Year 3- P.E- Gymnastics
Today, the children set up the apparatus and observed a model of a safe landing before exploring different jumps, including straight, star, and tuck jumps. They also practised travelling and balancing on smaller apparatus. They adapted their sequences and experimented with new movements as they rotated through various layouts. Some children pushed past their challenges, building confidence in their jumps and improving their balance along the way.
A Disco For the Value Award Winners
Today, Whitehall Park and India Mill celebrated their success of achieving the most value points last half-term with a non-uniform day and a disco. A huge thank you to Miss Flynn, Mrs Irshad and Miss Woods for the leading the disco and games! The children had a fantastic time!
Biggest Ever Girls Football Event
Today, we proudly took part in the FA’s Biggest Ever Girls’ Football Event, celebrating the joy of football and encouraging more girls to get involved in the sport. Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 participated in a fun, game-based session where they had to dribble the ball and score in any of the four goals while defenders tried to stop them with tackles. The session helped develop their dribbling, spatial awareness and teamwork skills in an exciting and engaging way. Years 3, 4, 5, and 6 took part in a series of competitive matches, showcasing their skills and teamwork. They then tested their nerves in thrilling penalty shootouts, demonstrating confidence and precision under pressure. It was fantastic to see so much enthusiasm, determination and teamwork throughout the morning. The event truly highlighted the growing passion for girls’ football in our school!
Friday Celebration Worship
Today, we started our celebration worship by signing the trinity and reflecting on our very busy yet enjoyable week in school. This week, we launched our challenge called ‘THE BIG LENT WALK’ which involves our whole school community working together to raise money to make a difference to the lives of those who don't have enough food. Please continue to let either Mrs Wilkinson or Mrs Ham know if you have walked anywhere and send photos if you can. We have also been thinking about how Lent is a good time to give things back so we have launched our 40 Day Kindness Challenge. This week, we have also celebrated Shrove Tuesday, World Book Day and enjoyed a great variety of after school clubs such as Craft Club led by Fred and Pearl, Cross Country, Mad Science, Choir , Dodgeball and Gymnastics clubs led by Edstart. We then congratulated this week’s individual value award winners. Well done to Evie, Alessia and Heidi in EYFS and KS1 and Lottie, Penelope, Nevaeh, Seb and Laila in KS2 for their fantastic work ethic, their commitment to demonstrating the Barney’s 4Bs (being ready, respectful, kind and safe) and showing full participation and engagement in lessons. Furthermore, we congratulated our Year 2 and Year 3 classes for being our attendance winners this week with 99.2% and 99.3% attendance, River Darwen as our value award winners this week with 509 points and our Year 4 Football team who kicked off their journey in the BRFC league with three exciting matches on Tuesday evening and represented school amazingly well. We also congratulated Year 3 and Year 6 as being the WOW (Walk to School) winners for the month of February. Well done to these classes for earning the most badges. We then moved on to congratulating our out of school sports award winners. This week, it was a week full of congratulating super swimmers. Well done to Zac for being a super swimmer and achieving his Puffin award, Phoebe for achieving her Stage 1 swimming certificate, Annabel for achieving her 15m swimming certificate, Ava for achieving her Stage 2 swimming certificate, Desmond for achieving his silver and gold swimming certificates, Iris for achieving her Stage 6 swimming certificate and Bluebelle for swimming an amazing 50m. We also said a huge well done to Carter for being a fantastic footballer and Lana for being the Star of the Week at Performing Arts. To end our worship, we read a beautiful Lent prayer together as a school and sang ‘We Have a King Who Rides a Donkey’. We wish you all a lovely and restful weekend.
Year 3 Celebrates World Book Day: Reading Our Way!
Today, Year 3 celebrated World Book Day with a cozy celebration, dressed in their pyjamas. Miss Flynn led a worship, sharing three wonderful stories, ‘DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK’, The Story of the Little Mole who knew it was none of his business and 'Nibbles The Book Monster’, that sparked imagination and reflection. Following this, the children participated in a game of 'Guess the Teacher Behind the Book,' a challenge that proved both entertaining and great fun. This year's theme, 'Read Your Way,' emphasized the joy of reading in diverse settings, from the bathroom to bus stations and beyond. To further celebrate this theme, the children had the opportunity to visit classrooms and enjoy stories they chose read aloud by members of staff. Additionally, they participated in classroom quizzes centered on teachers' favourite books, with numerous prizes awarded. A special highlight of the day was a live session with the author Pamela Butchart, who read from her book, 'Learn How to Be a Billionaire’, The day was a great success, fostering a deep appreciation for reading. We thank Miss Flynn for making this day so memorable.
World Book Day- Storytime Across School
To celebrate World Book Day, our children voted for the story that they wanted to listen to and moved around school to listen to their chosen one. Miss Flynn read ‘The Monkey With a Bright Blue Bottom,’ Mrs Wilkinson read ‘The Wonky Donky,’ Mrs Govan read ‘Taylor Swift (Little People, Big Dreams), Mr Norris read ‘Sammy Striker and the Football Cup,’ Mrs Hegarty read ‘The Great Dog Bottom Swap,’ Miss Woods read ‘I’ve Broken My Bottom,’ Miss Kachwalla read ‘There’s a Snake in My School,’ Mrs Gardner read ‘Revolting Rhymes,’ Mr Bloomfield read, ‘The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors,’ Mr Prescott read ‘The World’s Worst Children’ and Miss Lyons read ‘Absolutely Awful Adults.’ Most of these stories were new to our children and they thoroughly enjoyed listening to and engaging with them. There were lots of giggles!
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.
Year 3- Year of Prayer- Linking Pipe Cleaners
This afternoon, Year 3 participated in a hands-on activity to symbolize connection and prayer. We each formed a pipe cleaner into a bracelet, then partnered up and linked our bracelets together.We then prayed for people who may be lonely and have no friends and thanked God for always being with us and caring for us.
Year 3- Class Worship- Is it important to feel proud of where you come from?
The Times newspaper recently surveyed young people aged 18 to 27 about their perspectives on life and living in the UK. The results revealed a range of opinions, with 4 out of 10 respondents expressing pride in being British. Year 3 engaged in a discussion, unanimously agreeing on the importance of treating everyone fairly, as they believed this is what Jesus would want. The Bible and other sacred books teach that everyone is valued and has a place in the world. Following this, the children were asked to thank God for helping them appreciate the good in their surroundings and celebrate the uniqueness of each place. To end the worship, the children sang This Little Light of Mine.
Year 3- 40 Days of Kindness – Day 1
Following this morning’s school worship, where Mrs. Ham introduced the 40-day kindness challenge, we began Day 1 today. As we explored the similarities between Lent and Ramadan, we discussed how both are times to feel closer to God, give things up or fast, and give back to others. To start our challenge, each of the 31 children drew a picture, some chose suns, love hearts, stars, rainbows, books, cups, flowers, and even ice creams. At the end of the day, Chloe went around with a basket and handed each child a picture created by someone else. This small but thoughtful act brought smiles to everyone’s faces and reminded us how simple gestures can brighten someone’s day. We also spoke about the importance of kindness, especially during break and lunchtime when small disagreements can happen. Instead of only giving to our best friends, we challenged ourselves to give selflessly and spread kindness to others, seeing the joy it can bring. This discussion helped us reflect on how our words and actions shape the friendships and community around us.
Little Craft Club
Today at The Little Craft Club, the children designed and decorated their own pencil cases. They thought of their favourite things so the final products represented each of them! Some of the children delved into our Imagination Station box to find things to creatively decorate the zip pull too! This activity is going to be part of a special Craft Club session at The Carus Centre in Hoddlesden during the Easter holidays. In the session, we will also be painting canvases and making bracelets/phone charms. The session is open to the public and can be booked here: https://fredandpearl.com/collections/easter-holidays
Year 3- Science- Rock Detectives
This afternoon, the Year 3 geologists became rock detectives, investigating and comparing different types of rocks based on their appearance and physical properties. Using magnifying glasses, they took a closer look at the three main rock types.