Autumn Term
Autumn Term 2023
Information for parents and families
Week Ending 24th November 2023
This week, the children have been working really hard to complete assessments in: maths arithmetic and reasoning; reading, punctuation and grammar; as well as spelling. Towards the end of the week, the children spent time going over these papers and looked at their successes and areas for improvement. I have been really proud of their work ethic and resilience this week and they are making wonderful progress. As well as assessments, the children have completed lessons in RE, Geography and DT.
Week Ending 17th November 2023
This week was Anti-Bullying Week so we started with a whole school assembly based on this theme. On Friday, the children worked in groups and looked at different scenarios. The children had a number of discussions about how kindness could be appled to the scenarios and how these may arise at different stages both in and out of school. We also had Children In Need 2023 this week. With great excitement, the children took part in a Joe Wicks workout in the hall and were also invited to wear odd socks (linking both Anti-Bullying with Children In Need). Many thanks to the families who sent in a donation over the last few weeks both for our Remembrance Day collections as well as for Children In Need.
In English, the children continued their work on Kensuke's Kingdom . The class were blown away with the ending and many have said this book was one of the best they've covered at school! Now we are aware of the conclusion of the story, we have worked on letters in role as Michael writing to Kensuke's son to tell him about his very special father. Very briefly, the children were introduced to a biography style text and will be writing their own on behalf of Kensuke next week.
In Maths, we explored mental and written strategies to solve mulitistep questions. We then finished the week covering a revision session on co-ordinates, shape and graphs. We also took a look at percentages and discovered how they relate to decimals and fractions.
Week Ending 10th November 2023
This week in Maths, the children have been consolidating their learning about long division and now feel confident to use a written method that they only saw for the first time last week!
In English, they have produced an extended piece of writing in role as Kensuke detailing his emotions towards Michael at various points in the story. The focus of the writing was to include a wide variety of different sentence types (correctly punctuated!) for effect and to interest the reader.
The Science topic on classification of living things has continued but with a focus on the plant kingdom this week. The children handled and sorted mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants to help them identify features, similarities and differences.
A new Geography unit of work called 'What is life like in the Alps?' involved a lot of atlas work locating the mountains on maps of the world and maps of Europe. The children discovered that the Alps extend over eight different countries.
Week Ending 3rd November 2023
Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn Term. This week, in English, the children enjoyed listening to another couple of chapters from Kensuke's Kingdom and explored grammatical techniques that could be applied to document the plot. Next week, the children will be writing from the viewpoint of Kensuke to navigate his relationship with Michael since arriving on his island. In Maths, the children worked on division calculations using their knowledge of factors. This preparation is getting the children ready to explore long division where they use a new written method to divide. This term, we have blocked our RE lessons which are based on commitment. This means the children will be looking at the content early on in the term and will re-visit their learning consistently each week. In particular, the children have discussed commitment and sacrifice from different religions and have looked at the impact this has on communities and/or families. As the week came to a close, we finished our art work based on 'retrofuturism' and the children picked either oil pastels, colouring pencils or charcoal to complete the piece. Alos, this week, the School Councillors have talked to the class about their ideas for activities in the playground. Next week, the children will begin their DT project which is designing and making a small waistcoat (to fit a teddy bear). If you have any old fabric/clothing that you could donate for this project, we would be very grateful. Have a lovely weekend!
Week Ending 20th October 2023
This week in English, the children have been working on two pieces of work relating to our book ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’. Firstly, the children wrote a letter in role as Michael to his parents. Here, they were able to demonstrate their summary skills whilst detailing all the events that led up to Michael being stranded on Kensuke's island. Their final piece of work this term began with a debate which allowed the children to write excellent balanced arguments. The key focus was on whether or not Kensuke was keeping Michael prisoner on his island or in fact caring for him. I have been really impressed with the children’s oracy skills as well as their ability to use correct grammatical structures to introduce their arguments for and against the key question. As the week came to a close, the children finished their art printing using callographs which were made in last week’s lesson. After half term, the children will use their prints to shape the background for their final piece which will be focussing on images from ‘The Space Race’.
I hope the children enjoy a relaxing week and I look forward to seeing them on 31st October to begin Autumn Term 2.
Week Ending 13th October 2023
This week in English, the children focussed on rewriting a section of the story from the perspective of a new character they have just met – Kensuke. Writing in role, they focussed on how to translate his emotion, choosing careful vocabulary and worked on using different sentence starters within their work. As the week ended, the children wrote letters to summarise the main events of the story so far from the perspective of the character, Michael. In Maths, the children worked on the rules of divisibility as well as formal ways to multiply (up to 4 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers). In Science, the children enjoyed using their crafting skills to make different invertebrates from school made play dough. They used their knowledge to carefully carve on the features of a spider, bee, worm and snail. This week, some of the children have enjoyed taking part in sports events representing the school. The staff have been really impressed with their efforts, particularly for their demonstration of team work and sportsmanship.
Week Ending 6th October 2023
This week in English, we looked at a section of the story in Kensuke’s Kingdom where Michael comes across gibbons and orangutans. From this, we carried out research on either of the two apes and collected facts about their diet, habitat, behaviour, appearance and life expectancy. Using these facts, the children organised them into appropriate paragraphs in preparation to write their own non-chronological reports.
In Maths, the children have looked at written methods for addition and subtraction. They finished the week with multiples, factors and the relationship between the two. In History, the children produced some beautiful storyboards which detailed their understanding of a Viking saga and how these stories evolved and changed over time. Using the main theme of one Viking saga, the children then developed their own endings and were able to use creativity and their own inspiration from the lesson. In Art, the children created their own printing plate using different textured materials such as, pipe cleaners, feathers, paper straws and pom poms to name a few. Next week, the printing plates will be used to create a monoprint background for their final piece of work this term. As the week came to an end, in science, the children used their prior knowledge of birds and mammals to produce a branching key identifying their common characteristics.
Week Ending 30th September 2023
This week, the children have had their first attempt at KS2 SATs papers. These consisted of reading, grammar and punctuation, spelling, maths arithmetic, and maths reasoning. The papers were completed at the start of the week and we went through these at the end of the week. The children were then able to celebrate their successes as well as identify areas for development. During the afternoons, the children completed our usual foundation lessons including: Science, PE, PSHE, Art, Computing and History. This week in PSHE, we looked at what it means to be respectful and had a good discussion about the reasons why we respect people such as parents, granparents, teachers, footballers and other celebrities. I have been really impressed with the children's enthusiasm and resilience this week and hope they have enjoyed a well deserved rest this weekend.
Week Ending 22nd September 2023
In English this week, we have continued with the story of Kensuke’s Kingdom. The children have been busy predicting what would happen next for the main character, Michael, as he fell off his ship and woke up on a desert island. They have used some excellent vocabulary to really show how Michael was feeling. Towards the end of the week, the children have been learning about modal verbs as well as colons and semi-colons for our grammar focus. In Maths, the children have looked at rounding numbers and negative numbers. They finished the week with reasoning and worked in groups to problem solve a variety of different tasks based on place value. In Science, the children explored the work of Carl Linnaeus and his classification system. Next week, they will begin looking more specifically at vertebrates and invertebrates. In History, the children looked at different sources from the Vikings period and were able to make inferences based on what they saw. The children worked hard playing in the role of a detective and discovered that the Vikings had a range of skills to offer as both engineers and traders. In Computing, the children worked in groups to remix a code on Scratch and looked at the importance of ensuring passwords are kept secure and prove difficult to hack.
Week Ending 15th September 2023
This week in English, we started our work on Kensuke's Kingdom (by Michael Morpurgo). The children made predictions from the front cover of the book, wrote a balanced argument on whether Michael's family should sail around the world and finally wrote descriptive paragraphs about a calm and stormy sea. In Maths, we worked on place value of number. We looked at different visual representations of number as well as consolidated our comprehension of how the value of digits change. In History, we worked on timelines to introduce The Vikings. In Art, we looked at propaganda images as well as retrofuturism. The children generated mind maps using their observational skills and shared their views on the purpose of the imagery. In addition to these lessons, on Wednesday Amber class had a 'Cool Choices' workshop with Actios. During the session they thought about the challenges of Year 6 as well as reflected on their personal experiences of education and possible plans for the future.