Living and Learning – Body Image

In Living and Learning, we’ve been learning about body image. Our weekly statements have been:

• “I can say one good thing about myself.”
• “I know that people I see in the media don’t always reflect real life.”

We begun our learning by thinking about identity and the things that make us unique,  especially the way we look. We thought about some words we can describe a face:

• smiley
• freckly
• round
• blue eyes
• shiny
• long
• frowny
• long hair
• cheeky
• surprised
• kind
• big grin

Using mirrors, we looked closely at our appearance, considering facial features in detail. Then, we had some fun by drawing self portraits and celebrating the features that make us unique!

We enjoyed reading Embrace Your Body by Taryn Brumfitt. It’s a fantastic book that helps us to appreciate who we are. We felt empowered to embrace our uniqueness and find something special in everyone.

I was impressed by how much the children understand and appreciate how interesting it is to have such a wide variety of people in the world.

Help at home by discussing body image with your child. Perhaps you could use this sentence starter to share some thoughts: Something I like about the way I look is…

Help at home by watching and discussing this video about real beauty.

Reading assembly

A brief but huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our Ready to Read assembly today. The children embraced the opportunity to show what they’ve been learning this year and it was fantastic to celebrate their progress together.

I’m proud of how far they’ve come and grateful for all your support at home – it plays such an important part in your child’s reading journey.

Help at home by keeping up the great work in year 3!

Rocksteady Music School!

St James had a very exciting visit from Rocksteady Music School this morning. The key focus of the visit was to engage pupils in music, to learn about various instruments and how to play them. We started the morning with a whole school assembly, where the children learnt all about what it takes to be in a band – we also got to sing along to some of the latest hits! Then, KS1 and KS2 had separate workshops where a pupil band was put together in just 30 minutes! There was lots of resilience, teamwork and happiness shared all morning, particularly when learning to keep a consistent tempo!

We are aiming to introduce more musical connections at St James next year. Rocksteady have given us confirmation that children would really benefit from this. There will be a letter sent home later in the week with more information on musical opportunities in September.

Home Farm at Temple Newsam

On Tuesday, Year 2 had an exciting day out visiting Home Farm at Temple Newsam. The children learnt all about farming through the ages, discovering how farming has changed in the past 400 years. We were amazed to learn that what would have taken 150 hours with a threshing machine now takes 1 hour with a modern combine harvester.

We saw lots of animals: pigs, sheep, cows, donkeys, chickens, geese and more! A real highlight was seeing 11 adorable piglets that had been born that very morning.

As part of our trip, we took part in a fantastic workshop that linked to our Design and Technology learning on structures. Using wood and putty, the children had to build a prototype structure to act as a shelter for some pigs. They thought carefully about important features, making sure their structures had a wide and flat base and were not too tall.

We had a brilliant day exploring the farm, meeting the animals and taking part in the workshop. The children were full of enthusiasm and asked great questions throughout the day – they represented St James’ impeccably!

Philosophy Friday – 20.06.25

Philosophy is thinking deeply.

Every Friday, we start our day with some time to wonder and ponder.

We’ve a different question each week – there’s no obvious right/wrong answer and no underlying moral message. All children are given the opportunity to contribute their ideas and give reasons for their thoughts.

This question sparked some interesting discussion and debate.

I agree because family is everything to me.
– Izabella

I think the best thing in life is nature and that’s free.
– Athena

There are some good things in life that cost a lot of money.
– Woody

Friends are the most important thing and your family too. They’re both free.
– Arthur

Help at home by discussing this week’s Philosophy Friday question with your child.

RE – Daniel and the Lions’ Den

In RE, we’re learning about messages.

Christians believe that God sends them messages through prophets. Stories in the Bible tell of prophets – inspired teachers who spread the word of God.

This week, we’ve read the story of Daniel and the Lions’ Den. The story teaches Christians about the importance of faith in God and that God will protect those who trust him.

The children enjoyed acting out the story and reflected maturely on the important of trust.

Help at home by discussing faith and trust with your child. What does trust look and feel like?

Living and Learning – Relationships

To start this half term, our Living and Learning focus has been relationships. We’ve learnt about 3 key areas:

• respecting differences between people
• understanding that we all have different needs
• understanding that there are different types of families

Respecting differences

In this session, we explored the differences between boys and girls.

Sometimes, stories, TV and people say that ‘boys do this’ and ‘boys do that’. The children were able to demonstrate their knowledge that boys and girls can do the same tasks and enjoy the same things.

We also learnt about the PANTS rule. The key points are:

• pants are private
• always remember your body belongs to you
• no means no
• talk about secrets that upset you
• speak up – someone can help

Help at home by discussing the PANTS rule with your child. Explore the resources on the NSPCC website (along with lots of other helpful advice and support).

Different Needs

We all have different needs and we all need different types of care. We discussed the needs that people might have at different stages of their life and who might care for them. We explored different kinds of care:

• fulfilling basic needs
• playing
• loving
• medical
• listening
• physical
• emotional
• social

The children showed fantastic maturity and impressed me with their sensitivity when discussing people’s needs.

Help at home by discussing different needs with your child. You could use this stem sentence to help: I care for ______ by ______.

Different families

We started this session by sharing who was in our families. That was enough to realise quite how different families can look!

There are lots of different ways to be a family. Family is special no matter what it looks like. The important thing is that people in families care about each other.

We discussed how children can seek support when they’re worried about members of their family. Help at home by discussing trusted adults with your child. Where can they seek support at school and at home?

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!

Design and Technology – Structures

Our current topic is Design and Technology. So far, we’ve learnt about the importance of asking questions at all stages of the design process.

• What is the product for?
• Who will use it?
• How will it help the user?
• What materials will be used?
• How will the materials be joined?
• Did the product match the design?
• How could the product be improved?

We’ve also discussed the importance of stability in structures. The children enjoyed using their maths learning to mould some 3D shapes out of play-doh and test their stability.

We concluded that stable structures have a flat base and might be wider at the top than the bottom.

Help at home by building some structures. Which 3D shapes might you use to make a stable structure?

Reading – Rosie Revere, Engineer

This week, we’ve been exploring the imaginative world of Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty. This book links to our topic this half term – D&T.

The story of Rosie, a young girl who dreams of becoming a great engineer, has sparked curiosity in our classroom, leading to some brilliant questions.

We’ve discussed perseverance and the importance of learning from mistakes. The children were inspired by Rosie’s resilience and her ability to reflect on her failures. Her ability to evaluate demonstrates an important part of the design process.

The children enjoyed embodying Rosie Revere and writing a note to her Aunt using lots of fabulous adjectives.

Rosie Revere, Engineer has taught us that with a bit of imagination and a lot of perseverance, anything is possible! Mistakes help us to learn and grow!

Help at home by asking your child about a time when they’ve had to persevere after an initial failure. What did they learn from not giving up?

Enjoy the story at home here.

Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog (it’s along the play bar) and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.