Year 3- Geography-Exploring South America in Geography
In today’s geography lesson, the children explored the continent of South America. Using atlases, they located South America on a world map and began identifying both physical and human features found across the region. Year 3 watched a short video clip to help bring the landscape to life. The children were amazed by the Amazon Rainforest, the towering Andes Mountains, and the powerful Amazon River. We also explored some of South America's remarkable human landmarks, including the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Other stunning features that captured the children’s interest included Iguazu Falls, one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls in the world, and the culture and history.
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Collective Worship- Seeking Truth and Evidence
Today's worship began with the children singing the song "Jesus Strong and Kind." Following the song, James, Jack, and Lily from Year 4 signed the Trinity, adding a visual element to the worship. Next, the whole school participated in a "Spot the Difference" challenge. Rev. Matt then shared a message emphasizing the importance of delving deeper to find the truth, stating that the Bible provides accounts based on evidence, not made-up stories. He read the Bible story "The Earth Shakes," with children actively participating by acting out the movements described. To encourage reflection and the concept of "living life in all its fullness," the children paired up for a "Question Time," pondering how they could find out more about Jesus. The idea was put forward that we can learn about Jesus by doing what he did and by exploring historical accounts, reflecting how deeply faith is woven into our experiences. The worship concluded with a prayer asking for help to seek evidence.
Year 3- Picture News Worship-Curiosity and Faith
Today in class worship, we explored "a Picture News Worship" focusing on a shipwreck discovery and the Christian value of Wisdom. We learned about the SS Nantes, a ship found off the coast of Devon nearly 140 years after it sank. We discussed how exciting it feels to discover new things and why people enjoy solving mysteries. Isabelle read our prayer, thanking God for creating a world full of wonder and mystery, and asking for help to be curious and respectful as we explore His amazing creation.
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Year 3-Exploring Spirituality Through Refugee Week
Today, as part of Refugee Week, 12 children from Year 3 visited a local church where they had the wonderful opportunity to meet refugees from 17 countries, such as Iraq, Palestine, Greece, South Africa, Afghanistan and Sudan. They listened to powerful, real-life stories of resilience, hope, and strength, gaining insight into these individuals' journeys and the challenges they have overcome. The experience helped to build empathy and deepen the children’s understanding of what it means to seek safety and rebuild a life in a new place. We ate food from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Italy, Greece and drank Arabic coffee. The children sang songs for the refugees. Reverend Gilbert spoke to the children about how our donations to DARE - Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise have helped refugees and ensured they are always welcomed, and they encourage more donations, etc. This visit linked beautifully with our Spirituality school model of Windows, Mirrors, and Doors. Through Windows, the children looked out and learned from the lives of others, seeing the world through different perspectives. Mirrors encouraged them to look inward, reflect on their own lives, and think about how they might feel in similar situations. Finally, Doors inspired them to step out and consider how they can live more compassionately, supporting others and making positive choices in their own lives. The visit was a meaningful extension of our R.E. learning but also connected closely with Mrs Ham’s worship this week, which focused on raising awareness and showing solidarity with people in need. It encouraged our students to reflect on how they can contribute to a more welcoming and understanding world. Overall, today’s experience supported our whole-school aim of helping children to live life in all its fullness, by inspiring them to be open-hearted, thoughtful, and active in making a difference. #RefugeeWeek
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Year 3- French - Language and Culture
Today in French, the children began by exploring some interesting facts about French culture, then moved onto reviewing numbers through a song and game. They revised animal and number vocabulary by answering questions like ' What animal is it?' and 'How many are there? and recapped key grammar points such as adjectival agreement.
Year 4 History - What do artefacts tell us about the past?
In our final history lesson, we looked at how we may extract information from artefacts. The children worked in groups to decide what the artefact was, what it may be used for and what it was made from. We know that the Vikings came to Britain for many reasons and the artefacts that we looked at in the session helped to build our understanding of why and how they lived like they did. Finally, the children presented their learning to the other groups and posed questions related to each artefact example.
Year 3- R.E-A Special Visitor: Learning About Judaism
Over the past two weeks in RE, Year 3 have explored different world faiths, learning about the similarities and differences within Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, and Humanism. Today, we were fortunate to have Lennox's aunt, a follower of Judaism, visit our class. She shared insights into the history of her religion and spoke about her visit to Palestine. The children engaged thoughtfully, asking many insightful questions, such as what inspired her to embrace Judaism, why pork is not consumed in her faith, and the significance of Saturday as their special day.
Year 4 History - Cause or Consequence?
As part of British History sessions, today Year 4 discussed the impact of events using cause and consequence. An example of this being that a cause was - The Vikings started to stay in Britain instead of raiding and leaving. The consequence was that parts of Britain then became controlled by the Vikings. We also found out that King Cnut was a king three times before he died in 1035.
Year 2 - Past and Present Monarchs
This afternoon, we continued to learning about monarchs. After learning about our current Monarch, we contrasted him to a previous Monarch William I. We used zones of relevance to describe monarchs. Powerful was an adjective we decided was very relevant and lazy was the adjective lots of us placed outside of the zones. Then we identified similarities and differences between how they ruled.
Year 3 - History- Creating a timeline from 4500 BC to the Modern Era
For our history unit this term, Year 3 are focusing on prehistoric Britain focusing on the Stone Age, Bronze Age and the Iron Age. We began by looking at how our visual timetable reflects the present and the past, before exploring the timeline in our school hall charting human history from 4500 BC to the modern era. The children chose facts that they found interesting and shared these with the class. We then created our own timelines recognising that we explore history from the present era of 2000AD and move back through time prior to the birth of Christ which we marked on our times as BC.
Year 3 - Class Worship- A new Pope has been elected.
Today in our class worship, we learned about the exciting news of the new Pope. Cardinal Robert Prevos, history’s first-ever North American pope. We discovered that the Catholic Church, a worldwide community, has a leader who helps unite everyone. We also touched on how there have been many Popes throughout history, each playing an important role. This leader helps Catholics worldwide feel connected and share the same beliefs. We took a moment to appreciate how important it is to have someone who works to unite people.
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Year 3- Class Worship - Young Inventors
Today's Picture News class worship highlighted the inspiring ingenuity of three teenagers from India who developed a salt-powered fridge to aid hospitals in rural areas lacking electricity. Reflecting on this through the lens of "windows, doors, and mirrors" in spirituality, the teenagers' story served as a "window" into the needs of others and the power of innovation. We then considered the everyday items that ease our own lives, such as the convenience of a hairdryer, the ready access to running water, and the efficiency of an air fryer. This reflection acted as a "mirror," prompting us to appreciate the impact of even simple solutions on the quality of life. Inspired by the teenagers' creativity, which we saw as an open "door" of possibility, Year 3 resolved to embark on our invention journey, recognising our potential to make a positive difference in the world. This experience connected with the Christian value of hope and the biblical message of using our creativity to serve others. Isaac led a prayer thanking God for inspiring ideas and creative minds, emphasising the importance of using our abilities to make a positive impact, even through small acts of kindness and imagination.