Living and Learning
We have had a super start to Year 6 and the children have settled back in really well. We have had a lot of changes since last year: new classroom, smaller class size and new expectations. The children have adapted to these very well.
In Living and Learning this week we have been revisiting our school rules. We spoke about what being respectful, ready and safe looks like in our school, at home and in our community.
On a separate note, we have been very excited to welcome a new member to our school, Chip the hedgehog!
Welcome back
Hello and a huge welcome back to our Year 6 children. I trust you all had a happy and healthy summer break and are raring to go in your last year at St James’.
A few key messages from me:
- Your child will be bringing home their new reading record books this week. Please ensure your child reads at home to an adult at least 3 times a week. There are activities in the reading records to complete. Please sent reading records in each Friday.
- Children don’t need to bring any additional stationary into school with them – we will provide everything they need to achieve in their learning.
- PE days: Wednesday and Friday
- Forest school will run from Friday 12th September to Friday 17th October. Your child will be bringing a letter home about this this week.
I am really excited about this year and what we can achieve together. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best wishes
Mr Kilner
Design Technology
In DT this term, we have been designing and making our own vehicle.
The children were set the task of creating a cart to carry Eggy the Egg. The design criteria for our product was that the carts needed to be durable, safe and movable. The children had great fun drawing annotated diagrams of their designs and then calculating the dimensions.
We used wooden dowel, axles and wooden wheels to build the carts. The children have used hack saws and G-clamps to cut the dowel to the appropriate lengths.
During the building stage, the children were constantly thinking about safety features to ensure that Eggy survives if he/she had a collision.
We tested the carts this morning and we only lost three Eggs.
It has been a fantastic few days and the children have really impressed with their initiative, creativity and attention to detail.
Being healthy week
Healthy = keeping your body and mind working at its best.
We have had a busy Being Healthy themed week. We have enjoyed learning about our personal hygiene and can talk confidently about how we can keep ourselves hygienic. Some of the key things we learnt here were the importance of wearing clean clothes and how crucial it is that we wash our hands properly.
We have looked in detail at dental health and have been shocked at the sugar content of some of our favourite drinks and snacks. Did you know that an ordinary can of coke has a staggering ten teaspoons of sugar in?
On Wednesday, we had an online meeting with Olivia from Kooth. Kooth is an online platform where children and young people can access support should they be struggling with their mental health and wellbeing. There are people who can offer practical support every day and there are resources online should anyone require. We went through the process of registering and logging on too.
This week, we have also turned our hands to some new sports. In the beautiful sunshine, we had a morning of archery and fencing. We are blessed with fantastic sportspeople in our class, and they didn’t disappoint. We had lots of children hitting bullseye and displaying superb balance and coordination when dueling in fencing.
Children have spent time reflecting on their lifestyles through the My Health, My School survey. This is a national initiative where children can begin to review the choices they make regarding sleep, screens, food and exercise.
All this on top of two amazing performances of our production: Let the games begin. The children blew us away with their talent and we are very proud of what they achieved. Thank you also for your support in this.
Help at home – Review the sugar content in the food you eat at home. Speak to your child about Kooth. What is it? How might they use it? Ask your child how they can keep themselves healthy. Have they learnt something new this week that they can implement in the future?
Euros Football Competition!
Year 5 and 6 girls took part in a fantastic Euros-themed football competition as St Theresas Primary School on Monday. Our given country was Germany, so the pupils had to wear colours making up the country’s flag – we even had some supporters bring a huge flag to help spur the team on!
The children performed admirably, showing respect, resilience, courage and many more positive traits. They worked as a team at all times, and took on board healthy reflections after each match. The girls managed to get off to a great start, drawing their first two games 1-1 and 0-0. Things were tense and the competition was tight. Lily was a superb striker, scoring a fantastic goal for the team. All 7 pupils played every game and tried their absolute best – it was a pleasure to watch them flourish. Here are some photos from the event:
Healthy Week – smoking and vaping
This week we had a visit from D:side Dave. The focus was on smoking and vaping.
Dave spoke to us about where smoking isn’t allowed (schools, theatres, hospitals, theme parks). Interestingly, we learnt that smoking was once allowed on aeroplanes – this really shocked us.
We looked at toys from the past which imitated the act of smoking and even Disney films from the past showed smoking.
Vaping targets young people and all our children said they had seen a teenager vape -very worrying. We learnt that smoking one disposable vape is the same as smoking 20 cigarettes.
Dave delivered a key message throughout: DON’T START SMOKING OR VAPING!
He told us that the average smoker spends £10 a day. We worked out how much this would be across a week/month/year and what we could but with this money.
Today, there are still many unknowns about the risks of vaping. The children took part in an activity to demonstrate how vaping can cause illness, but these can be hard for doctors to detect straight away. Side effects could become clear in years to come.
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.
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 and Learning
LO: I know how my emotions change.
This week, during our RSE lessons we focussed on our emotions and how they can change during puberty. We began by considering this question:
Have you ever been told you can’t do something because you’re a boy or a girl?
Many of the children said they had experienced this. We then talked about how this made them feel and we considered if this was ‘fair’.
We then talked about the expressions:
– ‘like a girl’ and how it is to mean somebody who is weak and incapable?
– ‘man up’ and how this is to imply boys should be tough and strong.
We discussed how both examples can be harmful to peoples’ confidence?
Both boys and girls, are unstoppable and we shouldn’t limit anyone just because they are a boy or a girl.
The third part of our lesson was to write a compliment about someone in the class. As their teacher, it was wonderful reading these out and seeing the children’s faces.
Finally, we took two simple words (‘yet’ and ‘but’) to turn a negative into a positive:
I am not good at baking, but I am good at cooking pasta. Christian.
I am claustrophobic but I still tried caving at residential. Summer.
I am not so good at baking, yet I am amazing at making cookies. Lilly C.
I’m not very good at maths yet I am good at reading, writing, sports and using my creative thinking to solve problems. Emily.
I don’t enjoy drawing, but I am good at making patterns. Maddy.
I’m not good at dancing but I’m good at rock climbing. Willow.
I don’t enjoy writing yet I’m good at maths. Kamile.
I am poor at tennis yet good at football. Freddie.
I’m not a footballer but I am excellent at playing rugby. Evie.
Junior Warrior
Well, what a fantastic afternoon our Year 6 children had on Friday. All of our Year 6 children completed the 3k (although it felt longer) Junior Warrior course that was lined with tricky, challenging and very muddy obstacles.
It was a superb way to celebrate our Year 6’s coming to the end of their time at St James’ – they displayed teamwork, support and camaraderie. Mrs Cairns and I were so proud of the children. A huge thank you to all the parents who helped with transporting the children to and from the event!
