Year 3- P.E- Developing the Rugby Swing Pass
Today, Year 3 developed their teamwork and technical skills during an Invasion Games lesson focused on Rugby. The children practised the swing pass, focusing on forming a 'W' shape with their hands and swinging the ball from chest to hip height toward their target. They participated in a "Pepper Pot" drill to improve their passing accuracy and speed, working hard to beat their personal bests in a 30-second challenge. A key focus of the lesson was honesty, as groups were responsible for reporting their actual number of successful passes. The children also explored tactics to outwit a defender, such as feinting a pass and moving into open space to receive the ball. To finish, they applied these skills in a 4v1 game, where attackers had to use quick thinking and precise passing to keep the ball away from the defender.
Mad Science After School Club- Exploring the Forces of Motion
In today’s After School Mad Science Club, our scientists explored the fascinating laws of physics through several "Mad Scientist" challenges. The children investigated gravity and inertia by successfully pulling tablecloths from under dishes, proving that objects at rest prefer to stay at rest. We also held exciting woodpecker races, where the students learned how vibration and friction allow a wooden bird to "peck" its way down a wire. Additionally, the children mastered the art of moving coins across fabric without touching them, using clever vibrations to overcome friction. The children had so much fun throughout the afternoon and are already buzzing with excitement for our next session!
Friday Celebration Worship
We had a fabulous first week back and it was wonderful to see all the children working so hard and settling back into school life so positively. Throughout the week, we spent time reflecting on kindness, thinking carefully about the kind things we have done ourselves and the kindness we have seen in others. This week’s values awards were proudly presented to Luna in Reception, Jasper in Year 1, Noah in Year 2, Archie in Year 3, Bluebell in Year 4, James in Year 5 and Elsie in Year 6. Well done to all of you for consistently demonstrating our school values. In TT Rockstars, Archie and Lyla from Year 4 were awarded certificates for their efforts, fantastic work! Our team values results saw Darwen Tower in fourth place, India Mill in third, Whitehall Park in second and River Darwen taking first place. A huge congratulations to River Darwen, who also won a disco and non-uniform day for achieving the most points last half term, what a brilliant achievement! We were delighted to celebrate a wide range of achievements outside of school this week. Ava was awarded a Level 4 certificate in swimming, while Reggie achieved 50 metres, Mikey 20 metres, Minnie C 10 metres, Isabella achieved Stage 5 and James achieved Stage 1, well done to all our swimmers. Luna earned a yellow belt in kickboxing and Eleanor received a certificate for taking part in a duck hunt. Lydia, Annie, Luna, Thea and Olivia were all awarded badges and certificates in Rainbows for first aid, networking skills, tasty treats and present making. Rosie and Naomi were recognised as seconders in Brownies, taking on an important leadership role. Sophia, Darcy, Daisy and Alexis were all awarded sixer badges in Brownies for their leadership, with Darcy also receiving the Brownies doll for being particularly helpful. Samuel was named Beaver of the Week for his excellent map reading and Isaac was awarded Player of the Week for his fantastic shooting, passing and tackling in football. Congratulations to Reception and Year 3 for achieving the highest attendance this week, keep it up! Finally, we shared some important reminders. Reception families were invited to the upcoming stay and play session and we are looking forward to celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, with children invited to come dressed in green or blue. Year 3 are excited for their upcoming Rock and River Outdoor Adventure trip and we also look forward to the Whitehall Park afternoon tea taking place on Sunday. We ended our worship with thoughtful prayers led by Sophia and Darcy. Well done to everyone for such a positive and successful week.
Year 3- Class Meeting- Should TIKTOK be banned?
During our class meeting, James and Alice led a debate on whether TikTok should be banned. The children shared many strong points, with those in favour of a ban arguing that the app can be unsafe for young children, time-consuming, and sometimes used for unkind behaviour. On the other hand, those who disagreed pointed out that TikTok is a fun way to be creative, learn new skills like dancing or crafts, and stay connected with friends. After a long discussion where everyone gave good reasons for their opinions, we held a vote. The "Yes" side received the highest number of votes, so we will be taking further action on this in a few weeks. We also looked back at our work raising money for a brain tumour cure, showing how important it is for our class to speak up and take action for things we believe in. We will be baking to raise money soon. It is wonderful to see the class so eager to speak up and take real action to help others.
Year 3- English- Exploring Rules linking it to R.E
Today we started exploring how structure helps us convey a clear message in our writing. To create interest, we watched two contrasting clips: one of a chaotic kitchen on Mother's Day and another of a young girl cooking in a calm, organised space. We are using these clips to help us write poems, thinking about how we can use different structures to show either "order" or "chaos." We also linked this to our R.E. focus on rules and laws, discussing how rules are important because they keep us safe. The children reflected on how, without laws, our streets would be full of confusion, much like the messy kitchen. Ultimately, we learned that a rule is like a promise to look after one another, providing the same structure to our lives.
Year 3- Maths- Exploring Mass and Scales
Building on what the children learned in Year 2, we have started our unit on Scales and Mass this week. While the children already know about grams and kilograms, they are now looking closer at how to read different types of scales accurately. We have also been practicing how to convert between units, remembering that 1 kg = 1000 g. We talked about how we still see these scales today, like when weighing fruit and vegetables at the supermarket. This week’s learning is helping the children become much more confident at weighing objects and comparing masses on their own.
Year 3- History- Mapping Our Prehistoric Past
In history class today, the Year 3 Historians took their learning beyond the classroom and became true historians as they explored the Prehistoric Ages. We started by investigating the massive timeline in our school hall, which shows how humans have lived in Britain for over 900,000 years. To deepen our understanding, we then used an interactive timeline. We discovered how the Stone Age lasted for a vast amount of time as humans mastered flint tools and early farming, followed by the Bronze Age, where the discovery of metal-working changed how people traded and lived. Finally, we saw the rise of the Iron Age, characterised by powerful hillforts and advanced tools.
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Year 3- Class Worship- Building a Community of Kindness
In our class worship, we learned about the development of Barking Riverside, a brand-new town in East London designed to provide up to 20,000 new homes. We discussed how this new community will include schools, parks, and shared spaces where neighbours can show mutual respect and tolerance so that everyone feels they belong. This led to a thoughtful conversation about new children starting in our own class; we talked about how every child has the right to a safe place to live and grow, and how we can be "good neighbours" by making others feel welcomed. Evie read the school prayer, thanking God for safe homes and asking for help to treat our neighbours with kindness so that our hearts can be filled with peace. We ended worship with singing 'When I Needed a Neighbour'.
Year 3- R.E- Exploring Sadness and Joy with Rev Ben
This afternoon, we welcomed Rev Ben to our class to investigate the emotional journey of Holy Week through a deep discussion. We used our oracy skills to recap the Easter story and explore how church services transform from sadness to joy. Rev Ben explained that on Good Friday, the service is solemn and quiet to reflect the sadness of the cross. However, we also talked about how everything changes on Easter Sunday, when the church bursts into a joyful celebration with loud bells and happy songs to show that Jesus is alive. By talking and listening to Rev Ben, we learned that churches use different moods, sounds, and symbols to help people feel the big emotions of the Easter story.
Whole School Worship - The Value of Kindness
Today, our whole school worship was focussed on the value of kindness and our Kindness Kite of God rewards kindness. We talk about kindness frequently at St Barnabas, especially as it is one of our 4 Be’s. As we came into worship, a video was playing that showed how kind acts affect the recipient, prompting them to pay the kindness forward so that it spreads. The children spotted some acts of kindness in the video and linked these to the charitable activities we have taken part in as a school family recently. Mrs Ham read some motivational quotes and we all acted out sprinkling a glitter trail of kindness and throwing around kindness like confetti. She then showed us the story of The Good Samaritan and explained that showing kindness isn’t something we reserve just for our friends and family; it’s for everyone. Quotes from the Bible about kindness were read brilliantly by Matthew, Darcy and Charlie from this week's Kindness Kite. We then spent some time reflecting on how we will show kindness this week and beyond, and we finished by singing one of our favourite songs, Rich in Kindness.
Year 3- Science- Investigating Contact and Non-Contact Forces
Today, we began our new science unit on forces and magnets. We started by exploring how objects move and learned that a force is essentially a push or a pull acting upon an object. We discovered that while some forces require objects to touch (known as contact forces, such as kicking a football), others can act at a distance (known as non-contact forces, such as the pull of gravity or a magnet). By experimenting with magnets and clips, we observed non-contact forces in action, watching objects rise without being touched. We also explored contact forces by stretching elastic bands and pushing balls. We realised that forces are responsible for starting motion, stopping it, and even changing the shape of an object.
Mad Science After School Club- Exploring the Chemistry of Curiosity: pH Levels
We had a fantastic start to our Science club today, delivered by the Mad Scientist, Jo. Our future scientists focused on the power of pH levels, learning how to identify acids and bases using professional liquid indicators and pH paper. The children put on their safety glasses and learned the vital importance of protecting themselves while conducting experiments. From observing the chemical reactions used to clean oxidised coins to testing the acidity of common household liquids. It was inspiring to see the children’s curiosity come to life as they realised that science isn’t just found in a textbook, it is happening in their kitchen cupboards and the world around them.