Staying safe week
First Aid – staying safe
Our children have learnt about how to deliver CPR to someone who may be unconscious and not breathing.
We learnt:
- to check to see if the person will wake up;
- to shake and ask if they are ok;
- to check if they are breathing;
- to shout for help/call 999;
If the casualty is not breathing then we start CPR – 30 compressions: 2 breaths.
We would continue CPR until help arrives, we can’t go on any further or the casualty wakes up.
The children also learnt about stings and burns and what to do should we experience either on these.
Help at home – ask your child what to do should a bee sting them. How long should we cool a burn? How do we cool a burn? Is there anything we can put on a burn?
Staying safe week
d:side – staying safe online.
Today, we had a visit from Dave from d:side.
Dave talked to us about how to stay safe online. Firstly, he discussed posting things online and how it is important that we think carefully before we share. He taught us that once we have posted something online, it is there forever and can’t be deleted. This may lead to problems for us now and maybe in the future. We know we must tell a trusted adult if we are unsure about what to post.
This is called our digital footprint.
Tommy-Lee Y4
If you share, do it with care.
Share smart, share safe, share kind.
d:Side Dave
Dave went on to talk to us about social media. Most of the social media platforms have a guidance age-rating of 13, whereas WhatsApp has a guidance age-rating of 16. He recommended that we make our social media private and use safe sites, such as YouTube Kids.
Some things are age appropriate, some things are age inappropriate.
Shae Y3
Finally, Dave spoke to us about gaming and why games have a particular age rating. He introduced the PEGI (Pan-European Game Information) age rating system.
He explained that games such as Roblox and Minecraft are age rating 7 and why games such as Fortnite (age rating 12) and Call of Duty (age rating 16) have higher age rating and are not appropriate for younger children.
Help at home – How is your child keeping themselves safe online? Are accounts private? What date of birth is assigned to the account? Are we checking with an adult before we post something online?
Staying Safe Week
The Dogs Trust – staying safe with dogs.
Today, Mrs Hill from the Dogs Trust joined us to talk to us about how to stay safe around dogs.
We learnt three important rules when approaching a dog:
- Ask the owner for permission to stroke the dog.
- With your hands by your side, ask the dog if they are happy to be stroked.
- Calmly approach the dog and stroke gently from the side.
Mrs Hill taught us how to stay safe if a dog comes towards us:
- Cross our arms across our chest.
- Look the other way.
- Lift our arms higher if we feel that the dog may jump up to our face.
We then worked as ‘Doggie Detectives’. We thought about how dogs might feel in a variety of different scenarios and how to make the situation best for the dog and the people involved.
There are lots of children in our class who either have a dog(s) or see dogs regularly around our community. We learnt so much that we can’t wait to share with people back home.
Help at home – Ask your child about important rules when approaching a dog or if a dog approaches them. How can we keep ourselves safe? What actions can we avoid to keep a dog calm? What do The Dogs Trust do?
Living and Learning
Body image
In Year 3 and 4 this week, we have thought about our bodies and about how they might change. Changes in our body can occur through a variety of reasons, some things we can influence and some things we can’t.
The children wrote down their thoughts and we had some in depth discussions about their ideas. The children were very mature and spoke with respect whilst building on each other’s ideas.
We then focussed on ourselves and wrote down three things that we are good at. We shared our strengths and found that others had the same strengths too. Children understood that even though we are all different in many ways, we can all share similar attributes.
Help at home – Ask your child what they are good at. Can you make opportunities to do something they are good at? How will we change over time? Are there any changes we can/can’t influence? How do you feel about that?
Maths
Identifying angles
We have had a fantastic maths lesson this morning, searching for and identifying angles. We found right angles, acute angles and obtuse angles. The children were fantastic when using the correct names for each angle and could clearly tell me how they know what type of angle it was.
Help at home – can you find any right angles, acute angles or obtuse angles at home or in your garden. How do you know it is a right angle? How do you know it is an acute angle? How do you know it is an obtuse angle? Can you draw them and put them in order of size? How many quarter turns make a right angle?
Design and Technology
We had a fantastic opportunity this morning to listen to and speak to Joel Wilson. Joel is a footwear designer for DR Martens, he has previously worked at brands like Lacoste and Ellesse.
Speaking to Joel fits in perfectly with our current Design and Technology work. We are currently in the process of creating a pouch. We follow a design brief and specific design criteria to produce an end product. We found that Joel follows a similar process in his area of work.
He told us all about his childhood and how he loved to draw and then about his journey into designing clothes. Can you believe that he didn’t even know that being a designer was a job?
We learnt about the process of creating a pair of Dr Martens – it takes about 18 months from the first design stage to a completed pair of shoes!
The children were extremely engaged and had lots of questions. We have been inspired by what Joel had to say.
It’s inspired me to design clothes.
Shae
I have always wanted to design clothes but now I’m thinking about shoes because when he answered his questions I gave me ideas about what I would like to do.
Emily M
It’s inspired me becasue now I am keen to draw and design clothes and footwear.
Emily G
I never knew that people drew the shoes that we wear!
Beau
Help at home – Ask your child about what they remember from Joel. What design criteria do we need to incorporate into our pouches? What is the purpose of your pouch? Who is it for?
Armley Mills
As part of our Design and Technology topic we have visited Armley Mills Industrial Museum in Leeds and learnt about the process of weaving. We followed the process of wool being brushed (carded) and then spun. We then worked as a class to weave and then produced some of our own. The children had a lovely time and behaved impeccably – they were a credit to the school.
Here are some pictures from the day:
Help at home – Ask your child about the day. What was the best thing they learnt? Can they remember what ‘warp’ and ‘weft’ means? Can they produce some weaving at home?
Science – Forces
In our new Science topic, we are learning about forces and magnets. Today’s lesson focussed on push and pull forces and the role that friction must play when objects move across a surface.
We enjoyed pushing and pulling objects around the classroom and observed what happened because of a force.
We found that surfaces like grass and stones have a high level of friction whereas tarmac or our classroom tables have a low level of friction.
Help at home – Ask your child which objects can be pushed or pulled. What is a contact force? Which surfaces in your home/garden have the most friction? Which have less friction?
Living and Learning
We have been looking at what makes a good friend and learning that friends can sometimes fall out and what we can do to put things right or make a situation easier.
The children were able to provide adjectives describing how someone might feel if they fall out with a friend. Here are some examples:
- Empty
- Hurt
- Disappointed
- Good
- Angry
- Sick
- Left out
We also spoke about what someone can do if a fall out occurs. Here are some of the ideas we came up with:
- Have some ‘alone time’.
- Talk to each other.
- Talk to a trusted adult.
- Use breathing techniques or meditation to calm down.
- Tell the truth. Follow our Christian value of honesty.
We finished with a whole class Collective Worship where children were able to reflect on the afternoon’s learning and share some ideas with each other.
Help at home – Ask your child what they might do if they fell out with a friend. Who do the see as being their friends? What does a good friend look like? What do the always/sometimes/never do?
Leeds United Wildcats!
Our key stage 2 girls were visited by Leeds United this week to explore and develop routes into football for girls. The morning began with a presentation on current female role models, football backgrounds and some top tips on how to achieve the best you can in all sports.
The children then went outside to take part in some fantastic drills and games run by Leeds. Each and every pupil tried their best and we were super proud of everyone – they were fantastic role models for St James.
We had lots of fantastic talent on show, too! Our visitors left with beaming smiles on their faces, as all of our pupils showed a real interest and desire to take part. Every pupil also used their manners extremely well all morning.
Help at home: There will be some leaflets and information on how our children can continue to be involved with Leeds United. Encourage your children to take up a sport, as they really enjoyed today’s workshop. If you need help getting in touch with any local clubs or events, please let me (Mr Freeman) know and I’ll help!