor environment. Inside we have also focused on our fine motor skills, practising using scissors correctly and developing our pincer grip using tweezers to sort pom poms and free spiders from a web.
With all this rain we have been taking advantage of developing our gross motor skills in the sensory room. We’ve had a great time rolling, climbing and balancing.
We all hope you have a wonderful break and we'll see you next term.
Date: 13th Feb 2026 @ 1:01pm
We come to the end of a very, very rainy half term! It has definitely not dampened the spirits of the children. The learning and enjoyment has continued non stop! I love this term as it is when children really start to fly as they feel confident and ready for a challenge – even more than usual!
STARS Before and After School Club
Date: 28th Jan 2026 @ 8:44am
Date: 28th Jan 2026 @ 8:31am
This week, the Year 2 children took part in a skipping workshop, developing new skills and having great fun along the way.
Date: 15th Jan 2026 @ 1:46pm
In computing, KS1 have been learning about algorithms and debugging. They played on Google Quick Draw which uses AI based on a machine-learning algorithm trained on millions of past drawings! We had lots of fun.
Date: 13th Jan 2026 @ 11:50am
Welcome back to all our staff and children
Date: 13th Jan 2026 @ 11:44am
The children have settled well into the new term and it is lovely to hear about all the things they have been doing over the Christmas break.
Date: 19th Dec 2025 @ 12:20pm
Date: 19th Dec 2025 @ 10:02am
This half term the weather has got colder but this hasn’t stopped Reception enjoying our outdoor area. The children are using the outdoor space incredibly well and are developing their physical, imaginative, speaking, listening and social skills whilst they play. We have had lots of themes in the classroom including Dinosaurs Love Underpants, Stick Man and many more!
Children have been working hard on developing their fine motor skills. They have been working extremely hard using a pencil. Correct letter formation is being taught and children are encouraged to write in many areas of the classroom. The children have done incredibly well to remember all the new phrases. The children are growing in confidence when forming their letters. We are beginning to write simple words and sentences and are working hard on segmenting a word in order to spell.
Children are now reading on a daily basis as a whole class and individually once a week with an adult. They are developing their blending skills in order to read simple words and sentences. Reading books will continue to be sent out. Please continue to read with your child at least three times throughout the week and return your child’s book by Wednesday so a new one can be sent out on Friday. Thank you for your continued support.
In maths, we have explored the numbers from one to ten. The children have really enjoyed investigating numbers practically, using everyday objects and mathematical resources. They have also focused on exploring and finding different ways to make a number using Numicon I.e. 6+4=10. The children are developing their 1:1 counting skills and continued support at home is much appreciated.
We are so proud of how well the children have settled this term. They are having lots of fun and learning so much! We had a wonderful nativity performance and we all thoroughly enjoyed our visit to see Stick Man! The children did us incredibly proud with their behaviour.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Team Reception
xxxx
Date: 19th Dec 2025 @ 9:42am
Hello! Christmas already?!
What an amazing half term we’ve had in Year 2! The children have now fully settled into their new year group and we are having such a brilliant time together.
In English, we have been busy writing our own non-fiction reports all about reindeer. They really are fascinating creatures! The children were amazed to learn that reindeer eyes change colour depending on the season, and even their hooves change shape to help them walk on different surfaces. The children loved using these facts in their writing.
In Topic, we’ve covered a whole range of exciting subjects.
History & Geography: We focused on Guy Fawkes and Remembrance Day and became quite the historians, asking thoughtful questions and making fantastic connections.
Art: We explored shading using pencils, coloured pencils and paint—experimenting with how to lighten colours by adding white.
DT: The children designed, made and evaluated their very own salt dough Christmas decorations. We were so impressed with their creativity!
Science: We carried out two brilliant experiments. First, we made balloon “space rockets” to investigate whether the length of the straw affected how far the rocket travelled. Then we tested different materials as “astronaut gloves” to find out which were suitable or unsuitable for keeping hands dry.
In Maths, we have looked at multiplication, division, 3D shape and time, continuing to use practical games and hands-on methods to help us understand new concepts. We have also been learning about fractions, including finding a half and a quarter of shapes and amounts.
In PE, we’ve continued to build on our gymnastic skills indoors. Outdoors, the children have taken part in OAA (Outdoor Adventurous Activities), working as a team to solve problems and achieve shared goals. It has been chilly, but the children have loved every moment!
We’ve also enjoyed lots of special events this half term, including our theatre trip, the Santa Dash, the Christmas Fair and—of course—our wonderful nativity. Thank you to all the parents who came along to support the children. They performed so well, and we are incredibly proud of every single one of them. They absolutely loved it!
Thank you so much for your continued support this half term. If you have any questions, please speak to a member of the Year 2 team—we are always happy to help.
Many thanks,
Mrs Sharp and the Year 2 Team
x
Date: 19th Dec 2025 @ 9:37am
We’ve made it!
What a great half term we have had. We’ve been to Bethlehem and to the theatre to see Stickman. We all walked to Church and we were so proud that some of our year 1s were narrators. Thank you to everyone who came to help we really appreciate it.
We have now finished our topic on Space and will be starting Castles when we return in January. We have sent some reading books and spellings home for the children to do if they need to keep busy!
The children have enjoyed all the provision activities and learning this term. They are now experts at moving around the class, completing activities and ticking their name off! They have also learnt how to take a photo of their models or work and upload it to their own folder. These children are amazing!
We said cheerio to Miss Worton and are looking forward to Mrs Gilligan teaching the class all day Wednesday next term.
The children continue to make great strides with their confidence and learning. Every day we are just so proud of them
We hope you all have a lovely 2 week break and look forward to seeing you all again in 2026 x
Thank you for your continued support.
Love all of us in KS1
Date: 19th Dec 2025 @ 8:18am
The children have been very busy learning now they are settled and familiar with the Nursery environment. They have learnt about different events and celebrations as well as learning about themes related to their own interests. They have learnt about Bonfire night, Antibullying ( our focus was filling our kindness bucket) and of course the last 2 weeks in particular have been focused around that highly anticipated event – Christmas!
In phonics we having been looking at Phase 1 and have spent lots of time learning to listen and join in with different forms of sounds around our environment and also experimenting with instrumental sounds.
In maths we have learning lots of counting songs, recognising and reading numbers in our environment and have been learning how to use flashcards – just ask us how quickly we can say our name!
We have done lots of learning around different stories with Dear zoo, We’re going on a Bear Hunt and Brown Bear coming out as clear favourites.
Despite the weather the children have enjoyed playing outside, jumping in muddy puddles and then using the puddles to paint our hut.
There has been much story telling outside as we have run away from fire-breathing dragons and giants and mixed lots of spells to protect our outside area.
This final week before Christmas has seen us making reindeer food, modelling for our calendars, developing our fine motor skills by punching out those hearts and designing and writing our Christmas cards. We also had great fun on the Santa Dash and at our Christmas Disco!
We were so proud of all the children in our Nativity. They were so brave, looked fabulous in their outfits and had worked so hard learning all the songs and actions. We hope you enjoyed the performance!
I am so proud of the huge progress the children have made in their confidence and independence this term. Next term we will welcome Mrs Lofthouse (the children met her last week) on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and I will be back seeing you on a Thursday and a Friday.
The entire Early Years Team would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the new year.
Date: 17th Dec 2025 @ 3:14pm
Christmas Message from Ms Lowry
Date: 17th Dec 2025 @ 3:06pm
Christmas is almost upon us at the end of another busy half term—I feel like I blinked and summer disappeared! Thank you so much for all your support over these past weeks. We have had parent consultation meetings and we’ve shared the proposal to merge with the Junior School from September 2026. If you haven’t yet had the chance to complete the survey, please do so by 21st December-your opinion really matters to us: https://www.westfieldinfants.co.uk/page/consultation-for-proposed-amalgamation-of-yeadon-westfield-infant-school-and-yeadon-westfield-junior-school/162774
This week has been full of excitement: our nursery children enjoyed The Snowman at Pudsey Civic Hall, and Reception and Key Stage 1 had a wonderful trip to the theatre to see Stick Man—memories they’ll treasure for years to come.
All that’s left is for me to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a lovely break. Fingers crossed we’ll have seen the back of this awful bug that’s been going around by the time we return!
Date: 17th Dec 2025 @ 1:36pm
The children enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner today followed by dancing in the hall.
Nursery visit to The Snowman and the Snowdog
Date: 16th Dec 2025 @ 12:59pm
Christmas Nativity at St John's Church
Date: 11th Dec 2025 @ 2:54pm
Date: 2nd Dec 2025 @ 1:29pm
The children at STARS have been making Christmas decorations for the tree.
Date: 2nd Dec 2025 @ 12:38pm
In Key Stage 1, the children investigated whether their balloon rockets would travel a greater distance when using straws of different sizes.
Date: 14th Nov 2025 @ 4:25pm
The wet weather hasn't stopped the children in early years playing outside - they thoroughly enjoyed splashing and playing in the rain!
Year 1 Artists and Mathematicians
Date: 14th Nov 2025 @ 1:55pm
This week in Year 1 the children have been doing practical multipication in maths. In art they have been experimenting with different techniques to blend colours.
Eggnaut Experiment in Keystage 1
Date: 10th Nov 2025 @ 9:48am
Our KS1 scientists have been on a mission! They created capsules to protect our brave 'eggnaut' during atmospheric re-entry!
