Year 6 - Mr Lancashire
SPORTS DAY 2017 - Congratulations to the blue team!
4/7/17 Update: our children have been extremely busy since SATs, so much so that we've hardly stopped to reflect on what we've been doing since then. Here are some pic tures of what we've been up to!
April 25th - 'Blood Heart' Memorable Experience (dissecting sheep and cow hearts as part of our new topic studying the circulatory system)
April 24th 2017 - New Topic
BLOOD HEART
Crimson, scarlet, burgundy, cherry... blood flows through our bodies in all its vibrant shades of red. Let's explore our circulation system!
Now surgeons, don't be squeamish as we dissect an animal heart and examine the veins, arteries and chambers up close. They all work hard to move blood around our bodies.
William Harvey was fascinated with anatomy and made groundbreaking discoveries about valves. I wonder what we might uncover?
Let's check out the most common blood groups in our class and ask, "Why do people give blood?"
Find out how to keep your heart happy with cardiovascular exercise and healthy food. Kick-start a campaign to spread the word about the damage caused by smoking to the lungs and heart.
This term, we will cover:
English - reports, poetry, slogan and adverts, biographies, narratives, personification
Science - human circulation, heart rate, blood groups, lifestyle and diet, working scientifically
Art - modelling and sculpture
D&T - healthy recipes, product packaging, working models
Maths - pie charts (and continued curriculum coverage leading up to SATs)
Music - pulse, heart rate
PE - cardiovascular exercise and Tag Rugby
PSHE - harmful substances, caring for others
8/3/17: We're really under way with our new topic now, having enjoyed the 'memorable experience' - a crime scene investigation in which our class solved a wicked murder.
Explore the world of human identity and how our unique features can be used to tell us apart from others or to help solve a crime!
From your fingerprints and footprints to genes and DNA, everything is unique to you. So why do you look just like Mum or Dad... or even Auntie Rose?
During this topic we will write reports, adverts and poems (all on the theme of identity) and express your opinions, views and beliefs. Do you like the same things as others or are your tastes uniquely yours?
Then it's time for some detective work! In the case of the stolen handbag, use your knowledge and skills to solve the crime and identify the culprit.
And remember... to love being you!
Why? There's only one you; you're one of a kind!
Update - January 2017: a couple of picture from our work so far, including experimenting with an 'iceberg'; recreating scenes from the sinking of the Titanic; writing the missing diary of Scott of the Antarctic (with the windows open for authentic chilly feel!) and a display of some of our homework.
FROZEN KINGDOM
Welcome to the planet's coldest lands... vast wilds, hostile territories, incredibly beautiful yet often deadly. Take shelter from the elements or fall prey to icy winds and deepest chill. Trek bravely and valiantly across treacherous terrain to the ends of the Earth, treading deep in snow pulled by a team of mighty sled dogs.
This topic covers climate change, temperature, habitats, ecosystems and many other scientific and geographical elements, as well as evocative poetry and the exciting history of polar exploration in the early 1900s. Our class reading book will be The Call of the Wild by Jack London and Kaspar Prince of Cats by Michael Morpurgo.
UPCOMING EVENTS FOR YEAR 6:
- 16th - 20th January 2017 - Whitehall Residential
As part of Anti-Bullying Week (14th - 18th November), children were given the opportunity to watch 'Sticks and Stones' anti-bullying production with powerful messages about how to keep safe and what to do if you feel you are being bullied. In Year 6, children have been given the opportunity to discuss bullying scenarios and how these issues may be resolved. Looking at different types of bullying, including cyber-bullying and sexting, our Year 6 children know what positive actions they can follow to keep themselves safe.
Our new topic - Revolution - focuses on the history of Victorian Britain.
"Are you listening, boy? What is twenty-seven plus forty-five? Come on - faster now, we haven't got all day!"
Find out about super-strict schools by travelling back in time to a Victorian classroom. Make sure you're on your best behaviour though, as punishments are unquestionably terrible!
Discover a time when great minds thought new thoughts and ingenious inventors created so many things we take for granted today: the electric light bulb, the telephone and even the modern flushing toilet!
You might even get to invent things yourself in the Victorian Dragon's Den...
We will research a time when Victoria was Queen and Albert was Prince Consort - when some people lived in slums while others prospered.
Curriculum
English: reports, historical fiction, biographies, poetry (Limericks), diaries/journals
Maths: algebra, measurements and time, mental strategies for multiplication, division, additional and subtraction
History: The Victorians (schools, homes, slums, conditions in the mines, inventors and their inventions, crime and punishment, toys and games)
Art: Victorian painters
Computing: Digital photography
D&T: home craft and model buildings
Geography: cities and transport in Victorian Britain, using maps
Music: Victorian Parlour Songs
PE: Drill exercises
PSHCE: Achievements
Science: Electricity
Here is the sheet with options for homework projects relating to our next topic, Revolution, which we'll start after October half-term.
Today, we enjoyed the privilege of inviting Key Strings to perform, allowing our children to experience a range of musical instruments.
19/10/2016 - As we neared the end of our first termly topic (Hola Mexico!) our children planned and performed a Mayan ceremony, involving bright, feathered costumes, tribal music, poetry and - most importantly - a human sacrifice involving excessive amounts of ketchup! Thanks to all the parents and grandparents who came in to help us make the experience memorable and fun.
20/10/2016 - During Maths Week (which is celebrated across the school), year six researched and budgeted for a trip to Mexico. They prepared a list of items they would need to take, along with approximate prices, then used travel sites to investigate the cost of booking return flights from the UK to Mexico. After finding the best combination of price and convenience (and noting all the flight times and changeovers) they created a timetable for a week's holiday, with accommodation and excursions. They were surprised and shocked as the total cost rose and rose!
Autumn Term 1 Topic: Hola Mexico!
This term, our children will be learning...
English: to write invitations, instructions and poetry
History: about the ancient Maya
Geography: map work, human and physical geography of Mexico
Science: Light and Shadows
Art: Mayan art
Music: traditional Mexican songs in Spanish
Computing: safe, thoughtful online research and digital presentations
D&T: food of Mexico
PE: Mexican dance
Maths: number work, including: decimals, fractions, conversion, written calculation methods, algebra, converting units of measurement and mental methods. We will also introduce the BAR model for problem-solving.
E-SAFETY
All of year 6 have have been learning about E-safety. We have discussed our rules for responsible internet use, as well as the importance of having a secure password. Year 6 have been set a challenge to create a secure password, using the following link: https://howsecureismypassword.net
Year 6 children have been made aware of cyber-bullying and understand that this is non-acceptable here at Granby Junior School. We talked about who to speak to if there are any concerns.
Wow! We have enjoyed a marvellous Monday morning with author Andy Cope learning about 'The Art of Being Brilliant'. Children responded enthusiastically when exploring key elements which included: choosing to be positive; remembering we are amazing; taking personal responsibility plus setting personal goals.
Y6 loved their first experience of the new Hola Mexico topic: cocktail mixing, food tasting and performing La Cucarachas!
Celebrating success
Our Year 6 have made a fantastic start to the new term and are enjoying our Cornerstones topic 'Hola Mexico'. We are continuing to find out about what happened at ancient Maya festivals - there were some exciting and gruesome events!
To celebrate our learning, we would like to invite parents and carers of Year 6 children to come and join us for an end-of-term costume preparation session and a processional march on Wednesday 19th October at 9am until 10:30am. Letters have been sent out with details.
We shall be holding the event initially in the classrooms, before moving onto the school playground, weather permitting. Children will be playing musical instruments and offering readings to the Mayan gods. We shall sacrifice a child to the Mayan gods (no child will be harmed in this process 
).
Children are invited to dress in bright clothing on the day.