What a fantastic way to end the half term! Thank you to everyone who was able to be there and a huge well done to all of Year 3 for their brilliant performances!

3H have been learning all about music notation. In the video you will see them clapping and along and using their voices to 4 beat bars using ‘frogs, tadpoles and rests.’ The frog represents a crotchet and the tadpole represents a quaver.

The they progressed to only clapping the frogs and tadpoles. After that, they were able to clap a 4 beat bar reading the notation in their head and clapping along.

Here is how reading music progresses.

They start with tadpoles and frogs, then to the notes without the stem, then finally to reading notation.

What a way to kick off walk to school week! Strider the walk to school mascot joined in this mornings assembly. Strider had been walking to school for 8:30 with some children too. Well done if you made an active journey this week. Keep it up!

This morning 3H had a fantastic music lesson where they learnt all about tempo, pitch as well as ostinatos and began to read notation.

They explored tempo and pitch by singing a song and then varying the tempo and pitch. They were able to notice what had changed and how. ‘The tempo was faster.’ ‘The pitch was higher.’ From this, they were also able to internalise the song. We added actions and began to take certain words out. By the end we had internalised the song so we didn’t sing anything out loud- only the actions!

They learnt that ostinato means something that repeats over and over again. They created a word ostinato and we performed it as a round.

These videos show them exploring pitch and tempo. As well as, reading notation. They had a fantastic time with Mrs Cossavella.

3H spent the afternoon exploring the Seven Arches Aqueduct in Scotland woods. 

We enjoyed sketching the scenery, noticing the sounds and nature around us as we worked. We zoomed in to sketch specific plants to explore our science topic plants in more detail.

We explored different natural materials and had a go at making our own pieces of art with them. Here are some of our creations!

What a fun filled afternoon!

We have just started reading George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl. We each have our own copy of the book which we are reading together.

This afternoon, Year 3 had the pleasure of being joined by Dagur. A real Icelandic tour guide! Dagur was kind enough to give us his time to tell us all about Iceland. We had a chance to ask him questions about life, culture, tourism, geographical features in Iceland and much more. 

Dagur was very impressed with the questions we asked. He even shared a story about witnessing a volcanic eruption this week!

The poem written by the poet Rachel Flint that inspired so much of 3H’s Arts Fortnight, is called ‘Meditation’. To grasp what it means to meditate- focus one’s mind for a period of time-the class were encouraged to pause, slow down and respond individually through paint and drawing materials to the calm music playing. Their meditative responses would later be collaged onto their chairs.

Together, we read the poem and discussed what Rachel meant. Could we use our recent shadow puppet skills and make a shadow poem for Meditation? Could this then be shared at Monday’s Collective Worship? The combination of Mrs Harbour’s ingenuity, the kindness of Matthew Bellwood -who loaned his overhead projector- and 3H’s creative collaborations to make lettering, clocks, arrows, slogans and drawings all contributed to a short, simple film.

In the studio, 3H used black paint and thick paint brushes to produce mindful breath painting. They were inspired by the artist Torkwase Dyson. Thin lines using biro was then added. The process was repeated, but this time in colour. These too would feature as collage on the chairs.

Referring back to the poem, 3H began to think about their safe place. What or who made it a ‘sanctuary’? What words did they associate with this place? These words would feature on their own chair. Each child, chose a colour for their chair that represented them. For some it was a pale blue- they supported Manchester City- for others it was vibrant yellow, calming green, delicious pink or energetic red.

Photographs of 3H’s safe place were emailed to school and included bedrooms, Grandma’s house, the sofa, pet dog or cat and the library. Something within the photograph was captured and using acrylic paint made into a backdrop for our chairs. These backdrops included wallpaper prints, duvet cover designs, paw prints, pyjama prints , a grandma in the doorway…

Our chairs had a lot of surface area. They could be viewed from all around. Therefore, it was important to plan where words, photographs and collage would go. Perseverance was required in bucketloads. The ‘feedback sandwich’ highlighted the wow of what we had accomplished so far as well as ‘even better ifs’! Oil pastels and paint markers were used to emphasise and outline.

Each chair, belonged to and was known and understood by the individual who had created it. To celebrate the uniqueness of each child, self-portraits were made. The process shared the need to understand proportions, to notice where our facial features were positioned on our face and to appreciate that our skin was made up of many tints and tones.

Friday’s celebration was memorable in so many ways. Both Bronagh Daly (Art Theologian) and Rachel Flint (poet) joined parents and interested adults from 3H and contributed to the afternoon’s carousel of activities.

The dance to ‘Safe Place’ choreographed by Miss Patchett was beautiful, powerful and emotional. The ‘bubbles’ were enjoyed later with Mrs Harbour!

In the hall there were privileged conversations and opportunities to be ‘present’ as well as create individually, side by side or in collaboration.

The following parental/ interested adult feedback gives a glimpse of 3H’s special celebration:

‘I always find the Arts Fortnight so special! It allows us as a parent to really get involved with our children on a creative and spiritual level. Thank you to all the staff for all your hard work in creating such a magnificent environment for our children to learn and express themselves.’ Holly Sewell

’Sanctuary- what a brilliant theme. It is amazing to see children from various countries across the world, cultures coming together to up a great show. The world sees hope and we are optimistic.’ Riaab’s dad

’Very interactive and inspiring sessions. Using art to encourage the kids to share is a wonderful concept. Truly welcome this initiative. We are conscious that children have so much to tell with the little words they know. This will encourage them to share what they feel courageously. Thank you.’ Tameem & Mubeena

’The program is very moving, very well planned. I see the much joy of each student. Good guests including poet & artist. Teachers are brilliant.’

’This was such a lovely experience and was really insightful to see the kids with their classmates in the school environment. The dance was amazing it actually made me cry and being able to do activities with the kids after was great. ‘

’Fantastic celebration with some real meaning and emotion. Thank you all so much. We were so impressed by the children of 3H (and Mrs Harbour and Mrs Woodthorpe)’

’As always great to see what the children have been doing. Was nice to have a 3rd party there (Bronagh & Rachel).’

’Today’s celebration has been very inspiring. I’m glad my child got to experience this event.’

’Thank you for this amazing work. The children have been very creative about their safe place.’

’We enjoyed and had a lovely time with our kids. Dance part was amazing and emotional. Writing our safe words on the sofa was brilliant. Daniel really enjoyed the drawing part. Thank you so much for making this great opportunity for us.’

’Always really nice to come and see the children in school and all their hard work. They love sharing it with us and every year that fortnight is a safe space for them to share and consider their emotions.’

’Very interesting to see what children have been doing over the last two weeks. It is amazing to see how engaged they have been and how they really enjoy it.’

’The afternoon was lovely. It was great to see and understand what the children have been learning over the past two weeks. It has been great to spend time with my daughter in each of the areas.’

’Very well put together. Dance was very moving. Good 20 minute activities. Lovely to see all the children’s work.’

Below is the artwork created in response to being present. Thank you.

In Spanish, we are learning all about ‘las frutas’ fruits! ???? ????????????????????

Mrs Howard very thoughtfully prepared fruit for us to make our own fruit kebabs this afternoon. It was a great way to have conversations about fruits in Spanish.