Happy Half Term and Rainforest Day!

What a week! We have had so many comments from the children on this being an amazing week and we honestly agree!

On Wednesday, we had Rainforest Dave come in and he was not only hilariously entertaining but wonderfully informative providing first-hand experiences to the children which is always so great as they could ask direct questions and get real answers as he has actually lived it. We had the opportunity to hold a tarantula and a snake and they were, surprisingly, adorable! In the afternoon, the children made some tribal jewellery and did some observational drawings of real life animals that had died and Dave preserved (he doesn't believe in killing living things so they all died from natural causes). He showed us some tribal weapons and demonstrated how to shoot a dart through a mouth device made from wood and feathers, all sorts! What a day. Please see lots of pictures below.

In English, we have been focusing on reviews, narrative and explanation texts. We have recapped some of the updated skills that will be tested on in our SPaG papers including our spelling words (Y3/4 & Y5/6) and key skills like determiners, conjunctions (FANBOYS & WASABI - ask the children!).

In Maths, we have finished looking at ratio, proportion and algebra and have started looking at measurement conversions, area, perimeter and geometry looking at 3d shapes and how to make nets. The

In Science, we have been continuing with Evolution and have learnt about the fossilisation process and the fossil record, comparing bones and modern day animals to see how they have adapted and evolved.

If you would like to support the children further at home, please don't hesitate to get in touch and ask us any questions for supporting or extending your child's learning.

Enjoy your half terms together with all the fun holidays we hear you are going on as well as just spending some quality time together.

Mrs Bath and the Year 6 Team.

February already!

Wow, the term is flying by; only 1 more week to half term. We are very excited about our Rainforest Workshop next week - sorry for the late notice. The children will have a great day with lots to see and do. We will put some pictures on next weeks blog for you to enjoy.

Across the maths groups the children have been grappling with algebra, from working out the unknown or multiple unknowns with many options, to writing their own formulae to represent a word problem. Our next unit will be looking at measurement and refreshing our understanding of different measures and how to convert between them.

In English, we are preparing the children with lots of use of the grammar vocabulary and have linked this in to their homework activities. The main focus for spelling over the next half term will be the year 5 and 6 words which the children will bring home to practice over the half term break. Please encourage them to practice these words using the different spelling games and strategies in their file. We will be testing their understanding on the first week back.

A few children have asked if it is okay to bring a Kindle into school. We are happy for the children to use these as reading devices but they must not be able to access the internet or have a camera function. Whilst we certainly want to promote reading and anything that encourages them to read, we need to make sure we are being safe whilst doing so. If they choose to bring a Kindle to school then they need to be responsible for it as unfortunately we are unable to accept responsibility should it become lost or damaged.

Many thanks for all the support you are giving at home. If you would like any specific resources or advice to support your child please let your class teacher know.

Kind regards
The Year 6 Team

2018 underway!

Well, what a start! The children have been amazing! They've come back to ready for this year and have thrown themselves into it with gusto.

In English, we have been really focusing on those key punctuation and grammar skills and the children are really getting a grasp on them, feeling more and more confident each week. We have looked at, in detail, some of those key skills that can slip up now that they are learning higher-level skills so please continue to focus on these when supporting in homework. This would involve ensuring your child has got their capital letters and full stops whilst still focusing on semi-colons and colons.

In Maths, we have been looking at ratio, algebra, scale factor and percentages as well as always keeping up with other key areas such as place value, decimals and all the operations with large numbers. If children are struggling with percentages, remind them to find 1% by dividing by 100 and multiply by the percentage asked or find 10% by dividing by 10 and multiplying by the tens number asked.

In Topic, we are continuing our learning on South America and the Rainforest and have learnt where the rainforests are, what they are and why they exist. We learnt about the Tropics, further discussed the equator and consolidated our understanding of the continents and oceans.

The children are learning about Evolution and Inheritance in Science at the moment and loving it! Whilst there isn't as many hands on experiments in this unit, they are loving discovering what characteristics and traits they got from their parents and other family members as well as learning about adaptation and how living things suit their environments.

For Computing, we are doing coding at the moment so it would be really helpful if they children could bring in some headphones. They are able to complete the tasks well without but they can hear sounds their avatars can make with headphones which adds another layer of fun to their learning!

Enjoy your weekends together,
Mrs Bath and the Year 6 Team :-)

Welcome back to everyone for the spring term and thank you very much for all the gorgeous cards and generous gifts; we all feel very spoilt! The children have started the new term with lots of enthusiasm.

We will be looking at Rainforests in our topic lessons and have started with a look at South America, which they already know lots of very interesting facts about. Topic webs will be coming home next week with further information about the curriculum for the spring term.

Please continue to encourage your children to read at least three times each week and to try different authors and genres. We will begin homework again next Thursday, with the normal Tuesday return date. As we increase their independence prior to secondary school, we'd like the children to speak to their teacher if they have found the homework particularly challenging or have had any problems over the weekend with completing it and we will happily support them.

Have a lovely weekend :-)