Year 3: Gallery
Y3 & Y4 - Christmas Nativity - I'm Gonna Shine
Date: 19th Dec 2024 @ 12:30pm
Y3 - DT - Gingerbread stained glass biscuits and packaging
Date: 18th Dec 2024 @ 8:38am
This half term's DT project involved us evaluating some stained glass window biscuits. We thought about which designs looked best and then designed our own, choosing the outside shape, inside shape and the colour of sweet in the middle.
Then we had an afternoon of rolling, cutting and baking.
At the same time, we designed and constructed a package for our biscuit, something that would keep it safe and also make it more appealing to give to someone, we thought about eye catching colours and messages.
Then we packaged up our biscuits ready to take home and gift them!
"I have never rolled dough before, it was a lot harder and I had to keep squishing it and then rolling again to make it soft" - Skylar
"Our biscuits didn't all fit in our boxes because they had got bigger in the oven!" - Emily
Extra Curricular - Mini Vinnies Visit to Madeline McKenna Care Home
Date: 17th Dec 2024 @ 8:20am
The children sang carols and gave out the cards and ornaments they had made for the residents there.
Everyone had a lovely time and the children were given a selection box from the residents and staff.
The Mini Vinnies want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Whole School - Christmas Pantomime - The Emperor's New Clothes
Date: 13th Dec 2024 @ 9:28am
We all had an amazing morning laughing and joining in with our annual pantomine from Altru Drama
Whole School - Baptism Friday 22nd November 2024
Date: 1st Dec 2024 @ 12:46pm
The families of Tommy, Billy, Teddy, Ezra and Zach joined the whole school as we came together for an amazing celebration in the school hall.
Father Mark Moran welcomed brothers Tommy, Billy and Teddy with a special Catholic blessing.
Ezra and Zach were then baptised as we all watched on, what an amazing experience to be part of!
Congratulations to all of the boys and their families - we hope you enjoyed your special celebration, including the cake afterwards!
Thank you for sharing such a proud and important day with your St Basil's family.
Whole School - Anti-Bullying Drama Performance
Date: 15th Nov 2024 @ 3:50pm
Altru Drama came into school to perform a play on the theme of bullying.
In the play, Lucy was being bullied by Izzy because she was different. Izzy eventually realised that what she was doing was wrong and she changed the way she was behaving towards Lucy.
The performance showed us that it is ok to be different and that everyone should be treated with respect.
Date: 14th Nov 2024 @ 2:34pm
Year 3 delivered a collective worship about our Year of Prayer to LKS2 and talked about the importance of taking time out of our days to pray.
Y3 & Y4 Visit to Manchester Synagogue and Jewish Museum
Date: 14th Nov 2024 @ 2:23pm
Year 3 and 4 had an excellent trip to Manchester Synagogue where they were able to explore the Synagogue and museum, look and hold Jewish artefacts and even make their own Challah bread. We had an excellent time and enjoyed developing our learning about Judaism.
Pupil voice:
"I really enjoyed making the Challah bread, I thought it was really fun but hard to get the plait right first time."
"I enjoyed looking in the museum and drawing the different objects."
"My favourite part was all of it!"
Date: 8th Nov 2024 @ 8:21am
Year 3 had their first hockey lesson today and learned how to grip the stick correctly. The lesson focussed on safety when using the sticks, controlling the ball and they even had the chance to practice shooting at a target.
Whole School - Road Safety Awareness
Date: 23rd Oct 2024 @ 8:21am
This week we met as a school to talk about Road Safety Week. This year it will take place from the 17th to the 23rd of November.
We thought about who our road safety heroes were. We decided they were people who would:
- Work really hard to overcome difficulty
- Do something really well
- Be really brave
We learnt that everyone who helps make journeys safer and healthier or helps care for someone after a crash is a road safety hero.
We talked about the different road safety heroes:
- School crossing patrols
- Roads policing officers
- Road designers and highway engineers
- Fire and rescue services
- Ambulance services
- Medical staff in hospitals
The Y5 road safety officers will be holding a poster competition in November to make people aware of road safety dangers and how to cross safely.
Whole School: Blessing of Mary in memory of Christine Wilson
Date: 22nd Oct 2024 @ 12:28pm
On Wednesday 16th October we gathered as a school family to remember Christine Wilson with Father Peter Ross.
Christine was a much loved and valued member of St Basil's and a former Chair of Governors.
We also welcomed Jim Wilson and members of their family, as well as some close friends.
Father Peter led us in prayer and dedicated our new statue of Mary to the memory of Christine, significant particularly during this special month of October.
The children shared in the our liturgy with readings and prayers, as well as with their absolutely beautiful singing.
The occasion was a heartfelt tribute which warmed all of our hearts and provided a lasting memory to treasure.
Whole school - Harvest Cereal Challenge for Widnes Foodbank
Date: 19th Oct 2024 @ 2:44pm
On Friday the 18th of October, we had a great morning completing our Cereal rally challenge.
After collecting boxes of cereal over the last month, each child came with their class to place a box in line ready for 'the big push!'
We were joined by Vicky from the Foodbank and Pip Turner from Asda who organised a donation on their behalf.
We also received a donation from Tesco in Widnes too, which helped boost our boxes to around 230 in total.
The children joined in with a countdown and watching the boxes being knocked over, followed by big cheers at the end!
Thank you to everybody who donated and to all of our children for particpating and showing their solidarity with others.
Comments from the children across school included:
"It was great fun and we got to help people too!"
"I hope people in Widnes won't be hungry now."
"The Foodbank is a brilliant thing."
"I can't wait to do more to help other people."
"I hope the people who get our cereal love eating it."
Date: 14th Oct 2024 @ 8:29am
Year 3 have been really excited to take part in outdoor adventurous activities in PE for the first time. They have worked creatively, critically and collaboratively in a caring way during orienteering and den building.
Date: 14th Oct 2024 @ 8:24am
Year 3 have really enjoyed learning the rules of table tennis and practicing their forehand and backhand shots.
Date: 9th Oct 2024 @ 12:03pm
As part of CAFOD Family Fast Day, pupils in KS2 were given the opportunity to join our CAFOD Simple Lunch.
Instead of their usual school dinner, these KS2 pupils chose to have a simple lunch of soup, bread and fruit, to show Solidarity and respect Human Dignity two of our Catholic Social Teaching principles. This showed how we can think of others who are less fortunate than ourselves and only have our fair share.
Date: 4th Oct 2024 @ 8:21am
This half term Year 3 have used Purple Mash to focus on our Coding skills
We have refreshed our memory of what coding is, how we create a code and some of the rules that the code must follow.
We have now begun to use flow charts to create our own codes using timers, and debug programmes with timers.
"I had to change my code a few times because it didn't work, but I worked out that it was because the code was not nested inside the other one" - Ethan
"I had to make the magician's rabbit disappear after 5 seconds and then reappear after another 5. I completed the code really quickly and got onto the next challenge" - Penelope.
Date: 4th Oct 2024 @ 8:18am
Our KS2 CAFOD club have focused on Solidarity this first few weeks of the half term.
We researched CAFOD Family Fast Day and created some posters to promote our Simple Lunch in school.
We have also watched CAFOD's national assembly and thought of more ways we can live in solidarity with others.
"I really enjoy joining with others in CAFOD club and thinking of ways to help people" - Maro
"It is my first time in CAFOD club and I am really enjoying it" - James
Date: 30th Sep 2024 @ 5:15pm
To consolidate our learning on place value we played a competition in which we kept score by adding or subtracting 1, 10 or 100. The winner wasn't the first to the finish but the person with the highest score which we compared at the end.
"I was really lucky, I kept getting + 100s" - William
"Our game was really close, I got 845 and Ethan got 832" - Luca
Whole School - Sign Language Awareness Week
Date: 30th Sep 2024 @ 5:03pm
We celebrated Sign Language Awareness week by inviting Father Mark into school to teach us some sign language.
We spoke about why Sign Language is important so that everyone is treated fairly and justly, linking to our Year of Justice and the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Human Dignity.
Father Mark wrote a prayer with our help that we will use throughout our Year of Justice and we learnt the signs for fair, hunger, thirst and rights.
We also then followed this up by learning how to spell our own names in British Sign Language, taking home a sheet to share this with our families.
"My name was really hard to sign because I have a double letter" - William
"I really enjoyed working with Father Mark, I'm excited to hear the final prayer" - Penelope
Date: 23rd Sep 2024 @ 7:55am
On a Wednesday we bring a book to share during Book Lunch, we share the book with our partners and discuss the authors, characters or themes.
This year, Year 6 are beginning to interview pupils in each class about their favourite book, which we will play out on the hall screen for everyone to share.
Y3 - Year of Prayer Collective Worship
Date: 23rd Sep 2024 @ 7:50am
3AW pupils helped to plan and deliver this week's collective worship based on the Year of Prayer.
We thought about when we pray and why we pray
We then chose a prayer from our KS2 prayer book to say together
Y3 & Y4 - Visit to Martin Mere Wetland
Date: 23rd Sep 2024 @ 7:47am
On Thursday 19th Year 3 and Year 4 went on our first educational visit to Martin Mere Wetland.
There we found Ava, an osprey who had magically turned half human. She gave us challenges to connect with nature and learn about the wild around us.
She also set us a challenge, to complete 10 more nature activities at home to become a 'Guardian of the Wild'.
When we returned to school, we discussed how this linked to our 'Creation & Covenant' work in RE, and that we are all stewards of God's world. That we must appreciate it, care for it and nurture it.
So far, 3 of us have become Guardians, with many more on our way to achieve our badges.
"I was surprised when we saw Ava, she was from our story at school" - Connie
"I really liked the activity when we made friends with a tree, we had to close our eyes and use our other senses to get to know the tree" - Ethan
"My favourite birds that I saw were the flamingos, they were all standing on one leg" - Jack
Whole School - Visit from Imran Kotwal for Islam week
Date: 22nd Sep 2024 @ 1:40pm
On Friday 2oth September, Imran Kotwal visited school to help us with our learning about the religion of Islam.
As a Muslim, Imran shared some important items with us and talked about how they are used in daily life, particularly with prayer.
We saw prayer mats and photographs of different mosques, as well as sweet smelling oil which can be used as part of the cleaning ritual before prayer.
Imran also told us about the prophet Muhammad, a key person for Muslims.
This is what some of the children felt about the visit in Year 1 and 2.
"It was really good to know about it all."
"I liked finding out new stuff."
"The best bit was watching how Imran prayed."
"I know that praying is very important to lots of people."
"Religions are sometimes not all the same."
"Everyone is special themselves."
Whole School Assembly - Widnes Foodbank Cereal Challenge
Date: 22nd Sep 2024 @ 1:16pm
This week we launched our Harvest campaign to support the Foodbank here in Widnes.
We held a special assembly and remembered what we have already managed to achieve as a school in helping those in need.
Photos of last year's visit to the Foodbank by the RE Ambassadors were a great reminder, as well as the visit from Margaret and Eileen, two of their volunteers.
To continue our promise to try and 'live in solidarity' with others, we will be collecting donations of cereal over the next month.
On Friday 18th October, we will hold our 'Cereal domino rally' with all of the boxes that are donated.
Y3 - P4C - Who is in charge of the world?
Date: 6th Sep 2024 @ 2:30pm
As our first session of RE this week, we discussed the P4C question
Who is in charge of the world?
Lots of us said 'God' to begin with, but as we built on each other's answers we critiqued what 'in charge' means
Alice thought this mean you are responsible and have to look after something
Emily used the example that if you buy something then you are in charge of it
James built on this by saying, if you invite someone to your house then your are in charge
When we returned to our question, our thoughts had changed, now some of us thought that everyone is in charge of the world, because it is our responsibility to protect it.
