Year 4 - RE: Hanukkah
To finish our Year 4 Christmas RE unit, we learned about the significance of light in the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. We discussed the story and how the Jews felt about their sacred temple being destroyed and the miracle of the oil lasting longer than it should have. We also made our own Dreidels and played a few games.
Year 4 - Life Education
The Year 4s thoroughly enjoyed their Life Education visit this week. The focus was about celebrating being unique and not always having to do what their friends are doing. The topics of health and the effects of drugs such as nicotine, caffeine and alcohol were also covered.
Online Safety: Free speech vs Hate speech
Out of order? Or simply outspoken? This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide can help young people to recognise the difference between free speech and hate speech – and to understand why this complex area is an #OnlineSafety risk Download >> https://bit.ly/3S8wSb4
Reception PSHE - All About Me!
Karen and Harold the giraffe visited us and talked about what we have inside our body to help us stay alive. Under our ribs we have our heart that pumps blood around our body and our lungs to help us breathe. There are 3 important things that give us energy - food, drink, and the air we breathe. Then we had a look inside Harold the giraffe’s wash bag to see how we can keep our bodies clean and healthy. We also learned that it is important for our bodies to have regular exercise and the different ways we can help ourselves to feel better when we are feeling sad. Lastly, we talked about how important rest is for our bodies, especially sleep because this helps us to grow.
Year 5 - PSHE Coram Life Education
Today, Year 5 participated in a Coram Scarf life education session that discussed: the importance of keeping our bodies healthy, how amazing our bodies are and how best to look after them, discussed the role that controlled drugs play within the body, friendships, the importance of healthy friendships and how best to be a good friend. We looked at and practised the difference between being aggressive, passive and assertive when dealing with conflict and issues within friendship groups. Finally the class discussed and took part in role play when given a variety of scenarios related to friendship issues.
Year 5 - Soluble Materials
During our science lesson, Year 5 have been exploring soluble materials and the relationship they have with different solvents. Year 5 conducted an experiment to find out which materials were soluble and which were insoluble. The children conducted the experiment in a fair capacity ensuring that the solvent used was the same and the amount of materials were equal. The children wrote their results in a chart and explained their findings.
Year 3 Science - Caring For Our Pets
For Science this week we continued learning about how we can care for our pets at home. We discussed what different pets need to be healthy and well looked after and looked at the five welfare needs. We then created our own care guides for our pets.
Rev Ben’s Worship: Courage and Epiphany
This morning, Rev Ben came in to talk about courage and how the wise men showed courage on their journey to meet Jesus. The children shared their bravest moments and they enjoyed joining in with the Bible story and especially Rev Ben’s impression of a grumpy and mean King Herod. We reflected on how the wise men showed courage, how we can show courage this week and how it helps us to know that Jesus is always with us. This doesn't mean that the fear goes away but Jesus helps us to face our fears and be courageous, just like the wise men.
Life Education Workshops
Good afternoon parents and carers, it has been lovely to have the children back in school today and to see them catch up with their friends. They are all excited to try out the new outdoor gym and over the week they will be shown how to use all of the equipment correctly, before we start out lunch and break time timetable next week. On Wednesday or Thursday this week, each class will have a special visit from Harold the Giraffe from the life education programme and will take part in the following PSHE workshop. Reception: All about me Year 1: My Wonderful Body Year 2: Feelings Year 3: Meet the Brain Year 4: It's great to be me Year 5: Friends Year 6: Decisions The children always really enjoy the interactive sessions and get a lot out of them, which is why we pay for the life education sessions each year. On Thursday morning parents and carers are welcome to drop in from 8.45am-9.00am to see Karen from Coram Life Education and ask any questions you might have about the sessions.
Year 5 - Tactical Play
During our PE lesson, Year 5 have been building on their knowledge and understanding of invasion games. This week the children were learning about tactical work within any chosen game. They took part in ball games to gain a clearer understanding of time and space. The children will then apply their knowledge and understanding to racket and other invasion games.
Reception: Muddy Monday
Our Ducklings visited the forest schools area of Whitehall Park today for the first time. They enjoyed exploring and also had a go at making camp fires and bug houses.
Epiphany Collective Worship
It was wonderful to have our school family back together again for our first collective worship after the Christmas holidays. Today we focused on Epiphany which is when the three wise men went to see baby Jesus. Our Reception class Kings helped up to learn about the special gifts that they gave to Jesus and what they symbolised. Gold= King Frankincense= God and Myrrh = Sacrifice. We then watched a short film called 'Far from home' which we thought was about modern day refugees but the more we watched it, the more we realised that it was very similar to the Nativity story. We discussed how Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to flee as King Herod wanted to kill Jesus. We reflected on how they must have felt and how it must feel for those children nowadays who are living in places that aren't safe, such as in Palestine, Israel and Ukraine. We then thought about how we can support refugees who arrive in our country seeking safety. We had some brilliant answers such as give them a warm welcome, donate toys, food, clothes and money etc. We then looked back at some of the generous work we have been doing to support Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise such as donating toys, books and chocolate at Christmas time. We finished with a prayer and sang 'We three kings' and noticed what the three gifts symbolised- King, God and sacrifice, in the song.