Writing

In our writing this week, children have been using expanded noun phrases (ENP) to improve their writing and ensure their work stands out.

We reminded ourselves that an ENP uses a determiner, adjective, noun and preposition. We had various images scattered around our classroom and the children really enjoyed experimenting with their writing.

Help at home – ask your child what an ENP is? Show them an image to write an ENP about. Can you find an everyday object and see who can make it sound the most exciting?

Geography – Fieldwork and application of what we have learned to our local area

We have concluded our Geography learning for this half-term with some field work to investigate how land is used in Wetherby.

The children were excellent at identifying the different uses including: commercial, residential, recreational and transport.  We were disappointed not to find any land being used for agricultural purposes near our school.

Later in the week, we were inspired by Poppy’s news that people who live near her have petitioned the council to preserve the use of land for agricultural purposes.  We each decided what we thought the land should be used for and shared our views with the rest of the class.

Help at home: you could take a walk in your local area and see if you can find examples of the different land uses.  Here are some examples we found when doing our field work to inspire you.

Junior Leadership Team

Last week, we took part in a democratic vote to choose our new Junior Leadership Team representatives from year 2.

We wrote some brilliant speeches explaining why we should be chosen to be a JLT member.

Congratulations to the two fantastic and newly elected JLT members.

Here are their speeches that won them their places on the school JLT.

Help at home: What does it mean to take part in a demographic vote?

Thank you – Harvest

Thank you for your Harvest donations! Year 4 dropped them off at the donation point in Morrisons for Wetherby Food Bank on their way to Harvest Festival.

Also a huge well done to all of Year 4 who shared our poem ‘Thankful – From Seed to Plate’.

Science – Getting excited about states of matter – lava lamps

Next half term, our learning in science will be about states of matter.  To kick our learning off with a bang (metaphorical rather than actual this time) we made lava lamps today.

We discussed how the different densities of the liquids meant that oil and water separated when poured into the same container.

After we added food colouring, we added an effervescent tablet (and enjoyed the challenge of saying effervescent!) The resulting reaction generated lots of awe and wonder from Year 4.  You can see some examples of what we saw below:

We discussed how we had to stay safe by leaving the lid off the jar so the gas could escape and not create pressure which might cause the jar to shatter.

I know lots of children would like to recreate the activity at home, you can find full details here: Instructions to make a lava lamp

Help at home: If you enjoy experimenting at home, you can find lots of ideas here: Science at home

Year 3 and Jane Goodall’s Legacy

This week, our class was deeply inspired by the amazing work and message of Dr. Jane Goodall, who sadly passed away recently. We watched a video of her final words to the world, where she reminded everyone that we must never lose hope because if we lose hope, we have already lost.

Jane spoke about how every action matters, no matter how small it might seem. Even the tiniest act of kindness towards our planet can make a difference. We discussed how, although there are many sad things happening in the world, we can all be part of the change.

Feeling inspired, we decided to take action in our own school community. Together, we are replanting and rebuilding our flowerbeds and plantpots, creating a happy home for our mini-beasts and a calm, peaceful space for us to enjoy.

When we dug up our garden bed, we discovered some interesting surprises, including an old brick and a large twisted root that looked just like antlers.

Jane Goodall taught us that hope starts with action, and we’re proud to be following in her footsteps, one small act at a time.

Watch this space as we take on this gardening challenge to create something beautiful, all thanks to Jane’s inspiring words.

Help at home: Discuss what actions you can do at home to carry on Jane’s legacy.

Leaf Man

It has been another fun filled week in reception, our focus book has been Leaf Man by Elois Ehlert.

In the book autumn has come, the wind is blowing and Leaf Man is on the move. No one is sure where he is going, but ‘A Leaf Man’s got to go where the wind blows.’ Our word of the week was ‘seasons’ we have talked about the four seasons winter, spring, summer and autumn. We have really enjoyed learning about the season of autumn, when the leaves fall from the trees, when some small animals like hedgehogs are looking for food to store and some animals begin to hibernate like a door mouse.

Help at home: Go on an autumn hunt and see if you can spot signs of autumn like acorns, pine cones, squirrels conkers and more. Don’t forget to send in some pictures to add to our seasons display.

Poetry Basket

This week our poem was Five Little Pumpkins.

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, ‘Oo, it’s getting late.’
The second one said, ‘There are witches in the air.’
The third one said, ‘Well I don’t care.’
The fourth one said, ‘Let’s run, run, run.’
The fifth one said, ‘Let’s have some fun.’
But oooh went the wind, and out went the light,
And five little pumpkins tumbled out of sight.

Phonics

This week the children have recapped all the phonemes (the sound a letter makes) we have covered so far this term. We have focused closely on our blending, the skill that helps us with our reading and our tricky words the, is and I. Keep up the great work everyone!

Maths

In Maths, some of our teddies have been arguing over who has more things. we have used the stem sentence

“… has more than..”

“…has fewer than…”

The activities this week have focused on developing the skill of comparing as children have been encouraged to look carefully and use the language of comparison to describe sets of objects.

‘Fewer than’ is used rather than ‘less than’ because the focus is on countable things.

Have a happy and healthy weekend

Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Miss. Feldman, Mrs Linton, Mrs Cairnes and Mrs Small

Living and Learning – Democratic Decisions

Taking Part in Democratic Decisions

This week, we’ve been learning all about democracy, one of the British Values that helps make our country a fair and kind place to live.

Democracy means that everyone has a say in making decisions. Instead of one person deciding everything, people get to share their ideas and vote for what they think is best. It’s a way of making sure everyone’s voice is heard!

We talked about why democracy is important – it helps us to:

• Make fair choices that include everyone’s opinions

• Learn to listen to different ideas

• Respect the decisions of the group, even if it’s not what we voted for

What Makes a Good Leader?

We also thought carefully about what it means to be a good leader. A good leader is someone who:

• listens to others
• shares ideas kindly
• helps everyone work together
• makes good and fair choices
• sets a good example
• always tries to do the right thing, even when it’s tricky
• has good thinking skills

Most importantly, a good leader makes sure everyone feels included, respected and valued.

Our Junior Leadership Team Elections

This week, we held elections for our Junior Leadership Team.
We had 15 wonderful candidates who courageous put themselves forward.. Each child prepared and delivered a thoughtful speech, explaining what would make them a good leader and how they would help our school community.

We were so proud of how respectful and kind everyone was during the voting process. When the results were announced, the children showed amazing character – they celebrated their friends’ success and congratulated each other warmly.

It was a brilliant example of democracy in action right here at St James’ CE Primary!

Our new Junior Leadership Team will soon begin sharing ideas from the class and helping to make our school an even happier and healthier place to achieve and believe. We’re excited to see the positive changes they’ll bring.

Help at home by:

• Talking about choices: Let your child help decide small things like what to have for dinner or which game to play.
• Holding a family vote: If you can’t agree on a film or an activity, have everyone vote and go with the majority!
• Encouraging listening: Remind children that everyone’s opinion matters – even if we don’t all agree.

We’re so proud of Year 1 for showing maturity, respect and kindness this week. They are growing into thoughtful British citizens who know how to make fair choices together.

Fabulous forest school

We had our final forest school of the half term today and it was a spooky special. The children made spiders, potions and had treats of hot chocolates and chocolate strawberries. We have had a lovely 6 weeks with Sarah, we are so lucky to have this special resource available to our children.

JLT

This week, Year 3 took part in an exciting democratic decision, voting for our new Junior Leadership Team.

Over half the class wrote and presented fantastic speeches, sharing their brilliant ideas for making our school even better. Some spoke about helping the environment, others suggested more after-school clubs and many had thoughtful ideas about how to make school life happier for everyone.

We even used a voting ballot, just like in a real election. Every child had the chance to vote fairly and respectfully, showing great maturity and kindness when listening to different views.

It was wonderful to see everyone take part so enthusiastically — what a fantastic example of our British Value of Democracy in action!

Congratulations to Kupa and Harry, our new Year 3 representatives, and best of luck from all your friends in Year 3!