Nursery/Pre-school- Computing - Creating My Own Music
This week, our nursery children have been combining their early phonics skills with music and technology, and they had an absolute blast! Using an interactive computer programme, the children explored how the letter sounds they are learning can be turned into musical notes and rhythmic patterns. Here is what our budding musicians got up to: Sound Explorers: We linked sounds to digital audio effects, experimenting with the different noises we could produce. Building a Beat: The children practised patterning by creating their own repeating rhythms and beats, tapping their toes along to the tempo. Loud and Quiet: There was plenty of laughter as we explored dynamics! The children loved discovering the difference between loud and gentle, quiet whispers. Spot the Instrument: They showed brilliant listening skills by identifying and naming the instruments they used.
Nursery/Pre-school- Continuous Provision- Exploring Our Indoor Environment
The children have had a wonderful week exploring our indoor environment, diving straight into all things Autumn with heaps of curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm! We have been exploring... Funky Fingers & Spiders: Our funky fingers area was taken over by creepy crawlies! The children used tweezers, pegs, and their finest pincer grips to rescue, count, and sort model spiders. This has been brilliant for building hand strength and fine motor control ready for early mark-making. Leaf Brooms & Storytime Magic: Linking directly to our story of the week, the children used the crunchy, colourful leaves we collected from the nursery garden to craft their very own brooms. There was fantastic fine-motor work as they bound, tied, and glued their natural treasures together ready for some storybook magic! Dressing Up & Imaginative Role Play: Our role-play corner was buzzing with excitement. Dressed up in a variety of brilliant outfits, the children let their imaginations run wild, inventing elaborate stories, taking on different characters, and collaborating beautifully with their friends. Master Builders in the Construction Zone: Over on the carpet, the building blocks were in high demand! The children have been developing their spatial awareness, balance, and problem-solving skills working together to build tall towers, sturdy enclosures, and intricate bridges. It has been a delight watching their independence, language, and creativity flourish across every corner of the room this week!
Nursery And Pre-School - Science - Pumpkin Potions
Our children have eagerly been diving into sensory science this week at the malleable tray! The table was packed with a mysterious seasonal mixture of pumpkins, gooey pulp, slime, and various surprise treasures hidden throughout the concoction. The children used their senses to explore all the different, contrasting textures, describing how things felt as they squeezed and squelched. They put their physical skills to work by scooping, pouring, and stirring the materials together to brew their very own magical potions, developing early scientific curiosity through open-ended sensory investigation!
Nursery And Pre-School - Geography - Habitats
Our Nursery and Preschool children have been exploring the fascinating world of habitats this week! We began by thinking about where we live as humans and expanded our ideas to discover where different animals—like birds, squirrels, and hedgehogs—make their homes. The children then set off outdoors on a habitat hunt around our environment. They put their keen observational skills to work, spotting real-life animal homes like birds' nests, spider webs, and crunchy leaf piles. Inspired by what they found, the children gathered natural resources like sticks, leaves, and bark to build their own minibeast and animal habitats, thinking carefully about which creature would feel safe and cozy living inside. It was a brilliant, hands-on way for our young learners to build early geographical awareness and care for the natural world!
Nursery And Pre-School - Geography - Creating Witches Brooms And Potions
Inspired by this week's story, 'Room on the Broom', our children headed outside on an autumn outdoor hunt to gather natural materials and build their very own broomsticks! While searching for the perfect sticks, the children put their observational skills to work by exploring the seasonal changes happening in their local environment. They noticed that the trees were shedding their leaves onto the ground and spotted a rich new palette of autumn colors, eagerly discovering leaves in shades of brown, orange, and yellow. It was a wonderful, hands-on way to connect storytime magic with early geographical understanding and the natural rhythms of nature!
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Nursery - Maths - Subitising 1 and 2
Our Nursery children have been sharpening their early subitising skills this week—learning to instantly recognise quantities of 1 and 2 without needing to count them one by one. To bring this mathematical concept to life, we brought out a magic cauldron! The children brewed up their own special spells using pumpkins, spiders, and pinecones. Once all the ingredients were mixed, everyone peered into the cauldron to spot, name, and talk about the small groups of 1 and 2 items floating inside. It was a brilliant, hands-on way to make early number confidence fun, engaging, and just a little bit magical!
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: [email protected] 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.
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!
Nursery and Pre-school - UTW- Visit to the Library
What a brilliant morning our Nursery children had today! We set off on foot through Darwen, heading to Darwen Library for a special storytime session. The children were absolute stars on the walk, chatting excitedly and pointing out everything they could see along the way. Once we arrived, everyone settled down nicely on the cosy carpet. The librarian gave us a lovely welcome and explained all about the magic of the library and how it works. Then came the main event—storytime! We read the classic 'Dear Zoo', and some of the children were even picked to act out different parts of the book. There was so much laughter as our little actors brought the story to life! A huge well done to all the children for their fantastic behaviour, and a big thank you to the team at Darwen Library for hosting such a memorable visit. We can't wait for our next trip!
Nursery - R.E - The Good Samaritan
Our Nursery children have been exploring our core values of kindness and helping others as we introduced the story of the Good Samaritan. To kick off this new topic, the children watched a lovely animation of 'The Good Samaritan' Bible story. Afterwards, we had a brilliant group discussion—spotting all the caring, helpful actions on screen and talking about what it means to be a kind friend!
Nursery And Pre-School - Art - Scissor Skills
Our children have been developing their creative and fine motor skills this week through a hands-on autumn art focus! The children practiced their scissor skills by carefully cutting out a variety of seasonal, autumn-themed pictures. They concentrated on holding and controlling their scissors correctly as they worked around different shapes and edges. Once their pictures were cut, the children put their visual discrimination skills to work by matching each autumnal object directly to its corresponding shadow outline on the page. This activity provided a fantastic opportunity for the children to combine physical precision with problem-solving, strengthening the hand muscle control and hand-eye coordination needed for creative expression and everyday independence.
Nursery And Pre-School - P.E - Ball Skills
This week, the children in Nursery and Preschool thoroughly enjoyed their energetic PE session with Liam from Sports Cool. The focus of the lesson was all about developing confidence with ball handling, hand-eye coordination, and spatial awareness through fun, active challenges. The children worked hard on practicing their fundamental ball skills, including throwing and catching. They focused on tracking the ball with their eyes and using two hands to secure it, building both their gross motor control and reaction times. Liam encouraged the children to adjust their stance and use soft, ready hands when receiving the ball from a partner or coach. To finish the session, the children put their accuracy to the test by practicing rolling a ball towards a specific target. This required a great deal of control, concentration, and patience, as they judged how much force to apply and aimed carefully to hit their mark. The children celebrated each other's successes with lots of cheering and enthusiasm, showing fantastic teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the entire lesson.
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