Year 1 Maths: Heavier or Lighter
Year 1 have started to explore mass of objects. They used the words heavier and lighter to compare objects. They compared lots of classroom objects as a team. The children could see that the heavier object went down in the scale and the lighter object went up.
Year 1: Celebrating Earth Day
This morning, we celebrated Earth Day. We came to school dressed in green and blue. We watched a short video from the BBC about Earth Day, climate change and ways we can help our Earth. We then created our own fizzy Earth using baking soda, vinegar and paint. Finally, we wrote some beautiful thank you prayers to God, thanking Him for the nature on our Earth like trees, snow, animals and the sea.
Whole School Worship- Earth Day 2026: Our Power, Our Planet
Today, Mrs Ham led an inspiring whole-school worship focused on Earth Day 2026, which is tomorrow, and our theme, 'Our Power, Our Planet. We explored essential ways to care for our environment, from the importance of recycling and saving water to the impact of planting trees. During the session, the children demonstrated fantastic oral speaking and oracy skills as they discussed their personal pledges with their peers, articulating how they plan to help the environment, not just on Earth Day, but every day! We heard some wonderful stories: Luna spoke about her time picking up litter on holiday in Greece, while Alfie shared that it is an act of kindness to pick up rubbish even if it isn't your own. Jonas also reminded our budding Planet Protectors to wear green for the land and blue for the sea tomorrow to celebrate Earth Day. From planting trees at home to helping grandparents with local litter picks, the children’s ideas were truly inspiring. We also reflected on our efforts as a school family in protecting our planet over the last few months such as planting a microforest at Jacks Key, planting two orchards on our school grounds, our WOW group's pick up dog poo campaign, our Rotakids recycling teddies and winter coats for those in need and focusing on switching off lights and devices. We concluded by singing, 'We Can Make a Difference', and offering a prayer of thanks for our wonderful world, reflecting on how we can all work together to protect our precious planet.
Year 1 English: Sequencing the Story
In our English, we sequenced pictures of the story Dogs Don’t Do Ballet. Then, they added time conjunctions to their pictures to show the order.
Year 1 Art: 3D Drawings
Year 1 loved creating some fantastic 3D drawings today. They used different techniques such as bending, folding, rolling, looping and spirals to create artwork that popped out from the page. I was blown away by the creativity from the children and how effective their artwork looked.
Year 1 PE: Athletics
In our new PE topic, we are focusing on skills that we need in Athletics. We started by focusing on our posture, marching to Grand Old Duke of York whilst balancing a beanbag on our head. Then, we focused on following a leader in partners. In groups, we worked in stations. One station allowed us to practise our posture whilst balancing a beanbag on our head whilst moving between two hoops. The second station allowed us to practise rolling a quoit from one cone to another. The third station allowed us to practise both hopscotch and following a leader.
Year 1 Maths: Measuring with Objects
Year 1 used objects such as cubes, paper clips, dominoes and counters to measure different classroom objects. The children had to make sure that the objects were aligned and they did not leave any spaces between the objects that they were using to measure. The children measured glue sticks, pencils, rubbers, whiteboards etc.
Year 1 Geography: Exploring Our School Area
In Geography, we recalled what human and physical features are. Human features are things made by humans such as playgrounds. Physical features are natural environments such as wooded areas. We walked around our school ground to find human and physical features. We had lots of human features such as the trim trail, playgrounds, the peace garden, the outdoor gym and the Muga. We had some physical features like the football fields and our growing school orchard.
Mad Science After School Club- Exploring the Forces of Motion
In today’s After School Mad Science Club, our scientists explored the fascinating laws of physics through several "Mad Scientist" challenges. The children investigated gravity and inertia by successfully pulling tablecloths from under dishes, proving that objects at rest prefer to stay at rest. We also held exciting woodpecker races, where the students learned how vibration and friction allow a wooden bird to "peck" its way down a wire. Additionally, the children mastered the art of moving coins across fabric without touching them, using clever vibrations to overcome friction. The children had so much fun throughout the afternoon and are already buzzing with excitement for our next session!
Friday Celebration Worship
We had a fabulous first week back and it was wonderful to see all the children working so hard and settling back into school life so positively. Throughout the week, we spent time reflecting on kindness, thinking carefully about the kind things we have done ourselves and the kindness we have seen in others. This week’s values awards were proudly presented to Luna in Reception, Jasper in Year 1, Noah in Year 2, Archie in Year 3, Bluebell in Year 4, James in Year 5 and Elsie in Year 6. Well done to all of you for consistently demonstrating our school values. In TT Rockstars, Archie and Lyla from Year 4 were awarded certificates for their efforts, fantastic work! Our team values results saw Darwen Tower in fourth place, India Mill in third, Whitehall Park in second and River Darwen taking first place. A huge congratulations to River Darwen, who also won a disco and non-uniform day for achieving the most points last half term, what a brilliant achievement! We were delighted to celebrate a wide range of achievements outside of school this week. Ava was awarded a Level 4 certificate in swimming, while Reggie achieved 50 metres, Mikey 20 metres, Minnie C 10 metres, Isabella achieved Stage 5 and James achieved Stage 1, well done to all our swimmers. Luna earned a yellow belt in kickboxing and Eleanor received a certificate for taking part in a duck hunt. Lydia, Annie, Luna, Thea and Olivia were all awarded badges and certificates in Rainbows for first aid, networking skills, tasty treats and present making. Rosie and Naomi were recognised as seconders in Brownies, taking on an important leadership role. Sophia, Darcy, Daisy and Alexis were all awarded sixer badges in Brownies for their leadership, with Darcy also receiving the Brownies doll for being particularly helpful. Samuel was named Beaver of the Week for his excellent map reading and Isaac was awarded Player of the Week for his fantastic shooting, passing and tackling in football. Congratulations to Reception and Year 3 for achieving the highest attendance this week, keep it up! Finally, we shared some important reminders. Reception families were invited to the upcoming stay and play session and we are looking forward to celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, with children invited to come dressed in green or blue. Year 3 are excited for their upcoming Rock and River Outdoor Adventure trip and we also look forward to the Whitehall Park afternoon tea taking place on Sunday. We ended our worship with thoughtful prayers led by Sophia and Darcy. Well done to everyone for such a positive and successful week.
Year 1 PSHE: Fairness
In our PSHE lesson, we were thinking about fairness. We started by reading a story about Harold the Giraffe and his friends. At several points in the story, we stopped to discuss if the events were fair, unfair, kind or unkind. We shared examples of times we may have found something unfair, such as not sharing toys, not sharing equipment or someone being unkind. Then, we looked at four pictures. The children had to look closely and decide if the pictures were fair or unfair. These pictures helped us to understand four new terms: reality, equality, equity and justice. The children understood that sometimes equality isn’t always the fairest and we should try to be more equitable. This means giving more support to those who need it and less to those who don’t. It was fantastic to see the children problem solving and building on each other’s ideas.
Year 1 Art: Making Towers
In this lesson, Year 1 explored different ways of making towers with paper. They tried different methods such as rolling paper, folding paper, scrunching and bending paper. They have to create towers using the different techniques to understand which one was the best for a stable tower.