Year 1 - P.E. - Striking
This half term the Year 1 P.E. lessons focus on developing essential striking skills in a fun and engaging way. Children will learn the basics of hitting a ball with control and accuracy, building a strong foundation for future sports. Lots of active games and teamwork guaranteed!
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Online Safety - Youtube Kids
YouTube Kids promises a safe, child-centric experience with colourful visuals, age-filtered content, and robust parental controls. Designed to appeal to younger viewers, the app has grown rapidly, being used by tens of millions of children worldwide. But is it as safe as it seems? Despite YouTube Kids’ safeguards, reports have highlighted worrying issues, such as inappropriate content slipping through filters, subtle advertising, and the use of manipulative design to keep children engaged. Our guide explores how to navigate these pitfalls, offering practical advice for making sure children get the most from the platform – without the risks.
Year 1 R.E - Creation
Imagine how God felt as He created the world! This lesson for Year 1 children explores the amazing story of creation through God's emotions. We'll discover the joy, wonder, and love God experienced as He brought light, land, animals, and people into existence.
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.
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
Year 1 - English - Analysing Vocabulary Used In Poetry
This week, our Year 1 poets became word detectives! We've been diving into some fantastic poems, not just to enjoy them, but to hunt for amazing vocabulary. The children loved discovering new words and talking about what they mean. We explored how different words make us feel and how they paint pictures in our minds. It was so exciting to see their eyes light up as they unlocked the secrets hidden within the lines of poetry!
Year 1 - Science - The Science Show
Year 1 discovered the science of everyday objects! Our lively show for 5-7 year olds explored the strength of materials and the magic of blowing bubbles. We experienced exciting demonstrations and plenty of audience participation in this wonderful KS1 event.
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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.
Year 1 - Story Time - Year 5 Sharing Their Books
What a fantastic learning experience! Our Year 5 students recently shared their incredible D.T. moving mechanism books with an eager audience of Year 1 pupils. It was wonderful to see the older children proudly demonstrate their designs and explain how their mechanisms worked, while the younger children were captivated and full of brilliant questions. A truly inspiring example of collaboration and creativity across the year groups!
Year 1 - Art And Design - Collages Inspired By Eric Carle
Our Year 1 artists dived into the colourful world of Eric Carle with an exciting collage art lesson. Inspired by his vibrant illustrations, children explored textures and shapes to create their very own masterpieces. It was a squishy, sticky, and super fun adventure!
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.
Year 1 - English - Non Fiction Books
Our amazing Year 1 explorers have been on a thrilling adventure, uncovering the secrets hidden within non-fiction books! We've had so much fun becoming super-sleuths, searching for fascinating features like bold headings that tell us what we'll learn, captivating photographs that bring the world to life, and helpful captions that give us extra clues. It's been brilliant seeing their curiosity bloom as they discover new facts and information. What incredible things will they learn next?
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