In RE we have covered the topics of Easter and Pentecost. We discussed the Christian belief in eternal life and imagined what heaven might look like. We, then, drew our own images of heaven and linked it to literacy, where we used imagery to write some wonderful descriptive writing. We also learnt about the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. In IT we researched news stories of people who are living the gifts of the Spirit in their lives and produced a fact file about them using Publisher of Word. We used symbols in art to create our own images of the Spirit and Mrs Breakwell has displayed our finished work in the entrance hall. The work produced in RE this half term has been very creative, with links made across the curriculum.
In Literacy we have used the book Rain Player by ? to cover our writing objectives. Because it is a Mayan legend, it linked perfectly to our topic. You will already have seen the wonderful art work the pupils completed with Mrs Breakwell, alongside masks and headdresses. In class we concentrated on non-fiction writing, so we have been writing reports about the Maya and learning how to make our writing more formal. We have also been reading the book Truckers by Terry Pratchett to cover the reading objectives. We are finding it very funny and identifying a lot of very ambitious vocabulary, which we can use in our own work. When we have read a little, we then watch the TV episode for that chapter. It is great fun imagining the world of the nomes.
In maths we have covered statistics (graphs, tables, averages) and geometry where we have learned the parts of a circle, how to measure and draw angles and shapes. We have done a lot of problem solving in this topic. In addition to this, we have also revised some of the topics which were covered during lockdown like percentages.
The children have enjoyed learning about The Maya. They did a lot of individual research on areas of personal interest and shared it with others. This has been very good for their speaking and listening skills. We found out about their beliefs and gods and had a go at creating our own ‘modern day’ Mayan gods. (Have a look at the photo.) We also did a maths lesson using their unique number system and learned to write our own names using hieroglyphics. We now know how to play the game of Pok ah Tok and enjoyed an afternoon designing our own Mayan cities, using stones, sticks and plasticine.
In science our topic has been ‘Animals including humans’. We revised earlier topics on the skeleton and muscles. We then learnt about the human respiratory system. As part of this we talked about lung capacity and the importance of exercise for healthy lungs. We carried out an investigation in class to see who had the largest lung capacity. The children had to breathe into a balloon in one breath and measure the circumference of their balloons. We were delighted to discover that we had a lot of very fit pupils in Year 6. Thank you Mrs Annis!
We have also been doing a lot of work in PSHE on changes. Using the new Ten Ten resources, we compared the changes during puberty for boys and girls. We gave thanks to God that he created us all special and unique and we discussed how important it is not to compare ourselves with others but to treasure our own uniqueness. Next half term we will continue with this work in preparation for moving on to secondary school.
The children have enjoyed their art lessons with Mrs Breakwell, who has linked all the work this half term to our topic. The photos show how talented they are and how much they have learnt, not just about art but also about team work and collaboration.
This half term they have had a wonderful time in PE, with swimming every Friday. Mrs Annis is very impressed with their progress and particularly their attitude and behaviour. It has been great to have the opportunity for some competition this half term, thanks to Bowbook school.
In music they listened to ‘Night on the Bare Mountain’ by Mussorgsky and discussed the story being told through music. Mr Lister then put the children into groups to work on their composing skills. Each child is using their own choice of instrument to represent a part of the story. Next half term they will perform their piece of music to the class.
One of the highlights of the half term was the afternoon at Forest school with Mrs Andrews, where they linked their learning to ‘Truckers’. They were very creative, building homes for the four inch nomes.