Our pupils had an amazing time at Bookbugs and Dragontales Bookshop this week! They had the opportunity to choose new books for our school libraries and even meet the author and illustrator, Ben Rothery, who was working on a window display at the shop.
We can’t wait to see the books we selected in the Book Nook at school!
This week, Year 6 started their English unit based on the graphic novel, ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan. A graphic novel is a story without words and it can still be just as powerful and detailed. We discussed how every illustration is included for a reason and that if you look very closely you gather a huge amount of information from a single image.
Year 6 enjoyed participating in a range of activities to find out clues about their new English book, before it was revealed to them! Children took part in a scavenger hunt, collecting the answers to questions about the characters and themes of the book. Hidden away all around the playground were pictures from the graphic novel with key information attached. They also discovered how the beautiful pictures were drawn and had a go at an art task recreating a piece in the same style. Then, they explored the theme of migration and learnt about refugees. During this time they reflected on why people might have to flee their country and what belongings might be important to bring with them. It was great to see how curious everyone was about our new topic and we look forward to seeing how they get on with their writing over the coming weeks.
This week in Art, Year 6 created brilliant Mayan prints. Inspired by the geometric shapes and repeating patterns used by the Maya people, children first made cardboard tiles and glued on their designs using string. They then painted the string on the tile and pressed down onto their piece of paper using a variety of colours. We were impressed by their creativity and concentration during this process!
Year 6 enjoyed playing a game in their Mandarin lesson this week and keeping score, noting down the correct Chinese characters!
In their learning about the circulatory system, Year 6 have been investigating the effect of exercise on their heart rate. They began by using pulse oximeters to measure their resting heart rate and then took their pulse after first walking, then jogging and then sprinting. Children then drew conclusions based on their results to see if their predictions were correct and presented their findings in a bar chart. To further develop their investigation, children conducted a second experiment to compare the change in their heart rate after holding various stationary positions. It was great to see everyone’s keen curiosity and teamwork!
Year 6 demonstrated excellent teamwork this week when carrying out group research all about the lifestyle of the ancient Maya civilisation. Children were tasked with finding out information about different areas including: homes, farming, food and clothes. In their groups, they then had to present their posters and findings to the rest of the class which everyone did with great confidence and clarity!
This year the school council decided to run the Christmas bauble project again. The plastic baubles were very kindly bought by the Friends and each year group chose their own designs and have been busy over the last few weeks creating them.
In Reception they decorated wooden baubles with paint, glitter and sequins.
In Year 1 they used tissue paper to collage the inside of their baubles.
In Year 2 the children measured their height and filled their bauble with ribbon that is the same height as them in 2024.
In Year 3 they filled their baubles with cotton wool ‘snow’ and decorated the outside with Christmas patterns.
In Year 4 the children decorated their baubles with glitter.
In Year 5 they used tissue paper to create bright and colourful baubles that have been hanging on their class Christmas trees.
In Year 6 they chose glitter for the insides and drew Christmas patterns and messages on the outside.
We think they all look amazing! A great big thank you to the School Council for organising this for everyone and an even bigger thank you to the Friends for supplying us with the baubles.
This week, Year 6 came dressed in WWII themed outfits for their trip to the Time and Tide museum in Great Yarmouth. Their outfits were excellent! They travelled back in time to 1941 when Great Yarmouth was in the thick of the action as a ‘front line town’. They Discovered how the war affected people on the home front and met an ARP warden, a housewife, a shopkeeper and a Home Guard soldier. We were so impressed by their curiosity!
To kick-start their new English unit: Romeo & Juliet, Year 6 enjoyed participating in a variety of Shakespeare-related activities! Children took part in a scavenger hunt, collecting the answers to questions about the famous playwright and his works. They had to match symbols on their sheet to answers hidden away all around the playground. They discovered Shakespearean language and had to decide if phrases given to them were Shakespeare or ‘Fakespeare’. They explored the ancient grudge between the two feuding families in Romeo & Juliet: The Montagues and The Capulets and learnt about their household crests. Children were then tasked with creating their own crest, focusing on the significance of its design, colour and symbols. It was great to see how enthusiastic everyone was about our new topic and we look forward to seeing how they get on with their writing over the coming weeks.
Year 6 have been investigating the law of reflection this week. When rays of light reflect, they obey the law of reflection: the angle of incidence always equals the angle of reflection. Children held a mirror on a piece of paper and made a very narrow slit in a piece of card. They dimmed the lights and shone a torch through the slit towards the mirror. On the white paper, they had to look for the incident ray and the reflected ray of light. They had to play around with the angle of the torch and the distance they held it from the mirror. Using a pencil and ruler they drew the incident and reflected rays on the paper. Then, they drew a dashed line perpendicular to the mirror, from the point where the incident and reflected rays met. This is the normal line. We were impressed with the children’s curiosity and teamwork!
