Times Tables - April Battle Week Winners
Our KS2 children have been really stepping it up with their times tables practice lately and we couldn’t be prouder. They’ve racked up THOUSANDS of correct answers between them, resulting in one of our biggest point-scoring battles yet. A huge congratulations to this month’s winners: Piper-Jo in Year 3, Lottie in Year 4, Charlie in Year 5 and Charlie in Year 6. And to our class champions, Year 4 taking the LKS2 trophy and Year 6 taking the UKS2 trophy. May’s battle will be slightly different with the children requesting a boys vs. girls battle. Good luck, everyone!
Year 4 - Science: How Sound Travels
This week’s science involved a carousel of activities to investigate how sound travels. The children learned that sound must travel through a medium: solid, liquid or gas. And that it’s the vibration of the particles around the sound source that causes sound waves. The children found out that sound travels more quickly through solids as the particles are packed more densely than in water or air. They then investigated differences in how they heard the sound through different mediums.
Year 4 - Linking Schools: Social Action
We are now in Phase 2 of our Linking Schools journey and we have discussed issues we are passionate about in our community. It became evident quite quickly that the children took umbrage with inconsiderate road users. They reported concerns about drivers breaking the speed limits near their homes and around town, and they listed a number of problems they’d encountered due to inconsiderate parking. Following this discussion, we decided to look at the Highway Code and create posters to remind road users to show courtesy. The children created some super posters that were colourful, eye catching and delivered clear messages for drivers. We will be writing to our local MP and sending in our posters, requesting that they may be used to create signs for the worst affected areas of Darwen.
Times Table Rockstar Champions
A huge well done to our Times table Rockstar champions, who battled it out to take first place in their classes! An incredible 121 children took part, achieving a fantastic total of over 181,000 correct answers, a truly brilliant effort by everyone involved. A special congratulations goes to our winners: Piper-Jo – Year 3 Lottie – Year 4 Charlie – Year 5 Charlie – Year 6 What an amazing achievement, we are so proud of you all!
Mad Science Club- The Light Fantastic
Today in the Mad Science after-school club, our junior scientists stepped into the brilliant world of physics for a "Light Fantastic" session! They became masters of the electromagnetic spectrum, starting with the discovery that LASER is actually an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The children explored the concept of refraction by bending light beams through different materials and went on a hunt for "invisible" energy using UV light to make hidden colors fluoresce.
Year 4 - Gifted and Talented BRFC Tournament
Today, our Year 4 children took part in a Blackburn Rovers 3v3 tournament at the BRFC training ground. They played brilliantly throughout and represented the school with great enthusiasm and teamwork. It was an incredible experience and they narrowly missed out on the playoffs. A huge well done to the whole team!
Year 4 - Outdoor Maths
This morning Year 4 have fully embraced this lovely sunshine and completed our ordering decimals lesson outside. We decided if decimals were in the correct order using ascending and descending variations. The children then used the place value counters to create their own examples for their talk partner to complete.
Year 4 - Food Technology
In our DT session this week we were focusing on cooking and nutrition. This half term we are going to design and make our very own biscuits and in this session we were taste testing and looking at packaging. It was a very ‘tasty’ lesson.
Year 4 - Tennis Trials and Netball
Our PE session this afternoon was literally a game of two halves. We started with mini- tennis trials in preparation for an upcoming event and then moved onto our netball unit. This week we revised the key passes, rules and positions. The children absolutely loved the games at the end and we definitely have some great netball players in the making!
Year 4 - Earth Day
To celebrate Earth Day, Year 4 took part in a live English lesson via Zoom which was centred on crafting a story called ‘The Day the Earth Spoke’. The children were given the beginning of the story and were tasked to continue it, considering what the Earth asked when it spoke, why it asked and then what action the character would do to help the Earth. The children were presented with lots of prompts and ideas and they were given time to collaborate with their partners to discuss a range of climate issues before choosing which they would use to develop their story. The class fully embraced this challenge and created some very thought-provoking pieces of writing.
Year 4 - RE: Are All Places of Worship the Same?
The first lesson of our new RE topic gave children the opportunity to explore a variety of places of worship from around the world. The children used Chromebooks to take virtual tours and make observations as they explored. Some of the children then gave the rest of the class a guided tour of their chosen place, sharing their observations as we took a look around.
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.