Author: Mr Catherall

Spectacular Science!

Today, we were fortunate enough to visit the science department of Allerton Grange High School.

We completed six experiments using their specialist equipment in the labs; we mixed acid with magnesium and even made our own sparklers!

We also saw some awe-inspiring demonstrations of different chemical reactions. In one of them, Zach had his hands set on fire!

Most importantly, all the children returned to school enthused about science and hungry to learn more. This is great because our current topic ‘What’s The Matter?‘ and our next topic ‘Life‘ are driven by this subject.

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This week, by Arran and Bailey

Arran and Bailey spent some time reflecting on some of our learning this week.

Topic

In Year 6, we have started a new mini topic called ‘What’s The Matter’. This topic involves Chemistry. In our first lesson, we learnt about ‘filtration’ and how to separate mixtures and solutions.

Here is some technical vocabulary that we have learnt:

  • ‘Mixture’: A mixture is a combination of a solid and a liquid which won’t dissolve.
  • ‘Solute’: A solute is solid that dissolves in a solvent.
  • ‘Solvent’: A solvent is the liquid used to dissolve a solute.
  • ‘Solution’: A solution is the combination of a solid and a liquid that have dissolved. 

English

In English we have received a mystery letter from Alexander Wolf. The first few lines of the letter read: ‘Everybody knows the story of The Three Little Pigs. Or at least they think they do. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. Nobody knows the real story because nobody has heard my side of the story.’

Based on this letter we are writing a news report.

Mystery letter causes outrage in Year 6 English lesson

Happy New Year!

Yesterday, we read the classic fairy tale: ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Then, in the middle of our lesson, we received a letter from Mr A.Wolf. The letter explained how the wolf has been made out to be a villain when really the whole story was a misunderstanding involving a bad sneeze and a cup of sugar; some of us were more understanding of the wolf’s plight than others. We combined all of this to create our own version of the plot in which the wolf is not the villain.

There were some interesting ideas. Rav’s alternative plot included misheard song lyrics, heavy whistling and a tranquilizer dart, while Jaskirat’s alternative plot centres around the wolf having a bad couch and asking his neighbours for medicine.

Despite being aimed at younger children, we have used ‘The Three Little Pigs’ as a stimulus for some very creative and mature learning. The focus of our learning will be on news reports so we’ll be producing our own news reports based on our alternative plots.

You can help at home by encouraging your child to read the news (online or in the paper) and pick out how the writing might differ to what you would find in a narrative. Also, ask them about the plot they have devised in class and how it differs to the original story line. wolf's letter

Moortown 2 – 3 Our Lady’s

Can your child spot all eight Rs for learning in Mr Catherall’s football report?

This evening, our Year 6 football team made the short trip to Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School.

Despite the wintery conditions, Moortown were ready for battle and made a very strong start. After several minutes of early dominance, Bailey poked the ball in to give Moortown the lead.

However, the game did not ‘pan out’ as Moortown had hoped. Remembering previous games, in which one goal hasn’t been enough to secure victory, Moortown took the risk and continued to attack. After a quick counter-attack, Our Lady’s drew the game level: 1-1.

Despite being very resourceful in finding different ways to unlock the sturdy Our Lady’s defence, Moortown could not convert their pressure into goals. In fact, for the 10 minutes either side of half time, the game became very scrappy. It was Our Lady’s who benefitted, scoring further unanswered goals to make it 3-1.

Moortown knew they had to respond and respond they did! The last 10 minutes saw both teams miss numerous chances as the game opened up. Each player took responsibility for their performance and, with two minutes to go, Moortown pulled a goal back: 3-2. Could they?

Unfortunately, with the light fading, the final whistle blew and Moortown suffered another narrow defeat. Captain for the day, Lennox, reflected on the game: “It was a hard game but it was very fun. I thought everyone was very resilient!”. Well summarised, Lennox (and thanks for mentioning our 8th ‘R’ for learning).

Next week, Moortown face Immaculate Heart of Mary in what is sure to be another close encounter!

Year 6 football heroes!

Our Year 6 football team have made a strong start to the new season.

Our Year 6 football team have made a strong start to the new season.

Much improved on last year, the squad has displayed their talent against other local schools. With each player representing Moortown with pride, passion and (relentless) positivity – keep it up!

Their most recent outing, a very close 1-0 loss to neighbours Gledhow, was very impressive to watch. I’m certain our faithful supporters would agree!

Well done to all children who have represented our school so far this year and a huge thank you to the parents for your on-going support in transporting children to fixtures.

Breaking news from Y6 PE lessons

As you know, we are learning PE and basketball in PE with a twist. Here, two of the six journalists explain how their teams are doing so far.

Linda explains:

In recent PE lessons, we have learnt lots which makes it difficult for me to know where to start. Ah, I believe I need to do some explaining so I guess I will start from the beginning when Mr Catherall put us in groups…

It was just a normal day of working hard at school. We had done everything planned: maths, English, reading and break time. After all that work, we were heading out for lunch when Mr Catherall explained that we were going to be put in groups and would be teaching ourselves PE (basketball and rugby). We’re learning rugby because the Rugby World Cup is happening in England at the moment. Don’t panic though – of course we still have support from our teacher regularly.

Another journalist, Ravinder, wrote:

In PE we are doing rugby. However, we are in charge of our own lessons. We are in teams of five people. Our team is made up of: a skills coach (Zack), a physio (Lanas), a captain (Oliver), an equipment manager (Simran) and a journalist (Ravi). Last lesson, Zack did especially well as the skills coach. He was teaching our group and came up with some good games. Lanas also did a great warm up which included a pulse-raiser and stretches.

Ask your child how their team is getting in. Do they think their teamwork skills are improving? Why?

PE! 

In PE this half-term, we’re learning rugby and basketball skills through a model for teaching called Sport Education.

Each child is placed in a team and has a specific role. Ask your child if they are the journalist, the skills coach, the physio, the captain or the equipment manager.

Also, ask them how learning PE in this way differs to the way they might’ve been taught previously.