We wanted to say to say a huge WELL DONE and CONGRATULATIONS to all of the children in Year 6.
They absolutely smashed their SATs and should be extremely proud of themselves. Not only did they
remain focussed and motivated throughout the week, but their determination and perseverance all year round has been amazing to see. SATs week proved that they are well and truly on their way to becoming the mature and independent
individuals needed to thrive and succeed in secondary school.
We couldn’t be prouder of all of you! Get ready for some scientific fun in Summer 2!
Year 6 have had an extraordinary term as we’ve stepped up SATs prep and thought about our aspirations for the near (and distant) future. We were intrigued by the variety of aspiring scientists, doctors, interior designers, soldiers, journalists, footballers and veterinarians we had sitting before us, and used this as our motivation for the term. The children reflected on their current state (how they are currently learning), their desired state (what they would like to achieve) and the steps in which are needed to get there. It was an insightful task for all of us and we hope the children keep it in mind as we move into the Summer term.
In English, we have been working super hard to develop, and finely tune our writing skills. We improved our narrative writing skills through developing our techniques as authors, learning how to write story openings. We were then inspired by our English text, Michael Morpurgo’s Friend or Foe, to become Play-Writes; the children adapted this heart-warming story into their own play-scripts. We have been very proud of how engaged the children have been and hope it continues next term!
This half term has been filled with fun and engaging activities aimed at immersing the children into the exploits of WW2. We were lucky enough to be ‘visited‘ virtually by a Holocaust expert from the Holocaust Museum, who brought the experience to life through storytelling and discussions. The hands-on activities allowed children to learn through the exploration of genuine artefacts, including newspaper reports from the time. This was followed by lessons exploring aspects of WW2, such as the causes, evacuation, the impact of the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign on diet, the Blitz, Anderson shelters and aircrafts. Part of this process involved a debate on who the most effective world leader was at the time; the children drew on their oracy skills to support them to develop their ideas and justify their responses. The children were able to look past the concepts of ‘good and bad’ leaders, and looked instead at their leadership qualities.
During English this half term, the children have been super busy applying their knowledge of the genre of instructions to writing a wartime recipe. They also explored informal letter writing and character studies through our powerful, thought-provoking text, ‘Rose Blanche’. In Maths, we have studied data handling and statistics, as well as revisiting our fractions knowledge.
We have been very impressed with the children’s resilience and determination and are sure they will continue to be just as amazing as we move into Spring 2!!
What a busy half term we’ve had here in the mobiles! We began the term with a fascinating study into the life and achievements of Fela Kuti, the renowned Father of Afro-Beat and political activist, which was part of the Ainslie Wood Black Pioneers of the Arts Project. Our amazing art work, inspired by his creative album covers, which portray significant events in his life, will soon be displayed in the school.
We then moved onto our project of the term, which was WE ARE Exploring Antarctica. Following the children’s interests and inspired by activists such as Greta Thunberg, we decided to organise a climate conference in the style of COP26. After learning about the causes, impacts and solutions to climate change, the children then split into groups to research and become experts in their chosen areas. The children made us so proud as they presented their speeches and described their learning process through their creatively decorated presentation boards.
We have been using perseverance and growth mind sets in our Maths lessons, where we have recapped on fractions, decimals and percentages. In English, the children have been inspired by Shackleton’s epic adventures in the Antarctic wilderness. They have written high-quality diary entries in the role of Shackleton, as well as play scripts.
We are certain the hard work, dedication and motivation will continue next term. We wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
What a tremendous start to the year our Year 6 pupils have had! As you know by now, we work slightly differently to other year groups, as we separate into various different groups throughout the day. We were blown away by how flexible the children were with adapting to their new timetable; they made the transition into Year 6 look easy! They are all working hard on their organisation, time management and independence, which are skills we place a huge emphasis on in Year 6, so that the children are all ready for secondary school next year.
During Autumn 1, the children took part in the project, WE ARE Illustrators, which gave them the opportunity to become experts in sketching. After practising various sketching skills, such as cross hatching and contour hatching, they drafted, re-drafted AND re-drafted again to complete their final outcome. This culminated into a piece of artwork celebrating the life and success of a significant black individual in history. The children were given time, using the internet, to research and learn about their chosen person, so they were able to become experts on their historical and cultural significance.
During English lessons, we have focused on structuring sentences in interesting ways to engage the reader further. We have also practised using different, up-levelled word classes, such as verbs and adverbs, adjectives, nouns and prepositions. We have written some fabulous descriptions, diary entries and poetry. In Maths, we recapped on our place value knowledge, the four operations and fractions. The children have shown such resilience and determination in all lessons which will aid their subject knowledge when the SATs come around.
A huge focus for this term was developing and using a growth mind-set. Again, this will help the children with both their SATs, and transitioning to secondary school. We are super proud and are certain that the hard work and dedication will continue.