Year 6 Team: Mr M King (Class Teacher), Mrs L Martin : Blog items
Date: 5th Nov 2024 @ 2:33pm
Welcome back!
It sounds like all the children had an enjoyable October break. We are now looking forward to our ‘Autumn 2’ half-term, which is set to be full of learning, laughter, kindness…and Christmas festivities!
Please see our Y6 curriculum map for an overview of what the children will be learning this half-term.
Our current virtual classroom has been attached again to this blog, which includes links to a variety of quality websites, apps and resources to support the children’s learning.
Upcoming Y6 events:
- 27/11 - Tax Workshop (in school)
- 2/12 - ‘National Child Measurement Programme’ - Y6 Visit from School Nurse
- 9/12 - Y6 Choir visiting St Joseph’s Care Home
- 13/12 - Y6 Choir visiting Formby Luncheon Club
Please see our ‘Autumn Diary Dates’ for all school events taking place this half-term.
N.B. Groups of Y6 children will also be visiting Formby Luncheon Club throughout the half-term (during school time) to interview members about their experiences of war. This is optional for children and all who want to participate will have the chance to do so.
General Reminders for this half-term:
- Spellings, Maths and English homework will now resume until the end of term;
- PE lessons are continuing on a Wednesday and Friday next half-term. Please remember that children should not be wearing designer branded PE items of clothing and shorts should be of an appropriate length;
- A small, healthy snack should be brought to school.
Thank you!
Date: 21st Oct 2024 @ 1:41pm
Well…we have reached the end of our first half-term in Year 6!
It is hard to believe that this half-term has already come to an end and we cannot believe just how much we have packed into these past two months. We have had many highlights, including:
-Meeting and spending time with our Reception buddies;
-Our Robinwood residential;
-All the different Maths games and activities;
-Winning the North West Sumdog Contests;
-Producing 3 new pieces of work in our author books, including our 'haunted' narratives this month;
-Exploring a range of texts, including 'Holes' (Louis Sachar), 'Girl At The Front of the Class' (Onjali Rauf), 'Cicada' (Shaun Tan) and 'Dare To Be You' (Matthew Syed);
-Playing different variations of dodgeball as part of our PE unit;
-Learning about mark making, macrophotgraphy, photomontages and collages in our Art lessons;
-Understanding the classification of plants, animals and bacteria in Science;
-Gaining lots of new knowledge about World War 1 and 2 for our History topic;
-Concluding our half-term with the pantomime, Aladdin!
...we cannot wait to see what fun awaits us in Autumn 2!
Reminders for next half-term:
- Spellings, which the children will be tested on in the first week back after half-term, are available on Google Classroom. No specific Maths or SPAG homework has been set for over the half-term break however October’s virtual classroom has been attached to this blog – should the children wish to consolidate any learning;
- PE lessons will continue on a Wednesday and Friday next half-term. Please remember that children should not be wearing designer branded PE items of clothing and shorts should be of an appropriate length.
-A small, healthy snack should be brought to school if needed but fruit is provided each day.
Have a great half-term break, everyone!
Date: 6th Sep 2024 @ 8:12am
Welcome to the Year 6 blog for the academic year, 2024 – 2025.
It really has been fantastic to see all the children return to school with such excitement and enthusiasm. They have all settled in so quickly, there has been plenty of laughter and the ‘Year 6’ team spirit is evident already!
Please see our curriculum map for an overview of what the children will be learning this half-term.
Our virtual classroom has been attached to this blog, which includes links to a variety of quality websites, apps and resources to support the children’s learning.
The Successful Start PowerPoint is also attached. This includes information that all parents should read to be best prepare their children for the academic year ahead.
Reminders for this half-term:
- We know that many children are excited for our school residential to Robinwood in Wrexham in a couple of weeks. We hope you found Thursday’s parent meeting useful and have received all of the resources via School Spider (the presentation and parent leaflet has also been attached to this blog). Please also ensure you have visited the Robinwood website and read all the information given, including their FAQ page, which should answer any further questions you may have.
- Our first set of spellings have been shared on Google Classroom and the children will be tested next Thursday. Maths and SPaG homework will commence after the Robinwood residential.
- In terms of Year 6 reading, the children will have daily opportunities to read, either independently, in a group or as a whole class. Those children who receive their ‘home reading books’ from school will also still be listened to individually every week by an adult. However, it is really important that the children are encouraged to read daily at home and with an adult if possible. If you are struggling with book choices, please refer to the recommendations listed on our ‘Learning at Home’ page, or let us know and we will be able to offer suggestions.
Thank you to everyone for making the start to this academic year so wonderful. We hope you all have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing you all next week. We are certain it is going to be action-packed!
Date: 15th Jul 2024 @ 1:44pm
Well...the day has finally arrived! Today, we said our final goodbyes and finished our time here at Trinity St. Peter's.
On Monday and Tuesday, we were able to perform our leavers' production for the rest of the school and our families. There was laughter, tears, but most of all...enjoyment. The script was written by the class and included all the memories, jokes and stories they wanted to reminisce about with their audiences. The children shone in every sense: their acting was superb, their comedy timing was impeccable and their singing was just beautiful. We were all so incredibly proud of them.
We concluded our week with our Leavers' Service on Friday morning. This was perhaps more emotional than our leavers’ production with a special dance, presentations, montages, speeches and one final opportunity for our pupils to show off their incredible voices. There was not a dry eye in Holy Trinity Church!
There is not much left to write that has not already been said in class, at the production or in Church! Nevertheless, Year 6, you have been A-MAZ-ING. We have loved teaching you and watching you all grow as individuals and as a class. Bonds have been made for life and we can't wait to see you go onto achieve even more success and happiness in your secondary schools. We will miss you all.
Parents, we would like to thank you for the gifts and cards this week - never expected but always appreciated - and most of all, for your kind words. Your continued support has allowed the children to continue to thrive at Trinity St. Peter's in their final year.
Have an amazing summer, everyone!
Date: 5th Jul 2024 @ 8:19am
A very active week in Year 6!
On Tuesday, our final primary school trip took place as we ventured to Alton Towers! The children had been very excited in the build-up as we discussed how the day would work, looked at the theme park map and watched videos about particular rides. We went on some rides as a class (The Rapids, The Runaway Mine Train) but also split into groups at various points to allow us to go on the types of rides we wanted. Despite limited time at the park, we were able to get on several other rides in groups, including Galactica, Wicker Man and Oblivion – as well as take part in water fights and visit the aquarium! All in all, a successful day! Check the Year 6 Twitter page for all the pictures.
Production rehearsals have continued with the script now being finalised and all children happy with their roles. We have focused on stage directions and transitions this week and we have just about sorted where we need to be and when! Children should now be bringing in their additional clothes for the production so dress rehearsals can start next week.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 27th Jun 2024 @ 9:05am
Our production rehearsals have been going well. The children have been given specific roles now, although this is still only an early draft and additional lines will be added in as we continue to rehearse for those children who want larger roles. Parents, please ensure you have read the messages sent on School Spider regarding clothing and tickets.
We were treated to a very special assembly this week led by Sumdog! After all these years of playing and enjoying the app, it was fantastic to have the team in to share new features and projects they are working on. We particularly enjoyed Strawbees, which saw us constructing various shapes and mechanisms – while also working on our resilience and teamwork.
On Wednesday, we had our final ‘Sports Day’ at Trinity St. Peter’s. We wanted to have a strong emphasis on our value of ‘Enjoy’ and not take it too seriously. We agreed that if we were losing, we would ‘lose in style’ – just as long as it didn’t affect anybody else in the race who may still be trying to win. There was a great atmosphere throughout and we all had a great time taking part in the different races. Perhaps the highlight was our parents’ three-legged race. Lots of laughter…and lots of competitive parents! We were very impressed with those children who managed to complete the lap with neither of their feet ever setting foot on the grass!
We also enjoyed hearing the children’s stories about their transition days to their secondary schools on Thursday. Not long to go now!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 20th Jun 2024 @ 7:55pm
Another busy week in Year 6!
In Reading and Writing, we have started working on a unit of writing linked to ‘adventurers’ and ‘leadership’ and we have learned about a number of significant literary and real-life explorers such as Beowulf and Robert Falcon Scott. Our final task this week was to research somebody who we believe is a good leader. There was a wide range of leaders chosen, both real and fictional, from various time periods and areas of profession.
Wednesday was ‘Thank a Teacher’ Day and the Year 6 children were instrumental in spreading appreciation around the whole school. The children dropped off individual cards to each member of staff – including office and kitchen staff and Mr Essery – as well as refreshments and treats! A special ‘thank you’ to those parents who brought in gifts for the Y6 staff as well – not expected but very appreciated!
Throughout the week, we have continued to practise our drama skills, both in class and in the shade on the school field. We have discussed potential scenes we would like to do, as well as ideas for songs to perform. The children have then had time in groups to come up with ideas and perform in front of their peers, thinking carefully about stage directions and voice projection. We think it is going to be a great show! We have talked about how our parents will enjoy the show more if our plans and the final script are kept a surprise…so please do try and have some restraint at home and avoid asking your children about what they will be doing! We can however assure you that all the children will get the type of part in the show which they want.
Finally, we saw the return of ‘TSP’s Got Talent’ this week. Well done to all the pupils who performed in front of their peers – what a range of talents we have in Year 6! A special ‘well done’ to our Year 6, who went on to represent the class in the whole-school final on Friday morning.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 14th Jun 2024 @ 8:19am
A fun-filled week in Year 6!
On Monday, the children had an ‘Art Day’, where they focused on caricatures. They created many different faces - using different techniques and styles – including celebrities, themselves and their friends. This was all leading to a ‘top secret’ project in the afternoon, which we cannot share on the blog! You can check out Twitter / X for some of the excellent celebrity caricatures created earlier in the day.
Tuesday and Wednesday saw the return of our mathematical / thinking project, ‘Washing Machine Madness’! Buying, selling, designing and marketing skills were all required for this task and once again, the children didn’t disappoint! There was lots of creative thinking as they adapted to the constantly changing financial market, negotiated prices and debated how to distribute resources. Well done, Year 6!
We also had several visitors / workshops this week to enhance our curriculum. On Wednesday afternoon, the children had a very informative Zoom session with Merseyside Police regarding online safety. They were also visited by the school nurse, who spoke to them about managing worries. Finally, we were treated to an incredible Music assembly with Rocksteady Music School, which even saw some of our teachers forming a band.
In anticipation for the rest of the children’s final half-term of primary school, we have also discussed our upcoming Alton Towers trip and how the day will look. We have also started thinking about the leavers’ production, but again…we’re trying to keep this a secret!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 5th Jun 2024 @ 11:25am
We are now in our final half-term of primary school!
Since SATs, we have embarked on a rather exciting mathematical venture…designing a theme park! The children had to work together in small groups to design the layout of their park based on the costings of amenities and ride types and ensuring they meet all health and safety requirements, such as including the minimum number of toilets and park benches required. They also had to apply their mathematical knowledge by calculating the running and advertising costs and – from there – deciding on entrance admission fees to ensure they make a profit. The children then presented their ideas, including posters and trailers, and were assessed on their creativity, likelihood of success and business acumen. The children have absolutely LOVED this project and it has been a joy to see them so enthusiastic about completing each task – whilst learning new vocabulary such as ‘marketing’, ‘revenue’, ‘expenditure’ and ‘profit’!
As authors, we have produced another piece of work in our author books. The focus was how to advance the narrative of a story through dialogue, which was tricky as it required the children to revise their understanding of how to include dialogue and then how to advance a story through the conversation.
In Art, we reminded ourselves who Vincent Van Gogh was and focused on his piece, ‘The Starry Night’. The children used paint to create their own versions of the artwork and their finished pieces were great. Well done, Year 6!
To conclude the week, the children enjoyed their ‘Rainbow Day’. Thank you, Team TSP, for organising such a great day.
A special ‘well done’ to those children who represented the school as part of our tri-golf team and also debate team. They were excellent ambassadors for Trinity St. Peter’s!
Please ensure you have checked School Spider regarding our upcoming trip to Alton Towers.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 14th May 2024 @ 7:53am
Well...what a week indeed!
After plenty of preparation and build-up, the time to sit our KS2 SATs finally arrived! We could not be any prouder of all the children; they showed such positivity, resilience and optimism throughout the week. Despite the 'dull' nature of sitting assessments, we did also manage to find many opportunities to have laughs along the way too and the children agreed that the SATs process wasn't actually as bad as they thought it could be! Lots of the children would like to visit the Year 5 children before the end of term to let them know this too. Well done, everyone - you are all superstars!
On Friday, we had our post-SATs celebration at Formby Beach. Lots of well-deserved rest and fun was had...and the sun was shining! A great end to the week.
We hope the children all have a well-earned break this weekend..they certainly deserve it!
See you all on Monday!
Date: 10th May 2024 @ 8:09am
It has certainly been a week of hard work and revision!
Classroom displays have been hidden, tables have been rearranged and the children have been informed on how to complete the front page correctly…so there shouldn’t be any surprises on Monday! As per the last few weeks, we have continued to revise our Maths, SPaG and reading skills through the use of past papers, as well as songs, games and activities. The children have worked incredibly hard and we don’t think they could be any further prepared.
To conclude the week, the children went outside for a short break and returned to class to find…it had been transformed into a SPaG rave! Glow sticks were in full force as the children danced around to some of our favourite Grammasaurus songs. It was wonderful to see all the children having fun, but it was even better to see some children, who began the year rather reserved with this sort of activity, showing no shame with their singing and dance moves! What a great way to end the week!
We hope all the children are able to have an enjoyable weekend. In terms of SATs preparation, they should do whatever will help them relax, whether that means doing some final revision to boost their confidence or having a three-day break. Regardless of the outcome, we are extremely proud of all them and the hard work they have shown throughout the academic year.
We cannot wait to celebrate their efforts next Friday on the beach!
Date: 2nd May 2024 @ 9:38am
This week, we have been working hard on preparing for our SATs papers in just over a week. In Maths, we have continued to practise our arithmetic skills while also revising various topics including: measurement, mean and coordinate problems. We have done this through a variety of activities and games, as well as past paper questions. Our reading practice has continued as well, focusing on ‘impressions’ and ‘genre’.
In Spanish, the children have started their ‘habitats’ topic and have been learning lots of new vocabulary – lots of cross-curricular links to Science and Geography too!
A special ‘well done’ to those children who competed in the tag rugby festival last week at Southport Rugby Club. The team put in a tremendous effort and finished in 3rd place – an incredible achievement!
The children are aware of what their homework for this week is. There are also additional tasks set on SATs Companion if they wish to do any further revision at home.
Have a great (extended) weekend!
Date: 18th Apr 2024 @ 8:18pm
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Our final term in primary school has officially commenced!
As the SATs near, we have continued to enhance our reading comprehension this week as we have focused on particular skills such as identifying the genre; giving evidence for personality traits and retrieving specific vocabulary.
As mathematicians, Mr King’s group have been working on measurement and identifying missing angles in various shapes. Mrs Martin’s group have started work on data handling, looking at different graphs such as pictograms. It has become extremely clear to the class that to solve most Y6 reasoning problems, we need to have the knowledge of mathematical facts to then make connections and implement a strategy. Therefore, it is very important that we are taking the time to learn the facts on our knowledge organisers.
Perhaps the highlight of the week has been the kNOwKnifeCrime relay event that has taken place across the whole of Sefton this week - ahead of the London Marathon this weekend. On Monday, we re-watched the assembly by the kNOwKnifeCrime charity; this was led by Laura Hughes, sister of Colin McGinty, who was stabbed to death in 2001. Their goal has been to raise enough money to raise bleed control kits or packs for all Sefton schools with the conclusion of their fundraising being a relay between 80+ schools across Southport, Formby, Crosby, Bootle and Maghull.
This week, all the children made posters in the charity’s colours and even had a visit from Laura herself on Tuesday afternoon, where we were able to give her a standing ovation. Wednesday was the event itself, which saw Freshfield Primary children running to our school to pass over a bleed control kit for us to then take to Formby High School. Upon arrival at our local secondary school, we were greeted by a cheering crowd and choir. It was incredible! Well done to the whole Year 6 class; each one had an important role to play, whether it be running, creating banners or welcoming Freshfield Primary onto our playground. Some of our children were also able to be ambassadors for the kNOwKnifeCrime charity by explaining its relevance and goals on BBC Radio Merseyside!
Even though only a small group could run to Formby High School, all of the class has been running this week as we have been taking part in the annual mini-marathon. On Friday, we were able to conclude our laps on the field…a successful end to the week!
The children are aware of their homework for this week and their weekly spellings have been set on Google Classroom as usual. Mr King’s group have the task of learning as many Y5/6 statutory spellings as possible! Please do also encourage your child to also work through the practice assessments set on SATs Companion.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 27th Mar 2024 @ 7:07pm
The Easter break has arrived!
Despite being a short week, we still managed to teach plenty of the curriculum…and beyond! This included two excellent workshops on Monday on lifesaving skills and an introduction to sign language. The latter was particularly interested as we had previously watched a news story on CBBC Newsround about sign language lessons being integrated into primary education in the future.
It was a very close 'class vote' to choose our next class novel..especially after the success of "The Final Year"! After looking at the front covers, reading the blurbs and then finally the first page of each potential book, we decided on "The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh" by Helen Rutter.
As computer scientists, we enjoyed some coding practice on Wednesday through our ‘Computing Day’. We explored the game, Crossy Roads, thinking carefully about its features and what makes it a good game. We were then introduced to the iOs app, Hopscotch to allow us to explore some of our STAR vocabulary: event, command, loop, random and range. Following this, we had apply our knowledge by using the app to create our own version of Crossy Roads. All the children were able to do this successfully, with some even managing to set various levels of difficulty and additional levels for their game!
In PE, our yoga and swimming sessions continued. ‘Well done’ to so many of the class, who also opted to participate in the trials for our tag rugby team on Tuesday morning. We think that is the quickest a large group of children have ever grasped the rules of the game!
On Thursday, we attended the whole-school Easter Service at Holy Trinity Church, where we were able to watch the Year 3 pupils perform the Easter story. We also enjoying joining in with several hymns and songs - which we have been practising each week during Sing and Praise - including ‘He Lives in You’ from The Lion King and 'Jerusalem' from The Nativity. The children thought so highly of the service that they sang these songs on the walk back to school!
The children are aware of their homework tasks and please recall that additional tasks have been set on SATs Companion for over the Easter break. The virtual classroom has also been attached to this blog. Please be aware we are not suggesting all of these resources are to be utilised and that the children's mental health is always the priority. However, as some parents and children have asked for additional resources to support them over the Easter break, we are sharing with all in case any other children would like to further revise over the holiday period.
We hope you all have a lovely Easter break!
Date: 21st Mar 2024 @ 10:23am
Another busy week in Year 6!
In Maths, Mr King’s group have been revising how to find the perimeter and area of compound shapes, as well as how to find the area of triangles and parallelograms. Mrs Martin’s group have been focusing on angles – particularly how to use angles in terms of direction.
As scientists, we celebrated British Science Week and Brain Awareness Week by learning about the brain and how it can change over time. We learned that neurons are cells in the brain, which send signals within the brain and throughout our body. The signals tell us what to do, like to drink when we’re thirsty. We learned how groups of neurons make connections with each other when we learn something and how over time, our brains changed based on our experiences. We then drew these growing connections that are collectively known as the ‘connectome’. In our Reading sessions, we also learned about a range of scientists: Marie Maynard Daly, Charles Darwin and Alan Turing.
In Geography, we have been exploring the natural resources that are available on Earth and how they are distributed. There has been some lively debate about whether using non-renewable resources just because they are widely available at the moment or moving over to renewable resources, even if it is initially very expensive, is the best way to go. We have also looked at the impact on the environment of the choices made about which resources to use and it is fair to say that we have some strong opinions (and wonder why the generation in charge of decision making do not see things so clearly!).
PE has seen us continue with our yoga and swimming sessions while our Spanish lesson involved an assessment to see how much we have remembered over the last half-term.
To conclude the week, the children enjoyed taking part in their annual, 'Easter Egg Hunt'. This once again saw them running around the school grounds on the hunt for ticket numbers - which corresponded to eggs back in class. The even was also compèred by two rather large 'chicks'!
The children are aware of their homework for this week and their weekly spellings have been set on Google Classroom as usual. Please do also encourage your child to also work through the practice assessments set on SATs Companion.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 13th Mar 2024 @ 2:39pm
We had a very powerful and emotional assembly this week led by the ‘Know Knife Crime’ charity, which is based in Crosby and set up in honour of Colin McGinty. His sister, Laura, led the assembly and shared Colin’s story, before sharing some statistics about knife crime and explaining how over 80 schools – including Trinity St. Peter’s – will be fundraising next month so that every school can have its own bleed control kit. Further information regarding this has been shared on School Spider.
As mathematicians, the children in Mr King’s group have been learning about pie charts and solving a range of problems linked to these. Mrs Martin’s group have been focusing on shape and measurement – particularly how to find the volume of a 3D shape.
The children were very excited to start their swimming lessons on Wednesday. Although the first session required some time to be dedicated to initial assessments, we were still able to practise our freestyle and swim quite a few lengths in a short space of time – well done! Tuesday’s PE lesson saw us continuing with our yoga sessions, which is providing good respite from all our hard work in class.
We finished our most recent class novel this week: 'The Final Year' by Matt Goodfellow. It was a very powerful book that stirred a lot of emotion from the class. Reflecting on the novel afterwards, the vast majority selected this as their favourite class book so far - surpassing 'Holes', which had been the story they had enjoyed the most up until this point.
Finally, the children took part in Picture News' webinar on ‘protected characteristics’. It was fantastic to see the children sharing so much about what they already knew on this topic and connecting back to previous lessons / conversations we had.
The children are aware of their homework for this week and their weekly spellings have been set on Google Classroom as usual. Please do also encourage your child to also work through the practice assessments set on SATs Companion.
Have a good weekend, everyone!
Date: 6th Mar 2024 @ 1:47pm
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What a busy week it has been!
To begin, it has been National Careers Week this week, which provided a good opportunity for the children to discuss their aspirations for the future. We talked about long-term and short-term goals and how some of us may even have jobs in our teenage years and why this might be. We then took part in a rather amusing activity of guessing the previous jobs of members of staff at Trinity St. Peter’s. There was some very interesting rationale behind some of the guesses! By the end of the task though, we realised that in most cases, we couldn’t make accurate guesses about teachers’ previous jobs as factors such as gender and age do not matter.
As part of our RE learning, we attended St. Peter’s Church on Wednesday morning to attend a Eucharist Service. We learned more about why Christians gather at this service and the symbolism of the bread and wine. We were then able to connect this with our current topic back in class.
The children were very excited for World Book Day on Thursday and this was certainly reflected in their book costumes! Well done to all the pupils and their parents for a fantastic effort. Throughout the day, our Year 6 pupils took part in a range of activities: from a ‘book’ themed Spanish lesson to being part of the virtual audience for Trinity St. Peter’s inaugural Masked Reader! As The Big Bad Wolf had gone into hiding in the Year 6 classroom, the children’s English lesson involved them reading, ‘The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs’ by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith and learning how The Big Bad Wolf felt that he was the real victim in this tale. The children were then asked to become lawyers in Fairytale Court and to write up a defence statement for The Big Bad Wolf against Little Red Riding Hood to present to the rest of the class. There were some very creative ideas!
We are very lucky that this half-term, we will be taking part in yoga sessions every Tuesday afternoon with Sefton Active. The children had their first session this week and - during their post-session reflection – noted how calm and relaxed they felt afterwards. Hopefully, this will be a very rewarding experience for our pupils and a hobby they may wish to continue in the future.
A special 'thank you' to our two work experience students (and ex-TSP pupils!) who have been in class helping all week. They have provided lots of support to the Year 6 children!
Reminder: swimming lessons will commence from next Wednesday. Please refer back to the messages sent to parents on School Spider.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 28th Feb 2024 @ 7:14pm
Another busy week!
As mathematicians, Mr King’s group have continued with ratio while also finding time to revise fractions, decimals and percentages. Mrs Martin’s group have moved onto shape this week; in particular, how to find the perimeter of different shapes.
Developing our understanding of the English language, we have focused on tenses: simple, progressive and perfect. Over the week, the children enjoyed listening to songs about each tense and also making another zine to record their notes. As readers, we have continued to explore a range of texts, including songs / poetry, letters and interviews. The more we practise, the more techniques we are picking up for answering various comprehension questions!
In Art, we continued to link our new topic on symbolic imagery to our Year 5 History topic on the Mayan civilisation. Firstly, we drew our Maya spirit companion and consider their meanings. We then took inspiration from other artist’s styles to generate a range of symbols, patterns and colours that represent ourselves.
Our Spanish lesson this week was all about general conversation and putting together all the vocabulary, questions and phrases we have been learning recently. Hopefully some of our families will be booking trips to Spain soon! Next week, we will be having a special one-off Spanish session linked to World Book Day.
In PE, we have continued with our tag rugby sessions. We recapped on how to hold and pass the ball and the rules for passing - before moving onto dodging. For this, we had to learn how to put a belt and tags on...and it was a lot harder than we predicted! By the end of Thursday's session, many of the children expressed their enjoyment of the sport and said that they liked it a lot more than they thought they would – which was fantastic to hear!
We have had plenty of visitors this week. Our school governors came into class on Tuesday and were very impressed with our mathematical knowledge. The following day, the Department for Education wanted to come in and film us in lessons as well...fortunately, we are becoming pros at performing in front of the camera now! We also welcomed Miss Phillips this week, who joined us 3 days as part of a short, teacher-training placement. She too had a lovely time visiting our Year 6 pupils.
The children are aware of their homework for this week and their weekly spellings have been set on Google Classroom as usual. Please do also encourage your child to also work through the practice assessments set on SATs Companion.
Have a great weekend, superstars!
Date: 21st Feb 2024 @ 8:06pm
Our ‘Spring 2’ half-term has officially commenced!
In Maths, Mr King’s group have reviewed their assessment papers from last half-term and now started a new topic on ratio. Mrs Martin’s group have worked hard on converting between fractions, decimals and percentages. In our Reading groups, all the children have used song lyrics throughout the week to decipher meaning and answer various inference questions. They seemed to really enjoy this!
In Art, the children have started a new topic and this week focused on experimental mark marking. This was a good opportunity for the children to revise last year’s topic on the Mayans as they explored expressive drawing techniques from this period before creating some of their own.
As athletes, the children loved starting our tag rugby sessions, which initially saw us focusing on our passing and catching skills. This was perhaps trickier than expected as many of the children had never held a rugby ball before; however, by the end of the session all the children were able to show a good understanding of the basics. They were able to pass down a line while still moving at a good speed. Well done, Year 6!
A special ‘well done’ to those children who competed in the athletics tournament at Greenbank High School on Tuesday. We were placed in the ‘bigger schools’ tournament and competed against the largest schools in Formby and Southport. After a long afternoon of track and field competition, the results were announced and…we placed second! Amazing! Back in school, the children were praised for their efforts, but also their sportsmanship and manners as they conducted themselves brilliantly. Well done, team! Another extra 'well done' to the girls' football team, who competed once again against local primary schools. They are continuing to impress us with their grit and determination. It is wonderful to see so many Year 6 children having already represented the school in a sports team this year.
The children are aware of their homework for this week and their weekly spellings have been set on Google Classroom as usual. Please do also encourage your child to also work through the practice assessments set on SATs Companion.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 7th Feb 2024 @ 9:16am
We now halfway through our final year of primary school!
As athletes, we concluded our gymnastics unit this week by bringing together all of the knowledge and skills we have learned this half-term and putting them into a short routine. All the children did amazingly well with this and some groups’ ideas for their presentations were particularly impressive. We had a ‘Mission Impossible’ themed routine and another that symbolised the parting of a friendship…all while including various movements, rolls and balances! Furthermore, we have enjoyed celebrating Schools' Football Week by taking part in a 'crab football' tournament during Thursday's PE lesson and concluding our art unit on photography by sketching a close-up photograph of a footballer of our choice.
This week included Safer Internet Day on Tuesday. We prepared for this on Monday by revising technical vocabulary linked to Online Safety (filtering, phishing etc) before discussing problems we may encounter online. On the day itself, we were treated to a presentation from our very own Y5/6 Digital Leaders, who highlighted how technology has changed over time and the pros / cons to this.
As authors, we completed our non-chronological reports on fictitious animals. The children continue to impress us with their finished pieces and have certainly shown this half-term that they are capable of writing for a variety of purposes and range of audiences.
Assessments have taken up a large part of this week with the children sitting past SATs papers for Reading, Maths and SPaG. We have had several discussions around these, highlighting that these papers are designed to be sat in May and that there are objectives we haven’t covered or revised yet; this is just an opportunity to see how we can improve on our results from September and December and to identify their own areas of improvement once they receive their scores back. The children have shown excellent focus and determination while sitting these assessments and should be very proud of their efforts; it has been fantastic to see them expressing their pride and sense of achievement when realising how much progress they have already made since the start of the year.
Please read the message on School Spider regarding Y6 home learning over the half-term break.
Have a great half-term break, everyone!
Date: 1st Feb 2024 @ 10:00am
In Maths, Mr King’s group focused on conversions between fractions, decimals and percentages while Mrs Martin’s group have been solving calculations involving fractions and multiplying decimals by whole numbers. Next week, the children will be doing their next round of assessments to see how much knowledge they have retained so far!
As authors, we have now moved onto our fourth piece for our author books this half-term…we have been working incredibly hard indeed! This week, the children have been tasked with creating their own hybrid creature. Firstly, they used an online app to combine various animals and generate an image (which they certainly enjoyed!) and then used one of our thinking maps to organise the information they intended to share about their creation. Towards the end of the week, we looked at non-chronological reports and we are now in the process of writing our own for our fictional, fantastical animal.
In Science this week, the children have continued their learning about electricity by learning about three types of variables: independent, dependent and control variables. They then designed their own investigations and chose what their independent and control variables would be. As linguists, we focused on masculine and feminine adjectives linked to ‘Space’ before translating Spanish sentences that included a variety of these adjectives.
In PE, we revised how to do various rolls - including barrel and straddle – before focusing on forward rolls and working our way through a progression chart which showed how to work up from a basic forward roll to a more complex one. The children were able to themselves different challenges, such as rolling with no arms and starting in a handstand position. Later in the week, they then moved into the backwards roll, which some children actually found slightly easier. It was great to see lots of children raising their hands at the end of the lesson to share how they felt they had made progress within the lesson and demonstrate something they were proud of.
A special ‘well done’ to those girls who represented the school in two football tournaments this week. They achieved many match wins and should be very proud of how they conducted themselves during both events.
Another busy week! Have a relaxing weekend, everyone!
Date: 25th Jan 2024 @ 9:49am
In Writing, we started to read Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Selfish Giant’ as our focus text. Towards the end of the week, we discussed how Wilde writes about the weather and seasons as proper nouns and noted how he uses personification for a more powerful effect. We connected our thinking to other examples of where we have seen this in the media, including Marvel characters (e.g. Thor, Storm) and Disney Films. The children are now currently working on creating a short piece of text that personifies a season or weather type(s) of their choice.
As mathematicians, Mr King’s group have continued their learning on algebra, this week balancing questions with more than one variable and also finding the nth term. Next week, we will be moving onto finding equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages. Mrs Martin’s group have had a week of consolidating all the knowledge they will need for SATs arithmetic papers. They have revised many topics – from long division to multiplying fractions! Next week, they will be moving onto number problems.
Our weekly Spanish lessons have continued with the children continuing with their new ‘Space’ topic. This has been a great way so far of recapping some of their Y5 Science knowledge! We have also started our Science unit on electricity, where the children have recapped on their Y4 knowledge of the topic and began learning how to draw electrical circuits.
In PE, we have continued with our athletics trials – this week, trialling for the running events – and also commenced our gymnastics unit. To begin this topic, we focused on counter balances and counter tension. In addition to this, a special ‘well done’ to those children who represented our school in a table tennis tournament at Formby High School and emerged as the overall winners! We also saw our dodgeball team taking part in a tournament at Stanley High School on Thursday, where they accumulated many victories as well. What a great effort on the sports front!
A busy and enjoyable week – have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 18th Jan 2024 @ 9:58am
Another busy week in Year 6!
In Maths, Mr King’s group started a new unit on algebra. The children picked up the fundamental concepts very quickly and were able to solve some tricky equations in a short space of time – well done! They particularly enjoyed the range of problem-solving questions provided this week, including a task that involved them working out the values on DC and Marvel and Top Trump cards from given from algebraic equations…although they disagreed with several of the heroes’ ratings! We will be continuing to challenge ourselves with this topic next week. Mrs Martin’s group learned how to do long division this week before moving onto BIDMAS. Two very tricky topics but the children picked them up very quickly! Thank you to Mr Hirst for supporting us this week; he has been able to work with many of the children 1:1 as well to supplement their learning in this week’s lessons.
As writers, the children were tasked with writing a class blog. The children analysed previous entries from this year, identifying the range of punctuation used, as well as technical vocabulary. They then used a tree map to decide on a few subjects / class events that have taken place this year before creating their own entry. Developing our understanding of the English language further, we have also focused on subordinating and coordinating conjunctions as part of our SPaG revision. On Wednesday, the children enjoyed listening to songs about each tense and also learning how to make zines to record their notes. Many children said they would like to create more zines in the future for other topics in different subjects!
This half-term, we have commenced our new Geography topic, ‘How do we compare with Africa?’ Last week, we learned about Africa as a whole continent, which included following directions to locate all 54 countries on a map. We learned how diverse Africa is and how it can also be divided into five regions, which we were given time to research. This week, we focused on one particular country: Uganda. The children could recall our link to this country – and the town, Kalule, in particular – with the project set up by St. Peter’s Church and local community. As part of our initial investigation into what Kalule is like, we used pictures taken by Rev. Anne, Miss Morris and Miss Giles on their visits to see what we could deduce about aspects such as climate, wealth, culture and landscape. We then concentrated on the physical and human geographical features of Uganda and Kalule and compared them with England and Formby.
PE this week has seen us revisiting athletics. The children will be taking part in trials for an upcoming tournament over the next few weeks and will have the opportunity to put themselves for various events, including running, throwing and jumping.
On Friday, we were treated to two workshops on Chinese New Year from Edge Hill University. We heard stories, made lanterns and found out what a ‘dragon dance show’ entailed...a rather unique end to the week!
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them that there are support videos attached to the tasks. It is strongly advised that the children watch the video before attempting to complete the task.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 11th Jan 2024 @ 11:10am
In Maths, we revised topics from last term and recapped various arithmetic methods, including fractions, percentages and decimals. We also learned about the mean and the method for finding the average of a set of numbers. We were very impressive and even managed to work out how to give the answer as a decimal when the total of the numbers isn’t divisible by the number of values we have.
Wednesday welcomed another Computing Day, this time exploring the world of virtual reality! To start the day, we recapped on our knowledge of online safety from last term; we felt this was important after Christmas, given that children may have received new electronic devices. Following recent discussions in class on diversity and representation in media, we reminded ourselves of ways in which we can have a healthy ‘online life’ and to be aware of subtle gender stereotyping and influencing we may encounter on social media. Then, moving onto our VR topic, we used the iOs application, CoSpaces, to follow various algorithms and design our own virtual reality. We had to design an aesthetically pleasing environment, including characters, as well as multiple scenes and actions. The use of audio was encouraged too! On Friday afternoon, we then presented our virtual worlds and explained the features we had included. Well done, Year 6!
As artists, we had a great lesson on photomontages. We selected images from magazines, newspapers and the Internet to experiment with composition and create interesting layouts. We had great fun showing off our creativity and creating a new image by using a combination of other images – check out Twitter for some of the finished pieces! In addition to this, we also looked at abstract art through photography. ‘Macrophotography’ was our STAR vocabulary for the lesson as we had to compose close-up photographs of a natural form – in this case, it was the inside of either a pepper or orange – and sketch the photos we had taken in a quadrant. Following our superb sketching of lizard eyes back in Autumn 1, it was fantastic to see more of the children’s drawings – this time focusing on a more specific aspect of an overall image.
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set for next week. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them that there are support videos attached to the tasks. Reminder that all children across the whole school are encouraged to read each day both in and out of school. Some additional recommended Reading at Home resources can be found here.
A great first week back in 2024 – covering lots of different curriculum subjects! Have a fantastic weekend.
Date: 13th Dec 2023 @ 5:17pm
..and that's a wrap for 2023!
It certainly has been a wonderful term – now including far too many to mention in this blog. Hopefully our class Twitter page has reflected all the laughs and wonderful learning that has taken place since September and the children will be excited to return to Year 6 in January. Thank you to all those parents who have sent in gifts – including the class collection - and all the well wishes. It is never expected, but always appreciated! You all seem to know the staff very well!
The Year 6 team have thoroughly enjoyed the academic year so far and are looking forward to another great term in January. If you wish to continue any learning over the holidays, please see the virtual classroom attached once more.
We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Christmas holiday. Thank you once again and we will see you all in 2024!