Year 6: Blog items

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Year 6 Friday 25th February 2022

Date: 25th Feb 2022 @ 3:52pm

Welcome to our first Year 6 blog since the February half term. This week we have been busy improving our leaderships roles around school: our reading ambassadors have continued to support the Reception team with daily reads; the Sport Captains have planned the next term of sporting events and competitions; the Science ambassadors have continued their role with more play time experiments; the class have been going above and beyond with helping the infants during lunch times; and the Golden Team have completed their first whole school assembly, which was a super event welcoming all the school together for the first time in years! Well done Year 6 – keep it up.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we have learnt how to calculate area of simple 2D shapes, rectilinear shapes and solved problems with them. We have also improved our strategy of how to find percentages of numbers.
In English, we have begun a new novel, ‘Skellig’, and learnt how to use dashes when writing informally as the main characters.
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 continued our learning of gymnastics by creating a group routine of jumping, rolling, travelling and balancing using all the equipment, including the climbing frame.
In Music, we listened to two versions of the same song, ‘You’ve got a friend’ by Carole King and James Taylor, and discussed the similarities and differences between them. We learnt a new song, ‘Everybody loves Saturday night’. We have also started learning recorders again, since Year 5, by recapping B, A and G to the song ‘Sailor, sailor on the sea’.
In French, we researched the Carnaval de Nice which takes place every year at this time. The theme this year is Animaux. We admired the massive floats and the amazing costumes. Quelle spectacle!
In Science, we were invited to ask Dr Ahna Skop, a cell biologist and science artist in Wisconsin, some questions about her background and research – which we did by learning about her work in genetics. We then videoed the children asking questions and sent it to her. Hopefully she will answer our questions soon. This was a brilliant opportunity to find out about a new aspect of Science, but also stress the importance of diversity and inclusion in science which Dr Skop feels very strongly about. Also, for our topic on ‘Healthy Lifestyles’, we discussed ways to make a balanced diet and the dangers of eating too much or too little of certain food groups.
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.

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. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (challenge words)
- Sumdog (Year 6 Sp 2 wk 2 -ture / -sure)

adventure, capture, creature, furniture, future, immature, mixture, measure, nature, signature, treasure, leisure, pressure, pleasure, enclosure

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 2 and 3 digit numbers by 3)
- 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 should be able to work them out mentally.
Sumdog (Area of 2D shapes)
- For this challenge, make sure you read the measurements in the questions. For example, if the measurements are cm x cm then the answer would equal cm squared (with the 2 next to the cm). The same goes for mm x mm.

Maths and Spelling Training.

Do not forget to keep using this extra feature: the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult. Once your challenges have been completed, use this feature to challenge yourself in both spelling and maths.

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Thursday 10th February 2022

Date: 10th Feb 2022 @ 3:52pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog before the February half term. This week we have completed a new competition, named ‘Autumn/Winter Competition’ created by Cross Curricular Orienteering. After a tight competition, in which everyone did really well, the winning pair are … Adah and Kitty! Congratulations to them both – they have been put forward to the national event so fingers crossed their time was a quick one!

Today, your child has been given an envelope with Tower Wood documents in. Please complete the medical form and photo conset form and return them by Wednesday 23rd February.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we have improved our learning on coordinates by plotting points, completing shapes and translating them in two quadrants.
In English, we used Tom’s Midnight Garden novel on adventure to create our own adventure story. We learnt that stories use one of the following four strategies when introducing a story: describing a setting, describing a character, using action or speech. We then chose our favourite one to create our story.
In PE, we completed the new orienteering competition (as mentioned above) by learning the skills of how to orientate a map and follow instructions for north, south, east, west and all the ones in between. We also worked on utilising teamwork when competing in a hockey game.
In Music, we listened to another composer (Afrodeutshe) about how she started recording music. We then continued with our raps and each recorded a final performance for the class.
In French, the children spent time recording themselves reading some of their best pieces of writing from this half term.
In Science, we looked at the work of Dr Ahna Skop. She is an American cell biologist who is also an artist. She uses art to communicate her amazing scientific research into cell structure. We then produced a piece of scientific art based on blood cells. Our next topic is named, Keeping Healthy.
In PSHE, for Children’s Mental Health week, we discussed how we can support others who are feeling down and ways we can improve our own mental health. Also, for internet safety day, we learnt ways of making and keeping positive online relationships and what to do when something feels uncomfortable.

Home Practice for this half term is slightly different. You have been given a sheet with the days of Monday to Friday. For every day, we would like you to complete as many of these activities (if it is possible) – all of which will help towards remembering the learning we have done and for any future learning we will do when you return. These are the tasks we would like you to complete:

Reading
- Reading for 20 minutes a day will have a huge impact on your learning.

Spellings (Year 5/6 spellings)
- You have been given the Year 5/6 spelling list to use for your half term home practice. There will be a test on a random 15 spellings from the list on Friday 25^th
Maths challenges:
- Sumdog (Half Term Spring Maths Challenge)

These questions are a mixture of coordinates, shapes, multiplication and division – most of the things we have learned about this half term. Try your best at answering them all by Friday 25^th February.

If you would like any more practice, then Sumdog’s Maths and Spelling Training is for you.

Try to spend some time training so the program can learn the skills you need to work on and practise.

Have a super half term!

Year 6 Friday 4th February 2022

Date: 4th Feb 2022 @ 12:40pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog for 4^th February 2022. This week we have been preparing for a new competition, named ‘Autumn/Winter Competition’ created by Cross Curricular Orienteering, who helped to set up our orienteering programme a few years ago.

This Friday, All Hallows’ visited Year 6 for the ‘NSPCC Number Day’ which was hosted by the Maths department. The children worked in groups and had a great time solving math questions together.

Also, we had a visit from Mr Ainsworth, who helped our class to plant trees to enhance the look of our pond area. Please see the pictures on our Year 6 gallery where the children did a super job choosing the best place to plant them.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we improved our shape knowledge by accurately naming the features of sides, vertices, angles and symmetry to help us group various quadrilaterals and polygons. We have also been improving our quick multiplication method for up to 4 digit by 2 digit.
In English, we have been working on improving our use of punctuation through a written recount as the gardener, Abel, who witnessed Hatty’s fall.
In RE, we learnt about Paul’s letter to the Corinthians which explains how love has many positive qualities. We used these qualities to imagine what life would be like in our school, community and the world if we all followed Paul’s words.
In PE, we introduced our new orienteering competition (as mentioned above) by learning the skills of how to orientate a map and follow instructions for north, south, east, west and all the ones in between. The competition will take place during the PE lesson next week, where the pair with the quickest time will be put forward against other school in our area.
In Music, we listened to Eska (a composer) talking about jobs in the music industry, composed raps to ‘Beat 2 Banger’ then performed them, and also practised the song, ‘Each and Every Day’ for Children’s Mental Health week.
In French, we described a person from a Francophone country using the 3^rd Person (il or elle). Lots of us chose to do a footballer from the AFCON tournament. The children’s writing is very impressive.
In Science, we planned and carried out our own investigation into how different yoga poses affected our pulse rates, using what we already knew from last week’s investigation.
In PSHE, we discussed how personal growth can be developed when we learn a new skill. We then created a mini comic strip to show how we have done this.

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. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (challenge words)
- Sumdog (-gue / -que Sp1 wk 6)

league, tongue, antique, grotesque, cheque, guess, guest, argue, queue, request, dialogue, technique, unique, sequence, consequence

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 4s:

1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, etc

and in 7s :

1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 36, 43, 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 of two and three digits by one)
- This challenge is to help push your learning with the quick multiplication method which we have practiced over the last few weeks. Try to take your time with each question by reasoning with yourself on why it has to be a certain answer.
Sumdog (2D Shape)
- For this challenge, there will be questions on sides, corners and angles of the 2D shapes we have investigated this week. Most of the questions will hopefully seem simple but this practice will be important as we move our learning towards coordinates.

Maths and Spelling Training.

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Friday 28th January 2022

Date: 28th Jan 2022 @ 4:15pm

Year 6 have had another busy week, with lots of learning and some super leadership roles working hard throughout the school. All of our buddies have received glowing remarks from the lunchtime staff, the reading ambassadors are supporting reading every day with the Receptions and our Learning Times team has expanded with even more writers!

Next Tuesday, Year 6 have been given the incredibly fortunate job of planting trees, which were generously donated to school. Mr Ainsworth will be joining us so please do not forget your wellies or old shoes on Tuesday.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we learnt about angles, how to identify them, draw them and even find missing angles within them. We also learnt how to multiply using the compact multiplication method, so from now on try to use this instead of the grid method – it will help us to become even quicker mathematicians.
In English, we have improved the way we write dialogue, by accurately using the punctuation in our speech and adding various verbs to blend action into our stories.
In RE, we learnt about the Bible and how it is divided into 73 book with two main sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. We used references to find a range of genres within the Bible (drama, history, poetry, prayers, letters, etc).
In PE, with having learnt the basics of Hockey, we divided ourselves into mini groups to play competitive matches in 4v4 or 5v5 games. In gymnastics, we explored ways of using apparatus to show various partner balances. We then applied them to a gymnastics sequence of 2 balances, 2 rolls, 2 travels and 2 jumps.
In History, we introduced our main topic of the Mayans by investigating clues from a village found a few hundred years ago. We used these clues to predict what the Mayan civilisation was like.
In Music, we started to learn ‘Each and Every Day’ for Children’s Mental Health week, listened to and discussed music composed by Shiva Feshareki and also played Denadon in 3 parts with the Djembi drums.
In French, we learnt some facts about Cameroon (a Francophone country) and watched a video about a child’s daily life there.
In Science, we have worked at improving the level of detail and scientific facts in our predictions and conclusions. We have planned a comparative test about how different yoga poses will affect our pulse rates, ready to start next week. It would be really beneficial if the children could bring their phones or Fitbits to help measure their heart rates accurately again (but do not worry if you don’t want to as we have shared before and it has worked out brilliantly these past few weeks).
In PSHE, we explored what social media is and how it can affect us in positive and negative ways.

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. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (challenge words)
- Sumdog (Homophones Sp1 wk 5)

isle, aisle, aloud, allowed, past, passed, prey, pray, coarse, course, rain, reign, knight, night, stationary, stationery

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 6s:

1, 7, 13, 19, 26, 31, 27, etc

and in 8s :

1, 9, 17, 25, 33, 41, 49, 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 (Divisions mix of 7-12)
- Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but if not, you can always use the ‘trainer’ section of Sumdog for extra Tables Practice. Every Tuesday there is a tables test.

Sumdog (Angles challenge – 150 questions)
- For this challenge, there will be questions related to less or more than a right angle, identifying which are acute and which are obtuse. Then there will be questions to read protractors to the nearest 10 degrees and 5 degrees. I have increased the challenge to 150 as this practice will be incredibly beneficial to you in the coming weeks.

Maths and Spelling Training.

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Friday 21st January 2022

Date: 21st Jan 2022 @ 5:47pm

Year 6 have had a very exciting week. On Tuesday, we received a visit from Mr Pickles (who has trekked up to base camp of Mount Everest) and showed us many pictures and videos of the journey up there. Year 6 had a great time learning what it is really like up near the top of the world, so thank you Mr Pickles! On Thursday, our swimming team had a great time competing at Hutton Grammar against 10 other schools. The competition was very tough and we managed to come 4^th overall out of 11 schools – a super achievement! Finally on Friday, we had a super taster day at All Hallows’ high school where we enjoyed meeting the teachers, went on a scavenger hunt around the whole grounds, took part in a PE lesson and even burnt crisps in Science!

Please remember to bring your wellies, boots, or really old trainers to school on Tuesday 25^th January as our class will be planting some saplings around the school grounds.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we built on last week’s knowledge of equivalent fractions to help us add and subtract mixed numbers, improper fractions and proper fractions.
In English, we have been introduced to new characters in our ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’ novel: Hatty, Hubert, Edgar and James. We developed our reading skills with how to give impressions and evidence them, along with how to scan the text for clues.
In RE, we learnt about World Religion Day, which was on Sunday 16^th January and to celebrate, we split into groups to learn about four different religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism) and then presented them to the class.
In PE, we improved our hockey skills and how to defend within different scenarios. In gymnastics, we progressed our partner sequences to include various apparatus throughout the hall whilst focusing on smoother transitions between moves.
In Music, we have continued our learning of the djembe drums through creating rhythms in small groups and performing them for the class.
In French, having learnt the verb ‘avoir’ = to have, we then learnt how to make it negative (e.g. You do not have any apples). We then learnt about the Francophone countries in Africa – those that have French as their official language – as The African Cup of Nations football tournament is taking place in Cameroon at the moment.
In Science, we modelled how the circulatory system works (by carrying blue and red bands to represent oxygenated and deoxygenated blood). Then we planned and carried out a comparative test to see how different types of exercise affected our pulse rate. We realised it was important to repeat our readings in order to improve the accuracy of the results. Next week, we will be conducting a second pulse rate investigation so phones or Fitbits would be a welcome addition for Thursday 27^th January, if you have one.

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. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (challenge words)
- Sumdog (fer Sp1 wk 4)

Differ, different, difference, differently, prefer, preference, preferred, preferring, referred, referring, reference, referral, transfer, transferred, transferring.

Maths challenges:
- Counting:
  - This week we have been counting in mixed number steps. 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: 4/5, 4 1/5, 3 ½ , 8 ½ and count up 10 times then back again in 3 1/5 and 3 2/5:

4 1/5, 7 2/5, 10 3/5, 13 4/5, 17, 20 1/5, etc

and in 4 ½ :

8 ½, 13, 17 ½, 22, 26 1/2, etc

Number facts:
- To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 7 + 8 = 15, 9 + 7 = 16.
- The best way to do this is to simply have someone in your home quiz you with questions like (7 + 8, 9 + 7, 3 + 8, 5 + 9, etc)
- Another great way is to use HIT THE BUTTON which you can access by clicking here
- Then get them to change the place value of these digits (0.7 + 0.8, 0.09 + 0.07, 0.3 + 0.8, etc)

Sumdog (Times tables (missing numbers))
- Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but if not, you can always use the ‘trainer’ section of Sumdog for extra Tables Practice. Every Tuesday there is a tables test.

Sumdog (Add and subtract fractions)
- For this challenge, there will be questions with similar denominators and some with denominators that have similar multiples, like halves added to quarters. Remember what we have learnt in class and try to answer them quickly. If you end up getting some wrong, do not worry as Sumdog will make the questions easier.

Keep working through the Maths and Spelling Training. As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school. As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult. Once your challenges have been completed, use this feature for challenge in both spelling and maths.

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Friday 14th January 2022

Date: 14th Jan 2022 @ 3:07pm

Welcome to our second blog of 2022. Year 6 have been working incredibly hard this week, continuing their leadership roles throughout the school. The school council have been preparing the new Learning Times, which should be ready by the end of this month. Do not forget that next Friday 21^st January, we are at All Hallows’ for a taster day. Please go straight to the high school where you can leave your child at the entrance gate between 8:40am and 8:50am. The children will have a fantastic day with school finishing at 2:30pm.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we have been improving our mental and written addition strategies to become more efficient. We then looked in detail at what makes a fraction, finding fractions of shapes and amounts.
In English, we have continued our novel, ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’, where Tom discovered a new garden at the back of his Aunt’s flat. We wrote as Tom about this discovery and improved our descriptive setting writing through our adjectives and verb choices.
In RE, we learnt how the Bible is made up of 73 books (46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament) which took over a thousand years or more for all the books to be completed. We then learnt how to use the numbered code to find out what the piece of writing was in the Bible.
In PE, we learnt how to apply the skill of hockey to attacking situations, and how to create a gymnastics sequence with travels, turns, jumps and a partner balance.
In History, we placed the history of the world (from 0AD to present day) in chronological order, whilst working in groups.
In Music, we have creating our own rhythms and copying them in groups using the djembe drums.
In French, we started to learn the verb ‘avoir’ = to have. We practised with songs and a game.
In Science, we interpreted bar charts of the class pulse rates and observed some lamb’s hearts to try to identify the structures we could see. Next week, we will be conducting a pulse rate investigation and it would be very helpful if those children with phones could download a free app that will measure their pulse, such as ‘Heart Rate Monitor’ or another app that is similar and bring them into school next Thursday 20^th January (where their phone will be kept locked away until the lesson begins). This is not a requirement as we can share the devices we already have in school; your child will not miss out on any part of the lesson because of this (heart rate apps just provide us with more accurate results).

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. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (challenge words)
- Sumdog (-cial / -tial Sp1 wk 3)

Social, special, torrential, official, especially, artificial, potential, essential, substantial, financial, confidential, partial, impartial, initial, unofficial

Maths challenges:
- Counting:
  - This week we have been counting in fraction steps. 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: 4/5, 4 1/5, 3 ½ , 8 ½ and count up 10 times then back again in one fifth and then two fifths:

4/5, 1 1/5, 1 3/5, 2, 2 1/5 , 2 3/5, etc

and in 2 ½ :

3 ½, 6, 8 ½, 11, 13 ½, 16, 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)
- Play 'Hit the Button via this link, Hit the Button

Sumdog (Times tables x4, x5, x6, x11, x12)
- Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but if not, you can always use the ‘trainer’ section of Sumdog for extra Tables Practice. Every Tuesday there is a tables test.

Sumdog (Fractions of shapes and on a number line)
- For this challenge, there will be questions relating to fractions of shapes – make sure you count what the shape is divided into and then count how many are coloured in. There are also questions relating to fractions on a number line – check the gap between two numbers then divide that by how many jumps it is from one number to the next (we have practiced this in class).

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Friday 7th January 2022

Date: 7th Jan 2022 @ 3:37pm

Welcome back to our first blog of the Spring term. We hope you and your family had a great Christmas and New Year and are all healthy and keeping safe.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we have been revising our knowledge of place value with numbers up to three decimal places and developing our understanding of negative numbers.
In English, we have started our new novel, ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’, and have begun to understand the main characters of Tom, Aunt Gwen and Uncle Alan.
In RE, we started a new topic, ‘Sources’, where we discussed what kind of books inspire us and why. We then wrote about our favourite book and how it affected our lives.
In PE, we managed to fit in a session that we missed (due to Bank Holiday Monday) so we could assess our learning of team games through Hockey and Dodgeball. Remember, you can bring in a hat and gloves whilst it is cold to use during our PE lessons.
In History, we discussed how we know about the past and what chronological order means. We then created our own timeline about our lives so far.
In Music, we have been practising B, A and G chords on the recorder.
In French, we learnt about how French people celebrate La fete des Rois- the Feast of the Epiphany, A special cake which contains a lucky charm is shared. Whoever gets the lucky charm in their slice becomes the King or Queen for the day.
In Science, we began our new topic, ‘Health, the Heart and the Circulatory System’. We have started to look at the function of the heart, blood vessels and blood, then we research how to have a healthy heart and why it is important.

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. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (challenge words)
- Sumdog (Suffixes Sp1 wk 1/2)

Next week we will be investigating the effects of suffixes on root words with -ing, -ed, -er, -est, -ly, -less, -ful, -ness

Caring, friendly, physically, nicest, happiest, hopeful, beautiful, careless, discussed, equipped, bruised, consciousness, attached, continued, luckier

Maths challenges:
- Counting:
  - This week we have been counting in whole numbers steps. 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: 400, 165, 5000 and count up 10 times then back again in 25:

400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 525, etc

and in 250:

400, 650, 900, 1150, 1400, 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, 0.5 + 0.9, etc)

Sumdog (Times tables x6, x7, x8)
- Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but if not, you can always use the ‘trainer’ section of Sumdog for extra Tables Practice. Every Tuesday there is a tables test.

Sumdog (Negative numbers)
- For this challenge, there will be questions related to positive and negative numbers. The questions will ask you to decide which number is the most or least. This will be great practice for your learning next week.

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Christmas Blog

Date: 16th Dec 2021 @ 7:18pm

Our last week in December has been very exciting filled with the Christmas pop-up shop, Christmas carols sang to the parents and the Christingle, which was led very well by the Year 6s! Mrs Hall and Mrs Washington, from All Hallows’, visited us this week to say hello and answered many questions about the life of the high school. They also informed us that there will be a taster day visit in the New Year.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In our Design and Technology topic of sewing, we have planned, prepped, sewn, made mistakes, corrected those mistakes, persevered and finally completed our project. Please see the pictures on our website for their brilliant work.
In PE, we have been working on creating a range of team strategies to outwit the opposing team. We then practiced them in a dodgeball match.
In Maths, we used various problem solving skills to solve Math questions as a group.
In English, to complete our World War One topic, we learnt about the Christmas Day truce of 1914 between the British and the Germans, through the Sainsbury’s advert.
In Art, we learnt a new skill of printing, with paint and polystyrene to create our Christmas cards. Please check out the Year 6 gallery for pictures of the super artwork.
In French, following last week’s ‘Who killed Santa?’ cluedo game, we recorded ourselves to practice our brilliant pronunciation. Joyeux Noel et bonne annee tout le monde!
In Science, we conducted an experiment which focused on the inner workings of the digestion system in animals.

You will have also noticed that there is no Sumdog being set for the Christmas break so you can have a rest and come back fresh and ready for the exciting learning in January!

BUT please keep reading as much as possible – like I always say, ‘It is the number one thing that will unlock all your learning!’

Year 6 Friday 10th December 2021

Date: 10th Dec 2021 @ 2:28pm

This week we had a great time visiting the Museum of Lancashire where we learnt how to be a soldier during World War One by some very strict sergeants who put us through our paces, teaching us many drills that we often had to repeat numerous times! It was a lot of fun with the children learning a great deal – we have sent our thanks to the volunteers at the museum. Do not forget to see the Year 6 gallery for pictures of the trip.

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have consolidated our learning this week, attempting some maths quizzes on a range of topics: place value, addition, fractions and division. The class have shown great resilience with these tasks.
Following our super trip to the Museum of Lancashire, we wrote about our day, as a soldier, making sure we explained to the reader everything we had learnt.
In Geography, we learnt about the first two people to reach the top of Mount Everest: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Using their experiences, we found out just how harsh the journey up Mount Everest would be.
For our RE topic, Expectations, we have been thinking about the arrival of Jesus and how it impacts our lives. We have continued our advent calendar of good deeds and prayers every day.
In this PE session, we completed an Intra competition of handball, where the children focused on their performance, evaluating and suggesting improvements on how they can attack and defend.
We have begun our Design and Technology project of ‘textiles’, by learning ways to stitch with a needle and thread, then designing our own to complete next we
In Music, we have learnt how to compose 12 bar blues on the glocks in groups, followed by a class performance. We have also continued practising the songs, ‘Hark the Herald’ and ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ for the carol service.
In French, we played Cluedo, trying to figure out who had killed Father Christmas. We then wrote our own version of the game as a story.
In Science, we explored reflections and how a mirror can change the direction of light enabling us to see behind or round corners.

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

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.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (challenge words)
- Sumdog (challenge words A2 wk 7)

available, muscle, accommodate, determined, identity, competition, existence, rhyme, accompany, suggest, develop, explanation, privilege, symbol, immediately

Maths challenges:
- Counting:
  - This week we have been counting in decimal steps. 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: 7.5, 3.9, 25.4 and count up 10 times then back again in 0.5:

7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0, 9.5 etc

and in 1.5:

7.5, 9.0, 10.5, 12.0, 13.5, 15.0, etc

Number facts:
- To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 7 + 8 = 15, 4 + 7 = 11.
- 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 (Times tables x2 – x12)
- Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but if not, you can always use the ‘trainer’ section of Sumdog for extra Tables Practice. Every Tuesday there is a tables test.

Sumdog (Decimal Arithmetic)
- For this challenge, there will be questions related to adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals, all of which we have done in class.

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Friday 3rd December 2021

Date: 3rd Dec 2021 @ 4:11pm

For our fourth week back, Year 6 have had another busy week. They created an advent calendar full of good deeds to do each day during Advent, had a great time watching and taking part in the pantomime ‘Dick Whittington’ and used their artistic skills to design a war scene from their own war story.

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have been deepening our understanding of fractions through finding equivalences and explaining why 2/3 is the same as 8/12. We then used that knowledge to add and subtract same multiple fractions (e.g. 2/5 + 2/10)
We have completed out novel, ‘‘Private Peaceful’, learnt about the harsh reality of war and planned and written our own battle scene using everything we have learnt over the past 4 weeks.
In Geography, we evaluated our PowerPoint presentation and each other’s on the effect of tectonic disasters.
For our RE topic, Expectations, we have used the words of Isaiah to understand how Jesus’ arrival will have rewards and burdens for us.
In this PE session, we put our attacking, defending, throwing, catching and evading skills to the test with an Intra competition using Dodgeball as the sport.
In Art, we took part in a ‘Big Draw’ where we used music (that reflected a battle scene) and used any medium they wanted to create a scene based on their own story.
In Music, we improved our jazz playing on the glocks by investigating the structure of jazz including head, middle 8 and improvising. We have also been learning ‘Hark the Herald’ and ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ for the carol service.
In French, we completed our writing about the weather with complex sentences using great vocabulary.
In Science, we explored how the shape of a shadow can be changed. We found out that a shadow is always the same shape as the object that blocks the light because light travels in straight lines.

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

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.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (ough words)
- Sumdog (ough words A2 wk 6)
  - though, although, rough, tough, through, cough, nought, brought, ought, thought, fought, plough, dough, enough, thorough

Maths challenges:
- Counting:
  - This week we have been counting in decimal steps of:

20 000, 200 000 and x 2. 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 5 digit numbers and count up 10 times then back again in 20 000s:

43 654, 63 654, 83 654, 103 654, etc

and in 200 000s:

43 654, 243 654, 443 654, 643 654

Start at a different number and count up 10 numbers and down again but this time in x2:

9, 18, 36, 72, 144, 288, 576, 1 152, etc

Sumdog (All times tables x2 – x12)
- Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but if not, you can always use the ‘trainer’ section of Sumdog for extra Tables Practice. Every Tuesday there is a tables test.

Sumdog (Add and subtract fractions)
- Some of this task will be challenging but to help you remember how to solve them, here are some success criteria:
  - For adding same multiple fractions ½ + ¼
    - Convert ½ = 2/4
    - The question is then 2/4 + ¼ = ¾
  - For 2/5 + 5/10
    - Convert 2/5 = 4/10
    - The question is then 4/10 + 5/10 = 9/10
  - For subtracting same multiple fractions like 6/7 – 2/14
    - Convert 6/7 into 12/14
    - The question is then 12/14 – 2/14 = 10/14
  - For 8/10 – 1/5
    - Make the denominators the same, such as 1/5 into 2/10
    - Now the question is 8/10 – 2/10 which equals 6/10

Spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Friday 26th November 2021

Date: 26th Nov 2021 @ 3:34pm

For our fourth week back after half term. Year 6 have continued to work hard with their responsibilities, with things such as: the School Ambassador team leading collective worships and announcing the results of the house points to the school; the School Council preparing for their first school learning update, named ‘The Learning Times’; Science Ambassadors continue to lead science experiments during break times; the Sports Captains helping to lead sport, look after the equipment and help set up activities throughout the school, and our Reading Ambassadors will be starting a reading club with Reception next week.

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have been learning multiples, factors and new ways to divide large numbers.
In our novel, ‘Private Peaceful’, we have been learning how to write an action scene, based on one of the main characters rescuing their captain. We have also learnt how life was like in the trenches of the First World War.
In Geography, we completed our research of tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes and presented them to the class.
In our topic in RE, Expectations, we have been using the hymn ‘Maranatha’ to help us understand what advent means to Christians.
In PE, we focused our learning on invasion games, by working as a team to either invade the oppositions area (through the skills of tag rugby) and eliminating the other team (through the aiming and catching skills of Dodgeball).
In Art, we continued our learning of tone and texture with the medium of a paintbrush with water. We first sketched in felt tips, then used a paintbrush (with water) to create different effects. Then using Lola Dupre’s letters, we designed our own artwork. See the gallery in Year 6 to see some of this amazing artwork.
In Music, we worked hard to compose 8 bar blues, then performed them on the glocks for others to hear.
In French, we used our learning of seasons, weather, conjunctions and adverbs of frequency to help us read and understand different texts.
In Science, we finished collecting data for the shadows investigation that we started last week. We created graphs and worked together to interpret them. Finally, we used what we now know about light to explain why shadows are the same shape as the object causing it.

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

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.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (-ent, -ence words)
- Sumdog (-ent, -ence A2 wk 5)
  - persistent, persistence, violent, violence, intelligent, intelligence, inconvenient, inconvenience, obedient, obedience, conference, difference, conscience, reference, excitement

Maths challenges:
- Counting:
  - This week we have been counting in decimal steps of 50, 90 and 900 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 times then back again in 50s:

233, 283, 333, 383, 433, 483, 533, etc

and in 90s:

233, 323, 413, 503, 593, 683, 773, 863, etc

Start at a different number and count up 10 numbers and down again but this time in 900s:

740, 1640, 2540, 3440, 4340, 5240, 6140, 7040, etc

Sumdog (Division of 7 – 12 times tables)
- Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but if not, you can always use Sumdog for extra Tables Practice. Every Tuesday there is a tables test.

Sumdog (Multiples and Factors)

To help you remember:

A multiple is a number that can be divided by another number a certain number of times without a remainder.

A factor is one of two or more numbers that divides a given number without a remainder.

Multiples and factors are best explained by using a number sentence such as the following:

5 x 4 = 20

5 and 4 are factors of 20. 20 is a multiple of 5 and 4.

This week we would like to introduce Maths and Spelling Training. As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school. As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult. Once your challenges have been completed, use this feature for challenge in both spelling and maths. Your tailored training is available in your tasks tab.

Let your child spend some time training so the program can learn the skills your child needs to work on and practise.

Year 6 Friday 19th November 2021

Date: 19th Nov 2021 @ 4:03pm

For our third week back after half term, Year 6 had taken part in an exciting football friendly match against Penwortham County Primary and performed brilliantly at Hutton for the indoor athletics finals. Congratulations to everyone who took part. We do not know the results for the athletics yet but hopefully we will find out by Monday. This Friday, we celebrated Children in Need day with some amazing outfits, looking very spotty! Also, we have been using kind words this week to celebrate anti-bullying week, through kind messages to each other and acting out different scenarios when someone is upset.

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have been learning how to solve many problems using the bar model, how use the written subtraction method effectively and how to use different strategies to divide various numbers.
In our novel, ‘Private Peaceful’, we have focussed on using exciting vocabulary to write as one of the characters to recount the missing scene of Big Joe, and we wrote a persuasive speech as a sergeant major to convince more people to join the war.
In Geography, we researched information about tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes to find out what they are, how they happen and any historical events that affected the world greatly.
For RE, we completed our topic of ‘Vocation and Commitment’ with a lovely collective worship and began our topic of ‘Expectations’, looking at different expectations that people have on us.
In PE, we continued our learning of athletic skills through track and field events such as sprints, team sprints, speed bounce, javelin, basketball throw, vertical jump, long jump and triple jump. This week we completed the indoor athletics competition at Hutton.
In Art, we learnt how to use tone and texture with the medium of charcoal to create our own Lola Dupre letter. See the gallery in Year 6 to see some of the super artwork.
In Music, we have been learning how to play ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ on the glocks, as well as ‘Winter Wonderland’ with the boomwhackers.
In French, we revised the weather phrases and looked at some grammar points by finding the odd one out of some words/phrases. We also finished our French pop song and gave out opinion on it.
In Science, we continued our light topic by modelling how we see objects using string to represent the light rays. We then planned an investigation into shadows.

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

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.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (-ant, -ance words)
- Sumdog (-ant, -ance A2 wk 4)
  - assistant, assistance, arrogant, relevant, important, importance, appearance, extravagant, hesitant, reluctant, nuisance, hindrance, ignorance, resistance, restaurant

Maths challenges:
- Counting:
  - This week we have been counting in decimal steps of 8, 80 and 800 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 times then back again in 8s:

5, 13, 21, 29, 37, 45, 53, 61, etc

and in 80s:

13, 93, 173, 253, 333, 413, etc

Start at a different number and count up 10 numbers and down again but this time in 800s:

456, 1256, 2056, 2856, 3656, 4456 etc

Sumdog (Multiplication and Division of 3, 4, 5)

Sumdog (Related facts quick division)

In this challenge, there are questions with missing numbers, all relating to the multiplication facts we discuss in class often. If you practice with these, you will find next week’s division week easier to understand.

Year 6 Friday 12th November 2021

Date: 12th Nov 2021 @ 3:49pm

Year 6 have had a great week, celebrating Go Green Day this Friday (where we reduced electrics for the full day) and being respectful on Remembrance Day with a minute silence. Thanks to the School Ambassadors and School Council who have led the ‘poppy stall’ all this week, taking time out during break to oversee the money. They will be counting it up and are excited to see the school’s final amount.

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have been learning different strategies to subtract mentally and practising ways to multiply large numbers quickly.
In our novel, ‘Private Peaceful’, we have looked more deeply at the relationships between the main characters: Tommo, Charlie and Molly, as well as writing a persuasive letter from Mother to the Colonel.
For Remembrance Day, Year 6 created their own lovely poems based on Rudyard Kipling’s poem, ‘My Boy Jack’. They wrote really well as Jack back to their father. Some of Year 6 were even lucky enough to read theirs out loud at Golden Assembly.
In Geography, following our learning from last week, we learnt how tectonic plates can move in different directions (very slowly) causing many things to happen, including volcanoes, tsunamis and earthquakes.
For RE and Judaism week, we learnt about Rosh Hashanah (the New Year celebration for Jewish people) and created our own fact file about it.
In PE, we worked on our athletic skills through track and field events such as sprints, team sprints, speed bounce, javelin, basketball throw, vertical jump, long jump and triple jump. Congratulations to those chosen to be part of the athletics team for our indoor athletics competition next week.
In Art, we learnt about different ways of shading through hatching, cross hatching and contour hatching.
In Music, we have continued our learning of the glockenspiels, along with beginning to learn carols for Christmas.
In French, we read sentences about le Jour du Souvenir (Remembrance Day), finished a French pop song and gave our opinions in French.
In Science, we discussed more about the 5 types of scientific enquiry and looked back through our books to find examples of each. Then we investigated whether light travels in a straight line.

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

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.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (-ible / -ibly words)
- Sumdog (-ible, -ibly A2 wk 3)
  - horrible, horribly, illegible, illegibly, impossible, impossibly, incredible, incredibly, possible, sensibly, terribly, visible, invincible, indestructible, edible

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 x6, x7, x8)

Sumdog (Multiply and divide by 10, 100 and 1000)

Year 6 Friday 5th November 2021

Date: 5th Nov 2021 @ 3:45pm

For our first week back after half term, Year 6 have come back working very hard, keeping to the golden rules and remembering to keep ourselves and each other safe so thank you.

Thank you also to everyone for completing their Home Practice on time and for changing your books. The days to change them are still between Monday and Wednesday.

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have increased our understanding of multiples and learnt to use the grid method effectively.
In English, we have begun our new novel, ‘Private Peaceful’, and used the skill of retrieval and inference to collect information about the characters, Mother and Charlie. We also wrote a very emotional piece from Mother to her late husband.
In Geography, we learnt how the world is made up of different layers (inner core, outer core, mantle and crust) and how the crust is split into many parts called tectonic plates.
For RE, we completed our ‘Vocation and Commitment’ by creating our own mission statement of what they are committed to.
In PE, we have begun to learn the rules of dodgeball and what strategies to use to outwit the opposing team (always face the front, keep on your toes, and throw sideways).
In Art, we have begun a new project by first investigating the work of Lola Dupre and imitating her style through sketching.
In Music, we started learning and playing jazz on the glockenspiels.
In French, we learnt about pronouns (I, you, he, she, we, you, they) and the verb ‘etre’ (to be) in the context of Remembrance Day. Next week we will use this grammar to write about this.
In Science, we talked about the five different types of scientific enquiry. We then wrote some questions about light and tried to decide which approach would be the best way of finding the answer to our question.

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

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.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (-sion / -ssion / -cian words)
- Sumdog (-able, -ably A2 wk 2)
  - enjoyable, unavailable, changeable, noticeable, unbelievable, probably, considerable, unacceptable, comfortably, respectable, dependable, incapable, unachievable, uncomfortable, miserably

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 numbers:

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 x2, x3, x4, x5)

Sumdog (Multiply and Divide numbers by 10, 100 and 1000)

Online Safety Update

Date: 4th Nov 2021 @ 12:31pm

Petition · Incognito: Online Safety and Security Campaign · Change.org

Keeping our children safe in the online space is of ever growing importance. From phones to consoles, our children are exposed to more online risk than ever and it is important that we adults keep up to date to ensure our children are prepared for all they meet online.

This term our classes have been learning about privacy and security as part of their Online Safety lessons. Below we have attached a guide for settting up new devices that your children may use. This incluses tips for security and password protection.

Please continue to access all information on the National Online Safety website. You will get access to all videos and guides by clicking the link below and joining free to our school online safety hub.

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

Guide to Squid Game Children with New Devices.pdf

Year 6 Blog Friday 15th October 2021

Date: 15th Oct 2021 @ 3:38pm

Welcome to the last blog before the October half term holiday, as next Friday will be our INSET day. Year 6 have been brilliant these past 6 – 7 weeks: working hard, respecting the rules and routines we have in place, and completing the Home Practice in time.

This week we chose a tag rugby team to take part in the South Ribble Tag Rugby competition for next Tuesday 19^th October. Congratulations to those who were chosen. Our aim this year is for every Year 6 to represent the school in a sporting competition, something we have not been able to do since 2019.

We have had another week of excellent effort with 97% changing their books and completing their Home Practice on time. Every Year 6 is showing themselves to be great role models for the other children, especially during lunch time where they have worked extremely hard as ‘Buddies’.

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have practised the 7 times tables, rounding numbers to 1, added decimals mentally and used the written method effectively.
In English, we completed the novel, ‘Clockwork’, discussed what we thought about the story and the ending, and then created some of our own.
In our topic of Mountains, in Geography, we worked as teams to learn about the main 10 features (slope, face, foot, valley, outcrop, slope, ridge, summit, tree line, snow line )
For RE, we continued our topic of ‘Vocation and Commitment’, and retold the story of the Baptism of the Lord, as John the Baptist.
In PE, many of us have learnt a new skill/sport as Year 6 have all become super tag rugby players. Positioning, speed and defence were the main objectives this week.
In PSHE, our topic has been about mental health and as this week is Mental Health week, we put all our learning together to create a ‘self-care plan’ for others to follow.
In Music, boomwhackers have been our focus to create our own unique beats and we continued perfecting ‘Hot Cross Buns’ on the recorders.
In French, we used a weather map of France to describe the weather in different places. Some of us made the sentences more complex by adding conjunctions and adjectives.
In Science, we researched and presented our findings on a specific invertebrate group, e.g. arachnids, molluscs, etc.

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

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.
- The days when you can change your book:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (-sion / -ssion / -cian words)
- Sumdog (-cian, -sion, -ssion wk 7)
- We will be learning the -sion, -ssion spellings again, along with -cian words, which will be looked in detail from Monday:
  - politician, magician, electrician, optician, musician, technician, Egyptian, vision, session, decision, permission, compassion, expression, progression, impression

Maths challenges:
- Counting
  - This week we have counting in fraction steps of ½, ¼ and 1½ . 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:

2½, 3, 3½, 4, etc

Start at 27 and count up 10 numbers and down again:

27, 27½, 28, 28½, etc

Now try in ¼ with these numbers:

6, 6¼, 6 2/4, 6¾, 7, 7¼, etc

Finally keep trying to count forward and back in 1½ steps:

8, 9½, 11, 12½, 14, 15½, 17, etc

Sumdog (Times Tables x12)

Sumdog (Rounding decimals and comparing to fractions)

Do not forget that next week, our last day is Thursday 21^st October.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Year 6 blog and Home Practice Friday 8th October 2021

Date: 8th Oct 2021 @ 4:13pm

Well done to everyone for completing their Home Practice. We have had an amazing 100% changing their Home Reading books this week – let’s keep this up as reading is the key to all knowledge.

Once again, just to remind you, here are the days when you can change your book:

Monday – Roller Coasters

Tuesday – Big Dippers

Wednesday – The Waltzers

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have practised the 9 times tables, rounding numbers to 10 000 and 100 000 and how to use the bridging addition strategy efficiently.
In English, we continued our novel, ‘Clockwork’, and have worked hard to create a play script, a scene with dialogue (with the correct speech punctuation) and analysed suspense writing and written our own.
In our topic of Mountains, in Geography, we researched some of the largest mountains in the world and created an informative poster for others to learn from.
For RE, we have begun our new topic, ‘Vocation and Commitment’, with some excellent debates on what makes a vocation. We also created some questions to interview someone next week who is committed to their role.
In PE, we continued our learning of the sport of tag rugby, focussing on teamwork through encouragement and feedback.
In PSHE, we have been learning more about mental health and ways we can manage emotions: things that we can daily and the people we know who can help.
In Music, we used recorders to learn how to play ‘Hot Cross Buns’ and we learnt a new Harvest song for the Harvest assembly.
In French, we learnt how to say weather phrases and practiced our phonics.
In Science, we learnt about the Linnaen system of classification of plants and animals, then attempted to use it to classify many different types.

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

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.

Spellings (-tion / -sion / -ssion / words)
- We will be learning the -tion, -sion, -ssion spelling, which will look in detail at from Monday:
  - direction, collection, addition, action, rotation, creation, punctuation, subtraction, division, television, discussion, session, mission, percussion, profession

Sumdog challenges:
- Times Tables x9
- Adding and subtracting numbers mentally
- Spellings (-tion / -sion / -ssion, words)
  - I suggest to first write these out on a piece of paper, then play the games. We will look at these spellings in more detail from Monday so the spelling of these words will be easier after we have investigated them.

Year 6 Blog and Home Practice Friday 1st October 2021

Date: 1st Oct 2021 @ 3:33pm

Another super week of learning from Year 6. Since the beginning of the term, we have continued with our ‘Daily Mile’ exercise, rain or shine, and I have been impressed with everyone’s commitment to it. Well done to 87% of you for changing your Home Reading book this week – remember that reading is the single most important thing you can do to improve your learning.

As a reminder, these groups can change their books on the following days:

Monday – Roller Coasters

Tuesday – Big Dippers

Wednesday – The Waltzers

This week in Year 6:

In Maths, we have practised the 4 and 8 times tables, rounding numbers to 10, 100 and 1000, and even discussed various strategies of adding, which we will be exploring next week.
In English, the children did an amazing job creating their own Aladdin sequel story, ‘The Return of the Moor’. We then started a new novel, ‘Clockwork’, also by Phillip Pullman, and used evidence from the text to describe the characters of Karl, Fritz and Dr. Kalmenius.
In our topic of Mountains, in Geography, we have used the atlases and maps to find all the main mountains in Europe.
For RE, we have completed our topic of ‘Unconditional Love’ through creating our own Beatitudes to help make our school a better place.
In PE, we moved our learning of invasion games to the sport of tag rugby, where we are learning the rules, ready for our first sport competition in over 18 months.
In Art, we have continued to use Keynote to complete our self-portrait art. You can see some of this great artwork in our Year 6 gallery page.
In Music, we played the Boomwhackers to a song called, ‘Paris’.
In French, we learnt the vocabulary for the seasons of the year.
In Science, we completed our research into different plant groups and presented our findings as a poster. We then revised vertebrate classifications: birds, mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians.

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

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.

Spellings (-ious and ous words) which will be looked in detail from Monday:
- cautious, various, vicious, precious, conscious, conscientious, gracious, suspicious, perilous, hazardous, marvellous, adventurous, dangerous, glamourous, famous

Sumdog challenges:
- Times Tables x4 / x8
- Rounding numbers to 1, 10, 100 and 1000
- Spellings (-ious words)

One month completed, Year 6, congratulations! Keep up the hard work in October.

Year 6 Friday 24th September 2021

Date: 23rd Sep 2021 @ 4:15pm

Welcome to the first of the Year 6 weekly blogs.

Well done to all the pupils for completing the first few weeks of Year 6. They have all been exceptional in transitioning into the routines and getting used to the expectations of this new year. Congratulations to everyone for receiving a leadership role, whether that be as school ambassadors, sports captains, eco team, reading ambassadors, school council, science ambassadors or digital leaders. Also, Year 6 created a short story targeted at a younger audience and had a super time reading them to Reception.

This week in Year 6:

We have improved our place value knowledge in Maths through identifying, comparing and estimating whole numbers and numbers up to two decimal places.
In English we are reading ‘Aladdin’ by Phillip Pullman. The children have enjoyed writing as the various characters, showing that they understand how they might be thinking and feeling. We have recently planned our own version of the sequel, ‘The Return of Jafar’.
In Geography, we have begun our new topic 'Mountains', searching atlases and maps to find the longitude and latitude of various coordinates.
For RE, we have also begun our first topic of ‘Loving’ and how God’s unconditional love can affect our lives.
In PE, invasion games is our theme for the next 5 weeks, focusing on improving our throwing and catching skills and starting to develop advanced tactics to give an advantage for the attacking team.
In Art, we have used the Apple version of PowerPoint, Keynote, to create some brilliant self-portrait art.
In Music, we have been learning to use the Boomwhackers to various songs.
In French, we have learnt to introduce ourselves with things we like, starting with, ‘Je me presente’. We have listened to a French pop song, ‘Papoutou’ and tried to decipher what it was about.
In Science, we revisited the classification key about trees and improved the vocabulary of them. We also became ‘research biologists’ investigating different plant groups: mosses, ferns and conifers.

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

Reading – You all have a Home Reading book for Year 6 so reading every night for 30 minutes is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.
- The days when you can change your reading book are:
  - Monday – Roller Coasters
  - Tuesday – Big Dippers
  - Wednesday – The Waltzers

Spellings (words ending in ly) which will be looked in detail from Monday:
- really, hardly, happily, finally, suddenly, angrily, safely, truly, carefully, frantically, slowly, rapidly, reluctantly, swiftly, enthusiastically

Sumdog challenges:
- Times Tables x3 / x6
- Place Value Week 3
- Spellings (ly words)

Around school, teachers have noted how you are respectful, polite and shown considerations for others – a great start as the ambassadors of the school.

Meet the Teacher information Year 6

Date: 20th Sep 2021 @ 4:25pm

Hello and welcome to Year 6.

Thank you to all those who made it to the 'Meet the Teacher' meeting but for those who could not, please have a read through the slides attached to this blog.

Any queries, please get in contact with the school via email or phone and we will be happy to answer them.

Look out for our first blog of the year on Friday 24th September.

Mr Mears

Welcome to Year 6 meet the teacher 2021 - 2022.pptx

Back to School Online Safety

Date: 14th Sep 2021 @ 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

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

Back to School Online Safety.png

Year 6 Home Practice - Friday 9th July 2021

Date: 9th Jul 2021 @ 4:11pm

Welcome to our penultimate Year 6 blog. This week has been very busy:

We completed filming our Leavers music video. Please see our YouTube channel, St OswaldsTV, later on today, to see it.
Year 6 had a fantastic time performing the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory production for the infants, juniors and parents. You can see this video on our YouTube channel too.
We were very lucky with the weather for our Sports Day, where everyone worked hard and supported each other throughout. This video is also available to watch on our YouTube channel, posted on Monday 5^th
Furthermore, we have been started preparing for the Leavers assembly and discussing our time here over the past 7 years. We cannot wait to see the parents again next Wednesday 14^th July at 1.30pm.

As next week is the last week, these are the tasks to be completed:

Reading
- Finish your reading book from school as we are in the process of collecting them all.

Reminders

Monday 12^th July is the Borwick Hall trip. Do not forget to check the kit list of what you need, but the main things are:

Old clothes to wear for most of the day (as they may get wet or dirty)

A spare pair of clothes (as you will probably get wet and need to change)

Sun cream (in case it is hot)

Water bottle

Any medication you need.

Cannot wait to see you all on Monday and don’t forget that IT’S COMING HOME this Sunday!

Year 6 Home Practice - Friday 2nd July 2021

Date: 2nd Jul 2021 @ 3:56pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog. This week we have continued to practice the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory production adding in movements, songs and a percussion team – it’s starting to come together; just one more week to wait! This Friday was a welcomed return of the PTFAs ‘Tough Kidder’. With amazing weather, the whole school had a great time, especially the Year 6s who managed to drench any nearby teachers with their water guns (see the pictures in our Year 6 gallery).

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we have continued our learning of algebra by forming expressions using numbers and letters.
In English (and PSHE), our Wonder novel has taken us to Jack’s perspective who has got himself into trouble with the headteacher. We then used the author’s clever writing style to act the scene.
In PE, we have had our final practice for Sports Day and our class have divided into Sports Captain groups to help run each year’s Sports Day.
In Music, we rehearsed the play, adding in the songs and a percussion team to accompany the production.
For Science/PSHE/RSE, we learnt what happens physically, socially and emotionally as we grow into young adults.

These are the days when you can change your reading book:

Monday – Dodgems

Tuesday – Roller Coasters

Wednesday – Big Dippers / The Waltzers

These are the tasks to be completed:

Reading – With only a few weeks left, please keep reading for a minimum of 30 minutes every day. Try to change your book, just one more time before we finish.

Sumdog challenges:

Mix times tables (200 correct answers needed):
- Keep practicing these! They will help you massively in Year 7.

Year 6 Home Practice - Friday 25th June 2021

Date: 25th Jun 2021 @ 3:51pm

Welcome to our Year 6 blog. This week Year 6 have worked incredibly hard during the rehearsals for the Charlie and the Chocolate factory production with plenty of excellent acting. Roll on next week where we will be adding in the songs and creating dances – very exciting!

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we have started to understand how algebra is used to represent number sequences and formulas.
In English (and PSHE), we have continued to read/watch our novel Wonder and learnt more about the many characters in the story. We have discussed and written what it was like for Auggie on his first day at school.
In PE, we have completed the Cross County competition, using the whole school grounds. Even though it was tough for many, everyone pushed themselves to complete it.
In Music, we had a super time gathering together (socially distanced of course) on the field to celebrate World Music Day as a school. Check out the video which is on our St Oswald’s YouTube channel.
In French, we have been recapping our learning over the term and practicing a French song for the Leavers’ assembly.
For Science, we used the periscopes created at home to investigate how they work and drew a ray diagram to explain it.
Also, Year 6 had a visit from Miss Rebecca who gave us a Mindfulness session to help us understand our feelings better and how to deal with them, especially when we think about our first day at high school. Don’t forget R.A.P = recognise, accept, process. Thank you Miss Rebecca!

These are the days when you can change your reading book:

Monday – Dodgems

Tuesday – Roller Coasters

Wednesday – Big Dippers / The Waltzers

These are the tasks to be completed:

Reading – With only a few weeks left, please keep reading for a minimum of 30 minutes every day. Try to change your book 2 more times before we finish.

Sumdog challenges:

Mix of all times tables (200 correct answers needed):
- This will be great to continue to know these times tables fluently.

Spellings (45 correct answers needed):
- Recap of spellings words – part 1

(rhythm, system, physical, symbol, mystery, overtake, overwhelmed, overseas, overcoat, overcrowded, cycling, justify, qualify, recycle, apply)

Year 6 Home Practice - Friday 18th June 2021

Date: 18th Jun 2021 @ 4:43pm

Welcome to another Year 6 blog. This week Year 6 have continued doing a great job buddying for the infants, creating their own games which have worked really well. Also this week, we have all been excited to take part in auditions for the Charlie and the Chocolate factory production and have read through the script a few times.

Our learning in Year 6 this week:

In Maths, we have been learning how to work out factors and prime numbers.
In English (and PSHE), we have started a new novel, Wonder, which links to our transition programme for high school, where a young boy looking to fit in starts a new school.
In PE, we have learnt more about the Sports Captain roles for each year’s Sports Day and had another practice to finalise groups.
In Music, we are all ready for the World Music Day celebration as Year 6 will play the African drums at our festival.
In French, we used an unfamiliar passage to work out what it meant. We held a conversation with a partner all about ourselves.
For Science, we have started a short topic on ‘Light’ by proving that light travels in straight lines, explained what caused shadows and drew ray diagrams to show how we see objects.
In Art, we were lucky enough to have Mr Hill, who is an experienced artist specialising in pottery. The children have created some amazing things which you can see on our Year 6 gallery page.

These are the days when you can change your reading book:

Monday – Dodgems

Tuesday – Roller Coasters

Wednesday – Big Dippers / The Waltzers

These are the tasks to be completed:

You have been given a template to create a periscope. Follow the instructions on the sheet to make one (with a cereal box) and bring it into school by Wednesday 23^rd

Reading – With only a few week left, please keep reading for a minimum of 30 minutes every day. Try to change your book 2 – 3 more times before we finish.

Sumdog challenges:

Mix of all times tables (100 correct answers needed):
- This will be great to continue to know these times tables fluently.

Multiples and Factors (100 correct answers needed for this week):
- Work through these carefully as some will be represented as various pictures. The adding and subtracting should be with the same denominator but it is very good practise for next week.

Spellings (45 correct answers needed):
- Spellings with pattern, ce

(alphabet, apostrophe, autobiography, dolphin, elephant, graph, nephew, phone, photograph, physical, sphere, telephone, triumphant, pharmacist, catastrophe)

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Year 6: Blog items

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