Ancient Maya

In our History topic on Ancient Maya, we have been discovering why they are so important to learn about, and rating ideas of how they became so powerful. 

Conscience Alleys

We used some role-play in English to help decide whether we would dare to enter the eerie building from Paradise Sands. Whether we felt we should or not, we certainly felt very strongly!

Paradise Sands

We've been making inferences about some fairly eerie images in our new English text, Paradise Sands. After making these inferences, we created descriptive phrases to establish an ominous tone.

Form follows Function

In Design Technology, we started our topic with a pre-learning quiz and then learned about the phrase 'form follows function' coined by Louis H Sullivan in 1896. We then researched toys and rated their form and function, and decided whether they were fit for purpose. 

Individual Liberty

In Life Skills this week, we explored the British Value of Individual Liberty: the right to believe, act and express oneself freely.

Forces

In Science, we have been investigating the amount of force different actions perform, We've learned that force is measured in Newtons using a Newton-metre.

The Good Samaritan

In Bible studies, we have been analysing the text where Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. We have written questions we have about the text, and drawn a storyboard. 

American Football

We had our first session of American Football, where we practised putting on our tags, taking tags from each other, and then learned the correct technique for securely holding the ball whilst running.

Musical Theatre

We started our new topic, discussing the features of musicals and then comparing them to other performance types, like operas. We made a timeline about when different types of performances were introduced. 

Science

In science, we have been sorting materials based on their properties. We’ve learned about solubility and tested whether items are soluble, and if we can get the materials back using filtering and evaporation. 

Father Christmas!

He's got a cool fringe thing going on this year! What a wonderful visit to have on Party Day. Father Christmas chatted to each of the children and even gave them an early present - Merry Christmas!

Evaporation

We have been testing which solutes might be recovered from solutions through evaporation. If we ever need to get the sugar back out of our tea, we'll know what to do.

Kooth

Thank you, Kooth, for visiting us! Kooth is a free, safe, and anonymous online platform where young people can access mental health support whenever they need it. Delivered in partnership with the NHS, Kooth is available to anyone between the ages of 11-18, and in some areas, it extends up to age 25.

Dance 

Year 6 have been doing Dance in PE this half term, where they have worked in groups to create 4 and 8 beat motifs. They have performed and taught these to each other, using skills such as the canon, formations and mirror dancing.

Change Your T-shirt

The ways we think about ourselves impacts our feelings and behaviour. If we give ourselves time to stop and choose who we want to be, we can be happier and more confident.

Musical Notation

Learning to read music notation has been part of our unit in Music this half-term. We even took it a step further by writing some of our own!

NSPCC

We welcomed the NSPCC to Upper Key Stage 2! They're the leading children's charity in the UK, specialising in child protection and dedicated to protecting children today to prevent abuse tomorrow. 

Prayer Stations

Preparing for Christmas, the GIFT Team led us in a series of advent reflections. It was a wonderfully spiritual and calming way to end the term.

Bikeability

Children in Year 5 worked impressively hard to learn and show that they could ride their bikes safely on the road. Even the ice didn't stop them!

Tolerance and Respect

Tolerating peoples' views is one of our British Values, and it's one of the ways that we become stronger as a community. Reminding ourselves to look for the good in others was a great way to put ourselves into a positive mindset.

Year 6 Maths

In Maths No Problem, we have been playing games to practise comparing numbers to ten million. We're off to a great start in Year 6!

I Need Space!

In Art this half-term, we explored retro-futurism and collagraphy. To end our unit, we created our own collagraph prints and created our own space themed art inspired by Teis Albers.

Bible Studies

We have been studying Moses and The Burning Bush. We created storyboards to identify key moments in the scripture and explored the character of Moses and his motivations. 

Earth and Space

In Science, we have been learning about the planets in our Solar System, including their relative size and their distance from their sun. 

We have looked at the different phases of the moon, and developed our understanding of how the Earth, Moon and other planets move relatively to the sun. We've enjoyed lots of practical activities!

Ancient Greece

We have been scrutinising different sources of evidence and thinking about how we, as historians, interpret the past and consider reliability. 

Film Music

In music, we've been learning about film backing tracks and how they add suspense to scenes or suggests characters' feelings. We've read 'graphic scores' to recognise pitch, tempo and major / minor sounds. 

Portraits

Creating continuous line drawings and overwriting were challenging ways for us to develop our line sketching and drawing techniques. Our pieces had so much character and personality - just like us!