Year 6 Weekly Blog 'A person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new' Albert Einstein

Wow we have been a class full of Isabella Insects this week: listening to advice, celebrating the things we have achieved, looking forward to the things we want to develop next and most importantly not comparing ourselves to others. Such vital skills when we are teaching our children to be independent learners; giving them the confidence to take risks, try different skills and most importantly, be allowed to make those crucial mistakes and learn from them. We have had a week of feedback from our first practice SAT’s papers. This is a huge learning curve for the children, and a crucial one, as it allows them to celebrate their achievements but also, to see for themselves the areas they need to work on. The first paper is never a full reflection of what your children are capable of, but we must celebrate them whatever mark they got as it is the first hurdle of a journey together. They now fully understand this process, as we have talked at length about how our feelings/ emotions can take control, preventing us to see or read questions carefully, the silly mistakes we make when we feel like we are being timed, the way the questions are worded and decoding ‘what does it want me to do?’ and then the strategies they can use to allow them to become more accurate or efficient. These are just SOME of the barriers, or as we would say, ‘learning opportunities’, that the children need to learn or overcome, before they even then, apply all of their knowledge.

I am so proud of the way Year 6 have approached this feedback. They have faced these sessions with such resilience, determination and maturity. This is why it is so crucial to do these papers at this time, rather than any earlier, as they are now ready and have the skills to face these challenges. The children have laughed and celebrated at their silly errors, know exactly where they have gone wrong, know what they need to work on and are, dare I say it, even excited to do it again and ‘beat’ their score. These papers will go home with the children next week to share with you. Take the time to go through these papers, to celebrate their achievements, let them explain their mistakes and what they should have done and let them share their targets with you.

Make time to celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how big or small …

I hope you enjoyed our book look this week, the children couldn’t wait to show you their work and how much they have achieved this year so far …

What have we been learning this week?

English - Alongside feedback, we have also been recapping our knowledge of the possessive apostrophe, looking at where the apostrophe goes when it is a singular or plural noun.

Maths - We have continued to master our fraction work, finding fractions of amounts, solving problems, adding and subtracting fractions and of course consolidating our arithmetic.

Computing - This week we have been looking in to creating quizzes online for our reception partners and linking this to our Science work on animal adaptations

PE- This week we have applied our part-weight bearing balances to large equipment in groups in gymnastics and in outdoor PE have been applying tactics and decision making to 4 different games: rugby, basket ball, hockey and football.

Leading Learners

Well done to Jacob and Abi this week.

Jacob your enthusiasm, determination and positive attitude towards your learning is inspiring. You are super focused in class and now have the self-belief that you can do it and if you do come across an area you find challenging then you remain positive and go away and practise the skill until you master it. You have learnt that you are in control of your own learning, and that anything is possible when you have that positive growth mindset.

Abi, you never stop learning! There are times when you could sit back, relax and let the learning was over you, but you never do. You seize every learning opportunity and see every lesson or feedback as a chance to challenge yourself and take your learning to the next level. Sitting back is never an option for you, you engaged and ensure you are actively learning! Wow, your diary entry of the Journey last week, blew me away. Your rich vocabulary, your emotive language and all of your advanced punctuation that we have been learning in class, applied to a different piece of work!

Grateful and Generous butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are grateful for their own gifts, the gifts of others and the blessings of each day. We will also be spotting children who are generous, who use their gifts to help others. These children are the role models of the school. This week we thank Grace and for always being generous with his own gifts to help others.

Helpers in the morning

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Max James Stephanie Mason

Notices

  • Parents’ Evening - Don’t forget when your appointments are.

  • Water Parks meeting is on Thursday 16th March 4pm.

  • Date for diaries- Year 6 Resurrection Assembly- Thursday 6th April

  • On Thursday 16th March the NHS will be conducting the National Child Measurement Programme. All children in Reception and Year 6 will have their height and weight measured, unless you choose to opt out. Please read the letter below for more information. They will also be conducting the School Health Needs Assessment Programme. This allows us to assess the health and social care needs of children in Year 6. Please read all of the information below.


Have a lovely weekend.

I will see you on Monday.

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Mrs Barker and Miss Forster

Year 6 Weekly Blog... 'A book is a gift you can open again and again'

This week we have delved further in to our two new virtues… Grateful and Generous. In class we had a liturgy where we shared what we were grateful for and then put these on our class display. Some of the things they are grateful for are very beautiful. We have now chosen the dates for our cake sale, where we have pledged to be generous with our time in making delicious cakes for KS2 and KS1, in the hope we can raise money for our chosen charity- CAFOD- this Lent. Harcout and Bamber will bringing cakes on Monday 20th March and Plessington and Marsden will be on Tuesday 21st March. Please be aware that we are striving to be as NUT FREE as we can, so no nuts or any trace in the cakes/ biscuits. If children would like to write on what their cakes are and any ingredients, this would also be helpful.

You are never alone when you are lost in a book…

I love World Book Day! Yesterday brought us much happiness, laughter and excitement. I hope you enjoy looking at the photographs from yesterday and that they make you smile as much as we did. This year, we have tried something a little different… throughout the school, we have spent the week studying an illustrated book ‘Journey’. All of our English lessons have been centred around this book and every year group has produced some amazing work in response to it, which will be displayed at the front of our school hall. The children have loved studying this book and we discussed how analyzing texts such as these requires such a depth and perception.

What have we been learning this week?

Such another busy week! The children have approached each of their SAT’s papers with such determination, resilience and maturity- we are so proud of them. They are now itching to get these back to receive their feedback and set themselves targets!

English - We have been applying our active and passive voice this week in grammar. Our English lessons have centred around ‘Journey’ this week. We have sequenced, predicted and analyzed this book, creating a S map of the story and inferred the characters thoughts and feelings. We have then put all this knowledge and content to create a diary entry of the character.

Maths - We have continued to master our fraction work, finding fractions of amounts, solving problems, adding and subtracting fractions and of course consolidating our arithmetic.

RE- The offertory has been our main focus this week, the meaning of this at mass and the gifts that we have to offer God in our daily lives.

Leading Learners

Well done to James and Evie this week.

James you show such a deep understanding of your learning and this shows in your work but also with your perceptive and thought-provoking insights during class discussions.

Lexi, we love your recent change in attitude towards your learning. Your focus in lessons and the way you are managing your distractions is having a huge impact on your work. You have realised that in order to make the progress you want to, you have to work even harder at the areas you find most challenging. This takes real bravery and determination, both of which you are starting to show but you must continue working on this- well done.

Grateful and Generous butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are grateful for their own gifts, the gifts of others and the blessings of each day. We will also be spotting children who are generous, who use their gifts to help others. These children are the role models of the school. This week we thank Lexi and Jacob O for always being generous with his own gifts to help others.

Helpers in the morning

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Abi Holly Jacob M India

Notices

  • Parents’ Evening - Please make sure that you have booked an appointment via Mrs Gregan’s blog.

  • Don’t forget to come to our Book Look next week on Wednesday 8th March 2:30pm

  • Water Parks meeting is on Thursday 16th March 4pm. MEDICAL FORMS HAVE GONE OUT TODAY AND MUST BE RETURNED ASAP.

  • Date for diaries- Year 6 Resurrection Assembly- Thursday 6th April

  • On Thursday 16th March the NHS will be conducting the National Child Measurement Programme. All children in Reception and Year 6 will have their height and weight measured, unless you choose to opt out. Please read the letter below for more information. They will also be conducting the School Health Needs Assessment Programme. This allows us to assess the health and social care needs of children in Year 6. Please read all of the information below.


Have a lovely weekend.

I will see you on Monday.

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Mrs Barker and Miss Forster


Year 6 Weekly Blog ‘A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues’ Cicero

Welcome back to the second half of the spring term. There is no doubt that it is going to be a busy term with lots and lots going on. I am really excited that we will end the term with an Easter assembly. It will be a lovely way to bring our class family: parents and children together.

This half term, we are focusing on the virtues of being grateful and generous. There is so much to be grateful for, we just need to open our eyes and see. I am especially grateful for all of your wonderful children and how hard they are all working. Keep supporting them at home with their daily reading, completion of homework and of course attendance, it is such a crucial time, that we can not miss any learning opportunity!

Turning to the Cross

This week, we celebrated Ash Wednesday in school, marking the start of Lent. Father Peter joined us in the hall leading the whole school in prayer and refection, with the help of our head boy and girl who read the Gospel. For our almsgiving this year, we have decided to raise money for CAFOD, and support their walk against hunger campaign. Each year group has decided on HOW they would like to raise money- Year 6 has decided they would like to hold a cake sale. Next week will decide when these sales will take place, but just for forward planning- your help may be required! Alongside this, we also have now exchanged our Lenten boxes with Reception, ready to collect money for Cafod during Lent. It was so clear how much effort all the children had put in to when creating their boxes and they loved getting together again to give it to their partner.

What have we been learning this week?

I am not sure that we have drawn breath this week - it has been full on, fast paced and thoroughly exciting.

  • English - Romeo and Juliet has continued to be the central point to our English unit. We have moved onto the most iconic scene - The Balcony Scene. The children were tasked with writing in role as Juliet. To really understand her emotions and to use Shakespeare’s language within their work. I was blown away! I cannot wait to share their work with you just after half term. Our grammar focus has been active and passive voice, as well as colons and semi-colons. The children have been experimenting with them and using them within their diary entries.

  • Maths - I am incredibly proud of the work that we have done this week on fractions- we have been comparing, ordering, adding and subtracting- it’s has all been going on. This is a tricky concept that the children have grabbed with both hands. Next stop…percentages!

  • RE - With Ash Wednesday taking place next week, the children have reflected on what Lent is and why we either give something up or do something extra.

Being an active and curious learner.

I am sure the children have come home to tell you that this week we sat our first mock SAT’ paper. We have really played these assessments down this year, focusing on the children’s learning, development and any gaps they have, rather than teaching them how to take a test. Year 6 knew the day before that they were going to complete this, as I didn’t want to give them too much time to dwell, however, they came in to school yesterday with great resilience and such a positive attitude. It is often really hard plunging into the unknown, but that is exactly what the children have done. Next week, we will continue to complete the Maths and Grammar, but they all understand the importance of this and I am sure lots of lessons will be learnt which will enable us to build and move forward together as a class. Once they have completed these assessment, they will of course be marked and handed back to them where they will be encouraged to think about their progress and where they want to be next time they take a set of papers. Marginal gains is what it is all about. Over the next few weeks, the children will be bringing folders home, with their papers in them. This is their opportunity to share their work with you, to purple pen, celebrate their successes and reflect on their mistakes. At this point, it is really important to remember that the Year 6 curriculum has not been fully covered yet and we still have plenty of time. Please celebrate your child’s achievements and help them to develop their own targets. You may also find, over the next few weeks, past papers or SAT examples may come home as part of their homework. This can be completed the best way you see fit- whether this is alongside your child, independently or even, if they independently start and then go over their answers after. Homework is not always about assessing your child, this is done in class, homework is all about consolidating what they have learnt in class, revising and practicing skills they will need.

Leading Learners

Well done to Hollie-Rose and Evie this week.

Hollie-Rose we are so proud of your attitude towards your learning and your drive to succeed. In everything you do, you are trying your best, reflecting on mistakes you make and being an pro-active, independent learner, striving to improve every time! This is why you have made such great progress!

Evie, you are so focused during lessons, managing your distractions and getting lost in each task. Your work always reflects your capabilities, but also your creativity, and we love the way you never stop at what is expected from you, you always challenge yourself to take your learning to the next step!

Grateful and Generous butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are grateful for their own gifts, the gifts of others and the blessings of each day. We will also be spotting children who are generous, who use their gifts to help others. These children are the role models of the school. This week we thank Kiefer for always being generous with his own gifts to help others.

Helpers in the morning

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Jacob O Christian Jessica Evie

Notices

  • WORLD BOOK DAY - Thursday 2nd March. The children need to come to school in their WORLD BOOK DAY costumes!

  • Parents’ Evening - Please make sure that you have booked an appointment via Mrs Gregan’s blog.

  • Don’t forget to come to our Book Look afternoon on Wednesday 8th March 2:30pm

  • Water Parks meeting is on Thursday 16th March 4pm.


Have a lovely weekend. The sun looks like it will be shining.

I will see you on Monday.

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Mrs Barker and Miss Forster


Year 6 Weekly Blog - 'Don't be afraid to take on the biggest of challenges, they offer the greatest reward.'

We have reached the end of a very busy half term, and what a half term it has been. I know I say this most weeks, but I really am in awe of the work that the children are completing and the expectations that they have of themselves. Whether it be Science, Maths, RE or Art, the children always get fully stuck into their learning and become immersed by what they are being taught. I am so very proud of them all.

Online Safety

In the midst of our busy week, we devoted a large amount of conversation time to online safety. Tuesday was National Online Safety Day. Children from all over the country will have been looking carefully at their online behaviour; hopefully they will have learnt a thing or two.

In class we started by looking at all of the ways technology enhances our lives. Medical science featured heavily and the fact that parents can now work from home as the result of technological advances. This then led onto the discussion around screen time. I asked the children to record their screen time and non-screen time for an average week - the results were alarming! As a class we then looked at the data this was showing us and we reflected on whether we needed to make any changes to our lifestyles and how this would impact our well-being in a positive way.

We also met with our Reception buddies and got to know them a little better …

Where has our learning taken us this week?

Week 2, and we have continued with the same desire to learn new knowledge that we had last week.

  • English - ‘Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo.’ Drama is a brilliant way to bring text to life and we will be using drama throughout this entire unit. We have filmed and photographed the prologue to Romeo and Juliet. Please enjoy our film below. This we have also explored Romeo and Juliet’s first encounter and written a recount in role- very romantic!

  • Maths - We have continued with our long division practice and consolidation- this will be ongoing now, so please do not worry if we are not 100% confident with this just YET- we WILL get there, we just have to be Sadie Spiders! Fractions has been a big part of the week, we have been dividing fractions in our fluency, finding equivalent fractions and simplifying!

  • RE - What happens during the Liturgy of the word- we have looked at the Nicene Creed and how this is a profession of our faith.

  • Art- This week we have made our very own clay pendants…

Leading Learners

Well done to Grace and India this week.

Grace you are joy to teach, you are working so hard, listening to feedback and then quietly and carefully acting upon this in your work. You never compare yourself to others or compete, you focus on your own work and each time push yourself to achieve your goals- what an independent learner you are!

India you are so focused during lessons, managing your distractions and getting lost in each task. Your writing this work reflected this beautifully. You listened to the lesson and applied what you had learnt, to create a beautiful, carefully planned diary entry, which showed such depth and emotion. Well done India.

Learned and Wise butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are learned in their actions, finding God in all things. Those who are wise, who use their learning for the common good. These children are the role models of the school, who drive their own learning and who have the wisdom to know when and how to apply one’s learning. This week we thank Evie for working for the common good of our classroom this week.

Helpers in the morning

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Isabella Abi Steph Jack

Notices

  • If any of Year 6 are interested in Altar Serving then we have applications in class

  • Judo for Year 6 begins after half term- check out the sport page for more information.

  • World Book Day 2nd March- dress up as your favourite BOOK characters

  • Book fair in the hall after half term- watch this space!

  • Wednesday 8th March- Parent coffee afternoon and book look- 2:20pm- we would love to share our work with you so please come along!

  • Water Parks Meeting on 16th March at 4pm in the school hall.

  • Don’t forget to see the weekly newsletter to book your parents meetings with me.

  • Please do continue to keep up to date with your child’s homework (particularly spelling). The vocabulary that the children are being asked to spell are getting more complex and they will need your support to figure out the best strategy to use. Learning them over time, rather than bulking them the night before, always seems like the best route to use.

Have a wonderful and restful half term.

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Miss Forster and Mrs Barker

Year 6 Weekly Blog 3.02.23 - 'For never was there a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo.'

I don’t think anybody can say that the Year 6 classroom is not a varied one! From a STEM investigation on the adaptations and involving beaks in Science to tackling long division to designing our 3D model pendant in art, we have certainly had a full and diverse week of learning.

WELL-BEING…

On Tuesday, we looked at and discussed, all the ways we can look after our emotional well-being and looked at some strategies we can use when we feel overwhelmed by certain emotions. We had a very special session in the hall, where we were taught many strategies and the children all participated beautifully sharing their ways and strategies. As part of this theme, throughout the week in our RHE lessons, we have also been discussing and learning about how we can manage some of the pressures we may feel as we grow up, especially those relating to our body image. We hope that through exploring these and other pressures that they may experience, children will develop ideas of how to build resilience through thankfulness. Today, we read a book about ‘tapping your way to a great big smile’ which focuses on a different strategy of tapping to relieve stress or as a way to manage feelings. All great tools to have under our belt as we progress to the end of the year!

Look at our work …

The children worked so hard on their Rosa Parks last week and as I took them home to mark, I could have burst with pride! Usually, I love to mark all over their work, highlighting the effective elements, celebrating their work and giving them areas of development. But this time, as I got my highlighters and green pen out, I found myself not wanting to mark their work it was so beautiful. So instead, I read thoroughly, and provided the children with whole class feedback. The children then took my comments and marked their own work, carefully pin pointing the criteria they included but also seeing the areas they needed to develop. The children loved doing this and it really gave them a sense of ownership of their progress. Here are our wonderful biographies …

Where has our learning taken us this week?

  • English - ‘Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo.’ Older literature is our focus now, in particular Romeo and Juliet. This week we looked at three different interpretations of this play and we have mapped out the whole plot, summarizing each main event. Next week, we will also be comparing the opening of the play via two films. One for 1968 and one from 1996. I will be using the 1996 film occasionally throughout the teaching sequence. This film is a certificate 12, but I can assure you that all of the content that the children will be shown will be suitable and appropriate. We will be recording the prologue next week for you to view, so watch this space!

  • Maths - This week we have finished off our conversion of measures with many challenging problems. Then towards the end of the week we have started DIVISION. One of the last arithmetic strands that we needed to cover was long division. After quite a few puzzled faces, the children have slowly and steadily been getting to grips with it. Slow and steady always win the race…as the hare and the tortoise found out!

  • Science - EVOLUTION AND INHERITANCE - We looked at adaptation and how animals and plants have been adapted to certain habitats.

  • RE- We have looked at the Last Supper and it’s significance to the mass and looked at what the Penitential Act is and why it is crucial to start with this as we prepare to take the sacred eucharist.

Leading Learners

Well done to Jack and Jess this week.

Jack you are such a reflective learner – you listen to the teaching and strive to achieve the learning objectives. It is always a pleasure picking up your book, as the work is always to the best of your ability and you listen to feedback so attentively, which is shown in your work. You know your strengths but also the areas you want to develop, which is a very mature skill to have and enables you learning to fly!

Jess- you are heaven on a plate and we LOVE teaching you! You are such a bundle of energy and enthusiasm, where every lesson you give your all! You hang on to every word and are such an active learner! Thank you!

Learned and Wise butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are learned in their actions, finding God in all things. Those who are wise, who use their learning for the common good. These children are the role models of the school, who drive their own learning and who have the wisdom to know when and how to apply one’s learning. This week we thank Arthur for working for the common good of our classroom this week.

Helpers in the morning

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Olivia Grace Arthur Jacob M

Notices

  • Water Parks Meeting on 16th March at 4pm in the school hall.

  • Next Tuesday 7th February is our Online Safety Day.

  • Parents’ evenings are being planned for after half term however, in the meantime, please visit Mrs Gregan’s blog to find out about an opportunity to come into school to see your child’s work. We cannot wait to share all of the wonderful things that they have produced. You will need to indicate that you are attending.

  • Please do continue to keep up to date with your child’s homework (particularly spelling). The vocabulary that the children are being asked to spell are getting more complex and they will need your support to figure out the best strategy to use. Learning them over time, rather than bulking them the night before, always seems like the best route to use.

Have a happy weekend.

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Miss Forster and Mrs Barker

Year 6 Weekly Blog 27.01.23 'To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try' Rosa Parks

It has been such a reflective week in Year 6. In our RE we delved deeper in to the scripture ‘I am the bread of life’, at how we can nourish ourselves spirituality as well as physically through our daily interactions with others, as well as prayer and different ways we can connect or talk to God. We have looked closely at the miracle of the loaves and Jesus’ message to us, of our need to nourish ourselves spiritually in order to continue to be the work of His hands and to have a relationship with God.

We have been doing lots of work, building on our strategies in order to retrieve information, Year 6 went on the hunt around the classroom to find the retrieval questions and even made their own conversion quiz…

Where has our learning taken us this week?

We have had a lovely week in class. Full of hard work, enthusiasm and deep reflection- and we even managed to watch the Dr Who episode where the doctor met Rosa Parks, which was such a great tool to use before we wrote our wonderful Biographies. The children were so gripped and great conversations led on from this about the injustice of the time.

  • English - This week the children have finished their Outcome 2 biographies on Rosa Parks. Because of the excellent homework produced, the children had such a wealth of knowledge and could write with great confidence. I am looking forward to marking them over the weekend.

  • Maths- we have continued to master our conversion of measures, focusing heavily on our place value of decimals and applying these to some tricky problem solving and ratios.

  • Science- We have been retrieving our prior learning of how plants and animals have adapted to their environment.

  • PE- we have continued with building on our hockey skills, practicing the skill of passing and dribbling. Then in gymnastics the children have been exploring part-weight bearing balances

  • History - Learning about the legacy Henry VIII left behind

  • Art - we have started to create out piece of art for the exhibition.

Leading Learners

Well done to Jacob M, Jayden and Jacob O this week.

Jacob M, We are so proud of your positive attitude towards your work. You are so focused in class ands when you come across an area that is challenging you approach it calmly and with great determination but you have now learnt that mistakes are a tool to learn from, you listen to feedback and make active choices to improve your work. We are loving your I CAN attitude and your independence.

Jayden- Wow Jayden, you are being so focused on your learning and we love your positive attitude towards the work and wanting to complete all of your learning for the day. You are trying so hard and we can see the progress you are making- we are very proud of you.

Jacob O, Wow, your learning and the progress you are making is reaching new heights! You know exactly the areas you want to improve on and have sought out how you can take your own learning to the next level, which is reflected in your work. We have been so impressed how you have listen to feedback on your writing and reflected improvements in your next piece. We also love the way you focus in grammar and apply your learning to your writing- keep it up!

Learned and Wise butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are learned in their actions, finding God in all things. Those who are wise, who use their learning for the common good. These children are the role models of the school, who drive their own learning and who have the wisdom to know when and how to apply one’s learning. This week we thank Max for working for the common good of our classroom this week.

Special Headteachers butterfly has been awarded to Hollie-Rose this week.

Helpers in the morning

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

India Jack Isabella Stephanie

Notices

  • Next Tuesday 31st January is our Mental Health Awareness day, where we will discuss the importance of looking after our mind, looking at breathing techniques, meditation and on mindful movement by the Yogi Group. Please wear PE kits on the this day.

  • No PE on Monday, so no PE kits needed on this day next week.

  • Please do continue to keep up to date with your child’s homework (particularly spelling). The vocabulary that the children are being asked to spell are getting more complex and they will need your support to figure out the best strategy to use. Learning them over time, rather than bulking them the night before, always seems like the best route to use.

Have a happy weekend. The snowdrops are out

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Miss Forster and Mrs Barker

Year 6 Weekly Blog 20.01.23 ' A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies' George R R Martin

It has been another great week in class, with so much focused learning. The week goes by so fast, I can hardly keep up!

This week our focus has been heavily on our writing, where each day we have written a paragraph on our class biography of Henry VIII. Over the last few weeks we have collected lots of biographical vocabulary, ideas and cohesive devices, so it was great using them in our own writing. We each had our own marking key to work off to, which we used to ensure we had all the necessary elements within each paragraph. Each day the children have come back to their feedback, so therefore know what they have to work on. We just have one, final paragraph to write on Monday. This writing stage has been very much guided and modelled to them, we have worked together to bounce off ideas and help one another. Next week, they will write their own biographies where they have the opportunity to use these skills independently. They have a research task as part of their homework that they will need to help them with this next week- please check the homework as this is to be handed in slightly earlier.

Homework is such a crucial part of Year 6, where children reinforce their learning, revisit new concepts and retrieve information from their class learning, which in turn has more chance sticking in their long term memory, finding it easier and quicker to retrieve pieces of information when needed in the future. Also, children who reinforce their learning, do find it easier to make links to other areas and apply the same strategies they have learnt to unfamiliar areas. Every week, there are children, often the same children, who do not complete all areas of their homework or do not bring back their book. In Year 6 our mission is to prepare them for their next stage in life, and organising their home learning and ensuring they have completed work on time is a crucial part of this. Please help your child and make sure they have completed all the necessary homework on time.

Sporting News

The Athletics team had a great afternoon on Tuesday at Stanley Park. Although we didn’t come first place (this time), we were so proud of the way they all worked as one big team and celebrated one another beautifully!


Where has our learning taken us this week?

Wow the learning in Year 6 has really started to pick up pace and Year 6 are rising to all of the challenges- we are all so proud of them. We are managing to fit in so much learning and they are even becoming much more organised in the mornings, getting all of their equipment and books ready for the lessons ahead.

  • English - As well as biography writing each day, we have have revised our knowledge of main and subordinate clauses and making compound and complex sentences.

  • Maths - This week we have been converting metric measures, we found this quite challenging at the start of the week, but we are starting to master this now! With more practice and revisiting, both in class and this week’s homework, we will nail it!

  • RE- We have been discussing what happens when we go to church and collecting some of the vocabulary that we hear when we go to mass that we are not familiar with.

  • PE - in Hockey we have been dribbling the ball, making sure we keep good control!

Leading Learners

Well done to Steph and Lena this week.

Steph, thank you for reflecting so deeply on your writing targets and responding to any feedback given. You take advice and comments on board and apply this to your writing, I love picking up your book and seeing just how much progress you have made! 

Lena, I have been so impressed with your resilience this week in Maths. You have found conversion challenging, made mistakes, however you have embraced this, by reflecting, editing and never losing focus, which has led to great success! Well done- keep that steely determination!

Learned and Wise butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are learned in their actions, finding God in all things. Those who are wise, who use their learning for the common good. These children are the role models of the school, who drive their own learning and who have the wisdom to know when and how to apply one’s learning. This week we thank Olivia for always working for the common good of our classroom.

Helpers in the morning

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Jacob M Amber Jess Mason

Notices

  • Homework is due to be returned on Thursday. However, this week one aspect of it needs to be in on Tuesday. Please check the homework page for more information.

  • Please do continue to keep up to date with your child’s homework (particularly spelling). The vocabulary that the children are being asked to spell are getting more complex and they will need your support to figure out the best strategy to use. Learning them over time, rather than bulking them the night before, always seems like the best route to use.

  • Football and Netball training- Will be returning next week with the times being the same. Football training will be on Monday at 8am and netball starting at 3:30pm on Thursday. This information is also available on the sports timetable on the website (engage-> sport).

  • Accelerated Reader- All children were given letters regarding accelerated reader. These letters are for parents in order for you to access your childs reading progress.

Year 6 Weekly Blog 'The Word was God ... and the Word became flesh' (John 1:14)

God came to Earth to deliver a very important message of love to us all and the children have been reflecting on the meaning of the mystery of the Incarnation during RE lessons. We looked closely at the meaning of the scripture, how God came in the human form and then we questioned the significance of this and why he did this. The children also looked at evidence in the Gospels that Jesus was homeless, persecuted and displaced. This has enhanced our virtues Learned and Wise even further, as we look for God in all things and use his teachings wisely in our every day life.

Where has our learning taken us this week?

Wow the learning in Year 6 has really started to pick up pace and Year 6 are rising to all of the challenges- we are all so proud of them. We are managing to fit in so much learning and they are even becoming much more organised in the mornings, getting all of their equipment and books ready for the lessons ahead.

  • English - This week we have peer marked and given feedback on our Pixar formal letter writing and have looked at numerous biographies, collecting and looking up unfamiliar language, collecting transferable language that we can use within our own writing and learnt how cohesive devices can link and give clarity to the reader. We can’t wait to start our class biography on Henry VIII next week. In grammar, we have been identifying prepositions and the object of prepositions, using them within our phrases and practicing our relative clauses, using them as embedded clauses and at the end of our sentences.

  • Maths - This week we have been looking at decimals, the value of all of the digits, comparing and ordering. We are now multiplying and dividing them by 10, 100 and 1000.

  • Art- We have finished our tye dye topic and the end product SHOULD be coming home shortly. They have concentrated so hard on this new skill, and we are so proud of the results! Take a look at our photographs below.

  • PE - This week in indoor PE we have been practicing and developing our athletics events and trying to beat our personal best in speed bounce, standing long jump and triple jump. In outdoor PE we started our hockey strand, where we looked at how we could develop our accuracy in our passing and receiving.

Leading Learners

Well done to John Joseph and Holly this week.

John Joseph you have thoroughly got involved in learning this week and pushed yourself to be better each day. You have listened carefully in lessons, applied this to your work and managed those distractions really well this week- keep this up!

Holly, you have been so resilient and focused this week on your learning. You are trying your hardest and even when you have come across challenges this week, you haven’t given up. Keep up with your positive approach!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Well done to our wonderful girl’s football team who won the finals and got through to the Lancashire finals today! They played so well and worked beautifully as a team- we are all so proud of them.

Learned and Wise butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are learned in their actions, finding God in all things. Those who are wise, who use their learning for the common good. These children are the role models of the school, who drive their own learning and who have the wisdom to know when and how to apply one’s learning. This week we thank Jess for always working for the common good of our classroom.

Helpers in the morning

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Christian James Olivia Stephanie

Notices

  • Please do continue to keep up to date with your child’s homework (particularly spelling). The vocabulary that the children are being asked to spell are getting more complex and they will need your support to figure out the best strategy to use. Learning them over time, rather than bulking them the night before, always seems like the best route to use.

  • Just a reminder that lip balms or any type of creams, are classed as a type of medication and therefore (if needed) need to be handed in to the teacher- thank you for your support.

Year 6 Weekly Blog - 'The best is yet to come. The start of a New Year is the chance to rewrite your book.'

Welcome back…

Wishing you all a very happy new year. It has been so lovely to welcome the children back to school this week, despite the wind, rain and cold. The most important part of any school is the people within it. We have loved seeing the smiles and listening to all of the wonderful stories that the festive season has brought. Today we walked down to church to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. It was an opportunity for the children to spend a few minutes in silence reflecting on what a miracle the baby Jesus was. Father Peter spoke about the gifts that the wise men brought and asked us all to reflect on how we use our gifts to make our world and community a better place.

The children have been thinking about what 2023 might look like for them. The children have all reflected on their year ahead and thought about their new year’s resolutions- what do they want to improve this year and what are they going to do to achieve this. They are all going to come across some monumental experiences and opportunities this year. Some of them will be challenging, some will be exciting, some they will be anxious about. Whatever happens, they know they have the skills to tackle it with great resilience and determination.

This half term, we are looking at what it means to be a Learned and Wise learner. Both of these qualities will be really important as we journey towards half term…

This week we have done lots of work on decimals in Maths, comparing, ordering and using counters to make these numbers. In English we are continuing our work on Biographies, and we all had a go at applying for a job at Pixar based on the knowledge we have gained on Walt Disney.

End of Year Assessment

This year, the SATs tests will take place the week beginning Tuesday 9th May (after the King’s Coronation). I have had a conversation with the children this week, discussing what our plan of action is, to best prepare them. They know that the pace of learning will ramp up this term as we try and get everything that we need to cover, completed. This is the first time that we have discussed them as I am a great believer that Year 6 is not just about the SATs. However, it would be unfair if the children did not prepare for the tests properly.

The children know that there is nothing to be worried about and they should not feel anxious about taking them, all they need to do, is their BEST as their best is ALWAYS good enough. Please do not run out and start buying SATs materials, I will provide everything that you need and these will be targeted to the children and their current learning.

If anybody does have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Judo Club

Today, we have had a demonstration for the judo club that will be taking place on a Friday morning at school. This club is a 5 week club. There is a cost for the club, but Mrs Gregan has agreed to pay half of the fees for each child meaning that the cost for each child will be £14 for the course instead of £28.

There is a limit to how many children can safely attend, however, we will be able to continue the club after half term for those children not able to take part this time. Please complete the form below if you would like your child to take part. We will let you know the groups for the club early next week and then set up a payment on Parent Pay to pay to attend.

Helpers in the mornings:

This week and for the first week back after Christmas we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

India Arthur Mason Holly

Notices

Monday morning- Athletics training in the ,morning for Year 6 resumes

Monday 9th afternoon- Girl’s football team needs to be collected from school 1:15pm for the reschedules tournament

Indoor Athletics Competition- Will take place on Tuesday 17th January at Stanley Park Sports Centre in Blackpool. If interested, please attend the athletic training sessions, which take place at 8am before school starts. The dates of these sessions are available on the sports timetable.

Some of the sports monitors have offered to help after school at the Reception sports club from 3:30-4:15pm. This will start next Tuesday with: Amber, Jacob M and Holly and the following week it will be: Kiefer, John Joseph and Saul. Please do let me know if your child is not able to help out on these evenings.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Miss Forster and Mrs Barker

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A very short week, this week, and now we have broken up for Christmas! Can’t believe we have had a term in Year 6 already- it has gone so fast!

Today we had a very long but fun assembly, where we celebrated Miss Brisco and Mrs Malley on their retirement. We are extremely sad that they are leaving, as we will miss them so much, but we wish them well and hope they enjoy their new-found freedom! Many dogs and pets appeared in our assembly today and we even had a bit of a quiz!

We also got to see some very funky dance moves, led by the Year 6 team as elves. The children were very impressed with our skill and Abi even commented on how flexible we all were! We then had a go at Elfing ourselves!

Leading Learners

Well done to Thomas and Christian this week.

Thomas you have been impressing us so much with your positive and hard-working attitude! You use your initiative on a daily basis to forward your own learning and always give your best– keep it up Thomas!

Christian you are such a roger robin, showing your kindness and thoughtfulness on a daily basis, always seeing beyond yourself. Whichever, partner you work with, you work hard and so cooperatively! Keep up the good work Christian! 

Prophetic and Intentional butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are intentional with their actions, who make deliberate choices for the good of others. Those that are prophetic, who may stand up to injustice for the greater good even when it is difficult to do so. These children are the role models of the school, who may march to the beat of a different drummer, but who make a big difference not just to our class, but to our school. This week we thank Arthur!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Scarlet Fever and Group Strep A Infections - Guidance

Dear all,

There is growing concern amongst the community regarding iGas/Scarlet Fever, we have placed here the guidance school has received to share with you. Thank you for always communicating with us illnesses and absences. This is so important as it helps us to build a picture of the whole community and from this we are able to take any action should it be required.

Year 6 Weekly Blog- “Peace begins with a smile” Mother Teresa

It is hard to believe that we are now coming up to week 2 of Advent, the week of Peace. This week, we were welcomed to school with the beautiful reminder that Christmas is coming- the tree was decked in the hall and displays were up to remind us all of this special time. Of course, Nativity practices are also now in full flow, which teaches us the real reason of our celebration, how a a baby was born to us, that would one day, save us all.

Peace, this week, has been at the forefront of our RE lessons and worship. Our RE topic is such a reflective unit of work, as we ask the children to reflect on the injustices within our world today. They are often surprised that some of the situations still occur. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday reflecting on a poem about the plight of refugees in our world. Why not read the poem and see what you think?

They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way.

Now read the poem backwards. What a powerful poem with a really significant meaning. The discussion around this and the empathy the children showed was so humbling, what a group of compassionate and intentional children you have.

Following this lesson, the children have written their own poems about refugees. These are going up on our worship board next week, so we will show you them next week.

In Maths, we have been continuing to work hard on our reasoning and applying of missing numbers. We have also looked at the strategy of redistribution and have even started our shape work with Mrs Nel. This week we have learnt that one of the main characters in our novel has gone missing, and the children have predicted many different theories as to where he has gone. We can’t wait to find out!

Year 6 have loved Art this week, giving them the chance to get really creative with all of the recycled ‘rubbish’ we have brought in, to create many different creations to go in our whole school Christmas scene. We can’t wait to see it put all together …

Leading Learners

Well done to Lena and Mason this week.

Lena, Wow Lena you know how to work your socks off! You have such resilience, stickibility and a desire to succeed, it’s contagious! Keep enjoying your learning and giving it your everything.

Mason, we have been so impressed with your focus during our writing this week! You have really set your mind to it, been extremely determined and created a beautiful piece of descriptive writing. This was also evident in your WONDERFUL History research for homework, where we saw that creative flair really come to life! Keep working on your resilience Mason and you will fly!

Prophetic and Intentional butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are intentional with their actions, who make deliberate choices for the good of others. Those that are prophetic, who may stand up to injustice for the greater good even when it is difficult to do so. These children are the role models of the school, who may march to the beat of a different drummer, but who make a big difference not just to our class, but to our school. This week we thank Grace.

Helpers in the mornings:

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Mason Grace Steph Amber

Notices

We are out and about a lot next week, doing various rehearsals in church. Please could you make sure children have a warm coat and hat each day to keep warm.

We have decided as a school not to send individual Christmas cards to each other, but to instead collect this money for…… Children can if they wish, write one card for the whole class.

Next Friday 9th December- Please wear Christmas colours and spread the Christmas cheer- we just ask if you could to donate £1 towards CAFOD World Gifts.

Our Christmas performance is in church on Thursday 15th December at 2pm and 7pm.

Friday 16th December Key Stage 2 Christmas party. Children can come to school in party clothes and sensible shoes. They can bring a non fizzy drink and a small snack such as chocolate or a packet of crisps.

Have a lovely weekend all of you,

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Miss Forster and Mrs Webster


Year 6 Weekly Blog - 'Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.'

And in the blink of an eye…another week in Year 6 has passed. From the minute that the children walk into class in the morning to the moment that they walk out of the door, they are constantly learning and challenging themselves to be the best that they can be. It really astounds me just how much work that the children have completed. As we approach Advent, and the birth of Jesus Christ, we continue to strive to be prophetic and intentional in our actions, which are our two virtues this half term.

Learning is always fast paced in Year 6 and this week has been no exception. This week it has been all about our writing! Every day, the children have taken a paragraph/ event from our class novel and we have either written our very own as a class or the they have independently innovated the main ideas to create their own paragraph. The next day, they look at the feedback they have been given and challenge themselves to meet this target. Wow, what wonderful writing they have created. They have all worked so hard and produced such depth, trying hard to blend their description, dialogue and action throughout.

We have been writing stories in Maths too this week. Funny, you may think, but they have really helped us to understand addition and subtraction calculations. The children have really enjoyed this and it has helped them to understand what calculation is required in the word problems. In RE, we have continued our topic on Injustice, researching and writing about Oscar Romero, who recognized the injustices of his country and who fought to overcome these. Ask the children to tell you what they have learnt about him.

Leading Learners

Well done to Olivia and James this week.

Olivia, We have loved reading your writing this week. Your creativity and ability to hook the reader in and entertain them with your words, is beautiful. You have been so creative with your descriptions that we felt like we were actually IN your story- You had us hooked! You have also controlled the pace of your writing creatively with your precise punctuation and variation of sentence lengths, just at the right time. Thank you for working so hard and sharing your writing with the class. 

James, you are so focused on your learning and always engaged, ready to learn and answer any questions thrown your way!  You listen to the learning, reflect, manage any distractions extremely well and challenge yourself in your work. You work so hard to improve and hit your targets every day and this is reflected in your work. A big well done James- keep up the great work!

Prophetic and Intentional butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are intentional with their actions, who make deliberate choices for the good of others. Those that are prophetic, who may stand up to injustice for the greater good even when it is difficult to do so. These children are the role models of the school, who may march to the beat of a different drummer, but who make a big difference not just to our class, but to our school. This week we thank Steph and Kai.

Helpers in the mornings:

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Amber Holly Jessica Lena

Notices

Our Christmas performance is in church on Thursday 15th December at 2pm and 7pm.

Please bring as many bottle tops and pinecones as you can!

Have a lovely weekend all of you,

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Miss Forster and Mrs Webster


Year 6 Weekly Blog 'Nothing worth having comes easy'

What an inspirational and busy week we have had in Year 6… the highlight of the week has most definitely been our visit from Stuart Robinson MBE, who taught us just what the word resilience means and how it can make you unstoppable at striving to achieve your goals. Each class took part in an exercise circuit (of course we were first) and then later on we cheered and encouraged our younger pupils to complete their circuits from Nursery and Reception. We had such good fun, but the lesson behind the morning was of the greatest value. We all worked so hard as you can see from the photographs …

Resilience was another key theme at our Curriculum Evening last night. It was so lovely to see so many families sharing our learning with us and we enjoyed exploring our Jesuit virtues together! Thank you so much to those Year 6’s who came to help and support us, it is much appreciated.

Today, we have had another different day, where we have been very snuggly and warm in our PJ’s to raise money for Brian House- thank you so much for your donations!

Within class this week, although we have been struck with illness this week, we have continued working harder than ever, putting our resilience and readiness to good use. In Maths we have been looking closely at the structure of operations, using Cuisenaire rods to compare, make and discuss whether operations are a multiplicative or additive. In English this week we have compared and created a toolkit for writers of how to engage the audience in story openings, before writing our own story next week.

Art project - Mrs Neves, our art teacher, is running an art project across the school and needs your rubbish! She has asked over the next week, for Year 6 to bring in any bottle lids ( flat ones please i.e. milk lids ) and REAL pinecones ready to pain and decorate with.

Leading Learners

Well done to Amber and India this week.

Amber, you impress us every day with your enthusiasm, focus and determination in lessons. You have real ownership of your learning, using your initiative to catch up on any work missed when you were poorly and all in your own time. You are a pleasure to teach, with your quick wit, curious mind and polite manners- you never miss an opportunity to thank us or offer help.

India, you have kind and beautiful soul, where you quietly and humbly show compassion to those around you, always willing to offer a helping hand or offer a kind word. You work so cooperatively with who ever you work with; listening, offering your opinion sensitively and showing great focus.

Prophetic and Intentional butterflies

This half term we will be on the lookout for all the children that are intentional with their actions, who make deliberate choices for the good of others. Those that are prophetic, who may stand up to injustice for the greater good even when it is difficult to do so. These children are the role models of the school, who may march to the beat of a different drummer, but who make a big difference not just to our class, but to our school. This week we thank Jack Frew.

Helpers in the mornings:

This week we have the following children helping to take the younger children to their class:

Hollie-Rose Max Stephanie Christian

Notices

Those in the girl’s football team- please see detail on the sports page for next Thursday!

Please can you bring in any outstanding sponsor form/ monies.

Please bring as many bottle tops and pinecones as you can!

Have a lovely weekend all of you,

Mrs Harrison, Mrs Nel, Miss Forster and Mrs Webster