Cross Country
Today, a whopping 52 of our KS2 pupils took part in the Leeds Easy Cross Country event. This event provides opportunity for young people to take part in a competitive running event, with routes through to Leeds and District finals. St James pupils conducted themselves really well on the trip and the high levels of perseverance/resilience from our children were definitely on show! Years 3 and 4 had a 900m race to complete, and the Year 5 and 6 pupils had a 1500m race. Every single pupil from St James ran and finished their races – we are so proud of everyone for this. Some pupils managed to get into the top 20 and may reach the finals in a few months! Here are some pictures of some pupils after their races.
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Living and Learning: I know the difference between needs and wants
This week in Year 3, we’ve been learning all about money through our Me and My Money Week!
So far, we’ve been thinking about decision-making with money and how our choices can link to our Christian values. For example, when we choose to donate money to charity, we show compassion by helping others in need.
Today, we explored the idea of saving. Saving is putting money aside instead of spending it straight away. To help us understand this, we took on the Penny Challenge! Using one penny at a time, we carefully stacked coins to build the tallest tower we could. This activity showed perseverance, just like saving money does over time and little by little, the tower (and our savings) grow and become more valuable.
Year 3 showed amazing determination, especially when a few towers were knocked over (sometimes by me shaking the table!). Even when they had to start again, they didn’t give up. This is a great reminder that saving takes patience and persistence.
We’re really enjoying our Me and My Money Week so far and can’t wait to keep learning more about making wise and thoughtful choices with money.
Help at home: Talk together about decisions we make with money and link them to a Christian value such as perseverance, compassion, forgiveness, honesty, peace or courage.
Training day – Arty Ideas
We thought you’d enjoy hearing a little about what went on during our recent teacher training day! Part of the day was dedicated to developing our art knowledge and skills with our resident art teacher, Mrs Boulton.
Teachers got hands-on with paints, pastels and even soap! There was plenty of colour, laughter, and even a bit of friendly competition as we experimented with new techniques and ideas for upcoming art lessons.
The rest of the day focussed on other important areas too, including maths and inclusion. It was a full, productive day – and we left feeling ready and excited for the next half-term!
Year 3 and Jane Goodall’s Legacy
This week, our class was deeply inspired by the amazing work and message of Dr. Jane Goodall, who sadly passed away recently. We watched a video of her final words to the world, where she reminded everyone that we must never lose hope because if we lose hope, we have already lost.
Jane spoke about how every action matters, no matter how small it might seem. Even the tiniest act of kindness towards our planet can make a difference. We discussed how, although there are many sad things happening in the world, we can all be part of the change.
Feeling inspired, we decided to take action in our own school community. Together, we are replanting and rebuilding our flowerbeds and plantpots, creating a happy home for our mini-beasts and a calm, peaceful space for us to enjoy.
When we dug up our garden bed, we discovered some interesting surprises, including an old brick and a large twisted root that looked just like antlers.
Jane Goodall taught us that hope starts with action, and we’re proud to be following in her footsteps, one small act at a time.
Watch this space as we take on this gardening challenge to create something beautiful, all thanks to Jane’s inspiring words.
Help at home: Discuss what actions you can do at home to carry on Jane’s legacy.
JLT
This week, Year 3 took part in an exciting democratic decision, voting for our new Junior Leadership Team.
Over half the class wrote and presented fantastic speeches, sharing their brilliant ideas for making our school even better. Some spoke about helping the environment, others suggested more after-school clubs and many had thoughtful ideas about how to make school life happier for everyone.
We even used a voting ballot, just like in a real election. Every child had the chance to vote fairly and respectfully, showing great maturity and kindness when listening to different views.
It was wonderful to see everyone take part so enthusiastically — what a fantastic example of our British Value of Democracy in action!
Congratulations to Kupa and Harry, our new Year 3 representatives, and best of luck from all your friends in Year 3!
BREAKING NEWS: Year 3 Plan Their Twisted Tales!
This week in Writing, we’ve been busy planning our independent journalistic writing! Our purpose is to tell the news , just like real reporters.
We started by planning our reports in the style of a comic strip. We drew out our headlines, organised our sections, and summarised our pictures to show what’s happening in each part.
Our story is a twisted tale of The Three Little Pigs but this time, they’re the Three Bad Pigs. They’re out for revenge on the Big Bad Wolf after he blew down their houses… but, no more spoilers! You’ll have to wait for the full report.
Help at Home:
Ask your child about their news plan. Who are they reporting on and what headline did they choose?
From Reading to Creating!
This week, Year 3 were inspired by our reading text all about Sophia, a young girl who won an art competition and had her painting displayed next to the famous artist L.S. Lowry!
Throughout the week, we explored the writer’s choices in the text and discussed how these choices help us, as readers, to picture the story and feel inspired.
One pupil in particular was so moved by Sophia’s story that he decided to recreate one of L.S. Lowry’s iconic “Matchstick Men” paintings. His artwork truly captures Lowry’s unique style and we all think he’s done an amazing job!
Well done for showing such creativity and enthusiasm and well done to all of Year 3 for another fantastic week of reading, discussion, and imagination!
Help at home: Ask your child to retell the news report.
Class Novel with a special, spiky visitor!
This week, we took our reading outdoors for a very special Forest School reading session! We’ve reached the part of The Legend of Podkin One-Ear where Podkin (now with just one ear!) meets Brigid, the witch who lives deep in the woods and helps him while the Gorm are hunting for him.
It was the perfect setting to read this chapter, surrounded by trees, rustling leaves and the sounds of nature all around us. The forest made the story come alive and we could really imagine what it might have been like for Podkin hiding in the woods.
The children loved making connections between the book and their surroundings and many said it felt like they were inside the story!
We also had a special visitor. Do you recognise him?
Living and Learning: We Respect Others
This week in Year 3, we have been learning about protected characteristics and why they are so important. We linked our learning to the Equality Act 2010, which is a law that helps to keep everyone safe and treated fairly, no matter who they are.
We explored what stereotypes are (the assumptions people make about others), and we talked about discrimination (when someone is treated unfairly because of who they are). The children showed great maturity in discussing the difference between equality (treating everyone the same) and equity (making sure everyone has what they need to be successful, even if that looks different for each person).
We also thought carefully about what we should do if we ever see or hear something that is discriminatory. The children agreed it is important to speak up, tell a trusted adult and make sure that everyone feels safe and respected.
As part of our learning, we joined a special Protected Characteristics Zoom Call. The highlight was learning a fantastic chant together:
“Respect, include, be kind,
Protect the rights of mankind.”
Help at home: Ask your child and discuss, what would our country be like if we didn’t have protected characteristics?