Year 6: Blog items

Year 6 Blog Friday 19th April 2024

Date: 18th Apr 2024 @ 3:38pm

A great first week back, well done Year 6.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y3/4 Word List) for your test on Friday A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (19.04.24 – 26.04.24):

important                learn            

increase                  length       

 interest                  library     

island                      material

knowledge              medicine

Maths

Counting/Number Games

Have a go at working out the distances/counting with negative numbers!

https://nrich.maths.org/5929 

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Thursday 26.04.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

We have just recently received passwords for Times Table Rock Stars which is another great way to practise your times tables.

Follow this link: https://ttrockstars.com/ 

Reminders

Cricket Festival Monday 29th April.

Bank Holiday Monday 6th May.

Year 6 Sports Day Friday 21st June.

In English, we wrote fantastic arguments for and against homework for children at Primary School. We gave our own good opinions and reasons for these.

In Maths, we worked on multiplying and dividing fractions.

In RE, we started the topic - Serving (this includes Pentecost). We listened to a story about a witness. Following this, we had mini-debates on the subject: Is it better not to be a witness or to be one?

In PE, we practised our cricket skills - we played mini games and put into practice some new skills we'd learnt.  

In French, we completed our end of topic assessment. We demonstrated our listening, writing and reading skills linked to items of clothing/colour/description.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Thursday 28th March 2024

Date: 28th Mar 2024 @ 3:38pm

A fantastic week, well done Year 6.

The Easter Liturgy in Church was wonderful this afternoon, you all did so well with the readings, singing and performing.

Have a great holiday and a good rest, but it's important to keep doing some home practice each day!

Home Practice:

A pack has been issued for you to work on over the Easter Holiday.

See you in the Summer Term in your summer uniform.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Friday 22nd March 2024

Date: 19th Mar 2024 @ 2:50pm

A great week, well done Year 6.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these thirteen spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (22.03.24 – 28.03.24):

soldier                system               vegetable

stomach             temperature       vehicle

sufficient             thorough            yacht

suggest               twelfth

symbol                variety

Maths

Counting/Number Games

Have a go at this factors and multiples game!

https://nrich.maths.org/factorsandmultiples 

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Thursday 28.03.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

 Easter Egg Raffle - you can still buy tickets for 50p in class.

In English, the children wrote draft reports about Hurricane Michael, including cohesive devices. We will proof-read and edit these next week and write a final version.

In Maths, we worked on division and the chunking method.

Year 6 led a lovely Retirement Assembly for Steve, the swimming instructor at Penwortham pool, who has taught swimming lessons for nearly 30 years.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Friday 15th March 2024

Date: 12th Mar 2024 @ 1:38pm

A very busy week, well done for working so hard Year 6.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (15.03.24 – 22.03.24):

relevant                secretary

restaurant             shoulder

rhyme                   signature

rhythm                  sincere

sacrifice                sincerely

Maths

Counting/Number Games

Have a go at this counting game!

https://nrich.maths.org/1241 

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Friday 22.03.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Thursday 21st March Family Bingo 6.30 - 8.00pm (tickets available from the office).

In English, we worked on direct speech (inverted commas) and indirect speech (reported speech) linked to what the characters in our book might have said. Also, the children wrote some fantastic ideas for a sequel story, using modal verbs and adverbs of possibility.

In Maths, we were dividing decimal and large whole numbers using both mental and written methods (chunking).

The Japanese students delivered a fantastic lesson all about toys in Japan on Thursday afternoon. Year 6 had great fun playing with the toys and they learnt a few Japanese words too!

Last Freddy Fit session for Year 6, we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the loud music and high energy lesson.

In RE, we discussed and wrote about the qualities of good friendships and things that might spoil those friendships with a focus on class unity.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Friday 8th March 2024

Date: 5th Mar 2024 @ 1:30pm

A super week, well done Year 6.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (08.03.24 – 15.03.24):

persuade                programme

physical                  pronunciation

prejudice                 queue

privilege                  recognise

profession               recommend

Maths

Counting/Number Games

https://nrich.maths.org/6499 

Have a go at this counting game!

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Friday 15.03.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Freddy Fit will be in school on Wednesday 13th March, please remember those PE kits!

Thursday 21st March Family Bingo 6.30 - 8.00pm (tickets available from the office).

In English, we continued reading Tuesday by David Weisner. We wrote excellent playscripts, remembering to use all the key features and related it to the story. In addition, we planned and wrote police reports based on what happened on Tuesday, using reported speech and formal language.

We all looked fabulous in our World Book Day costumes, we completed some book related wordsearches and crosswords.

In Maths, we have been working on translations and reflections. We have done very well with this, using the coordinates to help translate shapes and reflecting shapes through both the x and y axes.

Fr Michael came into school to do confession with Y6 on Thursday.

In Science, we learnt how we see things and labelled parts of the eye. 

In Music, we revised 'Twinkle Twinkle' on the recorders and began to learn 'Old McDonald had a farm' with a new note F#.

In Art, we had a lovely afternoon making Mother's Day cards.

In French, we spoke about the clothes we wear and what other people wear.

Je porte...

Il/Elle porte...

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Friday 1st March 2024

Date: 27th Feb 2024 @ 2:58pm

A great week, well done Year 6.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (01.03.24 – 08.03.24):

marvellous                nuisance

mischievous              occupy

muscle                       occur

necessary                  opportunity

neighbour                  parliament

Maths

Counting/Number Games

https://nrich.maths.org/6402 

Have a go at this game!

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Friday 08.03.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Get your costumes ready!

In English, we have started our new book Tuesday by David Weisner. The children became police detectives and investigated what happened on Tuesday. They chose witnesses to interview and wrote a list of questions designed to help the interviewee retell as much interesting detail as possible. We will use these to write a playscript and report next week.

In Maths, we have been working on coordinates and geometry. Year 6 described positions in four quadrants, used coordinates to complete shapes and worked out the coordinates on blank axes.

In RE, we finished writing our letters in the style of St Paul to the children in Y2. Hopefully we will be able to read them to Y2 next week.

In PE, we continued tag rugby skills and games. We also had a triathlon session which included swimming arms, riding bikes and running. Year 6 were really good at it, despite the rain!

In Music, the children played Guess the time! and Twinkle Twinkle on the recorders (new note F sharp).

Zentangle Art was fun and the patterns were very detailed.

In History, we learned about different crimes and punishments during the Tudor period and how that changed.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Friday 23rd February 2024

Date: 20th Feb 2024 @ 8:16am

A great week back, well done Year 6.

Fabulous effort at completing your home practice over half term.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (23.02.24 – 01.03.24):

hindrance                 interfere

identity                      interrupt

immediate                 language

immediately              leisure

individual                  lightning

Maths

Counting/Number Games

https://nrich.maths.org/5865 

Have a go at this interactive game!

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Friday 01.03.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Remember to sign up for Parents' Evening on Tuesday 27th February.

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Get your costumes ready!

In English, we have written for different audiences and purposes. We rewrote a piece in third person about a young boy receiving a present. We tried to include excellent description and some dialogue. We also wrote a first person flashback in the role of Jacqueline Auriol, the first european woman to break the sound barrier in 1953. In addition, we reported on high diving giraffes and wrote a beautiful poem based on a poem by Peter Vacz, using personification.

In Maths, we have been comparing, ordering, adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers and finding differences.

In RE, we wrote letters in the style of St Paul for the children in Y2. This advised the Year 2 children how to grow up as members of our school community.

In PE, we worked on our tag rugby skills and played mini games.

In French, we learned a range of clothing vocabulary.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Thursday 8th February 2024

Date: 7th Feb 2024 @ 3:33pm

A great week of learning, well done Year 6.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

We managed to do the spelling test today, fantastic effort everyone. This means we can take new spellings home for the half term holiday. Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on the first Friday back after half term. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. 

Spellings (08.02.24 – 23.02.24):

excellent                      forty

existence                     frequently

explanation                  government

familiar                         guarantee

foreign                          harass

Maths

Counting

Which of these numbers would you come to when counting in sixes from zero?
How do you know?

Would you get to some of these numbers if you were counting in sevens from zero? Which ones?
Can you explain how you arrived at your answers?

Could some of these numbers be reached if you were counting in nines from zero? Which ones?
Again, how do you know?

Would your answers be the same if you counted in the same step sizes but down from 350 in each case?
How do you know?

Looking at the image above and this time counting in 25s from zero, which numbers will you land on?  
If you were counting in 25s from 10, which numbers would you land on this time?  How can you work this out without actually counting?

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by Friday 23.02.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Remember to sign up for Parents' Evening on Tuesday 20th February or Tuesday 27th February.

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Get your costumes ready!

Year 6 have been given a revision pack to work through over the half term holiday. 

In English, we continued typing up our stories and spent valuable time proof-reading and editing our work. We also enjoyed reading a few of the stories out loud to the class.  Another great session by Gareth from Literacy Kicks about live blogging. Unfortunately, it was the last session, but Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed being sports journalists and their writing has been fantastic!

In Maths, we worked hard on arithmetic and place value. We learnt about partitioning large numbers up to 10 000 000 and numbers with up to three decimal places. We also practised rounding whole numbers and decimal numbers. Other maths work included: solving calculation problems, simplifying and ordering fractions and adding/subtracting fractions.

In RE, we researched and prepared a presentation about The Dead Sea Scrolls and The Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

In PE, we worked on our hockey skills and played mini games.

In French, we described ourselves and a friend using the correct french vocabulary for height, age, hair/eye colour and accessories.

In Music, KS2 had a lovely afternoon sharing all the things they had been learning in a special Music Showcase.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Friday 2nd February 2024

Date: 31st Jan 2024 @ 5:40pm

Amazing effort this week, everyone has worked so hard!

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on the first Friday back after half term. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. This is for home practice only and can be kept with you.

Spellings (02.02.24 – 23.02.24):

develop                      equip

dictionary                    equipped 

disastrous                   equipment

embarrass                   especially

environment                exaggerate

Maths

Counting

Which is quicker, counting up to 30 in ones or counting up to 300 in tens? Why?

Which is quicker, counting up to 40 in ones or counting up to 4,000 in hundreds?

Which is quicker, counting up to 10 in ones or counting up to 1,000,000 in hundred-thousands?

Which is quicker, counting up to 20 in ones or counting up to 140 in sevens?

Which is quicker, counting up to 25 in French or in English?

Maybe you could work on this with a partner!

When you have timed yourselves and decided on the reasons for your results, you could invent some other examples for yourselves.

You can predict which you think will be quicker, then try them out to test your prediction.

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Thursday 08.02.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Remember to sign up for Parents' Evening on Tuesay 20th February or Tuesday 27th February.

World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March. Get your costumes ready!

In English, we planned and are in the process of writing our own 'outsider' stories, which we have been editing and improving in Word on the lap-tops. I am really looking forward to reading your finished versions. Another great session by Gareth from Literacy Kicks about opinion writing. We have strong opinions about whether sports personalities should get involved in politics.

In Maths, we learnt to understand and interpret data contained in more complex bar charts. Other maths work included: BODMAS, factors, multiples and prime numbers, mental maths, estimating and checking. 

In Science, we started our light topic. We thought about different light sources, categorised them and explained how light travels.

In PE, we worked on our hockey skills and enjoyed a much needed yoga session.

In French, we learnt the necessary vocabulary to give a physical description. 

Mrs Winter was very pleased in Music, we played the ukuleles very well and listened to Enigma Variations by Elgar.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Friday 26th January 2024

Date: 26th Jan 2024 @ 9:02am

Super learning this week, well done to everyone!

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test next Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday/Friday with the spelling list on. This is for home practice only and can be kept with you.

Spellings (26.01.24 – 02.02.24):

conscience                      criticise

conscious                        curiosity 

controversy                      definite

convenience                     desperate

correspond                       determined

Maths

Counting

In class, we worked on negative numbers and number lines. Have a go at the game below.

This game is for two players.
You will need to draw a number line from -13 to 13 on a piece of paper, and find a counter and two 1-6 dice to use. 

Decide who is Positive and who is Negative.
Positive moves the counter from left to right and Negative moves the counter from right to left. (Why do you think we have suggested this way round?)

Place the counter on 0.

Take it in turns to throw the two dice and add the scores then move the counter that number of places in your direction.
If the counter reaches -13, Negative has won. If the counter reaches 13, Positive has won.

Is it better to play a game where you have to reach the end exactly, or where you can go over the end? What do you think and why?

Now change the game. This time, when you throw the dice, you can decide whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide the numbers on the dice. You must reach -13 or 13 exactly to win.

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday 02.02.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Wednesday 31st January - Meeting for Year 6 parents regarding the End of Key Stage 2 Assessments and Tests, at 6.30 pm in school.

The athletics team are at a competition next Tuesday afternoon.

Online Safety

In English, we produced some great pieces of writing from the persepective of the character. We also wrote a summary of the book using adverbials to link paragraphs and help with cohesion. Focuses this week were; cohesion, joined handwriting, good vocab choices, relative clauses, adverbs/adverbials and suffixes. Another great session by Gareth from Literacy Kicks about editing. He was really impressed with the editing skills in Y6. 

In Maths, we needed to understand and interpret data contained within simple pie charts and use this to solve problems. Other maths work included: place value, rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10 000, negative numbers, written multiplication/ division and problem solving.

In RE, we spent time exploring the Bible and finding references. This gave them a better understanding of the contents of the Bible so we could note down books within it, genres of those books and opening sentences.

During P.E,  we worked on our in-door athletic skills.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Friday 19th January 2024

Date: 18th Jan 2024 @ 1:02pm

A great week of learning, well done to everyone!

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test next Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday with the spelling list on. This is for home practice only and can be kept with you.

Spellings (19.01.24 – 26.01.24):

available                     category

average                       cemetery 

awkward                      committee

bargain                         communicate

bruise                           community

Maths

Counting

In class, we counted in tenths on a blank number line and found missing decimal numbers. At home, count in decimal steps. Start at 0.1 and continue this sequence…0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 etc. Next count back from 9.9 and continue counting…9.9, 9.8 etc. See how fast you can go, miss numbers out and work out what the missing decimal number is. Draw blank number lines, if it helps, and write the numbers down as you count.

Sumdog

You have a mixed times table/division facts challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday 26.01.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Wednesday 31st January - Meeting for Year 6 parents regarding the End of Key Stage 2 Assessments and Tests, at 6.30 pm in school.

Year 6 have had a busy week of learning and worked so hard.

In English, we read the book The Island by Armin Greder. We wrote a short piece in the role of a refugee child describing our journey to safety. We also wrote a newspaper report describing a stranger arriving on our island and how it affected the islanders. Focuses this week were; cohesion, joined handwriting, good vocab choices, prepositions, using quotes in reports and comprehension. Another great session by Gareth from Literacy Kicks about Tatyana McFadden the paralympian. 

In Maths, the focus was Geometry this week. We calculated missing angles on a line and missing angles in shapes. We also accurately drew angles and shapes using protractors and rulers, and looked at the properties of 2-D and 3-D shapes so they could be sorted on venn and carroll diagrams.

In Science, we took notes and wrote a short piece to educate people on the health risks of either smoking, drinking too much alcohol or being overweight. We compared healthy and unhealthy lifestyles, but recognised that it is alright to have things in moderation.

P.E time was spent improving athletic skills.

In Art, we drew some fantastic portraits.

Year 6 Team.

Online Safety January 2024

Date: 12th Jan 2024 @ 4:14pm

With your children returning to school, it is a great time to review Online Safety in your homes and make sure we are all up to date with developments in the online world. At St Oswald's, all classes will be continuing with their Online Saftety learning where they will learn all about safe practices online in the following areas. 

Self image and identitiy

Online relationships

Online bulllying

Health, Well-being and lifestyle

Online reputation

Managing online information

Copyright and ownership

To access a huge range of information on the National Online Safety website click the link below and join our school online safety hub.You will get access to videos, training and guides to keep you informed of the best practices in keeping your children safe online.

http://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/st-oswald-s-catholic-primary-school-pr45eb

Year 6 Blog Friday 12th January 2024

Date: 12th Jan 2024 @ 11:25am

Welcome to the Year 6 Blog and Happy New Year

Home Practice

Reading

Please read for up to 30 minutes every night, this will improve the speed at which you read and your understanding of the text. If you come across any new words that you don’t understand, ask an adult or look it up in the dictionary. Building up your vocabulary knowledge is really beneficial.

Spelling

Please practise these spellings (Y5/6 Word List) for your test on Friday. A sheet will go home every Thursday with the spelling list on. This is for home practice only and can be kept with you.

It is useful to write the words down on the spelling sheet, but you could also ask someone to call the words out and spell them out loud. Other ideas include, breaking the words up and writing them down in different colours (accommodate). You could look for words within words (accompany) or think of your own ways to remember the word, for example, spell it aloud using a mnemonic or tune.

This week’s spellings are (12.01.24 – 19.01.24):

accommodate                     amateur

accompany                          ancient 

according                            apparent

achieve                               appreciate

aggressive                           attached

Maths

Counting

In class, we learnt how to add and subtract in 0.001's. At home, count in decimal steps. Start at 1.372 and continue this sequence… 1.373, 1.374, 1.375, 1.376 etc. Next count back from 4.749 and continue counting…4.748, 4.747 etc.

Sumdog

You have a times table challenge on Sumdog to complete by next Friday 19.01.24.

Log in at www.sumdog.com

If you would like to do a bit more work on your times tables, Hit the Button is a great game to play.

Follow this link: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders

Tuesday 16th January - Meeting for Year 6 parents regarding the End of Key Stage 2 Assessments and Tests, at 6.30 pm in school.

It was great to see everyone in school again after the Christmas holiday. Year 6 have settled back into the rules and routines very well and worked extremely hard this week.

In English, we read the book Eric by Shaun Tan. We wrote a few excellent pieces, including a letter from Eric, explaining why he left so suddenly. Focuses this week were; cohesion, joined handwriting, modal verbs, good vocab choices, conjunctions, pronouns and determiners. Gareth from Literacy Kicks will be working with the children for the next few weeks.

In Maths, we were introduced to Algebra and the concept of using letters or shapes to represent values. We calculated missing values by identifying similarities and differences and wrote simple rules using algebra. We also explored different algebra type questions. This linked nicely to finding missing angles on a line and the geometry work we will be doing next week.

In Science, we produced excellent posters explaining ways in which people can lead a healthy lifestyle.

In P.E, we took part in cross country running.

In Art, we used different techniques to create some fabulous charcoal art.

Have a great weekend.

Year 6 Team.

Year 6 Blog Thursday 21st December 2023

Date: 19th Dec 2023 @ 9:42am

Our last week in December has been very exciting:

On Monday, we had a visit from All Hallows who gave super Christmas performances of dancing and singing. It was so nice to see past St Oswald’s pupils showing off their talents.

On Tuesday, Year 6 prepared and led a wonderful Christingle in church.

On Wednesday, it was Christmas jumper day, the school sang carols to the parents and we ate a delicious Christmas lunch.

Also on Wednesday, we said goodbye to Mr Mears after 13 years at St Oswald’s during a special assembly. We wish him all the best on his new adventure in Australia. 

Finally, on Thursday, we had our final Golden Assembly of the term!

Home Practice

You will have also noticed that there is no Sumdog being set for the Christmas break so you can have a rest and come back fresh and ready for the exciting learning in January!

BUT please keep reading as much as possible!

Year 6 Blog Friday 15th December 2023

Date: 15th Dec 2023 @ 8:21am

Welcome to our Year 6 weekly blog.

Home Practice

Reading – Please read for up to 30 minutes a night and complete your reading task.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we counted in decimals steps
  • Draw a line with some marks on it
  • Start with these numbers: 13.06 and 27.873 and count back 10 times then back up in 0.3s:

13.06, 13.36, 13.66, 13.96, 14.26, etc

and in 0.03s:

13.06, 13.09, 13.12, 13.15, 13.18, etc

• Number facts:
  • Please continue to learn your numbers facts, 9 + 7 = 16, 5 + 11 = 16.
  • This will help with questions with different powers of 10:
    • 90 + 70 = 160, 900 + 700 = 1600, 0.9 + 0.7 = 1.6
    • 09 + 0.07 = 0.16

• Sumdog (Lancashire Sumdog Winter Wonderland Contest)

This week’s Sumdog contest is once again against Year 7 from All Hallows. Try your best to get as many questions completed before next Thursday 21^st. The questions will be based on your Sumdog level and will vary across many topics.

REMINDER:

• Bring in spare trainers and socks for our last cross-country session next week.

On Wednesday, we celebrated a special Robinwood assembly for Year 5.  We shared our favourite activities, named the challenges we overcame and showed our Robinwood video.

On Thursday, we had a visit from the ‘Dogs Trust’ who came in to talk about how to keep safe around other people’s dogs.

On Friday, we had a visit from ‘Rock Steady’. Jacob, the performer, showed us how to play drums, guitar, bass guitar, electric keyboard and how to use our vocal chords to combine into a rock band. 

• In Maths, we learnt how to find percentages of numbers. Percent is defined as ‘out of 100’ and they are very easily related to fractions. We used hundredth fractions and bar models to help us solve questions.

• In English, following a visit from Year 3 last week who showed off their amazing writing of the wordless book, ‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker, we decided to return the favour. Year 6 created their own version of the wordless book, ‘Quest’, which is the sequel to Journey and showed our super writing on Friday. You can see the pictures here.

• In RE, we wrote a Christmas prayer related to what Christians expect at this time of year.

• In Design and Technology, we began our final design for our Christmas tree decoration using thread and needles. It has been great to see everyone develop their stitching skills this week. Check out the final pictures here.

• In Science, we learnt about the digestive system and how food travels from our mouth, through the oesophagus into the stomach, through the intestines and out as a stool.

• In Art, we learnt about Kate Deciccio, an activism artist. We were inspired to create our own activism art in the bold and colourful design of Romero Britto.

Have an amazing weekend!

Year 6 Blog Friday 8th December 2023

Date: 8th Dec 2023 @ 8:19am

Welcome to Year 6's weekly blog.

Home Practice

Reading – Please read for up to 30 minutes a night and complete your reading task.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings 

• Sumdog (A2 wk 6 silent letters)
  • guide, history, knee, know, lamb, often, parliament, recognise, rhyme, sign, separate, surprise, vegetable, weight, wrong.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been mainly counting in fractions.
  • Draw a line with some marks on.
  • Start with these numbers: 6 1/7 and 13 2/6 and count back 10 times.  Then count back up in sevenths:

6 1/7, 6, 5 6/7, 5 5/7, 5 4/7, etc

and in two sixths:

13 2/6, 13, 12 4/6, 12 2/6, 12 11 4/6, etc

• Number facts:
  • Please continue to learn your number facts eg. 9 + 7 = 16, 5 + 11 = 16.
  • This will also help with questions with different powers of 10:
    • 90 + 70 = 160, 900 + 700 = 1600, 0.9 + 0.7 = 1.6
    • 09 + 0.07 = 0.16

• Sumdog (Times Tables A2 wk 6)

• Sumdog (Add and subtract fractions A2 wk 6)
  • For this week’s challenge, most of the questions will have ‘bars’ to help you add and subtract. Try not to guess the answers, but look for patterns – most of the questions are very similar. If it becomes too tricky, please let me know.

REMINDERS:

• CHRISTMAS HAMPER – This year, our class are collecting ‘PINK’ items to create a Christmas hamper. You can bring in biscuits, drinks, chocolates, etc. Thank you to everyone who has brought in items already. We have one more week to collect.
• PE - Bring in your spare trainers and socks for our cross-country session next week.
• DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY - Next week we will be continuing with our design and technology project, ‘sewing’. I have enough felt, ribbon, thread and needles for everyone, but if you wish to decorate it further with your own felt, thread or even buttons then you may bring them in on Monday 11^th (You do not have to go out and buy anything – this is just in case anyone has items in their house they would like to use to enhance their Christmas tree decoration.)
• Monday 11^th December is also our PTFA Sponsored Santa Dash, so you may wear a Christmas hat, Santa beard or even a full Santa outfit, if you wish. Please send your sponsor money in an envelope.

On Thursday, we had a very special performance of the Snow Queen by the Quantum Theatre. Thank you to the PTFA for funding the event!

On Friday, we had a visit from the South Ribble Sports Coaches who led a ‘Dance Festival’ for every class in the school. You can see our dance moves here on our St Oswald's TV

In Maths, we have been learning how to find fractions of numbers using bar models. We created two bars: one for the whole and one for the fraction. As an example, to find ¾ of 264, we would find one quarter of 264, which is 66. Then we need three of these, so 66 x 3 = 198.

In English, we learnt how to use emotive language and wrote a diary entry in role. We discussed the impact of word choice and how to use show not tell to describe our emotions.

In RE, we wrote a diary entry from Mary’s perspective about her expectations of becoming the mother of Christ.

In Design and Technology, we began our project - sewing a Christmas tree decoration.  We evaluated last year’s work, designed our own decoration, and practised two types of hand sewing techniques: running stitch and overstitch.

In Art, we learnt about Romero Britto. He is a Brazilian artist, painter, serigrapher and sculptor who combines elements of cubism, pop art and graffiti painting in his work. He is know for using vibrant colour and bold pattern as a visual expression of hope and happiness.

Have a super weekend everyone!

Year 6 Blog Friday 1st December 2023

Date: 1st Dec 2023 @ 8:23am

Welcome to our Year 6 weekly blog.

This week, we were visited by fire fighters who gave a talk to Year 6 about:

Fire safety – we learnt to:

Not to play with matches, how to stop, drop and roll, electrical safety and the importance of having a fire plan at home.

Road sense – Always:

Look out for cyclists, be visible to other road users, wear seat belts and cycle helmets.

REMINDER:

Please bring in your spare trainers and socks for our cross-country session next week.

Our learning this week:

• In Maths, we learnt how to add and subtract fractions with various denominators. We are using our times tables knowledge to become much quicker at these.

• In English, we learnt how to write a persuasive letter, to try to persuade Mr Mears to have extra play. We used formal sentence openers, emotive language and a range of modal verbs.

• In PE, we began our cross-country topic. The children did a super job of running the full distance. They will be working on improving their personal best time over the next few weeks.

• In Music, we continued to play Bacharach Anorak on the glocks, improvising at the right time. We composed with the song ‘Meet The Blues’ using notes C Bb G and F on the glocks. We sang the song Jazz is cool, discussing the texture and singing in groups. We finished by practising the Carols for Christmas – Starry Night and O little town of Bethlehem.

• In French, we caught up with our Cultural Understanding Project. With our groups, we started researching our chosen topics for our Christmas in France presentation. This will continue next week and should be ready to present to the class the following week.

• In Science, we completed a fair test to see which exercise would increase our heart rate the most. We discussed the results and learnt how to conclude our findings.

• In RE, we learnt that Advent is a time of joyful expectation. They wrote their own Advent expectations which were turned into an Advent wreath. We also started our Advent calendar, where each child wrote a prayer or an act of kindness that everyone in Year 6 must do during this festive period.

Home Practice

Please try to complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Please read up to 30 minutes a night and complete your reading task.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings 

• Sumdog (A2 wk 5 challenge words)
  • answer, favourite, bruise, actually, build, guarantee, certain, guard, definite, library, difference, muscle, exercise, doubt, environment.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in fractions.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class.
  • Start with these numbers: 2 1/4, 14 3/4, 5 1/5 and count up 10 times then back again in two quarters:

2 ¼, 2 ¾, 3 ¼, 3 ¾,  etc

and in three fifths:

5 1/5, 5 4/5, 6 2/5, 7, 7 3/5etc

• Number facts:
  • To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 7 + 8 = 15, 4 + 7 = 11.
  • The best way to do this is to simply have someone in your home quiz you with questions like (8 + 6, 6 + 5, 3 + 8, 5 + 9, etc)
  • Then get them to change the place value of these digits (0.8 + 0.6, 0.06 + 0.05, 0.3 + 0.8, etc)

• Sumdog (Times Tables A2 wk 5)

• Sumdog (Square numbers)
  • Remember that multiplication can be shown thrown arrays. When an array makes a perfect square (2 by 2, 3 by 3, 4 by 4, etc) then we have a square number (4, 9, 16, etc). Try to work through these questions quickly, which will help for next week’s learning.

Year 6 Blog Friday 24th November 2023

Date: 24th Nov 2023 @ 4:07pm

Welcome to Year 6 weekly blog.

We have had a fabulous week getting back to our curriculum, following Robinwood last week. On Thursday, we were invited by Reception to meet Mr Brown, a paramedic, who came with his ambulance to show the children what his job entails, how he helps people in the community and what equipment he uses.

On Friday morning, Father invited Year 6 to Mass. Father Michael was wearing red to celebrate the Mass for the Feast of the Martyrs. Thank you for the invite, Father!

Also, two teams competed this week: Volleyball team and another Football team. It was our first ever volleyball competition and the 8 that took part did a super job representing the school with two wins and two losses – an excellent achievement for our first time. As for the football team, they were unfortunate to win a game at Priory High but had a great time working together.

Our learning this week:

• In Maths, we learnt how to compare and simplify fractions using multiples and factors. We then learnt to use common multiples and factors to quickly find equivalent fractions.

• In English, we have read more of our novel, Private Peaceful, and inferred main characters words and actions to help us write in role.

• In PE, we began our indoor athletics topic focusing on finding a baseline of the standing long jump, triple jump, vertical jump and speed bounce. We will be working on our techniques to improve our personal best.

• In History, we continued our topic of ‘Crime and Punishment’. This week, we learnt about the Anglo-Saxon period and as there was no police force back then, every group of 10 people in the village were named a ‘tithing’ and if anyone within that tithing committed a crime, it was up to the other 9 to bring them to the ‘trial of ordeals’ – even chasing them down the street. Also, if one person in the tithing group did not chase, then they were sentenced to the ‘trial by ordeal’ too.

• In Science, we created a fair test to see which exercise would increase our heart rate the most. We discussed the variables, what we would keep the same, our predictions, method and results.

Home Practice

Please try to complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Please read up to 30 minutes a night and complete your reading task.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings 

• Sumdog (A2 wk 6 -ough words)
  • though, although, rough, tough, through, cough, nought, brought, ought, thought, fought, plough, dough, enough, thorough

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in decimal steps.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class.
  • Start with these numbers: 7.5, 3.9, 25.4 and count up 10 times then back again in 0.7:

7.5, 8.2, 8.9, 9.6, 10.1 etc

and in 2.5:

7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, etc

• Number facts:
  • To help your maths even more, please continue to learn your numbers facts, 7 + 8 = 15, 4 + 7 = 11.
  • The best way to do this is to simply have someone in your home quiz you with questions like (8 + 6, 6 + 5, 3 + 8, 5 + 9, etc)
  • Then get them to change the place value of these digits (0.8 + 0.6, 0.06 + 0.05, 0.3 + 0.8, etc)

• Sumdog (Times Tables A2 wk 4)

• Sumdog (Common multiples)
  • This challenge will help to practise the learning we have done this week. Try your best to use your times tables knowledge to answer them quickly.
  •  

Year 6 Blog Friday 17th November 2023

Date: 17th Nov 2023 @ 8:13am

Welcome to Year 6 weekly blog.

This week has been our fabulous residential to Robinwood in Todmorden. We all had a super time. Click the link here  to see some of the pictures. Also, watch our Robinwood 2023 video on our YouTube channel, St Oswald’s TV, by clicking on the link.

Our highlights included:

• Accurately firing an arrow in archery
• Crawling through tight spaces in caving
• Using our strength and coordination to combat indoor climbing
• Finding the courage to release the wire on the giant swing
• Working together creatively to solve the dungeon challenge
• Using our senses to navigate through the night line blind folded
• Developing great communication skills to solve the quest challenge
• Building confidence to head down the large zip wire

The children have been a credit to the school this week and we hope to build on the 12 qualities learnt at Robinwood:

Responsibility, cooperation, confidence, resilience,

Patience, respect, support, listening,

Developing skills, problem solving, encouragement, communication

Help the homeless

Foxton Centre Big PNE Sleepout Friday 17^th November 

Miss Smith and Mrs Dexter are sleeping by the football pitch at PNE’s Deepdale Stadium this Friday 17^th November. This is to raise money for a day centre called The Foxton Centre who provide food and warmth to the homeless people of Preston.

Miss Smith and Mrs Dexter will sleep on cardboard and will only have with them what they can carry. This will give them an insight into how difficult it is for people sleeping on the streets, particularly as the nights are getting colder. We are all fortunate that we have food and somewhere warm to go to sleep every night, which is not the case for some people in Preston.

Miss Smith and Mrs Dexter are asking for sponsorship; any donation would go a long way to help Preston’s vulnerable homeless community.  

You can read more and donate here: 

https://www.justgiving.com/team/deepdaledreamers?utm_medium=proxy_team&utm_content=team%2Fdeepdaledreamers&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=pfp-email

Year 6’s learning continued on Thursday and Friday with:

• In Maths, we have continued our learning of chunking with three-digit numbers divided by 2 digit (414 divided by 23).
• In English, we learnt how to write a detailed letter so we could thank Robinwood for our fantastic time there.
• In History, we learnt about crime and punishment during the Roman times. They used the Twelve Tables as laws and gave severe punishments.
• In PSHE, as part of our ‘Antibullying Week’ we investigated different scenarios and discussed ways we can identify and support those who are affected by unkindness.

Home Practice

Please try to complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Please read up to 30 minutes a night and complete your reading task.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings 

• Sumdog - Spellings A2 wk 3 (-ent, -ence)
  • persistent, persistence, violent, violence, intelligent, intelligence,

inconvenient, inconvenience, obedient, obedience, conference, difference,

conscience, reference, excitement.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in decimal steps of:

20 000, 200 000 and x 2. Try to do the same out loud or with paper.

• Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
• g. Start with 5 digit numbers and count up 10 times then back again in 20 000s:

43 654, 63 654, 83 654, 103 654, etc

and in 200 000s:

43 654, 243 654, 443 654, 643 654                

Start at a different number and count up 10 numbers and down again but this time in x2:

9, 18, 36, 72, 144, 288, 576, 1 152, etc    

• Sumdog (Times Tables A2 wk 3)
  • This week's focus is on a mixture of x4, x7 and x8. Keep working on becoming quicker and more confident with your times tables. 

• Sumdog (Factor pairs linked to division)
  • Remember that a factor is a number that divides into a number, leaving no remainders. 42 ÷ 7 = 6 and 42 ÷ 6 = 7, so both 7 and 6 are factors of 42. In fact, 7 and 6 are factor pairs – which is what we have looked at today and will help with our learning next week.

Thank you to all those who gave money for Children in Need. Everyone looked amazing in their pyjamas!

Year 6 Blog Friday 10th November 2023

Date: 10th Nov 2023 @ 3:54pm

Welcome to the Year 6 weekly blog.

On Tuesday, Year 5 and 6 took a trip to Blackpool Theatre to see Frank Cotrell-Boyce, the author of the new book ‘The Wonder Brothers’. He told us all some great stories about how he became an author, showed off some magic tricks and even read from his new book. Everyone received a copy, which most of us started reading on the way back to school.

On Wednesday, 12 of our pupils were chosen to be part of the ‘Maths Team’ who went up against Our Lady and St Gerard’s, Mary Magdalen and St Teresa’s. It was a tough challenge but everyone worked really well as a team, helping us to achieve fourth out of 8. Great work team!

Throughout the week, the School Councillors have done a fantastic job of selling various items for the Poppy Appeal to every class. They would like to say thank you to anyone that bought or donated any money. They will count up and reveal the final amount soon.

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• In Maths, we have learnt and practised how to solve large division questions using mental methods (such as partitioning) and the chunking method. It is very important for everyone to keep practising their times and divisions so hopefully the overnight work has helped them become quicker.

• In English, we completed our novel Clockwork, which ended quite mysteriously. Then we introduced Private Peaceful, a story of two brothers who head off to France and Belgium in World War I. We will be learning about these complex characters over the next few weeks.

• In PE, we focused on using various tactics in volleyball: aiming at space, working as a team and serving. Outside, we began tag rugby, where we learnt the rules of passing back, turnovers and knock-ons.

• In PSHE, we discussed the word, ‘worry’, how we can see signs of it in our friends and created a range of strategies to overcome the feeling.

• In Geography, we completed our Mountains topic by creating an advanced PowerPoint on three tectonic disasters (volcano, tsunami and earthquake) using transitions and hyperlinks.

• In History, we began our new topic of ‘Crime and Punishment’. We learnt to chronologically order different periods over time, through BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era).

• In Science, ‘Circulatory System’ is our new topic. We began by learning how our circulatory system is responsible for transporting nutrients, water and oxygen to billions of blood cells.

• This week in French, we started our Cultural Understanding presentation project. We will be working on this every week in our groups with the aim to present about ‘Christmas in France’. This week, we created our groups, decided our roles within those groups, started sharing some ideas for what will be included in the presentation and what research we will need to do.

• In Music, we continued to learnBacharach Anorak on the  Now we can play the whole piece and improvise. We sang the song Jazz is cool, discussing the texture and singing in groups.

Home Practice

Please try to complete the following tasks by next MONDAY:

• Pack your bag. Check the list of items you will need for Robinwood (NO EXTRA BAG IS NEEDED. JUST USE ONE SUITCASE)
• Bring a water bottle (you can refill this any time during your stay)
• NO LUNCH – Robinwood is providing ALL your food for the entire stay.
• Do not forget your coat!

Do not forget to check our twitter account, St Oswald's twitter account where you can see Year 6 having a super time.

Reading

• Try to do your best to read over the weekend. Enjoy a really good book – you could even read ‘The Wonder Brothers’!

Year 6 Blog Friday 3rd November 2023

Date: 3rd Nov 2023 @ 3:47pm

Welcome to the Year 6 weekly blog.

We have had a busy first week back:

On Wednesday the juniors were invited to Mass to celebrate All Saints Day. The Year 6’s chosen to read out did a super job.

On Thursday, we had a visit from some of the local police to help us understand what commitment is like for those working in the police force. We were very lucky to meet a responder, traffic officers and a police dog trainers. The Year 6s had a super time metting the all and asking lots of great questions. You can see the gallery here.

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• In Maths, we have learnt and practised how to solve large multiplication questions using the grid method. Most of this week’s home practice has been focused on this to enable the children to become as efficient as possible so they can answer a four-digit x two-digit question in less than two minutes.

• In English, we read a suspense scene from Clockwork which inspired us to write the next suspense chapter. We worked on setting the scene with personification, expressing the character’s thoughts and using short sentences wisely.

• In PE, we introduced a sport we have not played in a while – volleyball. We learnt the main rules, practised serving and how to pass to each other. We need to work on tactics next week and the importance of positioning.

• In PSHE, we discussed ways of helping ourselves and others when faced with difficult challenges. We then related this learning to what we can do in two weeks at Robinwood.

• In Geography, we learnt about Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who were the first two men to reach the top of Mount Everest in 1953. We planned and created a biography of Edmund Hillary, which focused on the main achievements in his life.

• In French, it was Halloween! We completed a French wordsearch with Halloween vocabulary and translated each word into our books. We discussed whether some facts about Halloween in Fracne were vrai o faux. We also matched some statements to the correct Halloween character.

• In Music, we began a half term of jazz on the glocks by learning a new piece called Bacharach Anorak. We learnt to play the head or tune. We started to learn the song Jazz is cool and explored music with 3 beats in a bar.

Home Practice

Please complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Use your Home Reading to read every night for 30 minutes. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings (-ant, -ance words)

• Sumdog (Spellings A2 wk 1)
  • assistant, assistance, arrogant, relevant, important, importance, appearance, extravagant, hesitant, reluctant, nuisance, hindrance, ignorance, resistant, restaurant.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in whole number steps of 50, 90 and 900. Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • g. Start with different numbers and count up 10 times then back again in 50s:

233, 283, 333, 383, 433, 483, 533, etc

and in 90s:

233, 323, 413, 503, 593, 683, 773, 863, etc               

Start at a different number and count up 10 numbers and down again but this time in 900s:

740, 1640, 2540, 3440, 4340, 5240, 6140, 7040, etc   

• Sumdog (Times Tables A2 wk 1)
  • This week’s focus is on x3, x5, x7 times tables.

• Sumdog (Times/divide whole numbers and decimals)
  • These questions are practice of the work we have done recently. Work through as many as you can as they will help hugely for next week’s learning.

Year 6 Blog Thursday 19th October 2023

Date: 19th Oct 2023 @ 8:09am

Welcome to the Year 6 weekly blog.

On Thursday, Mr Pickles came to share his story of the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. He talked about his adventure to base camp 1, the flight and what it was like to be there. The pupils had lots of great questions to ask him. Thank you so much Mr Pickles!

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• In Maths, we learnt how to partition numbers to help us solve multiplication questions quicker. This helped to double any number, including numbers with thousandths, quickly.

• In English, we had a visit from Dawn Robertson, an English specialist, who taught the poetry to the class. The poem was ‘The Fight of the Year’ by Roger McGough, which inspired us to create our own ‘versus’ poem, with some being read out at Golden Assembly.

• In Art, we completed out topic, ‘2D drawing to 3D making’ by using recycled cardboard to attach to our dogs so they could stand. We then invited a few classes to see our gallery and wrote up an evaluation of what they thought. You can see the final pictures here.

• In PE, we concluded our invasion games topic of Netball with a mini intra competition within the class. We focused on the main strategies of: keeping in space, feinting and communication.

• In Geography, we learnt about what it was like to live in the Himalayas before writing down questions to ask Mr Pickles, a mountaineer expert.  

• In Music, we sang the song Happy and discussed the structure (the way the different sections of music are organised). We learnt about music with 2 beats in a bar, then practised listening to music and clapping beat 1 and clicking beat 2. We videoed our final performance of Sunny Sounds on our recorders, reading notation with no note names written on.  

• In French, we completed the sessions about The Time in French. We created our own help sheet with key vocabulary and phrases to use when telling the time in French. This included heures = hours, midi = noon, minuit = midnight, quart = quarter, moins = less (quarter to), demie = half, soir = evening, apres-midi = afternoon, matin = morning. The children were then able to complete a range of listening, reading and writing activities to show they have understood the vocabulary from this topic. Next half term, we will be ready to have some new sessions about our daily routine (after we’ve learned about French Halloween!) as well as starting our Cultural Understanding project where the children will be creating a presentation about French Culture. We will be deciding our groups and chosen topics in the first session.

Home Practice

As it is half term this week, I have just three activities for you to practice.

Reading – Use your Home Reading to read as much as you can over the holidays.

Maths challenges:

• Sumdog (Times Tables A1 wk 7)
  • Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but this week we have focused on x3, x6, x9 which will be great practice for the future.

This week there are 150 questions to answer.

Overnight Homework

• The reading task, which is stuck in your book.

HAVE A SUPER HALF TERM EVERYONE!

Year 6 Blog Friday 13th October 2023

Date: 13th Oct 2023 @ 3:57pm

Welcome to the Year 6 weekly blog.

This Friday, Year 6 had a taster day at All Hallows’. We were treated to a scavenger hunt around the school, science lesson with bunsen burners and a PE lesson in the huge PE hall. Everyone enjoyed the high school with one of the main highlights being the canteen food. You can see our pictures of the day here.

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• In Maths, we practised different addition and subtraction strategies, and learnt how to efficiently use the written method to add and subtract large numbers.

• In English, we have been recapping our learning of how to use speech marks in stories. We used them to create a dialogue between Karl and Dr. Kalmenius, that moved the story forward and was blended with action.

• In Art, we collaged our 2D drawings and stuck them to corrugated card. We are now ready to attach them to cardboard to transform them into 3D models. The pictures of our artwork so far are here.

• In PE, due to the weather, we worked on using a range of tactics to beat an opponent in various games in the hall.

• In PSHE, we learnt about mental health for World Mental Health Day (Tuesday). We explored the difference between physical and mental wellbeing and the three ways we can help someone to improve their mental health: to move, to sleep and to eat well.

• In Geography, we learnt what life is like on a mountain. We researched three key areas: climate, mountain life and avalanches. One amazing fact we found was that one tenth of the world’s population live on mountains.  

Home Practice

Please complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Use your Home Reading to read every night for 30 minutes. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings (-ant -ent words)

• Sumdog (Spellings A1 wk 6)
• hesitant, instrument, distant, relevant, inhabitant, permanent, arrogant, comment, tolerant, important, obedient, innocent, independent, frequent, vacant.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in steps of 8, 80 and 800 Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • g. Start with different numbers and count up 10 times then back again in 8s:

5, 13, 21, 29, 37, 45, 53, 61, etc

and in 80s:

13, 93, 173, 253, 333, 413, etc               

Start at a different number and count up 10 numbers and down again but this time in 800s:

456, 1256, 2056, 2856, 3656, 4456 etc    

• Sumdog (Times Tables A1 wk 6)
  • Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but this week we have focused on x3, x4 and x6, which will be great practice for the future.
  • (Every Tuesday there is a tables test).

• Sumdog (Sumdog Contest)
  • From the 13^th October to the 19^th, Sumdog are hosting a contest. We have entered and so have Year 7 from All Hallows. Therefore, we are competing against Year 7 to see who will become top dog.
  • Attempt to complete 100 questions at least.

Year 6 Blog Friday 6th October 2023

Date: 6th Oct 2023 @ 3:13pm

Welcome to the Year 6 weekly blog.

This Friday, Year 6 led the Harvest Festival Mass – thank you to everyone for bringing in items for the Penwortham foodbank. The Year 6’s did a fantastic job with their speaking parts and their amazing dancing. You can see the pictures here.

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• In Maths, we have learnt how to use the partitioning, bridging and copensation strategies for both addition and subtraction. Next week, we will learn a few more before deciding which strategies are most appropriate for different questions.

• In English, our novel, ‘Clockwork’ inspired us to write an internal monologue of grumpy Karl. We worked on improving our punctuation to help create small, medium and long sentences.

• In Art, we continued our topic of ‘2D drawing to 3D making’, by enlarging our silhouette dogs onto A2 paper using a grid method. Next week, we will be collaging them to add texture.

• In PE, we continued our dance topic of ‘heroes’ by using different levels, directions, positions and contact to create a paired routine. You can see the gallery here. 

• In RE, we read the story of the 'Prodigal Son’, and studied artwork from Rembrandt, Murillo and Guercino on how they interpreted the story.

• In French, we reviewed how to say where we live, what our favourite subjects in school are, what our favourite sports are and which hobbies we love. The children used their help sheets to say their responses to each other.

Home Practice

Please complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Use your Home Reading to read every night for 30 minutes. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings (Homophones)

• Sumdog (Spellings A1 wk 5)

• whether, weather, groan, grown, advice, advise, practise, practice, rain, reign, wail, whale, prey, pray, aloud, allowed.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in decimal steps of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.25 Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line with some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • g. Start with different numbers and count up 10 numbers then back again in 0.1:

5, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, etc

and in 0.2:

6.5, 6.7, 6.9, 7.1, 7.3, 7.5, 7.7, etc           

Start at a number with two decimal places like 8.12 and count up 10 numbers and down again:

8.12, 8.32, 8.52, 8.72, 8.92, 9.12, etc        

Now try to count in 0.25 from 7 and 23 and 54:

7, 7.25, 7.50, 7.75, 8, 8.25, etc

• Sumdog (Times Tables A1 wk 5)
  • Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but this week we have focused on 4s and 8s, which will be great practice for the future.
  • (Every Tuesday there is a tables test).

• Sumdog (Add / Subtract A1 wk 5)
  • This challenge should be quite simple but the main aim is to answer these questions mentally quickly, which will aid us in our learning next week.

Year 6 Blog Friday 29th September 2023

Date: 28th Sep 2023 @ 7:32pm

Welcome to the Year 6 weekly blog.

Having completed their first month, the Year 6s have been praised for their lunch duty roles: helping the infants with drinks, supporting them during their play times and even creating some games to play with them. Excellent work Year 6!

The Reading Ambassadors have started their leadership role of reading with the infants. They made a great impression on the infant staff and are looking forward to more reading time in the coming weeks. The Science Ambassadors and School Councillors have also received their team from the votes in Year 3, 4 and 5.

On Thursday, the football team had their second week of games with the following results:

• A team lost against Little Hoole and drew against Ashbridge
• B team won against Little Hoole B and lost against Hoole St Michaels
• We only have one match left which will conclude on Thursday 12^th October. A letter will be sent out soon as a reminder.

Harvest Festival – please continue to bring in food items for the Harvest Festival which will be celebrated in Mass next Friday at 2:30pm.

This week’s learning in Year 6:

• In Maths, we have been learning how to recognise calculations that require mental partitioning e.g. 6, 584 – 2, 360 or 873 + 350 and how to use this strategy where appropriate.

• In English we began our new novel, ‘Clockwork’ by Phillip Pullman. We learnt about one of the characters, Karl, and used the text as evidence to describe his personality.

• In Geography, we learnt how to describe the 10 features of a mountain: summit, slope, face, tree line, snow line, outcrop, valley, ridge, foot and plateau.

• In PE, we began our new dance topic of ‘heroes’ by using our facial expressions and body tension to display our super powers. 

• In RE, we read a passage from Titus 3: 4-8, which was a letter from St Paul telling the people how powerful God’s love is. We replied with a thank you letter as Titus to St Paul.

• In Science, we learnt how to classify trees based on their specific characteristics: veins (netlike or parallel), shapes (hand-shapes, spear shaped, heart shaped or round), arrangement (simple of compound) and edges (smooth, toothed or lobed).

• In French, we celebrated ‘European Day of Languages’. The class shared any languages which they know, any which they have been learning or any which they would like to learn. Some children shared their favourite word in their language and discussed how they have learned that it. We then listened to a few languages being spoken, suggested which language it was and worked out what each word meant. We also watched some videos of children speaking in another language. We then spent some time answering quiz questions about European countries, including their outlines from a map, their iconic symbols and their traditional foods.

Home Practice

Please complete the following tasks by next Wednesday:

Reading – Use your Home Reading to read every night for 30 minutes. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be used for the title of the book and any reading challenge chosen.

• You may change your book any day between Monday and Wednesday

Spellings (silent letters)

• Sumdog (Silent letters A1 wk 4)
• doubt, climb, guitar, whistle, knight, autumn, thistle, debt, solemn, science, hymn, wriggle, answer, island, dumb.

Maths challenges:

• Counting:
  • This week we have been counting in fraction steps of ¼ and 2/4 Try to do the same out loud or with paper.
  • Draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers as you count up or down, then double check it to make sure you have said the correct numbers.
  • g. Start with different numbers and count up 10 numbers then back again in halves:

2 ¼ , 2 2/4, 2 ¾, 3, 3 ¼ , etc

and as improper fractions:

¾, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 8/4, etc

Start at 13 and count up 10 numbers and down again:

13, 12 ¾, 12 2/4, 12 ¼, etc

Now try in 2/4 with these numbers:

8 8 2/4, 9, 9 2/4, 10, 10 2/4, etc

• Sumdog (Times Tables A1 wk 4)
  • Each child has their own tables target which they should know. The Sumdog challenge may relate to their target but this week we have focused on 3s, 6s, which will be great practice for the future. (Every Tuesday there is a tables test).

• Sumdog (Decimals A1 wk 4)
  • This week’s learning is to make decimals into equivalent fractions e.g. 2/10 = 0.2, 4/10 = 0.4, 35 /100 = 0.35.
  • Also, the challenge will include rounding decimals to the nearest whole number.
  • For further maths work, please visit the ‘Maths Training’ section which you can find in the tasks box on the left of the main screen. This will enable your child to push their learning further with the skills that Sumdog has given them, following a recent diagnostic test.