Keep up to date with all that's happening!

• Lancashire Mining Museum visit

  Tue 08 Oct 2024

  Wow what an incredible time we had today at the Lancashire Mining Museum. The children were all so excited for this trip and couldn’t wait to learn more about their History Topic.✨✨

  We started the morning by going on a train ride and looking at different aspects of the colliery. All children throughly enjoyed this and were super excited to be on a train!🚂 

  We then split into groups to complete a range of activities. We were lucky enough to learn about: 

  ✨Train: we went on a train ride and looked at where the coal would be dropped off and picked up. We were also shown where the coal fields would have been in the past. 

  ✨The Engine Room: the winding engine which served the shaft is the largest surviving colliery winding engine of its type in Europe. It was connected to a drum which in turn was connected to the headgear pulleys to wind up the coal and wind down the miners and maintenance supplies. The children loved seeing this engine in action!

  ✨Headgear: we saw the only surviving headgear on the Lancashire Coalfield. The children were told all about the important job it had to do. 

  ✨Miner’s Cottage: we went into a Miner’s cottage and learnt all about what it was like to live in a cottage from the past. We saw the coal fires, how they washed their clothes and what their bedroom was like. 

  ✨We went on an underground experience and looked at the conditions and the equipment they would have used. 

  We also spent time visiting a Blacksmiths. We looked at different metals and how they are bent, we learnt who a Blacksmith was and why they were called a Blacksmith. 
  We looked at different fossils and we also had the opportunity to climb into a Miner’s tunnel to experience what it would have been like to crawl in the Coal Mine.

  The children behaved exceptionally throughout the trip. They did lots of listening, question answering and they blew the adults away with their super knowledge. We are so proud of them all!💛

  

• Stoneage Workshop

  Fri 04 Oct 2024

  Today, we have had a fantastic time taking part in our Stone Age workshop. 

  📍We started the workshop with a bone investigation, and we examined lots of Stones Age artefacts such as the tools they used and materials they used in order to survive. 

  📍We created our very own arrows using flint arrowheads and wood. 

  📍We all took part in drawing our very own cave drawings on slate using charcoal and chalk. 

  📍This afternoon, we took part in learning about key hunting techniques from the Stone Age such as archery. All children practised their archery skills by trying to hunt the animals like they would have done during the Stone Age. 

  It has been a fantastic fun-filled day, and I hope all of the children enjoyed it! 

   

  

• Rock and River Year 6 End of Year Trip

  Wed 10 Jul 2024

  What a tremendous end of year trip Year 6 have had! Not even the torrential rain could dampen their spirits! Here is just a small selection of what we have gotten up to today. 
  The children have had a great experience canoeing, paddle boarding and swimming in the water 💦. Despite the heavy rain at one point, the peals of laughter and screams of delight could be heard clearly! After learning how to operate them safely the children were given a series of challenges to complete as they manoeuvred around the lake.  They topped the morning off with a fun swim in the shallow water at the edge of the lake. 
  After a warm shower, change and lunch they moved on to the 40ft rock climbing wall and the climbing rope trail. The children had to master the Great Wall while also learning how to safely use equipment. The day was finished with a leap of faith by those who were brave enough, as they jumped from the platform onto the waiting pillow below.  As you can see from the smiles and the laughter the children have had an excellent end of year 6 trip. They overcame their fears and solidified their bonds and with full hearts are ready to enter their final days at St John’s. 
  We couldn’t be prouder of their fantastic behaviour today. 

  

• 🥇Exciting news- SCHOOL GAMES GOLD AWARD!🥇

  Mon 01 Jul 2024

  We are pleased to announce that we have achieved the GOLD award from this year’s School Games! The team at St John’s and our fantastic sports leaders have worked hard to retain this fantastic award for the third year running! This means we are now eligible to apply for the PLATINUM AWARD in the coming school year. We look forward to the coming challenges in achieving this award. 🥇 

  

• Leigh Library Visit

  Wed 12 Jun 2024

  We had such a fun morning watching the dance, music & storytelling show by Spin Arts based on Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month. We watched a performance based on a character called Queenie who loved music and dance. Through Queenie’s story, we learned about the culture and lifestyle of the travelling community. We were also introduced to puca: the shape-shifter from Irish Folklore. The children enjoyed dancing along to the music and even showed off some of their moves after watching the show. The staff commented on how well behaved the children were and said they made a great audience! 

  

• Lego Builders workshop castles and fairground rides

  Fri 07 Jun 2024

  Today our Year 1 and Year 6 children were given the opportunity to take part in a Lego Builders Workshop. Our Year 1 children made castles and the Year 6 class were able to build fairground rides as part of their ongoing topics. Both classes were highly engaged and had lots of fun! 🤩 

  

• Gurus Theatre Puppet Show

  Fri 07 Jun 2024

  This afternoon, we have been lucky enough to watch a fabulous performance from Gufus Theatre once again. The actors portrayed the story of the King Bear banished to the woods by an evil shaman. Unbeknownst to Fear, the curse placed upon the King Bear could only be broken by one such as herself! Once the children had watched the performance, they had an opportunity to ask the actors and actresses some questions about the show and the puppets they used. 

  What a wonderful treat for us all! 🎭

  

• Eyam trip with Year 5

  Tue 14 May 2024

  We’ve had a fantastic day in Eyam! 

  The children explored Eyam museum where they learned about the 76 households that experienced life during the plague. They learned that villagers set an extraordinary example of self-sacrifice by sealing off the village from the surrounding areas to prevent the disease spreading.

  The children also visited the Riley graves to learn about the Hancock family, and they walked to the boundary stone where goods were exchanged between the villagers and those who lived on the outside. 

  We’ve had a great day and the weather even brightened up later on!

  

• Skipton Castle with Year 1

  Mon 13 May 2024

  Year 1 have had a wonderful trip to Skipton Castle. 🏰 
  The children explored the many rooms of the castle including the drawing room, the bedchamber, the long drop, the kitchen, the banqueting hall and I think their favourite was the dungeon! They then climbed the winding steps to the watch tower and enjoyed looking out over the castle ground and the courtyard below. Our tour guide was amazing and told the children all about life in the castle, medieval defence, medieval cookery and building materials. The tour guide was very impressed with the children’s knowledge and they were keen to answer questions. The children were impeccably behaved and absolute pleasures to spend time with! We have had a wonderful day in the sunshine

  

• Reception Smithills Farm trip

  Mon 22 Apr 2024

  Wow, what an amazing day we’ve had at Smithills Farm! The sun has been shining and the children have been superstars. All children have used their listening ears, respectful of others on the farm and answered questions with some great answers!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  Firstly we met our two guides: Caitlin and Taylor! They told us our itinerary for the day and gave us lots of information about all the animals we met! Our first activity was the tractor ride! We enjoyed going over the bumpy hills to meet the donkeys and we were able to feed them some bread for their breakfast! Our second activity was meeting the animals. We got to meet, stroke and EVEN hold lots of different farm animals like chicks, rabbits, owls, Shetland ponies and lots more! Next, we got to feed lots of animals. The children were super sensible and fed the animals their favourite foods by hand! They were super brave! What a lovely day we have had!