Year 6 - Snow Leopards and Jaguars

Year 6 have returned to school after an incredible week at Derbyshire where the children demonstrated how well-mannered and enthusiastic they are. Adults and students alike thoroughly enjoyed themselves. This week in class, as well as writing about the experiences we shared in Derbyshire, we have been using chromatography to investigate pigments used in felt-tip pens. In maths we have begun to learn the formal column method for multiplying up to 4 digits by 2 digits. The children have demonstrated excellent resilience as well as reflecting on and correcting their own learning.  Children have also been creating expressionist pictures of their own - based on The Scream by Edvard Munch. The task was to show a chosen emotion within a self-portrait.

What a wonderful start to the year the children have had! We are extremely impressed with the role models they are becoming. We began our topic, Gallery Rebels, by researching famous pictures by artists of the 19th and 20th century and creating picture commentaries of these. This week, we have learnt about the colour wheel; primary, secondary, tertiary, complementary and harmonious colours and the artist Paul Klee. We have used his works as inspiration and applied our newly acquired knowledge to create our own artwork. The children demonstrated excellent focus when painting these. In Maths, we have been extending our knowledge of place value into the ten millions! We were experts at comparing and ordering these numbers and many of us have mastered rounding - demonstrating superb resilience and problem solving. In English, we have been looking at our whole school text - Grendel: A Cautionary Tale about Chocolate. The children have use this to help them create their own cautionary ...

During Maths this week, the children have been carrying out investigations about Number and have been using their mathematical knowledge to solve problems. In English, we have begun planning and writing newspaper articles about an event in WWII. There are no RED spelling words for this half term so the children have looked through all of the words which have been sent home this year and have selected some which they are not fully confident in spelling. These lists have been sent home with the children this week. In topic, we have begun planning and making items for our VE Day party on 19th June (1:30pm until 3pm). The children are making all manner of things to give our party the 1940s feel. I'm sure that you will have already seen the invitation which your child has made but - in case you haven't - please note that you are all invited to this celebration of the end of our topic. We are hoping that the party will have the same kind of 'community feel' as the parti...

We reverted to whole class maths lessons this week and the children have worked hard (and had a lot of fun), carrying out maths investigations. For our BODMAS investigation, some children chose to work independently, some worked in pairs and others worked in groups. The children really enjoyed this challenge and even wanted to carry on for a second lesson in order to get it completed.  In English, the children have almost finished writing their stories, set in WWII and they seem to be really enjoying it. We will be moving on to writing newspaper articles next - linked to a story line in Goodnight Mr Tom and also to an important WWII theme. We have told the children about a creative writing contest which requires the children to write a story in 500 words or less. I have suggested to the children that they might want to adapt the story which they have written in class and submit it to the contest.  In Topic, we have begun to plan for our VE Day street party which will be...

SATs Week This week in year 6, we have been sitting our SATs tests. On Monday we had SPaG Paper 1 (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) and Paper 2 (a 20-word spelling test). Tuesday was the 1-hour Reading test. There were 3 pieces of text: The Park, The Bumblebee Fact File and The Music box. We had maths paper 1 and 2 on Wednesday, which were arithmetic and reasoning paper 1 and - on Thursday - it was the 2nd maths reasoning paper.  The whole class agreed that the tests were easier than expected due to hard work and commitment they have put in during the weeks and months before.  VE Day Celebration Look out for an invitation to our VE day celebration, which will be on 19th June. This will be a 'bring a plate' community party - just as it would have been in 1940. We anticipate having lots of guests and would like to request that - if you have any old bed sheets which would be suitable for use as a table cloth - please could we have/borrow them? Goodnight Mr Tom - the mov...

This week, we launched our new topic - A Child's War - with a fantastic 'Evacuee Experience' on The Poppy Line in North Norfolk. At the beginning of the day, the children were met by the billeting officer who escorted them on the train to Holt. The train took the children through the countryside from Sheringham to Holt, passing through Weybourne station. On arrival at Holt, the children took part in a range of activities including: Training to spot a variety of planes (German and British) with a member of staff from the Observation Corps Household chores in a 1940's house Making their own lunch from a variety of foods (some of which were rationed) and  A workshop giving lots of information about gas masks It was a great day, which the children thoroughly enjoyed and one which has given them a real insight into how it felt to be a 1940's child.  On Tuesday of next week, the children will be going swimming in the afternoon. Some of them will be attend...

Most mornings (and one afternoon) this week were taken up with practise SATS tests and the children have responded incredibly well. On Monday afternoon, they had a SPaG and spelling test and on Tuesday morning they had a reading test followed by Maths Paper 1. We gave them a rest on Wednesday and finished off on Thursday with Maths Papers 2 and 3.  On Tuesday afternoon, the children took part in a lovely science investigation based on Darwin's observations of the Galapagos finches. The children used a variety of implements (such as tweezers, tongs and pliers) to pick up a variety of seeds and observed which implements were most suited to the task. This investigation was linked to adaptation and the survival of the fittest.  In English, the children have been working hard at writing their stories, based on the novel 'Journey to the River Sea'. Whilst some of the children have finished their stories, some have chosen to finish these off at home over Easter. It's lov...