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.
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.
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.
Baking Gingerbread
We all had our final sessions in the kitchen this week making gingerbread but using no refined sugar. We substituted sugar for honey which, as a natural ingredient, is better for you.
Once we prepared everything and cooked it, we worked together to make fantastic gingerbread creations. Which is your favourite?
Year 5/6 new class novel
After the holidays, Year 5 and 6 will start a new class novel: The Boy in the Tower. Here’s the blurb to give you a sneaky peak.
When they first arrived, they came quietly and stealthily, as if they tiptoed into the world when we were all looking the other way.
Ade loves living at the top of a tower block. From his window, he feels like he can see the whole world stretching out beneath him.
But one day, other tower blocks start falling down around him. Strange, menacing plants begin to appear and no-one knows where they came from.
Now their tower isn’t safe anymore. Ade and his mum are trapped and there’s no way out…
Here are some reviews:
Carol Singing
Yesterday, Year 5 and 6 got into the Christmas spirit by performing some carols outside Marks & Spencer’s. We had a great time and raised some money for a charity at the same time. Thank you to all the parents who came to watch and all the members of the public who were generous enough to donate some spare change.
Road Safety Pantomime ‘The Gift of Life’
Yesterday, all pupils watched this lighthearted show that delivered important road safety messages.
Pupils joined Santa and Rudolf as they travelled back in time to prevent young Neil Downe from being knocked down. Whilst being fun and interactive, the pantomime covered the following road safety themes:
- the Green Cross Code
- seat belts
- be bright, be seen
- safer cycling
Ask your child about the performance and what messages they took away.
Fantastic creative maths
I was really impressed with the Creative Homework this week. There were all sorts of great ways to shows when and how we convert measures, many of which we’re going to keep in class for the children to use during lessons.
