Year 6 Team: Mr M King (Class Teacher), Mrs L Martin : Blog items
Date: 8th Jun 2023 @ 8:38pm
Well, we are back…for our final half-term at Trinity St. Peter’s!
In Reading and Writing, we have been working on a unit linked to ‘adventurers’ and ‘leadership’ and we have learned about a number of significant literary and real-life explorers such as Beowulf, Charles Darwin and Robert Falcon Scott. Our final task this week was to write four paragraphs about a leader of our choice. There was a wide range of leaders chosen, both real and fictional, from various time periods and areas of profession. Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmeline Pankhurst, Captain America, Winston Churchill…the list goes on! All the children should have now uploaded their final pieces onto Google Classroom if any parents wish to have a read – we would highly recommend!
As linguists, we have moved onto a new topic in Spanish: ‘The Beach’. A very relevant topic indeed! This week, we learned new vocabulary linked to items you would take on a beach trip and practised writing / saying phrases and sentences to describe this.
In PE, the children were given the choice of what they would like to do as a class for Monday’s lesson. As this is the children’s last half-term in primary school, this is the time to make some final memories altogether and so we thought about the best possible games we could play that would encourage this. Games such as dodgeball, bench ball and rounders were discussed, but in the end, the vast majority voted on a whole-class game of ‘man hunt’! This was a great idea as the children have never played this as part of a PE lesson; usually it is reserved for break time. We played a few variations of the game, each time reflecting on what worked and how we could improve the next round. The children had a great time – especially as their running / hiding area was not limited to just the school field!
Thursday’s PE lesson with Mr Brindley saw the children practising their driving and chipping in golf. A special ‘well done’ to those children who represented the school in a golf tournament at Formby Hall on Wednesday afternoon; another great opportunity for our pupils, who made us all very proud.
Our week concluded with a visit from author, Simon Hunt. Simon is a teacher but also author of the story, 'Delilah Rose: The Bogey Princess' and (upcoming) 'Billy the Bottom Burping Pirate'. He delivered a great workshop to the UKS2 classes and kept the Y6 pupils back for a talk on aspirations. Thank you, Simon!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 26th May 2023 @ 10:51am
Attending the opening of a new restaurant; a little bit of golf and some tennis in the sun…it’s been a very ‘Formby’ week!
Perhaps the main highlight of this week has been our writing focus, which has been writing a review. On Monday, we discussed why, when and how we use reviews before considering how you would word positive and negative reviews of the witch’s cottage in the story of ‘Hansel and Gretel’. On Tuesday, the children came to school and discovered that their classroom has been transformed into a new restaurant called Bar 23. They were shown to their tables, waited on by the staff and ordered food and drink from the menu. Each child’s experience was unique to say the least! Some had a great time while others were left feeling dissatisfied and underwhelmed. Once the children ‘left’ the restaurant, they had to rate their experiences and write up a review of this new establishment. The children thoroughly enjoyed this short writing unit and it has certainly been reflected in the reviews they have written. For some children, this has been their best piece this year!
Our ‘crime and punishment’ topic in History has also continued. The children learned about trends during many different periods: Roman, Tudor, Victorian and Early Modern. They were then given the opportunity to focus on a period that interested them most and carry out their own research into crimes and punishments at that time. Their next lesson involved them reading the tale of Robin Hood, which enabled them to think creatively and critically about the justice system at this time.
‘RSE Week’ has brought us lots of new information, questions and certainly some (possibly awkward) laughter along the way! On Thursday, as a whole class we recapped on our RSE lessons from last year and recalled the changes our bodies will go through during puberty; however as we discussed these in our gender groups last year, this week we were able to learn about and have empathy for what the opposite gender will experience. This created lots of questions from the children, which were easily explained through the brilliant ‘Kay’s Anatomy’ book by Adam Kay. (Please note: as per message sent to parents, the relevant chapters of this book can be found on Google Classroom.) Throughout the rest of the day, we discussed peer pressure and consent; personal hygiene and where you can go for support. The children participated in these lessons with great enthusiasm and maturity; we are very proud of how they conducted themselves.
In Art, we explored how artists use different perspectives and media when creating various pieces. On Tuesday, we had an enjoyable afternoon focusing on our own artwork linked to ‘landscape’ – as you will be able to see on our Twitter feed.
Our PE lessons this week have continued with ‘tri golf’ on Monday and tennis on Thursday. The children competed in mini-matches in both sports, enjoying the sunshine outdoors while doing so. We have been impressed with the improvements the children have made in both areas. Also, a special ‘well done’ to those children who competed in the cross-country events this week. We were very impressed with the children’s enthusiasm and perseverance!
Have a great half-term break, everyone!
Date: 18th May 2023 @ 10:39am
Lots of subjects being taught this week - while still fitting in more post-SATs celebrations!
As computer scientists, we enjoyed some coding practice this week through our ‘Computing Day’. On Monday, we explored the game, Crossy Roads, thinking carefully about its features and what makes it a good game. We were then introduced to the iOs app, Hopscotch to allow us to explore some of our STAR vocabulary: event, command, loop, random and range. Following this, we had apply our knowledge by using the app to create our own version of Crossy Roads. All the children were able to do this successfully, with some even managing to set various levels of difficulty and additional levels fo their game!
As mathematicians, we embarked on a rather exciting venture…designing a theme park! Throughout the week, the children had to work together in small groups to design the layout of their park based on the costings of amenities and ride types and ensuring they meet all health and safety requirements, such as including the minimum number of toilets and park benches required. They also had to apply their mathematical knowledge by calculating the running and advertising costs and – from there – deciding on entrance admission fees to ensure they make a profit!
Towards the end of the week, the children presented their ideas, including posters and trailers, and were assessed on their creativity, likelihood of success and business acumen. The children have absolutely LOVED this project and it has been a joy to see them so enthusiastic about completing each task – whilst learning new vocabulary such as ‘marketing’, ‘revenue’, ‘expenditure’ and ‘profit’!
In History, we have commenced our new topic on ‘Crime and Punishment’, exploring broad trends from the Roman period to society today. Although our original goals this week were to learn about some common trends and have time to independently research crime and punishment from our chosen period, our first lesson involved us discussing crimes we are aware of today and methods of crime prevention, which then actually led to more of a PSHE lesson on how we should stay safe in the community. All the children and staff were very open in sharing experiences and knowledge and we feel it was definitely a worthwhile discussion!
Elsewhere, we have continued with our Spanish lessons, this week combining our previous topics of ‘sport’ and ‘clothing’ to learn how to explain the clothing of different athletes! In PE on Thursday, we had a carousel of ‘tri golf’ activities, kindly set up for us by our Y6 Sports Leaders.
Finally, on Friday, we had our second post-SATs celebration in school! This time, the children came into school in their own clothes to be greeted with large ‘2022’ balloons, treats and music before being informed that an inflatable obstacle course had indeed 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.
You may also have noticed the installation of our Community Book Swap Box here at Trinity St. Peter's. This has been installed in memory of Margaret Blake, a past Governor here at TSP, who loved coming in to school and hearing children read. It is located on the wall (near the defibrillator) and the idea is for the whole community (adults and children) to use this book swap box so we can share our love for reading with all!
A special ‘well done’ to our boys’ football team, who competed in a very tough match against St Luke’s Primary School. Mr McCabe was very impressed with the positive attitude and skill on display!
Have a fantastic weekend!
Date: 11th May 2023 @ 8:18am
Well...what a week indeed!
After plenty of preparation and build-up, the time to sit our KS2 SATs finally arrived! We could not be any prouder of all the children; they showed such positivity, resilience and optimism throughout the week. Despite the 'dull' nature of sitting assessments, we did also manage to find many opportunities to have laughs along the way too and the children agreed that the SATs process wasn't actually as bad as they thought it could be! Well done, everyone - you are all superstars!
After our final assessment on Friday, we had a very 'chilled' day. We played games, saw our buddies...and some of us even enjoyed a little meditation with cucumbers on our eyes once again! We are are now looking forward to all the upcoming Year 6 events, including post-SATs celebrations next week, school trips and leavers' activities. Please check School Spider for a letter sent to parents today regarding some of our planned activities.
We hope the children all have a well-earned break this weekend..they certainly deserve it.
See you all on Monday!
Date: 4th May 2023 @ 8:07pm
A short, but busy week!
Our monthly Christian value is COURAGE, which could not be more appropriate as the children have shown plenty of this in their approach towards SATs revision and opting for more challenging questions this week. Classroom displays have been hidden, tables have been rearranged and the children have been informed on how to complete the front page correctly…so there shouldn’t be any surprises on Tuesday! As per the last few weeks, we have continued to revise through the use of past papers, as well as songs, games and activities. Such games have included Blooket quizzes made by some of the children, as well as new games such as a SPaG version of ‘Blockbusters’!
Thursday afternoon saw us taking a break from SATs revision with the children taking part in a LEGO therapy session. The children were very excited about this and it was a great opportunity for them to continue to develop their creativity and thinking skills, as well as teamwork. Their PE lesson with Mr Brindley that followed allowed the children to practise their tennis skills in a carousel of activities led by some of Formby High’s Sports Leaders. These activities had the children practising their forehands, ball control through obstacles and general return shots.
On Friday, we celebrated King Charles’ Coronation. We were able to perform ‘New King’ with the rest of the school – a song we have absolutely loved practising back in class over the past two weeks! We also had a 'street party' outside at lunch time with our Year 5 peers.
The very end of the week saw us revising some Maths and SPaG knowledge. At the start of Friday afternoon, we all went into the hall with rolls of paper to write down all the mathematical knowledge we could think of to help us with our papers next week. Following this, the children returned to class to find…it had been transformed into a SPaG rave! Glow sticks were in full force as the children danced around to some of our favourite Grammasaurus songs. It was wonderful to see all the children having fun, but it was even better to see some children, who began the year rather reserved with this sort of activity, showing no shame with their singing and dance moves! What a great way to end the week!
We hope all the children are able to have an enjoyable weekend. In terms of SATs preparation, they should do whatever will help them relax, whether that means doing some final revision to boost their confidence or having a three-day break. Regardless of the outcome, we are extremely proud of all them and the hard work they have shown throughout the academic year. We cannot wait to celebrate their efforts after Friday morning!
Date: 27th Apr 2023 @ 7:48pm
Another busy week in Year 6!
This week, we have been working hard on preparing for our SATs papers in just over a week. In Maths, we have continued to practise our arithmetic skills while also revising various topics including: measurement, algebra and multistep problems. We have done this through a variety of activities and games, as well as past paper questions. Our reading practise has continued and some of us have even managed to fit in spelling practice through the creation and sharing of word searches with our peers. We have been very proud of the class’ efforts!
Our ‘Sing and Praise’ Collective Worship this week introduced a new song, ‘New King’ by Banji Alexander, which the children will be performing as a whole school in celebration of the Coronation of King Charles. The children (and teachers!) loved it and we have continued to practise this throughout the week. On the topic of songs / music, there has been plenty of singing in our SPaG lessons too – courtesy of Grammasaurus and MC Hammer on Youtube! Our SATs revision is starting to feel like a musical!
In Spanish, Mrs Gibbons discussed how pronouns are used – or rather not used – in the Spanish language. This was a great opportunity to connect the children’s Spanish understanding to the current learning we have been doing on grammar in the English language. The children then built on last week’s lesson on ‘clothing’ by constructing their own sentences on this topic.
In PE, the children saw the return of one of their favourite competitive games from last year… ‘Strategic’! The children had to work together in different teams to come up with a strategy to take their opponents’ bases. Lots of running, lots of tagging…and lots of battle poses before commencing each game! Great fun was had by all.
A special ‘well done’ to those children who competed in the tag rugby festival on Friday afternoon at Birkdale High School. The team put in a tremendous effort and – as always – the Year 6 children continued to make us extremely proud on the sports field.
The children are aware of what their homework for this week is. There are also additional tasks set on SATs Companion – as well as their CGP books – if they wish to do any further revision at home.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 20th Apr 2023 @ 7:39pm
We have now commenced our final term at Trinity St. Peter’s!
The children have been working extremely hard as we enter the final stages of our SATs preparations and the positive results are certainly showing. In Reading, we have continued to work on our comprehension skills, as well as our understanding of authors’ intentions and use of language. It is clear from the questions that the children now ask how far they have come in their reading and their understanding of how to effectively articulate their ideas.
In Maths, Mr King’s group revised their prior Year 6 knowledge on ratio, as well as previous KS2 topics such as line graphs, measurement and time. Next week, we will be working on how to estimate measure and have encouraged the children to look at the mass / volume of items in the shops, as well as their cupboards at home over the weekend. Mrs Martin’s group have revised Roman Numerals and measurement, thinking about what they would measure particular distances in.
We are very lucky that Mrs Gibbons from Formby High School has offered to continue with our Spanish lessons this half-term. It was lovely to have her back in our classroom on Monday afternoon to continue with our MFL curriculum - this week focusing on 'clothing'.
Mr Brindley also returned on Thursday to lead one of our two PE lessons each week for the remainder of the school year. This week, his Sports Leaders led a great tennis session – perfect for the sunny weather we have been having! Our final swimming lesson also took place this week. Some children finished off their survival training while others revised the strokes we were learning last term…all before we finished the session with some ‘free time’ in the pool with our friends, celebrating our last ever swimming lesson in primary school!
As per the message sent via School Spider, PE lessons will now continue from next week on Mondays and Thursdays. Children should come into school in their PE kits on these days.
The children are aware of what their homework for this week is. There are also additional tasks set on SATs Companion – as well as their CGP books – if they wish to do any further revision at home.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 30th Mar 2023 @ 12:53pm
The Easter break has arrived!
On Friday, we attended the whole-school Easter Service at St Peter's Church where we were able to watch the Year 3 pupils perform the Easter story. We also enjoying joining in with several hymns and songs - which we have been practising each week during Sing and Praise - including ‘He Lives in You’ from The Lion King.
In Maths, we have continued to revise many topics, including calculations involving decimals. Both Mr King’s group and Mrs Martin’s group have also looked at translations, symmetry and scale factors. It would be useful for the children to revise this on SATs Companion as well to ensure their understanding is secure.
In SPaG, we have continued to get used to the different types of questioning in assessments, while also revising particular concepts such as the subjunctive mood and subordinating conjunctions. The children enjoyed listening to various pop songs this week and identifying whether the artists used the subjunctive form correctly or not (i.e. “if I were…” as opposed to “if I was..”). Grammarsaurus on Youtube has continued to be a big hit as well as the children have enjoyed dancing around the classroom and singing various songs linked to grammar. Who said revision had to be dull?!
In Reading, we have explored different types of questioning. We have thought about how we would describe characters’ personalities based on the evidence provided; impressions you get about characters, and also the authors’ intentions with their writing. For example, how does an author build an impending sense of doom?
On Wednesday morning, we enjoyed watching our Reception buddies rehearse for their musical showcase later in the week. They delivered an excellent performance from the musical, Matilda, and our Year 6 pupils loved supporting them. It also sparked a conversation in class afterwards for what we would like to do for our Year 6 leavers' production....watch this space!
A special 'well done' to those girls who competed in the Formby football tournament this week. They showed excellent teamwork and perseverance, competing in many different matches in a short space of time. Well done for the representing our school so well!
The children are aware of their homework tasks. Extra tasks have been set on SATs Companion for over the Easter break. Parents should have also received a letter regarding additional resources to help support your child at home. Please be aware we are not suggesting all of these resources are to be utilised and that the children's mental health is always the priority. However, as some parents and children have asked for additional resources to support them over the Easter break, we are sharing with all in case any other children would like to further revise over the holiday period.
We hope you all have a lovely Easter break!
Date: 23rd Mar 2023 @ 2:50pm
Another week of hard work in Year 6!
In Maths, Mr King’s group focused on finding the volume of shapes before moving onto coordinates, in particular identifying coordinates across quadrants and finding missing coordinates of different shapes. A special ‘thank you’ to Mrs Bennett from Formby High School, who has also been coming into school every Monday this half-term to take groups of children out for additional support. We will see her again soon at Formby High’s ‘Maths Maze’ competition!
Mrs Martin's group continue to impress also as they embrace each and every maths lesson with such enthusiasm and positivity. This week they have not only aced algebra (including solving some quite challenging algebra problems) they have also focused their learning on cooridnates across four quadrants and completing cooridnate based puzzles; well done!
Our grammar lessons have focused on determiners, nouns and noun phrases this week. The children have continued to add to their revision zines with their new / revised learning and have enjoyed learning some new songs – courtesy of Grammsaurus and MC Grammar on Youtube – to help retain this knowledge. The children have also worked through a SPaG paper in pairs this week to see if they can explain their thinking to a friend and also help them identify any gaps in their understanding.
On Thursday afternoon, the children enjoyed taking part in a range of reading activities. From solving riddles, to playing 'body language charades' in their groups, to then having to break out of an Escape Room using their SPAG knowldge, the children took on every challnege and had great fun along the way.
Our Spanish lessons have continued with Mrs Gibbons from Formby High School every Monday. We have covered a range of topics so far this half-term, including sports and book genres. Mrs Gibbons has been very impressed with the class’ prior knowledge and behaviour! Next week, in our final lesson, we will be focusing on vocabulary associated with Easter.
In PE, we had our second ‘survival / life skills’ swimming lesson, which saw the children practising the ‘help’ position and taking part in challenges that required no goggles! There were some difficult activities but the children tried very hard – well done! Next week, the children will be assessed on the skills they have learned these past two weeks before their final swimming lesson in the first week back after half term.
The children are aware of what their homework for this week is. Spellings have also been set on Google Classroom for next week.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 16th Mar 2023 @ 2:25pm
We are certainly in the full swing of SATs preparations at the moment and the children have been working very hard!
In Maths, Mr King’s group have been working hard on perimeter, area and volume. They have tackled a range of questions with some proving to be particularly tricky; it would be useful if the children use SATs Companion to practise these topics further. Next week, we will be moving onto coordinates. Mrs Martin’s group have been working on angles and next week will be focusing on data handling.
This week has been British Science Week and to celebrate this, the children had made slime – linked to an extract from the Roald Dahl story, ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’. They had to follow the recipe carefully and think about their ratios to be able to create slime that was soft and could stretch. At times, the children had to consider the purpose of each ingredient in order to create the most effective slime. Which ingredient should they alter the amount of if they wanted their slime to be fluffier? Which ingredient affects the smoothness? Needless to say, the children enjoyed this task!
Wednesday’s swimming session was ‘a bit different’ to the usual session as it centred around survival techniques! The children were rather giddy as they walked onto poolside in their pyjamas / additional clothing but thoroughly enjoyed challenging themselves by treading water and swimming 50m in their clothing. They will continue to practise these skills next week as well, so should bring their extra clothing in again next Wednesday if possible.
The children are aware of their homework for this week and their weekly spellings have been set on Google Classroom as usual. This week, the children have also been introduced to the website, Maths4Everyone, which has revision sets of questions on every topic on the KS2 Maths curriculum; they can access these from home if they are looking for further challenges.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 10th Mar 2023 @ 11:22am
A week full of visitors and even some snow! It has been very busy indeed.
In Maths, the children in Mr King’s group developed their understanding of how to interpret pie charts before moving onto angles. Next week, they will be moving onto perimeter, area and volume. Mrs Martin’s group focused on volume this week and will be moving onto angles next week.
In PE, the children have continued with their swimming sessions. Having worked on swimming at least 50m of front crawl and backstroke without stopping, we moved onto breaststroke this week. Next week, the children will be developing their survival skills; parents should have received a message via School Spider regarding additional clothing required for next session. Friday’s tag rugby sessions saw the children continuing to practise their passing and tagging skills and starting to learn the rules of the game. The latter is difficult to master straight away so we were very impressed with the children’s efforts in this.
On the topic of sports, a special ‘well done’ to our school’s football team, who played St. Gregory’s Primary School on Tuesday and emerged victorious.
Friday was a very special day as the children came into a snow-covered school. From previous experiences, we know this is the kind of the day the children never forget and so we certainly capitalised on the weather. The children had great fun on Friday morning taking part in snowball fights and building snowmen. Please make sure you check out our class Twitter page for all the photos!
The class have had many visitors this week, from student teachers at both Edge Hill University and Liverpool Hope University - to Y10 students on work experience from Formby High School. We are very grateful for the support they have been able to offer lots of children in class; all the visitors have also been very impressed with the work ethic and manners of our pupils. This is always great to hear!
The children are aware of their homework for this week and their weekly spellings have been set on Google Classroom as usual. Please do also encourage your child to also work through the practice assessments set on SATs Companion.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 2nd Mar 2023 @ 3:35pm
A week of successes and fancy dress costumes!
The children were very excited for World Book Day on Thursday and this was certainly reflected in their book costumes! Well done to all the pupils and their parents for a fantastic effort. Throughout the day, our Year 6 pupils took part in a range of activities: from Maths codebreaker problems to quizzes and even a ‘clue hunt’ around school to investigate which book character had escaped into Trinity St. Peter’s! As The Big Bad Wolf was one of the potential suspects, the children’s English lesson involved them reading, ‘The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs’ by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith and learning how The Big Bad Wolf felt that he was the real victim in this tale. The children were then asked to become lawyers in Fairytale Court and to write up a defence statement for The Big Bad Wolf against Little Red Riding Hood to present to the rest of the class. There were some very creative ideas from the class - including Red’s grandma having underlying health problems and a nurse in class validating this with her witness statement!
As mathematicians, the children in Mr King’s group have been learning about pie charts and solving a range of problems linked to these. Next week, we will be continuing with data handling before moving onto shapes and angles. Mrs Martin’s group have been working on perimeter and next week will be continuing with this and revising their understanding of area.
In PE, we have continued with our swimming sessions - this week, we practised backstroke - and also resumed our tag rugby lessons. Following our first two sessions, the children have shown an excellent recall of how to handle and pass a rugby ball, particularly when moving in a line down the field. Once again, there has also been a high demand for the return of the game, ‘Wolves’ as the children have enjoyed practising their dodging skills to escape the ‘wolves’ in the middle of the field.
A special ‘well done’ once to those children who competed in the athletics tournament at Greenbank High School on Monday morning. After a long morning of track and field competition, the results were announced and…we won! Amazing! Back in school, the children were praised for their efforts, but also their sportsmanship and manners as they conducted themselves brilliantly. Well done, team!
The children are aware of their homework for this week and their weekly spellings have been set on Google Classroom as usual. Please do also encourage your child to also work through the practice assessments set on SATs Companion.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 24th Feb 2023 @ 11:32am
As writers, the children were recently tasked with writing a class blog. The children analysed previous entries from this year, identifying the range of punctuation used, as well as technical vocabulary. They then used a brace map to decide on a few subjects / class events that have taken place this year before creating their own entry. This proved to be tricker than originally thought, as the children had to consider what lessons took place for a particular topic and what they would have learned from this.
Developing our understanding of the English language, we have focused on tenses: progressive and perfect. Over the week, the children enjoyed listening to songs about each tense and also learning how to make zines to record their notes. Many children said they would like to create more zines in the future for other topics in different subjects!
On Monday, the children found out that they would be visited by one of Formby High School’s Spanish teachers, Mrs Gibbons. She delivered a lesson to the children on Spain general, including which countries speak Spanish. The children are very fortunate that – going forward this half-term - Mrs Gibbons will be leading weekly Spanish lessons.
The children were very excited to start their swimming lessons on Wednesday. Although the first session required some time to be dedicated to initial assessments, we were still able to practise our freestyle and swim quite a few lengths in a short space of time – well done! Friday’s PE lesson saw us returning to tag rugby, which will continue for the next few weeks in anticipation for an upcoming tournament.
We concluded our Geography and Art topics on Africa this week. In Art, the children chose their best ‘animal skin’ design from before half-term and then applied their printing skills; they used their chosen design to transfer over onto the silhouette of a particular animal. In Geography – having previously compared Kenya to the UK – the children learned more about the town of Kalule in Uganda and then compared it with Formby.
Outside of the curriculum, we observed a one-minute silence on Friday for the people of Ukraine. Prior to this, we were able to connect our understanding of our History topics this year and how WW1 and WW2 affected people and communities; it is hard to believe that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has now been going on for a whole year.
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them to watch the video input first. They can also revise any topics through the ‘Practice’ section of the app / website afterwards.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 19th Jan 2023 @ 4:10pm
Another great week in Year 6!
As authors, we completed last week’s piece, which focussed on a ‘haunted setting’ and also found time to explore the realms of poetry. Taking inspiration from Kit Wright’s poem, ‘The Magic Box’, the children wrote their own poems. Filling their magic boxes full of abstract wonders, the children created the most wonderful pieces of poetry which not only explored the five senses but were packed with literary devices such as personification and metaphors.
In Maths, Mrs Martin’s group have been revising various arithmetic topics and will be moving onto fractions next week: specificially multiplying and dividing fractions. Mr King’s group have been working on algebra and will be continuing with this before moving onto ratio.
On Tuesday afternoon, the children took part in Computing lessons, which explored the world of virtual reality! Using the iOs application, CoSpaces, the children were able to follow various algorithms to design their own virtual reality based on one of their interests and create a story sequence using all of the skills they had learned within the lesson. Next week, they will be improving their creations before presenting them to the rest of the class. Many of the children were already excited to share their work so far – we cannot wait to see their final designs!
As scientists, the children concluded their learning about electricity by revising the three types of variables - independent, dependent and control variables – before checking their investigation plans from last week and testing their predictions. They carried out their investigations in groups, noting the outcome of their dependent variable at the end of the experiment.
A special ‘well done’ to those children who represented our school in a dodgeball tournament at Formby High School on Friday. What a great effort!
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them to revise topics through the ‘Practice’ section of the app / website.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 13th Jan 2023 @ 5:24pm
Our first full week of school in 2023 and it has certainly been a busy one!
On Monday, the children entered class to the sound of some eerie noises with candles lit all around. They thought carefully about what they could hear and the images that came to mind before thinking of expanded noun phrases would help describe their thoughts. Having been informed of their writing objective for the week, the children then immersed themselves in the horror genre, focusing on attention to detail when describing a setting and aiming to include particular punctuation and grammar goals such as semicolons. Now that have improved our pace of writing, the majority of pupils managed to finish their pieces by the end of the week…and they are fantastic!
In Maths, Mr King’s group focused on conversions between fractions, decimals and percentages before moving onto algebra later in the week. The children picked up the fundamental concepts very quickly and were able to solve some tricky equations in a short space of time – well done! We will be continuing to challenge ourselves with this topic next week. Mrs Martin’s group has focused on a variety of number facts and topics such as: calculations including decimals; square and cube numbers. They will be continuing to work on their arithmetic skills next week.
On Wednesday, the children took part in our SPaG version of Channel 4’s ‘Million Pound Drop’ game. In pairs, the children came up with their own personas and backstories before taking part in ten rounds – the goal being to keep all their money safe by answering the series of questions correctly. This was a good opportunity to consolidate learning and identify areas for development. Many children were eliminated during the round on the subjunctive form, so we will be working on that in the near future!
In Science this week, the children continued their learning about electricity by learning about three types of variables: independent, dependent and control variables. They then designed their own investigations and chose what their independent and control variables would be. They will be carrying out their investigations next week.
In Computing, we used Make Code to follow algorithms that would allow us to make and tweak various games. Geography saw us completing fact files on Uganda – ready to compare the town of Kalule with our village of Formby next week – while PE gave us two dodgeball sessions as part of trials for the school team. Overall, it has been an action-packed week!
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them that there are support videos attached to the tasks.
If your child has been selected to represent the school in dodgeball or table tennis over the next two weeks, they should have come home with a letter today. The parents of those children who are interested in being trialled for an upcoming swimming gala will have received a letter on School Spider this afternoon.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 5th Jan 2023 @ 9:02pm
Happy New Year, everyone!
Although only a short school week, we still managed to pack in a lot of learning and opportunities for discussion.
Once we had completed our 4-a-day Maths calculations and shared our holiday news, we began the new term by discussing our goals for the new year. We reflected on how we only have two terms left at Trinity St. Peter’s and how – as a class – we should strive to make these memorable and fun for all. We highlighted the word ‘legacy’ and how we should all aim to leave with a positive legacy whereby we can move to secondary school with all our peers remembering us being kind and caring. We watched the BBC firework display from New Year’s Eve and listened closely to the words said during the tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. We discussed how it is important to try hard in lessons and do well academically, but it is perhaps even more important to be respectful and to have an understanding of everyone’s differences. We were given time to reflect as we watched the result of the firework display and then asked to come up with our targets for this term: at least one academic target to achieve in lessons and one personal target linked to self-development. We hope all the children are able to achieve their goals over the upcoming months.
Before commencing any new work, we had the opportunity to consolidate our learning from last term. The children were excited to participate in a 40+ question Blooket game, testing their knowledge and memory of several topics in History, Science, PSHE and Computing. After the initial game, we then went through the answers as a class and reminded ourselves of additional facts linked to some of the questions. To conclude, we then took part in another Blooket game using the same questions – thus giving ourselves an opportunity for overlearning.
This week, we commenced our new Geography topic, ‘How do we compare with Africa?’ Initially, we learned about Africa as a whole continent, which included following directions to locate all 54 countries on a map. We learned how diverse Africa is and how it can also be divided into five regions, which we were given time to research. We then started to focus on one particular country: Uganda. The children could recall our link to this country – and the town, Kalule, in particular – with the project set up by St. Peter’s Church and local community. As part of our initial investigation into what Kalule is like, we used pictures taken by Rev. Anne, Mrs Grayson and other TSP teachers on their visits to see what we could deduce about aspects such as climate, wealth, culture and landscape. Over the coming weeks, we will be focusing on the physical and human geographical features of Uganda and Kalule and comparing them with England and Formby.
On Friday we began our new Science topic, 'Electrifying' and what a great start it was too! The children recapped on their previous learning of this topic before starting to complete challenges linked to making different circuits. The children made predictions as to what would happen when more bulbs were added to a circuit and how they could increase the speed of the motor. They then learnt the symbols for the different components enabling them to draw their own. The children then took on the job of 'electrican repairs' as they worked out which circuits would have bulbs that would and wouldn't light. The children were so impressive with their learning; their knowledge and their eagerness!
A particular highlight for the children was the brief return of a former pupil, who moved to Australia when the children were in Year 2. It was lovely to see her again after all this time; a class photo can be seen on our Twitter page.
Maths and SPaG / Reading homework will recommence next week. Spellings for next Thursday have been set on Google Classroom.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 12th Dec 2022 @ 2:04pm
What a fantastic end to the term it has been!
Although we have been in the festive spirit all month, this week has been particularly ‘Christmassy’. Our week began with our Cinema Experience Day, where the children were arrived outside class on Monday morning, handed in their tickets, went through some extensive security checks and took a seat in their cinema-esque hall to watch the film, Home Alone. Tuesday was our House ‘Sing Off’ organised by our Year 6 Think Tank; Wednesday was ‘Christmas Day Dinner Day’ and even our PE lesson with Mr Brindley on Thursday was a Christmas-themed orienteering task! On Friday, we were welcomed into St. Peter’s for their Christmas service - singing hymns and saying prayers altogether. Afterwards, we went to visit our buddies for one final time this term to wish them a lovely Christmas and to let them know we would be seeing them again in 2022!
A special ‘well done’ to those Year 6 children who attended St Joseph’s Home on Monday afternoon to sing carols and read prayers to the residents. ‘Thank you’ as well to those pupils who attended the EYFS Christmas Service at St Peter’s Church and supported the Reception class by narrating parts of their performance.
Outside of our Christmas celebrations, we had a day of Science on Wednesday, continuing with our learning about the human body. We focused on the functions of the heart and how it is able to pump blood around the body. This can be a rather tricky task, but the children’s overlearning of the terminology and processes throughout the initial lessons meant that they could soon articulate how the it works. This then enabled them to move onto how water and nutrients are transported around the body. Again, not an easy task, but the children work very hard – well done! On Tuesdsay, we revised our understanding of 'Online Safety' and we had several discussions regarding virtual identities, how everything shared online is there forever, phishing, scamming...in short, we covered a lot of areas!
It certainly has been a wonderful term – now including far too many to mention in this blog. Hopefully our class Twitter page has reflected all the laughs and wonderful learning that has taken place since September and the children will be excited to return to Year 6 in January. Thank you to all those parents who have sent in gifts – including the class collection - and all the well wishes. It is never expected, but always appreciated!
The Year 6 team have thoroughly enjoyed the academic year so far and are looking forward to another great term in January. If you wish to continue any learning over the holidays, please see the virtual classroom attached once more. Can you hear the ring of jingle bells? Love Reading 4 Kids have released their mid-December newsletter. There's still time to order your Christmas books; their Christmas Gift Guide is full of festive treats for all ages, and you can also find more ideas for your perfect presents in their round-up of the best fiction and non-fiction books of 2022.
When we first return in Spring term, our Geography, Art and DT topics will all be linked to Africa and how our town of Formby compares to different areas in the continent.
We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Christmas holiday. Thank you once again and we will see you all in 2022!
Date: 8th Dec 2022 @ 8:08pm
The Christmas festivities have continued with no sign of slowing down!
Music played a key role in celebrating Christmas this week. On Monday, the children practised singing various carols for the Christmas Service next Friday at St. Peter’s Church. Some of the children will also be visiting St. Joseph’s Care Home next Monday afternoon to sing these carols to some of their residents. On Tuesday, we had the wonderful opportunity to attend a ‘Discover Music’ event, which took place at Litherland High School. The children were able to watch an orchestra perform some classic songs live - and some of the children even had the chance to try different instruments under the guidance of some specialist music teachers too! Our week concluded with our final brass lesson of the term; thank you to Mrs Fogg for all her support and guidance this term.
Continuing with the Christmas theme, we took part in our final Santa Dash in primary school on Thursday. Father Christmas escorted us onto the field where we ‘dashed’ around the course! Some children were determined to win while others chose to make the most of their final Christmas lap at Trinity St. Peter’s! Christmas Party Day on Friday was a particular highlight for the class. In the morning, we played lots of games, including Mr King’s ‘Extreme Pass the Parcel’, unwrapping layers to reveal either rewards or dares! Such dares included carolling at Mrs Meredith’s door; competing against friends to get as many selfies as possible with teachers around the school; hunting for shoes and even issuing dance-off challenges to staff!
Outside of the Christmas celebrations, we took part in ‘An Hour of Code’ on Wednesday, led by our Digital Leaders. Under their guidance, the class had to apply their coding skills to be able to play the game, ‘Code Combat: Goblins and Glory’. This was enjoyable, but certainly provided challenges…and not just to our Digital Leaders, who were able to briefly experience the life of a teacher! In Science, we also started learning about the circulatory system, which we will be exploring in more detail during next week’s ‘Science Day’.
We had our final History lessons this week, much to the sadness of the children, who have thoroughly enjoyed learning all about WW1 and WW2 this term. On Wednesday, our young historians learned about all the key events of WW2, exploring a range of resources such as newspaper articles, maps, textbooks, local documents and equipment such as ration books and medical boxes. The children particularly enjoyed using their iPads to try and find out more about the names listed in the documents and on the equipment. Thursday’s final lessons saws us concluding our learning by summarising what life would have been like in Britain during WW2 and then having the opportunity to research our own lines of inquiry. It was particularly interesting to see the range of topics the children wanted to spend more time researching, such as: the role of the Soviet Union; the conflict between USA and Japan; how the LGBTQ+ community were treated; what medical equipment was used to treat the injured; advancements in weapons and warfare.
A special ‘well done’ to those members of the class who supported the Reception Nativity by acting as the narrators. Also, ‘thank you’ to our Digital Leaders who helped with the music for the Nativity performances in Reception and Year 1, as well as helping classes with their ‘Hour of Code’ lessons. Our Sports Leaders have been a great help this week as well, helping set up lessons and lead activities in Year 6’s PE lesson on Wednesday.
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them that there are support videos attached to the tasks. If there are no available videos on SATs Companion then at least one Youtube video will be uploaded on Google Classroom.
We hope you all have a restful weekend and are excited for the festivities to continue next week!
Date: 1st Dec 2022 @ 4:37pm
It has been a week full of different activities and festivities!
As artists, the children continued their learning of both World War 1 and 2 by creating their own propaganda art. The children connected their learning to previous lessons, including our workshop with The Holocaust Museum last half-term and our visit from Formby Civic Society last week, where we had discussed what propaganda was and how it had been used in the wars, both nationally and locally. They were also given an opportunity to examine further, poster examples in the lesson and work out the messages behind them. The children then had the task to either create their own poster or re-create an example from the past, using various media. Most children opted for pencils or paint on this occasion and the results were excellent!
In PE, we were able to continue our gymnastic unit; the children worked in pairs / small groups on counter balances and counter tension. We saw some very creative thinking going on as the children performed their favourite balances at the end of the lesson for the rest of their peers! On Thursday’s lesson, we prepared for International Day for Persons with Disabilities on 3rd December by taking part in a carousel of activities that could be accessed and enjoyed by all: curling, boccia and goalball. This was a great experience for the children and they enjoyed taking part in a range of competitive games that they may not usually play.
Our Christmas festivities officially began on Thursday morning when the children were very excited to enter a decorated room, full of lights, candles and – of course - a Christmas tree! Friday afternoon was also TSP’s very own ‘Christmas Extravaganza!’ The children met Santa in his grotto and attended the Christmas Fair in the hall, where they could participate in different games, jump on the bouncy castles and even get their hair and face decorated! It truly was a magical way to finish the week. Thank you to Team TSP for organising it.
Having finished reading ‘George’ by Alex Gino, the class opted for a new, Christmas-themed novel to be read. As a result, we settled on ‘Christmasaurus’ by Tom Fletcher. This has given us different opportunities to ‘George’ as we have been able to take turns reading and singing the parts of the elves in front of our peers. There have been lots of laughs so far – and even a round of applause after our first reading session! We think this will be a firm, class favourite by the end of term. Our class Advent calendar is also providing us with further opportunities to read aloud. Instead of opting for a chocolate Advent calendar, we have gone for a ‘Storybook Collection’ calendar; each day, two children will be able to choose a short book and then visit Reception to read the story to their buddy. The children have been very excited about the prospect of this!
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them that there are support videos attached to the tasks. If there are no available videos on SATs Companion then at least one Youtube video will be uploaded on Google Classroom.
Date: 24th Nov 2022 @ 7:38pm
It has been yet another productive week in Year 6!
The start of the FIFA World Cup has continued to bring us many conversation topics linked to our PSHE curriculum, particularly those objectives on human rights and equality. Prior to the start of the tournament, we were able to discuss why there were protests happening as a result of Qatar being able to host The World Cup; this week, we were able to talk about Alex Scott wearing the ‘One Love’ wristband while covering action from the games, as well as the significance of the Iranian team not singing their national anthem. Monday afternoon was an opportunity for many of the children to focus on just the football aspect of the tournament and create an everlasting, primary school memory by watching the England match together in class. It was lovely to see the children sticking their ‘match ticket’ into their gratitude journal this week. ‘Thank you’ to those parents who also sent in snacks for the whole class to enjoy while watching the match; not expected, but very much appreciated.
Our History topic on WW2 continued this week with the children firstly learning about the reasons for the outbreak of the war in Tuesday’s lesson. We were able to re-visit some of last half-term’s STAR vocabulary – such as trigger, factor and ultimatum – as well as learn some new terms in the lesson, including ‘reparations’ and ‘colonies’. On Wednesday, we were very fortunate that John from Formby Civic Society was willing to visit us to talk about how the wars impacted Formby. He showed us photographs taken at the time in Formby; local newspaper articles describing the war, and also explained what some of the shops and buildings we see today used to be. We may never look at Formby in the same way again! The children were so engaged that John ended up staying until home time…and he still had to cut his presentation short! The children asked brilliant questions throughout the session and it was wonderful to see them thinking like historians, asking questions about his sources and how he found lots of his information. Well done, Year 6!
In PE, we continued with our gymnastics unit. We reviewed our progress from last week and revised how to do various forward rolls; those children who felt like they had mastered these different roles, then set themselves different challenges, such as rolling with no arms and starting in a handstand position. One child even started and finished in a handstand position! We then moved into the backwards roll, which some children actually found slightly easier. It was great to see lots of children raising their hands at the end of the lesson to share how they felt they had made progress within the lesson and demonstrate something they were proud of. Thursday’s PE lesson with Formby High School was led by some of their Sports Leaders in a special one-off session, which connected the children’s learning to the current FIFA World Cup and Rugby World Cup taking place. There were lots of red faces by the end of the session as the children divided into two groups for the two sports and each took part in a skill practice and then mini-match. Our final yoga session also took place this week; we would like to thank Sefton Active for leading on these sessions this half-term and providing the children with this rather relaxing opportunity!
In Maths, the children in both groups have been revising their understanding of fractions -working on problems and calculations that involve fractions with different denominators and mixed numbers. Mrs Martin’s group will be continuing with this next week while Mr King’s group will be revising all Y6 arithmetic objectives, following some assessments in the latter part of this week. The children should be very proud of their efforts in these. Mrs Martin's group will also be doing some assessments next week.
Friday brought the end to an emotional journey as we finished our class novel, 'George' by Alex Gino. The children have been thoroughly engaged with this text over the past two weeks as it has sparked questions and discussions on acceptance, diversity and respecting choices. The entire class raised their hands to say they enjoyed the story...this was a first for the children this term! It has now made it onto the 'Enjoyed By All' section of our Bookflix display.
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them that there are support videos attached to the tasks. If there are no available videos on SATs Companion then at least one Youtube video will be uploaded on Google Classroom.
We hope everyone has a lovely weekend – see you on Monday!
Date: 18th Nov 2022 @ 3:07pm
What a wonderful week it has been! We hope everyone enjoyed watching our Celebration of Kindness music video last weekend.
It has been a ‘celebration of kindness’ every day. In Year 6, we had previously discussed our school value of Nurture and how its intents are for us to be kind to each other, but also ourselves. We talked about how this was our final year of primary school and soon we would be going to secondary school, where our moods may change more frequently and we may feel like we are having more ‘down’ days as ‘moody teenagers’. As a result, we have ensured that every day this week we focused on our own wellbeing and paid extra special attention to our emotions, thinking of ways we could maintain our positivity and activities we could do to boost our mood when we are not feeling as positive as usual. Such activities have included mindfulness practice, creating gratitude journals and continuing with our weekly yoga sessions. We considered how others can affect our mood and on Wednesday, we had a morning of board games - thinking about we communicate each other and how we should aim to ensure everyone around us is also in a positive mood.
To be kind to those we have a responsibility of looking after, we invited our Reception buddies to create a piece of artwork with us on Wednesday afternoon, which our younger friends could then use to gift to others and spread kindness around the school. This was a lovely activity to observe, as the children needed to guide their buddies through the task, modelling how to create colourful hearts with messages of positivity attached. All the Year 6 children were excellent role models and we are sure the Reception children are very appreciative.
Friday brought the conclusion of Celebration of Kindness Week. In the morning, we were given the opportunity to be kind to our community by helping Team TSP create items that could be sold at Formby’s Christmas Market via our very own stall. This was a great opportunity for us to support the school while also mixing with friends from every year group.
Outside of our kindness-themed lessons, many of our curriculum subjects have continued. Continuing with our war unit in Art - in recognition of Remembrance Day - we read 'In Flanders Field' by John McCrae and analysed the words. We then explored the artwork of Claude Monet's 'The Poppy Field' before creating our own pieces in a similar style. The finished products were incredible; make sure you check out a sample on our Twitter feed.
PE on Tuesday saw the start of our gymnastics unit. The children revised their understanding of various rolls (forwards, backwards, straddle) and discussed how they could build on their prior learning and challenge themselves further with each one. Fortunately, teacher demonstrations were able to be kept to a minimum as we had many gymnasts in class willing to support their peers…phew! In PE on Thursday, the children were treated to some excellent strategy games as part of their OAA (Outdoor Adventurous Activities) learning, working alongside their Year 5 buddies to race against other teams and solve the clues. A special 'well done' to all the children for also receiving their Virign UK 'Mini Marathon' medials on Friday - what an achievement!
We know that next week, a lot of the children are excited to watch The World Cup. On Thursday, we had a class discussion about why there are protests about this event taking place in Qatar. We read news articles on the matter and debated several questions about whether it is right that Qatar that was able to host The World Cup and whether or not we should watch it. Following on from a lot of our learning this year – such as our class novel of ‘George’, our WW2 topic and Hate Crime Awareness Week – we were able to make many clear connections to our human rights and the importance of respecting diversity in our community. While we did not reach any unanimous decisions, we were all able to explore different viewpoints and could understands reasons for both sides of the arguments. We will be showing The World Cup on Monday and many of us will be supporting England as they play in their LGBTQ armbands. If any children do not wish to watch the game of Monday, they know that this is fine and their peers will respect their decision now that we all understand the current politics and debates.
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their books. Spellings have also been set. If your child is accessing their homework through SATs Companion and needs additional support, please remind them that there are support videos attached to the tasks. If it is ever the case that there are no available videos on SATs Companion then at least one Youtube video will be uploaded on Google Classroom.
We hope everyone has a lovely weekend – see you on Monday!
Date: 10th Nov 2022 @ 9:57pm
Another busy week in Year 6!
In Maths, Mr King’s group has worked incredibly hard on a number of tricky topics. They have not only revised their understanding of long multiplication from last year, but this week had to apply it to difficult reasoning problems, which certainly tested their mindsets and resilience levels! They have also learned new concepts and methods, such as BIDMAS and long division (using the chunking method). The latter is a particularly difficult method to master and so we will be continuing with this next week, although the children were praised several times during Thursday’s lesson for the progress they made in a very short space of time – well done! Mrs Martin’s group have been working on rounding and next week will move onto finding percentages of numbers.
As authors, Mr King’s group now on our final piece of writing, having finished the story, ‘Star of Fear, Star of Hope’. The children have now gone back to the start and are writing a recount of the initial events in the book, but this time from the perspective of the secondary character, Lydia. Next week, the children will then be able to link together all the shorter pieces they have written from Lydia’s point of view so far and use them to write up an extended piece in their author books. We can’t wait to read them! Mrs Martin’s group have also finished ‘Star of Fear, Star of Hope’ and there was not a dry in the room…from the teachers! Next week, the children will be reading ‘Erika’s Story’ by Ruth Zee and creating a piece of writing based on this text.
Plenty of discussions around reading have been had this week and the children have had lots of great ideas for a new display in class called ‘Bookflix’ where we can celebrate what we have been reading and recommend texts to our peers in a quick and easy way. We have also started a new class novel following a very close class vote between four potential books. We will now be reading ‘George’, by Alex Gino, although the novel has since been re-published and entitled ‘Melissa’. The book tells the story of a young transgender girl and although we have only read a couple of chapters, it has already generated so much discussion on equality, diversity, stereotypes and sense of belonging.
The children enjoyed our World War 1 topic so much that there was a class vote before we finished last half-term to change our History syllabus and allow the children to continue the war theme this half-term with more of a focus on World War 2. The power of democracy prevailed and this week we began our new unit by revising and recalling everything we knew so far about WW2 – thanks in large to the texts we have read and the Zoom sessions with the National Holocaust Museum and Holocaust survivor, Hedi Argent. In addition, we have started a new Art unit with a focus on poppies and the significance of them in relation to war and continued with our group visits to Formby Luncheon Club so the children can continue to pick up unique and personal knowledge of the wars from local residents. It is wonderful that all the children in the class will now have this opportunity!
On Friday, the children took part in Remembrance Day by attending a service at Formby War Memorial and laying a wreath, which they had created themselves. Although it was largely a time for reflection, it was also a good opportunity for the children to see first-hand how the wars affected our local community and to pay respects to the all the soldiers listed, whom we had previously been researching in class last half-term.
To conclude our week, the children were very excited to attend a special, whole-school assembly in the hall to watch the launch of our sixth ‘Celebration of Kindness’ music video! There were plenty of laughs in the hall as we watched ourselves, our peers and staff dancing around school last week and having fun. This is always a great way to launch our Celebration of Kindness Week and we hope all the children have fun watching the video again over the weekend with their families. Remember, the video can be found on our Vimeo channel!
We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and is excited for the week ahead - celebrating kindness!
Date: 4th Nov 2022 @ 8:33am
It has been a week of singing, dancing and laugher this week!
In RE, we started our first unit, ‘Life as a Journey’. To begin, we reflected on what we mean by the word, ‘journey’ and used a Double Bubble Thinking Map to demonstrate the differences and similarities between life and journeys. We then considered how our whole life is a journey and discussed the many journeys people make through both choice and sadly forced to . Over the upcoming weeks, we will be exploring the different journeys others take, including those of particular religions, race and heritage and hopefully making lots of thoughtful connections.
In Maths, Mr King’s group has revised all previous topics from last half-term, recapped Roman Numerals knowledge from Years 4 and 5 and also done lots of work on decimals. This has included ordering decimals and multiplying them. Next week, we will be moving onto long multiplication and long division. In Mrs Martin’s group, they will be revisiting and building upon their knowledge of division and division related problems.
As scientists, we concluded our learning on classification by focusing on microorganisms. We learned that microbes or microorganisms are too small to be seen with the naked eye and vary in size; also, that there are millions of different types, but there are five main groups that scientists use to classify them. It was highlighted how microorganisms can be harmful, but that some can also be useful and play an important part in decomposition.
We are very lucky that this half-term, we will be taking part in yoga sessions every Wednesday afternoon with Sefton Active. The children had their first session this week and - during their post-session reflection – noted how calm and relaxed they felt afterwards. Hopefully, this will be a very rewarding experience for our pupils and a hobby they may wish to continue in the future.
As last month was Black History Month, we have been reading, 'Happy Here: 10 Stories from Black Authors and Illustrators'. The stories we have read so far have been a great stimulus for lots of different PSHE discussions, including different family structures.
Perhaps the main highlight for the children over the past two weeks has been filming our whole-school music video for our Celebration of Kindness Week. The school has been filled with laughter as we have discussed different scenes to film, learned choreography and focused on our performing and acting skills. Our Year 6 pupils thoroughly enjoyed filming their scenes and that is certainly reflected in the video, which will be found on our Youtube channel at the end of next week when we officially launch Celebration of Kindness Week.
The children are aware of how to access their homework for next week – either on SATs Companion or in their book. Next week’s spelling test in Mr King’s group is a recap of the previous three weeks. Please remember that the children can also access their virtual classroom on Google Classroom if they wish to access further learning at home.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 18th Oct 2022 @ 11:55am
Well…we have reached the end of our first half-term in Year 6!
On Monday, we had an incredible opportunity to ‘Zoom’ with Holocaust survivor, Hedi Argent. Having heard about the treatment of the Jewish community during WW2 this half-term, the children were very excited about the prospect of speaking to somebody who lived during this time and already had plenty of questions they wanted to ask before the session even started! Hedi was so fantastic in sharing her story, including how life was for her as a Jew in an Austrian school in the 1930s and how her family sought refuge in the UK after Kristallnacht. She also shared life lessons she had learned around inclusion and kindness, which still stand today.
Our Science lessons this week have seen the children learning all about the classification of living things, building on their prior understanding from their animal topic in Year 4. So far, the children have classified different animals, recapped key vocabulary such as ‘vertebrate’ and ‘invertebrate’ and created fact files about different species. Friday’s Science lessons saw the children learning about the classification of plants and microorganisms, as well as the benefits and dangers of the latter.
In PE, we saw the return of a firm favourite: Kinball. On Thursday afternoon, the children took part in a match - refereed by some of Formby High School's Sports Leaders. A great time was had! Also, a special 'well done' to those girls who represented the school in a football tournament on Thursday after school. Once again, they represented the school well and managed to pick up a couple of victories over different schools.
Many of the children were particularly excited on Thursday as it was the 'Glow in the Dark' disco organised by Team TSP. Lots of singing, dancing...and lots of sweets! It was a great way to end our first half-term back after the summer holidays.
Spellings, which the children will be tested on in the first week back after half-term, are available on Google Classroom. No specific Maths or SPAG homework has been set for over the half-term break however October’s virtual classroom has been attached to this blog – should the children wish to consolidate any learning.
It is hard to believe that this half-term has already come to an end. Our ‘Choose Wisely’ topic linked to the film, Encanto, seems like so long ago. We cannot believe just how much we have packed into these past two months, but we have had many highlights, including:
-Meeting and spending time with our Reception buddies;
-Our Robinwood residential;
-Winning the Sefton Sumdog Contests;
-All the different Maths games;
-Our WW1 & WW2 History topics;
-Taking part in a virtual workshop led by National Holocaust Museum;
-Zooming with a Holocaust Survivor.
We are sure next half-term will be just as busy!
Have a great half-term break everyone!
Date: 13th Oct 2022 @ 9:25pm
Another busy week indeed!
On Monday, we celebrated Hello Yellow Day. We discussed the purpose of the day and reminded ourselves that the term, ‘mental health’ isn’t a negative concept; we can have positive mental health and negative mental health. We then recapped some of the insecurities we had anonymously expressed last week and it was reiterated that the subjects on the board should not be used as a joke – even if we think it is in good humour with our closest friends – as we do not know how everyone is really feeling on the inside. To summarise our discussion, we shared strategies we use to help ourselves when we are feeling negative and referred back to our school value of ‘Nurture’, which reminds us to be kind to ourselves as well as others. In the afternoon, we completed a mindful walk with our Reception buddies, where we follow a path of yellow flags, each containing a message of positivity for us to read.
In Maths, we have continued to develop our understanding of place value while also revising some of the mathematical fundamentals, such as number bonds and multiplication facts. Both groups have worked hard and faced fun challenges along the way, from game shows to elimination games. We are definitely enjoying Maths in Year 6 at the moment! Next week, Mr King’s group will be moving onto negative numbers while Mrs Martin’s group will be recapping the work they have done this week on multiplying by 10, 100 and 1000 before moving onto dividing by 10, 100 and 1000.
Our History topic has certainly continued to stir up intrigue and excitement amongst the children. Once we learned about the factors and trigger that started World War 1 – confirming some of our earlier predictions and research last week – we moved into exploring the impact of The Great War in our local community. We must thank Formby Civic Society and Merchant Taylors Boys’ School for providing us with so many incredible resources, including yearbooks from 1916 and 1918 to an online version of Formby’s Roll of Honour, which have allowed us to make our own lines of enquiry about particular soldiers and areas of Formby. On Friday, a small group of pupils were also able to visit Formby Luncheon Club to interview some of the members about their experiences of war, so we look forward to hearing about their findings on Monday. The children have been disappointed every time the end of a lesson has been announced this week!
A special ‘well done’ to those girls who took part in a football tournament on Thursday. We are so proud of how well you represented our school and we look forward to watching you progress as a team over the year.
Homework has been set and the children are aware of what this is. Spellings can be found on Google Classroom.
Have a great weekend, everyone!