Leeds United Wildcats!
Our key stage 2 girls were visited by Leeds United this week to explore and develop routes into football for girls. The morning began with a presentation on current female role models, football backgrounds and some top tips on how to achieve the best you can in all sports.
The children then went outside to take part in some fantastic drills and games run by Leeds. Each and every pupil tried their best and we were super proud of everyone – they were fantastic role models for St James.
We had lots of fantastic talent on show, too! Our visitors left with beaming smiles on their faces, as all of our pupils showed a real interest and desire to take part. Every pupil also used their manners extremely well all morning.
Help at home: There will be some leaflets and information on how our children can continue to be involved with Leeds United. Encourage your children to take up a sport, as they really enjoyed today’s workshop. If you need help getting in touch with any local clubs or events, please let me (Mr Freeman) know and I’ll help!
Living and Learning
I know that being physically active is mentally and physically healthy.
This week in Living and Learning we have been thinking about being physically active and how that is important for our mental and physical health.
Writing
In Year 3 and 4, we have been building up to writing a narrative about the picture book, Flood:
https://justimagine.co.uk/childrens-books-review/flood/
We have been working hard to include speech in our writing. It is difficult to do and there are lots of key things to remember. We have focussed on the spoken word, adverbial clauses and adding extra detail.
Here’s some snippets from the children…
“We need to make a plan,” announced mum.
– Leo S
Mum considered, as she sat down, “We should put sandbags around our house.”
– Valerie
“What are we going to do? This is so serious!” cried Donna with her head in her hands.
– Elara
“We will come back as soon as the storm is over,” cried mum as she fastened her seatbelt.
– Alba
Dan reassured his family, “We could come back when the storm is done.”
– Beau
Preston asked whilst trying not to look, “Can you be less dramatic?”
– Christian
Alex sighed as he held a box, “I don’t want to leave.”
– Kiara
Frankie shouted, banging his hands on the table, “I don’t want to leave!”
– Lily
Science – Plants
Enquiry questions:
How do plants transport water?
Does the number of seeds within one plant pot affect the growth of the plants?
Working scientifically:
I can set up a simple practical enquiry.
Ask relevant questions and use different scientific enquiry types to answer them.
This afternoon, we carried out various science experiments that encourage us to observe over time whilst ensuring our tests are fair.
We placed a white flower into a pot of red water. We made predictions based on our prior knowledge and understanding. Tomorrow morning, we will be able to view the results and see if our predictions were correct.
The fun didn’t stop there. We then began an experiment to see what would happen if we planted one sunflower seed in a pot compared to two, four and eight. Again, we made predictions; we will take measurements over the coming weeks.
Finally, we planted our own sunflowers. We really enjoyed getting our hands dirty and it was so lovely to see the excitement in children.
Let’s hope for lots of sun and the children will be able to bring some tall sunflowers home.
Help at home – try planting some seeds of your own at home. Can you grow something you can eat? What does a plant need to grow? What is the function of the roots/stem/soil? What happens in the leaves?
Send pictures in and we can display in the classroom.
Maths
We had some fun in the sun today, with a maths arithmetic relay – combining maths and PE.
Help at home – set your own maths relay in the garden or park.
Basketball
Today, the sun was shining and we had another superb PE lesson learning key basketball skills. We began by recapping the key principles of dribbling and then moved onto stealing/tackling.
Here’s what the children had to say:
Remember to bounce the ball at waist height to keep control. Use fingers not palms to bounce.
Gabriel Y3
You can’t walk with the ball; you must bounce as you move. Must use two hands. Two hands would be a double dribble.
Madeleine Y4
Use our bodies to block the person trying to steal.
Emily M Y3
Today, I enjoyed playing Gauntlet.
Emily G Y3
I really enjoyed playing Gauntlet and stealing bibs.
Christian Y4
Living and Learning: I know the importance of sleep.
Our living and learning statement for this week was:
I know the importance of sleep.
As well as individual class living and learning sessions, the whole school attended our ‘Tuesday Viewsday‘ collective worship to learn more together. We discussed the role of sleep in our lives and it’s importance/lack of importance both personally and collectively (the world).
Children put forward some fantastic points of view to debate both sides of the importance of sleep – here’s some of the quotes:
‘I think sleep is important because it gives our brain a chance to rest so that we can do well in school the next day.’ (JC, Year 6)
‘Sleep is important for us to switch off and not think about things for a while. If we didn’t sleep, we would all just be tired and moody.’ (FJ, Year 2)
‘I don’t think sleep is important because it wastes time. We could be doing other things that we like instead of sleeping.’ (NE, Year 5)
‘Sleep can be important if you have a job, but if you don’t have a job or something to get up for, you’re wasting time in your life that you could use to help others or find something that you enjoy.’ (JS, Year 5)
Help at home:
Discuss the importance of sleep for a healthy, happy lifestyle with your child. Does your child know what a good amount of sleep is? Explore their thoughts on what might happen if they don’t get enough sleep, or they sleep too much!
Book Club
The children were busy during Book Club today producing some fantastic work in their reading records.
Class novel
Our love for reading continues to grow in Year 3 and 4 as we have begun our new class novel – The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
We have been enjoying the early chapters and can’t seem to put it down. We have so many questions already.
The children are developing their own views about Edward and have been finding evidence from the text to justify their impression of him.
Help at home – ask your child about the story so far. Who is Rosie and what did he do? What does Abilene do to display her love for Edward? What are their thoughts about Pellegrina and why?
Times Tables
As you will be aware, the Year 4 will complete a times table check in a few months. We have been working hard in school to ensure children know their times table facts and can recall them quickly.
Thank you for all the hard work that you do for the children at home. I know that they are practicing lots as times table scores are consistently strong.
Help at home
There are many websites that help children and increase the speed at which they answer:
Maths Frame – https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check
Hit the Button – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Times Table Rock Stars