Year 6 Blog

Week beginning 16th December

We have made it to the end of a busy half term. 

In year 6 this week we have started to build upon our understanding of decimals. We have recapped the value of digits and added and subtracted decimals using the formal written method. 

In Literacy this week, we have had a grammar focus on semicolons and tenses. The children had the opportunity to write a variety of sentences that included different tenses and semicolons.  Practising these grammar features will allow children to feel a lot more confident using them in their writing. As we had been reading ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ in Reading Skills, we had the opportunity to watch the movie. The children really enjoyed making the links and connections from the book compared to the movie.

Throughout the term, our theme has been focusing on WW2. This week we learnt about D-Day and understood what this meant. Using this information, the children had the opportunity to create a fact file to showcase their learning. 

Later in the week, we recapped all we had learnt throughout our topic and celebrated the end of WW2 with a street party. 

We would like to thank you for your ongoing support, we wish you all a restful and joyful holiday.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Year 6 team

 

Week beginning 9th October

Year 6 have been working incredibly hard again this week. 

The week started with the excitement of helping our Reception buddies create their Christmas cards. Festive activities continued with the designing of trees for the Christmas wreaths to decorate our classroom doors, practising our Christmas songs in assembly and class and enjoying our Christmas lunch on Thursday.

In Maths we have been continuing our learning about fractions and applying our knowledge when solving problems. We have been developing a range of strategies for calculating with fractions including how and when to use KFC - ask your child to explain.

In Literacy we wrote and edited a non-chronological report about a mythical creature of our choice. The children wrote very well and demonstrated their understanding of causal conjunctions and rhetorical questions to add extra interest to their work.

As we come to the end of our topic of World War 2, we have been finding out about D-day and its importance in bringing about the end of the war. We will be reviewing all our learning about the topic next week and celebrating all the new knowledge we have acquired.

Wishing you a restful weekend.

The Year 6 team

 

Week beginning 2nd December

A short but busy week. In Literacy, we have been consolidating our understanding of cause and effect and using causal conjunctions to help us structure our report writing. Following on from this, we focused on parenthesis (extra information) and started to "box up" our invented report.

In Maths, we looked at our recent SATs papers and corrected any mistakes that they identified. The children have taken their maths papers home today for you to see. The children will set the next set of practice papers in January. 

In history, we learnt about the evacuation of Dunkirk and the 338,000 troops that were saved during Operation Dynamo. The children created excellent story boards depicting the key order of the events.

Hopefully you have received an email this week informing you about our upcoming SATs evening on Thursday 15th January from 6 - 7pm.

A gentle reminder that PE days are Tuesday and Friday and children are expected to have their full kit in school every day.

We wish you all a lovely weekend.

 

Week beginning 25th November

This week in year 6, we have been learning to add and subtract mixed numbers using different strategies. Children were able to choose the most comfortable method they found to answer the questions. We later moved onto multiplying whole numbers by a fraction.

In Literacy, we started off the week with creating a spine poem using interesting features of a troll. Later in the week, we began writing our innovative stories where we used the features taught and applied them to our own information reports based on our class text “ Why Ogres Are Dangerous”. 

In History we learnt about the battle of Britain. The Children wrote as if they were an RAF pilot in the midst of a dog fight.

We wish you all wonderful long weekend. 

 

Week beginning 18th November

Congratulations to all of Year 6 for their determination when undertaking their assessments this week. Keep up the good work!

Assessments aside, we have been busy elsewhere in the curriculum. It has been UK Parliament Week this week and we have been discovering how Parliament works. On Friday our local MP David Taylor came to visit and we asked him lots of questions to find out more about his role in government. The children then enjoyed coming up with ideas for the laws they would like to see passed in the future.

In History, we have been continuing our learning about World War 2. We have been finding out about Anne Frank’s life and then wrote some wonderful biographies about her. We found it difficult to imagine what life must have been like for her and her family and showed great empathy for their situation.

 

Week beginning 11th November

This week in Year 6, we have been continuing to focus on fractions in maths. The children have recapped how to add and subtract fractions by finding a common denominator and used this skill to apply to word problems.

In literacy, we looked at our new non-fiction report titled "Why Ogres Are Dangerous" . We practised writing rhetorical questions that would be used in an introductory paragraph to hook our reader in. Later in the week, we identifed good examples of transferrable sentence patterns from our class text and had a go at modifying these to use in our own writing.

In art, we created our own WW2 propaganda posters taking inspiration from well known campaigns such as "Make Do and Mend" and "Dig for Victory." The children enjoyed creating these colourful, eye-catching posters with catchy tag lines.

In history, we discussed the Holocaust and made links to our guided reading book, "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas." We were so proud of the children for discussing such a serious matter with such maturity. Next week, we will be writing a biography about Anne Frank.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Week beginning 4th November 

What a busy first week back. 

In maths this week we have worked hard on understanding equivalent fractions and have practised simplifying them. Following this, we explored converting fractions to a decimal and identifying fractions on a numberline. 

Our first week back in literacy has been time spent exploring our class text. We have worked together to use our knowledge and understanding to produce known facts on ogres and used these to decide whether or not to support a statement. Children were then able to use their findings to hold a class discussion to either support or refute the statement.

We ended our week with lots of excitement as we engaged thoroughly in our WW2 day. All children took part in learning a WW2 dance called the Jitterbug. Perhaps they could show you the 6 step dance they practised. We later produced a piece of Blitz artwork where we used paints to design the background and later used a blending technique to create a fire effect. To form the foreground of our pictures, we constructed a silhouette to complete the Blitz impression piece. In addition to our theme day, we baked and tasted carrot cookies; a firm favourite in WW2 whilst the country was rationing. 

We’d like to end with thanking all parent/careers for the fabulous contributions and efforts put into the childrens costumes, they looked fantastic.

 

Week beginning 21st October

Well done to all of Year 6 for all their hard work this half term.

We have had a very busy final week, culminating in our wonderful buddy assembly. It was so lovely to see the confidence that the children are developing when speaking in public and the caring relationships they are building with their buddies. 

In Maths, we have been developing our understanding of the four operations and the order in which they need to be carried out in when calculating - ask your children to explain BIDMAS to find out what they have been learning about.  We consolidated our knowledge by playing games whilst dressed as ‘rockstars’. We also enjoyed our TT rockstars assembly. 

Teachers were very impressed by the imaginative 500 word stories that were written in Literacy this week. The children were very creative with their writing and used many of the skills that we have been working on this half term.

In History, we have been continuing our learning about World War 2 by finding out more about food rationing. We were not very keen on some of the recipes we read about! The children showed great understanding about the hardships that people experienced in wartime and wrote some very informative fact files about what they had learned. We are looking forward to our World War 2 theme day on Friday 8th November.

 

Week beginning 14th October

This week, we had a visit from two magistrates from St Albans Crown Court to talk to the children about the work of the magistrates' and crown courts, the court system and the wider impact of criminality.  They covered topics relevant to the children such as the age of criminal responsibility. They then used a pre-prepared trial scenario which they asked the children to act out. This illustrated a typical case and the sort of difficult decisions they have to make daily. It also made the children think about the consequences of becoming involved in crime and the wide-reaching implications of this.  The children listened very carefully and enjoyed the workshop.

In Maths, we moved on from using the short division method from last week and learnt the long division method which is required when dividing two large digits together. This can be a challenging method but the children have been resilient and have all made good progress. We will regularly recap this method throughout the year.

In Literacy, we have been planning our stories ready to submit them to the 500 Word Story Competition organisd by the BBC. Our own Phoebe Perry was a finalist last year and we hope that more pupils of Jupiter School will reach the final this year!

We hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Week beginning 7th October

We have made it to yet another week. 

This week we have worked hard to get lots of new learning done. In maths, we explored multiplying and dividing using the formal written method. We later used these methods to solve word problems.

In Literacy this week we have worked together to figure out the underlying pattern to our class text. Following this, we planned and wrote our own version of the text changing the characters perspective. 

 We finished the week with Art, where we have used our drawing and sketching skills to recreate an underground perspective drawing inspired by Henry Moore. The children took their time and produced fabulous detailed sketches using tints and shades.

 

Week beginning 30th September

Year 6 have been working super hard again this week. In Maths, we have been developing our understanding of factors, multiples, prime numbers and squared and cubed number. We finished the week by playing a game to test our knowledge. In Literacy, we are continuing to focus on identifying how tension and suspense are built in a text, creating a class toolkit so that we are able to use these techniques in our own writing. We have then been practising using these skills independently. We have also been busy writing in our History and RE lessons, writing an advert for a job in World War 2 and creating a leaflet about the importance of the synagogue to the Jewish community. On Friday afternoon we went to meet our Reception Class buddies. Throughout the year we will be regularly joining the children in Reception, helping them with their learning, their play and their reading as well as developing our own skills such as helping others, empathy and leadership.

 

Week beginning 23rd September

Another busy week in Year 6! On Monday and Thursday, we had the Herts Young Homeless charity come to visit the children and lead workshops on "conflict resolution" and "anger management." In the conflict resolution workshop, the leaders worked to improve the children's understanding of conflict and helped them to develop strategies to manage it. In the anger management workshop, the children improved their understanding of anger and explored methods for managing it. All of the children listened so well during both workshops and were great ambassadors for the school.

This week was also test week where children sat old SATs papers in reading, maths and SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar). We will be sharing the results of these tests with the children over the next few weeks and we will be using the data to inform our teaching and to better know how to support each child individually.

Towards the end of the week, we were looking at multiples and factors in maths. Both of these concepts require children to know all of their times tables up  to 12x12. To support all of the children with their times tables, we have taught them how to find and understand their progress maps (called heatmaps) on TT Rockstars. These maps show children their progress. We are looking forward to sharing these with you at the upcoming parents evening.

Just a reminder that PE is on Tuesdays and Fridays and that PE kit should be in school every day. If your child cannot take their earrings out for PE then they can tape them up at home before arriving at school.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

 

Week begining 16th September 

What a brilliant start to the term we have had, the children have settled in well to their new classes and routines.

In Maths this week, we started off by consolidating our learning on Roman Numerals and ended with Adding and Subtracting Numbers using the inverse operation. All children worked incredibly hard on this and showed great resilience.

In literacy, we have started our new text ‘The Library’ where we enjoyed writing a creative news report and writing in role using great detail to show the characters feelings and emotions. 

We have really enjoyed learning about WW2 in History. The children have shown great engagement and contributed well to class discussions. Next week, we will continue to look at the preparations that were made in readiness for war. 

Reminders:

• PE days are on Tuesday and Friday- all children will need to have the correct PE kit in school on these days. 

• Homework to be completed on Sats Companion once a week ‘Thursday- Thursday’

• All children should be reading at home for at least 20 minutes. 

Thank you for your continued support.

We wish you a restful and wonderful weekend

 

Week beginning 17^th of June

As the school year draws to a close, we are thrilled to share the rehearsals of our end-of-year production, "The Wizard of Oz." are going at full speed. The children, who have shown their resilience, creativity, and dedication are working very hard to learn their lines and songs  to make this a memorable event for parents and siblings.

In Literacy we worked on a special writing project where children wrote flashback stories inspired by a beautiful piano video. The video showed a touching piano performance that sparked their imaginations. Each student wrote a story that took the reader back in time, exploring memories and emotions brought up by the music. They created interesting plots and characters, showing how much they've improved as writers.

In PE the children are excitedly preparing for Sports Day. They are practicing hard, running races, and doing relays. Everyone is working together, learning how to pass the baton and run as fast as they can. It's great to see their teamwork and effort as they get ready for the big day!

Please remind them that Sports day is Thursday 27^th of June. They should all come dressed in their PE kits with a water bottle and lots of sunscreen.

Our visits from the Mini Police are proving to be very popular with the children. During these sessions, we had important discussions about anti-social behaviour. The Mini Police officers taught the children about respect, community, and the impact of their actions. The children  were engaged and learned valuable lessons on how to contribute positively to their community. We look forward to more visits and continuing these important conversations.

We kindly ask parents to start organizing costumes for their children for our production. Each character will need a specific costume to bring the story to life. Your support in this will ensure that our students look fantastic on stage. Please refer to the costume list sent home and contact us if you have any questions or need assistance. Thank you for your help in making this production a success!

 

Week beginning 10th June

This week has been another jam packed one - full of interesting learning opportunities and exciting activies! On Monday, we had another "mini-police" session where two local police officers spoke to the children about online safety and the importance of being kind online. They discussed age restrictions on popular apps, the importance of being kind online and the repercussions that can happen if someone is reported to be cyber bullying.

On Tuesday, the children played rounders during PE which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. The children are now feeling more confident with the rules and hitting the ball.

Literacy has been our focus each morning as we are approaching our deadline for the Year 6 writing assessment. The children have edited and enhanced a narrative and discussion text this week as well as written a character description for The Wicked Witch of the West.

Our afternoons this week have been dedicated to rehearsing for the end of year production. The children have made really good progress with the songs and are growing in confidence each day. We have explained to the children that they need to learn their lines by the end of next week (main roles have two weeks to learn their lines) so that we can start to think about stage directionns. Keep your eyes peeled for an email next week about tickets going on sale!

Friday morning was another "Changing Me" PSHE lesson where we learnt about changes that bodies go through when transitioning from children to adolescents. The children asked really sensible questions and listened carefully to the information given. The second part of this PSHE lesson will be taught next week.

We hope you have a lovely, restful weekend.

 

Week beginning 20th of May

The week has had a positive start with the visit from Police support officers who will deliver Mini-Police sessions every Monday for the next 8 weeks. The children got to wear mini police jackets and high visibility vests. They were also given their own badge and notebook to take notes during the sessions. We and the PCSO’s  have been really impressed with the questions they asked and how sensible they behaved. 

In Maths we have started our White Rose bakery project.  We calculated the ingredients amounts we might need for cupcakes, our profit and loss and what packaging we will need.

In Literacy we continue to read Gorilla Dawn. This week we have concentrated on giving the main character advice and wrote a letter to her on what is the best way to proceed.

In Computing we are extending our knowledge on spreadsheets and have started using formulas to calculate amounts within a spreadsheet.

We hope the children are really excited about our end of year production. They were advised to take their scripts at home and start learning their parts over half term.

We wish you a very relaxed half term and hopefully the sun will make an appearance.

 

Week beginning Monday 13th May

Wahoo, SATs are over! This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions with SATs taking place as well as many other fun activities in the afternoons. The children displayed such resilience during their tests and we are so proud of them all. 

Friday was a special day because the whole morning was dedicated to auditions for our end of year production! Many children auditioned and some even sung solos! It was a wonderful morning full of positivity, support kindness to one another. We are hoping to cast the children in their roles by the end of this week so they can look over their lines in half term.

 

PGL

Just before Easter, Year 6 visited PGL Liddington. This was the children's first school residential and they took part in a range of activities such as raft building, abseiling, orienteering and zip lining. We were so proud of the children over coming their fears and the resilience they showed.

Thank you to those who came to the PGL assembly. We hope you enjoy the video!

 

 

 

Week beginning 22nd April

Well, we have had a great second week back after the long Easter Holidays. Momentum is high and
the children are all showing such a conscientious and positive attitude to their learning. We are so
proud!

In Literacy this week, we continued reading Gorilla Dawn by Gill Lewis. Things are really starting to
heat up now as the characters are facing many dilemmas that have evoked discussion and
challenged our thinking. We developed our understanding of the gorillas by empathising with their
feelings during a killing and capturing, conveying this through the eyes of the captured gorilla in the
form of a diary entry.

In Maths, we began delving into the world of algebra. Although mind-boggling at times, we
persevered and acquired a greater understanding of letters, symbols, expressions and we’re ready to
start writing our own formulas next week.

During Science, we continued our learning about our Evolution and Adaptation unit. We thought
about similarities and differences between our relatives and ourselves, identifying which physical
and character traits we might have inherited from our parents. Please do ask your child what traits
they identified!

In theme, we began learning about our new unit- The Kingdom of Benin. Although many of us found
we did not know much about this period, we thought in detail about what we would like to find out
and formed questions we would like to answer within our learning.
We also spent time rehearsing our PGL assembly, which is Friday 3 rd May at 9.00 am. We would not
like to give away any surprises, so do come along and prepare to be entertained!

Week beginning 15th April

Welcome back! And welcome to the summer term. We have many things to look forward to this term - the PGL/creative week assembly, the post-SATs celebrations and the end of year production to name a few!

This term, our topic is MAAFA which is the Swahili word for “great disaster” or “great tragedy,” This knowledge-rich main project teaches children about Africa past and present and the development of the slave trade. It also explores Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, the causes and consequences of the European colonisation of Africa and the worldwide communities that make up the African diaspora.

In Literacy, we have been continuing to read "Gorilla Dawn" - a story set deep in the heart of the Congo where a baby gorilla is captured by a group of rebel soldiers. The children have been writing character descriptions focusing on positive and negative character traits.

In Maths, the children were given a completed arithmetic and reasoning paper which were both full of mistakes. The children corrected the errors and explained the mistake that had been made. Towards the end of the week, the children recapped multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000.

 

 

 

Week beginning 18th March

While the majority of children left for PGL on Monday, all of us who stayed behind had fun as well. 

Monday we did our own maze art boxes and used marbles to see who had designed the most complex and colourful one. We spent time outside during the day and learned new skipping rope tricks and also practiced our badminton skills.  We have also tested our general knowledge in a quiz and we started to look at rules we need to learn for us to be able to play chess. We decided to learn and practice a new rule everyday this week.

Tuesday was our cooking day. We thoroughly enjoyed making pizza and Easter egg nests by melting chocolate and adding it to Rice Crispies. 

Year 6 children also helped year 4 with their science lesson to measure temperature and the time needed to melt chocolate depending on how hot the liquid was. Children designed and tested different models of paper aeroplanes. After a long debate about what could be improved to the existing plane templates they had they decided to come up with their own ideas on how to make a paper aeroplane fly for a longer distance.

Our Wednesday PE lesson was lots of fun. We have learned archery skills. We also used clay to make our own rainforest necklaces. In the afternoon we watched the Jungle Book and enjoyed popcorn. 

Thursday was also busy. We painted our rainforest clay necklaces, had a session of just dance, took part in a very interesting assembly, we asked questions to a Rabbi about the Judaism faith and Mrs Mortimer taught us how to deal with our worries in a mindfulness session. 

Friday we learned how to play different types of rhythm with music from different parts of the world in a drumming workshop, we built our own pinball machine and created our own comic strip stories.  

 

Week beginning 4^th of March

Another busy week for year 6 with Sats boosters and The Big Footy and Booky quiz dedicated to world book day. Children also had the opportunity to hear Michael Morpurgo read one of his books live.

In Literacy we started reading the book we are going to focus on for the near future, Gorilla Dawn.  We learned about the location of where the action from the book is happening, The Democratic Republic of Congo and why it is a special place. Children made really good connections with facts they have learned in our Theme lessons about the rainforest. We have also learned how to develop complex sentences to engage our readers by introducing subordinate conjunctions.

Our Maths lessons this week covered fractions, percentages, and decimals. We have learned how to calculate percentages of amount; we have used day to day life situations where we need to calculate percentages and we have reminded ourselves how to round decimals.

In Science we have looked at the life of Carl Linnaeus and how he developed his species system classification.

Theme this week was about indigenous people of the rainforest in Brazil and how their way of life is endangered by the government policies and laws and farmers who want their land for farming animals. We have written a diary entry from the perspective of an Awa tribe child.

Home Learning

Attached below, is a reminder of expectations for homework. Children only need to complete one task as a minimum, but they can choose to complete more if they wish. Homework is due on Fridays.

Sats Companion

• Once a week: Friday to Friday.
• Tasks to be completed online.
• Tasks will always follow the learning happening in class.

Times Tables Rock Stars

Practice your times tables and division for at least 10 min every day.

Reading

Reading should happen every day for at least 20 minutes.

 

Week beginning 26th February

We’ve had a super first week back to start the second half of Spring Term. A big well done to the
children for their continued hard work and commitment to their learning- whether it’s attending
booster sessions or extra reading, doing extra work at home, or just demonstrating a positive
attitude towards each lesson- we are proud of you all!

In Literacy this week, we changed our focus to a new book we will be reading- Gorilla Dawn by Gill
Lewis. The children began the week with some artwork to reveal our theme, before learning more
about Gorillas and writing an information page about them.
In Maths, we continued our learning making connections between fractions, decimals and
percentages. We calculated equivalences between all three before moving on to calculating
percentages of amounts at the end of the week.
In Science, we learnt about animals and their adaptation to their habitats. We then focused on the
rainforest ecosystem and the children found out more information about five animal species of their
choice. They thought carefully about how each of the species had adapted to survive in the
rainforest.
In theme, we continued our learning about the rainforest, focusing on the piece of writing we began
before half term- a balanced argument discussing the reasons for and against deforestation. The
children enjoyed debating this and did find it quite challenging to agree that deforestation should
happen at all!

Here’s to a sunnier and warmer week next week- the PGL countdown has begun!

 

 

Week beginning 12th February

As we enter the final week before half term, we would like to say how proud we are of all of the children. They have really been exerting themselves over the past few weeks and making a concerted effort to progress in their learning. 

The children will be coming home with two practice papers this week to complete over the half term. It is really important that the children try to get these done as they will further support them in their SATs. The children can return them to school on the first Monday back to be marked.

In Maths, we have started our percentages unit and will soon be finding percentages of amounts.

In Literacy, we have been continuing looking our flashback story "The Kidnap" and will soon be writing our own version. We have been focusing on writing for suspense by using short sentences, personficiaton and effective vocabulary.

In theme, we have started writing a discussion text titled "Should rainforest deforestation be banned?" We have look at the pros and cons of this argument and the children have enjoyed taking part in a healthy debate.

A quick note: New homework will be uploaded onto SATs Companion for after half term. Children are expected to have completed a piece each Thursday.

We hope you have a lovely half term!

Week beginning 29th January

Wow! What a week! We have had an unbelievable amount of aspiration and resilience demonstrated by all pupils in Year 6 this week, as we have completed another round of practise assessments! A huge WELL DONE to every single pupil for working so very hard! We are proud of you!

Although we have gone through some of the papers, there are some papers awaiting to be worked through- we will do this next week!

In Science this week, we learnt about classifying animals and plants, including identifying the features of each of the 5 main groups of vertebrates- mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles. Be sure to ask your child to teach you about these and possibly even fascinate you with an interesting fact they learnt through some of their research.

In Theme, we continued our learning about the Rainforest, recapping on the different layers within a rainforest and finding out about how human activity impacts these beautiful areas of our world. Within our discussions, we considered reasons why deforestation might occur and spent a lot of time debating these.

In Art, we completed a piece of work for the school’s Book Week competition and created an illustration based on our favourite book. There some excellent pieces of work!

 

Week beginning 15th January

Another busy week in Year 6!

At the start of this term, the children started in their new maths classes. They have settled in so well to their new groups and have enjoyed working with children that they may not usually work with. The focus this week has been finishing our fractions units and starting units of measurement. The children have practised converting units of measure by multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000. 

In Literacy, the children finished off their retelling of "The Present." We were so proud of the their wriitng and they particularly excelled themselves in using new and ambitious vocabulary.

In Geography on Thursday, the childen looked at atlases to locate the largest rainforests in the world. They also learnt about the tropic of cancer and capricorn and identified them on their own maps.

Next week, a letter will be given to each child detailing their current progress and their individual targets. There is also a SATs parents meeting on Wednesday 24th January at 6pm in the school hall. We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible! 

We hope you have a lovely weekend. 

 

Week beginning 8th January

Happy New Year! We hope you all had a joyful Christmas and a nice break from the everyday routines.

It was so lovely to welcome the Year 6 children back to school on Monday; they were all very excited to be back with their friends and the rest of the school community!

The classes have started the new term with a great attitude towards their learning. They began the week with a special assembly about school expectations and what rewards they can achieve when they are proud of their learning.

In Maths we have learned how to add and subtract improper fractions with different denominators. We also have used the KCF (keep, change, flip) method to divide fractions. We have explained to the children that the more they practice the easier it gets to solve sums with fractions. A good start is always Sats companion.

In Literacy we watched the short movie “The Present”. We have concentrated on ambitious vocabulary: adjectives – to describe the main characters, the boy and the dog and adverbials – to describe the actions of characters in order for us to make our descriptions interesting for the reader.

Theme this term is going to be about The Rainforest. Children have had a very interesting and full or surprises first lesson where they had to guess some items that were placed by Miss Wadmore in black bags. All of them we found out come from plants of items that can be found in the Rainforest.

PE this half term is netball, and it will happen outside. We ask parents to make sure children have appropriate clothing and layers during this cold weather.

Home Learning  

Attached below, is a reminder of expectations for homework. Children only need to complete one task as a minimum, but they can choose to complete more if they wish. Homework is due on Fridays.

Sats Companion

• Once a week: Friday to Friday.  
• Tasks to be completed online.
• Tasks will always follow the learning happening in class.

Times Tables Rock Stars  

Practice your times tables and division for at least 10 min every day.

Reading

Reading should happen everyday for at least 20 minutes. Adults can help children by asking questions like:

 

 

 

 Reminder to ensure:  

• Children are wearing the correct school uniform and shoes
• Children have their PE kit every week.
• Children are bringing in their water bottles.
• Coats are being worn to school.

Thank you

 

Week beginning 4th of December

We had a great week in year 6 cooking, singing carols and decorating our doors and Christmas trees.

In Maths we have started our unit on Fractions. We have reminded ourselves of important vocabulary like numerator and denominator and used fraction walls to help us understand equivalent fractions and how to simplify fractions efficiently. 

In Literacy we have designed our own gadgets and started writing persuasive texts about them.  Next week the children will have to pitch them to our own Dragon Den, Mrs Armstrong.

Our  Holocaust Theme lesson this week was very emotional. The lesson has  started with separating the children based on different traits and being treated unfairly based on these traits.  Children have demonstrated maturity when talking about Holocaust and meaningful conversations about race, gender, religion have taken place. 

Our D&T lesson was the highlight of the week. We used our maths skills to adapt a bread recipe, to weigh dry ingredients and measure liquids.  

The bread rolls were a success and we can see we have some really good candidates for "The Great British Bake Off" competition.

As usual, our weekly reminders to children are to continue to do the following tasks at home to support their learning at school:

Read at least 20-30 minutes per day. Please try to give the children time to
read with an adult aloud
Practise your Times tables using Times Table Rockstars or other online
games. This knowledge is crucial to apply to so many areas within Maths.
Please continue to use SATs Companion to complete homework tasks but also
to complete tasks in the ‘Practise Section’. There are excellent videos that
remind children about their chosen topic before they can try out some
questions for themselves.

We hope you all have a restful and relaxing weekend!

 

 

Week beginning 27th November

We’ve had another super week in Year 6!

In Literacy, we have continued learning our model text- The Multi-Function Mobile Phone - be sure to ask the children all about it! This week we focused on ‘Reading as a Writer’, identifying and evaluating types of language and their specific effect on the reader. In Maths, we have spent time going back through our recent assessments, identifying mistakes and correcting them. This has been truly beneficial for the children. In Science, the children created their own enquiry questions, which they then investigated, recording observations and making conclusions based on their results.

In Theme, we learnt about events that led to the end of World War 2. We used a map of Europe to identify where the Allies were placed and what happened to lead to victory. We then spent time researching different medals that were given to soldiers, service members and women to acknowledge their sheer commitment and achievements during the war. 

Finally, we finished the week with a bang! On Thursday, we enjoyed a phenomenal Times Table Rockstars Launch day. Our day began with a thrilling showdown between four children in UKS2, which, of course, included two of our many super Mathematicians- Ethan Bennett and Ibrahim Abbasi. A massive shout out to you both for working so speedily with such a big audience. A HUGE congratulations to Ethan for coming first and Ibrahim for coming third- you absolutely smashed it you Rock Heroes!

As usual, our weekly reminders to children are to continue to do the following tasks at home to support their learning at school:

• Read at least 20-30 minutes per day. Please try to give the children time to read with an adult aloud

• Practise your Times tables using Times Table Rockstars or other online games. This knowledge is crucial to apply to so many areas within Maths.

• Please continue to use SATs Companion to complete homework tasks but also to complete tasks in the ‘Practise Section’. There are excellent videos that remind children about their chosen topic before they can try out some questions for themselves.

 

Week beginning 20th November

Back to normal this week in Year 6. We are so proud of the resilience that the children demonstrated last week in their assessments. We will be sharing their results with them next week.

In Maths, we have been revising some key concepts that were identified by last week's assessments. We have been embedding these concepts, such as BIDMAS, by playing card games and bingo!

In Literacy, we have been looking at a model text all about a 'Multi-functioning Mobile Phone' - the perfect accessory for any spy! The children have been drawing a story map for the text ready to learn the text off by heart next week.

In Guided Reading, we have continued reading 'The Boy in Striped Pyjamas." The book has elicited some excellent conversations between the children who have thoughtfully discussed some very mature subjects.

A gentle reminder that Thursday 30th December is our TT Rockstars relaunch day. Children are invited to dress up as a rockstar for the day and they are encouraged to access TT Rockstars for home to see if they can become one of the top 4 children on the leaderboard.

We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

 

Week beginning 13th November

What a fantastic week we’ve had, although challenging too! Let’s start by saying a
HUGE congratulations to each and every one of the students for demonstrating such
positive attitudes towards their Autumn 2 Assessments. We are so proud of the
resilience and responsibility shown by our wonderful year 6 cohort this week. You
superstars!

Literacy and Maths may have been consumed by our assessments, but in Guided
Reading we have continued to enjoy reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which
has evoked such deep discussions and curiosity.

In Theme, we learnt about Operation Dynamo- The Battle of Dunkirk- and its
importance in the timeline of events in World War 2. In Science this week, we
continued our learning about Electricity with a focus on electrical circuits, in
particular specific electrical components and their symbols. During Design &
Technology this week, we learnt about whole foods and how these can be used to
create healthier choices when cooking at home. The children made a Fresh Tomato
Pasta sauce, which involved lots of chopping, stirring and of course, tasting! It is fair
to say, this might have been the highlight of some student’s learning this week.
There were many children who wanted copies of the recipe- so be warned-
tomatoes, garlic and onions might be on your shopping list this weekend!
Other important aspects of our learning this week have been on the festival of Diwali
and recognising Anti-Bullying Week.

As usual, our weekly reminders to children are to continue to do the following tasks
at home to support their learning at school:

ï‚· Read at least 20-30 minutes per day. Please try to give the children time to
read with an adult aloud
ï‚· Practise your Times tables using Times Table Rockstars or other online
games. This knowledge is crucial to apply to so many areas within Maths.
ï‚· Please continue to use SATs Companion to complete homework tasks but also
to complete tasks in the ‘Practise Section’. There are excellent videos that
remind children about their chosen topic before they can try out some
questions for themselves.

We hope you all have a restful and relaxing weekend!

 

Week begining 6th of November

In Literacy, we developed our 500-word stories for the BBC 500 word competition. We looked at what type of vocabulary makes a great setting and character description; different story endings and what story starter will be more effective to make it more interesting for the reader.

In Maths we have learned and practiced the BODMAS (order of operations method). 

In Science, we have learned about the history of electricity and have created interesting fact files about scientists that have had great contributions in developing.

In Theme we used atlases to locate on the map the most affected cities in UK during The Blitz and have completed an Air Raid precaution card warning a family about not respecting the rules during the blackout. We have also assessed and completed a Warden report about the damage and destruction Jupiter School has sustained during a German air raid.

 

A gentle reminder that the children should be completing one task OR test on SATs Companion each week for their homework. If they do not have access to a computer, please encourage them to talk to us and they will be given a hardcopy to complete.

 

Week beginning 30th October

 

Welcome back! We hope you all had a lovely half term. We have started the new half term off with a challenge - long division! The children have been working really hard at it and, despite it being tricky, have made great progress.

In Literacy, we have started looking at a persuasive text all about super gadgets! The children will be learning the text and in three weeks time, writing their own persusive text about a gadget that they have designed.

We have started looking at electricity in science and our first lesson was all about staying safe around electricity. I wonder if the children can remember what an electrical conductor is and give an example of one?

We are continuing to look at WW2 in our history lessons and learnt about The Battle of Britain this week. The children wrote a diary entry in the perspective of an RAF pilot involved in a "dog fight." The children are finishing off their evacuation letters today so keep your eyes peeled for those next week!

A gentle reminder that the children should be completing one task OR test on SATs Companion each week for their homework. As this is the first week back, the children have been given an extension to hand in their first piece. It is due on Monday 6th November.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

 

Week beginning 16th October

Year 6 have finished the first half-term with our most exciting week yet!
During Literacy, we focused on grammar skills- conjunctions and expanded noun
phrases! In Maths, we have learnt about different types of angles and have practised
measuring and calculating these. In Science, we finished our Animals including
humans unit of work, with a lesson about the impact drugs and alcohol have on the
human body.

But, probably the most exciting part of our week was our World War 2 Theme Day
on Wednesday. Firstly, a big well done to everyone for their fantastic effort dressing
up for the day. It was lovely to see such a wide variety of costumes, from evacuees
to RAF pilots, to carrier pigeons!

We began the day by designing and making our own mini Anderson Shelters. These
are awesome- well done everyone! The ultimate test will be when we test the
structures of these with a 1 KG weight after half term! We also spent some of the
morning preparing vegetables for Kim in the kitchen who kindly made a popular
World War 2 dish: Vegetable Hot Pot. In the afternoon, we were lucky enough to
taste the hot pot, which had real mixed reviews! We finished the afternoon by
watching some old news reels that would have been shown in theatres during the
war.

Our World War 2 themed activities continued on Thursday, with a special virtual
workshop with a curator at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London. The
workshop was all about The Blitz and we learnt what roles men and women had
within this time. Our final activity was to write a letter as an evacuee which was a
response to all your super letters you sent in with the children on Wednesday!
Watch this space, as you will receive your letter after half term when the final
changes have been made.

Lastly, we would like to share with you a poem, which Lilly Huse in Wildcats wrote at
home. We thought it was really special and loved this World War inspired piece of
writing! Well done, Lilly!

The Trench
In the trench I stay
Here to fight another day.
Cold and wet I have to feel
My hands are wet and slippery like an eel
Soldiers stand heel to heel
Feeling very very ill

The sound of bombs and guns blast and blow
I bet there’s ammunition down below!
I want to survive, I want to thrive
but to take another man’s life?
I want to hug my little girl
I really miss her for the world
By Lilly Huse, Wildcats

As usual, our weekly reminders to children are to continue to do the following tasks
at home to support their learning at school:

ï‚· Read at least 20-30 minutes per day. Please try to give the children time to
read with an adult aloud
ï‚· Practise your Times tables using Times Table Rockstars or other online
games. This knowledge is crucial to apply to so many areas within Maths.
ï‚· Please continue to use SATs Companion to complete homework tasks but also
to complete tasks in the ‘Practise Section’. There are excellent videos that
remind children about their chosen topic before they can try out some
questions for themselves.
Please note, from next week, our PE days will be changing to Wednesday and
Thursday. Please ensure your children have the correct uniform in their PE Kits.
We hope you all have a wonderful and restful half term. See you back here on
Monday 30th October.

 

 

Week begining 9th of October

 

The children worked so hard this week and we can see them using their growth mindest in every lesson.

In Maths this week we have learned the short division method and how we can divide by using factors of a number to make our maths answers more accurate and faster. We have also used new mathematical language like Quotient and Divisor to explain our answers when trying to solve word problems.

In Literacy we have used our toolkit to write a suspense story. Children have used a range of conjunctions, fronted adverbials, and ambitious vocabulary to make their writing interesting and engaging. They have also worked in pairs to help improve their story and give positive feedback to each other.

In History we have looked at Rationing during WW2 and how the war has changed the way people procured their food and how they had to adapt and grow their own crops using allotments.

In Science we have looked at the link between a healthy diet and a healthy circulatory system.

Well done to all the children for their hard work when using SATs companion, we can see a lot of them showing our school values of being independent and taking responsibility for their own learning.

Next week is our Theme Day on the 18^th of October.  We would be very grateful for any recycled materials donations towards our Anderson Shelters projects.

 

Week beginning 2nd October

We have had another brilliant week in Year 6 and the children have been working so hard across all subjects.

In science this week, we have continued to look at the circulatory system and in particular, red blood cells. The children learnt how they travel around our blood vessels and the important role they play in carrying oxygen around our body.

In history, we looked at the jobs that men and women had in World War 2. The children compared the jobs and we discussed the imporance of the roles. They then selected one of the jobs that we looked at and wrote a persuasive job advert.

In Maths, we have been looking at multiples, factors and multiplying using the formal, written method. The children tried really hard and are being encouraged to practise multiplying 4 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers at home.

In Literacy, we have been looking using verbs and adverbs to create tension ready for writing a suspense story next week!

A gentle reminder that children must have their PE kits in school every day and a labelled water bottle. They must also have the correct PE kit with either a plain white top or a plain top the colour of their house.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

 

 

Week beginning 25th September

We have had another fantastic week, learning new and interesting things across all
of our subjects.

In our core subjects, we have spent some time working through the SATs papers we
completed last week, identifying, correcting and learning from our mistakes. We
have also focused on addition, subtraction and learnt about common factors. In
Literacy, we returned to our current model text, The Library, and we have been
focusing on evaluating the language features used by RAG rating the text and we
were challenged to ‘crack the code’ to reveal our suspense story toolkit. In Science,
we learnt about Dr Daniel Hale Williams, who was the first African-American surgeon
to perform open-heart surgery. Please ask the children to relay more facts they
learnt in this session!

This week in Theme, we continued our learning about World War 2, focusing on
children during the war and the evacuation process. We imagined we were evacuees
and ‘packed’ our own suitcase with practical and fun things- no tablets or mobile
phones in these cases though!
In Science this week we looked at the human heart and how it works. We labeled a
heart diagram and identified all the veins and arteries. We also talked about the
importance of a healthy diet to keep our heart healthy as well.

As usual, our weekly reminders to children are to continue to do the following tasks
at home to support their learning at school:

ï‚· Read at least 20-30 minutes per day. Please try to give the children time to
read with an adult aloud
ï‚· Practise your Times tables using Times Table Rockstars or other online
games. This knowledge is crucial to apply to so many areas within Maths.
ï‚· Please continue to use SATs Companion to complete homework tasks but also
to complete tasks in the ‘Practise Section’. There are excellent videos that
remind children about their chosen topic before they can try out some
questions for themselves.

Please note, from next week, our PE days will be changing to Wednesday and
Thursday. Please ensure your children have the correct uniform in their PE Kits.
We hope you all have a restful and relaxing weekend as we head into October!

 

 

Week begining 18th of September

 

In Science this week we looked at the human heart and how it works. We labeled a heart diagram and identified all the veins and arteries. We also talked about the importance of a healthy diet to keep our heart healthy as well.

 

In Maths and Literacy we did our first Sats test and the children showed great resilience. Even when they found the questions hard they kept on trying different methods they learnt in class to find the right anwers.  

 

Theme is always a fun lesson because the children are so curious to find out about WW2 history. This week we have learned about how Britain prepared for WW2 and some of the fact files and drawings that the children wrote are amazing.

Times tables are very important for our maths lessons so please remind the children to try and practice as much as possible at home. 

Another important thing they could do at home is read at least 20-30 minutes every day. 

It was lovely to see so many children doing their homework on Sats Companion. They really enjoy the new digital alternative to homework. Please let us know if there is any trouble with loging.

 

 

Week beginning 11th September

Firstly, we would like to start by thanking each and every one of you who attended the PGL meeting yesterday. We really hope that it was useful. 

In school, we started this week with a science lesson all about blood. The children learnt about red and white blood cells, platelets and plasma. They made 'blood smoothies' using raspberries as red blood cells, marshmellows as white blood cells, sprinkles as platelets and tropical juice as plasma. It was delicious!

In Maths, we have continued to look at place value. The children focused on negative numbers and Roman numerals. Children are being encouraged to practise these topics on SATs Companion at home.

In History, we have started our exciting WW2 topic where the children learnt why it started and which countries were first involved. Some children have enjoyed learning about it so much that they have chosen to go home and research extra facts!

The children should now have completed their first activity on SATs Companion this week. Their next one is due next Friday. If it is not completed, then they will be asked to complete it during Friday break time. Please let us know if they have any problems signing on.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

 

 

Week beginning 4th September

Wow, what a busy (and hot) first week back! The children have settled in so well to Year 6 and have enjoyed getting to know the adults that they will be working with this year. We are looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible next Wednesday at 3pm for the 'meet the teacher' event. 

Some key points to remember:

• PE days are on Wednesdays and Friday
• Please ensure that children have a labelled water bottle in school every day

Another important date is next Thursday (14th) which will be our PGL meeting from 5pm - 6pm. The children are welcome to come along as those who can come are ready to share what they are most looking forward to!

We hope you have a lovely weekend in the sunshine.

 

Week ending 16th of June

In Maths this week we have started our last project of the year: designing and managing a business- a theme park. Children had to think outside the box and design their own theme park with three distinct areas to accommodate different year groups and to budget for the building of it with a 5-million pounds loan that they got from the teacher’s bank. They discovered that running a business is not as easy as they thought and going over the budget is very easy. The fun will continue next week when they have to start paying wages to their employees and return the loans they got from the banks (with interest of course