Year 5 - Online Safety
Over the last two weeks, Year 5 have considered the risks of age inappropriate content and the role that social media, gaming, streaming and adverts can play in exposing children to unsuitable and upsetting content. We have also explored horror video games in relation to Halloween and how children should be aware of jump scares, violent content and potential online interactions while experiencing such content.
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Whole School Worship & Farewell to Mrs Norton
It is with great sadness that we are saying goodbye to our school cook of 19 years, Mrs Norton, this week. In our whole school worship we celebrated all Mrs Norton has done for us by inviting some of our children to share memories and messages of thanks. Each class made Mrs Norton a special card and Mrs Ham presented her with some gifts from our school family. We wish her well as she embarks on a new chapter. Mrs Ham also shared an update about our Harvest collections for Dare and we practised our songs for the Harvest service.
Year 5 - Debt Aware
Mrs Whittam visited Year 5 to talk to the children about how to manage money. The class first considered the difference between wants and needs before defining the terms debt, spending and borrowing. The children engaged in paired and class discussions and completed a range of activities and games to help develop their understanding of money.
Year 5 - History
We finished our history topic by considering the reasons why the Maya abandoned their cities during the post classic decline starting around 900AD. The children thought like historians, researching the evidence for and against possible explanations before deciding which theory they felt was the most plausible. The children discussed the relative impact of war, drought, deforestation and lack of water.
Year 5 - Science
We completed our experiment on the chemical reaction of rusting, drawing scientific diagrams of nails in tap and saltwater. We found that coating iron with paint or Vaseline delays rusting. We discussed the best way of stopping an iron bridge from rusting before finishing the topic with an example of a physical reaction - mentos in Fanta and lemonade!
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, we began our worship by reflecting on what has been a busy but thoroughly enjoyable week. Mrs Ham started by thanking everyone for their wonderful efforts in raising awareness for mental health during last Friday’s Hello Yellow Day. She also expressed her appreciation to all the children who attended the Harvest Church Service at St Barnabas Church on Sunday, accompanied by Mrs Araujo, Mrs Wilkinson, and Mrs Govan. The children sang beautifully and truly gave it their all. We also recognised the many children supporting Rotakids by donating winter coats and shoeboxes filled with essentials for DARE (Darwen Asylum Refuge). Mrs Ham reminded us that we can continue to support important causes by taking part in Bishop Phillip’s Pedalathon, raising funds for Christians in South Africa by getting out on our bikes and putting in some miles. We are also still collecting Harvest donations for the local food bank and DARE. We took time to congratulate our individual Value Award winners this week: Poppy, Olivia and Skye in EYFS and KS1, and Renee, Lyla, Walter and Ruby in KS2, for consistently following Barny’s 4Bs, working incredibly hard across the curriculum, and showing great growth and maturity during their first half-term in their new classes. Our congratulations also went to our Year 2 and Year 3 classes for being this week’s attendance winners. A big well done to India Mill, who were our weekly Value Award winners with an impressive 236 points, and also our overall Value Award winners for the half-term. As a reward, they will enjoy a non-uniform day and disco — with the date to be announced shortly. We were delighted to recognise a number of pupils for their achievements outside of school this week. Well done to Jonas for settling in so well after recently joining Squirrels, and to Phoebe for earning a badge at Rainbows and always bringing positivity and laughter. Callie has been an excellent role model at martial arts, while Elijah was awarded Beaver of the Week for his enthusiasm and willingness to get involved. James impressed with his fantastic fielding in cricket, Lyla performed beautifully in her lyrical dancing, and Sofia was named Star of the Week at acro while also earning several badges at Brownies. Charlie achieved 25 metres in all swimming strokes, Olivia received her Silver Award at Rainbows, Willow showed amazing gymnastics skills, Lydia earned her Gold Award at Rainbows, and Eleanor achieved her Amazing Helper badge. We also congratulated our Year 4 pupils for representing the school so well at the Cidari Earth Conference at Blackburn Cathedral yesterday, and praised our girls' football team for their continued efforts in the DPSSA league. Finally, a reminder that next week is a four-day week due to an INSET day on Friday. We also have our Halloween Spooky Disco on Wednesday evening, organised by FOSB, and our Harvest Church Service taking place on Thursday morning. Please check Class Dojo for more details. Wishing you all a fantastic weekend!
Cross Country Trials
Today we held cross country trials for years 3-6. We had a super turn out and every single child that took part tried really hard and pushed themselves out of their comfort zones. The ground was wet which made it even harder but this didn’t deter our super stars. Well done to everyone and a big thanks to our Year 6 Marshalls and sports leaders.
Year 5 - French
In French, the children revisited French vocabulary for different types of weather, days of the week and seasons of the year. The children then practised the vocabulary by reading and translating before speaking out loud. This was then combined with vocabulary from previous lessons to make expressive phrases relating to likes, dislikes and hobbies. The children’s work was tres bien.
Year 5 - PSHE
In PSHE, we explored how children can be assertive in their friendships so that they can keep themselves safe. We discussed the difference between being too passive and too aggressive, with assertiveness being a middle ground. We role played how to be assertive by using politeness humour and problem solving to maintain friendships while also establishing clear boundaries.
Year 5 - English
Our new topic in English is narrative poetry and we are starting to learn the poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. We analysed its structure and use of figurative language such as metaphors and repetition before performing the poem with our own physical actions. Such movements help the children memorise the lines and help make English lessons fun and engaging.
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Year 5 - Art
The children planned and produced their imaginative interaction installations using a wide variety of materials and light sources. The pieces were inspired by a range of real world issues such as plastic pollution, the raw power of volcanic activity and the exploration of space. Children worked together in groups and showed great teamwork, proactively solving problems with conversation and compromise.
Year 5 - Science: Rusting
Year 5 continued learning about chemical reactions by exploring rusting: the reaction between iron, water and oxygen to produce a new substance. The children defined rusting and corrosion before starting an experiment to see how the reaction can be sped up using saltwater or slowed down using painted iron.