PE – using apparatus
This week, the children had so much fun using the large apparatus in PE. It was great to see all of the skills learnt in recent gymnastics sessions put into action. The children showcased their balancing, agility and coordination expertise.
The children modelled improved coordination and spatial awareness. It was great to see some of the pupils overcome fears when having time to explore apparatus and navigate across, on, over or under different equipment.
Listen to some reading with prosody.
Today, the children rehearsed the weekly poem. Here are a few examples of the children reading with prosody. (expression)
A HUGE well done to all of the children!
Spring Attendance Competition
St James’ CE Primary is a happy and healthy place to be – and maybe even a lucky one, too!
Look out for our attendance competition next half term. All pupils with attendance of 96% or higher will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 Love to Shop vouchers!
So… for the full Spring 1 half-term, Monday 08 January to Friday 09 February (five weeks), if your child reaches a good level of attendance – that’s 96% – their name will be entered into a prize draw. We’ll select one lucky winner on the last day of the half-term (Friday 09 February).
Remember, arriving late for school counts as an unauthorised absence. This affects a child’s overall attendance figure, and that might mean they lose out.
So far this term, 40 pupils have 100% attendance and 80 pupils have over 96% attendance – well done to the children and their families!
We are chemists!
Our recent science lesson was all about melting and freezing water. The children held a piece of ice in their hands. They observed what happened to the solid over a short piece of time.
Our hands are warm but the ice is cold. Olly
It is starting to drip. Athena
Next, the class were shown some toys that had been frozen in ice.
How could the toys be released from the ice and what could we use?
– a hairdryer
– a blanket
– a pair of gloves
If we use a hairdryer, it might turn into a liquid. Athena
We need to warm them up to become a liquid. Kupa
The class concluded that adding some heat to the ice made it melt and become a liquid.
The vocabulary used in this lesson was;
- solid
- freeze
- melt
- liquid
- ice
Help at home
Make some ice cubes and then put them in different places to watch them melt. This is a great activity for learning about melting and freezing!
Discuss what makes ice melt and predict where the cubes would melt the fastest.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z9ck9qt
Reading with prosody
This week, the children will be using their knowledge of nouns and adjectives to create and write about a monster. To support this learning, we have chosen a monster themed poem to learn.
As well as developing fluency skills, we are teaching the children to add some prosody to their reading too. This simply means to read with expression. Prosody is taught through a variety of texts, not just stories.
On Friday, I (Mrs Freeman) read the text aloud and modelled using prosody and asked the children the following questions.
How have I changed my voice?
Why have I changed my voice and does it help us to understand the poem more?
Am I telling you about the character is an expressive/funny way?
Can you tell who is speaking? The monster or the reader?
Using prosody, gives early readers an insight into what reading for meaning should sound like. More importantly, it shows children how books can speak through readers, and how words on the page can come to life – which our monster poem certainly did!
By modelling this reading skill, children begin to learn how you can change the tone of a sentence simply by stressing different words and phrases.
After listening to me read, the class then echoed my prosody several times.
Help at home
Listen to this recording of the poem and discuss prosody with you child. Let me repeat back each line using expression.
Use prosody in your daily conversations. Emphasise certain words/phrases together.
Topic Review
Thank you to those families that were able to join us today for our topic review. We are continually recapping previous learning and today was a great opportunity for the children to showcase their knowledge. It was lovely to see the children discussing their work with families and friends.
If you weren’t able to attend, here is the quiz that the children did for their review. Topic Review quiz slides December 2023
Barbara Hepworth Art Gallery
Last Friday, we had an absolutely fantastic school trip to the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield .
The day included looking around the garden, the different galleries in the art museum and sketching some of the sculptures.
We also enjoyed a print-making workshop which included looking at some Barbara Hepworth sculptures and finding inspiration from their shapes. We learned that Barbara Hepworth was inspired by nature to produce her own art.
Using different materials, we created a tile with different textures, lines and shapes. Then, we rolled ink over our tiles and printed them onto paper.
Our finished masterpieces are on display in the classroom. Please pop in and check them out!
Artists at work
Our current topic is an art focused one. The children are studying the work of two featured artists: Paul Klee (modern artist) and Leonardo da Vinci (Renaissance artist).
Here is a list of our art related vocabulary and definitions.
- shape: a two-dimensional area which may be created using lines or colour
- tone: how light or dark a colour is
- primary colours: three colours (red, yellow, blue) that can’t be made by mixing other colours, but can make other colours
- secondary colours: three colours (orange, green, purple) that are made when two primary colours are mixed using paint
- pattern: arrangements of things such as colour, shapes and lines that repeat in a logical way
- texture: how something feels, like smooth or rough
Today, the children learnt about primary and secondary colours. We had fun mixing the primary colours to make the secondary ones.
Mixing colours
The primary colours are blue, yellow and red. When you mix these colours you can make new colours.
When you mix red and yellow together, you make orange.
When you mix red and blue together, you make purple.
And when you mix blue and yellow together, you make green.
Children in Need
Thank you for all your support raising money for Children in Need.
We have raised £140 for the charity.
Living and Learning: know how to STOP bullying!
We kicked off anti-bullying day with our odd socks to celebrate that we are all unique and different.
What is unique?
We discussed the meaning of the word ‘unique’.
I am unique because there is no one else like me that has my personality or looks.
Nobody has my hair, my eyes, my nose, or my smile. Nobody draws like me, paints like me, sings like me, or dances like me.
I am unique because God made me and wanted me to look and act exactly like I do now.
We explored our school definition of bullying by looking at what some of the words meant.
What is bullying?
We’re all able to make a choice in how we behave towards others. We can choose to be kind or helpful, or we could act in a way that is mean and unkind.
What is bullying behaviour?
Bullying is a type of unkind behaviour, such as being mean to others on purpose. Sometimes, people who bully others may be feeling sad or angry and might take their negative feelings out on other people.
What are the different types of bullying?
Our school definition reminds us of the different types of bullying – physical (hurting our body), emotional (hurting our feelings) or cyber bullying (online).
How can you STOP bullying?
We used our weekly circle time to think about the role we all have to STOP bullying. Year 1 had some great suggestions.
Our main message is Start Telling Other People!
You can stop bullying by…
saying STOP to the bullies and if they don’t stop, tell an adult – Harry
being kind to people and not hurting others – Poppy
being resilient and saying STOP – Vincent
ignoring the bully, walk away – Athena
How can you get help?
The children were reminded about where/who to ask for help.
Who could you tell?
The children were reminded about who they could speak to if the need arose.
- Safeguarding team – Miss Beatson, Mrs Freeman, Mrs Small and Miss Walshaw.
- Any other members of staff
- A trusted adult
- Someone in your family
- Friends
- Childline (0800 1111)Write a worry slip and put it in your class Living and Learning Box
Start Telling Other People.
Help at home:
Discuss our school definition of bullying with your child. Do they know the difference between falling out and bullying, and between a one-off situation and something that’s happened more than once?