PE – ball skills
This week in PE we have started to work on our ball skills. We will be using our hand eye coordination to throw, catch and aim our balls. We started with a challenge to ourselves – could we catch the ball and clap our hands? If they finished that level then they had to catch the ball after touching their head and shoulders! The children were really determined and did a brilliant job.
We finished the lesson by playing ‘clash ball’. The children had to sit opposite each other and roll their balls so they clashed in the middle. It was lots of fun!
We will continue to practise our ball skills for the rest of the half term.
Help at home by practising throwing and catching different sized balls.
Pedometers in computing
This half term, we’ve been building up to making our own pedometers!
And we pulled it off!
As always, we had to use logical reasoning as a team.
We measured how effective they were by counting our steps and comparing it to how many had been recorded on the micro:bit.
Help at home by linking this learning to our computing vocabulary:
- simulation
- repetition
- decomposition
- computer network
- internet
- variable
- selection
- world wide web
Science: Which soil is the most absorbent?
Enquiry question:
Which soil is the most absorbent?
Science strand: We are chemists!
How we were scientists: We planned and set up a comparative test.
What we changed: the soil types; loam, chalky, sandy and clay
What we measured: how much water drained through the soil and was collected
What we kept the same: the amount of water and the amount of soil
What we found:
Our conclusion: Clay soil was the most absorbent.
Living and Learning: I know friends and family are important.
This week in Living and Learning, Year 3 have learnt about healthy relationships, what they look like and how we can maintain them.
We reflected on what attributes a good friend should have…
- a good listener
- being trustworthy
- kindness
- caring
- good at sharing
- being inclusive
- honesty
- are gentle with their words
These are things we expect from our friends and family but we also need to return the kindness, honesty and care too!
We discussed which attributes we thought we had and then which one we could work on. For example, Miss Birch said she could be better at sharing with others so she’s going to try each week to share with her friends and family.
We spoke about where we can go or what we can do to help if a relationship is feeling unhealthy like too many fall outs, bullying behaviour or if we’re not feeling safe.
Talk to a trusted adult.
Be honest with that person.
Write a worry in the worry box.
Visit Childline online or contact them on 0800 1111.
Here are some things we can do to support our mental health too!
Help at home by engaging in some of these activities when you are feeling overwhelmed by different emotions!
Living and learning: Mind Mate
This week in Living and Learning we looked at recognising and responding to other people’s emotions. We listened to two boys describing their friendship and why they are such good friends. We recognised some of these aspects in our brilliant friendships at school.
We were then presented with the scenario of one of the boys starting a new friendship with someone who had just moved next door to him. We tried to empathise with both boys and consider how this scenario would make them feel.
Owen might be jealous because he thinks that Bill won’t be friends with him any more.
Bill might be sad but Owen can make him feel better and still play with him.
Finally, we did some role play to act out what we would say in this situation.
I would tell Bill that we could play together.
They could all walk to school together.
Owen could tell Bill that they have been friends a long time and are still friends now.
Help at home by talking to your children about how to recognise emotions in others and what they would do if they saw someone upset at school.
North East Youth Summit 2025
Today, the Year 5 and 6 junior leaders visited the Leeds Civic Hall to attend the North East Youth Summit. It was a great day where the children had the opportunity to meet and hear from councillors, ask questions and give their say when thinking about things we would like to change and improve about our local area.
We suggested our ideas for activities that we would love to see in our locality. Here were our choices.
We were in a room with lots of other junior leaders from around our locality so it was great to meet them as well!
We discussed climate change in the official chambers where the MPs and Leeds’ Mayor meet to discuss their plans.
Reminder: World Book Day
World book day will take place on 06.03.24 .
Food Technology – Bruschetta!
This morning, Year 3 have been making Bruschetta. We were so impressed with their knowledge and skills at each stage of the recipe.
The main skill we were practising was cutting with a knife. The two different techniques that we used were the bridge and the claw. We used the bridge to safely and securely cut the tomatoes into small chunks. We used the claw to cut the basil up into smaller pieces.
We then used a garlic crusher to squeeze the garlic into our tomato and basil mixture. It’s safe to say the room smelt very strong!
The final challenge was to spoon the mixture onto the sliced and toasted baguette without making a mess and then to dig in… some of them gave it a 10/10!
Help at home by re-making the recipe the home. It’s been sent home with your child today. Could you add something new; ham, cheese or salmon?
Living and Learning: Safer Internet Day!
Safer Internet Day – 11.02.2025!
The theme for this year’s national Safer Internet Day is:
‘Too good to be true? Protecting yourself and others from scams online.’
Over the week, we’ve had the opportunity to think about any worries we might have about using the internet, becoming equipped with the skills to be safe on the internet but also about celebrating all the fantastic things technology can help us with.
I know that some things online may not be true.
We discussed ‘fake news’ and what this means. We decided that if something is ‘fake’, it is not real and ‘news’ is information that is important. Fake news can be misleading and can give people the wrong impression or information.
We worked in groups to decide whether certain information was reliable and trustworthy.
Here are ways we could check if something is real or fake:
- Where has it come from?
- Who has posted this information?
- Is it a reliable news source like Newsround or First News?
- Can we see it across multiple reliable sources?
- Ask a trusted adult.
I know it’s important to check with a trusted adult before sharing personal information online.
Personal information is any information that is about who you are and what you do.
Websites and apps can collect our personal information and data and use it to provide services to us. For example, supermarkets might need your address if they are delivering your food or an app might need to know your age to know that you are old enough.
We need to keep this information safe whilst online and not give it to just anyone! We must always speak to a trusted adult before sharing any information online.
We watched the BBC live lesson for Safer Internet Day as well as our school learning. 
Help at home: Can you think of at least 4 pieces of personal information that we should keep private?
Friday 07 February
The spellings this week are tricky words we have been learning in phonics.
her
when
what
people
their
The spellings will be tested on Friday 14th February