Training day – Arty ideas !
We thought you’d enjoy hearing a little about what went on during our recent teacher training day! Part of the day was dedicated to developing our art knowledge and skills with our resident art teacher, Mrs Boulton.
Teachers got hands-on with paints, pastels and even soap! There was plenty of colour, laughter, and even a bit of friendly competition as we experimented with new techniques and ideas for upcoming art lessons.
The rest of the day focussed on other important areas too, including maths and inclusion. It was a full, productive day – and we left feeling ready and excited for the next half-term!
Half term basketball camps
As a partner school of City of Leeds Basketball Club and one of our after-school club providers, we’re pleased to share details of their half term camps held locally at Allerton High School.
Living and Learning: Me and my money themed week
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Year 5 and Year 6 went on an amazing trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to support our Art learning for next half term.
It was great to see both abstract and figurative sculptures.
We started off the day by taking part in a workshop with a real artist! We investigated patterns, textures and shape. The children did some artwork without looking at the page; they had to put their sketchbook on their heads. They also created a collaborative piece where they had one minute to draw and then had to move on to someone else’s sketchbook to draw for another minute.
Another great moment was seeing Barbara Hepworth’s Family of Man in real life! We had a tour of the sculptures and learnt all about the story of what they represent.
Lastly, inspired by the sculptures we’d seen, we made our own out of clay, just like Henry Moore would have done. He used a maquette made out of plaster.
In the afternoon, we had a self-guided tour where we explored more of the park. We even managed to squeeze in some time for a run around and a game of infinity tig.
Help at home: Ask your child about the trip. What was their favourite part of the day? Which was their favourite sculpture and why? Or, take a look at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park website – can you find out more about the pieces of art we saw in real life?
2-page spreads!
Year 6 have been writing about a fictional city. They were able to create a city of their choice using a city in real life as inspiration. They needed to include different sentence starters, geographical vocabulary and relative clauses.
They published their brilliant work in their topic books to show off their knowledge about urban green spaces.
Reading: Book Club
In Book Club, Year 6 explored the website ‘Authorfy’. We focused on a comic book masterclass where authors Jamie Smart and Laura Ellen explained how they created their own comic books. Jamie Smart’s ‘Bunny vs. Monkey’ books are very popular in our class.
We watched a tutorial and then had a go at drawing our very own Bunny. For the rest of the lesson, the children created their own comic books.
Help at home: Which is your favourite Bunny vs. Monkey book and why? What other author’s comic books have you read?
Writing: Expanded Noun Phrases (ENPs)
Over the next two weeks, in Writing, we will be exploring, planning and writing a narrative. Yesterday, the children looked at and created Expanded Noun Phrases (ENPs) that they could use in their piece of writing.
An ENP is made up of a ‘determiner adjective, adjective noun’ or ‘determiner adjective noun’. Here are a few we made:
- the smoky orange sky
- the green-eyed figure
- the glistening bronze wheel
- a magnificent, gargantuan hot air balloon
- an ancient, abnormal dragon
- a menacing, mechanical sky-ship
- several delicate, peach clouds
Help at home: Take a look at ENPs on BBC bitesize or create your own ENPs for the picture below.
Topic: Drop Down Morning.
Year 6 had a drop down morning where they recapped learning from previous year groups. The focussed on the Romans (History), Natural Disasters (Geography) and Computing.
In History, Year 6 looked at the positive and negative impacts the Roman invasion had on Britain.
We then had a class debate – for or against the Roman invasion. This allowed the children to practise their oracy skills. They projected their voices, used specific vocabulary to the topic and changed their tone.
In Geography, the children matched the topic’s key vocabulary to its definition.
After, Year 6 became cops and robbers. They needed to write down everything they knew about the vocabulary and then steal as much information off of their peers as they could.
In Computing, we revisited our learning from Year 3/4. The children were able create their own code to program a sprite to follow their commands.
Black History Month
This morning, Year 6 joined a zoom about Black History Month. In the UK, Black History Month happens every October. It provides an opportunity for people to understand, share and celebrate the history of Black heritage and culture and its impact today.
This year the theme is ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride’. This means standing strong, being proud of who you are and celebrating the power of Black people’s stories and achievements.
Help at home: Research Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. Can you find 5 facts about each of these influential people? Is there any one else you can find out about?
National Poetry Day!
Last week, the children were given the task – as homework – to learn a poem off by heart ready for today – national poetry day! We had an assembly to celebrate. Each class performed a poem. Year 6 performed ‘Daffodils (I wandered lonely as a cloud)’ by William Wordsworth and ‘The Spider and the Fly’ by Mary Howitt.
This website tells you more about the day and why it is celebrated: https://forwardartsfoundation.org/national-poetry-day/
Help at home: Explore the website above. Can you find out 3 things you didn’t know before?