Lunchtime and Breakfast Club staff required
We’re currently looking for lunchtime and breakfast club staff to supervise our children at our friendly school! Lunchtime hours are 12.00pm – 1.15pm Monday to Friday (6.25 hrs per week) and Breakfast Club hours are 7.30am – 8.45am. Please contact Mrs Quirk at stjamesfinance@spherefederation.org for further details.
We Won The Cup (again)!
We might be the smallest class, but we sure know how to make good choices around school.
Year 3 were ecstatic to win the trophy for getting the most shells this week! This is the second time we have won this.
You made me so proud Year 3! Keep it up.
Rahhh!
We have been getting our stomp on in nursery this week!
The children have been exploring out dinosaur provision. Our focus story for the next two weeks is called ‘Dinosaur Roar’ by Paul and Henrietta Stickland. Here is what we have been betting up to!
The children created their own fossils out of clay. We also compared what our feet looked like to a dinosaur using paint. The children used their listening skills to interpret and make their own dinosaur sounds, we stomped around the classroom to the music.
It’s like a dinosaur been in it but then a person has taken the dinosaur out and it’s a pattern – Gracie
Paint toes, make dinosaur feet- Frankie
Dinosaur squeak, dinosaur fast, dinosaur tiny, dinosaur strong- Austin
Have a happy and healthy weekend!
Miss Ward
It’s freezing!
This week the children explored our outdoor provision to see if they could find some ice. We talked about why and how things freeze and what would happen if the temperature would increase.
The soil is hard because it’s got water in – Austin
It’s frozen in the same shape, you can see the lines from the tyre- Gracie
Look Miss Ward, the car is stuck in the ice!- Deacon
The sun has melted the grass- Beau
We also explored Lunar New Year this week. Lunar New Year is the beginning of the lunar calendar, the months are based on moon cycles. This event is a celebration observed by many cultures around the world.
The children cooked up a storm in the kitchen, experienced using chopsticks, made rabbit sun catchers and enjoyed a traditional new year meal in school. 2023 is the year of the rabbit.
Red is a lucky colour- C
They clean their house to get rid of bad things- Sophie
A horse , a dragon and a rabbit- Frankie
I like noodles- Ella
Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Ward
St James’ goes to Magna!
Last week, we took our geography learning to Magna in Sheffield. It was a great way to kick start our Natural Disasters topic and got us all excited to find out more about the world around us.
We started by creating our very own erupting volcanos. Check out how we got on…
In the afternoon, we explored the different pavilions, water, ice and fire. We watched The Big Melt which showed us how steel is melted. Sparks were flying everywhere!
It was amazing! 
What’s that sound? Does sound get louder or quieter the further away it is?
Year 3 investigated sound this week to see whether they could hear the same sound equally well the further away they moved from its source.
Mrs Neal blew her whistle and we moved further away from her down the path!
Reading groups are underway!
Year 5/6 are well and truly in the swing of our new reading groups!
Each group had the choice to choose a book to read over the half-term. In their reading groups, pupils had to work together by choosing a few books and discussing them in detail. Reading blurbs, discussing authors and choosing which road to go down (fiction vs non-fiction) really helped the pupils come to their final decisions.
Here are our four group books for this half-term:
Wishful Thinking by Ali Sparkes
Room 13 by Robert Swindell
Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood
Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow
Every Friday, during our Book Club session, pupils are expected to have read to their target page through the course of the week. These target pages are agreed within each reading group, facilitated by the teacher. Pupils are also expected to bring in their reading records, that need to be signed by an adult, each week. There may also be a reading task for your child to do – this will be written in their reading record each week.
Here are lots of happy faces with their new reading books!
What’s that Sound? Science in Year 3
Year 3 have been physicists this half term. We have been exploring sound and this week we thought about vibration and how sound is produced.
We made music with our bodies and felt our voice boxes vibrate as we hummed and spoke.
In groups we experimented with vibration on drums. We could see the rice moving on top of the drum as we banged loudly, quietly, hard and softly.
History Topic – The Great Fire of London
This week, we have been learning about Samuel Pepys. We thought about why he was so important to the people of London during the fire. The children were all very enthusiastic and could explain their thoughts.
“He went to the king and asked him for help. The king ordered the houses to be pulled down. This helped save some of London.”
We also talked about why Samuel Pepys is important to people wanting to learn about The Great Fire of London.
“His diary helps us to know what happened!”
“His diary gave us lots of information about The Great Fire of London.”
“Told us what people had to do to get away from the fire.”
After, Year 1 and 2 worked together to read some different scenarios and they had to decide what they would do in each situation.
“I would get all my gold and dig a hole and bury it, then I would leave.”
“I would wake up my family up really quickly and go out of our house, hide our things and go to a new, safe place.”
“I would see if anyone needed my help to try and stop the fire.”
Challenge: Why not read a scenario to your child and see if they can tell you what they would do and why.
PE
We’ve been working on our ball skills in our PE sessions. We have been throwing and catching and bouncing and catching. The children have all wowed us with their ball skills.
