Summer 2018
The Summer Term has been extremely busy for our Year 6 children – visit places and taking part in a variety of enrichment activities. We visited Durham Cathedral on the 13th June, for the Leavers’ Service. It was a wonderful way to celebrate their time as a Year 6 class. We enjoyed taking part in a range of activities and the children sang their hearts out- it was so lovely to see.
As a class we did a bike ride to Witton Castle.Once there we enjoyed some time in the play area and our packed lunches before heading back to school. The children were very well behaved and took into consideration other road users whilst riding their bikes.
On the 16th July, we held our Pizza Party – it was a great success. the children had a lovely time playing out and the field and they quickly polished off all those lovely pizzas!
Our year ended with a fabulous Leavers Play. We felt so proud of them and enjoyed watching the work as a fantastic team, pulling together to produce a winning show! We are very proud of all the children’s achievements and have enjoyed watching them grow in confidence and showing determination to succeed. Wherever their new adventure might take them, we want them to dream big and never give up.
Rotary Club – At the beginning of the year, some of the class entered a writing competition for the Bishop Auckland Rotary Club. They recently came in to school to present the awards. All the children who entered were recognised with a small prizem but we had some very talented winners: Lottie came 1st, Nel 2nd and Matthew 3rd. Well done everyone!
Football – The football team took part in the Staindrop World Cup Tournament on 28th June. They payed so well and were a credit to the school. It was joy to watch them play with so much determination and pride.
Maths Challenge – Lilia, Matthew, Zak, Mia and Lottie stepped up and took part in the Bishop Barrington Maths Challenge, on 19th June. They got through to the final and became the overall winners – such an amazing achievement. We are all so proud of them!
Resilience Workshop – This was delivered by the school nurse who provided us with ways to support our emotions and wellbeing. This will be helpful in getting ready for our move to secondary school.
Rounders Tournament – The whole class go the chance to show off their striking and fielding techniques at Bishop Auckland College, Rounders Tournament. They worked at a team to achieve great results and thoroughly enjoyed the day.
Escape Room – We had an exciting morning when Northumbria University visited us and set up and English Escape Room. We were able to use all our grammar and spelling knowledge to guide us through some tricky challenges. We worked in teams and had fun deciphering codes, looking for clues and providing solutions to problems.
Royal Wedding – As part of the royal wedding celebrations we were asked to dress up smart. We did this and used it as a great opportunity to get our pictures taken. The whole school was having a wedding picnic and as responsible year 6 children, we helped the younger children. The day was finished by our own Royal Wedding where we performed a dance for the rest of the school.
SAT’s – Our class have been extremely busy preparing for our SAT’s this half term. Once we finished we were able to have a class party in the afternoon where we ate and danced. The following day we brought board games in from home and had a lovely time playing them in class.
Skip 2B Fit – We had great fun spending the afternoon skipping. David from Skip 2B Fit showed us the benefits skipping had on our health. Some of us thought we couldn’t do it at first but we persevered and got the hang of it in the end. Our skipping ropes had counters on them so we skipped for two minutes and took note of our score. After a short rest we skipped for a further two minutes and we were determined to beat our score! We even got the chance to buy our very own skipping rope so we continue at school.
Sports Relief – As part of Sports Relief week we took part in a different sporting activity every day. We jumped, skipped, ran and played games.
Boccia – Imogen has been coming into school to teach PE. She taught us how to play Boccia which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Spring 2018
In our Learning Challenge this term the children will be asked ‘Will you ever see the water you drink again?’ We will look at the water cycle and discuss how rain water forms. The children will be given the chance to understand why water is a necessity.
In science we will study evolution and inheritance. The children will be able to find out if we have always looked like this a will discuss the characteristics that offspring have inherited from their parents. This will be liked to our art work where the children will be asked to produce detailed drawing of themselves.
Inspirational Women – In class we have been thinking about the women who inspire us. We did some research on a woman of our choice and wrote about why that woman is an inspiration.
During International Women’s Day we had a visit off Mrs Sue Snowdon, H.M. Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham. We held an assembly and were able to read out some of our writing before looking at some displays in the Classroom of the Future.
Play In A Day – We had a visitor from Konflux Theatre who came into school to help us create and perform our very own version of ‘A midsummer Night’s Dream’. We worked extremely hard throughout the day to practice our lines. We then used our brilliant acting skills to perform the play to our parents.
Water Treatment Plant –
SportsHall Athletics – Our class took part in an indoor athletics festival at King James I Academy. We worked together as one big team to participate in a variety of adapted athletic events. We worked hard and encouraged each other on in our individual and team events. The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all and we were extremely proud to be told we had won against six other teams.
Dr Tom – We had a visit from Dr Tom and his four legged friend Jed. He helped us to become super scientist and taught us the importance of asking extraordinary questions to develop out thinking. The children thoroughly enjoyed their session with Tom and left feeling more motivated about Science.
Odd Socks & Spots – As well as wearing odd socks to celebrate Anti-Bullying Week, we came in wearing spotty clothes. Cakes were sold throughout the day and all money collected was sent to Children in Need.
Autumn 2017
Our Learning Challenge this term is the topic of slavery. The children will be asked ‘Should the world be ashamed of slavery?’ We will look at how it affects people both past and present. Our art will be linked to the topic; once we have studied the sculptures of artist Henry Moore the children were able to depict their ideas of slavery in clay.
In science we will study the circulatory system. The children will learn about the blood, heart and lungs and considered how they all work together. At the end of this Learning Challenge the children will present their knowledge in groups to the rest of the class.
We will also tackle circuits in science. The children will be able to use symbols within diagrams and state which circuits will work effectively. They will then look more closely at variables and how they can adjust the brightness of the bulb in the circuit.
Lighting the way for Lumiere –
In our final workshop we completed a range of microscopic and telescopic science and art activities linked with the universe. We then produced our piece of art which would be used in this years Lumiere Light Festival.
Fairground Fun – In DT we used our knowledge of circuits to design and create a fairground ride.
We started off by sketching our ideas and working out how the ride would move. We then shared our ideas before planning how we would build it. Once we had our ideas we got to work. Some of us needed to change our ideas slightly to ensure it worked. We presented our finished product to the rest of the class before evaluating our work.
Safety Carousel – We attended a Safety Carousel at The Workplace and took part in various workshops. These workshops taught us about keeping safe in a range of different settings.
Cosmic Workshop – To help us prepare for our part in Durham’s Lumiere we took part in a Cosmoscope Workshop. We were left contemplating our place in the universe after we explored objects at a really small scale and an extremely larger scale.
WaterTower – In literacy we are looking at a book called ‘The Watertower’. It is a picture book which gives us the opportunity to draw our own conclusions as to what is happening in the story. The text is simple but the illustrations leave us intrigued and wondering what the author is trying to tell us. It is like solving a puzzle. We have had many in-depth discussions about the characters and the plot to help us try and solve the mystery.
All Different, All Equal – To celebrate Anti-Bullying Week we all came into school wearing odd socks. We also did various activities throughout the day associated with Anti-Bullying. One of the activities involves us completing a jigsaw piece with our name and facts about ourselves. These pieces will then be put on display in our classroom to remind us that although we are all different, we are also ALL EQUAL.
Exploring Circuits –
Paul Cookson – Paul Cookson, an author of children’s poetry, visited our school and entertained us with some of his hilarious poems. He also told us some stories and played the ukulele. It was an extremely fun afternoon and all the children left smiling.
Poem Recital –
Music – In our music lessons we have had great fun learning to pay the xylophone.
Heart Rate – In Science we have been looking at the circulatory system. We started off by finding our pulse and measuring our resting heart rate. We then undertook various activities before measuring it again. We noticed that our heart beat gets faster the more active we are.
Lung Capacity –
Class Assembly – After lots of practice it was time to show our parents and guardians what we had been up to since starting back at school. We told them about our topic on slavery and showed them some of our art work. We introduced them to the story we’ve been working on in English ‘Waiting for Anya’ and read some of the writing we had completed. We then finished off by singing ‘I’ll be there’ by Jackson 5 which we have been learning in class.
Magical Science – Professor Brainstorm did an exciting workshop with us to help us with our science. We learned how to do an electrical circuit using people, how to do a ‘trick’ involving water and sodium polyacrylate and how to hammer a nail with a banana!
Converting length – Our Maths lesson this week involved converting centimetres into metres and vice versa. So, armed with various measuring tools, we headed outside to measure different objects in our school grounds.
3 in a Row – We continued doing some outdoor learning in our English lessons when we completed a tasking linked to our class text.
Maths Trail – After two weeks of working hard on Algebra and BODMAS we took our learning outside. Mrs Collings set us a task of designing a maths trail for our classmates to complete. Once we were paired up we went outside to plan our route.
We wrote down either algebraic equations or BODMAS calculations as clues for another pair to solve. After our clues were written, the route planned and checks made we were ready swap clipboards. We worked out the clues and followed the trail until we got to the end point.
Diamond Ranking –As a class we undertook a diamond ranking exercise to look at the qualities of a good friend. This is linked with ‘Waiting for Anya’ as the story focusses a lot on friendship.
Lego Science – Caitlin from Northumbria University visited our class today so we could learn about LEGO Science. We got the chance to build Milo the Robot whose building instructions were on the Ipad. Once he was built we then used the Ipad to control him.
After each group had built Milo, Caitlin started us off with a new challenge. We had to build a seat/trailer for Ellison the Elephant to help him get around. The one that carried Ellison the furthest would be the winner.
Whilst all groups worked really well together and Ellison had many short trips, a huge congratulations to Lucy, John, Matthew, Zak, Maddie & Indy who were our overall winners.
Slave for the afternoon – Today we started the afternoon by receiving our number. We no longer had a name. We were just a number to our slave-masters. We were forced to line up, one behind the other, holding onto a rope. We then had to lumber around the fields chanting “oh, oh, oh, oh, we are slaves, we are slaves!”.
We made it to the adventure forest before being released from the rope. This didn’t mean we were free. No, it just meant we had more hard work ahead of us. We were set the task of filling a bag with pieces of grass. Not just any sized grass. This grass had to be exactly 10cm long! If the measurements were even a fraction out, we would be punished. Some of us were able to avoid the whipping but others were not so lucky.
[Slideshow "oh-oh-we-are-slave" not found]There were a few of us that got the privilege of being a leader. These were just as bad as the slave-masters. They rubbed it in our faces that they were free and we were not. It was so demoralising. After grafting for what seemed like forever, we were sent back onto the field where we were once again lined up. This time we were require to squat and stay in that position, until we could take no more. This separated the weak from the strong.
Finally, it was time for our one meal of the day. Those that had been given the responsibility of leading were given one whole biscuit each! They were so lucky. The rest of us had to share a crushed biscuit between two. Whilst still hungry, we were demanded to go to church before our slave-masters locked us away for the night. It was tricky to get to sleep because there wasn’t enough room. We were almost on top of each other as the lights were switched off.
[Slideshow "oh-oh-we-are-slaves-part-2" not found]It was a horrible time with and we were not treat well at all. We never want to repeat this experience but it did help us get a better understanding of how slaves feel.
The Happy Puzzle Company – A lady from the Happy Puzzle Company came into our school and every class had a problem solving session. In our session we were given various challenges which we completed as a team.
Our first challenge was to balance penguins on an iceberg. It may sound easy but the iceberg was very unsteady. It took some time to work out the best place to put the penguins and in what order. We needed to work as a team and have a steady hand.
We were then given some mats with road marking on. Our aim was to put the pieces together ensuring all road marking matched and join. This was tricky for most of us and required us to think logically as we were joining the pieced.
Those that completed the road challenge where given a bag with multicoloured puzzle pieces. These pieces were double sided and we had to try and put them together to complete a picture. None of us where aware of what the completed puzzle would look like which made it more difficult. We persevered and some of us even beat the puzzle.
The workshop was a lot of fun, really engaging and helped reinforce problem solving skills and team work.
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Leadership – On Thursday lunch times, we will be working with Josh whilst he teaches us some leadership skills. The first session started with us looking at the qualities of a good leader.
Throughout the term we will be taught how to plan and lead different activities. Our new skills will then be put into practice when we start working with the younger children of our school.
Human Mannequins – Mr Brentnall has been teaching us how to draw mannequins in Art. Some of us got the chance to be the mannequin and orange dots were added to our bodies to show us where the joints were. We then struck a pose for the rest of the class to draw. Our tables were in a circle with the human mannequin in the middle which meant we all had a different view. The lesson was exciting and everyone tried really hard to ensure their drawing were the best they could be.
Meet the Buddies – The Year 6 children have the great privilege of being buddies for the whole school. We work in groups on different days and are responsibly for helping to look after the younger children.
Newsround – To start our school year off we have been watching Newsround in class. This enables us to keep up with what is happening around the world.
This week we have heard about the devastating effect of hurricane Irma, the announcement of a new royal baby and the opening of the Queensferry bridge.
We have discussed these as a class and investigated further at home. We will be doing this regularly in class.
Meditation – In RE we are looking at why people pray and meditate so we started off by mediating in class whilst listening to a relaxing story. We also tried to sit as if we were meditating but that proved to be too uncomfortable for many of us.
