KS2 Author Visit
Yesterday, the children in KS2 were lucky enough to have a visit from Richard Alker. Richard is the author of the book ‘My Grandad vs the Fangazoo’. The children were truly immersed in his session and had many questions to ask Richard about his life and how he became an author. During the session, he discussed various things: what inspired him to write, character development, simple strategies he uses when writing and finally the children had the chance to listen to a book reading. Thank you Richard!
KS2- Author Visit-R.K. Alker
To celebrate World Book Day and foster a love for reading, we welcomed children's book author RK Alker today. He shared insights into his journey before becoming an author, recounting experiences such as growing chillies and collaborating with celebrities like Gordon Ramsay. Before pursuing writing, RK worked as an ambulance man until a leg injury led him to reconsider his career path. Inspired by his daughters, he fulfilled his lifelong dream of writing a book. During his talk, RK emphasised the importance of creative writing prompts and utilising the five senses to enhance writing. He introduced the children to his character Stretch the Dragon by reading chapter 7 from his current best-selling book 'My Grandad Vs the Fanga Zoo,' leaving it on a cliffhanger. RK hopes to get a word he made up, 'oopositollogy' (which means the opposite of opposite), into a dictionary one day. To end the visit, RK told funny jokes that had the children laughing their socks off.
Year 3- Big Lent Walk
This afternoon, Year 3 went on the 'Big Lent Walk', covering a distance of 2.8 km. A small donation has been made to CAFOD to help fight poverty worldwide. We also had fun being Geologists exploring different kind of rocks.
Year 2 - Big Lent Walk
This afternoon, Year 2 set off to Whitehall Park to do our bit for the Big Lent Walk. We added 2.5 kilometres to the school total.
Year 6 School Nurse Visit
Year 6 had a visit from the school nurse as a follow-up session to the health questionnaires they recently filled out. The children acted extremely maturely and gave some fantastic responses. However, they were clearly shocked by some of the facts (especially around sugar content) regarding their favourite foods and drinks. Did you know that one milkshake contains nearly a week’s worth of a child’s sugar intake?
Reception: Imagine That Educational Visit
Wow, what a fantastic day our Ducklings had today. We visited Imagine That in Liverpool and had lots of fun! The children did lots of experiments with dry ice, made magical snow and made slime too. They used their imaginations in the roleplay area, painted a car, explored the creative area and made their own magnets. They were well behaved and represented the school beautifully!
Year 6 Fire Service Visit
At the end of last half term, year 6 were visited by the fire service. They did a recap with the children on what they covered in year 2, and delivered some new content. Two of the most important takeaways from the session would be to test that your smoke alarms work each month; this could be done on your birthdate to avoid forgetting. Secondly, make sure you have a fire plan in place at home and that everyone living in the property understand this.
Year 4 - Meeting Our Linking Schools Class
The children were so excited to meet their Linking class this week. We had a Zoom meeting with the Kestrels class from St Matthews in Blackburn, in which we introduced ourselves, taught and learned some sign-supported English and played games. I think their favourite game was ‘Draw An Object’; the children had to hold their whiteboards on their heads and draw the instructed object without looking. Needless to say our attempts were hilarious and nothing like what they were supposed to be!
Reception: Police Visit
Wow! What a special treat! The children had a visit from PC Uzair and PCSO Debbie. It was fantastic and the children were able to take turns in the police car. We even got to press the horn to make the siren work! We learnt about their job and how they make sure everybody is safe. We also got to see some of their equipment and found out about their special numbers. I’m sure this is a memory the children will never forget.
Year 5 - Money Matters - Module 2
Year 5 have completed their module 2 Money Matters. The children discussed various aspects of money such as: needs vs wants, budgeting, examples of spending, how to spend wisely and learnt from real life situations.
Christmas Church Service
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us this morning for our Christmas Church Service. I have attached some photos and snippets for those of you who were unable to join us due to work commitments. A huge well done to our Key Stage 2 children for showcasing what they have been learning in RE this half term and a special thank you to Year 6, who led our service. We thanked Rev Ben and Rev Matt for their service to our school family. We also gave a special gift to Glenda, who has decided to retire from her volunteering role in school. Thank you so much Glenda for everything you have done for our school family over the years. It was wonderful to hear about all the great ways that our children have been spreading love and joy to our community through singing carols, delivering Christmas cards to the elderly and donating toys and gifts to the Rotary Club and DARE (Darwen Asylum and Refugee Enterprise). Thank you so much for your generous donations.
Choir Christmas Carols at Darwen Market
A huge well done to our amazing choir and Year 6 singers for a wonderful performance today! Thank you to Darwen Market for inviting us. Thanks to everyone who came to watch. We hope we spread some festive cheer and joy to you all!