Going for Gold!
Well done to Year 4 for working hard all year to learn their times tables ready for the MTC check which we completed last week. We celebrated with our long awaited Gold Party. We can’t wait to share the results with you in our end of year reports.
Steel Drums
Following our learning about the West Indies Carnival, we thoroughly enjoyed a visit from ArtForms to learn how to play the steel drums.
Jam Sandwiches
We’ve been looking at sequencing and have been trying to use the words ‘first’, ‘next’, ‘then’ and ‘finally.’
We made jam sandwiches and then put the pictures in order to show others how to make a jam sandwich.
- First we washed our hands.
“Nice and clean”
2. Next we got the bread.
“Second I got the bread!”
3. Then we spread the jam.
“Then we spread it with a knife.”
4. Finally, we ate it.
“It’s yummy.”
‘I like it. It’s super tasty.”
Help at home: Lots of children could talk about making a sandwich at home or with their grandparents. With your support, could they make another sandwich thinking about our instructions?
Reading
As the weather has been so nice, we have been taking some of our learning outside. Today, we took time to enjoy our class novel under the shade of a tree on our school field – we are so lucky to have such fantastic outdoor space available to us.
Our class novel, Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll, compliments our WWII topic learning from Summer term 1.
Reading is such a crucial part of a child’s education and increasing the amount we read will positively impact on our writing and maths skills. We focus a lot on reading at school but reading away from school is just as important; here is what our school reading policy says about home reading:
All children are expected to read at home each day. When children are a little older, this might be reading independently sometimes, but it should be with an adult on a regular basis.
To give our children the best chance of becoming readers at home, we ensure that reading at home is celebrated.
We provide children with opportunities to read a variety of rich texts in school and at home, but children should be encouraged to discover books and other texts with family members and by themselves, too. We like the Book Trust website as a book-finder tool – you can find age-appropriate books that match the reader’s interests. We also suggest Love Reading 4 Kids and Books for Topics. Looking at books that have won awards is also a good idea; for example, Carnegie, Costa, Blue Peter, Waterstones, UKLA and Klaus Flugge.
Help at home – please make time for reading at home. Encourage your child to borrow books from school. Visit Wetherby library. Talk to them about our class novel.
Forest School Fun!
This week the children had their first session at forest school, they learned the rules for forest school and explored the different areas. They also had the chance to look for bugs, something they are very good at and love to do!
They are definitely looking forward to their next session week.
Forest School Fun
Our Early Years classes thoroughly enjoyed their first Forest School session on Friday.
First, we met our instructor, Sarah, and Spike – the hedgehog! We learnt how to keep safe during Forest School and did brilliantly at remembering the forest safety rules.
Our morning consisted of mini-beast making, relaxing with friends in hammocks, getting busy in the mud kitchen, swinging on bars, and forest storytelling.
We can’t wait for more fun-filled weeks ahead!
What did your child enjoy most about Forest School?
We’d love to know so we can pass on the feedback!
Healthy Fruit Bars in Year 1
Year One had a fantastic time making their own healthy fruit bars!
First we carefully measured out bananas, oats, honey, butter and dried fruit. Next we mixed the ingredients and followed all health and safety rules. The children prepared the equipment like real chefs and learned that fruit bars can be a tasty, healthy snack full of energy and natural sweetness.
Everyone enjoyed baking together and especially tasting their delicious creations! It was a fun way to practise our measuring skills and learn about healthy eating.
Well done, super chefs!
PE – Target Practice
In PE, we continue to work on fundamental movement skills. This week, we’ve been rolling and throwing at targets.
The children worked hard to improve their aim and control, showing fantastic perseverance throughout the session. It was brilliant to see how they encouraged and supported one another, celebrating each other’s efforts and progress.
Help at home by setting up some targets to practise at home. Assign each target a points value and challenge your child to a game!
Year 5 Rounders
Our Year 5 children were invited to Wetherby High School yesterday to take part in a rounders event. We took part in lots of fun activities before playing games against other schools.
During the event, our children were praised for their honesty, courage and perseverance – well done guys!
I enjoyed it because the activities in the sports hall were good fun. I feel like I improved my skills. Leo S.
The best bit was hitting rounders and everyone cheering me. We all did very well. Lily W.
RE Drop Down – Buddhism
This morning, Year 3 were learning all about Buddhism. We began by looking at all religions and we created a timeline for their times of origin. The children really impressed me with their memory skills and presentation in books.
Next, we focussed primarily on Buddhism and looked into the founder, the place of origin and number of world and UK followers. Here’s what we found:
- The founder of Buddhism was a man named Siddartha Gautama (Buddha).
- Buddhism originated in India.
- Number of worldwide followers: over 520 million – it is the fourth-largest world religion.
- Number of UK followers: Roughly 290,000 (as of 2021 UK census).
Finally, we looked into the life of Buddha and how he achieved enlightenment. Siddartha Gautama was a prince that lived a life of luxury. When he saw other people suffering, he decided to leave his palace and life among holy men in search for truth. His search took him six years, but he became enlightened by meditating under a fig tree. From then on, he was respected as a role model and teacher – his teachings spread far and wide, particularly across Asia.
Help at home:
Buddhism is a way of life that teaches people to be kind, calm, and wise so they can be happy and help others be happy too. Talk to your child about their learning on this and how this links to our school vision (St James is a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe). Do we share some of the same values as Buddhists?