--- title: "News: English" url: "https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/tag/english" school: "Darwen St James’ C of E Primary Academy" --- # News: English ![Image of Year 2 English Gathering Ideas for Writing](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/e1100884-548b-4cbd-9767-b502bf3f11ce.jpeg) 12 Nov [2026-11-12-year-2-english-gathering-ideas-for-writing](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-12-year-2-english-gathering-ideas-for-writing) #### [Year 2 English Gathering Ideas for Writing](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-12-year-2-english-gathering-ideas-for-writing) Look at our busy Year 2 writers at Darwen St James! In our Ready Steady Write English lesson today, we stepped right into the illustrations of The Night Gardener to gather ideas for our writing! Using role play and our senses, we imagined what we could see, hear, smell, touch, and feel if we were standing right there on Grimloch Lane. Look how hard everyone worked to record their fantastic vocabulary—including: Similes (as tall as a tower, leaves rustling like whispers!) Question marks & exclamations (What is happening to the trees? How magical!) Adjectives & suffixes (-ly, -less, -ful) like mysterious, quietly, endless, and wonderful! We have filled our planning sheets with brilliant ideas and can’t wait to turn them into our very own setting narratives! What would you most like to see sculpted out of a tree? ![Image of Reception-English-Star In The Jar](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/5fdc017a-78c8-4dfc-8991-412b86daef95.jpg) 11 Nov [2026-11-11-reception-english-star-in-the-jar](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-11-reception-english-star-in-the-jar) #### [Reception-English-Star In The Jar](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-11-reception-english-star-in-the-jar) Reception have started an exciting new English story—Star in the Jar! The children loved discovering how a little boy finds the ultimate treasure: a bright, shining star! Inspired by the story, all the children got creative and crafted their own special star in a jar to take home and care for. ![Image of Nursery/ Preschool- Literacy- Letter Join Patterns](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/fedd19bb-0d3f-416e-b6f1-85e3b48dd66c.jpg) 11 Nov [2026-11-11-nursery-preschool-literacy-letter-join-patterns](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-11-nursery-preschool-literacy-letter-join-patterns) #### [Nursery/ Preschool- Literacy- Letter Join Patterns](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-11-nursery-preschool-literacy-letter-join-patterns) In Nursery we have been focusing on the children taking part in a fantastic Letter-join pattern activity to boost their fine motor control and early mark-making confidence. Many of the children chose to use their magic pointer finger or an interactive stylus to guide lines across the large screen. Working on an upright, large-scale surface encourages shoulder stability and gross-to-fine motor coordination. The children followed the patterns and when they had finished they could press play and see their marks being made again on the screen. ![Image of Year 3 - Trip To King George's Hall](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/e7947d8c-e2d1-400f-b978-6185f9318717.jpg) 11 Nov [2026-11-11-year-3-trip-to-king-george-s-hall](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-11-year-3-trip-to-king-george-s-hall) #### [Year 3 - Trip To King George's Hall](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-11-year-3-trip-to-king-george-s-hall) All aboard! Our Year 3 pupils had an unforgettable time hopping on the train for an exciting trip to King George's Hall to watch the magical production of Believe in Magic! From the thrilling train journey to the wonderful performance, the children had a fantastic day filled with wonder and smiles. ![Image of Year 6 - English - Predictions](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/Collage_2026-11-04_17_02_12.jpg) 4 Nov [2026-11-04-year-6-english-predictions](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-04-year-6-english-predictions) #### [Year 6 - English - Predictions](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-11-04-year-6-english-predictions) What can a piece of driftwood, a violin, and a starry night sky tell us about a journey across the sea? This week in English, Year 6 turned literary detectives to uncover the mysteries of our new class text, A Story Like the Wind by Gill Lewis. We explored a curious collection of clues—including a key on a string necklace, a cosy blanket, sheet music, and evocative illustrations—alongside a short, intriguing extract from the opening pages. Through lively discussions in pairs, small groups, and as a whole class, we pieced together what these symbolic objects might represent and what challenges the characters might face. We then channelled our ideas into thoughtful written predictions in our books, setting the stage for what promises to be a deeply moving story. ![Image of Year 5 Guided Reading ](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/4d2eff30-0124-4cae-b0fd-8235cf647ec5.jpg) 20 Oct [2026-10-20-year-5-guided-reading](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-20-year-5-guided-reading) #### [Year 5 Guided Reading ](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-20-year-5-guided-reading) Our Year 5 children have been performing a space themed poem in groups. The children learnt to effectively use their tone of voice, actions and their pitch to create an amazing performance. ![Image of Year 4 English - Newspaper Reporter Role Play](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/166b5d5a-7caa-488a-aef2-062d36f54679.jpg) 14 Oct [2026-10-14-year-4-english-newspaper-reporter-role-play](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-14-year-4-english-newspaper-reporter-role-play) #### [Year 4 English - Newspaper Reporter Role Play](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-14-year-4-english-newspaper-reporter-role-play) Year 4's current area of study is newspapers. We have been looking at the different features of newspapers and decided what better way to get in the mindset of a news writer, than to have a go at reporting ourselves? It was lots of fun - we have some Year 4's who seemed natural in their role! No doubt this experience was a great foundation for us to begin compiling our own reports. ![Image of Year 1 English Gathering Ideas for Writing](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/a0606a13-9685-4b48-ae48-781fa49651b5.jpeg) 12 Oct [2026-10-12-year-1-english-gathering-ideas-for-writing](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-12-year-1-english-gathering-ideas-for-writing) #### [Year 1 English Gathering Ideas for Writing](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-12-year-1-english-gathering-ideas-for-writing) Ready, Steady, Write! Our Year 1 children have been stepping into the shoes of their favourite characters during their English lesson this week. To help gather ideas for writing, the class got active and acted out different scenes as Little Bear, Bramwell Brown, Duck, and Rabbit from Old Bear. Taking on the roles of these iconic characters helped bring the story to life and got everyone’s creative ideas flowing before picking up their pencils. Fantastic imagination and enthusiasm on display from our Year 1 writers! #Year1 #English #ReadySteadyWrite #OldBear #PrimaryEducation #LearningThroughRolePlay #GatheringIdeas ![Image of Nursery/Pre-school- UTW-Computing ](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/a1a7cad9-86ba-4b18-b189-5e638727fae4.jpg) 6 Oct [2026-10-06-nursery-pre-school-utw-computing](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-06-nursery-pre-school-utw-computing) #### [Nursery/Pre-school- UTW-Computing ](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-06-nursery-pre-school-utw-computing) Our nursery room has been full of magic as the children continue to explore the wonderful story of Room on the Broom! Building on their love for the tale, our little ones stepped into the world of digital art using the Purple Mash program to design their very own dragons. It was brilliant to see their technology skills in action as they navigated the tools—carefully selecting different brush styles, swapping between bright colours, and making deliberate marks on the screen to bring their creatures to life. The highlight was listening to the children talk about their creations. As they drew, they eagerly explained their dragon’s special features, from " green scales" to "fire-coming out" and "big wings". It’s been a fantastic activity for boosting early ICT confidence, fine motor control, and creative storytelling! ![Image of Reception - English - Story Planning](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/cba4de9e-82bf-45a8-b694-f76cd07ef4ea.jpg) 6 Oct [2026-10-06-reception-english-story-planning](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-06-reception-english-story-planning) #### [Reception - English - Story Planning](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-06-reception-english-story-planning) Reception have stepped into the spotlight as master storytellers this week! Inspired by 'The Something', they’ve created brand-new story openings, changing the characters and orally retelling their adventures with lots of confidence. It has been so nice to hear them retelling their stories. We are excited to move onto the next part of our story next week. ![Image of Year 1 - Visit to Darwen Library](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/c1801944-616a-4599-a30b-49667f575d29.jpg) 1 Oct [2026-10-01-year-1-visit-to-darwen-library](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-01-year-1-visit-to-darwen-library) #### [Year 1 - Visit to Darwen Library](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-10-01-year-1-visit-to-darwen-library) Year one had a fantastic visit to Darwen Library this week. The children walked there and back without a fuss. They loved learning all about the library and exploring the different books and activities on offer. There was lots of fun and laughs, especially with the story Diddle, Diddle Dum! ![Image of Reception - English - Making Predictions](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/720x440c/news/e299c273-b2f0-49c6-b56c-caf8d5c1d99c.jpg) 30 Sep [2026-09-30-reception-english-making-predictions](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-09-30-reception-english-making-predictions) #### [Reception - English - Making Predictions](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/news/2026-09-30-reception-english-making-predictions) This week, Reception kicked off an exciting new English topic as we dove into the mysterious story 'The Something'. Putting on their detective hats, the children put their imaginations to work making clever predictions about what might be hiding deep down at the bottom of the dark hole—from magical creatures to hidden treasures! 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