Year 6: Blog items

Year 6 Blog Friday 29th September 2023

Date: 28th Sep 2023 @ 7:32pm

Welcome to the Year 6 weekly blog.

Having completed their first month, the Year 6s have been praised for their lunch duty roles: helping the infants with drinks, supporting them during their play times and even creating some games to play with them. Excellent work Year 6!

The Reading Ambassadors have started their leadership role of reading with the infants. They made a great impression on the infant staff and are looking forward to more reading time in the coming weeks. The Science Ambassadors and School Councillors have also received their team from the votes in Year 3, 4 and 5.

On Thursday, the football team had their second week of games with the following results:

• A team lost against Little Hoole and drew against Ashbridge
• B team won against Little Hoole B and lost against Hoole St Michaels
• We only have one match left which will conclude on Thursday 12^th October. A letter will be sent out soon as a reminder.

Harvest Festival – please continue to bring in food items for the Harvest Festival which will be celebrated in Mass next Friday at 2:30pm.

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• In Maths, we have been learning how to recognise calculations that require mental partitioning e.g. 6, 584 – 2, 360 or 873 + 350 and how to use this strategy where appropriate.

• In English we began our new novel, ‘Clockwork’ by Phillip Pullman. We learnt about one of the characters, Karl, and used the text as evidence to describe his personality.

• In Geography, we learnt how to describe the 10 features of a mountain: summit, slope, face, tree line, snow line, outcrop, valley, ridge, foot and plateau.

• In PE, we began our new dance topic of ‘heroes’ by using our facial expressions and body tension to display our super powers. 

• In RE, we read a passage from Titus 3: 4-8, which was a letter from St Paul telling the people how powerful God’s love is. We replied with a thank you letter as Titus to St Paul.

• In Science, we learnt how to classify trees based on their specific characteristics: veins (netlike or parallel), shapes (hand-shapes, spear shaped, heart shaped or round), arrangement (simple of compound) and edges (smooth, toothed or lobed).

• In French, we celebrated ‘European Day of Languages’. The class shared any languages which they know, any which they have been learning or any which they would like to learn. Some children shared their favourite word in their language and discussed how they have learned that it. We then listened to a few languages being spoken, suggested which language it was and worked out what each word meant. We also watched some videos of children speaking in another language. We then spent some time answering quiz questions about European countries, including their outlines from a map, their iconic symbols and their traditional foods.

Home Practice

Please complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Use your Home Reading to read every night for 30 minutes. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings (silent letters)

• Sumdog (Silent letters A1 wk 4)
• doubt, climb, guitar, whistle, knight, autumn, thistle, debt, solemn, science, hymn, wriggle, answer, island, dumb.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in fraction steps of ¼ and 2/4 Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • g. Start with different numbers and count up 10 numbers then back again in halves:

2 ¼ , 2 2/4, 2 ¾, 3, 3 ¼ , etc

and as improper fractions:

¾, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 8/4, etc

Start at 13 and count up 10 numbers and down again:

13, 12 ¾, 12 2/4, 12 ¼, etc

Now try in 2/4 with these numbers:

8 8 2/4, 9, 9 2/4, 10, 10 2/4, etc

• Sumdog (Times Tables A1 wk 4)
  • Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but this week we have focused on 3s, 6s, which will be great practice for the future. (Every Tuesday there is a tables test).

• Sumdog (Decimals A1 wk 4)
  • This week’s learning is to make decimals into equivalent fractions e.g. 2/10 = 0.2, 4/10 = 0.4, 35 /100 = 0.35.
  • Also, the challenge will include rounding decimals to the nearest whole number.
  • For further maths work, please visit the ‘Maths Training’ section which you can find in the tasks box on the left of the main screen. This will enable your child to push their learning further with the skills that Sumdog has given them, following a recent diagnostic test.

Year 6 Blog Friday 22nd September 2023

Date: 22nd Sep 2023 @ 3:50pm

Welcome to the Year 6 weekly blog.

This week we have focused on our speaking and listening skills when having class discussions or working in groups. We also focused on presenting our work to be made as neatly as possible, with regular handwriting sessions to help.

On Thursday, Year 3 and Year 6 were fortunate to be invited to attend Mass for a Reception blessing.  

The 'Meet the Teacher' slides are attached to this blog, for anyone who missed the evening. 

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• We have learnt how to round numbers to the nearest tenth, whole number and a million, where we used number lines to represent our understanding. We then used counters to add or subtract any power of ten from any number.

• In English we learnt how to describe settings, using well chosen noun phrases with a mixture of prepositions and personification.

• In Geography, our topic of Mountains continued with research on one of the 6 following mountains: Mount Everest, Ben Nevis, Mount Fuji, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Ararat and K2. Each group then delivered a short presentation on their chosen mountain.

• In PE, we split into small teams to work on the 3 main strategies we have been focusing on: find a space, communication and simple pass.

• In Art, we continued our topic, ‘2D Drawing to 3D Making’, by sketching a silhouette of a dog, focusing on proportion. We will scale up on large sheets next week.

• In French, we used our review sheets to practise responding to key questions: ‘comment ?a va?’, ‘comment tu t’appelles’, ‘quel âge as-tu?’, ‘quelle est ta couleur préférée?’, ‘as-tu des frères et soeurs?’ and ‘tu as des animaux?’. We also recapped how to say the date and our birthdays, using a help sheet with the days of the week, numbers 1-31, the months and how to say the years.

• In Science, we developed our knowledge of classification by grouping animals using a classification key.

Home Practice

Please complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Use your Home Reading to read every night for 30 minutes. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday.

Spellings (ei / ie words)

• Sumdog (ie / ei wk 3)
• chief, shield, receipt, receive, friend, patient, weigh, weird, protein, deceive, belief, ancient, medieval, glacier, mischievous,

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in decimal steps of 100, 100 and 250 Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • Start with different numbers and count up 10 numbers then back again in 100:

645, 745, 845, 945, 1 045, 1 145, etc

and in 200:

645, 845, 1 045, 1 245, etc          

Start with different numbers and count up and back in 250s:

1 850, 2 100, 2 350, 2 600, etc    

• Sumdog (Times Tables - week 3)
  • Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but this week we have focused on 3s, 4s and 5s, which will be great practice for the future. (Every Tuesday there is a tables test).

• Sumdog (Place Value - week 3)
  • This week’s learning is to round numbers to different powers of 10.
  • For further maths work, please visit the ‘Maths Training’ section which you can find in the tasks box on the left of the main screen. This will enable your child to push their learning further with the skills that Sumdog has given them, following a recent diagnostic test.

Year 6 Blog Friday 15th September 2023

Date: 15th Sep 2023 @ 3:41pm

Welcome to a Year 6 weekly blog.

We have had individual and sibling pictures taken this week with everyone looking super smart in their autumn uniforms. They should take a couple of weeks to come back to us, if you are thinking of ordering any.

Our leadership roles have been announced this week. Congratulations to everyone for receiving a leadership role, whether that be as the house point team, sports captains, eco team, reading ambassadors, school council, science ambassador, golden team or digital leaders.

On Thursday, St Oswald’s football A and B teams began their leagues. The A team came away with a win and a loss, with the B team winning both games. The pupils did themselves proud and gave a super effort as a team.

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• We have continued our place value knowledge in Maths through comparing, ordering and rounding whole numbers and numbers with three decimal places.

• In English we worked hard to describe the character, The Moor, from our Aladdin story. We discussed how evil he is, gathering great vocabulary from each other. We then analysed a character description from another story to understand how we can portray the evilness in our own character description. The results can be seen in our Year 6 gallery.

• In RE, we read passages from Isaiah who spoke about the power of God’s love. We used these quotes to make links to our lives and how it makes us feel.

• In Geography, we introduced our topic, Mountains, and used atlases to search for the largest mountains ranges in the world and where they are located.

• In PE, we focused on using tactics in small teams against single opponents, including ‘finding a space’, ‘communication’ and ‘pick the easy pass’.

• In Art, we began our topic, ‘2D Drawing to 3D Making’ by exploring the artist Lubaina Himid, who is a professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire and has artwork displayed at the Tate Museum in Liverpool. Our project will explore the idea that our 2-dimensional illustrations can be transformed onto surfaces which can be manipulated into a 3-dimensional object.

• In PSHE, we explored how to be respectful to others when online. We discussed the word ‘boundaries’ and watched a video on how we can respect other people’s boundaries with different scenarios. We then created a ‘respect charter’ for young people to follow.

• In Science, we developed our knowledge of classification by grouping various animals into a range of categories.

This is the first week of our Home Practice. Please complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Use your Home Reading to read every night for 30 minutes. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings (-ible / -able words)

• Sumdog (-ible / able wk 2)
• edible, horrible, possible, impossible, invisible, sensible, terrible, incredible, comfortable, considerable, enjoyable, miserable, reasonable, respectable, unacceptable.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in decimal steps of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.25 Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • g. Start with different numbers and count up 10 numbers then back again in 0.1:

5, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, etc

and in 0.2:

6.5, 6.7, 6.9, 7.1, 7.3, 7.5, 7.7, etc          

Start at a number with two decimal places like 8.12 and count up 10 numbers and down again:

8.12, 8.32, 8.52, 8.72, 8.92, 9.12, etc        

Now try to count in 0.25 from 7 and 23 and 54:

7, 7.25, 7.50, 7.75, 8, 8.25, etc

• Sumdog (Times Tables - week 2)
  • Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but this week we have focused on 3s and 4s, which will be great practice for the future. (Every Tuesday there is a tables test).

• Sumdog (Place Value - week 2)
  • This week’s learning is to practice questions on the value of each place and be able to compare numbers up to 1 000 000.
  • For further maths work, please visit the ‘Maths Training’ section which you can find in the tasks box on the left of the main screen. This will enable your child to push their learning further with the skills that Sumdog has given them, following a recent diagnostic test.

Year 6 Blog Friday 8th September 2023

Date: 8th Sep 2023 @ 6:46pm

Welcome to the first of Year 6s weekly blogs.

Well done to all the pupils for completing the first week of Year 6. They have all been exceptional in transitioning into the routines and getting used to the expectations of this new year.

Thank you to everyone who has worked hard to complete their summer holiday autobiographies. They read really well, which has created a super display. Next week, we hope to hear about everyone's life story next week.

This week in Year 6:

• We have improved our place value knowledge in Maths through identifying, comparing and partitioning whole numbers and numbers up to 10 million.

• In English we are reading ‘Aladdin’ by Phillip Pullman. The children have used clues to predict what this edition may be about and have written well as the new version of Aladdin.

• In Geography, our first lesson focused on using atlases to search for various cities around the world, and using coordinates to help others identify them.

• For RE, we have also begun our first topic of ‘Loving’ and what the class believe unconditional love means to them.

• In PE, ‘Invasion Games’ is our theme for the next few weeks, focusing on improving our throwing and catching skills and starting to develop advanced tactics to give an advantage for the attacking team. We have used the sport of netball and handball to explore this through.

• In PSHE, we have started our topic, ‘Online Safety’ by discussing scenarios of the impact on sharing online content.

• In Science, our new topic is called Classification. We recapped our learning to help us group animals into various categories (fish, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds / carnivore, herbivore and omnivore / vertebrates and invertebrates).

Home Practice

This week we will keep Home Practice simple until we meet at ‘Meet The Teacher’ on Tuesday 12^th September at 6:30pm, where I will explain what is expected from the children in more detail.

Reading

Please read the book you have received from school and swap it for a new one on Monday.

Spellings

You have come home with a spelling sheet. Please complete it throughout the week to help with next week’s spelling test – Friday 15^th September.

Suffixes:

hopped, hopping, playing, played, jumping, jumped, reading, readable, discussing, discussed, helpful, helpless, happiness, happier, usually.

Have a great weekend Year 6!

Back to School Online Safety Tips for Children

Date: 30th Aug 2023 @ 11:55am

With your children returning to school, it is a great time to review online safety in your homes and make sure we are all up to date with developments in the online world. At St Oswald's, all classes will be beginning their Online Saftety learning where they will learn all about safe practices online in the following areas. 

Self image and identitiy

Online relationships

Online bulllying

Health, Well-being and lifestyle

Online reputation

Managing online information

Copyright and ownership

We will blog regularly to keep you updated with developments in the online space, sharing platform guides and links to expert training for you to keep your children safe when exploring the internet. Below you will find a guide on some back to school online safety tips for children.

To access a huge range of information on the National Online Safety website click the link below and join our school online safety hub.You will get access to videos, training and guides to keep you informed of the best practices in keeping your children safe online.

http://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/st-oswald-s-catholic-primary-school-pr45eb

Click to View

Year 6 End of Year Blog

Date: 20th Jul 2023 @ 12:52pm

We have had such a fantastic year. Everyone has pushed themselves, persevered with challenging tasks and made memories for life. We hope you have enjoyed your time at St Oswald's. From everyone at this primary school: thank you and have a super time at high school. 

Year 6 Blog Friday 14th July 2023

Date: 15th Jul 2023 @ 4:03pm

Welcome to this week’s Year 6 blog. This has been a very busy week for Year 6 with every day full of ‘final’ events.

On Monday, we rehearsed and performed our Oliver production to the whole school.

On Tuesday, we performed three shows of Oliver at 10am, 2pm and 6.30pm. We hope you enjoyed them all as the children have been working extremely hard these past few weeks. You can see a repeat of it here by clicking on the link.

On Wednesday, Year 6 headed out for their retreat day to Liverpool. We stopped at Liverpool Cathedral to admire the amazing artwork and to reflect on the past 7 years of primary life. We then went to Crosby beach to walk together on the sand and have time to enjoy ourselves as a class.

On Thursday, Year 6 delivered their Leavers assembly, with great memories and songs shared with those that came to watch. In the afternoon, Year 6 had their final sports day. Then that evening, we celebrated the Year 6s again at the Leavers Mass, followed by fish and chips and a good dance to end the night.

On Friday, Year 6 led the infamous Super Learning Day where they got to experience new things from shelter building to karaoke to golf and many more. The Year 6 did a brilliant job all week and deserve a weekend of rest.

DO NOT FORGET – Monday and Tuesday are bikeability days so please bring your PE kit, bike and helmet for both days. As it may rain at times, you may wear leggings or tracksuit bottoms. A raincoat would be useful too.

Have a great weekend!

Year 6 Blog Friday 7th July 2023

Date: 6th Jul 2023 @ 3:33pm

Welcome to this week’s Year 6 blog.

Our final week of rehearsals for Oliver consisted of perfecting the stage directions, dance routines, lights and use of props. Next Monday will be a dress rehearsal for the school, with Tuesday being the big day of performances. Year 6 are looking forward to showing you all their fanstastic production. 

This week is Art week with our topic focusing on Activism. We used the artist Shepard Fairey and discussed how his art can help influence people’s thoughts and feelings towards different topics. We discussed the question, ‘What is your message to the world?’ We then used our learning from Romero Britto’s artwork and merged the two ideas together to create our final bright activism piece of art, which will be displayed at the summer fair.

In French, we used bilingual dictionaries to find words associated with the future - hope, peace, friendship, dreams etc and we turned them into graffiti. You'll see why next week. Then we enjoyed a celebration French breakfast.

In Science, we learnt the standard symbols used to draw electric circuits and we investigated how to change the brightness of a bulb or the loudness of a buzzer. 

Home Practice

Please continue with your ‘Numeracy Skills booklet’ from All Hallows.

• Work through all 20 questions as best as you can.
• Any you do not understand, we will go through them next WEDNESDAY
• This week have a go at completing the sheet 56.6

Year 6 Blog Friday 30th June 2023

Date: 30th Jun 2023 @ 11:44am

Welcome to this week’s Year 6 blog.

This has been a huge week of rehearsals, creating new lines, choreography and plenty of movement around the stage.

On Monday, St Oswald’s had a Poetry Day with Ian Bland, who inspired us all to be poets. Year 6 created and performed a super poem in groups, with some performing to the school.

On Tuesday, Year 6 Sports Captains led the Year 3 sports day brilliantly once again. Only one to go – Year 6’s on Monday 3^rdJuly at 2:15pm.

On Thursday, Year 6 did a great job of leading St Peter and St Paul's Feast Day in church.

On Friday, the majority of Year 6 headed for a transition day at All Hallows high school. There, they met their form tutor and lots of new people from different primary schools.  

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In History, we continued the use of the library loan by investigating real posters from World War II and how propaganda had an effect on the people of Britain.

• In French, the children practised their cafe dialogues written last week and made some props for their cafe. They then filmed their little sketches - well done everyone!  

• In science, we leant about Inheritance (scientifically speaking!) and variation. There was a lot of discussion and interesting questions. The children then drew what the offspring of Mr Men and Little Miss characters might look like.  That concludes this topic on Evolution and Inheritance. We moved on to a quick recap of Electricity by making lots of different circuits. 

Home Practice

Please continue with your ‘Numeracy Skills booklet’ from All Hallows.

• Work through all 20 questions as best as you can.
• Any you do not understand, we will go through them next WEDNESDAY
• This week have a go at completing the sheet 54.5

Year 6 Blog Friday 23rd June 2023

Date: 23rd Jun 2023 @ 4:36pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog.

This week we have continued with rehearsals, memorising lines and adapting the drama scenes, even during some very hot days.

On Wednesday, the Year 6 Sports Captains led the Year 4 sports day brilliantly, their fifth one so far – only 2 to go.

On Thursday, as part of our history topic, World War II, year 6 had a zoom workshop with Mark Mckenzie (from WW2homefront.org) to learn about the blackout, blitz, wardens, gas masks and even bomb handling.

On Friday, the Year 6s organised and led the infamous ‘Tough Kidder’ event which went down a treat with everyone having a super time.

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we reminded ourselves about the various addition strategies that we have learnt throughout the year to answer tricky problem-solving questions.
• In English, we continued with our novel, ‘1000-year-old boy’, learning about Alfie’s 1000-year-old past.

• In PE, the class were divided into four sections to test their teamwork skills of communicating and evaluating with the following sports: netball, handball, hockey and cricket.
• In History, we used a library loan of historical artefacts from the World War II era to learn about what life was like then. We had a great discussion about air raid wardens, gas masks and what life was like for children during this time.

• In Music, we have been rehearsing the songs for ‘Oliver’ and preparing for the Leaver’s Assembly.

• In French, we continued to learn the words for our leavers' song. Then we practised some phonic sounds from the cafe menu and translated a cafe dialogue. We're ready to write our own dialogue next week. The children have earned the exciting bit - some food tasting! 
• In Science, we continued to learn about Charles Darwin and his theories of Natural Selection and Evolution. We learnt about Darwin's Finches and how they evolved different beak shapes according to the food available on their specific Galapagos Island. We modelled 'eating' different foods with different 'beaks' to see which beak was best adapted to each food. We looked at the results and predicted what would happen with different food, then tested that to check our predictions. 

Home Practice

For the rest of this half term, All Hallows’ have kindly given you a ‘Numeracy Skills booklet’, which is very similar to the ones they use. This is a great transition homework for you to get used to. I have explained how to complete this in class but to remind you:

• Work through all 20 questions as best as you can.
• Any you do not understand, we will go through them on WEDNESDAY
• This week have a go at completing the sheet 53.4

Year 6 Blog Friday 16th June 2023

Date: 16th Jun 2023 @ 8:39am

Welcome to our Year 6 blog.

This week we have concluded our school production auditions with everyone receiving their parts. If you have been given a script, please learn your lines by Wednesday 21^st June.

On Thursday, we had our ‘Dance from the Heart Roadshow’ with visits from Minnie Mouse and Elsa from Frozen. A huge thank you to the Dance Leaders who gave up so much of their lunch times to learn the dance, which was executed brilliantly!

Also on Thursday, the Rugby team concluded their tournament with 4 wins out of 4, winning a huge trophy and even the extra kicking competition. Well done team!

On Friday, Mrs Walsh, one of the Maths teachers at All Hallows, visited Year 6 to lead a workshop on algebra. The children learnt how to sort numbers and letters in to terms and how to write them as algebraic expressions. They learnt how to substitute values into each expression and solve them. 

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we have learnt how to read and write Roman numerals.

• In English, we introduced our new short film story called ‘Road’s End’ about a mysterious traveller who is given a lift by a passing car. We wrote as both the driver and the passenger to see if we could work on conscious control for each one. 

• In PE, we split into three sections: bowling with increased accuracy, batting a straight drive as far as possible and a small cricket game to apply these skills.

• In History, we introduced our World War II topic by first researching what modern Germany is like today and looking at the historical significance of this country.

• In Art, we continued our Romero Britto topic using pastels to create vibrant colours before completing our own final piece.

• In Music, along with more auditions, we continued practising the songs for the Oliver production.

• In French, we continued to learn the words for our leavers' song. Then we practised some phonic sounds from the cafe menu and translated a cafe dialogue. We're ready to write our own dialogue next week. Then the children have earned the exciting bit - some food tasting! 
• In Science, we continued to learn about Charles Darwin and his theories of Natural Selection and Evolution. We learnt about Darwin's Finches and how they evolved different beak shapes according to the food available on their specific Galapagos island. We modelled 'eating' different foods with different 'beaks' to see which beak was best adapted to each food. We looked at the results and predicted what would happen with different food, then tested that to check our predictions. 

Home Practice

For the rest of this half term, All Hallows’ have kindly given you a ‘Numeracy Skills booklet’, which is very similar to the ones they use. This is a great transition homework for you to get used to. I have explained how to complete this in class but to remind you:

• Work through all 20 questions as best as you can.
• Any you do not understand, we will go through them on WEDNESDAY
• This week have a go at completing the sheet 56.3

Year 6 Blog Friday 9th June 2023

Date: 9th Jun 2023 @ 8:36am

Welcome to our first blog of Year 6’s final half term. 

On Thursday, our Tag Rugby team took on their first 3 matches against Ashbridge, Little Hoole and New Longton and managed to win all three. They did an amazing job working as a team, supporting and encouraging each other. We are looking forward to our last game next week, Thursday 15th June. 

We have been busy practising the dance for the ‘Dance from the Heart Roadshow’ – you will be able to see this live on Thursday 15^th June where it will be performed with the South Ribble sports team at 10.30am, with our gates opening at 10.25am.

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we have been learning how to reflect shapes in various mirror lines and across all four quadrants of a coordinate grid.

• In English, we introduced our new novel, ‘The 1000-Year-Old Boy’, and analysed a chapter to learn more about the character, Aidan, then wrote a diary entry as him.

• In PE, we learnt how to overarm bowl in cricket, focusing on arm technique and accuracy. We then rotated to hitting a straight drive by stepping forward and swinging your arms, with your bat, in a straight line.

• In Geography, we learnt about the importance of the Amazon rainforest. We explored the four main layers of the rainforest (forest floor, under storey, canopy layer and emergent layer) and how this habitat is home to an estimated 50% of the entire world’s species of animals and plants.

• In Art, we used our Geography topic of Brazil to inspire our new project, the artist Romero Britto. He uses amazing colours, pop art and cubism to create stunning artwork.

• In Music, along with our auditions, we have practised all the songs for Oliver, with quite a few trying out for solos. We have some amazing singers in our class.

• In French, we continued to learn the song we are preparing for the leavers' celebrations and we began to learn how to ask for items in a cafe and how to ask for the bill. 
• In Science, we learnt about plant and animal adaptations and how adaptation can be a step towards evolution. We looked at the life and work of Charles Darwin and his idea of Survival of the Fittest, meaning the best adapted rather than the one that can run fastest. We read, and drew in response to, the evolution story of the Peppered Moth, an example of Natural Selection. There are a lot of difficult concepts to grasp in this topic - well done Y6. 

Home Practice

For the rest of this half term, All Hallows’ have kindly given a ‘Numeracy Skills booklet’, which is very similar to the ones they use. This is a great transition homework to get used to. I have explained how to complete this in class but to remind everyone:

• Work through all 20 questions as best as you can.
• Any you do not understand, we will go through them on WEDNESDAY, which is the deadline. 
• This week have a go at completing the sheet 56.1

Year 6 Blog Friday 26th May 2023

Date: 24th May 2023 @ 1:59pm

Welcome to the final blog of this half term. It has been a busy 5 weeks but the children have been brilliant, showing their resilience and persevering through a challenging time.

Thank you to everyone who created a speech this week. Every single pupil did a brilliant job of standing in front of the class and speaking for around two minutes. I learnt a great deal about a whole range of topics: Rome, Pendle Witches, Democracy on Ancient Greece, holidays, favourite food, range of sports, dragons and unicorns and even about Eurovision. 

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

In Maths, we have been learning about circles: what radius, diameter and circumference mean. We then used our knowledge of circles to interpret pie charts with percentages.

In English, we have finished our novel, Skellig, and discussed how Michael was affected by the characters around him. We also read one of my favourite stories, Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Town, and created speeches for the very sensible Debbie and the rude Mr Bunny.

In PE, we used our skills of bowling, batting and fielding to play a small game of ‘Dynamos Cricket’.

In Geography, we learnt the 5 regions of Brazil: North, North-east, West-central, South-east and South. We discussed what each region may be like and how that effects population. We then introduced new physical geography terms: The Amazon Basin, The Pantanal and the Brazilian Highlands. We looked at how these areas have different landscapes and what effect that has on the country.

In Music, we have been learning the songs for our Oliver production.

In French, we recapped the Cafe menu and how to say they liked or didn't like items from the menu, using the first person (Je) and 3^rdperson (Il/Elle). Then we began to learn the French song which will form part of their leavers' celebrations. Homework - keep listening and singing along. There are a lot of words and it's fast so practice is the only way to master it! The song is on YouTube. It's called On ecrit sur les murs by Kids United.

In Science, we learnt how fossils are formed. There was a lot of discussion and questions. Then we looked at some real fossils and used them as evidence to work out what the animal or plant might have looked like, where it might have lived and what it might have eaten. We thought about whether there was weak, moderate or strong evidence to back up our ideas. Fossils can tell us a lot about life on Earth millions of years ago, but there is also a lot that they cannot tell us which scientists have to work out from other sources. The children did some lovely observation drawings of their fossils too. Well done y6.

Home Practice

Read a good book over the holiday (aim to keep changing it every week).

Learn the Oliver production songs by the 5^th July. You have been given a second copy to take and keep at home (it is best to use YouTube or Spotify to sing along with the songs).

Have a super half term Year 6 – you deserve it!

Online Safety Update - Roblox

Date: 23rd May 2023 @ 12:10pm

We have noticed a growing number of children from all classes accessing this platform and so here is a guide on how to use the platform, including what potential risks come with allowing your children on Roblox.

Below you will find a link to join the National Online Safety platform and gain free access to a huge range of videos, resources and support, incuding filtering and the best ways to monitor your child's online activity.

http://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/st-oswald-s-catholic-primar-school-pr45eb

Year 6 Blog Friday 19th May 2023

Date: 19th May 2023 @ 3:33pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog.

This week has been another busy one following our SATs week. On Thursday we attended church to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus, led by Year 6. This Friday, we had a visit from the CEO of the Foxton Centre in Preston who gave us a talk about their fantastic charity work for the homeless community. 

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we have learnt about line graphs, how to interpret them and draw various continuous data. Next week, we will learning more about pie charts and how to interpret them. 
• In English, we have learnt how to improve our persuasive writing through planning and creating a persuasive letter to one of the Skellig characters on why they should try home school or state school.
• In PE, we focused on our athletics skills: running, throwing and jumping, as we prepare for our last Sports Day at St Oswald’s. Also, we prepared our ‘mini coaching’ sessions by designing them and practising each activity with other groups.
• In Geography, we introduced our new topic, Brazil, through mapping work of South America and learnt the bordering countries surrounding it.
• In History, we learnt about the Maya rule and how this compares to the Anglo-Saxons at the same period (8^th to 10^th century).
• In PSHE, we discussed our responsibilities around school, and how we can use what we have learnt from them as we begin transitioning to high school.
• In RE, we began our new topic, ‘Witness’, where we learnt how our beliefs and values affect what we do when being a witness.

Home Practice this week.

This week I have a different task for you to complete. Part of our speaking and listening area of the English curriculum is to give presentations on a variety of topics. Doing this individually though, will be great practice for any future activities you undertake in high school. Therefore, this weekend, I would like you to create a two-minute speech to present between next Monday to Friday. It can be:

• About any topic you wish
• About a talent you have
• About a skill you developed
• About any holiday you have been on
• About your pet and how to look after it
• About absolutely anything.

Year 6 Blog Friday 12th May 2023

Date: 12th May 2023 @ 3:48pm

This week Year 6 completed an exam week of SATs for Spelling, Grammar, Reading and Maths.

You have all worked incredibly hard with revising, the work in class and all the home learning you completed. You should be so proud of yourselves for persevering through this week.

No home learning is set, so please enjoy yourselves and rest this weekend – you deserve it!

Year 6 Blog Friday 5th May 2023

Date: 5th May 2023 @ 12:18pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog. This week our Sports Captains led their first sports day for Reception. They did a great job and are looking forward to leading the next one. This Friday, we celebrated the King’s Coronation wearing red, white or blue and with a special picnic outside, including music and biscuits!

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we have been improving our learning of 2D shapes and used that knowledge to help with perimeter, area and coordinates. One main area we have been improving is fractions of amounts and percentages of numbers.
• In English, we have focused on our descriptive writing, and learnt how to better use similes and personification to create a more detailed image for the reader.
• In PE, we learnt how to improve the accuracy of throwing and catching within cricket and how to perform the basics of batting.
• In PSHE, we discussed ways of keeping calm under pressure and devised a plan for how to organise ourselves for next week.
• In Art, we completed a collage of our Mayan masks. 
• In French, we recapped the items on a cafe menu then conjugated a regular ER verb - Aimer, to like. We will put this learning together next week to say what people like and dislike from the menu. 
• In Science, we summarised our learning from this topic about Healthy Lifestyle Choices. Then we had a video call with a hospital pharmacist who talked about the path she took from St Oswald’s to where she is now - the lead Major Trauma pharmacist for Central Manchester. She answered the children's questions about her job, medicines and drugs. The children were very interested and asked some great questions.  The idea was to show Y6 that many, varied science careers are open to all of them. 

No Home Practice this week.

But make sure you spend the weekend doing at least one or a number of the following things:

• Rest and enjoy doing something you love,
• Do something active,
• Spend time with your family,
• Read a good book,
• Watch a film.

Have a great weekend everybody, rest and sleep well with a good breakfast Tuesday morning.

Year 6 Blog Friday 28th April 2023

Date: 28th Apr 2023 @ 9:18am

Welcome to our first Year 6 blog of the Summer Term. It has been great to see the children back in their summer uniforms. They have all come back with a super attitude after having two weeks off and have done brilliantly with all the tricky tasks set this week. Keep up the hard work Year 6!

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we have been learning how to solve problems with our place value knowledge by making sure we underline the important parts of the question and to check our answers. We have also learnt about ratio (the relation of one quantity to another) and proportion (which is a number, a share or a part of something in relation to a whole – like portions).
• In English, we have written an explanation text, a story and a poem using a range of conjunctions and noun phrases. We have also been improving our grammar knowledge by revisiting the names of all the word classes.
• In History, we continued our learning of the Maya civilisation by interpreting evidence from a range of artefacts.
• In PE, we began our striking and fielding unit through the sport of cricket, and focused on our bowling skills, both underarm and overarm.
• In Music, we have started a unit of living composers: people composing music who are alive now. This week we looked at Anna Meredith and began composing our own raps.
• In French, we began to learn about the Cafe culture in France and used dictionaries to look up any unknown words to help us read a cafe menu. We were pleasantly surprised how much we could understand without having to look up the words - great progress y6!
• In Science, we learnt about medicines and drugs - how they are helpful but can also be dangerous. We have a talk next week from a hospital pharmacist who will talk about her job role and answer the children's questions about medicines and drugs so we prepared for that. We have now learnt about many different ways of making healthy lifestyle choices - we will put all our learning together next week to conclude this topic. 

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

• Reading – Continue to read every night for 30 minutes. It is important to keep reading, right up until the end for the year.

• NO SPELLING LIST THIS WEEK (We will be recapping our knowledge of the Year 5/6 spellings). Next week’s test will be on a random 15 spellings from this list so please look through those which you need to practise on.

• NO SUMDOG – please complete the sheets that have been given, by Monday.

• Maths challenges:
  • Counting:
    • This week we have been counting in 60s and 600s
    • Start with 225 or 850 or 575
    • Then count up in 60s ten times and back again
      • 225, 285, 345, 405, 465, 525, 585, etc
    • Then count up and back in 600s
      • 850, 1450, 2005, 2650, 3250, 3850, etc
    • Number facts:
      • To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 17 – 9 = 6, 15 – 8 = 7.
      • The best way to do this is to simply have someone in your home quiz you with questions like (13 – 5, 18 – 9, 16 – 8, 15 - 9, etc)
      • Then get them to change the place value of these digits (1.3 – 0.5, 1.8 – 0.9, 1.6 – 0.8, 1.5 – 0.9, etc)

Year 6 Blog Thursday 6th April 2023

Date: 6th Apr 2023 @ 2:07pm

Welcome to the last Year 6 blog this spring term. We are so pleased with everyone’s effort throughout the term! This week, we led a church service based on Holy Week and were invited to church again by Father, where we learnt more about the stations of the cross, and what it means for Christians.

Also, Year 6’s learning this week:

• In Maths, we learnt that algebra means ‘the reunion of broken parts’, what algebra symbols mean and how to solve them. We also improved our learning on how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions.
• In English, we used our Skellig story to help learn how to answer reading questions of retrieval and inference using the text as evidence.
• In PE, we completed our orienteering unit with an intra competition in pairs trying to find the points hidden around the school grounds.
• In History, we learnt how the Maya were so successful, with clever farming and building structures using limestone and obsidian as their main resource. We summarised our findings in the style of a historian.

For the Easter holidays, I have included a ‘Suggested Revision Guide’ that has extra home practice sheets to use as you please. All documents have been given to you in a folder.

The Easter holidays are to rest, relax and enjoy time with your family. The documents I have included in the folder are for those who wish to do some extra practice during the two weeks, for just a small amount of time each day. It is not a requirement to complete everything but little and often of reading, maths revision, grammar and spelling revision will go a huge way when you return on Monday 24^th April. Please bring in any work and revision in on that day so I can advise on what to do next.

Enjoy your Easter break!

Year 6 Blog Friday 31st March 2023

Date: 31st Mar 2023 @ 1:02pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog.

On Thursday, we had a super time celebrating World Book Day with a special assembly about Tyrus Wong, the Chinese American immigrant who was responsible for the creation of Disney’s Bambi. Please see the pictures of the great outfits on our Year 6 gallery.

On Friday, Year 4 surprised us with a visit to show their excellent adventure stories based on Adolphus Tips. We then showed our persuasive adverts to buy a house – super writing by all! Please see the pictures on the Year 6 gallery.

We have attached a new online safety guide 'What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Age-Inappropriate Content'. Please Read.

REMINDER

For the last week of orienteering (weather depending), please bring in extra trainers (preferably old ones) that you do not mind getting dirty and a plastic bag to keep them in.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

• In Maths, we learnt to work out mode, median, range and mean in a set of data. We also practised how to convert length, mass and capacity with different reasoning questions.
• In English, our main character, Michael, and his family have recently moved to a new house with an estate agent showing them around. We used this to learn formal persuasive ways to speak and become an estate agent to sell a fictional house.
• In RE, we learnt about Jesus’ journey through Holy Week, discussing how He must have felt and why Jesus sacrificed himself. We then created an information page about what happened.
• In PE, we used our school grounds map (created by cross curriculum orienteering) to find hidden letters around the school to form the secret message. We made sure we orientated the map correctly all the way around the course.
• In History, we investigated the Maya timeline by plotting events in chronological order. We learnt where and when they lived and the main events that happened during the Maya era.
• In French, to round off our learning about the geography of France, we read a classic French poem, Dans Paris by Paul Eluard. We then wrote togetherin the same style. - Dans Longton. The children's pronunciation of new French words is impressive - great phonics, Y6. 
• In Science, we completed the investigation involving burning crisps to see how much energy they contain. The children then used the results to say what they had found out and to evaluate the investigation, explaining how it could be improved. You would be amazed how much black smoke comes off one crisp - most off-putting!

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

Reading

• Please keep reading every day to build up stamina. A great idea is to read 20-30 pages a day (you can read more) in one sitting, as this will build up your ability to read at length for long periods of time.

Spellings (challenge words)

• Sumdog (Year 6 Sp 2 wk 7 Challenge words 3)

average, awkward, correspond, forty, interrupt, lightning, occur, relevant, sacrifice, excellent, recognise, sincere, sufficient, variety, vehicle

The main spellings will be the ones above, but as we are consolidating our learning of spelling strategies and spelling rules, Sumdog has included these 5 below in the online challenge.

(according, bargain, develop, equip, physical)

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week, please practise counting in 90s and 900s
  • For example, start at 2 360 and count up to 2 960 and back again
  • 2 360, 2 450, 2 540 etc           2 960, 2 870, 2 780, etc 
  • Also, start at 8 800 and count up to 17 800 and back again
  • 8 800, 9 700, 10 600, etc 17 800, 16, 900, 16 000, etc

• Sumdog (Squared and cubed numbers)
  • This challenge will help recognise squared and cubes numbers. Remember – squared numbers are numbers multiplied by itself twice (3 squared = 3 x 3; 4 squared = 4 x 4)

Cubed numbers are numbers multiplied by itself three times

( 3 cubed = 3 x 3 x 3; 4 cubed = 4 x 4 x 4)

• Sumdog (Volume using cubes and formula)

This week, use your knowledge of times tables and the volume formula (length x width x height) to solve the questions quickly. Some will be word problems so try not to rush them – aim for accuracy.

Year 6 Blog Friday 24th March 2023

Date: 24th Mar 2023 @ 12:53pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog.

This week, people from the Fire Service came to give Year 6 a fire safety talk. We learnt valuable safety tips on how to keep safe at home and on the road.

On Friday, Year 6 were invited to mass, where we prayed and learnt about the stations of the cross.

Please find attached the latest guidance regarding the use of Whatsapp. As you are aware, the age restriction on the platform is 16.

REMINDER

For our PE lessons this term, which will include rugby and orienteering (weather depending), please bring in extra trainers (preferably old ones) that you do not mind getting dirty and a plastic bag to keep them in. You may take them home each week, if you prefer to clean them.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

• In Maths, we learnt how to interpret pie charts using our knowledge of fractions. We also found the properties of 3D shapes – faces, edges and vertices – and created nets for them.
• In English, we began our new story, Skellig, and met the main character Michael, who has just moved house. We learnt how to write an internal monologue using thoughts and feelings.
• In RE, we began our new topic, Death and New Life, where we discussed the loss of a friend, relative or a teacher they once had, and how we deal or have dealt with it.
• In PE, we worked in small teams to navigate our way through different coned maps to try to complete two courses of orienteering. The children had to use math skills to figure out which direction to move in.
• In History, we learnt more about the Ancient Maya using 10 clues around the classroom. We worked in pairs to discuss what these findings mean, to help us understand what life might have been like for a Mayan.
• In Art, we researched the Mayan masks, created an information page about all their use and used different media (pastels and charcoal) to create them.
• In French, we learnt that feminine nouns usually end with the letter e. This helped us decide whether we need un or une as a determiner. Then we looked at the vocabulary for countries and nationalities and how to make the adjectives agree with the subject of the verb. For example, They (feminine) are Italian would need to be feminine plural. Tricky stuff! We finished by giving our opinions in French about a very popular song In France - we didn't like it much!
• In Science, we continued our learning about healthy diets by burning different brands of crisps to demonstrate that calories are the amount of energy in food. We talked about the effect of eating more calories than we use up on our bodies. We used the data from the investigation to explain what we had found out.

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

Reading

• Please keep reading every day to build up stamina. A great idea is to read 20-30 pages a day (you can read more) in one sitting, as this will build up your ability to read at length for long periods of time.

Spellings (challenge words)

• Sumdog (Year 6 Sp 2 wk 5 Challenge words)

available, according, conscious, familiar, muscle, determined, identity, competition, existence, suggest, develop, explanation, privilege, symbol, immediately

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week, please practise counting in 80s and 800s
  • For example, start at 780 and count up to 1580 and back again
  • 780, 860, 940 etc           1580, 1500, 1420, etc 
  • Also, start at 6 900 and count up to 14 900 and back again
  • 6 900, 7 800, 8 600, etc 14 900, 14, 000, 13 200, etc

• Sumdog (Multiples of 6, 7, 9, 25, 1000)
  • This challenge will help to develop your counting skills.

• Sumdog (3D shapes with nets Sp2 wk 5)

This week, use the learning of 3D nets we have done this week to quickly identify nets of 3D shapes. The most important ones to get correctly are cube and cuboid. Good luck!

Year 6 Blog Friday 17th March 2023

Date: 16th Mar 2023 @ 10:40am

Welcome to our Year 6 blog.

This week, our Athletics team headed to Blackpool to compete in the Lancashire Finals against 14 other schools. After a very tense and exciting afternoon, St Oswald’s achieved their first ever win, becoming the top athletics team in Lancashire. An amazing achievement that could not have been accomplished without a full team effort.

Also, we were lucky to welcome back Freddy Fit on Wednesday, who put us through paces with hoopla-hooping, speed jumping and lots of dancing - thank you Freddy Fit!

REMINDER

For our PE lessons this term, which will include rugby and orienteering (weather depending), please bring in extra trainers (preferably old ones) that you do not mind getting dirty and a plastic bag to keep them in. You may take them home each week, if you prefer to clean them.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

• In Maths, we learnt how to read and interpret different bar charts, pictograms and timetables. We practised using number lines as a great way to find the difference between two times or adding/subtracting with time.
• In English, we learnt how to write a formal letter of complaint so we could complain to the governments who are yet to ban wild animals in a circus. We learnt different formal language phrases, no contractions to be used and how to structure it so we did not come across rude.
• In RE, we concluded our Unity topic by analysing the ‘Prayer for Peace’, which is read out by the priest before we offer each other the sign of peace. We linked different phrases to various stories we have learnt over the passed few weeks and to bible passages we have learnt in other topics. 
• In PE, the weather was awful, giving us the opportunity to complete our athletics lessons, which helped us to evaluate how well we have improved individually during this unit.
• In Computing, we completed a 3D model of our dream house, using a range of shapes to make it unique. We then evaluated what went well and what needed improving next time.
• In Art, we learnt about pointillism, a technique of painting using small dots of colour applied in patterns to form an image. George Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886. We trialled this with cotton buds and then applied this new knowledge to create our Mother’s Day cards.
• In French we learnt how to change masculine adjectives into their feminine form, then we used these feminine adjectives to write a card for a special lady to tell her how amazing she is! I hope the children can read and translate for you.
• In Science, we began to look at how to make healthy lifestyle choices and the effect they have on our bodies. The children researched the different food groups and designed a day's healthy meals to provide a balanced diet.

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

Reading

• Please keep reading every day to build up stamina. A great idea is to read 20-30 pages a day (you can read more) in one sitting, as this will build up your ability to read at length for long periods of time.

Spellings (challenge words)

• Sumdog (Year 6 Sp 2 wk 4 Unstressed letters)

accommodate, accompany, amateur, bargain, bruise, definite, desperate, environment, excellent, government, guarantee, immediate, leisure, neighbour, nuisance

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week, please practise counting in 70s and 700s
  • For example, start at 650 and count up to 1350 and back again
  • 650, 720, 790, etc              1350, 1280, 1210, etc 
  • Also, start at 5 400 and count up to 12 400 and back again
  • 5 400, 6 100, 6 800, etc     12 400, 11, 700, 11 000, etc

• Sumdog (Multiply / Divide by 10/100/1000)
  • This challenge will help to develop speed in this area.

• Sumdog (Timetables Sp2 wk 4)

This week, use the learning of timetables to answer various questions linked to time. Do not worry about speed on this task, just try to get as many accurate as possible.  

Year 6 Blog Friday 10th March 2023

Date: 10th Mar 2023 @ 12:55pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog.

This week, our Japanese visitors taught a lesson on proverbs with the game, ‘Karuta’ using matching cards.  Please see the Year 6 gallery and the fun we had playing it.

This Friday we were very lucky to welcome Stuart Rowson, a producer on CBBC and CBeeBies, and now an author of his new book, 'Issy and the Tumble Thunder'. He read part of his book out to us and answered some of our great questions. 

REMINDER

For our PE lessons this term, which will include rugby and orienteering (weather depending), please bring in extra trainers (preferably old ones) that you do not mind getting dirty and a plastic bag to keep them in. You may take them home each week, if you prefer to clean them.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

• In Maths, we learnt how to find the perimeter of rectangles, squares and rectilinear shapes by finding all the length of each side and adding them together. We have also been improving our x fraction strategies using bar models to explain.
• In English, we have written as a tiger expressing our terrible treatment at the circus, and what a typical day is like.
• In RE, we continued our topic of ‘Unity’ by analysing St Paul’s letter (Romans 12:3-10) to then create a stained-glass window of what unity means to us.
• In PE, we continued our focus on improving our individual performance with throwing, jumping and running in athletics.
• In History, we researched four ancient civilisations: Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Sumer, Ancient Indus Valley and The Shang Dynasty to compare what they have in common. We discussed how they all lived near rivers and the benefits that these can bring: more crops, plants for medicine, protection, cleanliness, drinking water and growing farm animals.
• In Computing, we analysed three 3D models of houses, chose our objects and combined them to planned our own 3D model of a dream house using tinkercad. Next week, we will complete them, take photos and upload to the Year 6 gallery.
• In French, we recapped how to conjugate the verb etre, to be, with a game before using the correct form of the verb to say what nationality various people are. Getting ready for High School with this great French grammar, Year 6!
• In Science, we planned and carried out a comparative test to find out how different forms of exercise affect our pulse rate. We identified all the variables and chose which one to change and which to measure. We understood that we needed to repeat the readings to ensure the data is more accurate. We then used the scientific vocabulary to explain our findings. We will move on next week to learning about how exercise and life style choices affect our health.

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

Reading

• Please keep reading every day to build up stamina. A great idea is to read 20-30 pages a day (you can read more) in one sitting, as this will build up your ability to read at length for long periods of time.

Spellings (challenge words)

• Sumdog (Year 6 Sp 2 wk 3 Prefix dis-, un-, im-)

disadvantage, disappear, disappoint, discovered, dishonest, unacceptable, unachievable, unbelievable, uncomfortable, unforgivable, immature, impatient, impolite, impartial, impossible

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week, please practise counting in fraction steps of 2/5 and ¼
  • For example, start at 1/5 and count up to 3 1/5 and back again
  • 1/5 , 2/5 , 3/5, etc 3 1/5,  3 , 2 4/5  etc 
  • Also, start at ¼ and count up to 6 ¼ and back again
  • ¼, 2/4,    ¾, etc           6 ¼,    6,       5 ¾ , etc

• Sumdog (Times tables Sp 2 wk 4)
  • Keep working on your fluency and speed with this challenge.

• Sumdog (Perimeter Sp 2 wk 4)

This week, remember that perimeter is the total distance around a shape. Therefore, make sure you add all the sides you see. (Be careful with different units).

Year 6 Blog Friday 3rd March 2023

Date: 3rd Mar 2023 @ 8:05am

Welcome to our Year 6 blog.

This week, we have been lucky enough to welcome our Japanese visitors (Yuichi and his students), who will be learning about early reading and writing as they continue their journey to becoming teachers.  

REMINDER

For our PE lessons this term, which will include rugby and orienteering (weather depending), please bring in extra trainers (preferably old ones) that you do not mind getting dirty and a plastic bag to keep them in. You may take them home each week, if you prefer to clean them.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

• In Maths, we learnt how to find the area of squares, rectangles and rectilinear shapes (using the formula, l x w = area), which then helped us to solve various shape problems.
• In English, Vita, our main character, witnessed her first circus, which inspired us to write a ‘rave review’ for a newspaper article. We have been working on perfecting our punctuation too.
• In RE, we continued our topic of ‘Unity’ by reading John’s gospel (17:11, 20-23), which helped us to write a prayer of the benefits people can have by being more united with each other.
• In PE, we focused on improving our individual performance with throwing, jumping and running in athletics.
• In History, we learnt where some of the ancient civilisations fit into a world history timeline
• In Music, we appraised another song written by Carole King, ‘The Locomotion’, and played some accompaniment to the song, ‘You’ve Got a Friend’. We also learned the recorder parts to the song.
• In PSHE, we continued our topic of online safety by learning about the age ratings system for films and other media. We can now recognise the different symbols related to the age ratings for films and can explain what each mean.
• In French this week, we recapped how to say (A town/city) ______ est dans l'ouest de la France using a map of France. Then we began to  learn our first irregular verb - the verb etre, to be, and practised using the right part of the verb with jobs vocabulary. 
• In Science, we learnt about the structure of a heart from a diagram, then we dissected some lambs' hearts to see if we could identify the parts. It's not as easy as the diagram makes it look! An interesting experience!

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

Reading

• Please keep reading every day to build up stamina. A great idea is to read 20-30 pages a day (you can read more) in one sitting, as this will build up your ability to read at length for long periods of time.

Spellings (challenge words)

• Sumdog (Year 6 Sp 2 wk 2 long -y- sound)

Cycling, hyena, identify, imply, justify, apply, multiply, occupy, python, qualify, recycle, rhyme, supply, cyclone, hyphen

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in single digit steps to prepare us for future division learning. Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • Start with these numbers: 1.4, 2.64 and 3.726 and count up 10 times then back again in 0.3s:

1.4, 1.7, 2.0, 2.3, 2.6, 2.9, 3.2, etc

And in 0.4s:

2.64, 3.04, 3.44, 3.84, 4.24, 4.64, etc

• Number facts:
  • To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 6 + 9 = 15, 5 + 7 = 12.
  • Then change the place value of these digits (0.6 + 0.9, 0.05 + 0.07, etc)

• Sumdog (Prime numbers Sp 2 wk 3)
  • We practised doing this same activity in class, so work on achieving close to 100% accuracy with this challenge.

• Sumdog (Area Sp 2 wk 3)
  • This week’s challenge will ask various area questions related to squares and rectangles. The purpose of this exercise is to read the question correctly as the unit of measurement will be important. For example, if the question asks, what is the area of 7cm x 5cm? The answers could be 35cm (squared, with a number 2 symbol) or 35cm. Make sure you read the answers carefully too.

Year 6 Blog Friday 24th February 2023

Date: 24th Feb 2023 @ 3:39pm

Welcome to our first Year 6 blog since the February half term.

This week, Year 6 were invited to celebrate Ash Wednesday and receive their ashes before Lent begins. 

REMINDER

For our PE lessons this term, which will include rugby and orienteering (weather depending), please bring in extra trainers (preferably old ones) that you do not mind getting dirty and a plastic bag to keep them in. You may take them home each week, if you prefer to clean them.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

• In Maths, we used our knowledge of times tables to help solve short and long division questions. We have begun to learn the method but this will need to be practised over the next few weeks before we can be secure with it.
• In English, we met the final main character, Samuel, who will help Vita to complete her heist in the novel, The Good Thieves. We wrote a diary entry as her describing the first time she met either: Silk, Arkady or Samuel.
• In RE, we started our new topic, ‘Unity’, and discussed and created an information text for ways to be a good friend to others.
• In PE, we worked on evaluating our performance in invasion games, and how we can give constructive feedback to another person, just like a coach.
• In Music, we used glocks and recorders learning the chords: G, A, F and C. We also learnt to sing the song, ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ by Carole King.
• In PSHE, we discussed the benefits and risks of social media, and how we can encourage others to use social media responsibly.
• In French this week, we looked at the geography of France and added cities, rivers and mountains to a map. We learnt how to say the compass points in French and put the information together to make sentences such as Marseille est dans le sud de la France. 
• In Science, we used apps and pulse meters to measure our pulse in a quicker and more accurate way than trying to count ourselves. We gathered the data and talked about the range of pulse rates in the class and why that might be. We then learnt what is meant by a double circulatory system by modelling it - running round in a circuit passing through the heart twice for every trip round the body, picking up oxygen in the lungs and dropping it off around the body before going back to the heart and so on. We then tried to explain our understanding in writing. Next week, we will look at lambs' hearts and dissect them. If anyone feels squeamish, they do not have to take part.

Home Practice all relates to this week’s learning. These are the tasks needed to be completed:

Reading

• Please keep reading every day to build up stamina. A great idea is to read 20-30 pages a day (you can read more) in one sitting, as this will build up your ability to read at length for long periods of time.

Spellings (challenge words)

• Sumdog (Year 6 Sp 2 wk 2 short -y- sound)

Rhythm, system, physical, symbol, mystery, oxygen, symptom, hymn, myth, physics, syrup, cylinder, pyramid, rhyme, syllable

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in single digit steps to prepare us for future division learning. Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • Start with these numbers: 1, 2 and 3 and count up 10 times then back again in 3s:

35, 38, 41, 44, 47, 50, 53, 56, etc

and in 6s :

365, 371, 377, 383, 389, 395, 401, etc

• Number facts:
  • To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 6 + 8 = 14, 8 + 7 = 15.
  • The best way to do this is to simply have someone in your home quiz you with questions like (8 + 6, 6 + 5, 3 + 8, 5 + 9, etc)
  • Then get them to change the place value of these digits (0.8 + 0.6, 0.06 + 0.05, 0.3 + 0.8, etc)

• Sumdog (Multiplication Sp 2 wk 2)
  • We have practiced a lot with these types of questions over the past month. Make sure you read the numbers in the question correctly and you will hopefully be able to work them out mentally.

• Sumdog (Divisions with times tables Sp2 wk 2)
  • For this challenge, use your times tables knowledge to answer quick division questions, which may be in the style of missing number sentences, e.g. 4 x ? = 36; 7 x ? = 56;? X 6 = 72, etc.