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Year 4's Presentation of Learning- Electricity
This morning our Year 4 class presented their recent learning in Science about Electricity. It was great to see the children projecting their knowledge with clear voices and they gave us several safety reminders such as not overloading sockets, not leaving devices charging overnight and not putting electrical utensils into toasters. Thank you Year 4 for sharing your learning with us and it has been great to see this learning in Science being used in your design and technology unit when making designing and making torches over the last few weeks. We are looking forward to learning even more about Science tomorrow in the Science Boffin Show!
Year 4 - English: Easter Poetry
This week, we began our poetry unit in English. Our topic is the Easter story, with our aim being to produce a piece of poetry, some of which will be displayed in the rose garden at Whitehall Park. We are only in the first stages at the moment; exploring poetry and working on our performance skills, but we had great fun creating and performing Kennings about Judas.
Working Walls in Year 4
We are really pleased with how well the children are accessing every toolkit in the classroom to support their learning, especially our working walls. Our English unit and class novel is The Firework Makers Daughter and the children have really got to grips with all stages of the unit starting with gathering content, grammar toolkit collection, scaffolded work and now moving onto their independent pieces which will include fronted adverbials, noun phrases and dialogue.
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British Science Week- Year 4-Volcano Cups and Bubble Wonders
This afternoon in Year 4, we created volcanoes in a cup, using a fascinating mixture of baking soda, vinegar, and food colouring. The children decorated their cups with different emojis to express their excitement before watching their mini eruptions bubble over! They observed how the chemical reaction between the acid (vinegar) and the base (baking soda) produced carbon dioxide gas, causing the mixture to fizz and overflow just like a real volcano. We then explored the science of surface tension by making bubbles on the table and even bubbles inside bubbles. Year 4 scientists discovered that bubbles form because a thin layer of soap molecules trap air inside. By carefully blowing into their bubbles with a straw, they learned that the soapy film stretches and holds its shape, allowing them to create bubbles within bubbles. Our Science Ambassador, James, was a fantastic help throughout the session, supporting his peers by demonstrating techniques and encouraging them to think scientifically. The children made predictions, tested different techniques, and used Talk Tactics to share their observations. It was a fantastic hands-on way to explore the science behind reactions, gases, and surface tension.
World Book Day Worship
World Book Day Worship This morning we launched World Book Day 2025 with a lovely Worship led by Miss Flynn and the librarians. We started with a book- Do Not Open This Book by Andy Lee. The children absolutely loved listening to the story and definitely did want to OPEN THE BOOK and turn the pages so that they could read the whole book! The theme for this years World Book Day is Get Ready to Read Your Way which encourages us all to read wherever and whenever we want. Next the librarians, Walter, Elliott, Tristan and Ivy, led a quiz where the children had to guess where you might enjoy a good book from the pictures on the screen. We had some great answers which included: in the car, whilst walking the dog, at the park, in the library, in bed, in a den, outside with our friends, in the bath, in the dentist or at school. The children that guessed correctly won a special WBD prize. In the next part of the quiz, the librarians shared a slide with four pictures of our school staff with their faces covered reading books in their favourite places. There was A - Miss Kachwalla in the bath, B - Mr Bloomfield in the living room, Mrs Singleton in the staff room D , - Mrs Govan in her bedroom, E - Mr Norris on the sofa - Miss Lyon’s reading with her daughter in bed,- G - Mrs Wilkinson - sat on the sofa, H- Miss Flynn reading to her child. To end the special Worship we shared The Story of The Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch. We can’t wait for the rest of our World Book Day activities which include a live workshop, teachers sharing their favourite books and how we can use our WBD token so that we can get a free book.
World Book Day in Year 4
What a wonderful World Book Day we have had in Year 4. The theme for this year's World Book Day is Get Ready to Read Your Way which encourages us all to read wherever and whenever we want. This morning we started our celebrations with a whole school worship which was led by Miss Flynn and the librarians. The children loved joining in with the quizzes and interactive games. Next we took part in an online workshop with the author Pamela Butchart. She also wrote A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch and The Great Crisp Robbery. The most recent book that Pamela has written is Diary of a Future Billionaire and she talked about how she created this fantastic story. It’s about being at home rather than school. Pamela was worried that her new book might not be as popular as her Izzy books. The main character is called Ben and here are his thoughts: So here's the thing about me. I'm a billionaire. An actual REAL-LIFE billionaire! And you know how some people who get rich say stuff like, "I can't believe it!" and "I never thought it would happen to me!" Well ... I CAN believe it. And I KNEW it would happen to me. Because I PLANNED IT. I PLANNED to become the world's RICHEST ten-year-old. And you know what? It WORKED The children have asked if we can buy the book and read it as our next class novel so this shows how enthusiastic they were about the whole workshop. Following this we played match the teacher to their favourite book which we found rather interesting and then we went to various classes around school to listen to St Barnabas school staff read their favourite books. It was so nice to hear the children come back and talk so enthusiastically about what they had listened to. Finally this afternoon, we created special WBD bunting with our favourite novel on and discussed why we had chosen these. What an amazing experience and huge thanks to Miss Flynn for organising!
Reception: Easter Unit Launch
Our Reception class launched their Easter unit today. Today it is Shrove Tuesday which is the day before the start of Lent. We all shared some pancakes together whilst we listened to the Easter story. The children then retold parts of the story. Willow said that Jesus was not in the tomb, Reggie said there was an earthquake, Ralphi said that the angels told the women that Jesus was alive, Minnie said Jesus rose from the dead, Will said the crowds bowed down to a Jesus and Ava said everyone was happy.
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Whole School Worship- How to make an enjoyable lunchtime?
Our whole school worship today began with the signing of the Trinity by the Heads and Deputies. Mrs. Araujo then led the worship, introducing our new behaviour focus: creating a calmer and more enjoyable lunchtime experience, while continuing to practice the good manners we have already learned. Mrs. Ham highlighted the importance of feeling safe at school, emphasizing that it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure a secure and supportive environment for all. To help improve lunchtimes, Mrs Araujo used a data logger to measure noise levels in the dining hall, which ranged from 79.5 to 80.5 decibels as loud as a truck! Many children noted that the high noise levels were overwhelming, made them want to cover their ears, and could prevent them from hearing important instructions in an emergency. During the worship, children worked with talk partners to discuss the question: If we use good table manners, how could this improve our lunchtimes? Through these discussions, they identified key areas for improvement, such as sitting properly at the table, using a knife and fork to eat, and avoiding walking while eating to reduce choking risks. The WOW group played a key role in visually demonstrating positive lunchtime behaviours. They were featured in photos and role-play scenarios, modelling both the correct and incorrect ways to behave in the dining hall. These demonstrations helped reinforce the importance of eating safely and respectfully. To support these changes, new posters have been placed around the school, reminding everyone to face the table while eating, lean over trays or lunchboxes to avoid spills, and wait until they have swallowed their food before getting up. These expectations will continue to be reinforced through modelling, praise, and reminders, ensuring that lunchtimes are a safe, calm, and enjoyable experience for everyone.
Reception: Presentation of Learning all about Chinese New Year
This week, Reception class have learnt all about Chinese New Year. Today, they presented their knowledge to the whole school. They shared what they had made and a little bit about Chinese New Year. We learnt that this year is the year of the snake. The children made some wonderful lanterns, wrote Chinese numbers and also painted the animals from the great race. Some of the children even took part in a dragon parade. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the rest of the school Reception, we learnt lots!
Year 4- Creating Gymnastic Sequences
In our gymnastics lesson today, we were creating a sequence of gymnastic actions including matched shapes and mirrored shapes with a partner using apparatus. They also incorporated changes of level and direction. We also peer evaluated to identify the strengths of a performance and areas for improvements. The children provided constructive feedback against the given success criteria which was great to listen to. The children are working really hard to develop their oracy skills and provide comments that are both positive and helpful for their peers.
Wellbeing Warriors Badge Design Meeting
Today our Wellbeing Warriors had a working lunch, so that we could prepare for the WOW design a badge competition. The children will be launching this in Celebration Worship tomorrow. This years theme is ‘Walk with Joy’ and every child in school will get to design their very own badge for the competition. We want them to be big, bold and colourful. Diversity and originality are key to stand out from the crowd. WOW badges are only 3cm, so simple designs without small details will work best. The Wellbeing Warriors can’t wait to receive and judge the entries, so let’s get cracking!
Year 4 - RE: What is most important in prayer?
Although we pray at least twice a day in class, sometimes it’s worth taking the time to look at why we pray, and our current Year 4 RE unit is giving us the opportunity to explore this. This week, each group was given 18 statements about prayer and the task was initially for the children to remove 5 statements that they considered unimportant to the act of praying. They then had to choose another 5 statements to remove. The final step was for them to read their 8 remaining statements and pick out the 5 statements they considered to be most important. Each group then had to present their final 5, stating why they felt these were the most important aspects of prayer. Most groups agreed that it is important to speak to God through prayer and ask Him for forgiveness.
Year 4 English - Identifying and Discussing Dilemmas
In our English lesson today we looked at identifying and discussing dilemmas. A dilemma is a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made. We watched a clip called ‘French Roast’ where a homeless man asks a rich businessman for help. He declines but then needs a favour back when he is robbed of his wallet by a thief. The children then worked on two poems - I did a bad thing once written by Allan Ahlberg and Please Mrs Butler . Both have hidden dilemmas which the children identified. Finally we developed our voice 21 skills by rehearsing our performance poetry.
Reception: Christmas
This week we have been retelling the Nativity story. We have also been thinking about why Christmas is important. The children said Christmas is important because Jesus is born on Christmas Day. We discussed how Jesus is very important to Christians and is God’s son. The children have been enjoying retelling the story using dressing up, our small world area and through our Eggsplorers too.
Voice 21 development in Year 4
In this session we looked at what Voice 21 is and how it supports us in developing our speaking and listening skills. Building practice into our curriculum allows us to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through spoken language and listening. We practised using our body language to show that we are listening, experimented with adjusting our tone, volume and pace and how to nest our ideas. We focused on learning the ‘Talk Tactics’ which included: Instigate, Build and Challenge. Through this we used diagnostic questions to develop these three key focuses.
Year 4 - Class Worship: How Do We Know Who We Are?
We had an extremely thought-provoking class worship today. We found out about Amur, a Muslim boy in Denmark, using Lyfta. He shared a small snapshot of his daily life and explored the question “Who am I?” The discussion which followed was the perfect opportunity for us to practise our talk tactics and listening skills as we shared our opinions on who Amir is as a person, whether or not we thought he was a good person, and how we could tell. There was a lot of agreement among the children with some building on others’ ideas, and a couple of respectful disagreements.
Year 6 - Maths
Today, Year 6 focused on the ability to be flexible in maths and were encouraged to try out different mental strategies to find one that suits them. We discussed that we can often revert back to strategies that we feel comfortable with, but sometimes, if we step out of our comfort zone, we can discover more efficient ways of completing a task. It was great to see plenty of mathematical talk! Well done year 6!
Year 6 - School Council Class Meeting
This morning, Year 6 took part in their class meeting and discussed how their half first term had been. It was great to hear them speak with such openness and justify what they have enjoyed, what could be better and what they are looking forward to as the year progresses.
National Poetry Day in Year 4
As part of National Poetry Day, Year 4 have written their very own poems based on The Amazon Rainforest. They developed their use of both similes and metaphors to up level their examples. We recited the poems and gave peer evaluations. Once we had finished, we wrote the poems again for a poetry competition called Wonder Verse in which the best poems are selected and published in an actual poetry book. We can’t wait to hear if any of our poems make it to publication so we've got everything crossed. Happy National Poetry Day.!