World War Two talk

Year 6 were lucky enough to spend an afternoon this week hearing from Mr Ray Chase, a West Sussex resident aged 83, who came to tell us about his experiences growing up during the wartime.

We learnt all about Morrison shelters and life growing up during the uncertainty of war. Lots of children asked Ray questions and spent an invaluable, interesting afternoon in his company. We send him our best wishes and hope to invite him back again next year!

In other news, we are continuing with our rehearsals for the summer production - please can everyone keep learning their lines (this is instead of homework at the moment!).

We have our class trip to Littlehampton next week, on Friday 28 June - fingers crossed the rain will have disappeared by then!

All together now!

It’s been a lovely, eventful week in Year 6.

Firstly, we had a beautiful, if a little hairy, young lady join our class for a Reading lesson. The delightful Carmen Rose came along to sit with us during reading. Afterwards, some children went out and read with her - we really look forwards to continuing working with her this term.

Thursday saw Years 5 and 6 working collaboratively - we love having the opportunity to work with children from other year groups. This time, Year 5 were very much in charge as we were helping them prepare for their Farmers’ Market which they are holding tomorrow afternoon.

One small request please - we have, this week, started rehearsing in earnest for our summer production and it is quite a tricky logistic exercise ensuring all Key Stage Two classes can be together at the same time. As a result, we plan our rehearsal time in the hall a long way in advance. Please, if you know your child may not be in (whether it be for a medical appointment or any other reason), try to let me know with as much notice as possible so that we can make best use of our rehearsal time. Thank you for your understanding.

We like the number 150.. and we like Sainsbury's too!!

So, after the great success resulting from our persuasive letter writing, and several trips to Pulborough’s Sainsbury’s store by Mrs Powell over half term, we now have all sorts of huge decorations with the number 150 on them, together with a (literally!) man-sized cake! Year 6 wrote fabulous letters to Sainsbury’s explaining that, as well as it being their 150th anniversary this year, it was also our school’s 150th birthday too! Sainsbury’s have been so kind and have kindly given us all their decorations; they will also be making an enormous contribution to our school celebratory party later this year. Tina, at the store, is our hero at the moment and we want to say a huge thank you to her (and an equally huge well done from Mrs P to Year 6 for using their persuasive skills to such good effect).

Pass Mrs Powell the tissues!

Another half term draws to a close with Mrs Powell in tears again - well done Jay for a very deserved PAKSA award.

This week we learnt about the harrowing true story of Anne Frank which leads us into our new topic after half term of World War 2. We went to the woods today with Ms Jessie; making camps, butter knives and listening to nature, a great way to unwind after SATS.

It has been a very special time, to watch this great class rise to every challenge and be united in their friendship.

Have a good break, rest - but read your scripts!!

As Gloria Gaynor sang... 'I will survive' ......

Well, the amazing Year 6 Badgers have been completely fabulous this week. We have learnt all about Amina, Adam, Lara, Khalid and their various strange purchases of stickers, cutting up of unusual shapes (only 2 cuts, mind you!) and goodness knows what else in the SATs tests but it is all over now!! And that is despite several of us having really nasty colds (me included - boo!).

We are now bouncing headlong into summer having really pushed ourselves and demonstrated everything we know. All we ever had to do was to do our best - no more than that - and that is precisely what we did!

Well done, Year 6 - we are so incredibly proud of you!

Break a leg etc (... actually, no, please don't!)

Good old Year 6 have been working their stripey socks off and it is nearly time for them to showcase their talents when they sit their SATs next week. All we ever ask is for everyone to do their best and I am hugely proud of their hard work and commitment.

In between all the hard work, we have had extra play times especially for Year 6, fun craft sessions with Mrs Stemp, discussions about the up-coming Key Stage Two production (the evening performances will be Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 July), chatted about Bikeability (the week beginning Monday 15 July - everyone will need road-worthy bikes and helmets), agreed our summer trip to Littlehampton (Friday 28 June) and have generally enjoyed helping and supporting one another. Please could I kindly ask that parents and guardians ensure all letters and consent forms are returned to school as quickly as possible - it is a really busy time for us all, with so many exciting things being arranged; chasing up forms and replies can take up a lot of time so all help with this is much appreciated.

This week, I have loved hearing children encouraging others - they are a wonderful, kind group of children and the whole Year 6 team are very proud of them. We hope they have a lovely weekend (the weather is slowly improving), lots of fresh air and a nice sleep on Sunday night! This time next week, it’ll all be over…

Practice or Practise?

We know when to use ‘practice’ and when to use ‘practise’ (don’t we, Year 6?!?).

In Year 6, we have been really busy and have been working very, very hard (like all Year 6 children around the UK!). We recently had a visit from Ms Egan, Mrs Clark and Ms Clayton from The Weald School, together with two former P&K pupils (Jasmine P and Emily H). We are really looking forward to most of our parents receiving letters from The Weald soon - we understand that these will contain important information about visit dates as well as information on which buses to take to school for our transition day ( Tuesday 25 June). Please note that Plaistow and Kirdford do NOT have information on these bus times or allocations so cannot assist with this. Please ensure your children know where to go and when in good time so that they feel prepared.. If you are confused or require further information, please contact The Weald School and they will happily assist ( www.theweald.org.uk). Bus routes and information can be found at http://www.theweald.org.uk under ‘School Information’ and click on the ‘Bus Information’ tab on the right. If your child does not live near one of the bus routes, please organise your own transport arrangements for the day.

Also, please can parents of children who are NOT going to The Weald School please let Mrs Powell know (asap) the dates of their child’s school transition days to ensure she can plan for events properly.

Eggciting End of Term!

Well done to Badger Class for their eggcellent efforts in decorating eggs for the egg roll.

Mayan Masks

As part of our Mayan topic, Year 6 have designed and created some fantastic Mayan masks. The children chose to work with clay or card to make their masks.

They looked at different types of masks; a green mask made from Jade was the death mask, which would protect the wearer on their journey to the afterlife. Some masks were inspired by animals, the Mayans believed animals represented the spirits, for example, many Maya often associated strong kings with jaguars.

Drum roll…. exciting news!!

The Easter holidays are nearly here but, for Year 6, the hard work continues.

This week, maths has been full of ups and downs, with lots of negative and positive number problems. Remember to keep checking in on Times Tables Rock Stars and regularly completing your Times Tables books.

As well as all the hard work, Year 6 have had fun making Maya masks with Mrs Stemp, using clay. They look fabulous! Please feel free to pop into the classroom before or after school to take a peek! Next Thursday, we head to Rudgwick Primary School for the day to share a visit from Mexicolore. Please remember to be at school between 8.25 and 8.30 ( no later please as we need to head off there promptly). Remember to bring your Maya packed lunch too. We will be back at school in time for buses home. Today, we were also lucky enough to have a visit from Hannah and MIni Medics. We are now all experts in CPR. Test your families to see who knows where all the local defibrillators are - you never know when you might need to locate one.

We have also had some VERY EXCITING NEWS from Sainsbury’s this week, as a direct consequence of our persuasive letters which we sent them last month, More information to be announced soon, so watch this space!

Parent Consultations

Today is parents’ consultation day and Mrs Powell is looking forward to catching up with everyone so that we can continue to work together as a great team around our very important Year Six children.

Like every week, we have packed in some fun science, (Maya) topic  and Art amongst our SAT test papers and English and Maths lessons.  It was great to learn about the Human eye with Mrs Stemp;  we carried out a great practical experiment which involved a pendulum and looking at it with one eye covered in blue cellophane.  Have a go and see what we observed!

We also looked at the short clips on BBC Supermovers (please see https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/supermovers/42612499) which has lots of different, enjoyable ways for children to reinforce their learning whilst keeping active at the same time

15 minute mile

Even though Badger Class are having to work REALLY hard in the run up to the SATs, we are introducing a 15 minute mile session whenever we are able each day. We head outside and walk (briskly) or jog around the playground, enjoying the scenery and also enjoying time to chat to our friends. The exercise helps focus our brains and we can then return to the classroom re-energised!

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?!

Year 6 are immersed in writing their own version of a fairy tale… but with a twist!

All sorts of sinister ‘goings -on’ are ‘going on’ on the pages of our English books. Descriptions of shiny, marble-white fangs, young girls dripping in blood (together with blood-covered cupcakes), curious grannies and teal-cloaked young ladies skipping innocently down paths.

We have realised we are now officially more than half way through our final year at primary school. Time is simply whizzing which must surely mean we are having fun?!!

Just a reminder - Bikeability is the very final week of summer term, mostly based in Kirdford. More information to follow!

Survival Of The Fittest!

In Science this half term, Badger Class have been learning about evolution and natural selection. They have been looking at the lives of Mary Anning the first female paleontologist, Charles Darwin and Charles Lamarck. To understand fully the concept of natural selection, Year 6 tried out at being birds who had to adapt to their environment over 6 generations!

Each group of ‘birds’ were given a specific type of beak, they either had a beak shaped like a spoon, fork, knife, clothes peg or straw. They had 30 seconds to gather as many seeds (pasta, rice and couscous) as they could and feed their offspring (put it in a cup!). After counting their seeds they then divided the total number by 10 which then gave them the number of offspring. The groups did this 6 times on different surfaces, each turn was a generation.

The birds had to adapt to a decrease in food supplies due to a couple of hawks (Mrs Stemp and Mrs Harrison!) invading the habitats.

The groups realised that depending on the environments (surfaces) and the adaptation of their beaks over generations (using 2 spoons pushed together), some varieties increased whilst others decreased.

Badger Class - P.E Lesson

Last week in P.E, Badger Class were given the task of devising their own P.E game. They could only use bean bags and hoops; using these they had to work as a team to think up rules, ways of scoring and most importantly, a name!

Badgers worked extremely well in teams, it took them no time at all to come up with some excellent games.

It's a cracker!!

I told them all it wasn't possible but did they believe me? No, they did not! So, after  several months of nagging, I brought in several packs of cream crackers and gave every member of the Badger Class the chance to beat the '3 in a minute' cream cracker challenge. As someone much younger than me might say, it was an epic fail. Good job that we tried it outside! So many crumbs!

Year 6 Survival week

We've had masses of outdoor fun this week in Year 6. We have tried making dens which needed to be both wind and water proof as well as being aesthetically pleasing (lots of lovely leaf bunting!). We have created parachutes for Captain Eggy McEggface to help him escape from a tricky situation (a 3 m drop no less!). We have also practised our fire-lighting skills with great success. 

We were hugely lucky to have a visit and talk from a fabulous parent who is a jungle survival expert ( I mean - who knew we had parents like that at this school?!?). We are so very grateful to have wonderful people in our locality willing to give up their time to help us.

Sports Week - Blind Games

This morning, Year 6 spent time with our visitors from Brighton and Hove FC having a go at various different sports including wheelchair netball, which was REALLY hard work but great fun, Blind Goal Ball (using a ball containing a bell) as well as Boccia which was a bit like boules (plus learning British Sign Language). We can all sign our names now.

It was such good fun and a really valuable PE lesson. You need strong arms to go fast in those wheelchairs!

Maths investigation

Year 6 spent all morning outside trying to solve a maths puzzle.

They were told they had to plant 10 trees in 5 rows with 4 trees in each row. This resulted in lots of head scratching and puzzled looks.

Everyone then went outside and tried different ways to solve the problem. After about an hour, a bright spark asked whether the rows could cross. 'Yes', they were told! Then, someone else asked whether the rows could be diagonal. Again, 'yes' they were told.... Finally, I offered them a few more nuggets of information such as ' none of the lines are perpendicular'. This seemed to help rather a lot. Here are some photos of the class trying to work out an answer, along with our winning pair, A and R, who were the first to solve the problem.

What's that strange buzzing sound?

No, it's not a bad case of tinnitus - it's just Year 6 making electrical circuits with buzzers and bulbs! We are getting stuck into electricity this half term and will, as the weeks progress, be trying to use electrical circuits to send morse code messages.

In other news, who else is lucky enough to have an Alice (and spotty!) lanyard?!? What a great day!