6GP

Week commencing 4th July 2022

In 6PB this week, our children have been out taking part in their transition week in their new Secondary Schools. We are so excited for them to begin making new friends and for them to meet their new teachers. We can't wait for them to come back on Monday, ready for their activity week!

This week the year 6 children have had a WWII day during which they had a pretend ‘VE day’ celebration.

The children spent the morning creating a 3 course ‘come dine with me’ meal, during which they used rationed recipes from WWII. I think all children were in agreement that our bread pudding dessert was by far the most delicious and they enjoyed this in the afternoon during our ‘street party’.

Some children also spent time in the afternoon creating model Spitfires, whilst others had a go at creating a rag rug!

This week Year 6 have completed a DT enrichment day during which they had a go at designing and making their own steady hand game. This was a great opportunity to reflect on their science unit ‘circuits’ from earlier in the year and were able to apply their skills to make their game a success!

Here are photos at the beginning of the day, when the children were experimenting with current games of this type!

This week 6PB have loved science week! Our theme was nutrition and they have completed a range of investigations looking at what we put inside our bodies! We have also had a go at investigating what owls eat and the nutrition gained by studying their pellets (regurgitated balls of bone and fur). Within this task they managed to guess correctly in that rodents would be the most common skeletal remains found in the pellets compared to birds and moles! They were fantastic at using classification keys to study their bone structures and identify the remains!

This week in 6PB, we've enjoyed being creative!
Firstly, we had a Pop Art enrichment day, where we created our own versions of Andy Warhol's Campbell soup can design - we then made our own designs in the same style.
Then we enjoyed Jubilee Day on Wednesday and we designed and created our own plates to celebrate.

It's been great to see the creativity 6PB have showcased this week!

Now that the SATs are over... I repeat THE SATS ARE OVER! Year 6 have the opportunity to enjoy a series of enrichment days. This week we had DT enrichment day within which we made Chinese dragons. In the video above, you can see us parading our dragons to some Chinese festival inspired music. Enjoy!

This is kind of cheating, as it involves all of year 6, but it is still very exciting!

This week was SATs week for our Year 6's, and as teachers, we couldn't be more proud!
We started each day off brilliantly, with a delicious breakfast followed by fun games (mainly dodgeball, which 6PB were great at).

Every child gave it their best, and we couldn't ask for more. Now, we look forward to getting ready for our transition to secondary!

This week in 6PB we have started our experiment on the affect of micro-organisms on bread. As you can see, our bread has begun to get very moldy, with bread that was exposed to the bottom of a shoe having the most amount of mold. 

This week 6PB have started a new topic in RE, during which they were considering what their sacred place is and what makes it so special for them. We had so many lovely special places shared such as home, school and the library. Well done to Kamil, Saad and AJ for their fantastic drawings of their special places (a cricket stadium, a family member's house in Poland and a Mosque). All three took pride in their presentation and had really thoughtful explanations of why! Well done!

This week in 6PB we have started our new history unit: World War 2!
We began our learning by visiting our brilliant historic timeline in the playground to see when the war happened and to compare this to our last unit (the Victorians).

We then used our map skills to work out who the allied forces and axis powers of WW2 were in order to understand why it is known as a world war.

This week in science, 6PB have moved on to look at how plants have adapted to survive in their environments. The children had fun looking at some aloe vera plants (some of which they propagated last year) to identify particular adaptations that have allowed them to survive within a desert habitat or any environments that have less water. They did well to identify a range of other adaptations for habitats such as mountainous, rainforest, oceans and coastlines, and put their knowledge to the test when writing about particular plants within their books!

Last week in science, Year 6 were fortunate enough to have a go at ‘now press play’. Whilst wearing their headphones, they went on an adventure back in time with Darwin, learning about evolution, inheritance and mutations! This activity was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us - I have been really impressed with how much information they were able to use within their comprehension activity afterwards!

This week in History, 6PB have been researching inventions created during the Victorian era. We created posters using this information and presented them to the class.

Did you know that Queen Victoria was the first queen ever to have her photograph taken?

This week in English we have been preparing for our reimagined version of Hansel and Gretel. This is an example of one of our idea gathering sessions for our main villain - this time it’s a shadow person instead of a witch!

This week, year 6 have been learning about child labour in the Victorian times; many of them have felt extremely fortunate that they haven’t experienced a day in the cotton mills, coal mines or up a chimney! They have then had a go at writing a recount as a Victorian child and what their life would have been like in their shoes. Here is a great example of a gruesome experience in the Cotton Mills!

This week in science, 6PB started their new topic 'Evolution and Inheritence' during which they spent their time investigating different types of fossils to investigate how things have changed over time. Well done to Karima who brought in one of her own fossils from home!

Week Commencing 21st February 2022

This week, the children had their Victorian Immersion day during which they experienced life as a Victorian child in the schooling system. Here are some of their reviews about the day:

Lucas: 
It was quite hard today because Victorian children were not allowed to ask questions and if you misbehaved, there was a risk of punishment (the cane or the dunce hat). However, I really enjoyed the day overall to experience what life was like; I particularly enjoyed making gruel for lunch and experiencing a 'drill' class where we learnt some of the Victorian PE games that were played like the 'hokey pokey man'.

Humayra:
I think that Victorian school was harsh and difficult. The two worst things were probably that we couldn't ask questions or put our hands up, and Victorian children were made to look emotionless by sitting in a manner that hides their true self to become 'proper' ladies and gentlemen. Now, teachers help children to have better mental health by caring for them and they do not give punishments for minor reasons, even if it was for discipline. As a modern-day student, it was fun to experience what it was like as a Victorian child. If I was a real Victorian child, I would absolutely hate school and be very sad after school and would find it boring and terrifying.

This week year 6 have been learning about life in the Victorian times for many of the lower-class families; they have got into the role of a workhouse inspector, telling their version of life for the orphans that lived within them. The children have enjoyed comparing their reports to how differently this would be completed by an OFSTED inspector if they were to visit a school today. I look forward to seeing how some of their learning will be used during our Victorian day next week!

This week the children have been learning a new unit within their English lessons and have been writing a setting description based on their video clip!
Here is a fantastic example from Maheera!

In Science we have been learning how light travels and reflects. To consolidate our learning, we tried to make a periscope. 

You will have heard the phrase 'How many people does it take to change a light-bulb?'

This was more - How many Year 6s does it take to make a periscope? 

It turns out that it takes 41 pupils and 4 adults to make just 4 periscopes! Thank goodness for Mrs Bunyan who kept us all on track 😀

We had a lot of fun trying to make them and proved that it really is possible to see round corners when we used the finished product.

Here are some photos of what we learnt about angles of incidence and reflection and how we used our periscopes.

This week 6PB have started their new history unit and have spent the first part of the lesson looking at our incredible new timeline in the playground. After finding the Victorian era, they particularly enjoyed discovering that we are already on the timeline and have become a part of history!

This week, the Year 6’s all had a great time at the school disco enjoying some of the old classics with their teachers!
Thanks for all of your support this term - we hope you have a lovely festive break and look forward to seeing you all in January!

This week in English, we have been writing emotive diary entries about an old man who is left alone for Christmas. This piece of work was among the most moving pieces of work in the whole class. 

This week 6PB have taken on the role of forecasters. After watching the BBC weather report for Britain, they then had a go at reporting the weather for Mexico. Some groups were fantastic at engaging the audience through their humorous reporting style, whilst others were able to include a wealth of information about how the climate impacts the weather in certain regions!

This week 6PB have been making our Christmas wreath! The children were amazing at making their pom pom reindeers and we are really pleased with the result!

This week has been an adventurous one for all of Year 6 as we switched to a brief spell of home learning.
The resilience of all the children was truly astonishing and we are very proud of how well they adapted and dealt with the children.
Thank you also to all the parents who supported us in keeping the children safe at such short notice, your efforts are, as usual, very appreciated.

I was impressed with so much work this week but this piece of work completed remotely was an absolute delight to read as a response to someone who had experienced peer pressure and sougth advice from an agony aunt...

 

To Chloe,

It has caught my awareness that you have recently been experiencing peer pressure. I am thankful that you have reached out to me about this so I'll be able to help you with this problem that you have experienced. 

I understand how you may be feeling at this moment, but that’s why I'm here and I'm going to help you feel better and I'm going to educate you about this problem hopefully solving this issue. Generally, this complication you are dealing with is called peer pressure. Peer pressure is mainly when someone dares you to do something you either want to or don't want to do/participate in. If you know you do not want to do this or it can be dangerous: I advise you to not agree to doing it, no matter what. 

Firstly, if you see other people –older or younger- do this challenge and it looks painful then I advise you not to take part as you have seen what the outcomes can possibly be to others and even yourself. You are right that you are under 13 and you shouldn't be on this platform, this is mostly for your safety. Along with that, I have read that your friends call you a 'chicken' until you post it which, of course is offensive. It doesn't matter who calls you anything what matters is that you don’t do anything that can harm or endanger you. Would you rather be in pain by a challenge and not be called any names or be called a name and stay safe and healthy? This is why I strongly recommend you to not complete this task as you could get sick form doing the ghost pepper challenge. 

Finally, if you cannot think of any ways to say no to peer pressure I'll show you many ways to do so. Firstly, the main thing you need is confidence. It does not matter if you'll be laughed at, all that matters is staying safe. You can suggest to do something else instead that will remove the dare from the situation. You could also straight up say no to them and try find new and more suitable friends for you. If you do need someone to communicate with, you can speak with an adult for e.g. a teacher, your parent, siblings or even trusted friends. 

Thank you for reaching out to me and I hope that this problem will be solves as quick as possible. 

                                           - From agony aunt. 

In 6PB this week, our focus in English has been around creating suspense within our writing. After getting to understand the features of a suspense narrative, we had a go at creating our own setting descriptions using the techniques learnt. These are some examples of our work!

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This week in science we created circuits, using equipment to make a bulb light up.

Not only were we able to create simple and series circuits, but we were also able to move onto a harder circuit called a parrallell circuit!

This week, 6PB have been understanding the key components that make up our blood. Using a range of everyday food to represent the four key parts, the children were able to create their own!

Over the past two weeks class 6PB have been looking at the impact the wives of Henry VIII had on his reign. A huge well done to one member of the class who has done some incredible extra research at home! This has been displayed on our history display and her extra knowledge has really helped others in the class to learn more about Henry’s life - particularly his jousting accident. I hope others become just as inspired to go above and beyond and do the same!