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Sportshall Athletics Club
Tonight we started our first Sportshall Athletics Club. We practised various events including lap sprints, javelin, long jump and specialist obstacle skills such as the tunnel. The children worked hard to develop their agility and speed.
Edstart Jag Tag Festival
What a fantastic opportunity we had today in taking part in the Edstart Jag Tag Festival at Soccerdome. In the morning session, the children developed their skills and game tactics and then this afternoon they played games against other schools that were attending the festival. Team B showed great respect, encouragement and passion in every game and came away with a MVP ( Most Valued Player) in every single game with super results : Game 1 - 18-0 WIN vs St Oswalds MVP - Freddy Game 2- 20-6 WIN vs St Matthew’s MVP - Matthew Game 3 - 18-2 WIN St Anthony’s MVP Brooke Huge thanks to all of the coaches from Edstart , the other schools and support staff.
Year 4 Street Dance
In PE this week we have started our new dance unit - Street dance. The children were so excited to have a specialist Dance Teacher from Rothwell Arts to lead their sessions. Every single child joined in so enthusiastically and it was lovely to see them having such fun as well as learning new dance terms such as a canon, Smurf and windmills. We can’t wait to continue to build on the piece next week and work towards an end showcase piece.
Reception: Diwali
Reception have been learning all about Diwali this week. Diwali will be celebrated by Hindus on Thursday and we are looking forward to teaching the school about it on Thursday. The children learnt about Rama and Sita and how Diwali is the festival of light. They have made Rangoli patterns, cards, Mendhi, diva lamps and cards. The children have also learnt a special song all about Diwali.
Year 4 - Science: Habitats at the Farm
We had a lovely walk up to Nightingales Farm on Monday to take part in some habitat activities. We recapped what we’d learned so far in science and then we learned about the many different habitats which can be found on the farm. We visited the sheep, pigs, goats and ducks and we talked about how the animals thrive in their habitats. We finished our trip by making bug houses using various natural materials. We will be adding these to our spiritual garden in order to encourage more wildlife to visit.
Barney’s Break Time Snack Rules
In our Wellbeing Warrior meeting today, the children discussed what should and what shouldn’t be included in our break time snacks as we have had quite a few questions about this from both parents and children. After looking at national guidance and a healthy balanced diet, the wellbeing warriors have decided that the following foods can be brought in for a break time snack: Fruit - fresh/dry Vegetables Frubes ( tube yoghurt) Cheese ( babybel or similar) Plain /yoghurt covered rice cakes Breadsticks Crackers/cracker bread Items that we would like children NOT to bring in: Any chocolate coated items Cereal bars Nuts Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 receive a free piece of fruit each day. Thank you for your support and understanding. This will begin on our return after half term. If there are any medical conditions that require other items, class teachers and staff will use their discretion. Have a lovely weekend. The Wellbeing Warriors
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Inter-House Sports Dodgeball led by Sports Leaders
A huge thank you to our new Sports Leaders who ran their very first Inter- house competition today. They chose to do dodgeball and every class thoroughly enjoyed it! The children showed each other respect, demonstrated the 4 B’s and encouraged each other every step of the way. We can’t wait to hear who the overall winners are next week
Creating Optical Illusions - Year 4 Art
This week we have started to create optical illusions using a tropical rainforest theme. First the children selected two images such as toucans, macaws, tropical fish and tribes people. Working within a small group they then cut each of the pictures into 2cm strips. Following this they placed the strips down one side of a vertical fan and the same with the other picture. It is extremely difficult to place the strips in the correct place so that the image isn’t distorted, so we numbered the strips to help us. We are using a carousel of art activities so that each group can focus on their own optical illusion and ask for support where needed. We can’t wait to see everyone’s final piece which will go on to be displayed in the school hall.
National Poetry Day in Year 4
As part of National Poetry Day, Year 4 have written their very own poems based on The Amazon Rainforest. They developed their use of both similes and metaphors to up level their examples. We recited the poems and gave peer evaluations. Once we had finished, we wrote the poems again for a poetry competition called Wonder Verse in which the best poems are selected and published in an actual poetry book. We can’t wait to hear if any of our poems make it to publication so we've got everything crossed. Happy National Poetry Day.!
Art Year 4 -Willow Patterns
In art this week we have been looking at designing our own willow pattern style plate based on an Amazon theme. We selected key features from our class novel ‘The Explorer’ and added these to our design, first in our sketch books and then on our plates. We drew the designs into our plates and then used diluted blue ink to highlight them. We used lots of different tones of blue by adding more or less water and the final pieces looked amazing.
Year 4 Geography - What is it like in a rainforest city?
In our geography lesson we are studying the Amazon Rainforest. Today we compared and contrasted Darwen with Manaus which is a city located with the Amazon. We highlighted physical and human features and then moved onto looking at climates within each continent across the world.
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Year 4 Art - Soap Sculptures
Our art session this week focused on Soap sculptures. We looked at the work of Barbara Hepworth and how things can be sculpted from a variety of materials. We used bars of soap for our sculptures and decided to stick with our rainforest animal theme. We decided between a butterfly, fish or turtle and then selected various tools to create our design. The children soon realised the need for a calm and steady hand in order to make intricate designs especially with the fish scales. As you can see we had some wonderful examples by the end of the lesson.