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Year 4 - PE: Passes and Dribbles
In our first Tuesday PE session, the Year 4s practised and showed off their new passing and dribbling skills. They learned about preparing to pass and stepping into the pass. They also learned how to use their fingers to bounce the ball with force. The children finished the lesson with a handball-style game to demonstrate their skill development.
Year 4 Art - The Role of a Curator
In our first art session we looked at the role of a curator within an art gallery. We explored what a curator does, what skills they need and how they decide on what is displayed. Following this we then explored Tate Kids which is described as an arty playground for kids. There were so many different features to access but we especially loved Tate paint and draw. You can study lots of different artists here, take part in quizzes and even upload your very own creations into the Tate kids gallery so that other children can look at the master pieces that we produce. What a great first session!
Treasure Island Production
Today, the whole school was treated to an exciting M&M production of Treasure Island. The performance was full of energy, humour and adventure, bringing Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale to life on stage. The children were captivated by the colourful characters, dramatic scenes and lively songs. It was a fantastic opportunity for everyone to experience live theatre and share in the magic of storytelling together.
Living out God's big story Worship
Today we joined Lisa and Bishop Philip for another Worship across the Diocese worship. They introduced this year's theme of 'Living out God's big story' and had a conversation about what it means to live out God's Big Story. Bishop Philip told us about the ways in which he lives out God's Big Story through his work and when he is on holiday! We then reflected on how we can live out God's Big Story. To finish we practiced singing 'Welcome Everybody' and 'Stronger Together'. Thank you to our amazing Year 6 class for singing brilliantly at the front and demonstrating the actions to the rest of our school family.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning, in our first celebration of the new academic year, we began by reflecting on a fantastic first week back at school. Over the past few days, we have revisited our Barney’s 4Bs and our Christian Values, warmly welcomed our new Reception starters, and transitioned smoothly into our new classes. We then turned our attention to celebrating some incredible out-of-school achievements. Well done to Ava for earning her 10m and Stage 3 swimming certificates, Grace for collecting multiple medals in ballet, song and dance, and acro, and Willow for being named Star of the Week at Gymfinity Kids for her outstanding skill. Congratulations also to Mollie, Samuel, and Olivia for their hard work completing the BwD Summer Reading Challenge, Lyla for her medals and trophy in improvised and commercial dance, and Callie for her exceptional achievements in gymnastics, Stage 6 swimming, and earning her dragon belt in Jiu-Jitsu. We also applauded Phoebe for her 5m swimming certificate, Charlie for helping his football team secure 2nd place in a recent tournament and winning the Manager’s Cup, and Hendrix for earning numerous badges at Squirrels. A big congratulations to Year 2 and Year 5 for winning this week’s attendance awards—Year 2 achieved an incredible 100% attendance, and Year 5 closely followed with 98.8%. Mrs Ham then shared some exciting upcoming events to look forward to: the whole-school production of Treasure Island on Tuesday 9th September, a ‘Let’s Go Sing’ workshop for Years 4, 5, and 6 on Monday 15th September aimed at boosting choir participation, our ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings on Wednesday 17th September, our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 26th September, and a ‘Stay and Play’ morning on Thursday 2nd October for children due to start school in September 2026. We ended our worship with heartfelt prayers from Renee, James, and Mason, who prayed for kindness and for all those suffering from illness or living amidst war and conflict and a singalong to ‘Shine From the Inside Out.’ Thank you to everyone who joined us this week—we look forward to welcoming more of our school family to Friday Celebration Worship in the coming weeks.
Let your light shine worship with Bishop Philip
This morning in our collective worship, Bishop Philip welcomed everyone back to school. We reflected on why we come to school and how Jesus was a teacher and his disciples were the learners. He encouraged us all to shine out with the gifts and talents that God has given to us. If we shine with the light of learning, service and love we can make the world a better place. We thought about how we can shine from the inside out this school year and finished with one of our favourite songs, 'Shine from the Inside Out'.
Year 4 Geography - Where is the Amazon?
In our first geography lesson of the year we have been focusing on the Amazon rainforest. Today we located the Amazon on a map and considered the significance of its location. We then went on to find out that Brazil is South America’s biggest country. Finally we added the Amazon to a map of the world along with the equator, tropics, continents and oceans.
Year 4 PE - Learning Boccia Skills
In our PE session this afternoon, we were introduced to Boccia which is a precision ball sport. We practiced in smaller groups and tried to improve our precision. We tried to get the Boccia balls as close to the Jack as possible with the closest winning the game. The children became better and better over the course of the lesson and can’t wait to develop their skills even further in our next lesson.
Year 4 - Times Tables
We are hot on times tables in Year 4 and the practice has started already. The children thoroughly enjoyed a game of Roll and Race this week. They had to roll the dice and complete a corresponding times table from the grid. They worked in teams to see if they could be the first group to complete the grid. It was a furious race to the finish, but the children worked brilliantly, supporting each other to work out the answers.
Whole School Worship - School Pride
Our first collective worship was a chance for us to celebrate being back together as a school family and reflect on what we hope for the year ahead. Mrs Ham began with a look at our school vision and invited the children to share ideas of how we can all contribute to our 'love-filled Christian family'. The children spoke in depth about acts of respect and kindness, which led Mrs Ham on to a recap of our school rules: Barney's 4 Be's- Be ready, be kind, be safe and be respectful. We discussed the importance of following our rules in order that we take real pride in our school and help every part of our school family to flourish. Some of our children even chose to come to the front of worship to demonstrate exemplary behaviour such as wonderful walking and legendary lining up. There were also reminders about healthy snack choices and the importance of attending school each day. We are so proud of our overall school attendance for the previous academic year and the children shared some reasons why regular attendance is important. We left our worship feeling energised and excited about the year ahead.
Year 4 - Class Rules
The Year 4s were introduced to the 'walking gallery' activity this week. We talked about what our 4 school rules meant and the children had to walk around the room adding examples of each behaviour to the posters. Some of the children wanted to add non-examples too as a reminder of what not to do. These ideas will be collated into our rules posters that will remain on display in the classroom throughout the year.
Fantastic first day back!
We are incredibly proud of how well all the children have settled back into school and their new classes! They've had a fantastic first day of living life in all its fullness. A special shout out to our new Reception class and the new children who have joined our school family – they showed incredible courage on their first day. We're looking forward to another super day tomorrow! On Friday we will have our first Celebration Worship of the year where we will learn from our class teachers how well the children have settled into their new classes and we will also present children with any out of school awards. We will start our Values Awards winners next Friday after the children have been busy collecting values points over the next few days. Parents and carers are very welcome to join us on Friday mornings at 9.05am every week for Celebration Worship. Refreshments will be served from 8.45am in the hall. Reception class children will not be joining us for Celebration Worship for a few weeks until they have settled in. We will let Reception parents know before they start to attend.