On Tuesday 26th of June 2018, Year 6 went to Crucial Crew at Harrogate College. We had lots of fun and learnt lots from our workshops such as: how to keep safe, advice and knowledge. The workshops we attended were: e-safety with a West Yorkshire police officer; Northern Power Grid; domestic abuse with IDAS; Healthy Child Team (transition to High School); North Yorkshire Police – drugs; Autism; North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue; Samaritans; Northern Gas; alcohol with Police. It was very informative and helpful and we are glad we had the opportunity to attend this event!
Thank you to Mrs Evans, Mrs Spencer, Mr Tyrell, Miss Gordon and Mrs Shores for coming with us.
Jasmine Willerton and Tom Osborne 6M Cheetahs
Cheetahs have had an incredibly busy Science Week!
We kicked off the week by making our very own lava lamps. To do this we used a clear plastic bottle, water, food colouring and effervescent fizzing tablets to create the movement. We investigated the different types of liquid and why they separated. The water and food colouring sank to the bottom and the oil sat on top. Once we had carefully poured all the liquid into the bottles (which is much trickier and more slippy than it looks!), we put in a fizzing tablet which reacted with the water causing it to rise to the top. See the video below to watch McKenzie's lava lamp in action.
Our second activity was making a 'Galaxy in a jar' - this we really fun! We used a jam jar, cotton wool, paint, water and glitter to create a galaxy effect. They look really good!
We have also looked at chromatography this week. Chromatography is the scientific word for colour splitting. We used filter paper, coloured pens and water to find out the base colours which made up the pens. This was really interesting and not all of our predictions were correct.
On Friday, Mr Ko-Ferrigno (one of our school governors and a scientist) came into our classroom to talk to us all about his job and the work he does with bacteria. We found out how tiny bacteria actually is and all of the good and bad bacteria there is. To finish off, we had a go at swabbing areas in our classroom to see how much bacteria is living on the things we use every day. We swabbed the light switch, our pencils door handles and even Miss Mansfield's keyboard! Watch this space to see how much bacteria there is in 6M.
Mrs Brett (Chloe's mum) also came in to visit us this week to talk all about her job as a midwife. She spoke to us about all the different roles she has in the community and how important the job is.
Thank you to all adults at home who have supported the class this week bringing in equipment and volunteering in class - you help is always very much appreciated!
6M have chosen to read 'The Jaguar Trials' by Ruth Eastham. Our class Librarians, McKenzie and Keira, chose this book from the Travelling Book Fair and comes with high recommendation from Elliot. We are looking forward to finding our all about Ben and Rafael's adventures!
On the last day of the half term - as a post-SATs treat - all of the children in Year 6 joined 6M to watch the film version of the book 'Wonder' by R.J Palacio. 6M and 6FW have been reading 'Wonder' as their class novel. They loved making comparison bewteen the book and the film.
Have a lovely, restful half term!
Thank you to all adults who came along to 'Open Morning', we loved learning with you and showing what we get up to in our classroom.
Well done to all of our lovely Year 6 children for completing their SATs this week. This morning we got our leavers hoodies and we have celebrated this afternoon by watching the film version of our Year 6 Production (all will be revealed) and ice lollies as a special treat!
This week, we have celebrated the Royal Wedding. We made invites for our guests, hats for the parade and learnt lots about the royal family. Here are some pictures from the week along with photos from our Garden Party.
Back in March, all of the children in Year 6 entered a competition run by Young Writers and Smyth’s Toy Superstores. They had to write a mini-saga using only 100 words or less. This week we have received a letter from a Young Writers Editor to inform us which children’s stories have been chosen to be published in a book. All of the entries were fantastic but only a number of sagas have been chosen – well done to all children who entered and for all your hard work. The published book will be named ‘Toy Stories – North Yorkshire Tales’ and will be ready at the start of the next school year.
Holly and Olivia
This week we have used our new running track in PE for the first time. All of the children ran at least one mile (10 laps around the track) each - which more than a marathon! We really enjoyed using the track and hope that all the other children in the school enjoy using it too. Have you run a mile today?
Alyssa and Callum ~ Sports Crew
6M are still enjoying Wonder by R.J Pallacio. The story continues by sharing the different viewpoints of characters withing the story - we are finding it interesting how the story all links together. Once we have finished we will be having a vote on what we would like to read next.
On the last day of term, all of the children at Oatlands Junior School, celebrated lots of different cultures around the world. Each child chose which room they wanted to visit, these choices ranged from The Haka in New Zealand to food tasting in the Caribbean.
In 6M children were learning all about China. Firstly, the children learnt some facts about China and what it was like to live there - some children start school at 7am!
Next, children completed a number of activities. A variety of tasks were available; making Chinese Lanterns; learning to use chopsticks; writing words in Mandarin, Chinese paper folding and making a paper Chinese dragon.
Finally, the children all returned to their own classes to share what they had done and all of the facts which they had learned.
A day enjoyed by all!
Each Friday - as part of our Weekly Review - one child chooses a book to share with the class. The children love hearing about books which members of the class are reading and get ideas for their own next read! These children have taken part already - would you like to read one of their books?
On Monday 26th April, all of the children in Year 5 and 6 had a visit form two ladies from the Harrogate and York RSPCA. The RSPCA stands for: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. We learnt all about how to care for animals properly and how the RSPCA decide who can have a pet. Thank you to Sarah from the RSPCA for coming to talk to us - we learnt lots!
This year, instead of only celebrating and raising money on one day, Sports Crew decided to spread the fun out over the whole week! Daily challenges were available to all the children on the playground to get involved in and win certificates. Activities on the playground included: keepie-uppies, hula hooping, cardio fun, skipping and juggling. Children in 6M really enjoyed taking part in and running some of these challenges with the other children. Well done to all who took part! Donations of £114.23, which were collected in the specially made ‘Trainer Money Boxes’ by our Sports Crew, have been sent to Sports Relief.
Today six Year 6 children represented Oatlands Junior School at The New Harrogate Council Offices. Children were chosen by the teachers for a well presented ‘Room 101’ speech and other work in class. These children were: Finlay McCreanor, Chloe Brett, Georgina Scott, Sophie McCormack, Henry Neligan and Elsa Gordon. The debating question was ‘Is Social Media a Danger to Children?’, the team consisted of two speakers (Sophie and Georgina) and four questioners. The team has worked hard over the past week to prepare for the debate and are happy to announce that they came second out of eight schools, with Sophie being crowned the best girl speaker. We would like to thank Mr Neligan and Mrs Wilkinson for taking us to the council chambers and to Mrs Gerry, Miss Mansfield and Mrs Nicholson for helping us along the way.
Chloe Brett and Finlay McCreanor
Our theme for Enterprise Day was Harry Potter. We enjoyed generating ideas and running our own stalls, selling our goodies to the rest of the school. Our stalls were: Slytherin Scandal, Hogwarts Heaven, Wacky Wizard Hairstyles and Darts to Hogwarts. We made lots of money and can't wait to find out what school council will decide to spend it on!
Today we all brought in our favourite books to share with the class to celebrate a belated World Book Day! We enjoyed completing 'Brilliant Book Reviews' and visiting other classrooms to share all kinds of books.
Today, Mr Pinto (an e-safety expert), delivered a workshop for 6M on how to stay safe while using the internet. If you would like to find out more about how to stay safe online then visit:
6M took part in lots of activities during Arts Week. Ranging from processing clay (from a back garden!), to learning a contemporary dance routine, drawing parabolic curves to designing and making Zodiac masks, inspired by artist Ai Weiwei. Overall, it was an inspiring, creative and very very messy week enjoyed by all!
Here is what some children in 6M though about their week:
“During Arts Week I enjoyed processing the clay because although I was worried about getting messy it was very fun playing with it and moulding it into different shapes”
‘Arts Week was a chance to express our feelings as an artist, I really liked that we can really let loose especially in the dance workshop as that is what it’s about.’
“I enjoyed working as a team on the pollen pieces to make the final touches.”
“Arts Week as a great experience to use new materials like Modroc. I also enjoyed going to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, I thought it improved my drawing skills and the way I think about Art.”
Thank you to all adults who came along to 'Open Afternoon', we loved learning with you and showing what we get up to in our classroom.
Today we have celebrated the life of Robert Burns a Scottish poet and national figure. We learnt all about his life along with some interesting facts about haggis! Finally, we listened and danced to 'Auld Lang Syne' a traditional song by Burns which is often sung on New Years Eve.
This week we have watched BBC Radio 2's live lesson and joined in a story writing session with other schools around the country. We are looking forward to writing our stories and entering them into the competition. Good Luck Cheetahs!
This week we held a whole school competition to create rules to keep children happy and safe on our playground. Well done to everyone on their entries - they were fabulous. A special congratulations to our winners, Jasmine Willerton and Jack Brierley!
This half term in DT we have been planning and making structures which will include a light. Here are some photos of how we are getting on so far. We are looking forward to making the finished product!
Here are some photos of us making our 2018 calendars - we hope everyone at home likes the finished product!
On Thursday 21st December, Year 6 joined together to perform Christmas and winter poems they had learnt. 6M performed Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo and 6FW showed their own version of Talking Turkeys by Benjamin Zephania and The Twelve Days Of Christmas. Last but not least, 6G performed their group version of T'was The Night Before Christmas. We all enjoyed this and thought it was a great opportunity to share what we had been working on.
Watch out for video performances of our poems on the English page!
Keiran McQuire and Chloe Brett
In our PE lessons with Mr McIntyre, we all participated in partner dancing. We learnt all the moves step-by-step and then put the dance together. In one dance we swapped partners, boys moving back each time. It was tricky at first but we soon got the hang of it. Everyone really enjoyed it! Here are some photos.
Keira O'Brien and Tegan Evans
In music we have been learning the song: “I’ll Be There” by The Jackson 5. Firstly, we learnt about the song and learnt musical terms for speed and dynamics. Then, we started to learn the song and the way it is sung. Followed by adding the backing vocals. We’ve all enjoyed practising the song every Friday and we hope you’ll enjoy the final version!
Today 6M have celebrated Christmas in style! We have worn festive outfits and eaten a delicious Christmas Dinner. We have also collected for 'Save the Children's' campaign - 'Wear a Sweater Make the World Better'.
Our class novel for this half term is 'Wonder' by R.J Palacio.
Wonder is about a boy who has never been to school before because of the way he looks. This year however, he started 5th grade. We are following him on his journey through middle school and hearing all about the challenges he faces. We are enjoying reading the book and are excited to find out what happens next.
Raph Bowe and Madeline Ardren
On Monday 4th December, Year 6 visited Harrogate Grammar School to watch their performance of We Will Rock You. The show was in the sixth form theatre hall and the equipment and facilities were excellent. It was performed by a variety of Harrogate Grammar School’s pupils who were all very talented. Also, as it was a musical, there was an outstanding orchestra that played Queen songs superbly. It was amazing and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Hopefully, one day it will be us on that stage!
By Jasmine Willerton and Toby Wilkins
We have worked hard on our Christmas display all about Christmas Cards.
We have looked at past, present and future Christmas cards. For the past we’ve focussed on cards from the Victorian period. The Victorians had very detailed cards and they were realistic.
We have also looked at present cards - we have made these cartoon-like, as we would buy in shops today.
Finally, we think that cards in the future will involve technology and move! To do this, we used finger lights to make Christmas patterns like Christmas trees and stars. We used a slow motion app on the iPads to take the photos.
Stella Johnson and Keiran McQuire ~ Arts Committee
Today, Cheetahs spent their morning watching the captivating ‘Wind In The Willows’ by Image Theatre. We learnt songs and actions to join in with the performance, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
This is what we thought of the show:
‘The actor showed us how to get into character and that we needed to be really LOUD! My part was a pony and I really enjoyed being in a fantastic production.’
‘Image Theatre was amazing, they were very funny and made all the children (and teachers!) laugh.’
‘The experience of the Image Theatre was amazing .They really made you laugh and have such fun.’
‘The Image Theatre was incredible to watch. They really encouraged you to join in with the songs and actions.’
This week Cheetahs have been learning about anti-bullying week, the theme being ‘All Different, All Equal’.
Odd socks day was a particular highlight of the week - demonstrating that although we are all different and unique, we are all equal.
We have celebrated what makes us special and unique, yet we still remain the same in other ways. Look out for our ‘Unique’ jigsaw puzzle around school to find out what makes us who we are.
In our class we always try and support one another by watching out for others on the playground and working as a team.
Today we have been raising money for Children in Need, during the day we have completed spotty activities linked to children in need. Everyone looked fantastic in their spotty and colourful clothing! We were on the hunt for ‘round pounds’ and as a class we have raised £36!
By Charlie Whewell & Olivia Hodgetts.
As it is Remembrance Day soon, Cheetahs have been thinking all about why we wear poppies and why they are so important to us. As part of our learning, we have recited some well-known poems, such as ‘In Flanders Fields’ by John McCrae and 'The Inquisitive Mind of a Child' by Anonymous.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to East Barnby, we tested our comfort zones by trying new things, met new friends and gained life skills.
Class Elections have been held and we voted for the right people to represent our class in our schools Pupil Voice Groups.
We have settled in well to Year 6 and can’t wait to see what the rest of the year will bring!