Year 6 - Summer 1 - Week 5
Date: 19th May 2022 @ 8:58pm
What a busy week it has been!
As mathematicians, we have embarked on a rather exciting venture…designing a theme park! On Monday, the children were informed that they would be getting into pairs / small teams to compete against each other in this project, but first would need to consider what type of theme park they would be hoping to create if it were a solo task. Our STAR vocabulary word for the lesson was ‘marketing’ and after learning what this meant, we considered who our theme park would be for, the potential theme / branding of it and what would be the key selling points. Once we had time to think about this individually, we then chose our business partners based on shared preferences.
Throughout the week, the children have had to work together to design the layout of their park based on the costings of amenities and ride types and ensuring they meet all health and safety requirements, such as including the minimum number of toilets and park benches required. So far, the children have absolutely LOVED this project and it has been a joy to see them so enthusiastic about completing the initial tasks – with some children even doing further work on their branding at home and sending it to their class iPads via Google Classroom! We have also been particularly impressed with the class’ attention to detail as they have already started thinking about the branding of their food stalls, outfit designs for their staff and their theme park’s logo. There has been lots of creative thinking this week! We just hope the children still enjoy it just as much next week when they realise the ‘running costs’ of their creations!
Just when the children didn’t think we could fit anymore mathematics into our mornings this week, we also took part in National Numeracy Day by helping to successfully break a Guinness World Record with Times Tables Rock Stars for most viewers of a rolling numbers livestream on Youtube. The class had great fun dancing to different songs and listening out for all the number references!
In Writing, we used Kit Wright's poem 'What's in the box...?', to create our own poems. Using their senses, the children considered all the things that are special to them as well as their hopes for their future. Some really insightful and thought-provoking poems were created which we loved reading.
As artists, we focused on our local environment this week. To begin, we took images around school on our iPads, focusing on the finer details of our surroundings rather than the ‘bigger picture’. We then used a viewfinder to focus even further on one particular aspect of each image before choosing one to sketch.
In PE, we had our first drama lesson with Mrs Whitehead from Formby High School, playing various team games, miming and forming tableaux. The practising and developing of our acting skills will come in very useful as we start to embark on preparations for our leavers’ production next half term! On Thursday, we were visited by Mr Brindley and three Y9 Sports Leaders, who led a House tag rugby competition. Thank you to Formby High School for all their support this week!
Despite a very busy week of lessons, we also managed to find time to have several class discussions as part of our PSHE curriculum. On Tuesday, we read about footballer, Jake Daniels, coming out and talked about why this needs to be ‘news’ in today’s society. We also learned that Tuesday was International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia and agreed that the world would be a better place if everyone could celebrate differences. This led to many other conversations around equality and diversity – particularly sexism and racism in the media. It was wonderful to hear the children making such thoughtful observations and comments throughout the morning and hope they continue to think with such open minds as they move into secondary school.
On the topic of differences, we also had a discussion on height on Thursday, as we are aware that several children in the class still feel insecure about being too small / tall. After reading a few stories, we used our white thinking hats to list many of the advantages of being short, as well as the advantages of being tall. We realised that sometimes it is useful to be small, sometimes it is useful to be tall and sometimes it is useful to be in between…there will always be positives and negatives in any situation, but we should learn to seek out the positives!
Finally, on Friday, we had our second, post-SATs celebration...this time in school! The children came into school in their own clothes to be greet with large ‘2022’ balloons, treats and music before being informed that an inflatable obstacle course had arrived on the school field and they had exclusive access to it all day! We had a wonderful time as a whole Year 6 team.
A special ‘well done’ to our boys’ and girls’ football teams, who both had matches against Woodlands Primary this week. The boys’ team were impressive in a 6-1 victory and the girls’ team showed plenty of grit and determination to win 5-4 in a thrilling contest! Also on Wednesday, six members of the class took part in the Lawn Bowls Festival at Southport Lawn Bowls Club, taking part in a variety of different games with other local schools. Well done!
Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!