Online Safety: Spotify
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Shrove Tuesday
As today is Shrove Tuesday, Mrs Ham bought our whole school family pancake bites to eat to symbolise the start of Lent tomorrow. They went down a treat and many of the children were excited to have pancakes at home this evening too. We are looking forward to seeing lots of different ways that we can all give this Lent through demonstrating our Christian values of service, friendship and generosity.
Rev Ben’s Ash Wednesday Worship
This morning Rev Ben led our Worship. First he lit our special candle and we had a moment's silence to pray for the families in Turkey and Syria who have been affected by the devastating earthquakes. Rev Ben asked us who was the greatest out of four celebrities, Marcus Rashford, Taylor Swift, Princess Kate and Rishi Sunak. The children had a discussion with a partner about who was the greatest and why. We had some super answers and several reasons why each one was the greatest. We then watched a video about the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee which was a story that Jesus told to some people who thought they were great and looked down on others. The Pharisee thought he was the greatest and looked down on others but the tax collector was actually great in God's eyes as he asked for help and forgiveness. Rev Ben explained that Ash Wednesday is when Christian's ask for help and for their sins to be forgiven by God. Rev Ben then talked to us about Christian greatness and we had some time to reflect and discuss what Christians think being great is all about and how we can put that greatness into practice. Again we had some brilliant answers such as showing kindness, friendship, generosity and service to others. We finished our worship with a special prayer led by Rev Ben and sang and danced to My Lighthouse, to symbolise that God is always there to hear our prayers of help and forgiveness.
Forest school sessions for KS2
Dear parents and carers of children in Years 3,4,5 and 6, we are always looking at ways to keep our children physically fit and also to support their mental health and wellbeing. Therefore, starting from next week, 10 children from each class will take part in Forest School sessions at lunch time with Mrs Thompson, our accredited Forest School leader. Year 6 will be on Mondays, Year 5 on Tuesdays, Year 4 on Thursdays and Year 3 on Fridays. Children will still have their MUGA sports sessions with Miss Baxendale too each week. Please see the timetable on class dojo to see which weeks your child will have their two forest school sessions this half term. I will inform you nearer the time of sessions for the rest of the year. The infant children will also be given the opportunity to attend forest school sessions too later in the year. On the day of your child's session, they need to bring in a named carrier bag containing wellies or old trainers plus an old coat, top and jogging bottoms to wear for the session, as they will get muddy. Their first project will be transforming our garden at the front of school. If anybody has or knows of anyone with any spare gardening tools, gardening gloves, seeds, log seats, plant pots etc, please send them into school as we would be very appreciative of any donations. We are sure that the children will love the forest school sessions as they are also a great way to develop children's social skills, teamwork and cooperation whilst having fun.
Whole School Worship: Shrove Tuesday and Lent
To begin our worship, we lit a special candle and prayed for everyone in Turkey and Syria. As we entered worship, we watched a video all about when Jesus spent 40 days in the desert. Tomorrow it is Shrove Tuesday. On Wednesday, our altar will change to the colour of purple as we enter Lent and prepare for Easter. Mrs Ham asked the children ‘what makes you you?’ Neve said her freckles, Oscar said playing the piano and cello, Jake said his fingerprints and Grace said her flexibility. Our personality, emotions, behaviour, clothes, family and belongings all make us unique. Mrs Ham then asked ‘what made Jesus Jesus?’ Eliza said he was the son of God, Grace said his abilities to perform miracles, Ella said that he came down from heaven, Finn said his kindness and Leonora said when he rose from the dead. On Wednesday, Lent beings where we remember how Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. We watched a video all about this time. Jesus was tempted by the devil during his time but he trusted in God and didn’t give in to temptation. Jesus knew there was a plan for him. He knew that he was going to die on the cross so that all of our sins can be forgiven. During our reflection, we had a think about what we could do or give up to help us to feel closer to God. Eva said she is going to give up chocolate, Elsa said sweets, Carter said fizzy drinks, Isaac said he will give some of his toys to charity and Declan said his clothes to the charity shop. We also thought about how we could show kindness and which Christian values we could show during Lent. We finished our worship by singing ‘our God is a great big God’.
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Whole School- Celebration Worship
Wow! We had lots to celebrate today. During our Celebration Worship this morning, the class teachers celebrated by presenting a value award to the children who have been demonstrating our Christian Values. This week, our overall house values point winner was Darwen tower with 258 points. We also celebrated Years 3 and 4 for their winning at sportshall athletics. Well done to the reception class and Year 3 for this week's best attendance. We also celebrated the children that have taken part in extracurricular activities, well done to everyone! We finished our worship with Rev Ben leading a prayer.
Year 3 Safer Internet Day 2023
This year for Safer Internet Day, Year 3 have been thinking about what should be kept public or private online. We discussed the importance of keeping personal information private, such as addresses, phone numbers and passwords. We then thought about age restrictions for games and online sites and discussed what we can do moving forward, to ensure that we are using the Internet in a safe way. We also came up with some great activities that we could do during the day, which do not require the Internet, such as playing a board game and going for a walk with our family!
Year 3 Tie Dye: The Finished Product!
We are so pleased with our tie dye t-shirts! The children chose their colour theme, based on the moods boards we created in art and it has been great to see the class learn a new craft! As it is Children's mental health week, we have also really enjoyed getting creative and relaxing our minds, with Art!
Year 3 Art: Tie Dye
This week, Year 3 have been busy getting creative with tie dye! This term, our focus in Art has been on Craft and we have been focusing on understanding the process a textile designer might take, in order to reach a final design. We created our own mood boards, which showcased our favourite colours, places and people. We then used our mood boards to inspire our chosen colours and designs for our tie dye t-shirts! The children completed each stage of the tie dye process and we will be evaluating our t-shirt designs and discussing what worked well and anything we would change for next time.
Safer Internet Day
During our worship today we celebrated safer internet day. Safer internet day is celebrated all over the world and it helps children to understand ways of being safe online as the internet is growing as well as social media. Children discussed all the amazing things that they use the internet for and understand that it is an amazing platform to use with lots of positives. Although the internet is a great tool, we have to be careful that we: remain safe, understand age limits, only play games with those who you know, avoid online bullying and be able to recognise ‘fake news’. Children discussed many ways in which we can avoid these negatives and to enjoy using the internet for all its all amazing uses it can have such as: - Do not believe everything you see online - Do not post anything that isn’t kind - If I see something that makes me feel uncomfortable tell a trusted adult, report it and block it - Play with people we know - Most importantly keep having fun! - Understand age limits and respect those limits - Keep microphones and cameras off when online gaming with people who you do not know. One of the aims of the session was to keep talking and to be very open with a trusted adult about your online activity. Whether you have seen something that makes you uncomfortable or whether you have done something you believe is wrong. A trusted adult will always be able to help you and help you to remain safe online. Most importantly we recognised that the internet is an amazing tool that can be used to help us gain knowledge, communicate with people and have fun. As the internet grows and gets more advanced we understand that it is not going away. But remaining safe is the key.
Whole School Worship: Children’s Mental Health Week Launch
What is mental health? Elsie said it is about your mind, Darcy said it is your feelings. Everybody has mental health. Sometimes our mental health might feel poorly like our bodies can feel poorly. One way to help our mental health is through our happy tank. Today we learnt all about happy tapping. We practised together as a school and then repeated after John whilst tapping. Mrs Ham explained how it is ok to feel different emotions. The children showed different emotions such as sad, scared, lonely, upset, ashamed, worried and guilty. Mrs Ham asked the children how you can exercise your brain. Isaac said by learning, Kaylen said by pushing passed your limit and Sophia said by eating healthily. This year, children’s mental health week is all about connecting. Connecting with others is vital for our wellbeing and can support our mental health. This links to our Christian value of friendship. Mrs Ham asked how have we all connected to others this morning. Darcy said she has hugged her Mummy, Harlow said she tickled her brother, Edward said he made his Dad a bacon sandwich, Harry said he spoke to his friend and Iris played with her brother. We listened to a poem called ‘together’. We discussed together why being together is so important. Lyla said if you don’t feel together and feel lonely, you could ask a friend to join in playing. You do not need to be a grown up to change the world. We can make a difference. During our reflection, we are going to have a think about how we can connect more to others. On Friday, we will all come together and will dress to express to show how we are unique and special.
Year 3/4 Sportshall Athletics Winners 2023
What an amazing evening at the Year3/4 Sportshall Athletics event at DVHS. The children showed so much courage and determination as many of them had never competed in a school event before. They encouraged each other at every step and were definitely the loudest! We are super proud to say we WON and came away with the gold. Well done to all involved! Your hard work and dedication has paid off.