Author: Miss Wilson

This week, Y6 looked at how to spot a worry.

We talked a lot about what works for us when we’re feeling worried or stressed out, including some of these ideas below.

We also had some great advice for others for what they should do in tricky situations. Most of it came down to speaking about it to someone you trust as soon as you recognise it as worrying you.

We said worries can be like a snowball: if it rolls down a hill it will get bigger and bigger, just like if you bottle up your emotions. Talking about things can make sure that it doesn’t turn into an avalanche!

In very exciting news, Y6 got to choose their own leaf from The Green today to become the subject of an observational drawing! The sheer joy was palpable as we made our way outside to carefully select The One.

We used lines to create the leaf’s shape, texture and colour.

Help at home by giving this same activity a go! Narrate what you’re doing and why.

Check out some of the finished articles below.

This week’s Living and Learning lesson was about online safety.

We learnt how apps and online games are businesses and their mission is to persuade people to stay online for as long as possible. They way they achieve this is a number of clever ways, such as making the game customisable, offering enticing rewards and competitive leaderboards / other social features.

We created posters to inform others about how to make healthy online choices….

…and we were very proud of them!

Today, Y6 had a day all about Anti-Bullying.

We wore odd socks to show how we’re all unique and differences should be celebrated!

We’ve also had lessons about how to stay safe and respectful online, how to solve disagreements respectfully and the impacts that disrespectful behaviour can have.

Help at home by asking your child to explain the two definitions of the acronym STOP.

 

Today, Y6 had a virtual event with the one and only Michael Rosen!

He told us some fantastic tips about writing poems and invited us to join in while he told some very funny ones.

Help at home by writing a poem! Michael gave us some topic ideas to get us started: family, school, food or even jokes that rhyme like the one below!

Down behind the dustbin
I met a dog called Ted.
‘Leave me alone,’ he says,
‘I’m just going to bed.’

Down behind the dustbin
I met a dog called Roger.
‘Do you own this bin?’ I said.
‘No. I’m only a lodger.’

Down behind the dustbin
I met a dog called Sue.
‘What are you doing here?’ I said.
‘I’ve got nothing else to do.’

Down behind the dustbin
I met a dog called Jim.
He didn’t know me
And I didn’t know him.

“Michael Rosen’s poems are very funny and inspirational,” said Rayhan.

“I really enjoyed it because I’m very good at imagining things. The word hyperbole reminds me of Herbology in Harry Potter,” shared Inayah.

“I’ve seen Michael Rosen before and I like his poems. They’re very interesting. Meeting the real man is a real honour because I’ve read loads of his poems. He gave us loads of advice which was like a dream come true!” beamed Joseph.

“He said his iconic nice!” added Harjas.

Aryan stated: “It was interesting and fun to watch because it brings me joy to see the actual Michael Rosen.”

 

This week, we’ve looked at spellings containing the ough letter string.

We discussed lots of ough words, their definitions and how they sound totally different to each other!

Help at home by practising sentences at home containing the ough letter string.

In Book Club this week, we’ve got stuck into some books related to our topics for the half term: art and electricity!

We found some really interesting facts:

• Electricity is measured in volts and amps.
• Tall buildings have lightning conductors on top of them.
• When lightning strikes, its temperature is around 30,000 °C which is hotter than the surface of the sun!
• The electric eel can discharge more than 600V!
• Leonardo Da Vinci loved animals and refused to eat meat. It’s said he bought caged birds just to let them go.
• Andy Warhol became famous for painting and screen printing everyday items such as soup cans as well as celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe.

This week, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed a wide variety of visitors from our local community!

Lyndsey came to talk to us about being a positive role model and taught us a new word – upstander!

Help at home by asking your child to explain what this means!

We looked at jobs and how, sadly, stereotyping has meant that either boys or girls feel like they can’t follow that career. But that’s not true!

We’ve had a great time working together and experiencing lessons that aren’t on our typical timetable.

Lots of what we’ve covered about our community has been rooted in British Values and making sure everyone feels welcome and included. We are really confident about Protected Characteristics!

We even got to Zoom some other Y6 children from Sphere Federation to find out what their lives are like at their schools. We found out about their religions, class rewards and favourite authors. There were a lot of similarities amongst some differences.

In Living and Learning, we looked at how we respect others. We discussed discrimination, protected characteristics and the Equality Act 2010.

Discrimination is defined as “the unfair treatment of people because of who they are or because they have a certain characteristic.”

We remember the protected characteristics by using:

DR S GRAMPS

Disability

Race

Sex

Gender reassignment

Religion or beliefs

Age

Marriage or civil partnership

Pregnancy and/or maternity leave

Sexual orientation

We looked at different scenarios (both made up and real-life cases), where people were treated unfairly and tried to find a solution to the problem. Everyone is the class believes everyone should be treated fairly.

We now have a greater understanding that individual characteristics make everyone in the world unique and we can respect people in several different ways.

Help at home: Name the protected characteristics without looking.