In Mindfulness Club this week we practised the skill of mindful eating. We made sure we had no distractions, we looked and smelt what we were eating before taking a small bite and tasting the food. Sometimes we eat without thinking but by slowing down and taking notice of what we are eating we can really taste and enjoy our meals. 

Meet the wonderful Snowy Owls! The children took a lot of time and effort in creating these effective portraits. They looked carefully at their faces and drew the other side. 

The Snowy Owls are proud to share their final 'Here We Are' artwork. This work is connected to our learning in English based on the text written by Oliver Jeffers.

Today we started to explore our new school text - Here We Are written by Oliver Jeffers. We discussed space and created our own space pictures. The Snowy Owls particularly enjoyed flicking the white paint across their page and adding the final touches to their artwork. We are looking forward to displaying them in our classroom and reading more of the text next week. 

The children worked in teams to generate a list of class rules. We shared these rules and discussed which we felt were most important for our class and our learning. Each new line started with 'I will...' Once everyone was happy with the list we signed it to show that we agree and will do our best to follow the class rules. 

Well done to everyone who completed their home learning project. It was great to see home learning connected to light and rivers. 

Take a look at our well loved reading display! In the Snowy Owls we have read, enjoyed and explored all of these texts this year as well as the Iron Man which we will be finishing this week. 

As part of their learning on rivers the Snowy Owls built towns using Lego. They worked as a team to create their towns and then explored the effects of flooding. 

The Snowy Owls had another great visit to Springfields. The children read their books and chatted to the residents - a great occassion for all. 

It was a pleasure to take the our year 3 and 4 children on a trip to the beach and overnight camping stay. The children were a credit to our school and their families. They all fully participated in all of the activities offered to them and flourished at the opportunity to experience new things. The children were able to surf, bodyboard, litter pick, build sandcastles and listen to a talk from the RNLI. The children were in mixed groups with children from 9 schools within the Dartmoor Multi-Academy Trust. This provided a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. After a busy day at the beach, the children travelled back to Bradford Primary School where they set up camp. The children all slept well and were up bright and early ready for a delicious breakfast followed by a day full of activities and fun. Thank you to all of the children for making it such a fantastic experience and to parents for supporting their children in having the equipment and resources they needed. 

Rev. Brooks led an assembly all about emotions. We explored the emotions we experience and how this may feel. He used a balloon to symbolise how emotions can build and may lead to anger. He explained that we need to be in control of our anger and not let anger control us and our actions. We discussed strategies we can use to reduce our anger such a deep breathing and finding a quiet space. We never want our anger to get to the point where we feel we are going to pop - like the balloon which Rev. Brooks blew up! 

The Snowy Owls investigated which materials reflected the most light. They discovered that dark materials absorb light so do not reflect well. They used this knowledge to help them design a book bag to keep children safe on their walk to school. 

The Snowy Owls proudly showed off their homework. It was wonderful to see that they had worked hard on their home learning and enjoyed finding out more about our topics with the help of family members. 

The Snowy Owls have been learning about money. Using money in real life situations is key in securing understanding and developing confidence - please support your child to explore with real coins at home (the school coins are plastic replicas and not the quite the same as the real thing!). 

The Snowy Owls set up an experiment to investigate how water travels through a plant. They dyed water using food colouring and then put celery in the water. The coloured water will travel up the plant in a part called the xylem. The process of soaking up water through a plant is called transpiration. We learnt that if a plant doesn't get enough water it will wilt - like most of the plants in our classroom!!

Key Stage 2 attended a virtual assembly led by Jade Simmons from the Youth Mental Health Foundation. A charity that promotes positive choices for mental health. Jade is 19 so was able to really relate to the children and share her experiences of growing up. Jade has ADHD and she explained how our differences are what make us special. Jade discussed setting positive goals and targets. She also talked about how visualising ourselves doing something that makes us happy can help in times of difficulty. 

The Snowy Owls have been continuing to learn the recorder with Mrs Dixon. They are getting really good at playing London's Burning. 

This week we were visited by Rev. Brooks. Rev. Brooks did an experiment which showed that even though we can not see air we know it is there and can feel its effects. This the what Christians believe about the Holy Spirit. 

​To mark the start of Mental Health Awareness Week on Monday, Key Stage 2 children took part in a virtual assembly delivered by the charity 52Lives. Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 will run until Sunday 19thMay, the theme this year is “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”. Across all classrooms, movement is always important with children encouraged to take part in daily sensory movement breaks. These breaks contribute to alertness and concentration.  Having the opportunity to move and be active whilst recognising the important impact this has on the way we feel is an important skill for life.  

The Snowy Owls took advantage of the beautiful weather and completed a mindfulness activity outside. Everyone felt calm and relaxed after the session - a great way to end the week. 

The Snowy Owls continue to work on their artwork inspired by William Morris. This week they focused on their final tile design and used tracing paper to make copies. The tracing paper proved to be a very exciting resource! 

​During Science, the Snowy Owls investigated the parts of a flower. We learnt what the different parts are called and what they do. We then dissected a flower and identified the different parts.