Year 6 Class News

Science: irreversible changes and controlling variables

Posted on Friday 24 February 2023 by Mr Wilks

In today’s science lesson, we explored an irreversible change. We mixed bicarbonate of soda with vinegar to create a chemical reaction which resulted in the formation of carbon dioxide. 

We then discussed how we could increase the amount of carbon dioxide that was formed and the importance of controlling variables.

  • control variables (the variables we kept the same): the size of the bottle, the amount of bicarbonate of soda, the type of balloon):
  • independent variable (the variable we changed):  the amount of vinegar
  • dependent variable (the variable we are testing): the amount of carbon dioxide

We found that increasing the amount of vinegar resulted in the creation of more carbon dioxide. However, the 100ml test (green balloon) didn’t support this finding. Possibly there was too much vinegar or maybe the green balloon made a difference! We discussed how repeating this test would make our date more reliable.

Supporting our school charity

Posted on Monday 20 February 2023 by Mrs Taylor

St Gemma’s Hospice is our current school charity chosen democratically by the children.

Today, we welcomed Steph and Stewart from St Gemma’s Hospice for an assembly to find out more about the fantastic work they do in our local community.

Here, two of our junior leaders are presenting them with a cheque for £377 for the money we have raised so far.

Steph and Stewart commented on the impressive behaviour of the children and the intelligent questions they asked.

Our junior leaders are planning a visit to the hospice over the next few weeks to continue this partnership.

Cross country finalists

Posted on Thursday 02 February 2023 by Mrs Taylor

Today, four Key Stage 2 pupils represented our school in the Leeds cross country final after qualifying in the North East Leeds competition.

Well done to all the children who gave 100% in their races of over 100 runners and with a tough hill at the end.

Special congratulations to our Year 6 runner who after finishing 1st in his heat went on to finish 1st in the Leeds final today! A fantastic acheievement! He will now qualify for the West Yorkshire cross country final.

Thank you to parents who transported and supported the children today.

 

Model of our Solar System

Posted on Monday 30 January 2023 by Mr Wain

In a recent Science lesson, we learnt about the different planets in our Solar System.

We learnt about the heliocentric model of the Solar System by which all the plants revolve around the Sun that is in the centre.

We learnt that different planets are different distances away from the Sun.

In order for us to fully grasp this concept, we scaled down the actual distances between the planets and represented their relative distances in the playground!

We found out that Mercury is the nearest planet to the Sun and Neptune is the furthest away!

Help at home by seeing if your child can remember the order of the planets from the Sun. We made a mnemonic in class to help us!

 

Living and Learning: I know how to seek help.

Posted on Thursday 26 January 2023 by Mr Wain

In our living and learning sessions over the last two weeks, we have been exploring risks and how to seek help if we need to.

We looked at different scenarios and placed them on a continuum based on how much of a risk we thought they posed. Some of the scenarios were:

– learning to ride a horse
– learning to drive
– taking up a new hobby
– drinking energy drinks on a daily basis
– stealing from a shop
– putting your hand up if you’re not sure of the answer

After we’d established the risks involved with each, we spoke about how some things are worth doing because the risks are minimal but other things definitely aren’t!

When would you know if the risks involved made something not worth doing?

We spoke about how we often get that feeling in our stomach if we know the risks are too great. We also spoke about how if we weren’t sure, we should always speak to a trusted adult!

Help at home by talking with your child about different things they may encounter in their lives as they progress to high school and beyond and the risks associated with them! This will help them make informed decisions in the future!

Well done, Y6!

 

Living and Learning: Drugs, alcohol and tobacco

Posted on Tuesday 17 January 2023 by Mr Wain

Over the last two weeks, we’ve been learning all about drugs, alcohol and tobacco in our L&L sessions.

We talked about what drugs, alcohol and tobacco are and the effects and impacts they can have.

We learnt that drugs can have both positive and negative impacts and discussed the difference between illegal drugs and legal drugs prescribed by doctors.

How can you help at home?
Talk to your child and recap/consolidate their learning by having conversations about drugs, alcohol and tobacco!

 

Spring term after-school clubs

Posted on Wednesday 11 January 2023 by Mrs Taylor

 

Living and Learning: Mental Health

Posted on Friday 16 December 2022 by Mr Wain

In a recent Living and Learning session, we learnt all about mental health and we recognised why it is important.

Firstly, we talked about what mental health means. It’s our thoughts and feelings, emotions and how we feel inside.

Next, we chatted about big feelings – ones that could stop us from doing things and small feelings – ones that feel big at the time but go away after time.

After that, we discussed and recorded different self care techniques. We can refer to these when we need to!

Here are some pictures of us during our learning!

Who’s theory was correct? Aristotle or Galileo?

Posted on Thursday 01 December 2022 by Mr Wain

In this week’s science learning, we conducted a fair test.

Does the mass of an object affect the rate in which it falls?

Aristotle’s theory suggests that the mass of an object does affect the rate in which it falls and that heavier objects fall quicker!

However, in 1590, Galileo tested this theory by, according to legend, dropping two cannonballs of similar size but different masses off the Leaning Tower of Pisa and seeing when they hit the ground.

This week, we conducted a similar test.

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We tested out Aristotle’s theory by dropping different objects of similar size but different masses and recorded their time of impact with the ground.

We found that mass doesn’t affect the rate in which objects fall. The slight difference in time is due to forces like air resistance.

Great learning, Y6!

 

Skipping ropes

Posted on Wednesday 30 November 2022 by Mrs Taylor

We continue to work with Skipping School as part of the Year 2 and Year 4 skipping festivals.

While you might be thinking about Christmas presents, we have skipping ropes available to purchase from school for a subsidised price of £3.  These are available in two sizes and a range of colours.