Being Healthy Week – Keeping active
As part of our Being Healthy Week, Year 4 enjoyed learning how to fence and to aim for a target in archery. 
We practised how to use the “T position” for our footwork in fencing and had to show lots of perseverance when aiming for increasingly challenging targets in archery.
Design & Technology – Make
Year 4 have been busy this morning making their model go karts using Tech Card and electric circuits. They have taken what they have learned from the design phase to problem solve and make the models move independently.
KS2 production
Rehearsals are well underway for the KS2 production. The stage is up (thank you Mr Atkins!) and the children are working hard to add the finishing touches before our performances next week.
The children have worked so hard to learn lines, get the songs pitch-perfect and to create costumes and props. We can’t wait for you to see it!
If you haven’t yet told us if you would like your child to stay in school between the end of the school day and the performance on Wednesday evening please let us know as soon as possible.
Living and Learning – I know how to identify drinks that are unsafe for me to drink and I understand some of the affects of alcohol on the human body
We had a great visit from D:Side and were excited to share our knowledge about how to identify drinks with alcohol in and drinks that are not safe for children to drink.
We also wore special glasses that made us feel dizzy. That’s just one of the potential side effects of alcohol we did not think is cool!
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.
Living & Learning – I can say one good thing about myself
Our living and learning statement for this week was to be able to say one good thing about ourselves.
Fortunately, Year 4 can identify lots of their amazing qualities!
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.
Living & Learning
This week we are thinking about how humans change and grow over time.
As we are in the final term of Year 4 and reflect on all that our superstars have achieved within and beyond the classroom, it would be a lovely opportunity to dig out some old photos and reminisce about how far they have come.
You might choose to look at some photos of your child(ren) as a baby or toddler. What did they enjoy doing? Do they have any of the same interests now? Can they imagine a time before they could walk? If you are in the photo, have you changed?
You might choose to look at photos of when they started school and notice how their bodies have changed in the past 5 years. As well as getting taller, have other things changed? Has anything stayed the same?
If your child has a favourite photo they might want to bring a copy to school or email a copy to me for them to share with the class.
PE – cricket
We’ve enjoyed sharing Year 5’s expertise in our cricket lesson this afternoon.
Year 5 joined us as coaches to help us develop our skills hitting a ball with a cricket bat. We started hitting a ball balanced on a cone then progressed to hitting a ball dropped close to us. Finally we moved on to hitting a ball that was bowled to us by a partner.
Thank you for the expert coaching, Year 5!