To be a Pilgrim...

This half term in our RE lessons, we have been looking at some of the ways in which people of different faiths (and none) mark important times in their lives. This week, we have been exploring the idea of Pilgrimage. A Pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded understanding of themselves, of others, of nature, or of a higher good, through the experience.

Many people undertake Pilgrimages as part of their journey of faith: Christians might make a pilgrimage to Lourdes in France, or to Fatima in Portugal, as these might be places of special significance to them. Similarly, there is an expectation within the Muslim faith that believers will make a Pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca during their lifetimes - this is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Hindus, too, participate in Pilgrimage. There are numerous destinations which are spiritually significant for Hindus, but perhaps the best known is the Kumbh Mela, which is attended by many devotees seeking to bathe in the River Ganges.

This afternoon, Year 3 undertook a Pilgrimage of their own, focusing on finding out more about some of the different places in India which might be visited by Hindu pilgrims in search of higher meaning. They visited seven different stations in the Forest School area, before gathering together to share what they had learnt and reflect on the spiritual significance of Pilgrimage for people from all walks of life.

Flotsam - Peer Assessment and Editing

As part of our work on 'Flotsam' this week, we have been taking a closer look at some of the fantastic illustrations in the book, and using them as a stimulus for our writing.  Children used magnifying glasses to study the pictures closely, trying to spot some additional details, before writing their own statements, questions and exclamations about each picture on sticky notes.  

The sticky notes were then shared around the room so that children could review, check and edit each other's work.  The results were very impressive, and we now have a huge bank of ideas for our working wall!

Maths Day

We have had a brilliant day in 3V enjoying lots of different numerical challenges as part of Swan Lane's Maths Day!

First of all, Mr Warren set us some fiendishly difficult reasoning and problem solving questions.  We had to use all our Year 3 maths skills to solve the puzzles and crack the code.  Luckily, we managed to solve the riddles before the time ran out, and Mr Warren awarded us the Grand Prize of a 30 minute playtime on the adventure playground!

After that, the children were set an additional challenge of devising some maths games suitable for the children in Reception.  There were some super ideas, and in the afternoon the children were able to get together with the children in RG to share their new resources.  It was lots of fun, and a great opportunity for the older children to lead activities for the little ones.

Childhood Day - 10 June

On 10th June Swan Lane celebrated the NSPCC Big Breaktime.  Children were asked to bring in a non-electronic toy or game from home to share with their friends.  In 3V, we held a games afternoon with children sharing their favourite board games and other toys.  It was really great to do something so simple yet so much fun!

Literacy - Inference Skills

For our literacy work this week, we have been exploring a picture book by David Wiesner, called 'Flotsam.' 

In order to develop character inference skills, we began by exploring some different trays of 'flotsam' which had belonged to different people.  The children were asked to use their detective skills to try and work out what kind of person might have lost the items in each tray, and explain their reasoning.  There were some interesting suggestions!