Summer 1 Week 1

We have had a great first week back! In Maths, we have been calculating angles on a straight line, around a point and vertically opposite angles. We have also been using our knowledge to work out angles in triangles and quadrilaterals. In English, we have started our unit on the novel Goodnight Mr Tom. We have been using the text to get to know the two main characters, Tom and Willie. We have been describing them using evidence from the first two chapters. We have also looked at the war poem, In Flanders Fields. In PSHE, we have created an online safety portfolio. We worked in groups to create pages on all of the online safety topics we have covered in KS2. In Science, we have been re-visiting our prior learning from Year 4 about electricity. Mrs Bradley gave us lots of challenges to try to complete. We also looked at circuit symbols. In RE, we have been learning about the events of ascension. We talked about why this happened and how the disciples would have felt when they saw Jesus ascend to heaven. In Art, we have been labelling the features of Anderson shelters. We are going to be making a model of one in our sculpture unit. We have also been thinking about what materials we could use in our sculpture for the different features. In French, Madame Wardle introduced us to some new vocabulary to do with food and drink. 

Spring 2 Week 6

We have had a busy last week of term. In Maths, we have been re-capping 2d and 3D shapes. We have looked at the names of the shapes and their properties including number of sides, angles, parallel and perpendicular lines. In English, we have been finishing off our myths. We have also looked at the features of persuasive letters in our non-fiction unit. We have written our own letters to the organisers of the Olympic Games to persuade them to allow women to compete in the ancient games. In History, we have been thinking about the legacy that the ancient Greeks have left. We have discussed the things that we still talk about and do today such as myths, architecture, the Olympics and democracy. In Computing, we have been making our own maze games on Scratch. We enjoyed taking part in spirituality afternoon on Wednesday. We did a great job working with Reception and Year 1 on lots of Easter activities. We have also had our outdoor adventure session this week. We worked in groups to create our own labyrinths and then used our communication skills to direct our blindfolded team mates through it. Then, we used clay to create minotaur masks. 

Spring 2 Week 5

We have had another busy week! In Maths, we have been learning about co-ordinates. We have been plotting point on a 4 quadrant grid and then translating and reflecting shapes. In English, we have been writing our own innovated myths. In Science, we have been recording our results from our investigation into heart rate, breathing rate and exercise in a chart. First, we had to use our Maths skills to work out the mean heart rate/breathing rate for each person. Then we presented our data in a bar chart. In PSHE, we have been thinking about whether people’s social media profiles give us a true picture of their life. We have discussed that often, people tend to put the good things that happen in their life on or photos that have been edited etc and how this can make us feel. In DT, we have been using the glue guns to start to assemble the frames for our automata toys. We have been very lucky to have two visitors in school this week. We have has a visit from Milly Tanner, who is an international track cyclist. We had a quick training session with her and then we got to ask her some questions about her career. We have also had a visit from the author, Simon Hunt, who shared one of his books with us and talked about how he became an author.

Spring 2 Week 4

We have had a busy week in Year 6! In English, we have started to plan and write our own Greek myth. We have come up with some very creative ideas! In Maths, we have been learning about statistics. We have been interpreting information from line graphs, bar charts and pie charts. To celebrate British Science Week, we took part in a workshop about Carbon Monoxide. First, we talked about what CO is and where it can come from. We have learnt that CO is really dangerous because we can’t see, hear, smell, taste or touch it. This means that we could be in danger without knowing! We talked about things that could give off CO in our own homes and the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning to look out for.  In History, we have been learning about the Olympic Games. We looked at some videos from the 2012 Olympics in London and discussed features of modern Olympic Games. Then, we looked at some sources from the ancient games and thought about what they could tell us about the ancient games to make comparisons. In DT, we finished cutting our pieces of wood for our automata toy frames. We also came up with some initial design ideas for our backgrounds and characters of our toys. In Computing, we have been designing our own games on scratch. We created a game where objects fall and you have to catch them to score points. In French, we recapped the school subjects and adjectives that we learnt last week to give our opinions about them. Then, we worked on a tangled translation! 

Spring 2 Week 3

We have had a great week in Year 6! In Maths, we have been learning about area, perimeter and volume. We have been working out the area of rectilinear shapes, triangles and parallelograms. In English, we have been writing poems based on a poem called Our Dragon Bruce by Andy Tooze. We have written our poems about a Minotaur. It was tricky as we had to include rhyming couplets but we did a great job! In Science, we carried out the investigations that we planned last week to test the effect of exercise on heart rate and breathing rate. In Computing, we have been improving a game by adding a score variable. We worked on the code to make sure the score re-set at an appropriate time and we also included a variable to give the player lives. In History, we have been learning about Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses and what the Greeks believed they controlled. We had a lovely day on Friday celebrating World Book Day! We made a great effort with our dressing up and enjoyed sharing some stories with Year 1. 

Spring 2 Week 2

We have had a lovely week in Year 6. In Maths, we have continued with our learning on algebra. We have been solving equations with multiple steps and we have also been working logically to find all possibilities of numbers in equations. In English, we have been looking at the Greek myth, Daedalus and Icarus. We have investigated new vocabulary and thought about the key events in the myth. We have also looked at the characters in the myth and completed a zone of relevance of adjectives that describe them. We have used evidence from the text to justify our decisions. In Science, we have been planning an investigation to test how exercise affects heart rate and breathing rate. We have thought of a method to be able to test our enquiry question and thought about how we are going to make sure that our results are reliable. In PSHE, we have been learning about the effects of drinking alcohol. We have discussed the long and short term effects of alcohol and We have made a poster to go in a doctor’s surgery to educate people on the effects of drinking too much. In History, we have been comparing the two city states, Athens and Sparta. In DT, we have started to gather our components to make a frame for an automata toy. We measured the wood and used the saws to make clean cuts. In French, we have been learning the names for the subjects that we do in school. 

Spring 2 Week 1

We have had a busy week this week. In Maths, we have started to learn about algebra. This is brand new learning so it has been tricky at times but we have persevered really well! In English, we have been planning for and writing our independent discussion texts. We decided to discuss the question, Should the school week be shorter? We had a debate to gather ideas and then planned it before writing. In Science, we have been investigating the nutritional value of different foods. We have looked at the labels on the packaging of foods to find the content of fat, sugar and salt. In Computing, we have been looking at variables in games. We have been using scratch to edit variables and we have experimented with creating our own. In RE, we have been learning about the Eucharist and what this involves for Christians. In History, we have been looking at the different periods within Ancient Greece. We then used the key dates to organise these on a chronological timeline. In PE, we have been practising jumps. We worked on our technique for pike, tuck, split and straddle jump. Then, we jumped off the apparatus. 

Spring 1 Week 5

We have had another great week in Year 6. In Maths, we have continued with our learning on Ratio. We have been using our skills to solve problems in real life contexts including adapting recipes for a certain number of people. In English, we have finished writing our discursive texts about whether Mowgli should stay in the jungle. We have written some really strong arguments and finished with our own opinions in our conclusions. We have also looked at a poem from the Jungle Book called Kaa's Hunting. We analysed the poem and then performed it in groups. In Science, we have been looking at different food groups and why they are important in our diet. We learnt about the different nutrients and benefits they give us and what can happen if we don't get enough of them. In Art, we have been busy finishing our portraits of Mowgli in the style of Chuck Close. We used pencil crayons to colour our portraits in and they look amazing! In PSHE, we have been looking at staying safe when using social networking sites as part of our safer internet day learning. We have created posters to give advice to young people on how to use social media apps safely. We have also enjoyed a very cold outdoor adventure learning session! We used tools to make Mowgli's weapons and then we worked in groups to build a fort to look out for Shere Khan. 

Spring 1 Week 4 

We have had a busy week! In Maths, we have started working on Ratio. We have looked at using ratio to describe the relationship between values and we have also used ratio to work out missing values in problems. In English, we have been writing our discursive texts. We started by having a debate on the question Should Mowgli leave the jungle? We used the debate to gather ideas for which points to use and what details could support them. We have been doing a great job with this difficult text type! In Computing, we have started to design our own websites to showcase our Geography learning on biomes. We have been using Google Sites and thinking about what features we need to include to appeal to an audience of children. In Geography, we have been using our mapping skills to look at which biomes are in Asia. We used a combination of atlases and digital maps to find the biomes and examples of countries that are in each one. In RE, we have been looking at the theme of Freedom in Moses' story. We have written poems about what freedom means to us. In PE, we have been using the apparatus to add to our sequences. 

Spring 1 Week 3 

We have had another great week in Year 6. In Maths, we have been converting units of measure including time, money, miles and km. We have also looked at imperial and metric units. In English, we have been writing a narrative of some of the events from the jungle book. We used the descriptosaurus to gather ideas to describe the characters’ feelings about Mowgli leaving the jungle to use in our writing. In Science, we have been learning about how water and nutrients are transported in the body. In Computing, we have been looking at copyright laws. We looked at different scenarios and decided whether they were following the copyright laws or breaking them. In Art, we have been looking at macro photography. We looked at some examples by an artist called Edward Weston and took some photographs of our own. We used the iPads to reduce the saturation levels in our photographs to create a similar style. In Music, we have continued to develop our glockenspiel and ukulele skills by learning chords C, F and G7 and applying ostinato patterns and improvised patterns in the scale of C major. The glockenspiel players  learnt how to read the melodies of ‘Portsmouth’ and ‘March of the Golden Guards’ and how to improvise to match the music and the children on ukuleles played the accompaniment chords and generated their own rhythms suitable for the musical styles.

Spring 1 Week 2

We have had another busy week in Year 6! In Maths, we have been finding percentages of amounts and solving problems involving percentages. We found it quite tricky but we persevered really well! We have also started to look at units of measure and we have been converting between them. In English, we have been using our hot seating from last week in our writing. We have written a letter from Baloo to Father Wolf to apply for the job of looking after Mowgli in the jungle. We focused on our formal language and using cohesive devices to link our ideas. In Science, we have been learning about the circulatory process. We have looked at what happens in the heart and why it is so important for our bodies. In Art, we have been looking at the work by an artist called Hannah Hoch. She creates photomontages by combining photographs to make one piece of art. We have fun making these! In Geography, we have been looking at the main terrestrial biomes on the planet. We have looked at the conditions in each biome and where they can be found using the atlas. In PSHE, we have been discussing being safe online, particularly on social media apps such as Whatsapp and Snapchat. We have had a discussion about things that sometimes happen that are inappropriate and how we can deal with them. 

Spring 1 Week 1 

We have had a lovely first week back after the holidays! In Maths, we have been learning about percentages. We have been looking at the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages to convert between them. We have also been finding percentages of amounts, focusing on using the most efficient methods. In English, we have started our new focus text The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. We started by looking at unfamiliar vocabulary. We are reading the original version so there are some tricky words in there! We have also been generating adjectives to describe Mowgli using evidence from the text. In Science this half term, we are learning about the circulatory system. This week we looked at the four main parts (blood, blood vessels, heart and lungs) and learnt what their functions are. In Computing, we have been thinking about what makes a good website. We looked at a children’s website and thought about what features made it a good website for the audience. In Geography, we have been looking at the give. Main lines of latitude. We have labelled them and then looked at how these lines of latitude create different climate zones on Earth. In PE, we have started our unit on racket sports. This week we worked on being able to control where we are directing the ball. 

Autumn 2 Week 7 

We have been busy rehearsing for our KS2 carol concert this week. We have been practising the songs and also using our speaking and listening skills for our performance of Jesus' Christmas Party. In Maths, we have continued to convert fractions to decimals. We have moved on from looking at tenths and hundredths to looking at other fractions. We have used the method of short division to covert them by dividing the numerator by the denominator. In English, we have been writing a setting description of what we think Rory (from our text Beyond the Frozen Horizon) would see when she gets to the arctic. We started by thinking about the things we wanted to describe in detail and used the descriptosaurus to gather ideas. We have used our plan to write a setting description including figurative language such as personification, similes, metaphors and interesting adjectives. We have also been busy doing Mr Dugdale's reindeer challenge. We have done research about reindeer, finding information about their characteristics, diet, habitats and other fun facts. Then, we have worked in groups to create a class fact file. 

Autumn 2 Week 6

We have had a busy week finishing our Elf Enterprise products! We have done a fantastic job of sewing and our Christmas gift bags were all ready for the Christmas fair. We are hoping to make a good profit! In Maths, we have started to look at the relationship between decimals and fractions. We have used our place value knowledge to convert fractions to decimals and vice versa. In English, we have been looking at our novel Beyond the Frozen Horizon and thinking about the main character’s feelings about her trip to the arctic. We have written an informal letter to her dad about the plane journey. In Science, we have been testing materials to investigate which makes the best shadow. We tested sponge, tinfoil, cardboard, wax and more and made observations to draw conclusions. In Computing, we have continued to design our own eco-friendly houses on Tinkercad. We started to add to the interior of the houses this week. We have also enjoyed a very cold outdoor learning session this week. We linked our learning to our work on Harriet Tubman and worked in teams to build shelters that would be suitable for runaway slaves to hide in. We thought about the location, materials to keep it warm and dry and how to make it stable. We did a brilliant job! Then, we had a walk around the reservoir to look at the houses that we visited last week from a different angle. 

Autumn 2 Week 5

We have had another busy week in Year 6. In Maths, we have been looking at decimals. We have recapped our place value knowledge and we have been multiplying and dividing numbers with 2 decimal places by integers. In English, we have started to look at a novel called Beyond the Frozen Horizon. We have started off by investigating unfamiliar vocabulary that we have encountered. In Computing, we have started to design our own Eco-friendly houses using Tinkercad. In PSHE, we have been thinking about differences between us and our friends. We thought about things that we have in common and our differences. We found that we cam up with a lot more differences than similarities! In PE, we really enjoyed our inclusive sports day. We played a few games to get used to using the wheelchairs and then had a great game of wheelchair basketball. We have also been really lucky to visit Kingswood Homes  housing development - Spinners Brook. Kingswood Homes very kindly invited us to go and have a look at their recently launched show homes. We got to have a look around some of the different styles of properties and we even got to have a go at using the VR headset to explore the homes! We also had the opportunity to look around one of the houses that is still being built on site. We learnt about the different stages of building houses, how the gas, water and electricity get to the homes and the different skills and careers that are involved in the process. We have had a wonderful morning.

Autumn 2 Week 4 

We have had another very busy week this week. In Maths, we have been finishing off our fractions unit. We have looked at multiplying and dividing fractions by integers. We have also learnt how to find fractions of amounts and how to find the whole from a given fraction. In English, we have finished writing our biographies about Harriet Tubman. We have done a fantastic job and included lots of the biographical features we have learnt. In Science, we have been planning an enquiry to investigate which material creates the best shadow. We have decided which materials we are going to test and thought about how we will ensure the test is fair and how we are going to measure our results. In Computing, we have been researching features of eco-friendly houses to gather ideas for our own designs which we will be doing on Tinkercad next week. In DT, we have started to create our Elf enterprise products. We have started by hemming our material to create neat, smooth edges for our bags. In Music, we have been playing the glockenspiels and ukeleles to accompany the song we have been learning ‘Heal the Earth’. We focussed on playing on the off beat to match the reggae style of the song. 

Autumn 2 Week 3

We have had a great week this week. In Maths, we have started to multiply fractions. We started off by multiplying fractions and mixed numbers by integers then, we moved on to multiplying pairs of fractions. In English, we have written a formal letter from Harriet Tubman to apply for the job of helping slaves who have just got to freedom. We started by finding evidence to support points that Miss Holt gave us and then we used these to explain why we would be suitable for the job. We have also used talk for writing to rehearse our introduction as we are starting to write our biographies this week. In Science, we have been looking at shadows. We recapped prior learning about why they are formed and then we have investigated whether we can change the size or shape of them. In Computing, we have continued our Anti-bullying week learning. We have created a presentation for young people with advice on how to deal with cyber bullying issues. In DT, we have designed our final elf enterprise products. We have thought about how to make our designs cost effective and how we will ensure we will be able to make them on time! In RE, we have been looking at prophecies that were made about Jesus and thinking about which areas of Jesus’ life they were about. 

Autumn 2 week 2 

We have had another busy week. In Maths, we have been adding and subtracting mixed numbers. We have had to use our knowledge of common multiples to make the fractions in the calculation have the same denominator before adding or subtracting. In English, we have been preparing for our writing phase next week. We created a chronological timeline of events in Harriet Tubman’s life. This brought up some more questions about her life so we have also done our own research to create a plan for our writing. In Science, we have been learning about how light helps us to see things. We used wool to demonstrate where light travels to from the light source to allow us to see things. We also looked at how mirrors allow us to see things that are behind us. In Computing, we have continued to use Tinkercad to make a basic house design. We looked at how to make holes in our 3D shapes to make doors and windows and we also looked at ways to ensure dimensions are accurate. In PE, we have continued with our street dance. We have added more steps to our routine and worked on our timings to make sure we are all synchronised. In DT, we have practised our sewing skills. We have practised the running stitch and back stitch and discussed which stitches will be best for the different parts of our Christmas bag. 

Autumn 2 Week 1

We have had a busy first week back! In Maths, we have started our fractions unit. We have been using the highest common factor to simplify fractions and we have also used the lowest common multiples to compare, add and subtract fractions. In English, we have started our non-fiction unit to celebrate non-fiction November. This half term, we are looking at biographies. We have discussed the audience and purpose of this text type and performed a verbal biography about J.K Rowling in groups. We have also worked on developing appropriate subheadings to summarise the information in a paragraph. In Science, we have a look at the pieces of bread from our mould investigation before half term. We made observations to draw conclusions about what makes mould grow. In Computing, we have started to explore the program Tinkercad. We moved shapes and adjusted the size to create a maze. In Design and Technology, we have started to look at existing products for our Elf Enterprise project. We have thought about the practicality, size, how easy they will be for us to make ourselves and whether we like them or not. In PE, we have started our new unit - Street Dance. We started off by putting our first three steps into a sequence. We also focused on our facial expressions to show attitude while we are dancing. In Music, we have spent some time listening to a piece of music by our composer of the half term Nkeiru Okoyo. Then, we worked on singing our focus song ‘Heal the Earth’. We have also had a visit from the fire service in PSHE!

Autumn 1 Week 7

We have had a great final week of the half term. In Maths, we have been identifying prime, squared and cubed numbers. We have also been learning about the order of operations (BODMAS) when calculations involve more than one operation. We have been very busy writing our hybrid texts in English. We have written a non-chronological report about the Kingdom of Benin, instructions on how to create a Batik design and an explanation text about trade in Benin. In Science, we have been researching the scientist Carl Linnaeus and why he was a significant scientific figure. In Computing, we have been looking at the recommended age ratings for different apps and we have created some word art to represent our online safety learning. We really enjoyed our workshop in History. We worked in groups to make freeze frames of the boas and their battles. We also looked at the different jobs people had in Benin and the hierarchy of these. We also enjoyed a game of bench ball in PE. 

Autumn 1 Week 6 

We have had another busy week in Year 6... the weeks are flying by! In Maths, we have moved on from the grid method and we have been working on using the formal written method of long multiplication. We have also been using the chunking method to solve long division calculations. In English, we have been very busy writing our 1st person retells of The Boy who Harnessed the Wind. We have worked really hard. Miss Holt and Mrs Walker are very impressed! In Science, we have been constructing classification keys to classify a variety of African animals and plants. In History, we have been planning a presentation to Queen Victoria about whether she should invade Benin or not. We worked on the computers to create a Powerpoint to support our presentation. In French, we have been creating sentences about the planets including qualifiers such as quite or very. We have used these to be able to describe the temperature on the planets and how near or far away they are from other planets and the sun. We have also been very lucky to take part in another TriKidz challenge! 

Autumn 1 Week 5

We have had a lovely week in Year 6. In Maths, we have been working on our methods to multiply. We started by using mental methods such as partitioning, compensation and using known facts then, we moved on to the written grid method. In English, we have enjoyed looking at a poem called The Playground by Hussain Manawar. We analysed the poem and discussed that the poet is reminiscing about his childhood and happier times. We have thought about what William (from our novel) might reflect on as he is currently facing a crisis! We have used our ideas to write our own poems. In Science, we have planned an enquiry to investigate how temperature and light affect mould growth. We are going to place slices of bread in various places (light, dark, warm and cold) to see which ones cause the bread to go more mouldy. In Art, we have continued to make our Batik designs. This week, we dyed our fabric. It was a bit messy but we really enjoyed it! In RE, we have been learning about a pilgrimage that Muslims undertake called Hajj. We have learnt about where it is, what the pilgrims do there and the religious significance behind it. We have worked in groups to create a guide to Hajj. In History, we have been focusing on the end of the Kingdom of Benin, when Britain invaded. We have been thinking about arguments for and against whether Britain should have invaded in preparation to make a presentation to Queen Victoria next week. 

Autumn 1 Week 4

We have had another busy week. In Maths, we have been working on using the written column method to add and subtract. We have used this method to solve multi-step word problems which require both addition and subtraction to solve them. In English, we have been thinking about William’s (the main character in our book) feelings and how they have changed from the beginning due to the events that have happened. In Science, we have been learning about two more of the 5 kingdoms, bacteria and fungi. We have learnt about why they are in their own groups instead of being classified as animals or plants. We also looked at how they have uses and benefit us as well as the negative effects that they can have on us. In PSHE, we have been thinking about friendships and some of the problems we may encounter within them. We looked at different scenarios and worked in groups to give advice on what we would do to solve the problems. In History, we learnt about the impact of trade on the kingdom of Benin. We looked at what Benin traded to European countries and what they received in return as well as what the countries used the items for. In RE, we have been researching various Christian pilgrimages. We have looked at where these special places are, why Christians visit them and what religious practises take place there. In Art, we have started to create our Batik designs. We applied our design onto fabric using glue. This will resist the dye that we add next week. 

Autumn 1 Week 3 

We have had a fantastic week at Robin wood this week! The children were brilliant and had a go at everything. They showed great resilience, teamwork and encouraged each other to push themselves out of their comfort zones. We are so proud of them all; they were an absolute pleasure. Photos will be uploaded soon! 

Autumn 1 Week 2

We have had another busy week. In Maths, we have continued to learn about place value. We have been using our knowledge to multiply and divide by 10, 100 and 1000 and we have also been looking at calculations involving negative numbers and solving problems. In English, we have been focusing on the main character’s feelings about a specific event in our novel. We have used our ideas to write a diary. We have also been looking at the setting of the story and making comparisons to our own lives. In Science, we have been classifying plants. We have looked at common characteristics of plants to classify them into flowering plants, conifers, ferns and mosses. In History, we have created a time line of the key events in the Kingdom of Benin, arranging them into chronological order. In PSHE, we enjoyed our life education visit. The theme was Decisions. 

Autumn 1 Week 1

We have had a fantastic first week back! We have got straight into our Native Narratives topic...it has been a busy week! In Maths, we have started our Place Value unit. We have been reading and writing numbers up to 10,000,000 and using our knowledge to order and compare them. We have also been rounding numbers to a required degree of accuracy. In English, we have started to look at our focus text The Boy who Harnessed the Wind. We have explored some new vocabulary that we have come across and we have also created a persuasive advert to advertise the services of a witch doctor. In Science, we have started our unit on classifying living things. We shared our prior learning from Year 4 about how animals can be classified into vertebrates and invertebrates. Then, we looked at how these two groups can be further split into groups with common characteristics. In History, we have been researching our new topic The Kingdom of Benin. We thought of information that we would like to know about it and used the iPads to do some research. In Art, we looked at some examples of Benin artwork and discussed how animals feature heavily because they represent the leaders. We have chosen animals that we think represent a leader and sketched them in our sketchbooks. We are looking forward to finishing them next week. On Friday, we had our first French lesson, we have looked at the days of the week and thought about the phonemes that we could hear in the words. We also really enjoyed our fist Jag Tag session in PE!