Year 3 Explores Blacksnape Park
After visiting Nightingale Farm, Year 3 spent some time at Blacksnape Park. The children ran, played, and discovered different areas of the park, showing great curiosity and energy. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to appreciate God’s creation and enjoy life to its fullest in a safe, outdoor environment.
Whole School Worship - Power for Good
Our theme in today’s collective worship was “Power for Good”. Continuing our focus on Anti-Bullying Week, Mrs Ham shared some of the fantastic answers the children gave on Monday about standing up to bullying. These included saying stop, being assertive, asking why, and telling a trusted adult. We learned of how Jesus was a power for good, even when others turned against him, and we reflected on the ways in which we can also be a power for good by being a good friend and spotting when someone needs our help. The WOW Group also shared how they are being a power for good, by protecting our planet and leading our school’s Switch Off Fortnight campaign. They shared posters recommending ways to save energy around school, including turning off lights and computer monitors when they are not in use, and they explained that they will be checking how well each class is doing at saving energy every break time and lunchtime during the campaign.
Year 3- PSHE-Celebrating individuality by wearing Odd Socks
Year 3 kicked off Anti-Bullying Week by wearing odd socks and exploring ways to support themselves and others who might feel left out or picked on. Miss Barnes led the lesson, using a variety of scenarios to help the children understand how they can make a positive difference. They discussed what to do if someone is excluded from a game, if a classmate is called names, or if unkind messages are sent online. The children also considered how to respond when rumours are spread, and how small acts of kindness, such as welcoming a new student at lunchtime, can have a big impact. The lesson provided practical strategies for standing up for each other, celebrating individuality, and fostering a kinder, more supportive school community.
Year 3- Geography-Exploring Hemispheres and Weather
In Geography today, the children acted as geographers, beginning by reviewing what they remembered about latitudes before moving on to learn about the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They then labelled seven countries on the map using a globe and an atlas, applying their geographical vocabulary to locate and describe each place. The class compared climates and weather in different countries, thinking about how the Earth’s rotation affects the seasons. For example, while it is late spring in Australia, the weather is often warm and sunny, with temperatures around 28°C in Sydney and occasional showers, whereas in the United Kingdom, it is late autumn, with cooler, drizzly days around 12°C and shorter daylight hours. This helped the children understand why it can be summer in one country while winter in another.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning in celebration worship, we reflected on a wonderful first week back to start the second half of our Autumn term. This week, we have remembered all those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives for us, and we observed a special two-minute silence. We would like to thank everyone who has supported the Poppy Appeal; our poppy merchandise will continue to be available next week. We then presented our individual value award winners in EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Well done to our worthy winners Hunter, Finn, Inaiya, Elijah, Chay, Harriet and Quinn for consistently demonstrating the Barney’s 4Bs, working extremely hard across the curriculum, producing work of an exceptional standard and showing a genuine desire to always improve. A huge well done also goes to Elijah, Chay, Isaac, Lana, Lyla, Cassidy, Naomi and Emily for achieving their pen licences—we know how hard you have all worked for this accomplishment. We also congratulated Whitehall Park as our overall value award winners for the week, along with Year 1 and Year 5 for achieving the highest attendance. Moving on, we celebrated the wonderful achievements of our children who have been excelling outside of school in their various sports and activities. Well done to Beau for being a mighty defender in football, Ida and Leila for showing impressive skill in stop, starting and steering during horse riding, Callie for demonstrating outstanding floor and vault work in gymnastics, Ava for her generosity at Rainbows and for achieving Star of the Week at Street Dance, Lana for her performing arts award, Theo for earning her drawing interest badge and Star of the Week in gymnastics for exceptional beam work, Olivia for achieving her 20m swimming certificate, Lyla for her success in lyrical, jazz and commercial dance, Olivia again for achieving her Level 1 gymnastics award, Isaac for demonstrating exceptional football skills at the Everton Academy experience, Rosie for being a superstar Brownie and earning several badges, Martha for achieving her 10m swimming award, Lydia for earning her laughter badge at Rainbows and for being extremely helpful, and Eleanor for achieving both her Rainbow Silver Award and a laughter badge. In other news, our Wellbeing Warriors also announced Year 3 as the winning class for having the most walkers in October and proudly shared that our school placed third in the borough for the highest number of walkers overall, our Sports Leaders presented India Mill as the Inter-house Dodgeball Competition winners from before the holidays, and we also congratulated our Year 5/6 Boys Football Team, who represented our school brilliantly and achieved two wins in the BwD Football League last night. Looking ahead, we are excited to continue our Scholastic Book Fair next week, to wear odd socks on Monday as we launch Anti-Bullying Week, and to end the week by wearing spots, pyjamas or Pudsey attire in support of Children in Need next Friday. Thank you to our wonderful school family for their support this week and always. Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
Value Award Winner Disco- India Mill
Today, India Mill enjoyed a well-deserved non-uniform day and disco to celebrate their success as the overall Value Award winners for last half-term. As part of this, they enjoyed a game of bonfire themed corners followed by a game of musical bumps. Well done to everyone for your fantastic achievement!
Year 3- D.T- Threading, Knotting, and the Running Stitch
This afternoon, Year 3 began their first Design and Technology (D.T.) unit by learning the essentials of sewing, building upon the skills they started learning in KS1. They started by discussing the equipment they need, like a needle, thread, and maybe even a needle threader tool. They successfully learned how to cut the thread, dampen one end, and squeeze the strands together to thread the needle through the eye. Once the needle was threaded, they practiced tying a knot to secure the thread, modelled how to sew a basic running stitch, and finished by tying the final knot to complete the seam.
Year 3- Class Worship- The Courage to Love: Noel Chavasse's Example
Today in Collective Worship, we heard the incredible story of Noel Chavasse, a man who showed immense valour and faith while serving as a doctor in the army during World War I. We learned how Noel exemplified "Loving Others Before Yourself" by following Jesus' example and demonstrating extraordinary, selfless love and courage towards others, even in the face of danger.
Year 3- Class Meeting delivered by Year 5 Smart School Councillors, Darcy and Alice
Year 5 Smart School Councillors Darcy and Alice did a fabulous job leading a trial class meeting today in preparation for delivering the session to Year 2 on Friday. It was great to see them take leadership for the activity. They began by discussing the results of the previous action, a Big Debate Club on whether it's more important to understand the history or the present of the black community, which resulted in a tie. For today's new discussion, inspired by the TV show The Traitors, small groups discussed the question: "If you had to choose between being completely honest or keeping a secret to win a big prize, which would you do?" Following the discussion, the Year 3 class majority voted in favour of being completely honest.
Year 3- Geography- Identifying lines of Latitude and Climate Zones
This afternoon, our amazing geographers have been exploring the concept of lines of latitude, the imaginary lines that run horizontally around the Earth. Using these key lines, the children identified different climate zones across the globe, from the tropical heat near the Equator to the icy cold near the poles. We focused on the extreme environments defined by these lines, learning about the Arctic Circle and Antarctica, and explored the fascinating animals that live there, too.
Whole School Worship - Remembrance
Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, our collective worships this week are all about taking time to reflect on those that have sacrificed themselves to keep us all safe. We have been learning about what Remembrance Day means to our nation and also to us personally. Mrs Ham explained the significance of the poppy and she shared some stories of extreme bravery and self-sacrifice demonstrated by those in the services during the World Wars. We considered which Christian values these people showed and Mrs Ham invited some children to share how they will be remembering our service men and women, past and present, this Remembrance Day.
Year 3 - English-Classical Poetry: The Spider and Fly
This week, Year 3 writers have started their classical poetry unit, and they are thoroughly enjoying the famous cautionary poem, ‘The Spider and the Fly’. They’ve been actively exploring new vocabulary central to the poem’s setting and theme, including words like parlour (a formal sitting room), pantry (a food storage cupboard), and especially flattering (insincere, sweet-talking praise). Most importantly, they are learning about the poem’s moral lesson: the danger of believing flattering words from someone who has a deceitful or harmful motive.