Year 6 Team: Mr M King (Class Teacher), Mrs L Martin : Blog items
Date: 7th Oct 2022 @ 10:22am
A very busy week in Year 6!
Having recovered from our residential at Robinwood, we have began our first History topic, focusing on World War 1. Before being provided with knowledge from their teacher, the children had to make inferences and predictions about The Great War based on artefacts provided and genuine newspaper articles from that period. Once we had summarised our initial thoughts, we also questioned the reliability of newspapers and considered why the sample provided to us may not show us everyone’s perception of the war (e.g. British newspapers’ reporting may differ from Germany’s relaying of information). This was also supported by National Poetry Day on Thursday, where we saw the perception of war through the eyes of a soldier when we read and performed the sarcastic lyrics of ‘Oh! What a Lovely War!’ by Courtland and Jeffries. It will be interesting to compare these words to those in Siegfried Sassoon’s poems next week.
On Friday, we were treated to a virtual workshop led by The National Holocaust Centre and Museum. Following on from our learning about World War 1 and linked to our current unit for writing (which centres around the book, ‘Star of Fear, Star of Hope’), we delved further into the story of World War 2, including how the Jewish community were treated and how this was able to happen. The children’s knowledge of WW2 was certainly developed, particularly their understanding of antisemitism and how the Jews were allowed to be treated so badly in Germany during this time. Thank you to the National Holocaust Centre for providing this opportunity for the children! We particularly enjoyed the final messages around being a courageous advocate and having the courage to stand up for others if we see an injustice or somebody / people being treated unfairly.
We have commenced Maths and Writing lessons in our groups. In Maths, both groups have been learning about place value - reading and writing numbers, ordering, rounding – and this will continue next week. Outside of these lessons, the children also took part in the Sefton Sumdog Contest, where they had one week to answer 1000 questions on the iOs app. After a closely fought battle with Year 4, as well as the four Year 6 classes in Churchtown Primary, our Year 6 pupils managed to finish in…1st place! A terrific effort for our first contest of the year and hopefully all the children can be proud of what they have achieved. We were still in 2nd place at 7pm on Thursday evening, but managed to claim the top of the leaderboard in the final hour due to the children’s work ethic at home. A special ‘well done’ to those pupils who answered the majority of their questions at home, as well as those who answered all 1000 questions in the time frame. Keep up the good work!
Mr King’ writing group has started its first unit, which, as already mentioned, centres around the book, ‘Star of Fear, Star of Hope’ by Jo Hoestlandt. In this story, which is set in France during the Nazi occupation of World War II, a child named Helen recalls the mounting persecution of her Jewish friend. This week, the children read the initial few pages, learned about Hitler and his perception of the Jewish people, and wrote some short extracts that focused on particular grammar and punctuation objectives, such as using inverted commas. Over the course of this unit, the children will be looking at how to write newspaper articles, diary entries and recounts. We can’t wait to see their final piece when they put all their skills together!
Mrs Martin’s group have began their writing journeys by making connections to their experiences at Robinwood. They have been working on sentence structure and writing in first-person narrative to create a recount piece. Once they have completed this task, they too will start on their WW2 ‘Star of Fear, Star of Hope’ unit.
As part of our PSHE curriculum, we took part in a class discussion on the impact of words on our mental health. To begin, we were introduced to two new members of class: Sarah the Apple and Bob the Apple. The children were told to be really kind to Sarah and say nice things to him but were instructed to laugh at Bob and tease him. Unfortunately, when we revealed how they looked on the inside afterwards, Bob was rotten. The children understood the important message of this initial activity: words can hurt.
Our final activity was to anonymously write down some of our insecurities. We acknowledged that sometimes we can tease our friends in a playful manner - believing that everyone is enjoying the joke - but it may be the case that what we are teasing somebody about is actually their biggest insecurity, or an insecurity of somebody else in the group, which could make them feel sad or ashamed. Therefore, it was a chance to share the comments we would not like to be brought up about ourselves at this moment in time. When we shared everyone’s responses, the class was silent. Firstly, we were surprised to see so many of the same insecurities mentioned repeatedly by different pupils. This ended up being rather reassuring to learn that we are not alone in our worries. However, we were also surprised by some of insecurities listed and pointed out a few that we would never have assumed could hurt someone’s feelings. We then agreed that we wouldn’t use any of the words / examples mentioned as we could risk hurting someone’s feelings without realising. Overall, it was a very thoughtful lesson that gave the children lots to think about. As we ran out of time, we will be continuing this session next week and unpicking some of the more common insecurities that the children expressed in more detail.
In PE, we developed our stamina and long-distance running techniques on Tuesday by taking part in a 15m ‘Beep Test’. This was a good opportunity for the children to develop strategies while also providing opportunities for discussions on mindset and setting personal challenges. It was lovely to see that many of the children said they actually enjoyed the test and would like to try and improve on their results next week! While running also forms part of our athletics unit, Tuesday’s lesson helped prepares us for the 2022 Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon we have entered. The children need to complete 13 laps of the school field to complete this challenge; we started our journey on Friday by completing a couple of laps with our Reception buddies!
A huge ‘congratulations’ to our UKS2 boys’ football team, who competed in the Formby Schools Tournament this week. The children were able to make it into the final – despite a penalty shootout in the semi-finals – where they finished the tournament in 2nd place. Well done! We cannot wait to see how you perform in future matches and tournaments.
Homework has been set for this week and the children are aware of what this is. Mrs Martin's homework will be completed in exercise books while Mr King's homework will be completed on SATs Companion. Please recall the SATs Companion Guide attached to an earlier blog to support parents and children at home. Weekly spellings can also be found on Google Classroom.
We hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Certificates have been sent home for Robinwood and Sumdog - please celebrate these at home!
Date: 26th Sep 2022 @ 6:46pm
Well...what a busy and exciting week it has been!
On Monday, it was particularly hectic as we began the week by celebrating the Harvest Festival at St. Peter’s Church. As well as enjoying the readings and drama performed by Year 5 pupils, we had been waiting to show off our singing and dance skills as we performed ‘Beautiful World’ and our new favourite, ‘Harvest Samba’! Being on the balcony in Church only added to the enjoyment!
Monday also saw us celebrating European Day of Languages. We were fortunate enough to be visited by an MfL teacher from Kidslingo, who talked to the children about the importance of knowing an additional language before recapping some prior Spanish learning with them, including vocabulary for numbers and emotions.
In between these events, we also took part in a whole-school ‘Readathon’ challenge on Monday and also Tuesday. This provided great opportunities for the children to ‘drop everything and read’ for pleasure. It was also lovely to hear about what the children have been reading in school and at home.
Tuesday was an extra special day as the children co-hosted an ‘afternoon tea’ for Reception parents, alongside their buddies. As always, it was so lovely to see the Year 6 children supporting their younger peers - especially during their musical performance, which was a rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story. We were also particularly impressed with our Year 6 pupils when they introduced their buddies and shared several facts about them with the parents. Our children spoke confidently and projected their voices clearly. Well done, Year 6!
From Wednesday onwards, it was the trip many of us had been eagerly awaiting…our residential at Robinwood! We know that our parents have been keeping a close eye on the Twitter feed and have appreciated the efforts of our staff to post regular updates – while also supporting the children and getting involved in the activities themselves. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience as they faced fears, challenged themselves and continued to strengthen the bonds they have made with their friends and the adults in class. Thank you to the children, Robinwood and the TSP staff for working so well together to create the magical few days we have had. We are sure this has been an experience they won't forget!
Please note: pre-ordered souvenirs from Robinwood will be handed out on Monday. Any medication will be handed back over to parents as soon as possible.
We hope the children sleep well tonight and that you all have a very relaxing weekend!
See you on Monday!
Date: 23rd Sep 2022 @ 2:21pm
Although it was a shorter week this week, we still managed to achieve a lot!
In Collective Worship this week, we focused on our Christian monthly value of ‘Respect’, reminding ourselves of our discussions at the start of term on why the choice of characters for Encanto was positively received by the public for its diversity (Mirabel wearing glasses, the film being set in Colombia etc.). We then watched the new Little Mermaid trailer and learned about the mixed reaction the trailer had had due the change in ethnicity of Aerial from the original movie. We talked about why representation is important and how it has progressed over the years in the media. To really cement our understanding, we then watched a video that had gone viral over the weekend, which showed little girls’ surprise and overjoyed reactions to seeing the ‘new Aerial’ with a similar skin colour to their own.
A particular highlight this week was our singing lessons. The children have had songs to learn for the Harvest Service next Monday morning, as well as a special song they will be performing with their buddies in front of the Reception parents next Tuesday afternoon. Despite some initial reservations, we were soon blown away by the children’s confidence and enthusiasm within the first fifteen minutes of rehearsals! Over half of the class wanted to stand up and sing solos and by the end, we were all taking part in a Harvest Samba ‘conga’ around the classroom! It was great to hear so many children requesting we practise the songs again in the days that followed – this bodes well for our leavers’ performances at the end of the year!
This week, it was National Fitness Week. In PE we continued with our athletics unit, working on different throwing events such as javelin and chest push, while also revising skills from previous PE lessons this term such as long jump. On Friday, we concluded our week by joining Dame Darcey Bussell for a live dance workshop!
A significant amount of time this week has also been taken up by assessments as the children have had their first practice of sitting past SATs papers. They have shown great determination and resilience throughout this process and we have been very impressed with their efforts – especially since they have just come back from their summer break and there will be content in these papers which we have not yet covered! The children were fully aware of this and know that these assessments were just to determine their ‘starting point’ for the year, as we discussed in our ‘Y6 parent meeting’ on Tuesday.
We hope the children are looking forward to Robinwood. We have answered lots of the children’s queries regarding Robinwood in class this week; groups and timetables will be shared with them next week. Please ensure you have a luggage label to attach to your child’s luggage on Wednesday; there are extra labels in class and in the school office. Souvenir orders should be sent to the class email account (y6@tsp.sefton.school) before Monday at 9am.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Date: 16th Sep 2022 @ 8:22am
Our second full week in Year 6 is now complete!
We concluded our Encanto mini-topic this week with several lessons focused on our school values. To begin, we revised the intents for each of our values before watching particular scenes from the film and identifying as a class which value the scene best represents. At times, we were able to articulate why more than one value was demonstrated by various characters, which also helped us understand how our school values are all connected. On Tuesday, we then applied our understanding by creating a Top Trumps game with the characters from Encanto, rating each of them against our five school values. Not only did this encourage us to reflect on each character’s personality traits and actions during the film, but it made us think critically as we also had to ensure the ratings we gave each character ensured the game could be played effectively. For example, although Mirabel was the main protagonist, her card needed at least one area where she could be defeated in the game for it to still be enjoyable.
Our Spanish lesson this week remained Encanto-themed and following on from our Top Trumps lesson, we focused on personality traits. The children were given a list of Spanish adjectives to look up in their dictionaries and on their iPads and then apply to the different characters, writing full sentences to describe each person’s personalities.
In preparation for our Maths assessments taking place next week, we took part in a variety of games to revise our number facts and times tables. Chanting, ‘quick fire’ throwing and catching, speed challenges and ‘shoot out’...the children have enjoyed a variety of fun ways to learn. However, perhaps their highlight this week has been their introduction to Gimkit, where the children have loved playing ‘Trust No One’, a game inspired Among Us. Using their multiplication facts, the children had to earn points to run tests on their ‘crew mates’ and identify the ‘imposters’ on the ship. It has been lovely to see so many children asking in the mornings and at break times if we can play another game – long may the enthusiasm continue!
Our brass lessons recommenced on Friday afternoon as well. The children enjoyed hearing a few different pieces they could learn over the next term as well as playing some games to test their listening skills and understanding of tempo.
Spellings and homework will commence next week – once we have sat our assessments and are in the usual routine of Maths and Writing groups each morning with Mr King and Mrs Martin. However, the children have now been introduced to the iOs app /website, SATs Companion, which many of the pupils will be using for their homework and all will be using to revise for the SATs later in the year. A guide for parents on how to use SATs Companion has been attached to this blog. If your child has forgotten their password, they can find it in their ‘Password’ section on Google Classroom. There are many other useful features on the site, including a ‘Practice’ section, where the children can access videos and lessons on all KS2 objectives for Maths, Reading and Writing at any time. Please do encourage the children to use this section at home to support them with their ongoing learning in these areas. Children may wish to familiarise themselves with this resource alongside their parents over the next week prior to homework commencing.
Please recall that the Y6 meeting for parents has been re-scheduled for next Tuesday at 5pm. The meeting will take place in the Y6 classroom and parents can enter through the classroom door. As per the message sent via School Spider, if you are unable to attend, please do inform Mr King so that resources from the meeting can be still shared.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend. See you on Tuesday!
Date: 9th Sep 2022 @ 4:43pm
What a brilliant start we have had to Year 6!
It really has been fantastic to see all the children return to school with such excitement and enthusiasm. They have all settled in so quickly and the ‘Year 6’ team spirit is evident already!
The majority of our first week back has been taken up by our first PSHE topic, which focuses on the Disney film, Encanto. The film has helped us to recall our school’s vision and values while also allowing us to reflect on our school motto, ‘Choose Wisely’. Throughout the week, the children have participated in various discussions around the themes of the film, as well as individual characters. Using our thinking hats and maps, we have been able to expand on our ideas and consider others’ viewpoints as we have tried to understand what different characters are feeling, the adversities they are facing and how they are choosing to overcome these challenges. This week has also been a great opportunity to connect our learning with our school’s 4C Thinking Curve and reflect on how - throughout the year - we should welcome challenges, as challenges can lead to better outcomes.
Encanto spread across our curriculum as we practised our sketching skills in Art to draw Casita, the house where the Madigral family live. We also enjoyed learning new Spanish vocabulary on Tuesday and Wednesday to write sentences in Spanish about Mirabel’s family tree. The children thoroughly enjoyed their first PE lesson on Tuesday afternoon, where it seemed only right that the lesson should be Encanto-themed as well, thus the children were divided into groups and took part in various team challenges that represented different characters. They had to ‘carry the world’ as Luisa, move with the grace and elegance of Isabella and work as a family in a class game of bench ball. We were very impressed with the children’s attitude towards competition during this first session…so much so, they were able to play an extra game of bench ball as a reward!
Thursday’s PE lesson was led by Formby High School’s Mr Brindley and his Sport Leaders. In preparation for our athletics lessons and potential athletic competition later in the year, we worked on our jumping skills. The children attempted several courses that tested their jumping skills to varying levels before applying them on the ‘long jump’ mat. The children certainly worked their leg muscles – there may be some future Olympians among us!
Perhaps the highlight of the children’s week came on Friday afternoon when they were able to meet their Reception buddies. No doubt the children will have told their parents all about it this evening, but it truly was lovely watching the children get to know each other and spending time together doing various activities. The Year 6 children are already very excited to see their new friends very soon…despite being worn out from all the running around after them! Be sure to check out our Year 6 Twitter page to see pictures of all the children.
Please note: following yesterday’s sad announcement of the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, we did come together in class on Friday to remember her and her 70 years of service. We discussed how she inspired us all to live out the Christian values in our daily lives before we observed a one minute silence together.
We know that many children are excited for our school residential to Robinwood in Wrexham towards the end of the month. Please ensure you have visited their website and read all the information given, including their FAQ page. Further information – specific to our school’s trip – will be provided in the upcoming weeks. As per the Autumn diary dates shared with parents today, we will also be holding a meeting for Y6 parents on September 19th to discuss the residential, as well as the SATs in May. If you have questions prior to this meeting, please do not hesitate to get in touch via the class account (y6@tsp.sefton.school).
Please note that weekly homework (including spellings) will commence once the children have sat some initial assessments next week and been split into separate Maths and Writing groups with either Mr King or Mrs Martin.
In terms of Year 6 reading, the children will have daily opportunities to read, either independently, in a group or as a whole class. Those children who receive their ‘home reading books’ from school will also still be listened to individually every week by an adult. However, it is really important that the children are encouraged to read daily at home and with an adult if possible. If you are struggling with book choices, please refer to the recommendations listed on our ‘Learning at Home’ page, or let us know and we will be able to offer suggestions. A recommended list is also attached to this blog.
Thank you to everyone for making the start to this academic year so wonderful. We hope you all have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing you all next week. We are certain it is going to be action-packed!
Date: 15th Jul 2022 @ 7:46am
Well...the day has finally arrived! Today, we said our final goodbyes and finished our time here at Trinity St. Peter's.
Even in this final week, we have still been able to create some final memories of primary school. One would expect that the week would comprise entirely of leavers' celebrations, but we still managed to visit Formby High School on Tuesday morning to take part in their 'Maths Maze' against Redgate Primary and Freshfield Primary. We competed in groups and worked our way through 15 mathematical challenges and when all was said and done...we won! Two of our groups placed in the Top 3, one of which taking place. This was just the perfect moment for this class: even in the final week we are still achieving!
On Monday and Tuesday, we were able to perform our leavers' production for the rest of the school and our families. There was laughter, tears, but most of all...enjoyment. The script was written by the class and included all the memories, jokes and stories they wanted to reminisce about with their audiences. The children shone in every sense: their acting was superb, their comedy timing was impeccable and their singing was just beautiful. We were all so incredibly proud of them.
Our Leavers' Service on Friday was equally as emotional with presentations, montages, dancing and one final opportunity for our pupils to show off their incredible voices. There was not a dry eye in St. Peter's Church!
There is not much left to write that has not already been said in class, at the production or in Church...we also need to save some final words for the party this evening in Warren Farm! Nevertheless, Year 6, you have been A-MAZ-ING. We have loved teaching you and watching you all grow as individuals and as a class. Bonds have been made for life and we can't wait to see you go onto achieve even more success and happiness in your secondary schools. We will miss you all.
Parents, we would like to thank you for the gifts and cards this week - never expected but always appreciated - and most of all, for your kind words. Your continued support has allowed the children to continue to thrive at Trinity St. Peter's in their final year and we look forward to celebrating with you all this evening.
Have an amazing summer, everyone!
Date: 8th Jul 2022 @ 1:25pm
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Can you believe this was our penultimate week at Trinity St. Peter’s?!
We are now feeling confident during our leavers’ rehearsals. Well done to all the children, who have worked incredibly hard to learn their lines, songs and stage directions…all while trying to keep the production a secret from other year groups, teachers and parents! A few lucky members of staff have been able to have a sneak peak at the show and have all been amazed! This has included Mrs Whitehead from Formby High School, who thought the children perform amazingly well! Hopefully all parents have received their 3 tickets for the show and have received the messages on School Spider regarding details for Tuesday. We are very excited for you all to watch it now!
On Wednesday, we were able to have our final ‘Sports Day’ at Trinity St. Peter’s. We wanted to have a strong emphasis on our value of ‘Enjoy’ and not take it too seriously. We agreed that if we were losing, we would ‘lose in style’ – just as long as it didn’t affect anybody else in the race who may still be trying to win. There was a great atmosphere throughout and we all had a great time taking part in the different races. Perhaps the highlight was our impromptu, parents’ three-legged race. Lots of laughter…and lots of competitive parents! We were very impressed with those children who managed to complete the lap with neither of their feet ever setting foot on the grass!
In PE we took part in our first netball session; we learned the rules of the game, how to pass effectively and even managed to play a couple of matches. There may have been a hidden agenda for this lesson though as on Friday, our girls’ netball team took part in a special tournament after school…involving both a teachers’ team and a parents’ team! Needless to say, it was very competitive, but also great fun! Thank you to all who got involved, including those children who came to cheer on all the participants.
This week the children enjoyed a visit from Sarah from Formby library who informed the children about this year's summer reading challenge. They were all very excited! We hope they will be able to enjoy the reading challenge and celebrate this with us when they return to school in September.
Next week, we will be continuing to rehearse for our leavers’ performance, as well as the Leavers’ Service on Friday. On Tuesday morning, we will also be walking to Formby High School to take part in their traditional ‘Maths Maze’ against other local primary schools…wish us luck!
We hope you all have a fantastic weekend and enjoy reading your EOY reports and SATs results - we are extremely proud of you all! Please remember to buy some extra tissues in preparation for next week!
Date: 30th Jun 2022 @ 8:40am
Another hectic week in the final half-term for our Year 6 pupils!
Production rehearsals have continued with the script now being finalised and all children happy with their roles. Parents should have received a message on Wednesday regarding clothes for the children to bring in; all other costumes will be organised / purchased by school. Mrs Meredith has reviewed our costume list and is very confused as to what the production is all about…but we think you will all enjoy it! Please encourage your child to practise their lines at home over the weekend - and try not to listen in!
On Tuesday, our final primary school trip took place as we ventured to Alton Towers! The children had been very excited in the build-up as we discussed how the day would work, looked at the theme park map and watched videos about particular rides. We set ourselves a challenge to all attempt Wicker Man when we first got there – before deciding if the ‘big rides’ were for us or not – and we are so proud to say that the class faced their fears and went on it! Well done, Year 6! Following this, we went on some rides as a class (The Rapids, Duel, Teacups) but also split into groups at various points to allow us to go on the types of rides we wanted. Despite limited time at the park, we were able to get on several other rides in groups, including Galactica, Nemesis and Blade. All in all, a successful day!
Throughout the week, it has also been the final Sefton Sumdog Contest of the year. As the inaugural winners for this academic year, we decided to enter one final time to bring a close to our mathematical journey at Trinity St. Peter’s. After a particularly hard push on Wednesday, we managed to climb from 10th place on the leaderboard to 1st place! Applying final pressure on Friday, we finished overall in…1st place! What a brilliant end to the week!
Our school book fair is currently taking place in the school portacabin and is open from 3.05pm to 3.30pm each day after school until next Wednesday 6th July. All purchases made, result in more books for our class libraries! Please do support us if you are able to, and thank you to those of you who have supported this event already. Your support is very much appreciated.
Finally, we hope all the children enjoyed their transition days at Greenbank High and Formby High School at the end of this week. It is all starting to become very real!
We look forward to seeing you all on Monday!
Date: 24th Jun 2022 @ 12:28pm
We are now halfway through our final half term of Year 6!
This week, it has been National Sports Week and we have celebrated it through a variety of ways. On Tuesday, we took part in a Lap of Hope – linked to our school value – which involved the children running a lap of the whole school, including through some of our classrooms! Prior to this, we reflected on all the sporting opportunities that have been able to return to school this year following Covid and national lockdowns and acknowledged our gratitude that ‘normality’ was able to return this year. The children then made ‘Power Pledges’ – writing down their hopes for the world in the future – and carried these around with them on their Lap of Hope. The day concluded with an assembly led by our Sports Ambassadors, which explained the upcoming Commonwealth Games. As it was also National Music Day, the assembly finished with the whole school singing Gary Barlow’s song, ‘Sing’. It was lovely to have all our KS1 and KS2 classes together this; once again, it was a symbol of normality returning after two years of disruptions.
Continuing with our sporting activities, the children have been able to take part in Bikeability sessions throughout the week. On Thursday, the children also had a practice of their upcoming Sports Day and for their PE lesson, they chose to play their favourite activity…dodgeball!
In a PSHE lesson on Thursday morning, we learned about athlete, Dame Kelly Holmes and why she is such a recognised GB athlete. We watched parts of her interview from This Morning on Wednesday where she ‘came out’ and were able to make connections to our conversations about footballer, Jake Daniels coming out earlier in the year. Once again, we recalled why public figures ‘coming out’ is still necessary in today’s society and how we should respect differences in all areas of life.
Our production rehearsals have been going well. The children have been given specific roles now, although this is still only an early draft and additional lines will be added in as we continue to rehearse for those children who want larger roles. Information regarding outfits will be shared next week, although this shouldn’t involve anything more than sourcing a t-shirt of a particular colour. Everything else will be purchased / sourced by the school.
We hope everyone enjoyed the Summer Fair on Friday. Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 16th Jun 2022 @ 8:44pm
It’s been ‘all singing, all dancing’ this week!
The rehearsals for our leavers’ production have moved up another level this week as have continued to learn more songs, learn actions and even give out a few solos! On Thursday, we also brainstormed some ideas we wanted to include in our script…without giving away too many details, it sounds like it is going to be fantastic! The children have been so impressive that we have even discussed the Leavers’ Service on the final day of term and began some preparations for this. We hope our parents are excited as we are!
In Writing, we have concluded our booklets for Formby High School by writing four paragraphs about somebody who we consider to be a ‘brilliant leader’. This has been a great opportunity to showcase our writing skills – as well as to provide an indication of our interests. 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, Star Wars’ Senator Palpatine…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!
It has been wonderful to see so many of our pupils taking part in extracurricular activities this week. A special ‘well done’ to the group of boys in our class who represented the school in the finals of a football tournament at Finch Farm on Tuesday; they finished in third place in their group after some fantastic performances. A huge ‘congratulations’ as well to the inaugural, girls’ netball team, who took part in a Formby tournament on Thursday…and won! Thoroughly deserved after an undefeated performance. Finally, well done to the two children in our class on the school’s Kindness Committee; they spent the day at Maghull High School on Thursday and earned the Diana Award’s Anti-Bullying qualification.
We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. If the children could learn the lyrics to all the songs we have sung this week – before they are given their acting parts in the leavers’ production next week – that would be very helpful!
Date: 10th Jun 2022 @ 1:28pm
Well, we are back…for our final half-term at Trinity St. Peter’s!
In Maths, we were finally able to present our theme park proposals to the rest of the class and staff ‘judges’! We still needed some preparation time on Monday to ensure our presentations were engaging, fully explained our reasons behind our designs and summarised the financial information clearly. On Tuesday, we delivered our presentations…and they were fantastic! The range of ideas and the children’s attention to detail were phenomenal. The judges were extremely impressed and all the children should be very proud of their efforts! There are certainly some budding entrepreneurs in Year 6!
In Reading and Writing, we have been working through our transition booklets for Formby High School. The themes have been been ‘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 has been to write four paragraphs about a leader of our choice; so far, we have each selected a particular individual and collated lots of information through research on our iPads. The children’s choices have ranged from fictional Star Wars characters to family members – we can’t wait to see what they produce next week!
We were very fortunate to be invited to Formby High School on Friday morning to take part in a special Science lesson which focused on working scientifically and carrying out an investigation. The children collected and set up their own equipment – including Bunsen burners – before being presented with various household solutions to test whether they were acids or alkalis. The children were thoroughly engaged and the activity was a great insight into the typical, practical lessons they will be taking part in next year. Thank you to Mr Kaye from Formby High School for leading the session!
Throughout the week, we have continuing to practise our drama skills, both in class and with Mrs Whitehead from Formby High School as part of our PE lessons. The children were introduced to the potential, opening scene of their leavers’ production and asked for their thoughts and opinions before the creation of the script continued. The children were very enthusiastic about it and it was great to see so many asking for bigger speaking roles. We have also learned a few of the songs we will be performing at the end of term and once again, the children’s efforts have continued to impress. We think it is going to be a great show! We have talked about how our parents will enjoy the show more if our plans and the final script are kept a surprise…so please do try and have some restraint at home and avoid asking your children about what they will be doing! We can however assure you that all the children will get the type of part in the show which they want.
A special ‘well done’ to those children who represented the school in a golf tournament at Formby Hall on Friday afternoon; another great opportunity for our pupils, who made us all very proud.
Information regarding Bikeability will be shared with parents shortly. We are just trying to finalise some final details with the company for our Year 6 cohort.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 27th May 2022 @ 12:39pm
We are now at the end of our penultimate half-term in Year 6!
In Collective Worship this week, Reverend Anne visited the children to remind them of St. Peter’s Uganda project with St. Peter’s school in Kalule. It is hard to believe that the last time some of our teachers and friends of the school visited was when this class were in Year 4, but we were able to recall some of the activities we did in school and why we have our Christian monthly value of ‘Koinonia’. Anne talked about some of the highlights of the project since it started and also provided some updates on what has happened since. This Collective Worship was a great opportunity to emphasise the importance of kindness in the community and to have gratitude for what we have in our school.
‘RSE Week’ has brought us lots of new information, questions and certainly some (possibly awkward) laughter along the way! On Monday, 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 parent, the relevant chapters of this book can be found on Google Classroom.) Throughout the rest of the week, 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 and were relieved to hear on Monday that the first lesson wasn’t as awkward as they thought it might be!
To supplement our RSE learning – and to help address the insecurities that some of us have mentioned over the year – Dr Smith also visited us on Wednesday morning to discuss dental hygiene and help dispel some misconceptions we have about our teeth. The children had lots of questions and we are very grateful that he could give up his time to help alleviate some anxieties.
In Maths, we continued with our ‘theme park’ project. Now that our parks have been constructed, we have had to calculate the running costs and then – from there – decide on our entrance admission fees to ensure we make a profit. The children have continued to enjoy this project and we can’t wait to see their pitches and presentations in the first week back after half-term.
As computer scientists, we have enjoyed more coding practice this week. On Monday, we explored the game, Crossy Roads, thinking carefully about its features and what makes it a good game. Later in the week, 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. We were then able to apply our knowledge by using the app to start creating our own version of Crossy Roads.
In preparation for our Jubilee celebrations, a significant part of our week has been taken up with our DT project: cooking and baking ‘the best of British’! Following BBC Good Food recipes, we made shortbread, sausage rolls, coronation chicken and cucumber sandwiches for a special picnic on Friday afternoon to mark the 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952.
In addition to our picnic preparation, we also saw the return of TSP’s Got Talent as part of our celebrations. On Friday morning, we had our Y6 talent show…and it was incredible! We laughed, we cried, we sat there open-mouthed at just how talented our peers are – it really was an amazing show! The children then voted for our two favourites, who later performed in front of the whole school and even the Royal Family! It was a great way to end our half-term. A special 'well done' to our two finalists and a huge 'congratulations' to a very worth winner. We are all so proud!
We hope everyone has a fantastic, week-long break. The SATs now seem like a distant memory but we hope the children have a well-earned rest after what has been a truly ‘packed’ six weeks!
See you all in a week!
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!
Date: 13th May 2022 @ 4:42pm
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! Lots of the children would like to visit the Year 5 children before the end of term to let them know this too. Well done, everyone - you are all superstars! A special 'well done' to those children who also came in despite sickness and family holidays taking place this week!
On Friday, we had our post-SATs celebration at Formby Beach. We had a terrific day, taking part in a range of activities in our friendship groups as well as a whole class. It was a joy for the teachers to watch all the children play so well together and organise themselves so easily. The photograph shared in this blog only took a few minutes to set up with no assistance from the adults! Games of rounders and 'man hunt', as well as general digging and surfing in the sand...we definitely made some lasting memories! Be sure to check our class Twitter page for all the pictures.
We hope the children all have a well-earned break this weekend..they certainly deserve it!
See you all on Monday!
Date: 6th May 2022 @ 4:15pm
Another week of determination and hard work in Year 6!
Our monthly Christian value is PERSEVERANCE, which could not be more appropriate as the children have persevered through SATs revision and techniques 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 Monday!
In Reading, we have worked on various skills, such as identifying the author’s purpose for writing and understanding how they are able to create different atmospheres, such as suspense or a feeling of danger. We also continued to work on how an author can give you an impression of a particular character and how best to retrieve the evidence which gives the reader their impression.
In PE, we had our second ‘survival / life skills’ swimming lesson, which was also our final swimming session in primary school! The children showed excellent stamina in carrying out a range of tasks in the swimming pool without touching the floor / side and remaining in their clothes! They should feel very proud of themselves.
Thursday’s PE session with Mr Brindley has seen the children revisit tag rugby, this time with all the children learning the rules of a match. We found the offside rule quite tricky, but we will continue to work on this over the next couple of weeks!
The end of the week saw us revising some SPaG knowledge. At the start of Friday afternoon, we welcomed the return of the very popular ‘Million Pound Drop’ game. In pairs, the children came up with their own personas and backstories before taking part in ten SPaG rounds – the goal being to keep all their money safe by answering the series of questions correctly. We had many pairings retain all of the prize money this time, which shows just how much knowledge the children have obtained over the year! Following this, the children left the classroom for a short break and returned to find…it had been transformed into a SPaG rave! Glow sticks, inflatable props and an array of colourful sunglasses were available as the children danced around to some of our favourite Grammasaurus songs. 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 two-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 Thursday morning!
Date: 29th Apr 2022 @ 4:09pm
The sun is shining and our spirits are high in Year 6!
This week, we have been working hard on preparing for our SATs papers in two weeks. In Maths, we have continued to practise our arithmetic skills while also revising various topics including: multiplying and dividing decimals; Roman numerals, algebra and shape. We have done this through a variety of activities and games. For example, on Wednesday, Mr King’s group enjoyed taking part in a ‘whodunit?’ problem-solving investigation and on Thursday they became the teachers as they marked a fictitious child’s reasoning paper - which encouraged them to explain their understanding to others and also notice errors that children can make when sitting assessments!
In Reading, we have worked on a range of skills, such as how to decide on the author’s intention and purpose for writing a piece of text. We have also consolidated our understanding of what a question means when it begins, “What impression do you get…?” The children have been worked incredibly hard on enhancing their reading skills and we continue to be so impressed by their work ethic.
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 trying to remove their wet 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 what their homework is for this week. No additional tasks have been set on SATs Companion as there are still many set tasks to complete, including practice assessments. The children should take some time continue to work on their individual targets in the ‘Practice’ section or in their CGP books, doing as much as they feel they need to do / want to do.
We hope the sunshine continues over this long weekend and hope everyone has an enjoyable three days away from the classroom. See you all on Tuesday!
Date: 22nd Apr 2022 @ 3:37pm
A short, first week back…but still plenty to talk about!
On Tuesday, we welcomed the children back after the Easter break. The children enjoyed sharing their latest adventures and stories with one another!
In recognition of Earth Day 2022, this week the children enjoyed spending time with their Reception buddies over in Forest School. Together the children undertook a big class litter pick, teaching their buddies the importance of taking care of their environment. On Friday, we discussed in more detail why we have Earth Day and what its main purpose is before taking in the Blue Planet Live lesson.
In Maths, Mr King’s group have focused on geometry, particularly translation and reflection and how to use a mirror to support them with the latter. They also revisited ratio to learn about scale factors and how to solve problems involving these. Mrs Martin’s group also worked on data handling and reflection and translation.
Our swimming lessons resumed on Wednesday, which served as a welcome relief from the warm weather! Mr King’s group briefly recapped some key technique points for front crawl and backstroke, before moving into breaststroke, while the rest of the children focused on their backstroke technique. Hopefully all parents have received a message via School Spider regarding next week’s lesson: children will need pyjamas or spare clothes to do some life skill / survival practice.
Mr Brindley also returned this week. Having heard about how well the children had done in their tag rugby lessons last term, he wanted to see it for himself in preparation for secondary school! The children enjoyed revising their skills again, as well as playing a few, new warm-up games beforehand.
The children are aware of what their homework for this week is. Spellings have also been set on Google Classroom for next week. They also have additional tasks set on SATs Companion – as well as their CGP books – if they wish to do any further revision at home.
Love Reading have chosen their 'top book picks' for April and May. More, highly-rated children's reads, from a variety of authors for different age ranges, are shared with us all to enjoy.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 31st Mar 2022 @ 9:38am
The Easter break has arrived!
Several Easter events and activities took place throughout the week, including the Easter Service on Thursday morning at Holy Trinity Church; a visit from the Easter Bunny and an Easter-themed, active Maths lesson on Friday morning, where – once again – the teachers’ chicken costumes returned. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year since our last Easter Maths challenge!
Also in Maths this week, all the children revised their understanding of various calculations involving decimals (particularly multiplication calculations such as 4.32 x 5 and 0.2 x 0.03) and recalled which methods and strategies they would use to solve each problem. We then moved onto measurement and focused on converting between mm, cm, m and km before trying some tricky reasoning problems involving distance. The Year 6 Maths Knowledge sheet can be found in the virtual classroom on Google Classroom and has been attached to this blog. It would be really helpful for your child if they can recall all the mathematical facts on that sheet to support them in their reasoning challenges.
We have continued to read our class book, ‘The Lion Above the Door’ by Onjali Rauf. The children have enjoyed hearing the latest part of the novel, which has centred around Leo and his friends coming up with a scheme to obtain records about former RAF soldiers from a museum. A particular highlight this week has been the children adding their own ‘layers’ to each character by requesting particular voices for each one. Despite not being set in Liverpool, we now have a very scouse character named Olivia and have laughed hysterically at Bo’s girlfriend, Jules, who we are told is going through ‘hormones’ and so now has an incredibly deep voice!
Last week, we were lucky enough to receive a delivery of tree stumps, which have been placed in the small garden area behind the bike shed. The children enjoyed taking some time this week to use the space to read independently and a group of children also chose to use this area to practise mindfulness, while others took part in the ‘Mindful Mile’ on the field and others opted to do some mindfulness colouring.
Our final day of term brought plenty of laughter as it was April Fool's Day! Despite the children's best efforts - including spicy cupcakes and rearranging the classroom at break time - they were no match for the teachers! Firstly, the children were given false information about Google updating Maps and allowed to come up with their own 'Easter Egg' formation on the playground...to only wait for a considerable period of time! They were then given some rather underwhelming 'brownies' at break time and an unsolvable wordsearch. There were plenty of humorous groans of frustration heard throughout the morning!
The children are aware of their homework tasks. Extra tasks have been set on SATs Companion for over the Easter break, in addition to the assessments already set. Spelling lists have been attached to this blog once more, but can also be found in the ‘virtual classroom’ section on Google Classroom. We encourage the children to do as much as they are comfortable with, but please remember that mental health is the priority and SATs Week is not something to be worrying about – especially given the last couple of the years.
We hope you all have a lovely Easter break!
Date: 25th Mar 2022 @ 12:18pm
It is hard to believe that we only have one more week of another half-term in Year 6!
On Monday, we celebrated World Poetry Day! The children loved watching the legendary poet, Michael Rosen, give tips on how to perform poetry. After reading through an anthology of poems (ranging from Christina Rosetti to Ken Nesbitt), the children then chose a poem to perform to the class. It was a great celebration of our love of language and an afternoon which was enjoyed by all!
In Maths, Mr King’s group has focused on coordinates, in particular identifying coordinates across quadrants and finding missing coordinates of different shapes. In Mrs Martin’s group, the focus has been on algebra; the children then also revised coordinates towards the end of the week. Next week, both groups will be revising measurement. It would be helpful if the children could refer back to the KS2 Maths Knowledge Organiser (attached to the ‘virtual classroom’ on Google Classroom) over the weekend so that they already some knowledge of measurement facts before the lesson, e.g. number of millilitres in a litre; how many kilometres are equivalent to a mile.
In SPaG, we have continued to revise all the different terminology through a variety of activities. Games on Blooket and Gimkit have continued to both engage and excite the children…particularly those that involve sabotaging each other! ‘Trust No One’ also appears to be a firm favourite as it very similar to the popular game, ‘Among Us’. We have also worked through past papers, but in a more informal way where we have answered questions in small chunks and had opportunities to discuss and explain our answers to our peers.
The children’s stamina in swimming has continued to improve. The number of laps of the pool we are completing is continuing to increase and it has been great to see some children really challenging themselves with individual targets (e.g. completing a length of the pool without touching the side). The same can be said for our running warm-ups in PE; the children are continuing to push themselves each week and either improve their finishing time for two laps of the field, or ensuring that they do not stop for a break until a further point than the week before. Hopefully, through these activities, we are learning that sometimes the real competition is with ourselves more so than each other!
Having said that - while on the subject of competition - a special ‘well done’ to those children who competed in the tag rugby festival on Thursday afternoon and girls’ football tournament on Friday afternoon. Both teams put in a tremendous effort and – as always – continued to make us extremely proud.
Homework and spellings for this week can be found in the usual places. We hope you all have a lovely weekend - particularly Mother’s Day on Sunday – and enjoy the cards which the children made for you in class this week. A special ‘thank you’ to Team TSP too for setting up the present room once again and giving the children the opportunity to purchase presents for loved ones while in school.
See you all on Monday!
Date: 17th Mar 2022 @ 8:44pm
The sun has been shining and our spirits have been high in Year 6 this week!
Wednesday’s Collective Worship was led by Anne and it was all about St. Patrick…no surprise there! She provided the children with a brief overview of Patrick’s life and explained how he came to be the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Our worship then finished with the children singing, ‘Lord the Light of Your Love (Shine, Jesus, Shine)’, which was rather appropriate given the recent change in weather!
This week it has also been British Science Week and this year’s theme has been ‘growth’. To celebrate this, Year 6 enjoyed two afternoons creating their own slime to see who could make their slime stretch the furthest. On Thursday – since it was St. Patrick’s Day - there was a design brief to make the slime Irish-themed. The children enjoyed following the instructions to make their slime, using green food colouring and a variety of glitter for their Irish ‘twist’…also immersing themselves in traditional Irish culture by listening to music by such artists as B*Witched, Westlife and Boyzone!
Unfortunately, Thursday’s attempt at making slime did not go to plan. The slime mixture just didn’t seem to solidify as much as the children had hoped! This was unusual as many children in the class had made slime before and they had followed the instructions carefully, therefore they needed to experiment with the different variables to see if they could fix their problem. Although some improvements were made, it still wasn’t what the children had in mine and so they had to use their iPads to research alternative methods and identify what factors could be affecting the creation of their slime. Several ideas were given, including: the use of more water; the use of different ingredients such as shaving gel; substituting the contact lens solution used for one containing boric acid. The next day, after providing the requested resources, the children attempt to make their slime again…and it was a huge success! The children loved how well it worked and were able to explain how the role of the boric acid affected their results. This was a great opportunity to once again highlight the benefits of making mistakes / encountering problems as you definitely learn more!
From one challenge to another, this week, the children also accepted the challenge of trying to break free from the SPAG 'Escape Room' challenge. Working together in pairs, the children worked their way out of ten different rooms which all had their own code to crack including: active and passive voice, spelling rules, synonyms, homophones and suffixes. It was not an easy task but the children demonstrated exceptional perseverance until they cracked the 10-digit code.
In Maths this week, all the children have continued to focus on measurement and shapes. They have revised how to find the area and perimeter of compound shapes, as well as how to find the volume of 3D shapes. Next week, Mr King’s group will move onto identifying different shapes, as well coordinates. Mrs Martin's group will also be focusing on coordinates before moving to algebra.
Our swimming sessions resumed this week as well. Both groups focused on backstroke, continuing to work on their kicking technique while also thinking about their arm movements – in particular, how their arms should extend out of the water and then how their hands should re-enter the water.
The class have also been supported by Miss Cameron, Miss Presset and Miss Mordaunt this week, who have been on a one-week placement from Liverpool Hope. They have been a great addition to Team 'Year 6' and we thank them for all their help!
The children are aware of what their homework for this week is. Spellings have also been set on Google Classroom for next week.
A reminder that the SATs briefing for parents will be taking place on Monday after school. Please ensure you have confirmed your attendance with Mr King and Mrs Martin via the Y6 account so that resources are prepared for you. The first round of parent-teacher meetings will also commence on Wednesday too.
Have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing many of you next week!
Date: 10th Mar 2022 @ 7:27pm
Another fun-filled week in Year 6…this time, with a special focus on careers!
Once again, we have celebrated National Careers Week in school and our Year 6 pupils have covered a range of jobs as part of this. Through our Maths and Writing lessons, we started to understand the role of a teacher more. As writers, we were 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 decided on a few subjects / class events that have taken place this year to create their own entry. Although these are not yet finished, we hope that the children can be as ‘picky’ about editing their own work as they have been about their teacher’s!
In Maths, we were given the task of marking arithmetic papers, working in pairs to decide on a particular pupil’s final grade. In order to do this well, they needed to explain their reasoning to their partner and apply their knowledge of calculations to decide on whether each answer was correct or incorrect. The children actually enjoyed this task – so much so, we may be grading some more papers in the future!
In addition this, both Mr King’s group and Mrs Martin’s group have focused on measurement this week, particularly finding the area and perimeter of shapes. Mrs Martin’s group also recapped on volume, which Mr King’s group will be revising at the start of next week. The children’s arithmetic skills have continued to be refined as well through the use of some new games. The children are always huge fans of competitive activities to test their knowledge, such as ‘Shoot Out!’ and Kahoot, so they were incredibly excited to try some new websites – Blooket and Gimkit - on their iPads this week, which offered a range of new and exciting competitions.
As it has been National Careers Week, we have also welcomed visitors into school to discuss their professions. On Thursday, we welcomed Matt Taylor into class, who talked about his career journey from a professional footballer to a personal trainer. He discussed how he was able to turn his passion for football at school into a full-time profession before explaining how he moved into the world of CrossFit and what he likes about the sport. To conclude his presentation, he then took the children into the hall for a free PT session! How lucky are we?!
To round off another excellent week, we welcomed Mrs Harris (or ‘Miss McMahon’ as she is known in work!) to talk about her career as a neurosurgeon. This was very appropriate as we had also celebrated International Women’s Day on Tuesday and one particular pupil had chosen to deliver a presentation about his mother, a neurosurgeon…who happened to be Miss McMahon! The children were fascinated to learn about Miss McMahon’s career in Science and about the work she does. We were treated to a fantastic presentation, which provided many fantastic learning opportunities around the academic qualifications needed for such a career; how others can inspire you and the importance of maintaing hobbies and interests outside of work as well. The topic of helmet safety also came up and this is something we will be discussing in class again in the future. This was definitely a memorable experience for the children, particularly those who were able to dress as surgeons and perform brain surgery on watermelons. Thank you, Miss McMahon!
Thank you to both of our visitors for coming into class this week to share their career journeys. Another ‘thank you’ to two ex-pupils who have been with us all week on work experience too. There are many children who will be grateful for the support they have received from the boys this week, especially our football squad who received two very well-organised training sessions!
A special ‘well done’ as well to our boys’ football team who faced Our Lady of Compassion this week as part of the Echo Cup. They continued to make us incredibly proud with their positive attitude and teamwork.
The children are aware of what their homework for this week is. Spellings have also been set on Google Classroom for next week.
Please ensure you have received our message / email sent on Thursday via School Spider regarding a SATs briefing for parents. If you are able to attend, please email Mr King and Mrs Martin via the Y6 account.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 4th Mar 2022 @ 10:26am
Another fun week of learning has passed!
In Maths, we have continued to learn new topics while also revising concepts we have been taught earlier in the year. Mr King’s group have focused on angles this week, identifying missing angles in various shapes and also reminding themselves how to use a protractor. Next week, they will be moving onto area, perimeter and volume. Mrs Martin’s group have mastered BIDMAS this week before moving onto finding the perimeter of shapes next week.
In PE, we have continued with our swimming sessions and also resumed our tag rugby lessons. After a half-term break, 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. Some of our children have even been able to apply these skills to a tag rugby match! 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.
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 word searches to Kahoot quizzes and even a book ‘scavenger hunt’ around school! As always, the children enjoyed the opportunity to visit their Reception buddies as well and were able to read their buddy’s favourite book with them in the afternoon. As the Year 6 staff had dressed as characters from the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, their 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 and then present it to the rest of the class. There were some very creative ideas from the class…as well as some rather theatrical performances from a few lawyers in particular!
A special ‘well done’ once again to those children who competed in the athletics tournament at Greenbank High School on Tuesday evening. Having won the tournament for small schools on Friday, our pupils competed against the larger schools in Formby and Southport…and they finished 3rd place overall! What an achievement!
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, as well as their new CGP books.
Please recall that next week there has been a change to the PE timetable and that children should come into school in their PE clothes on Wednedsay (swimming) and Thursday next week.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 25th Feb 2022 @ 11:26am
Our first week back after a half-term break and we are already fully in the swing of things again!
In Maths, we have revisited fractions, decimals and percentages and ensured that we are able to make clear connections between the three. We have worked on various problems which have required us to apply our knowledge and understanding in these areas and are now feeling even more confident than we were before half-term. Well done, Year 6! On Tuesday, following requests from some children, we also learned about the mean and how to find the average of a group of numbers. The children showed great focus here and most were able to master the method in just one lesson!
In Reading, we have focused on particular skills: scanning and inferring. The children’s understanding of different styles of comprehension questions is improving daily and it has been wonderful to see them reflecting on the progress they have made since September.
In SPaG, we have focused on the tenses: simple, progressive and perfect. On Thursday, 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!
As artists, we have continued to practise our sketching techniques. Linked to our PSHE lessons arounds self-love and body image last-half term, the focus for Tuesday’s Art lesson was to draw a self-portrait. The children learned about the symmetry of a face and how to sketch different facial features, while also considering tone and proportions. To ensure that we remember to celebrate our unique features, we will be continuing to refine our self-portraits next week and also moving into different styles of sketching, including caricatures of ourselves.
The children were very excited to start their swimming lessons on Wednesday. Although the first session was more of a re-introduction into the sessions with some initial assessments taking place, we were grateful that we were able to have these opportunities again following Covid-related restrictions and are already looking forward to next week’s session!
In terms of sports, a special ‘well done’ to those boys who took part in the football match against English Martyrs on Thursday and the boys and girls who participated in the indoor athletics competition at Greenbank High School on Friday. You continue to make us all proud at Trinity St. Peter’s.
Please ensure you have read the letter regarding SATs that was sent out to parents this evening (Friday) and have checked that your child has come home with their CGP books for additional support. Homework tasks have been set for this week, but as always, there is the option of further learning through SATs Companion, my Virtual Classroom and now these additional revision books.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Date: 9th Feb 2022 @ 10:13am
Another fantastic week in Year 6 – this time to include our first half-term in 2022!
Following the conclusion of our Shang Dynasty topic in History last week – and with Chinese New Year still fresh in our mind – we focused on Chinese calligraphy in Art this week. The children had explored Asian calligraphy in Year 5 when learning about Japan, so this was a great opportunity for them to connect their learning and note the similarities and differences between the two styles. Once again, plenty of precision was required, but the children did very well to identify particular traits of Chinese calligraphy and appreciate it how it is a form of art.
Once again, it has been fantastic to see so many of the children looking forward to our tag rugby sessions each week - with a significant number of the class admitting that initially they did not think they would like the sport! We have continued to revise our passing technique, from simply passing a rugby ball to each other to now passing while moving quickly in a line and trying to avoid being tagged. Our tagging skills have also improved through a variety of exercises, which the children have enjoyed...although found slightly tiring at times!
Building on from our class discussion a few weeks ago on insecurities, we have continued to welcome visitors to speak to the class about their own insecurities in school and what they have gone on to achieve as a result of their insecurities. On Tuesday, we were joined by Danny, who is Area Commander for HM Coastguard and a Royal Navy Reserve. Danny has only just returned from Bahrain with the Royal Navy last week and came into class to talk about his important roles within HM Coastguard and The Royal Navy. Immediately, the children learned how skilled Danny has to be to perform his duties well and had plenty of questions to ask him…and not just why he had a picture with the cast of Coronation Street and had flown in a helicopter with members of the Royal Family! Danny then shared his experiences of school: including how he has struggled with dyslexia since being diagnosed when he was in Year 5; the challenge of sitting assessments and his ongoing struggle to still learn his 7 times tables! However, from this, Danny was able to share lots of excellent advice on coping strategies; the importance of accepting your struggles and continuing to challenge yourself; realising that we may just not have found our real strengths and passions yet and understanding that we are all better / worse than each other in different areas. Danny even shared some of his insecurities around body image when he was in secondary school and reminded the children that they will all grow at different rates. It really was a fantastic discussion and if that wasn’t enough…the class then helped Danny learn his 7 times tables through a song!
On Friday, the children also had a Zoom session with Suzy, who has a real passion for fashion design. The main message of Suzy’s discussion was clear: have the courage to be yourself. Suzy showed the class lots of examples of her fashion designs, which many would consider to be quite “loud” and “out there!”. Suzy informed the class that she only wears her own clothes now and although some people will stare, just as many will come up to her on the street and praise her style and her courage to wear the clothes she does. Suzy told the class that bravery is infectious, and she has realised that one of the best ways to encourage others to be themselves is to set the example yourself. Also, to remember that not everyone will always understand you, but that is okay too!
As if two visitors weren’t enough, we were also treated to a visit by author, Luke Temple. He delivered a brief introduction to his three books before calling children up to do some drama exercises. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, which resulted in several members of the class purchasing copies of his book and getting them signed by Luke Temple the following day.
Practice assessments have also taken up most of our Maths, Writing and Reading sessions this week. Once again, the children have tried their hardest and shown plenty of resilience when approaching tricky questions. They should feel very proud of themselves!
Homework has been set for the children as per usual. With SATs approaching in May, an abundance of practice assessments have now been set on SATs Companion for the children to work through if they wish to do any revision at home. Children do not need to complete every assessment. They also do not need to complete the tasks in any set order, e.g. they may want to focus primarily on the arithmetic papers while at home, or just the reading assessments. All tests will be available to access until the end of the year.
Attached to this blog is also this month's Virtual Classroom - once again with links to various websites that can further support home learning - as well as the statutory spellings children are expected to know by the end of LKS2 and UKS2. The children will have seen these spelling lists in Year 5 when practising for their 'Spelling Bee' competition; we would encourage the children to continue to refer back to these sheets and re-learn any words they find tricky.
Love Reading have launched their 'top book picks' for this month. More, highly-rated children's reads, from a variety of authors for different age ranges, are shared with us all to enjoy.
All in all, it has been a fantastic half-term. It was fantastic to see so many of the class laughing and dancing away at the disco on Wednesday - it was a great symbol for the fun and friendships that have continued to flourish this year!
We hope you all have a fantastic half-term break and we look forward to seeing you all soon!
Date: 3rd Feb 2022 @ 9:43pm
It is hard to believe we have already completed the penultimate week of this half-term!
In Writing, we had already immersed ourself in the horror genre last Friday when we entered our candle-lit classroom with eerie music playing on arrival. This week, we officially started our writing journey, focusing on our attention to detail when describing a setting and aiming to include particular punctuation and grammar objectives such as semicolons and the subjunctive form. The majority of our pupils started to finish their pieces by the end of the week…and they are fantastic! At one point, Mrs Pringle visited the classroom and told us she was leaving “with chills” after reading a few extracts!
In Maths, the children in Mr King’s group developed their understanding of how to interpret pie charts before moving onto shapes and angles – having expressed a desire to revise these latter topics following some revision tasks last week. Mrs Martin’s group have been working hard to perfect their calculations involving fractions.
Next week, the children will be sitting some practice assessments, just like they did in Autumn term. We are confident that the children will give their best and will hopefully be able to see how far they have come since November!
In PE this week, the children loved starting our tag rugby sessions. We worked on our ball control and our dodging skills…but most importantly, we learned how to put a belt and tags on! It was a lot harder than we initially thought! After the first session, many of the children expressed their enjoyment of the sport and said that they liked it a lot more than they thought they would – which was fantastic to hear!
A special ‘well done’ as well to the two pupils in our class, who took part in the Sefton Cross Country event this week. What a great effort!
Our learning around the Shang Dynasty concluded this week. Throughout the half-term, the children have gained plenty of new knowledge on this period, including how the Shang Dynasty was founded and what life was like for a citizen at this time. Our pupils also had to consider different sources and question how accurate some information about the dynasty was. We hope the pupils enjoyed this History topic…we know Mr Hughes certainly did! He has always been happy to share his knowledge about China today at the end of our lessons - having taught in Shanghai for several years before joining the TSP family. Thank you, Mr Hughes!
It was very appropriate to be learning about Ancient China as well this half-term as on Tuesday we celebrated Chinese New Year. We were very fortunate to have a Zoom call with a secondary teacher in Fuzhou named Horrace, who told us all about the most common beliefs and customs practised in China on New Year’s Day. The children enjoyed hearing about these from Horrace with his first-hand knowledge…and were particularly interested to learn more about the ‘lucky money’ that students in China receive!
On the topic of Zoom, the children were also very fortunate to be able to chat with Mr King’s friends, Jess and Charley, who very recently broke a world record for the fastest female pair to row across the Atlanic Ocean. Following on from our PSHE lesson last week around insecurities, it really was a fantastic conversation about being positive and challenging yourself, so much so that we had to start writing down some of the life lessons Jess and Charley had learned from the experience. Such precepts included:
- Don’t overthink things as it may stop you from doing something great;
- Little steps making big mountains;
- Food is key;
- You get back what you put out;
- Being weird is wonderful;
- ‘Hashtag’ no filter;
- Be yourselves!
Perhaps our favourite story from the whole conversation was that Jess and Charley had been told by somebody prior to the trip to not be themselves as it could be perceived that they weren’t taking the challenge seriously. They then informed us that they had ignored this advice, had the best time and set a world record! (Additional note: that person then admitted they were wrong afterwards!)
To conclude our week, following our second tag rugby session of the week, the children returned to class for an ‘afternoon tea’ in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee on Sunday. We had tea and scones together and listened to some British anthems. Once again, it has been a very busy – but very enjoyable – week!
Children are aware of what their homework is for this week and next week’s spellings are on Google Classroom.
Have a great weekend, everyone!