Upcoming diving competition
The Swim England Diving National Age Group Championships 2017 are taking place at Ponds Forge, Sheffield on 06 – 09 July 2017. This is the largest national diving competition in England, with athletes battling for national honours across individual events on the 1m and 3m Springboards and the Platform, and as synchronised pairs from the 1m and 3m Springboard.
Tickets are available if you would like the opportunity to watch a National Diving Competition.
Maybe you might be inspired to give diving a go.
Observing Science
We enjoyed some more Science learning at the end of last week; it focused on predictions and observations. We bought some ‘soapy foam’ and predicted what we felt would happen to it if it were squirted onto a paper plate and left for the whole day. This meant we needed to observe it over a period of time and allowed us to adapt our predictions as it changed.
We also did a much quicker observation when we were challenged to place an item into an already full glass of water without any spilling over. In the picture above, you can see the children noticing the (meniscus) curve which is created when a circular container is at its fullest.
We managed to place a cotton wool ball, a penny and a bulldog clip into the glasses without them spilling over. However, we concluded that the glasses into which we placed the penny and the bulldog clip may not have been totally full as we couldn’t explain, scientifically, why they wouldn’t overflow. With the cotton wool ball, we felt that the water could take up the space between the fibres and the fibres could take up the space in between the water particles.
Holiday planning
In our Maths lessons this week, Year 6 are busy booking me a holiday! They’ve got some specific criteria to stick to and are quickly realising that holiday planning is tricky with lots and lots to consider – particularly money.
I’ve given them a budget of £2500 to take my partner and me away during the Summer holidays. I’m hoping to go diving and experience some culture but don’t want to fly for longer than four hours. The children have really risen to the task and have started creating a persuasive PowerPoint to convince me that their holiday is the one to go on.
We’ll let you know whose holiday gets my vote in the end some time next week.
American Independence Day themed menu
Catering Leeds, our school meal provider, will be running a special American Independence themed menu on Wednesday 05 July.
Please contact the office by Friday 16 June if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
Science with Liquorice Allsorts
Y6 have begun a Science topic this half term and begun by learning about classification keys. We began by very simply sorting the sweets in any way we chose.
We then used the Liquorice Allsorts to discuss what yes and no questions you could use to distinguish between two of the sweets. Then we used this to sort six different Allsorts into a classification key.
We finished off by starting a classification key to sort the children in the class. We very quickly realised it would take a very big classification key to end up with 30 individual children.
Safety Week – Friday at Yeadon Tarn
Thanks to Mrs Taylor’s organising and fantastic weather, Year 6 had a brilliant day at Yeadon Tarn on Friday of Safety Week, getting to put their safety learning into practice.
Throughout the day, we kayaked, took part in team-building problem-solving tasks and set out on some orienteering. Although they were very much looking forward to the kayaking, the children really enjoyed all three activities.
Problem Solving
Orienteering
Kayaking
SEAL theme – Changes
We start this half term with a focus on manners.
Our SEAL statement is I cover my mouth (when I yawn, cough, sneeze).
For coughing and sneezing we have referred to the vampire method of sneezing into your elbow rather than a hand. After introducing this method a few years ago, it is great to see children now doing this without reminders.
During this half term, we start to think about changes the children will experience in school in terms of moving class, key stage and even school.
This SEAL theme tackles the issue of change and aims to equip children with an understanding of different types of change, positive and negative, and common responses to change. The key ideas and concepts behind this theme are:
- Change can be uncomfortable, because it can threaten our basic needs to feel safe and to belong
- Change can also be stimulating and welcome
- Both adults and children can experience a range of powerful and conflicting emotions as a result of change – for example, excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, loss, anger, resentment
- Worries about change can be made worse by uncertainty, lack of information, or misinformation and lack of support from others
- People’s responses to and ability to cope with change are very variable, and might be influenced by individual temperament, previous experience of change, and the nature of the change – chosen or imposed, expected or unexpected, within our control or out of our control
Some children may welcome most forms of change and dislike routine and predictability. Other children may find even small changes very difficult.
Perhaps you can support your child’s learning by discussing at home any current and future changes, too.
Safety Week – Thursday
Year 6 were very busy on Thursday of Safety Week. We had a visit from Dogs Trust which was very informative: cross your arms over your chest if a dog jumps up at you and, if one knocks you over, curl up into a ball with your hands over your face. They also brought Megan with them who was a fab addition to the class for half an hour.
We then worked on a short production which informed us and our audience on top tips for how to stay safe online. We warmed up with some great drama activities about displaying emotions. Can you guess what emotions we were working on here?
Safety week in Year 6 – Tuesday and Wednesday
Still having a great time during Safety Week. We finished off the carousel lessons with KS2 teachers on Tuesday and not only were the children really positive about the sessions, they could recall all sorts of information about staying safe.
The NSPCC visited Year 6 on Tuesday afternoon, discussing a number of scenarios children may find themselves in, whether they were ok and what to do if they found themselves in such situations.
Tuesday also involved learning about how to keep our bikes and scooters in a good (and therefore safe) conditions. Many children returned to class with bike grease on their hands, having got stuck in.
On Wednesday, we had a visit from d:side which gave us the opportunity to learn more and ask questions about drugs. This was a great session and Dave, our d:side visitor, made sure the children understood that any question was ok and it didn’t matter how much you did or didn’t know already – I learnt a few new things myself, too!
We finished the day going out onto the road in small groups to do a traffic survey. Working with the council’s road safety team, we set up a speed camera and monitored how fast cars were travelling, whether drivers were wearing seat belts, how many people were in the vehicles and what distractions people allowed themselves to have while driving. The results were quite shocking: 47mph was the highest speed recorded (on 30mph Shadwell Lane) and a number of drivers were spotted not wearing a seat belt.
Staying Safe week so far
Our themed week has been jam-packed so far with visits from NSPCC, d:side drug education, Moortown Fire Service, Leeds City Council Road Safety team, Canal and Rivers Trust and Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative.
Children have also worked with different classes to take part in safety carousels including food safety, sun safety, water safety, first aid, safety in the home and the importance of safety helmets.
Ask your child about all the learning they have experienced so far.
Still to come is One Day Creative (e-safety drama workshops), local PCSOs, Dogs Trust and an outdoor adventure day for Year 6 at Yeadon Tarn.
Year 5 and 6 parents are invited to watch the e-safety workshop showback at 2:30pm on Thursday.
The weather has certainly helped to encourage lots of children to travel to school in a sustainable way on foot, by bike or scooter. There are two more days to register your journey to school to be in the prize draw for vouchers for each class.
