Isle of Wight

Year 6 recently visited the Isle of Wight for a 5 day residential. We had a fantastic time taking part in a range of outdoor activities as well as learning about coastal features. Some of our highlights include: raft-building, including testing it in the swimming pool; an 8 mile hike across to Shanklin, which including some shopping and an ice-cream; and the rope course through the trees.

Holy Spirit Day

We all had a fantastic day celebrating Pentecost with lots of different creative activities. In groups, we used Wonderboxes to create something that showed our understanding of Pentecost; children performed drama, raps and made 3D art work. We were able to reflect outside using prayer spaces and created our own piece of art inspired by the dove that represents the Holy Spirit.

Science Day

We had a great day celebrating Science Day as part of National Science Week. We used the theme of Exploration and Discovery and took part in lots of different activities. In the morning we made layers of the ocean in a jar, using different liquids – it was interesting to see whether the liquids would mix or not! We had a session with some students from St Paul’s school and we got to experiment with the Van de Graaff generator. In the afternoon we carried out our own research and were able to present our information however we liked.

Greek Foods

To complete our topic on Ancient Greece, we enjoyed trying a few different Greek foods. We had olives, feta cheese, pitta bread and tzatziki. The pitta bread was really popular and so was the tzatziki. The olives had more of a mixed response!

British Museum

Year 6 visited the British Museum as part of their Topic on Ancient Greece. After an early start and a long coach journey we were amongst the first visitors in the museum. We had a brilliant time viewing the many Greek artefacts on display including the notable Parthenon marbles. In class we have discussed the history of the marbles and have considered different viewpoints about whether they should remain in Britain or be returned to Greece. We also had the chance to explore the great court in the museum and found the modern roof and old King’s Library very impressive.

Wonderboxes

We had a great lesson using wonderboxes to explore what we had learnt about the story of The Odyssey. Each group had a box with a different character name and different contents. It was then up to us to decide how to show what we had learnt. We had great fun being creative and we had everything from drama to rap to stop motion pictures!

Yeast Investigation

We had great fun investigating what yeast needs to survive and enjoyed seeing the results with the inflated balloons, the following morning!

Judaism

During Judaism week, we were lucky to have Mrs Elijah come and talk to us about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We learnt all about the importance of the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement as well as how these special times are celebrated. In the session, we got the opportunity to ask lots of questions and we even got to try apples dipped in honey! We learnt this was a special food to signify having a sweet new year.

Shakespeare Schools’ Festival

Thirty children from Year 6 took part in this year’s Shakespeare Schools’ Festival. The children have worked on their production of Twelfth Night since September. Each week at drama club the cast rehearsed and took part in ensemble activities and two children prepared the lighting and sound cues. On 8th November the children went to Stantonbury Theatre to perform their play in front of two other school casts and a packed theatre of parents and staff. The performance was a great success – it was funny, easy to follow and all children spoke with great clarity. The audience were laughing loudly throughout the play showing that the children had really grabbed their attention

Young Shakespeare Company

The Young Shakespeare Company came to visit the school to perform Macbeth for Year 6. The actors were fantastic in acting out the play and explaining the action. There were lots of opportunities to get involved and take part ourselves. Having watched the play we have gained a good understanding of the storyline and have picked up some of the Shakespearean language.

Drama Club

Year Six’s Drama Club are preparing to take part in this year’s Shakespeare Schools Festival. We visited Stantonbury theatre to take part in a workshop day along with New Bradwell School. We had a fantastic time collaborating with other children and developing our acting skills. We picked up lots of tips and had some professional input on one of our scenes. Check the website again in November for pictures of our performance.

Shakespeare

In our topic lessons, we have been learning about Shakespeare and in groups we created some brilliant informative posters about Shakespeare and his life. We enjoyed using the LearnPads and researching different elements of Elizabethan life.

Cryptarithms

We have been working on our maths investigation skills. We completed some Cryptarithms where we had to find the value of different letters in calculations. We worked hard in our pairs, showing real perseverance and a great growth mindset!

Circuits

In our Science lessons, we have been investigating circuits! We have explored what we need to make circuits work and completed our own circuit challenges. We found out that you don’t need a battery holder in order to make the circuit work!