As the final week of Spring term draws to an end, the children have written their balanced argument in answer to the question: ‘Should all plastics be banned?’ In the form of a National Geographic for Kids article – the children presented facts and evidence to support ‘for’ and ‘against’ arguments and drew their own conclusions in a final summary. Many have been very inspired by this environmental unit and have developed a more critical thinking approach to their learning as well as becoming more politically aware.

Maths saw us completing our statistics problem solving and having a day on Roman numerals. 99 caused a bit of controversy with XCIX rather than IC! The children have brought a maths revision booklet home to continue their work over the Easter holidays. We are aware that this is family time and a chance for enjoying holidays away from the normal routine. However, if you could encourage your child to ‘keep in contact’ with their learning and spend some time consolidating focus areas in Maths, reading, spelling and grammar so they can maintain their confidence when they return to school in two weeks.

The week ended with the Stations of the Cross, which was slightly hampered logistically by the rain but not spiritually.  The children, as always, reflected beautifully at each station as our Lenten period builds to the Easter weekend. When we return to school after the holiday, we will reflect on the Lenten promises the children made.

Until then, let us enjoy time together with friends and family and pray for clement weather.

Have a wonderful holiday,

The Year 6 Team

Having published our letters, this week we moved on to explore the arguments in favour of plastic. We watched a promotional video from OPEC which certainly opened our eyes to how widely plastic is used in our modern world – especially within the medical and healthcare industries. Without it, how would blood be stored or syringes made? It certainly got us thinking. We are certain the children will use their new knowledge well in writing a balanced argument for the Children’s National Geographic magazine.

We have been very impressed with the progress all pupils have made in their reading practice SATS. Daily guided reading sessions, booster groups and home study are definitely paying off. Please encourage your child to keep their great efforts up throughout the Easter break as it is having a real impact on their ability to make sense of texts quickly and efficiently.

In maths this week we took a closer look at line graphs. The children enjoyed writing their own stories to describe a line on a graph. Many said it was like an English lesson which was quite true, as you need to be able to read a graph to use it! We are now into full revision mode in maths too; over the coming weeks we will be revisiting the areas that particular children need to secure (which can be quite wide ranging) using all the staff and resources at our disposal to build confidence and skills for all our pupils.

Finally, as we draw closer to the Easter celebrations, pupils wrote a letter to their future selves reminding them of the significance of this time and giving tips on how they could reflect. They also had many questions for their future selves. We will endeavour to produce a copy of their letters for them to take home and hopefully open in 10/20/30 years time!

That’s all for now.

The Year 6 Team

In English this week we have been writing, editing and improving our final letters to enable the children to write persuasively on the issue of excess plastic waste in our oceans. The children have devised passionate and eloquent arguments to support their viewpoints as to why the Prime Minister, President Trump and global organisations such as Pepsi and Amazon should take global responsibility for ensuring that one-use plastic is reduced and more recyclable plastics are developed. We have been in awe at how the children have developed their stewardship voice and are becoming more politically aware of national and global issues concerning this matter. Once the letters are published, we will send them to their addressees.
Our trip to the House of Parliament in June will enrich their understanding of how laws are debated and created and hopefully inspire some future political voices to emerge.

In Maths, we have completed our last round of practise papers to inform us of what needs the children will be focusing on in the run up to our May assessments. We have been very impressed at the children’s focus and resilience in these tests – a fantastic learning attitude helps to reap the reward of progress.

RE saw the children ‘examine their conscience’ about forgiveness and through their Lenten promises have thought about how they will ‘reflect’ on their actions during this lent period. We also used scripture to examine the beatitudes and the children created their own versions for modern day life.

Creative tasks have been sent home for the children’s consideration and homework diaries are checked weekly on Monday to see what Maths, Reading and Spelling home learning has been completed. Please ensure that these diaries are in weekly.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Year 6 Team