In Literacy this half term, we have been learning about fables, concentrating on the ‘The Lion and the Mouse’. In today’s lesson, we role played the lion and the mouse in pairs. The children studied a small section of text and performed a ‘reader’s theatre’ where they thought carefully about the expression in their voices when reading aloud. 

We visited nursery to see the newly hatched chicks. Lots of us were brave enough to hold them, making sure that we were very gentle. What a treat! 

Year 3/4 visited Beamish Museum today as part of their 1950's development. We began the day by riding a tram to the 1900's town and exploring the shops, dentist and stables. The children were really interested to hear about families would share one toothbrush and the dentist would pull out teeth without any pain relief - ouch! Following this, we were lucky enough to participate in a 'Police House' workshop. Here, the children took on the role of police constable on the 'beat'. Together we investigated several reports and even caught a thief in the act, how exciting!

After lunch, the children had an opportunity to explore the school in the pit village, the children noticed that it was very different to St Augustine's. We had such an excellent day that the children thoroughly enjoyed their day. A huge thank you to our parent helpers too!

Today, we dressed in our comfiest pyjamas to celebrate World Book Day 2023. This years theme was all about sharing books at bedtime. We invited our grown ups into school to share a special story and enjoyed a biscuit with some juice.

Today year 3/4 visited the Great North Museum as part of our Egyptian History Topic. The day consisted of getting a gallery explorer kit, attending a workshop all about the 'Land of the Pharaohs' and a story bag which was filled with different activities.

We started our day by exploring the museum and all the interesting things it has to offer. We had a special 'explorer kit' which allowed us to look at a tapestry from the Great Book of Death alongside a map of Egypt and costumes for a priest. How much fun it was dressing up in leopard skin! Following this, we read a story called 'Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphynx' and playing 'object eye spy' whereby we had to search high and low to find hidden artefacts around the Egyptian gallery. 

After lunch, we attended the workshop 'Land of the Pharaohs' whereby we explored many replica and real artefacts from Ancient Egypt to try and work out what job they would have been for such as a Hoe for a farmer and a sarcophagus for an embalmer. The museum staff were so impressed with all of our Egyptian knowledge.

Overall it was a brilliant day. A huge thanks to our parent helpers too. 

To celebrate Children's Mental Health Week 2023, children in school participated in a 'Dress to Express' day to celebrate our individuality. Year 3/4 decided to have a catwalk fashion show to celebrate.

We have been investigating reflection as part of our 'What is Light?' Science topic. The children were given a torch and a range of reflective and non-reflective materials to experiment with. We discussed how some materials bounce the light rays meaning they are reflective and others absorb the light. 

Today Year 3/4 participated in a virtual STEM workshop by Big Ideas. The workshop was called 'Aspire to Engineer: Cars, what next?' and included a special guest, engineer Jamie Shotton. Jamie spoke about what his job as an engineer entails and how he reached this position, inspiring many of us!

Becoming engineers themselves, the children were tasked with designing their own car. They had to think very carefully about what they did and didn't want their cars to do. Following this, they had to brainstorm ideas of how they could do this and what materials they would need. Take a look at some of our examples below.

Today the children in Year 3/4 had a special mindfulness session with Flo. Together we discussed the importance of confidence and shared what we felt confident with within ourselves. Following this, we completed some breathing exercises and exercises to calm our minds. We all had a fantastic time and persevered with things that we found tricky.

On Thursday, the children in Year 3/4 completed an Advent themed survival afternoon. We started the session by discussing what Advent is and why it is important. Kev and Heather were very impressed with our knowledge! Following this, we completed a series of races, collecting pictures to create a nativity scene. The children worked together as part of a team, discussing the correct position for each picture. Then, we completed a prayer walk to explore the real meaning of Advent. Finally, we toasted marshmallows over an open fire and enjoyed some delicious s'mores. What a fantastic afternoon!

This week in school, we are exploring the faith Judaism in our RE lessons. Today, the children in years 3 and 4 were visited by Dianna Van Der Velde who brought in special items from the synagogue. She explained what various items of clothing were such as the kippah, tallit and the tefillen. Some of us even had an opportunity to try some of these on. Dianna was very impressed with our knowledge of the synagogue and the torah scroll. The children listened and handled the objects respectfully and asked questions in order to deepen their learning.

Today we wore our best Pudsey wear, football kits and non-uniform to celebrate Children in Need 2022. I'm sure you'd agree that we all look amazing!