15/05/18 SATs Week
Sorry for the lack of updates recently - we've been so busy with preparation for SATs that I haven't had time (I've also had an issue with iPads that has stopped me from being able to upload images to our computer).
The children are working so hard and have made a great start to the exams - just maths to do now!
New Year, New Topic!
Welcome to the planet's coldest lands... vast wilds, hostile territories, incredibly beautiful yet often deadly. Take shelter from the elements or fall prey to icy winds and deepest chill. Trek bravely and valiantly across treacherous terrain to the ends of the Earth, treading deep in snow pulled by a team of mighty sled dogs.
This topic covers climate change, temperature, habitats, ecosystems and many other scientific and geographical elements, as well as evocative poetry and the exciting history of polar exploration in the early 1900s.
Year 6 have sold hot chocolate products and made £170. A huge thank you to all that have helped or bought our gifts. Also thank you to the Co-op, who let us have a stall in their shop.
Adults from home had the opportunity to join us in class on Tuesday 17th October for our Mayan Sacrifice! Groups prepared headdresses, collars and bracelets to wear during our procession. Pupils had worked in groups to prepare poems and a musical performance to please the Gods, before we gave our final offering: a human sacrifice! Have a look at our photos below!
Music: in preparation for our end-of-topic celebration (a Mayan ceremony), we have been exploring composition in order to perform a piece of tribal music to play in front of parents.
We have used graphic scores to record the composition and help to arrange the various instruments.
SPAG: our children are working extremely hard on the Y6 punctuation and grammar rules in order to make their writing (and reading) more sophisticated. So far we've covered non-finite phrases, relative clauses and connecting adverbials! Our 'Rainbow Grammar' system helps the children to visually piece together sentences from their component parts.
Different coloured cards represent different bits of a sentence (e.g. green = subject, orange = predicate, pink = adverb, etc).
Black History Month!
Year 6 have been learning about the times before slavery was abolished and how black citizens were treated. They then took part in a fact retrieval hunt around school grounds to discover the names of famous black sporting heroes and what they have achieved throughout their life and careers. Pupils then created a biography on a chosen athlete, explaining why we celebrate Black History Month and what their chosen person is remembered or known for.
Year 6 watched a short production about anti-bullying. There were shown a variety of scenes and were able to discuss how the characters were feeling and how they could have made the situation better. All children were able to vote with their feet to decide the outcome of the production.
All of year 6 have have been learning about E-safety in conjunction with our use of Purple Mash coding software to advance our computing skills. Thanks to all parents who have signed the acceptable use of internet policy in the children's organisers. We have discussed our rules for responsible internet use, as well as the importance of having a secure password and never giving out identifying or personal details online.
Year 6 children have been made aware of cyber-bullying and understand that this is non-acceptable here at Granby Junior School. We talked about who to speak to if there are any concerns.
Year 6 have made a very good start to the new year and our new topic...
This term, our children will be learning...
English: to write invitations, instructions and poetry
History: about the ancient Maya
Geography: map work, human and physical geography of Mexico
Science: Light and Shadows
Art: Mayan art
Music: traditional Mexican songs in Spanish
Computing: safe, thoughtful online research and digital presentations, CODING (purplemash)
D&T: food of Mexico
PE: Mexican dance
Maths: number work, including: decimals, fractions, conversion, written calculation methods, algebra, converting units of measurement and mental methods. We will also introduce the BAR model for problem-solving.
Get safe online.
We have looked at staying safe online this week and have reminded ourselves that passwords are like pants and should not be shared with strangers and should also be changed regularly! Have a look at the link below to test your own passwords!