Year 6 - English
Year 6 have been developing their vocabulary in their English lessons in order to write their own amplification. They will use alternative vocabulary to draw special attention to the sounds and smells that soldiers would have been exposed to within the trenches during a conflict. The sentences they have created are fantastic!
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2- Story and Craft Club
At lunch time, the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children were invited to Story and Craft Club led by Miss Flynn and the Librarians. We read ‘Nibbles the Book Monster’ who caused lots of havoc in some very well known fairy tales such as Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk and then created our very own book monsters. What an enjoyable lunch time!
Year 5 - Creative Writing
Today, Year 5 completed their alternate endings to the chapter in The Invention of Hugo Cabret, imagining what might happen when the characters finally discover what the mysterious device does. The children showcased fantastic creativity, using suspense, plot twists and vivid imagination to engage the reader. They developed their own characters’ emotions through powerful dialogue and descriptive language, building tension and atmosphere throughout their writing. Each piece demonstrated a strong understanding of narrative structure, including a clear climax and resolution. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to apply their creative writing skills.
Year 3- English-Understanding Rules and Kindness Through Michael Rosen and Marc Colagiovanni's Poems
Today, the children listened to two insightful poems: The Dinner Hall by Michael Rosen and The Reflection in Me by Marc Colagiovanni. The Dinner Hall by Michael Rosen explores the idea of rules and order within the school dining hall, highlighting the importance of structure and kindness to ensure everyone can enjoy their lunch. The poem reflects on what might happen if rules were ignored and how they help create a more respectful environment for all. The Reflection in Me by Marc Colagiovanni focuses on the concept of self-reflection and the importance of being kind to ourselves. It emphasises how understanding our feelings and actions, alongside following rules, can help create a more harmonious and caring environment. The children discussed the themes of both poems, considering how rules help us work together and why kindness and respect are essential. This ties in with our school's 4 Bs. They then chose their favourite poem and shared their thoughts, justifying their opinions with reasons.
Reception: Creative masterpieces
The children have been reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. They have really enjoyed sculpting their own caterpillars in the malleable area, painting symmetrical butterflies and creating butterfly collages too.
Year 2 English- Contractions
Today in their English lesson, Year 2 learnt that a contraction is a combination of two words where letters are omitted and replaced with an apostrophe. First of all, they explored some examples and understood the meaning of a contraction before playing a game where they had to match the words in their full form to their contracted version. To finish the lesson, they enjoyed a practical hands-on activity where they had to perform ‘surgery’ on some words in their full form. This involved omitting letters by physically cutting them out and binning them and replacing where the letters previously existed with an apostrophe.
Year 6 - English
In English, year 6 have been developing their use of causal conjunctions to enhance their non-chronological report writing. They have used common causal conjunctions such as since, because and as, but have also been exposed to some more formal conjunctions such as thus, therefore, consequently and due to. Year 6 worked extremely hard to use these correctly and ensure their sentences were punctuated properly.
Year 4 - English: Recapping Our Residential
Our first English lesson of the summer term was an “experience” session. We began by looking through some of the pictures from our trip to the Anderton Centre. We shared our memories and our favourite parts of the trip. We then worked in groups to write down these fond memories about 6 main areas: preparation, facilities, team games, archery, climbing and paddle boarding. All of this is in preparation for creating persuasive leaflets about visiting the Anderton Centre.
Year 3 - English-Year 3 Inspired by Author and Quizmaster Jay Flynn
Today, Year 3 enjoyed an inspiring visit from the author and celebrated Quizmaster, Jay Flynn. As part of their Biographies topic, Jay shared fascinating insights into his writing process and the content of his autobiography. He offered valuable tips to the young writers on how to craft compelling narratives, emphasising a great opening to draw readers in. The children were particularly enthralled to hear about Jay's own adventures, his significant charity work, and even his meeting with Prince William. This experience has ignited their enthusiasm as they now prepare to write their own biographies about the David Attenborough. Thank you so much Jay and thank you to Jack for telling his Dad all about our Biographies topic, leading to this special visit!
Year 3- English- Generating questions for research
As part of our biographies topic, year three have been developing their research skills by generating questions about a famous celebrity. They then interviewed their friends to see if they could discover the answers using the text.
Year 4 - Big Lent Walk to the Rose Garden
Yesterday, the Year 4s took advantage of the lovely weather and completed a Big Lent Walk to the Rose Garden at Whitehall Park. Whilst there, we spent time exploring the selection of artwork and poetry shared by each class. We helped the Reception children read the poetry and completed challenges to find each part of the Easter story.
Year 1- Big Lent Walk
This morning, Year 1 walked 7.5km each, totalling a huge 225km as a collective. They did this by walking into Darwen Town Centre to take pictures of some of our well known landmarks in preparation for their art unit next half-term. This included India Mill, Darwen Post Office, Darwen Leisure Centre, Darwen Market Hall and Darwen Library. We extended our stay at Darwen Library by going inside to enjoy a lovely story. Finally, we came back to school to write a recount of our walk. We had to make sure that we were capitalising proper nouns (including the names of people, places and street names) as this is the grammar skill that we we have been working hard on over the last couple of weeks.