Court in Session
Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed their English lesson today as they entered, not their classroom, but a fully fledged courtroom.
We had a judge, a jury, the media, defence and prosecution lawyers, witness and family members of the unfortunate victim and, of course, the accused. The Three Little Pigs were on trial for murder and we were determined to find out exactly what happened.
There were some fantastic characters in the room and, at times, it all got very tense! After a long deliberation, the jury decided that all three of the little pigs were guilty of murder, using the wolf to try and commit insurance fraud and then murdering him so that he couldn’t give the game away.
Have you ever heard of walking water?
Happy new year and a warm welcome back!
To get our brains back into gear, we’ve started this week with Science.
We were posed with the challenge of moving water from one cup to another – without touching the water or the cup, using only the following equipment:
A pipe cleaner, a square of kitchen roll, a plastic glove, packing peanuts, string, an elastic band and a newspaper.
Do you think you could crack the case?
After lots of (mostly failed) attempts, the answer was finally revealed…
It was the kitchen roll all along!
The walking water absorbed by the kitchen roll created this lovely rainbow effect which is so easy to recreate at home!
This got our scientific juices flowing, and we started to ask “What would happen if…?” to help us plan our own version of the experiment!
Here are some we came up with:
Watch this space, as we launch our own investigations in the coming week!
Welcome Back
I hope you’ve all had a lovely break over Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody.
Year 6 had a lovely start to the new year yesterday, adapting straight back into school life with focus and a positive attitude. We started an investigation into the Three Little Pigs who have been arrested on suspicion of boiling the wolf alive!
After gathering all of the evidence, we created a crime investigation board, locating connections between the different clues and, therefore, piecing the story together.
Take a look at the news reports at home here.
We’ve also started a science investigation into solutions and how to separate them and have started to look at working with decimals in Maths.
To continue helping at home, help us to practise our times tables three times a week and quiz us on our spellings in the car, on a walk or while eating breakfast. It would also help if you asked us about our reading every now and again too.
Living and Learning
- Drug, alcohol and tobacco education (DATE)
- Keeping safe and managing risk
Here are the weekly Living and Learning statements, for this half term, to support this learning.
- I don’t interrupt (with my mouth or my hand).
- I can make things better.
- I know what a drug is.
- I am aware of risks.
- I make safe choices.
- I stay safe online.
SATs in May
The Key Stage 2 tests (commonly called SATs) are in May:
- Monday 14 May: English grammar, punctuation and spelling papers 1 and 2
- Tuesday 15 May: English reading
- Wednesday 16 May: Mathematics papers 1 and 2
- Thursday 17 May: Mathematics paper 3
New style National Curriculum tests were introduced in 2016. This video lasts around five minutes and gives you a useful overview of the tests.
As always, speak with us if you have any questions, comments or concerns.
Class Novel
After the Christmas holidays, we’ll continue reading Beware! Killer Tomatoes by Jeremy Strong.
Here’s the blurb….
Jack’s in trouble. Big trouble. Not only is he in hospital with a leg in traction (boring) but he knows the police are coming for him. Because of an accident – a tomato-related accident – involving a supermarket pyramid and an old-age pensioner. Whoops!
Be mindful
At this busy time of year, mindfulness can help children to take control of their emotions.
During our recent themed week, all children took part in mindfulness workshops to learn a variety of techniques to use at school and at home. Here’s a reminder of a few of them that might be useful for over the holidays. A mindfulness newsletter/parent guide will be sent out in the new year.
Breathing hug
Start with both arms in the air. Put one hand across your tummy and the other on your shoulder. Breath slowly in and out.
Breathing tree
In a standing position, raise your arms as you breath in and release your arms back down as you breath out.
‘Ok’ breathing
Make an ‘o’ sign on your tummy button to represent that it is ok to feel different emotions. Slowly breath in and out.
Mindfulness bottle
This is a bit like a snow globe. Shake it up and watch it. Simply watch the disturbance as it begins to settle – as does our mind.
Take a bottle, add glitter and food colouring and seal tightly.
Thank you
On behalf of all the adults that have been working in Year 1, I would just like to say thank you. We all received lots of unexpected gifts and cards. This is much appreciated.
Happy holidays!
Happy holidays!
What a start to the year we’ve had! It’s been a pleasure to teach such hard-working and enthusiastic children who enjoy their learning and have a little fun along the way!
We hope you all enjoy a well-deserved break and come back to school ready and fresh to learn on 02 January.
Thank you for all the lovely cards and gifts.
Happy holidays from all the Year 4 staff!
Congratulations
Many congratulations to a very talented artist.
A winning design has been chosen by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Cllr Jane Dowson, for her official Christmas card this year. The winner received a special thanks and congratulations on stage at the Lord Mayor’s Christmas carol concert on Thursday evening.
Following the Christmas card competition which was launched with Candelighters, the Lord Mayor’s chosen charity in August, over 600 entries were received from children aged up to 13 years. The only criteria given was the theme – ‘Leeds at Christmas’.
The winner created a Christmas winter scene incorporating some of the iconic buildings in Leeds. He was presented with a copy of his actual Christmas card by the Lord Mayor as well as a special prize from Candelighters.
A superb achievement – well done!