Living and Learning: I know the importance of consent (online and offline)
Consent – permission for something to happen/to agree to do something
Boundary – taking ownership of your own body/mind and setting limits
This week, Year 3 are looking into the importance of consent and boundaries, both online and offline. In our circle time, we are looking into a fantastic book about boundaries, and how you are the ruler of your own body and mind. We want all children to feel comfortable setting their own limits, and to also be respectful of the boundaries for other people. The children understand that boundaries for some people might be different and that we must respect that, even if our boundaries are not the same.
Next week, we will be looking into how boundaries and consent are important when online, too.
Help at home:
Talk with your child about setting boundaries and asking others for consent. Make sure your child is comfortable talking about, responding to and reporting anything that doesn’t make them feel happy and healthy.
Cross Country!
Over 40 of our Key Stage Two pupils recently took part in the East Leeds Cross Country Competition. From Year 3 races of 900m, to Years 5 and 6 running a whopping 1500m, these tough tasks were met with enthusiasm and brilliant attitudes from the children at St James. Every single child managed to finish their race, showing resilience and determination throughout. I was really impressed with how well children conducted themselves – they were brilliant role models for our school. Finally, a huge congratulations to one of our runners, Lily, who has qualified for the next round of the competition by finishing 6th in her race!
Living and learning: I know how to seek help.
This week, our living and learning statement is:
I know how to seek help.
In our weekly circle times, we always refer to ways we can seek help. I am really impressed with how well the children remember and use these systems – this ensures we maintain a happy and healthy classroom environment.
Help at home: Talk through the slide above with your child. Make sure they feel confident enough to use at least one of these strategies if they are worried or in need of help.
Reading
This week, Year 3 have been focussing on retrieval. In reading, to retrieve means to find information. To improve this skill, it’s important we read a variety of text types/books that are engaging for the children. I’d like to share a (and authors) that we’ve used this week. The children have really enjoyed the extracts in this book, so it may be something to explore reading at home!
The Boy at the Back of the Class
This is our class novel this half-term, written by Onjali Rauf. This fiction narrative highlights some real world issues for the children, but it written in a fun, intriguing and engaging way for children. Ahmet, the new boy at the back of the class, is a refugee – he has fled his home, a dangerous area, to a new place of safety. So far, we are getting to know more about Ahmet, through the eyes of others in his class. The children are really enjoying this book as they can really relate to the school setting. There are lots of links to our Christian Values, too!
Help at home:
Discuss this narrative with your child. What advice would you give to Ahmet? If your child has really enjoyed reading this book, perhaps look into some other books by Onjali Rauf and really enhance that love of reading!
Living and learning: I know that some drugs can be harmful.
In our living and learning sessions so far, we have been learning about drugs. So far, we’ve found that drugs are substances that change the way the mind and body works. We’ve also discussed that some drugs can be helpful to our bodies, but some can be harmful, too.
This week, Year 3 had discussions on everyday drugs within our households and how to keep safe around them.
In our house, we have a cupboard with a lock on and only mum and dad go in if we need medicines.
Lots of drugs like Calpol have lids on that don’t open if really young children get hold of them to keep them safe.
In the next session, we looked into some drugs that may be harmful to our bodies – alcohol, smoking and vaping.
Children were tasked with reading some social scenarios surrounding these drugs and they had to decide in groups whether they agreed, disagreed or were unsure of the outcome. The class performed extremely well in this task, and were very honest with parts they were unsure of (our Christian Value this half-term is honesty). We found that the majority of children were very confident with age restrictions and legal/illegal scenarios, but were less confident on drug usage, and what to do in scenarios where others might be around these drugs.
We will pick this up further in our circle time discussion on Monday, as I’d like to ensure all children feel happy, healthy and confident with this knowledge, so they can stay safe and not worry.
Help at home:
If your child does have any worries about any context in these sessions, allow them to share this with you. Perhaps go through some everyday drugs and medicines in your household – you could talk about how they are used correctly to help our bodies.
Yoga
This half-term, yoga and dance are our physical education units.
The children have made a fantastic start to yoga. We’ve learnt breathing techniques to help empty our minds and improve focus. Yoga is all about feeling relaxed and being in a calm state of mind, so we make sure our sessions are quiet and controlled.
The children have been practising yoga poses and transitioning between poses with flow and ease. Below are some examples of our learning so far.
The children have reflected on these sessions, stating they feel really calm, happy and ready for the rest of the day.
Help at home: Talk through the poses learnt with the children so far and practise them together. Make sure you have a calming environment, so that children can really empty their minds and feel peaceful and calm.
Living and Learning: I can describe and use self-care techniques.
Last week, our living and learning statement was all about looking after ourselves. It’s extremely important to care about our own well-being, as we can often put the happiness and healthiness of others before ourselves. As our school is a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe, our circle time in Year 3 this week helped us understand why looking after ourselves is so vital.
The children began with trigger statements, offering their own thoughts on two self-care techniques:
I look after my mind when…
I look after my body when…
The children shared fantastic ideas, such as:
I look after my mind by having a two minute silence in my room when things are getting too much. This helps my brain relax. – Hattie
I look after my body by having showers and keeping my skin clean and healthy. – multiple children
I look after my mind by not having too much screen time and playing outside instead. – Freddie
We also discussed ways to relieve stress and support our mental health. In our reading lessons, we read a news article on other schools trialling some nature time each day across the UK. Responding to this, we’ve decided to implement some outside learning into our Year 3 timetable, starting with three lots of 10 minutes across the week. After one full week of this, we will reflect on the results as a class and decide whether this self-care technique is working for us. The newspaper article is below if you wish to find out more!
Help at home:
Talk to your child about their self-care techniques. Do they know how to keep happy and healthy? Perhaps come up with some new strategies together and see if your children remember some of the advice given in our circle time.
National Santa Dash
On Friday, all children took part in the National Santa Dash. This event was all about having some fun whilst being active.
We’ve decided to extend this event: we’ll be holding an Easter and Summer Dash, too! Our goal is to allow pupils to set some targets and improve on their personal bests through the year.
Here are some photos – enjoy!
Putting our gymnastic skills to the test!
This half-term, our focus in PE is gymnastics. Over the last few weeks, we have been working on some key skills/concepts needed to develop our fundamental movement skills further. Here’s some of the skills we’ve learnt:
- balance
- movement (high and low, fast and slow, moving to a rythm)
- flexibility
- strength
- jumping (how to start and finish safely, along with a variety of jumps)
This week, we utilised the equipment in our school hall and decided to put all our learnt skills to the test! The children had a brilliant time with this – they tested out their skills and had lots of freedom to add challenge to each activity. All children participated safely and worked together as a team. Below are some pictures of our session.
Help at home:
Can you identify and skills (from our bullet point list) being used in the pictures? Talk with your child about the key skills needed in gymnastics and how to develop them.
Living and learning – I know how to make careful choices
This week, Year 3 have learnt about making careful choices in and out of school. We’ve also spoken a lot on how to disagree with other respectfully, especially if you feel you are in an uncomfortable position. In circle time, the children began by finishing off the sentence stem ‘I feel respected when…’ – here’s some pupil responses:
I feel respected when I’m listened to.
I feel respected when people give me time to myself if I ask for it.’
I feel respected when people give me eye contact.
We then went into imaginary scenarios, where children can offer advice and support to the situation. Pupils discussed different ways that we can disagree respectfully with others, especially if we are feeling that the situation is wrong or uncomfortable. Even with friends and peers, it’s important to disagree respectfully if necessary. All pupils responded well in this session and left feeling happy and healthy.