Gift for the Queen Competition Entries
We have had so many fantastic entries for the Jubilee gift competition with Darwen Rotary Club! Lots of children have made such thoughtful gifts for the Queen, so a big thank you to all those who entered. Unfortunately, we can only select 6 finalists to submit to Darwen Rotary Club for judging and we will be announcing these in Celebration Worship tomorrow with a small prize for each winner.
Year 1 Art- printing with with Lego Duplo
As part of their art unit, Year 1 have been inspired by Lowry. They first explored his artwork and some of the buildings in Darwen such as the library, India Mill, the laundrette as a part of terraced houses and Darwen Market Hall. Today, they used their drawings and turned them into prints using black paint and Duplo Lego.
Year 1 Phonics- real and nonsense words
Year 1 have been practising reading real and nonsense words in some extra phonics sessions.
Year 1- Monday Lunchtime on the MUGA
Year 1 enjoyed their lunchtime on the MUGA yesterday lunchtime. They played different variations of tig including mega tig and dodgeball tig.
KS1 Story and Craft Club
Today in after school club, we read The Rainbow Fish. We had a great discussion about the book which reinforces important messages about friendship and kindness. We then decorated our own rainbow fish using a weaving technique and added further decoration using felt tips. The children were very creative in their designs.
Year 1 Class Worship- Christian Aid Week and The Good Samaritan
Today in class worship, Year 1 listened to the story of ‘The Good Samaritan.’ We learnt that Jesus told this story to help us know how to be good friends to people in need which is particularly fitting this week during Christian Aid Week. After the story, we reflected on ways in which we can be a Good Samaritan. The children suggested donating their old clothes, toys and books to children in need or selling these and donating the money to charities such as Christian Aid and saying prayers for people in need around the world. They also suggested giving each other hugs, smiles, a helping hand, compliments and sharing their equipment with each other. To end our worship we had some beautiful prayers where we asked God to help us to be a Good Samaritan and to pray for people around the world with unclean water and no shelter. We also sang, ‘We Can Make a Difference’.
Year 1-Local Area Walk
Year 1 went on a local area walk this afternoon as part of their geography unit. They explored the area and recorded the types of houses (semi-detached, terraced, detached, bungalow, caravan and flats) that they saw on their journey. They also had to follow a map to find some of the human and physical features that are local to our school such as the post office, the shop, the chemist, Jack’s Key Reservoir, Whitehall Park and the hairdressers. As we were walking past our local shop (Bargain Booze on Bolton Road), a very kind lady who worked in the shop gave each of us a galaxy chocolate bar. We were very thankful for her kindness and enjoyed our chocolate bar sat down at Whitehall Park.
Collective Worship- Christian Aid Week and Courageous Advocacy
This morning in worship, we introduced Christian Aid week. First we discussed the phrase, ‘Your Kingdom Come.’ Mrs Ham asked us to imagine what heaven was like. We said that we imagine it as peaceful and calm and when we use the phase, ‘Your Kingdom Come,’ this phrase means that God would like our world on earth to represent heaven where the world is fair and at peace. Then Mrs Ham discussed the term ‘Courageous advocacy’ with us all which is the act of speaking out against injustice (wrongdoing) and then we watched and listened carefully to a video to see some of the injustice that is happening in the world. The children shared what they saw. Lily saw a sea turtle trapped in a fishing net, Skye said that there were people who were hungry, Jack said there were people without clothes, Harlee and Manni said they noticed people who were extremely thirsty, James said that he saw a man who didn’t have much furniture in his house and Lucy said there were people living in unclean places. Mrs Ham asked us what Jesus would like us to about this injustice. Desmond said we should try to be like Jesus and love our neighbour. Mrs Ham agreed and discussed how we all need to be a courageous advocate and love our neighbours as Jesus did. We then looked at some inspirational people who were courageous advocates and spoke out for those who didn’t/don’t have a voice such as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, David Attenborough and Marcus Rashford. We also recognised some children in school who have recently stood up for something that they believe in. These courageous advocates were Neve, Lily, William and Charlotte who recently promoted initiatives to raise money for Ukraine and East Lancs Hospice. Lastly, we ended our worship with a video called ‘Starfish’ which summed up the message that small things can make a huge difference and Mrs Ham asked us to reflect on small things that we can do in the next week and beyond to help to make a difference such as donating to the local food or clothes bank and reusing and recycling plastic.
Year 1 Maths- Sharing equally into groups
This morning, Year 1 were introduced to the symbol divide and have been sharing counters and cubes into equal groups.
EYFS and KS1 Mental Health Workshop
This morning, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 had the pleasure of welcoming Erika and Pete from the Lily Jo project for a fun and energetic workshop focusing on our mental health and wellbeing. Erika talked about our three types of health. The first which was our physical health, the second which was our spiritual self and the third which was our mental health. Erika told us that today we would be focusing on our mental health. She explained that our mental health is our our thoughts, feelings and emotions and it is our responsibility to look after it. However, sometimes we struggle with this like being on a rollercoaster. Sometimes we are on the top of the rollercoaster feeling amazing, somewhere in the middle or on the bottom of the rollercoaster feeling down and blue. After this, we learnt how to become a hero of our mental health. We learnt all of the tricks and tips for this. They were: 1) Helping others. We shared ideas such as sharing your toys, giving people a hug, helping at home with the dishes, asking your teacher if they need help and standing up for something that is wrong. 2) Exercising such as taking part in swimming, cycling, play football, running, jogging, jumping or playing with your friends. 3) Relaxing such as watching TV, having a nap, reading a book, having a bath and doing breathing exercises. 4) Opening up by talking to a grown up about how you are feeling. Helping, exercising, relaxing and opening up spells the secret code of HERO. Then, Erika introduced her three very special friends who shared their experiences with us to help us become unstoppable heroes. Marcus was feeling sad because he was being bullied online. People were leaving him nasty comments online. However, he stood up against this and chose to be kind to people to show that kindness is stronger than hate. Jade was feeling worried because she wants to be an amazing singer. However, she got worried about standing on the stage in front of lots of people. She then opened up to someone she trusted to conquer her fear and be brave enough to display her talent. Tyler was feeling angry because he doesn’t know how to express his feelings and emotions. However, he found the strength to open up to someone close to him which made him feel positive and more confident talking about his feelings. Then we listened to and joined in with a couple of songs. The first one was called ‘Unstoppable’ and we said I am unstoppable (pointing at ourself), you are unstoppable (pointing at a partner) and we are unstoppable (pointing in the air). We watched a video of an unstoppable child called Skye Brown who loved to skate and sing. Although people said she was too small to skate, she proved them wrong and went on to be a very successful skater in the Olympics. This proves that with hard work and determination we can be successful. The second song was called ‘Be the Change’ and we all had a boogie and sing along as exercising and singing is good for our mental health. We also enjoyed the message of us being in control of our own mental health.
Year 1- Experiencing a Mock Baptism
This afternoon, Lillian welcomed us into St Barnabas Church to experience a baptism first hand. Lillian baptised baby Poppy and made the parents, godparents and other guests make promises to look after Poppy and teach her to be kind and respectful. We also made a promise to be good role models to her. Lillian showed us the font and blessed Poppy with the water to symbolise that she had been baptised. Lillian told us that it isn’t only babies that get baptised but you can in fact be baptised at any age. Lillian also showed us the baptism candle which represents the light of God and the baptism register which has all of the names of people that have been baptised in St Barnabas church for many many years. We said thank you to Lillian for showing us what happens at a baptism and making us feel so welcome. We then went back to school and had a little party to celebrate Poppy’s baptism. We sang the song ‘Shine From the Inside Out,’ enjoyed a drink of juice, a biscuit and played some fun party games.
Year 1- Lowry Inspired Artwork
This afternoon, Year 1 have been looking at artwork by LS Lowry. We noticed that his artwork was often based around a city landscape. We spotted buildings such as terraced houses, churches, shops and factories. We were then inspired by Lowry to draw some of these types of buildings that feature in Darwen such as India Mill, the row of terraced houses where the laundrette is positioned and Darwen Market Hall. First, we took our time to draw the outline of our building/s thinking about the size and shapes and then we took our time to add details to our buildings such as windows, roofs and doors. We can’t wait to use Duplo next week to make a print of our chosen building.