Whitehall Park Values Point Winner’s Disco
Whitehall Park team had a brilliant time at their disco for winning the most values points this half term through showing our Christian and British values. They showcased their best dance moves, played musical bumps, played the corners game and had some yummy sweets. I wonder which house team will win the most values points next half term?
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Year 5- Class Worship- How do you think rules should be decided?
During our class worship this morning, the children were fascinated to learn about the history behind the Lindt chocolate bunnies. The first Lindt bunny saw the light of day in 1952 inspired by a father and a young daughter. Over 150 million chocolate bunnies are produced and distributed in 50 countries. However, Lidl (supermarket) were offering a cheaper alternative to shoppers, therefore Lindt took Lidl to court and won the case. This then opened a discussion about rules, how rules are decided, whether we should follow rules and what might happen if rules were broken. The children agreed that rules are in place to keep us safe and if there were no rules things could get chaotic. ”It's about having the freedom to do what you want as long as it's within the law and you're safe” (British Value)
Year 4 - RE: Is it ever right to challenge authority?
Year 4 debated whether it was right to challenge authority. They then carried out research about people who have famously challenged authority to make a change in the world. We have learned a lot from the efforts of Rosa Parks, William Wilberforce, Greta Thunberg and Oscar Romero.
Celebration Worship - Value Awards
In Celebration Worship this morning we saw lots of children who had demonstrated our Christian values and British values and have worked hard to achieve great things. We can’t believe how quickly six weeks has gone by and all of our children are growing in confidence and maturity by the day! It’s lovely to see how they all support and respect each other both in and out of the classroom. Well done to all of our Value winners this week.
Celebration Worship - Sports Awards and House Team Half Term Winners
As part of our Celebration worship, we saw so many children sharing their fantastic achievements out of school too. Our football team had some fantastic wins at the DPSSA football games last night, showing great sportsmanship and serving our school so respectfully. We also shared the end of this half term “House Team Value Winners” Drum roll………… WINNERS - Whitehall Park - 18 2nd - India Mill - 15 3rd - River Darwen - 11 4th - Darwen Tower - 7 Congratulations to every single child in school for working so hard to demonstrate our Christian values both in and out of the classroom
Year 2 - Local History Walk
In our history lessons we have been focusing on local history and the cotton industry. At this point in history, we have looked at why Gandhi visited Darwen. We have begun to explore the reasoning behind his visit- to allow India to become independent and free to make and sell their own cotton. As this was his mission, we went on a walk and explored where the Greenfield Mill used to be (where Gandhi visited) and the house in which he stayed in.
Year 6- Local police officer visit
Year 6 had a visit from our local police officer who explained that they are now at an age were they are criminally responsible. I feel they have taken away lessons that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. For example, they have learnt how making the wrong decisions at this time in their life can have a detrimental effect on the opportunities they are presented with in the future.
Year 5- Police Officer- Be Ace Talk
Year 5 were super excited about our visit from John (Police Officer). They learnt that children between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they commit a crime. The police force has a duty to keep us safe. It is their job to protect us and they are trained to do their job well. We learnt about different types of assaults, crimes and damages to possessions. The children were intrigued to learn about the number of arrests John had made and why. The most common place where an arrest or a warning is made is at the local supermarket where youths walk in and casually walk out with snacks. Sophie and Isaac played the role of lead actors in a crime that could happen in the schoolyard (secondary) and outside of school. The moral of the lesson was, never retaliate, we all have choices to walk away from situations that could cause us harm.
The Big Debate in Year 4
As part of our British Values, we take part in The Big Debate. Today we looked at whether or not police should be given more funding. Would better police funding also reduce crime? Last year crime was up by 2% and we have lost 22% of police since 2010. The majority debated that we SHOULD provide an increase in funding and education around crime.
Year 6 Class Worship
In class worship this week, year 6 have been discussing whether they think competition is a good thing and whether it helps us to achieve more. We spoke about how this links to one of our British values (Rule of Law) because of rules that take place in competitions to make it a level playing field.
Monday Worship- Black History Month
Last week we focussed on being kind to our neighbour. When we came into worship, we listened to ‘Respect’ by Aretha Franklin. We discussed what this meant and looked at how it was one of our Christian values and our British Value, mutual respect. Mrs Ham told us about how many years ago, Africans were captured and taken to America to be slaves. The children all agreed that this was unfair. Mrs Ham then role played with Declan and Elsie to show the children how slaves were treated. They weren’t treated nicely which was very unfair. In 1865, slavery was completely banned. In 1926, Carter Woodson created black history week and now we celebrate black history month every October. We watched a video which showed how Ayanna Najuma who was just 7 years old changed the world! Ayanna did a peaceful protest and went into a white only restaurant and waited until they were served. Ayanna asked for a hamburger and a coke but the waitress said no. They went back on day 2 and 3. By day 3, they were served food and the restaurant became integrated. Ayanna said “my voice was little but it was just as important as everybody else’s voice”. Martin Luther King Junior also stood up for what was right and he fought for a long time for everybody to be treated equally. Finally we watched a song video about Rosa Parks and how she fought for change. This week, Mrs Ham asked the children to reflect on anything that we have experienced that seemed unfair. Did we have the courage to speak up? Can we do this going forward? We finished our worship by singing ‘Make a difference’.
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Sports Awards- Celebration Worship
During our celebration worship this morning, the children were presented with their sports awards. Last night, a group from Years 5 and 6 represented DPSSA football. They played superbly and gained 1 victory and a narrow defeat. A massive well done to all of our children who also celebrated awards that they brought in from taking part in activities outside of school. We had awards for gymnastics, running, swimming, dancing, reading and martial arts.