Fronted Adverbials

Thinking about SPaG and a brainstorm session on fronted adverbials!

Grafham Water

The year 6 classes spent some time challenging themselves with activities at Grafham Water.  While the February weather wasn’t the most supportive of the outdoor activities, we were not daunted!  We got muddy, cold and tired, but thoroughly delighted with what we managed to achieve while we were there.  We immersed ourselves in every activity: we sailed longer distances, cycled up steeper hills and climbed to greater heights than we even imagined we could.  A very enthusiastic well done to all, and especially those who hoped that this would be their moment to shine…and found out it was!

Grafham Water

Grafham provided the Year 6’s with the opportunity to practise some physical activities they would not have a chance to otherwise.  Following intense safety instruction, we were able to engage in crate stacking, high rope activities and bmx biking.  Very enjoyable!

Science

Year 6 have been taking part in a longitudinal study of microorganisms. They have been looking to see what microorganisms grow on bread in different conditions. The pupils had to check up on their bread, draw a diagram in their books of their findings and predict what may continue to happen for next week. They discussed how to treat the experiment with care, therefore ensuring that the results were valid. The lesson ended by discussing and sorting whether the effects of different microorganisms were positive or negative eg mould, chicken pox, flu, making cheese, antibiotics, decomposing matter. I wonder what the bread will look like in the coming weeks when they next check on it!

Researching a country

The students in year 6 were assigned homework to begin researching a country in South America for this term’s topic.  We received many wonderful examples.  Here is just one.

Classification

We have been looking at classification and branching diagrams for our Science topic on “Living Things and Their Habitats.”  After being commissioned by the British Confectionary Association to help classify their sweets, we created some Dichotomous Keys to help organise them based on common characteristics.  Sweets sorted!

South America

We have been exploring the countries in South America. We have used safe search engines to research and record some interesting findings about the physical and human geographical features within the continent.

PSHCE

In PSHCE Year 6’s have been exploring the idea of friendships, how we have made them previously, how we maintain them now, and how we will begin to develop them next year.  We created comic book style illustrations to help document our ideas.

Poetry

In Year 6, our free verse poetry unit produced some interesting results! Without rhyme or rhythm, we needed punctuation to help develop structure and flow. Here are a few more examples.

Maths

We have been practising our decimal numbers and identifying quantities within each place value.  Here is a video of how we have practised:

PE

The Year 6’s have taken some time to practise their hockey skills in PE.  Well done to all!

Baking

Year 6 engaged in some food technology by baking fairy cakes. Small groups allowed each student to participate fully, and support each other with the processes. The reflection highlighted this point, as many of the students stated that “working as a team” was something that was practised. They recognised problems, such as “egg shells in the batter” to “lumpy mixture,” but all seemed enthusiastic, and look forward to trying their treats!
The pictures were also taken by students with a keen eye. Great effort all around!

PE

We had a special day for Children in Need, which included lots of PE activities. The “Olympics” activities outside (while muddy) were enjoyable group challenges for s all!

Celebration of Diversity

Our final activity for Anti-Bullying Week was to create a celebration of diversity. We drew face shapes and then used a variety of colours and patterns to highlight the differences we all have and the interest and beauty it creates.

WWII

We used IPads and safe search engines to find answers to historical WWII Questions.  Some of the research focused on what the women did during the war, what types of vehicles were used and what happened after the war. We used the events in WWII to create a timeline reflecting some of the more significant aspects.

Henry Moore was our focus artist this term.  We used his sketches of the shelters in WWII to practise our techniques with different pencils.  Shading and cross-hatching were some methods we recalled and showed.

Poetry

For the year 6 poetry unit, we looked at “Free Verse” style of writing using the poem ‘The Uncertainty of the Poet’ by Wendy Cope.  This poem uses only 10 words in total, and rearranges them in a variety of ways to create new ideas – some quite silly!  The focus of punctuation mid-line was an interesting challenge for the students, but one they tackled successfully.  Have a look at one example here.

Wires

In year 6 we have been investigating wires. We know these studies give us answers to a targeted focus question, but one student found it created more questions. Delighted, she then exclaimed “I need to do another experiment to figure out why!” A Scientist in the making!

Remembrance Day

For Remembrance Day Year 6 created poppies, red to symbolise the blood loss of people who fought, and white to represent peace.

RE

In RE, Year 6 have been thinking about God “incarnate” (God in human form.) What form might he take if he appeared today? We thought about different situations and placed our idea in an appropriate setting. Have a look!

Anti-bullying

This week Year 6 have thought about anti-bullying, and what it entails. Here we identified what situations could be bullying, and which are rude or mean.

Reading

Jaguar Class had the opportunity to have some free time choosing books to read in our wonderful library. They chose to read independently, in a pair or as a small group. The session went so quickly, with the children becoming fully engaged in their reading. Jaguar Class really ‘Rave about Reading!’

Geography

Using Atlases in Topic utilised our year 6 geography skills. One child identified “the key has abbreviations which can help us find the countries on the map.”

Maths

In Jaguar Class we have a Maths teacher in the making! He explained working out and reasons for the methods he chose to solve a multiple-step word problem, relating to squared and cubed numbers. He used excellent mathematical vocabulary and interacted with his audience well.

Rationing

We discussed the idea of rationing and what that meant for families during WWII. We then had a look at the provisions given to families and tried to create meal plans for the week. The reflection we wrote afterwards made clear the difficulty in creating such a plan given the meagre rations.

Art

We looked at the fine details of Paul Nash’s pictures and tried to copy what we saw using pencil drawings and sketching.

WWII

We looked at propaganda for our topic work in WWII. Here we assess the focus of the posters, who they were aimed at and if we could have improved it.

Remembrance Day

Today, the children were incredibly respectful and creative when celebrating the lives of everyone who has played their part in all war and fought for their country.

This picture is just a few examples of poetry writing and the creativity that the children demonstrated throughout the day.

Common Factors

In Year Six the children have been learning how to find common factors. The multilink proved beneficial when consolidating their understanding of equal amounts.

Multiplication

Multiplication was investigated and discussed in Maths. We thought about ways to “prove” our findings using a variety of methods.

Refraction

In science we explored refraction, and looked at an example through water and glass. We noted our findings when we finished.

Zumba

Since returning to school in September, we have had a real focus on physical fitness, as well as, our well-being. Jaguar Class have thoroughly enjoyed Zumba sessions and this video is a celebration of all their efforts so far.

Fitness

We have been considering our overall fitness, and have practised some one-minute skills to see how we can improve.

Reading

We have been caught reading!  In our whole class guided reading session, we were able to enjoy the end of the summer sun to partner read together.

Periscope Activity

We put into practise the periscope activity from science to check our understanding of the law of reflection.  We then noted our observations and findings of how it worked.

People Who Inspire Us

We have been encouraged to reflect on people who inspire us.  Here are some of our ideas.

Place Value

We practised writing our understanding of maths using the written-word form and place value representation.