As part of our whole school focus on No Outsiders, we are running a No Outsiders homework competition. Your challenge is to create a speech, story, poem or any other piece of writing to show what No Outsiders means to you. The winners from each class will be chosen to read their work in Achievement Assembly, will receive a No Outsiders certificate and will have their work published on the school blog. Your entry must be submitted by Thursday 23rd March. The deadline for entries is Friday 24th March. Good luck Year 3!

Today Holly Class visited Stevenage Museum to learn all about Stevenage becoming the first 'New Town' after World War 2. As it was Science week we also got to take a look at some fossils kept at the museum. It was really difficult trying to work out what they were as most were fossils from under the sea. 

A curator at the museum told us about London becoming unsafe after the war so the government needed to turn Stevenage into a new town to house all of the families. Stevenage was chosen because it was easy to get to London using the road or train. They also told us about all the planning that went into creating the town and the clever ideas to make it great. We found it really interesting to compare photos of Stevenage in the 60s to now!

After, we got to explore the museum and learn much more about how Stevenage went from a small town of 6000 people to a new town built for 60,000 new residents. Did you know that you had to apply to live in Stevenage and most of the people chosen were young families with babies, so the town was nicknamed 'Buggy Town'. 

Today we have really enjoyed letting our inner scientists escape! 

We started with a virtual problem where we had to help a farmer find the most absorbant soil...turns out chalk soil is the best for plant growth.

We then used maginifying glasses, tweezers and sieves to investigate different types of soil.

In the afternoon, we showcased the experiments we found at home. We saw home made lotus flowers, lava lamps, explosions and bubbles to name a few.

A BIG thankyou for the time and effort spent on experiments and costumes to make today a success!

In our Jigsaw lessons, we have been thinking about what it means to have a ‘balanced lifestyle’. We know that some foods are healthier than others and it’s important to eat everything in moderation. We also discussed how food is our fuel and on days we are moving lots we need to provide our body with lots of energy.

Today, we explored examples of food packaging and learnt how to read the labels to determine whether a food was a health choice or something we should eat in moderation. We decided that as we wanted to include the flavoured yoghurt into our meal, which had a lot of sugar, we would choose to drink water instead of a fizzy drink so we didn’t have too much sugar.

It was really interesting looking at the label as we didn’t always guess which food was the healthier choice. For example, did you know a blueberry muffin can have 20g of sugar in and we should be aiming for 24g as 7 and 8 year olds!

We practised some art related to mindfulness and meditation which helped us to relax or calm after a busy lunch time!

We tried lots of different types of movement: cross fit, Hiit, dance and Mrs Toll’s favourite – Yoga! We read the monkey puzzle and incorporated moves inspired by the different animals in our yoga sequence. Mrs Toll also shared some of her moves and the yoga she does with her own children.

Finally, we ended by sharing our own passions and learnt we are an active bunch as lots of us are passionate about different sports. We also found that many of us enjoyed drawing and writing our own stories.

What different passiosn are there amongst the members of your family? 

Our Giant African Land Snail pet, Shelley has lived with Mrs Johnson for three years (and Mrs Kirby before that!) Whilst we have had her we enjoyed caring for her by spraying her tank, keeping her hydrated with brushes of water and feeding her her favourite fruit and vegetables.

Sadly, she passed away on Monday 20th February. This was most upsetting as we were going to learn more about her during Passion Week. We turned the week into a time to celebrate Shelley.

Luckily, Mrs Johnson’s sister also has a Giant African Land Snail, Sydney. She spent the week with us. We helped to care for her, just like we did with Shelley.

We enjoyed collaborative, geometric snail colourings with our parents and carers during shared reading.

We played a quiz, completed a snail comprehension and used these facts to unscramble words and complete a cross word.

We chose our favourite three facts and recorded them in stars. We used these facts to write an acrostic poem.

Some of us even braved holding Syd, she was soooo slimey and left a trail on our hands!

We ended our week mindfully remembering Shelley. May she rest in peace.