09 December 2016
For our spelling test next week, children will be asked to spell a selection of words that they have previously learnt this year. Children should briefly recap each spelling focus and spend time consolidating their learning around these words. They may choose to focus on the words they spelt incorrectly when they were tested on them previously.
Our spelling test will be on Friday 16 December 2016.
09 December 2016
This week we have two homeworks as normal (our final homework of 2016).
The first is Creative:
I can prove I use the 8Rs outside of school.
This homework will help children to see that the 8Rs are useful for life in general and not just learning. They could respond in numerous ways:
- make a collage of images showing them using each R for learning
- make a short documentary in which they demonstrate how they use the 8Rs outside school
- make a poster that promotes the application of the 8Rs to everyday life
These are just a few, simple suggestions. I’m sure you, and your children, will have a wonderful array of creative responses to this statement.
The second is ‘Mathletics‘:
Children should complete these two tasks.
- Bar model (x and ÷) – this is using the bar model to help children solve word problems.
- Money problems: 4 operations with £ – these are all problems involving money.
Again, if you have any problems, do not hesitate to contact me. I will endeavour to resolve them. However, some problems such as technical issues may be beyond my control.
What forces are in action here?
We’ve been learning all about forces for our mini topic and, once we understood pushes, pulls, levers and pulleys, we created our own Rube Goldberg machines. The children worked in groups and planned and made their creations all from their own ideas once we’d explored and researched examples of them through the internet.
Here are a couple of our machines. Our first one had a little hiccup but we really liked their pulley at the end to raise the flag. The second was our most successful; they even managed to sound the buzzer! You’ll see just how excited we were that it worked.
https://youtu.be/S0KjxWH24_Y
https://youtu.be/HUijnyElfWI
09 December 2016
There’s not a theme with spellings this week and there’ll be no test. I’ve given the children the Year 5/6 spelling list which indicates which words Year 6s need to know (that they haven’t learnt already in Year 3 and 4). I want them to look through the spellings and see if they can create groups of words which could be learnt together.
- homophones
- spelling patterns
- suffixes
- prefixes
- rhymes and rememberings
Then look and see which words it is difficult to put into a group – these are probably the hardest to learn.
09 December 2016
This week’s homework is Creative and will be reviewed on Thursday 15 December.
Convince someone to love reading.
I love reading and truly believe that everybody else should, too! Not just because it’s enjoyable but because of how much it helps our learning. Many of Year 6 love reading for a number of reasons and there’ll be some of us that don’t. Think about why you love reading (if you do) and how you can convince someone else (or yourself) that they should, too. We’ve discussed some ideas as a class and here’s what we came up with. You could:
- interview members of your family about their passion for reading
- turn your favourite book into a short movie
- create a trailer for the film version of a book
- cook a recipe from your favourite recipe book
- write part of the prequel/sequel to your favourite book
- create a poster to advertise your favourite book
- create a fake interview with your favourite author
- research the benefits of reading lots and create some statistics
And, many more…
09 December 2016
This week’s Practice Makes Perfect homework revises all of the wonderful work we’ve done on fractions since half term – we should be fraction masters by now!
To be able to calculate with fractions.
I’ve created addition, subtraction, multiplication and division questions, all of which we’ve learnt how to solve this term, for the children to go over, remind themselves how to do it and not make any silly mistakes. We’ll go through the answers together on Thursday 15 December 2016.
PE – Dance
Yesterday, in PE, Y5 became urban freestyle dancers.
We had a great time choreographing and performing an urban-style dance -off. We started by performing a section of the routine that we were given before creating our own short dance sequences in groups.
I was particularly impressed with the fantastic attitude shown by all of Y5 throughout the lesson. Despite dance not being everyone’s favourite PE subject, they all got involved, gave it a go and, most importantly, had fun. It’s important that we challenge ourselves to do things we might not always do on a regular basis – taking a ‘safe risk’, you could say.
Here’s a collage of pictures from the lesson. You might not recognise some of us as our urban dancer alter-egos!
Give your views…
University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are government-funded schools that offer 14-19 year olds something different. UTCs are schools for 14-18 year olds specialising in the delivery of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The purpose of a UTC is to develop the advanced technical skills required to ensure that the UK prospers in the 21st century and provide students with a deep understanding of the sectors they can apply their skills in as they learn.
A proposal is being put together for a new UTC here in Leeds.
The people setting this up are keen to hear your views. They need to gauge the level of interest in this alternative education institution.
They write:
In a fast-paced, ever-changing digital world and increasingly competitive job market there is a real chance for the students of this proposed secondary school to be one step ahead.
If the bid is successful, Leeds Creative Digital UTC students will gain invaluable skills and be well equipped for the world of work with unrivalled digital expertise – both technical and practical in nature.
Not only will this help develop the future employment potential of our children it will play a huge part in supporting the local area by addressing and improving youth qualifications and unemployment in our region.
Why do we need a UTC?
The UK needs advanced technical skills to prosper in a service-centric world economy – and more importantly, we need young people entering higher education and the technical professions who have the skills, knowledge and experience to be productive from the outset.Leeds City Region has the largest digital sector outside of London and employs almost 50,000 people, accounting for 4% of the workforce.
In July 2015, Leeds had over 640 active Digital & ICT vacancies on 120 company websites. Sky has created 400 jobs at their New Dock office in Leeds. With 150 empty chairs, Sky’s growth will only be limited by the availability of talent.
The traditional school system is based around a curriculum which changes slowly and offers little opportunity for employers to contribute to developing their ideal job applicants – UTCs address that and also act as a route to workplace degree apprenticeships or for universities to nurture their future intakes.
UTC students work closely with employers, who take an active role – regularly mentoring students and providing opportunities for work experience in a number of areas. Students will work on real-world projects with access to world-class facilities and equipment, with a “working day” that usually starts at 8.30 and finishes at 5 – leaving evenings free for other activities.
Read more about the proposed new UTC.
Zipit
It’s easy to think your child is safe once they’re indoors. And it’s easy to think your child will always be responsible and safe online.
However, most older children and young people can be on-line, meaning they’re not quite so protected as you might think. And it’s easier than you think for a child to make a choice that they wouldn’t do in person.
Increasingly, we’re being told of problems on social networking sites. These include grooming.
The ‘zipit’ app is a download from Childline for iOS and Android. The app aims to help young people safely respond to requests for inappropriate images by sending back a ‘joke’ image. Using it might help your child maintain some credibility as well as staying safe.
Safeguarding in sport
The continued disclosures in football have rightly started a national conversation about the sexual abuse of children by people in positions of responsibility.
Talking to your children about sexual abuse?
The BBC published an article last week, ‘How do you talk to your children about sexual abuse?’ which is a good summary of the different ways parents can have conversations about keeping safe with their children.
FA captains’ video raises awareness
Captains of three England football teams have taken part in a film about how to keep children safe in the sport. The video for the NSPCC and the FA explains how parents and children can raise concerns they may have about adults working in football.
Don’t forget we published an article with advice about safeguarding in sport back in October, too.