Quartz Class 2022-2023

Miss Smith and Mr Gross

 Welcome to Quartz Class which is home to Year Six, the oldest and most mature children in the school.

We love learning and are really keen to do our best at everything this year.

The Year 6 teachers are Miss Smith (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and Mr Gross (Thursday and Friday). Our TAs are Mrs Lee and Miss Stokes. PE is taught by Mr Franco (and other specialist coaches) on Wednesday afternoons while French is taught by Mrs Street every Friday.

Summer term 2021

April

Since the beginning of this term, after the Easter holidays, we have started a new Science topic in which we are learning about the parts of and the life cycle of flowering plants. As well as incredibly detailed observational drawings of french marigolds, we enjoyed painting our own interpretations and impressions of a whole range of different flowers. We have learnt about pollination and looked inside lillies to see the important parts (such as stigma and stamen) needed for reproduction.

We intend to use our newly acquired knowledge to plant up our class beds in the school garden. We have collected lots of seeds already and our sunflower seeds are well on the way to germination.

In English, we are still absolutely loving reading and writing about Kensuke's Kingdom. We are thoroughly involved in the story and can't wait to find out the ending! The quality of writing produced has been amazing!

In Maths, we have focused on the areas we have missed or forgotten this year and now feel so much more confident at calculating percentages and at working out missing angles in shapes.

We have really enjoyed our PSHE lessons with Mrs Culver this term especially using role play to help us decide how to react in different scenarios. We're trying hard to further build our resilience and self esteem which will support us in future transition to secondary school.

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March 2021

It was fabulous to see everyone back at school on Monday.

As well as getting back to basics with English and Maths, we have had a huge focus on PSHE  (Personal, Social and Health Education). Everyone has worked really hard and made me very proud. Here are some of their fabulous positivity posters - there are a few more still to be finished.

Monday 1st March

This is the summary grid of activities for this week. More detail and teaching videos are available on our Class Dojo pages.

Monday 22nd February

Welcome back after half term. Here is the outline of home learning activities for this week. The videos to help you and the actual tasks are on Class Dojo.

Monday 8th February

Here is the summary grid of activities for this week's home learning. As usual, go to the pages on Class Dojo for more details and for the videos we have made that will explain the learning and activities in more detail.

Monday 1st February 

This grid includes an outline of the home learning activities for Y5 and Y6 this week. Please go to our Class Dojo pages for much more detail and for the accompanying videos which explain the learning. 

Monday 25th January

Here is today's grid with the activities for the week.

Home learning for week beginning Monday 18th January

This is the outline of learning for the week. The videos for this week's work are posted on Class Dojo each morning.

Home Learning - Week Commencing 11th January 2021

For those at home, please find the grid of learning for this week attached.  In order to watch the videos made by Mr Gross and Miss Smith (and find further details of activities) head over to Class Dojo.

January 2021

January 5th

Here is a grid of activities for the rest of this week for those of you who are doing your learning at home. Please have a go - some of them are super fun - and feel free to post anything on your Dojo portfolio or to send me a message. I haven't checked AR or Maths Whizz yet today but I will be doing that this week so try to get busy tomorrow!

December 2020

As well as some Christmas themed writing later on in the month, the children worked really hard in English to make their writing more effective by including a greater variety of sentence structures to go alongside their much improved vocabulary. They used images from books and a film as stimulus.

Everyone's Maths improved hugely during December by learning and practising several new skills including: multiplying and dividing decimal numbers by integers: the correct order in which to do operations (BODMAS); square and cube numbers; and using inverses and function machines.

The Science focus in December has been on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle by looking at the importance of eating a balanced diet, of taking enough exercise (for fitness and for building strength) and of getting enough sleep. To demonstrate their knowledge, the children drew their own 'Eatwell' plates and made posters about sleep and exercise.

                                                                         November 2020

Since returning to school after half term, we have been learning about some key historical events such as The Gunpowder Plot and the Armistice. We have been inspired to produce some brilliant factual writing in History and Science as well as completing some emotional writing in English inspired by a short film by Aidan Gibbons called The Piano. It tells the story of a lonely, elderly man whose precious memories are evoked as he plays a sorrowful melody on his grand piano.

In order to learn more about micro-organisms, we have carried out several investigations in Science. One has been observing (over time) the growth of mould on slices of bread in different conditions and locations, and the other was to find out which conditions are best for the growth of yeast.

Our Maths work this month has so far focused on Factors and Coordinates, two topics which we have worked hard at and shown good understanding.

In PE, we have been learning the rules of both lacrosse and hockey. 

Our Geography topic is 'Extreme Earth' so we have been learning about volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis.

                                                                         October

In English, the focus on learning has been on studying the powerful and emotive narrative poem, The Highwayman and then comparing it to the young children's story of The Highway Rat. We were fascinated to learn that Julia Donaldson was inspired by the characters and poetic language (especially the rhythm and repetition) of the original poem by Alfred Noyes.

In Maths, we have been learning and securing written methods for long multiplication and long division, as well as practising our knowledge of fractions (especially finding a fraction of a number).

                                                                         September

After such a long time away from school, everyone was delighted to be back at school to see their friends and to catch up on learning that that they had missed. We were soon used to the changes (desks in rows, lunch in the classroom, assemblies on zoom and lots of sanitising) and settled quickly.

In English, we picked up the exciting novel 'Letters from the Lighthouse' set in World War 2 and enjoyed finding out the fate of the characters whose lives we had been following back in March. 

In Maths, we enjoyed practising our arithmetic skills and developing our knowledge of place value including decimals.

Our Science topic was to learn about the classification of animals - we loved watching videos about all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures!

Some children also had the opportunity to learn how to ride their bikes safely on the road through the support of Bikeability instructors.

2019 - 2020

Welcome to Quartz Class which is home to the oldest children in our school. Year Six are always responsible and hardworking, providing great support and acting as role models to the younger pupils in school. 

Miss Smith is the class teacher supported by Mrs Lee, the full time TA and by Mrs Spencer who works on Thursdays and Fridays. Mr Franco and Mr Turner both teach PE on Thursday afternoons. Mrs Bull teaches Zumba and Mrs Culver teaches a variety of lessons according to need but often this is Science or History.

School Closure

We are very sad to inform you that the school will be closed from 23/3/2020 for the foreseeable future.  In the absence of learning at school, all the work will be uploaded to our Class Dojo (your passwords have been sent home).  The work will also be placed here, but you will not be able to message me via this website (but via the Dojo).

June 1st

From June 1st, school is open for Year 6 children whose parents wish them to return. If you are continuing to learn at home, the work will be posted on the website for our Virtual School at

www.diamondonline.uk

Although the work will be there (rather than on Class Dojo), you can still message me through Dojo as before.

Monday 18th May

You are all doing an amazing job of keeping busy and doing lots of home learning. Here are ten more activities for this week and also a few extra ones for the Half Term holiday next week. Enjoy the lovely sunshine that is forecast for this week and remember that you can contact me through Class Dojo.

Monday 4th May

Below are the home learning grids with work and activities for the next two weeks. I understand how hard it is for the children missing their friends but hopefully these will help keep them busy and happy. If I can help in any way, please message me on Class Dojo.

Monday 27th April

Unfortunately, the daily challenges for netball starting this week did not match the weekly grid. Here is the new daily challenge starting today! Don't forget to share it with Hunts SSP.

The children have been working super hard at their home learning. Here are some examples.

Friday 24th April

Here are some great sports activities organised by Hunts School Sports partnership which start from Monday. There are also details on the school Facebook page.

Monday 20th April 2020

Good morning everyone. I hope you all had some tasty Easter eggs and had a bit of a break from working over the Easter holidays. Today is the day we would have been going back to school after the Easter holidays so I have planned some work for you to do over the next two weeks.

This week I will be on Class Dojo from 10am to 12pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to answer any questions you may have. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your work and awarding some dojo points.

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Wednesday 1st April - Suggestions for home learning

2D shapes - Investigate the properties of circles

1. Find some objects (4-6) that have circular bases and draw around them.
2. Cut out the circles then fold them in half and in half again to find the centre point.
3. Use a piece of thread/string to measure all around each circle. This is the circumference.
4. Use a ruler to measure the radius and diameter of each circle.
5. Draw a table to show these three measurements for each circle.

What do you notice about the radius and the diameter?

So, if a circle has a radius of 20cm, what is the diameter?

If a circle has a diameter of 56cm, what is the radius?

If a tiny circle has a radius of 0.243cm, what is the diameter?

There is a value called pi (written like this ∏) which is used to calculate the circumference or area of a circle but you don’t actually need to learn that until secondary school. However, if you want to, you could investigate calculating the circumference of a circle (2 x π x r) and the area of a circle (π x r²).  Pi is approximately 3.14.

You could also do some great art work with circles.

Handwriting

Practise your joined handwriting with these patterns and copy the information about one of the mythical creatures. You could try drawing one of them too.

Music (and dancing!)

Watch these videos and relive our day at the O2 in February. Did these children have the same experience as us?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z-OmyutDVY  The story of one school’s day out at YV in Sheffield

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5JBEykXFM8 Pop medley from YV in Birmingham

Science

Although we incubated and hatched our lovely chicks in June, this seems like a good time of year to remember what we did. Watch this video again and write some information or a report which describes how a chick develops in an egg and then hatches. You could then draw some diagrams or pictures to illustrate your work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PedajVADLGw

Secret Codes

1. Reverse the words
2. Read every second letter Read every second letter starting at the first letter, and when you finish, start again on the letters you missed.
3. Pig Pen Draw out the grids and fill in the letters. Each letter is represented by the lines around it (or pigpen).

Practise writing your names and silly words before moving to coding whole sentences. The letters and messages you can write can be fun, but make sure you send along a key so the recipient can figure it all out!

If you have some vinegar or lemon juice, you could send messages with ‘invisible ink’. My brothers and I used to do this when we were children. Ask an adult though, as heat is involved.

http://seven-oaks.net/5-foolproof-invisible-ink-recipes/

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26th March 2020 - Suggestions for home learning

Maths - Ratio

This is something we haven’t really looked at in detail yet this year but you have used it in practical situations many, many times, for example when each table needs two rulers or when I talk about trips needing one adult for every ten children.

Over a few days, watch these five excellent lessons from White Rose Maths and carry out the activities. If you can’t print the worksheets at home, try using objects/toys or try drawing some pictures/diagrams to show ratio.

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-6/

The relevant pages in your revision guides are 11, 12 and 13 but should only be completed when you have worked through the lessons and activities above.

One of the most common ways we use ratio is in cooking eg looking at the ingredients for 12 cakes in a recipe and scaling up so that we can make 24. Why not look at some recipes and think how you would scale the quantities of ingredients up or down....maybe even do some cooking!

English - Writing

Letters from the Lighthouse

As we know, there are reports that the Ministry of Defence are planning to ‘erase’ the lighthouse because Mr Spratt (the coastguard) told them that twice this last week German bombers  used Budmouth Point as a landmark to guide them to Plymouth. Most people in the village (including Mrs Henderson, Mrs Carter, Queenie, Jim and Ephraim Pengilly)  are appalled.  What would this mean for the village?

Write a newspaper report (in columns if you want) with a headline and an introductory paragraph which summarises the 5 Ws. Then, explain the issues in a little more detail. You could include a ‘photo’ with caption and a quotation from an eyewitness.

(You can read the latest chapter on Class Dojo)

English - SPAG

Spellings -Read the attached script from the final RWI spelling unit and learn to spell at least these ten words: tomatoes, dominoes, wolves, echoes, thieves, leaves, knives, children, mice and people. You could make a poster or instruction booklet explaining the last two weeks’ spelling rules for changing nouns to plurals.

Spag.com – KS2 SATs Grammar Test (A) and (B)

English - Revision Guides

Stretch – Choice of Language p12-13, Comparing p14-15, Formal/Informal/Standard/Non-Standard p37-39

Core - Choice of Language p12-13, Comparing p14-15, Formal/Informal/Standard/Non-Standard p38-39

‘The Workbook’ – Comparing words p21, Descriptive Language/Using Varied Vocabulary p31-32

English- Reading

I’ve had a look at www.oxfordowl.co.uk and found some e-books that you could either read yourself, have read to you or listen to.  In the 9-11 section, there is one called ‘Air Raid’.

Science – Light

This is one of the subjects we would have covered before Easter and the weather this week is perfect for it! 

The key learning is to explore the way that light behaves, including light sources, reflection and shadows, talking about what happens and making predictions.

You could:

• investigate the relationship between light sources, objects and shadows by making shadow puppets or by making a sundial outside on a patio or large piece of paper.
• extend your experience of light by looking a range of phenomena including rainbows, colours on soap bubbles, objects looking bent in water and coloured filters (you do not need to explain why these phenomena occur). 
• design and make a periscope and use the idea that light appears to travel in straight lines to explain how it works.
  I was looking for video clips and websites about light and found these.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n362snGUdw
  http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/light.html
  You could draw diagrams or write instructions about what to do and then draw or write what you observe. Maybe you could make a poster or even a comic strip.

PE

Active Snakes and Ladders

As usual, keep up with Maths Whizz, TT rock stars and reading (including AR quizzes).

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Second half of Spring Term

 This half term, Year Six have been extremely busy revising and consolidating their learning in Maths and English in preparation for the SATs tests in May and, even more importantly, for their transfer to Secondary School in September. 

They did relax a little more day on World Book Day though, dressing up in costume and reading lots and lots of stories. The classroom door was decorated as 'Stormbreaker' by Anthony Horowitz as the class are rapidly becoming massive Alex Rider fans, led by the Thursday after-school BBC (Boys' Book Club). 

Year Six have also taken part in two Science events.

Firstly, they were invited to Magdalene College, Cambridge to attend a series of short lectures about Maths in Patterns, The Big Bang, How sound is measured and finally about a famous 17th Century book called Hooke's Micrographia which has a series of incredibly detailed drawings of the natural world...fascinating!

Secondly, in the same week to celebrate Cambridge Science Week, a teacher from Longsands Academy (Mr Howell) came to give everyone a really practical insight into their taste buds! It was surprising to find how different people perceive the taste of the same substance, some finding it sweet and others salty!

Spring Term 2020

On Thursday 6th February, Year 6 went to the O2 in London to take part in Young Voices concert. They had an absolutely brilliant time having a picnic by the River Thames, rehearsing all afternoon and then performing alongside eight thousand other children in the evening. Everyone agreed that it was truly a magical and unforgettable experience.

This term, Year Six are learning all about World War II. They are reading an intriguing book called 'Letters From the Lighthouse' by Emma Carroll which is giving them the opportunity to find out about the Blitz and about evacuation. As the book continues, there are clearly mysteries developing so everyone is curious to find out how they are resolved.

Science this term has had the Human Body as its focus. This has included learning about the importance of eating a balanced diet, having sufficient sleep each night and the need for regular exercise.  Mrs McWilliams showed the children how to dissect a pig's heart to help them learn about the human circulatory system and they then used this knowledge to write a diary of a red blood cell.

In Maths over the last few weeks, Year Six have been revising their knowledge of perimeter and area, as well as practising solving word problems in a variety of different contexts.

                 Autumn Term (Second Half)

English

Throughout the second half of the term, Year 6 have continued to follow the adventures of Odysseus as he encountered Polyphemus the Cyclops, Circe the enchantress, Scylla and Charybdis (the five-headed dragon and the deadly whirlpool) before visiting the Land of the Dead and finally escaping the song of the Sirens to return home to Ithaca. The adventures captured everyone's imagination and some fabulous writing in role has been produced as well as inventing  a new chapter and then summarising the whole story in a newspaper report.

Maths

The focus this term has been on securing written methods for all operations even including numbers with decimals and fractions. Everyone's confidence has improved hugely and the children were able to show this in Assessment Week when they applied these skills in a wide variety of problem solving contexts.

End of term

The end of term has been very busy for Year 6. As well as learning songs and dances for the Christmas Show, they also organised an election to coincide with the General Election to help younger children learn about British Values and how a government is elected. The class were also asked by the Library Service to help select the shortlist for the Cambridgeshire 'Read it again' competition later in the year. Reading is one of Year 6's favourite activities so they really enjoyed reading the 32 books on the long list!

Autumn term - first half

Big Bake

During the first week of the new school year, Year 6 organised a charity bake sale for the rest of the school. They used their Maths skills to cost ingredients and calculate the numbers of cakes needed plus the prices for each cake to be sold (in order to make a profit). The children created some stunning posters to be displayed around school and visited each class to read out their letters persuading the other children to attend the Big Bake and buy the delicious, scrumptious, tasty, sweet, delectable, luscious and mouth-watering treats.

The Big Bake was really well attended and everything sold out! Year 6 made a profit of more than £130 so they wrote letters to Mr Turner trying to persuade him to let them spend the money on new playground equipment, donations to charity or even a class pet! They will have to wait and see what he says!

Ancient Greece

This term, the topic in Year 6 is to learn about the stories and culture of the Ancient Greeks. The children have already learnt about many of the gods and goddesses and have loved learning stories about Medusa, Arachne and Daedalus & Icarus. The focus of most English work (especially writing) is the story of Odysseus and his harrowing voyage home to Ithaca from Troy. The children have completed some amazing work by using lots of challenging new vocabulary to write in role and to rewrite the adventure with Polyphemus the Cyclops.

Maths and Science

The focus in Maths this half term has been to secure written methods in all four operations of number. The children have worked really hard and are not only becoming faster and more accurate, but are also able to use these methods in a wide range of multistep problems. Everyone has been working particularly hard at their times tables in order to become more fluent. There have been some amazing battles on TT Rock Stars culminating in an exciting Rock Wrangle on the last day.

The first Science topic has been to learn more about the classification of plants and animals especially through using keys. The children have investigated micro-organisms through a mouldy bread experiment and have learnt about some famous scientists in the field of vaccinations.

Bosch Rexroth visit

Year 6 were lucky enough to visit one of our local businesses, Bosch Rexroth, for a science and engineering morning, with a focus on hydraulics.  The children were able to learn more about engineering, including taking part in some hands on activities including using the hydraulic training rigs, hydraulic lifts and creating balloon cars and rockets.  We are hugely grateful to Rexroth for inviting us over to visit them, and hope it has inspired some of the children to continue to work hard at STEM activities in secondary school.

Mr Cornell Visit

In June, the children from Y6 were visited by Mr Cornell - our resident artist.  The two days included a range of STEAM activities (science, technology, engineering, art and maths): the first activity was bridge building.  The bridges has to be build as a team, with the goal of supporting as much weight as possible.

The second session included the creation of 'shadow boxes' in the style of Joseph Cornell (no relation!).  Pictures of the shadow boxes are on the way!

Y6 Sports Morning

Winhills hosted children from Middlefield, Round House, Great Staughton and Kimbolton for a sports morning, including competitive games of rounders, cricket and javellin.  The children superb throughout the morning, and we were delighted that Quartz class were the overall champions for 2019! Well done!!

Young Voices

Year 6 had the most incredible day at Young Voices 2019!! After travelling to London by coach we had a good look around the O2 arena before our rehearsal throughout the day.  In the evening, along with 7,000 other children, we performed to over 5,000 parents and sang and danced our hearts out!  The special guests included Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Beau Dermott (Britain's Got Talent) and Sharlene Hector (Basement Jaxx).  It was an incredible day and the children thoroughly loved it!

Happy New Year

Welcome back for another exciting term in Year 6.  We have so much exciting learning this term, especially with our new topic of the Ancient Maya.  We will also be reading new texts in English, looking at new problems and investigations in Maths, and looking at our new topic of Light in Science.

You can find all about our learning in our newsletter:

Y6 Opera - Carmen - 27th November 2018

Reminders for the trip:
- Can all children arrive at 8:30am. We aim to be departing for London at 8:50.
- Every child needs a packed lunch/water bottle
- Please ensure your child has a warm coat
- We are hoping to arrive around 5:30, although this is very dependent on London traffic and the A1 - it might be much closer to 6pm, if not 6:30!

I will post regular updates here on our school facebook page with live updates as to where we are.  Please ensure you have signed up before the trip to have access to the group!

Many thanks

Young Voices 2019

Next spring, Year 6 will be travelling to the O2 arena in London to participate in Young Voices 2019.  The children have been issued with lyrics sheets, and below are all the songs they will need to learn before the show.

Have fun!

Autumn 2018

Welcome to Year 6 Quartz class!

Everyone has made a fantastic start to year 6 and are showing their desire to learn, their respect of others, and their willingness to 'have a go'.

In the first week of term, we have not yet started our full curriculum but have been learning about each other by playing games and developing our team work skills.  We have also been working hard on our new topic, the  'Life on the Fault Lines, where we have looked at volcanoes and earthquakes, and what life would be like living on the Ring of Fire.

As the oldest children in the school, Year 6 are taking their responsibilities as role models very seriously. They have thought about how to (hopefully) earn their Truly Trusted badges in the coming weeks.

A brilliant start to Year 6. Well done everyone!

TT Rock Stars!

Want to work on your times tables?  Don't forget to head to TT rock stars where you can practise any of your tables and compete against your friends.  The link will take you to the website, or you can download the app for your tablet or phone.  

Let's see if you can become a Rock Hero!!