Nursery - R.E - Exploring Our Community
This week, Nursery class took part in a heartwarming RE lesson, all about community! We started by looking at a special picture of our whole class together. It was so lovely to see all our happy faces! We learned a new, important word: 'community'. We talked about how our class is a community, a special group of people who are together and care for each other. The children then had a chance to choose a friend from our class picture. It was delightful to see so many cuddles and high-fives being shared! We chatted about how we can help our friends feel happy, whether it’s sharing a toy or giving a kind smile. We also introduced the beautiful idea that people caring for each other is just like Jesus taught us. It was a gentle and meaningful way to explore how love and kindness bring us all closer, right here in our own school community. The children really engaged with the lesson, showing great recognition of their friends and demonstrating their understanding of being part of our special community. What a joy to see such love and connection in our classroom!
Forest School Training
Forest School learning is an inspirational and specialised approach to outdoor education that focuses on developing confidence, self-esteem, and holistic growth in learners through hands-on experiences in natural environments. This week our teachers have been on a Forest School adventure. Learning all the different skills to become Forest School leaders. Bringing back to school the philosophical understanding, practical skills, and confidence to unlock the vast educational potential of the outdoors, ultimately creating richer, more engaging, and more beneficial learning experiences for our pupils.
Nursery - Literacy - Fine Motor Skills
This week, our two-year-olds put their fine motor skills to the test with a fun lion-themed challenge! The children were tasked with creating a magnificent lion's mane using clothes pegs. This was a fantastic way to strengthen those little hand muscles! Some of our children focused on the crucial first step, diligently practising just squeezing the pegs open and closed. This action is vital for developing hand strength and coordination. Others, ready for the next challenge, skillfully navigated the pegs onto the lion's face, carefully attaching them to form a spiky, mane. It was wonderful to see each child working at their own pace, developing essential skills that will help them with everything from holding a pencil to buttoning their coats. Our little learners showed great determination and focus.
School Games Gold Award Winners!
We’re proud to announce that Darwen St James has been awarded the GOLD School Games Mark! This brilliant achievement is a reflection of the perseverance, courage, and hope shown by our pupils—and the dedication of our PE and Extra-Curricular Sports Team, who work tirelessly to promote sport and physical activity across our school. This year we have participated in netball, football, cross country and cricket to name a few! The School Games Mark is a national award that celebrates a school’s commitment to PE, school sport, and competition, both within and beyond the school gates. It also supports schools in reviewing and strengthening their provision. A huge thank you and well done to Mrs Cookson and all the staff for making sport such an exciting and important part of life at Darwen St James. We’re incredibly proud of our pupils for stepping up to every challenge with determination and team spirit. Keep going, keep growing! ???? #TeamDSJ #DSJFamily
Nursery - Phonics - Identifying Animal Sounds
Today, the nursery class actively engaged in a Phase 1 Phonics activity, focusing on listening and identifying wild animal sounds. The children displayed excellent listening skills, showing focused attention as different animal noises were played. They enthusiastically participated, attempting to identify each sound and often trying to imitate them. It was noted that some of the sounds were familiar, like the lion, while others, such as the elephant or monkey, introduced them to new animals, directly linking with our current story, Dear Zoo. This activity was excellent for developing their auditory discrimination, a key pre-reading skill, and also supported their language development and cognitive abilities through sound-matching and recall. The children's high level of engagement showed it was a fun and effective learning experience.
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Nursery - Literacy - Creating Cards
Nursery class have been busy making Father's Day cards, an activity rich in developmental benefits. They eagerly engaged in peeling star stickers, a task that was tricky but greatly boosted their fine motor skills and concentration. Many showed great persistence in detaching and placing each sticker. Transitioning to the inside of the cards, the children explored mark-making with crayons. This not only supported their pre-writing skills and hand-eye coordination but also offered a powerful outlet for self-expression. The session was marked by high levels of engagement and creativity, as the children enjoyed the tactile experience of creating something special for their dads and guardians at home.
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Nursery - Listening And Attention - What Is My Animal?
During our listening and attention activity the children showed great curiosity towards our mystery animal in the box.The children were given 3 possible animals and were tasked with listening to clues relating to the mystery animal to find the correct match. Each child listened very carefully to to various clues such as ‘my animal can fly’ or ‘my animal likes to jump’, and used those clues to match the characteristics to a specific animal, either by pointing, reaching, or vocalizing the animal's name or sound. While individual children showed varying speeds of processing, the group as a whole successfully narrowed down the choices, often arriving at the correct animal after one or two clues. This activity effectively engaged the group in a shared listening experience, prompting active participation in a problem-solving task.
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Online Safety - Violent Content Online
Around 70% of teenagers say they’ve seen real-life violence on social media in the past year. Violent content online isn’t just something young people are occasionally stumbling across – in many cases, it’s becoming a routine part of their digital world. From fights and stabbings to toxic ideologies , disturbing videos are often just a click away on social media or group chats. This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide highlights the unseen risks this poses to children’s mental health , sense of safety, and social behaviours. With insights from a leading expert , it offers practical ways for parents and educators to respond with empathy and support – not punishment or panic.
Nursery - Maths - Colour Recognition
The children showed immediate engagement with the light table, drawn by the vibrant colours of the splats and blocks. The task of identifying and matching colours was readily embraced by the group, successfully placing coloured blocks onto their corresponding splats demonstrating strong colour recognition and matching skills.As they built their towers, children began counting the blocks. Some using scattered number language, with many children accurately counting their blocks up to at least three, and some extending beyond that. Towards the end of the activity, the concept of comparing height emerged naturally. Children pointed to and discussed the "tallest" and "smallest" towers they had built or observed. The activity successfully provided a multi-faceted opportunity for mathematical exploration through hands-on, sensory play.
Nursery - Art - Frogs
Our craft activity today was to create a 3D bouncing frog! The children painted cups green, developing fine motor skills with paintbrushes. They then placed the eyes and legs onto the green base with varied approaches, with different eye and leg placements to create very different characters for their frogs, demonstrating individual creative expression. The children laughed and loved playing with their finished frogs, bouncing them up and down on the lilypads.
Online Safety -Minecraft
With its limitless opportunities for building, exploring and collaborating, Minecraft remains a global gaming phenomenon. Its broad appeal lies in how open-ended it is – but this also means it’s not without risk. From chatting with strangers on public servers to the grief of having a beloved creation destroyed, young players can face challenges if left unsupervised. Minecraft can also become a time sink for enthusiastic players, with late nights spent crafting and constructing, potentially impacting school and social lives. We’ve created this free guide to help parents and educators understand how to keep young gamers safe – from choosing age-appropriate game modes to setting boundaries around screen time and spending.
Reminder: Please Send Water, Not Juice
Dear Parents and Carers, A gentle reminder to please send your child in with a bottle of water each day. While juice can seem like a convenient choice, plain water is the healthiest option and is recommended by both NHS and EYFS nutrition guidance. If your child isn’t used to drinking water, here are a few helpful tips: • Gradually water down juice, reducing the amount each day until it’s just water. • Use a fun or colourful bottle to make drinking water more exciting. • Add a slice of fruit (like lemon, orange, or cucumber) for a natural flavour boost. • Be a role model – children are more likely to drink water if they see you doing it too. Thank you for your support in helping us create a healthy and happy environment for all children.
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