Welcome back…
Wishing you all a very happy new year. It has been so lovely to welcome the children back to school this week, despite the wind, rain and snow. The most important part of any school is the people within it. I have loved seeing the smiles and listening to all of the wonderful stories that the festive season has brought. Yesterday we walked down to church to celebrate the feast of the epiphany. It was an opportunity for the children to spend a few minutes in silence reflecting on what a miracle the baby Jesus was. Father Peter spoke about the gifts that the wise men brought and asked us all to reflect on how we use our gifts to make our world and community a better place.
The children have been thinking about what 2022 might look like for them. By creating a crystal ball, they have thought about the monumental experiences and opportunities that they will experience this year. Some of them will be challenging, some will be exciting, some they will be anxious about. Whatever happens, they know they have the skills to tackle it with resilience.
This half term, we are looking at what it means to be a curious and an active learner. Both of these qualities will be really important as we journey towards half term…more about that in a little while.
Where has our learning taken us this week?
A new half term brings new topics and new learning opportunities. I cannot wait to get started fully next week, but what a start we have made.
English - ‘Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo.’ Older literature is the focus for this half term, in particular Romeo and Juliet. Using drama, we have explored and analysed the prologue to the play. We have also compared the opening of the play via two films. One for 1968 and one from 1996. I will be using the 1996 film occasionally throughout the teaching sequence. This film is a certificate 12, but I can assure you that all of the content that the children will be shown will be suitable and appropriate. I hope you enjoyed looking at our photographs of the drama. We will be recording the prologue next week.
Maths - BODMAS - I bet some of you learnt about this at school. The children have learnt how to order their calculations and which calculation to do in which order.
Science - This is a new unit of work - EVOLUTION AND INHERITANCE - and it is one of my favourites. We looked at adaptation and how animals and plants have been adapted to certain habitats.
RE - To bring our unit of work on Justice to a close, we looked at the mystery of the incarnation, how Jesus was born human. The children also looked at evidence in the Gospels that Jesus was homeless, persecuted and displaced.
End of Year Assessment
I have received a few emails regarding the end of year assessments for Year 6 and the dates that they will run, so want to ensure everyone has the information that they need. This year, the SATs tests will take place the week beginning Monday 9th May. I have had a big conversation with the children this week, discussing what our plan of action is to prepare for them. The children know that the pace of learning will ramp up this term as we try and get everything that we need to cover, completed. This is the first time that we have discussed them as I am a great believer that Year 6 is not just about the SATs. However, it would be unfair if the children did not prepare for the tests properly.
Next week, I will pop a video onto my blog that runs through the assessments for your benefit. You will know what is happening, how we will be preparing for them and how best you can support your child at home. They are nothing to be worried about and the children should not feel anxious about taking them. Being an active and a curious learner will do them the world of good. Please do not run out and start buying SATs materials, I will provide everything that you need and these will be targeted to the children and their current learning.
If anybody does have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Leading Learners
Well done to Sophie and Daniel this week.
Sophie, you have worked with determination this week and focus. There has been an intensity to your learning and to improving your work. Keep this up. By taking pride in your work and focusing on the task in hand, you are able to achieve great things.
Daniel, you are enthusiastic beyond belief. Every lesson we have tackled this week, you have done so with so much enthusiasm. You are really starting to reflect on your feedback which will result in you mastering the key skills.
Have a wonderful weekend with your families.
Mrs Gregan