Image of Year 4 Communion
3 Nov

Year 4 Communion

Year 4 made us proud during the Communion service at Church. They listened to Rev Kev beautifully during our time there. We had four pupils who read part of a Bible reading each and some individuals chose to read out a prayer they had created. They were delivered with such confidence and clarity; Rev Kev was very impressed! Continuing in the community spirit, Year 4 enjoyed eating their lunch at Church before returning back to school.

Image of Year 4 D.T. - Evaluating biscuits and their packaging
3 Nov

Year 4 D.T. - Evaluating biscuits and their packaging

Year 4 are enjoying their first D.T. topic of the year, and it's all about biscuits! Before we lead up to designing and creating our own biscuits near the end of the unit, we had to evaluate existing biscuits and their packaging, trying to determine what target audience each product was aimed at, including what the different types of packaging were made from. Year 4 would more than confirm, that the best part of the lesson was definitely eating the biscuits! It is safe to say that the lesson was a hit!

Image of Year 4 English - Newspaper Reporter Role Play
14 Oct

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 4 P.S.H.E. - Different Feelings
14 Oct

Year 4 P.S.H.E. - Different Feelings

In P.S.H.E., Year 4 have been looking at how different feelings may affect us. As a class, we had some great discussions about how we feel can affect other areas, such as our happiness, how we interact with others, how we sleep and how we show our feelings through our body language to name a few! As you can see, Year 4 were pretty good at demonstrating how certain feelings could be represented without using words!

Image of Year 4 Harvest
7 Oct

Year 4 Harvest

Year 4 enjoyed going to Church on Wednesday to give thanks for Harvest. We had practised a poem about 'Gratitude' and giving thanks for not only the harvest at this time of year, but also the food we are lucky to have in our homes and at school. Year 4 really enjoyed watching the contributions from the other classes too!

Image of Year 4 Maths - Addition
7 Oct

Year 4 Maths - Addition

Year 4 have been adding 4-digit numbers in place value frames. We have used counters to help us correctly add these large numbers and see how numbers sometimes exchange into another column. It was tricky at first, but Year 4 are getting the hang of it now and are making great progress in this area!

Image of Governor Vacancies
6 Oct

Governor Vacancies

Could you help shape the future of Darwen St James?  Darwen St James Church of England Primary Academy is looking for enthusiastic, dedicated individuals to join the team as Parent Governors and Foundation Governors.  You do not need to be an education expert or have special qualifications. Your everyday experience, community insight, and care for the children are what matter most.  What does a Governor do? Set direction: Help shape priorities and support the academy vision.  Support and challenge: Ask constructive questions and act as a critical friend.  Keep children at the heart: Oversee safeguarding, education, wellbeing, and resources.  Bring a wider perspective: Use your skills, experience, and community insight to help the school thrive.  Which role suits you? Parent Governor: Open to current parents and carers, giving families a direct voice in the school.  Foundation Governor: Focuses on supporting and championing the school's Christian vision and ethos.  Is it for you? If you care about the success and wellbeing of children, can listen and work as part of a team, and can commit a little time to attend meetings, complete training, and visit the school, we would love to hear from you.  How to get involved Interested? Start with an informal conversation to learn more without any obligation.  Telephone: 01254 703260  Email: dsjoffice@cidari.co.uk  Address: St James Crescent, Darwen, Lancashire, BB3 0EY  You can also scan the QR code on the poster for further governance information. Get in touch today to help make a positive difference.

Image of Year 4 English - Role play to aid understanding
28 Sep

Year 4 English - Role play to aid understanding

Year 4 have been using their vehicle text, 'The Whale' by Vita and Ethan Murrow in their English lessons and have explored lots of aspects that the book has delved into. What better way to identify with our characters, than to be them and put ourselves in their shoes? It was quite fun acting (as well as watching!) and we should hopefully be able to put our emotions and experiences into our upcoming writing tasks.

Image of Year 4 Computing - Enhancing Animations
21 Sep

Year 4 Computing - Enhancing Animations

Year 4 have been learning about and creating animations in their computing lessons. This week, Year 4's challenge was to enhance and edit their frames with backgrounds and sounds to create a sequence of smooth animation. The enhanced animated creations were amazing! We enjoyed watching what different animations had been created and can't wait for our next computing lesson!

Image of Year 4 Science - Bird hunt and classification
21 Sep

Year 4 Science - Bird hunt and classification

Following on from our leaf hunt last week, Year 4 continued their hunting skills, but this time looking for birds! We enjoyed searching the school grounds for the different types of birds, ticking them off our sheet once found. When we came back to class, we researched the birds we had found and came up with questions that could be used to help classify them.

Image of Year 4 P.S.H.E. - Human Machines
14 Sep

Year 4 P.S.H.E. - Human Machines

Year 4's P.S.H.E. topic is all about working together. This week's lesson challenged Year 4 to work as a 'Human Machine', in an effort to show collective working to complete a simple task. It was slightly trickier than expected, as some tasks were rather abstract and needed all in the group to take part and have some part in the machine process. The outcomes were pretty impressive! Year 4 demonstrated great ability to work together and become a real-life human machine!

Image of Year 4 Science - Leaf Hunt and Classification Keys
14 Sep

Year 4 Science - Leaf Hunt and Classification Keys

Year 4 have been looking at, 'Living things and their Habitats' in our Science lessons. We have learnt how to group things by using classification keys and selecting relevant questions to help do this. In our Science lesson this week, we put our knowledge to the test by collecting leaves from the school grounds on a leaf hunt, and then worked in table groups to help classify the different leaves we had found.