Year 3- English-Diary Planning
Today, our Year 3 writers are exploring the themes of resilience and displacement through the book My Name Is Not Refugee. They worked hard planning key events and personal feelings for their diary entries. From the heartache of saying goodbye to old friends and leaving their homes with just a small bag, to the challenging days of walking and sleeping in strange places, the children thoughtfully considered every step of the journey. They also reflected on the new sensory experiences, like tasting new foods, seeing interesting sights, and hearing different languages, alongside the emotional challenges of loneliness and cold. Tomorrow, they'll use these carefully planned events to write their diary entries, bringing their stories to life on paper.
Reception: Jonah and the Whale
Continuing with our unit on Prayer, Reception class listened to the story of Jonah and the Whale. They used Godly play to retell the story. Reception class discussed how Jonah prayed to say sorry to God. We discussed how God listened to Jonah and answered his prayer. We discussed how God always listens to us all when we pray and will always try to answer our prayers. The children enjoyed retelling the story in continuous provision.
Year 6 - Performing Arts
The Annie rehearsals were in full swing this week. The Year 6s are really getting into their roles, singing their hearts out and perfecting their stage presence. Next week, we’ll be trying without scripts!
Year 3 - English- Presentation Of Learning- My name is not a Refugee
Year 3 presented their learning about refugees to the Year 2 class today. The session began with a clear definition of the word "refugee," helping the younger students understand this term. The children then went on to share some facts they had learned about refugees, for example, some refugees walk for miles and miles, refugees are just people, like you and me, who need a safe place to live and sometimes, refugees can only take a small bag, they have to leave their toys, schools, and homes behind. What brought their learning to life was the opportunity to meet some refugees yesterday and hear their stories firsthand. Sharing these powerful personal accounts with the Year 2 class was an amazing experience, allowing the students to grasp the concept of "living life in its fullness" even in the face of adversity. Naomi read out a prayer to keep all the children and grown-ups who have left their homes safe. Help them find a new, happy place to live. And help us be kind to everyone. Amen.
Year 6 English
Year 6 have been working extremely hard publishing their writing, which will go into a portfolio to showcase a variety of their amazing work.
Year 4 - Linking Schools Visit to St Matthew’s
Our Linking Schools project reached its final part on Monday with Year 4 visiting St Matthew’s C of E Primary in Blackburn. We had a fantastic day designing “together towns”, creating poetry about living well together and even joining an assembly with local author, Dan Worsley. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about our new friends and sharing work throughout this year; it has helped us to realise our similarities and celebrate differences.
Year 5 - Literature Festival
Today, Year 5 had the exciting opportunity to attend the Darwen Literature Festival at Darwen Library. As part of the event, they took part in an inspiring author session led by the brilliant poet and performer Rappaman. The children were captivated by his energetic performance and powerful poetry, which explored themes like identity, creativity and resilience. They listened, laughed and even joined in with some of the rhythmic wordplay, leaving the session buzzing with ideas and inspiration. It was a fantastic celebration of language and the joy of reading and writing. A big thank you to the festival organisers and Rappaman for such a memorable experience!
Year 4 - The Children’s Literature Festival 2025
On Tuesday, the Year 4 class walked to Darwen Library Theatre to take part in the Children’s Literature Festival. Their workshop was a session on developing rhyming patterns and creating poetry. It was delivered by Rappaman - a poet that does a lot of work with communities in the North West. The children had great fan creating rhymes and repeating tongue twisters. There was even a joke or two thrown in!
Y4 English - The Mousehole Cat - Noun Phrases
As part of our new English unit, Year 4 have been reading ‘ The Mousehole Cat’. In today’s session we concentrated on identifying noun phrases. We looked at what Mowzer the cat ate for his meals on different days and then adapted this to what a dog would like to have instead. The children came up with some fantastic ideas which included baker brisket pie in a bed of mashed potatoes, spicy salami roasted on a burger bun and fillet steak fried in onion gravy.
Year 6 English
Year 6 have been identifying the key features of a formal letter. They then linked this with their previous work on "Good Night, Mister Tom" and WWII to write a formal letter to parents, informing them that they would need to evacuate their children.
Year 2 - Setting Descriptions
This week, in year 2 have been engaged in exploring Aaron Becker's "Journey," a wordless picture book that encourages them to develop their own narratives through imagination. Today's lesson focused specifically on the book's enchanting woodland setting. Using their prior learning of using expanded noun phrases and incorporating similes, the children demonstrated significant effort and produced a collection of highly descriptive and engaging setting descriptions. The effort they put into their writing was evident in the quality of their work.
Year 1 Attend the Children’s Literature Festival at Darwen Library
Today, Year 1 had an exciting adventure at the Children’s Literature Festival 2025, held at Darwen Library—and what a fantastic time they had! They had the wonderful opportunity to meet the delightful author Saira Shah, who engaged the children with her inspiring story Super Nani and Captain Yaz. The book explores the heartwarming beginning of a unique friendship between two characters—Yasmin and her Nani—who speak different languages, English and Punjabi. Despite the language barrier, they found a magical way to communicate through gestures, key words, and a dash of imagination, all with the help of Yasmin’s favourite superheroes and a special rag doll. Following the story, we continued with the superhero theme. Our Year 1 children were given a thrilling mission. A meteor was hurtling toward Earth, threatening to erase all the wonderful books in the library. To save the day, the children had to transform into superheroes—choosing their own superhero names and special powers. Working together, they rose to the challenge and saved the library from disaster. A huge thank you to Darwen Library for inviting us to the Children’s Literature Festival 2025, and to the wonderful Saira Shah for inspiring our children and helping to spark a love of reading. We’re excited to share that Saira Shah will be launching her book at Waterstones Blackburn on Saturday, June 28 at 11am. All children are warmly invited to join a special Storytime session, followed by superhero fun! If today’s excitement is anything to go by, it promises to be a wonderful event.