Highlights of the week beginning 21^st March 2016:

Highlights of the week beginning 7^th March 2016:

Highlights of the week beginning 29^th February 2016:

Highlights of the week beginning 22^nd February 2016:

• This week we have had a mock SATS week to give the children a better understanding of how long and tiring the real thing will be!  The test papers they have completed will be useful in helping us identify gaps in the children’s understanding, and allow us to plan activities in order to tackle them.
• On the couple of days we have managed to squeeze in additional maths, my group have been problem solving (and surprising themselves at just how much old level 6 material they know – that used to be the expectation for Year 9!).  Mrs Harts group have been revising some key facts and operations.
• In literacy, we used one of the diaries that we wrote last year and have been busy improving and editing it – an important skill.  We have written up these (greatly) improved diaries into this year’s book.  Hopefully last years have finally made their way home to you!
• It was good to see so many of you at the curriculum evening this week, which looked at the changes to the way your child will be assessed at the end of the year.  If you were unable to make it, then a Powerpoint with the basic headlines and links to find out more is on the school website.  I have put a copy on the front page of our class pages. If you have any questions about any of it we can discuss them at the forthcoming parent consultations.
• We received an e-mail this week about the Norwich Gaming Festival 2016, which is an opportunity for gaming mad children to have some fun over the Easter holidays – if you want to find out more then this link will take you to their web page:  http://bit.ly/1oK6Muv
• Eaton Vale – please can you make sure any remaining balance is received as soon as possible – more details next week!

Home Learning

• A grammar activity all about pronouns is enclosed to try
• There is also a reading task and a maths task as usual.
• Spellings

Highlights of the week beginning 8^st February 2016:

In literacy, we watched a new clip about Nik Wallenda, a tightrope walker who walked between two skyscrapers in Chicago – blindfolded and with no safety net!  We then wrote a short diary entry, imagining that we were either Nik himself or one of the thousands of people who watched this feat from the safety of ground level.

In maths, my group have continued their work on algebra, finishing the week by carrying out some algebraic investigations.  Mrs Hart’s group have been working on their calculation accuracy.  As a whole class, we enjoyed some dinosaur maths, using coloured cubes of different values to make a dinosaur of a certain value.

We found out about the origins of Shrove Tuesday and had a think about Lent.  We hope you all enjoyed pancake day!

In science the children followed in the footsteps of Michael Faraday, finding out about the things fire needs to be able to burn.  We used lit candles and glass jars of different sizes to prove that a flame needs oxygen to burn, before writing up what we did and producing graphs to show  our results.

We used our computing this week to research a topic of our choice.  We will be using the information which we found out to write some reports after half term.  And on that note…

Have a relaxing half term.  We are not sending home any formal homework (see below) as the children need a rest before what promises to be a very busy half term ahead.  We will be holding parent consultations next half term as well as a curriculum meeting about the changes to assessment this year – if letters did not make it home then please ask for new copies.

Home Learning

• Spellings are enclosed.  There is a limit to how much practice we can do in school – the children MUST be practicing at home.  The new writing assessment for the end of Key Stage 2 does not allow us to place children as age related if they are unable to spell the words from the lists sent home.
• Read, every day, for at least 20 minutes.
• Espresso and interactive resources are great for grammar work and for maths practice.  Choose what you think you need to focus on and try and crack it!

Highlights of the week beginning 1^st February 2016:

In literacy, along with our normal focus on spellings and grammar, we have been writing some diary entries in small groups.  We watched a video called Girl and the Robot for the Literacy Shed website, then discussed and shared our ideas for how to write the girls diary.  The children did a great job on these pieces of shared writing.

In my maths group this week we have been thinking about the rules of BODMAS, the order in which calculations should be completed, as well as starting a block of work on algebra (which proved to be far less scary than the children imagined!).  In Mrs Hart’s group, the children have focused on multiplication and division.

For computing this week we have been using ‘html’ in order to write syntax.  We discovered that this computing language was invented by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web.

We have been thinking about reversible and irreversible changes in science, and carrying out a couple of experiments inspired by a trip to the UEA some of the class went on before Christmas.  The children seemed to really enjoy blowing up gloves in an unusual way as well as making some slime (which we discovered is not quite a liquid, nor a solid)

In our community time we have been looking at classrooms from around the world, and thinking about the struggles some children are prepared to go through in order to receive an education.

Home Learning

• Spellings are enclosed.  There is a limit to how much practice we can do in school – the children MUST be practicing at home.  The new writing assessment for the end of Key Stage 2 does not allow us to place children as age related if they are unable to spell the words from the lists sent home.
• A reading activity is enclosed for additional practice.  Don’t forget to keep on completing your reading diaries as well.
• A maths activity is also enclosed from respective maths groups.

Highlights of the week beginning 25^th January 2016:

• This week in literacy we have been busy completing some reading activities, revising some key grammatical terms, practicing spelling, completing some dictation tasks and reading and arranging some diary entries into chronological order.
• In maths groups we have been thinking about either the order in which calculations need to be worked out (BODMAS) or looking at different units of measurement and how we convert between them.
• We spent our computing time researching Chinese New Year, which is on the 8^th February this year.  We used our research to help us write some reports all about this annual event.
• Well done to the children who went to the Tag Rugby competition this week – they reached the semi-finals, narrowly missing out on a place in the finals.
• For those of us not at tag rugby on Thursday, we had a go at creating some paper cut art using one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals or dragons.  Not an easy task, but some were amazing!
•  We also listened to the first chapter of a book, before trying to create the cover of it – we had to think about possible titles and made predictions in order to write a blurb.
• In RE we have been looking at the Ten Commandments.

Home Learning

Spellings are enclosed.  There is a limit to how much practice we can do in school – the children MUST be practicing at home.  The new writing assessment for the end of Key Stage 2 does not allow us to place children as age related if they are unable to spell the words from the lists sent home.

A reading activity is enclosed for additional practice.  Don’t forget to keep on completing your reading diaries as well.

A maths activity is also enclosed from respective maths groups.

Highlights of the week beginning 18^th January 2016:

• This week we had our first sharing assembly to the rest of the school – well done to all of the children for organising themselves and presenting some of the things we have been up to to the rest of the school (in my absence!)
• In literacy we have continued thinking about The Listeners and finishing off our diary extracts.  This has been fitted in around lots of spelling practice and dictation to enable us to really focus in on punctuation.
• We have been reading a lot in class and carrying out some tasks and exercises to get us to be precise in our answering to questions.  We also explained what the reading diaries are all about and some instructions and explanation should now be in the front of the book.
• In maths we have been handling data, looking at different types of graphs and charts.  We have also has a recap on Roman Numerals, which I have had to learn alongside the children; they have picked it up quicker than me!
• We have also been focusing on times tables – some of the children will be getting extra support during their break times to really get to grips with learning them.  The more they do at home the better.
• Monday was Martin Luther King day, and we have looked at his life and how  he changed the course of history for so many.  This led us on to thinking about our own dreams for what would help make the world a far better place.
• We have designed, made and practiced some pomp om launchers.  The children used lolly sticks, straws, elastic bands and various other everyday pieces to create a launcher that they thought would propel a pomp om the furthest.  Next week we will modify our ideas and re-test.

Home Learning

• Spellings are enclosed.  There is a limit to how much practice we can do in school – the children MUST be practicing at home.  The new writing assessment for the end of Key Stage 2 does not allow us to place children as age related if they are unable to spell the words from the lists sent home.
• A reading activity is enclosed for additional practice.
• A list of facts children in KS2 just need to know is coming home again as a reminder to get learning or revising them.
• A maths activity is also enclosed.

Highlights of the week beginning 11^th January 2016:

• A busy week.
• In literacy, as well as focusing on spellings, grammar and dictation, we have continued to look at the poem The Listeners.  We have been drafting diaries in response to the poem – a task we have found fairly difficult, but some of the diaries the children have written have been amazing!  We will continue to work on diaries over the next couple of weeks.
• We have looked at Michael Faraday during reading sessions, finding out more about his background and work before we start to carry out some science following some of his important breakthroughs.
• In maths, we have continued to do lots of counting.  Keep practicing those times tables at home please.
• We have also looked some more at angles, as well as finding out about the parts of a circle and how they are related to each other.  We then created some hexagrams, putting our compass and instruction following skills to the test!
• We have also been working with co-ordinates, reminding ourselves of how they are recorded and used them to solve some mathematical problems and puzzles.
• In computing, we continued to work on our Powerpoint shape quizzes, experimenting with how to use hyperlinks as a way of checking if someone has the answer correct or not.
• I will be putting some of the children’s latest work onto the class page of the school website over the next week so please, if you get a chance, have a quick look!

Home Learning

• There is a reading comprehension task enclosed – please make sure you take time to read the entire text in order to make sense of it BEFORE you start answering the questions.
• There is also an arithmetic paper enclosed for the children to try.  This will help give you, as parents, an idea of the new expectations for the end of Year 6, and of course help the children get used to this style of test.  If you find any questions really hard, DO NOT WORRY!  If you could circle the question numbers and then we can make sure we spend time in class looking at this area.

Highlights of the week beginning 4^th January 2016:

• Welcome back!  We would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas.
• In the 4 days we have had this week, we have been teaching maths in our normal classes.  We have been thinking about angles – improving our skills of estimation and our accuracy in measuring them, as well as using our knowledge to calculate missing angles in triangles, around a point and on a straight line.
• We have also been paper cutting around folds to get us thinking about lines of symmetry in 2-d shapes – a  task that proved to be  not as easy as it sounds!
• In literacy we have been working with the poem The Listeners by Walter De La Mare.  We have spent time getting to understand some of the vocabulary contained in it (a lot of it quite old fashioned) and thinking about how the narrative unfolds and what may have happened before the poem begins.  This is leading us towards writing two contrasting diary entries from the main characters viewpoints next week.
• We have also squeezed in spelling, handwriting and dictation activities.
• In computing we are designing interactive shape quizzes for younger children, using Powerpoint and hyperlinks to move between slides.  When these are finished we will post them to our class page of the school website.
•  We have also looked at the abstract art of Wassily Kandinsky, and how his work was closely linked to music.  We then started to create some ideas for work of our own in response to The Firebird by Stravinsky.  Again, once they are finished we will put some examples onto the website.

Home Learning

Spelling tests will resume next week – get revising!

A reading activity is enclosed for additional practice.

 A maths activity to consolidate this week’s work on angles is also being sent home.

Highlights of the week beginning 14^th December 2015:

• he end of a busy term.
• Thank you to all of the parents who were able to come along to our Christmas event this week – a little chaotic I admit but I think the end products were worth it!
• We had a visit from Paddy on Monday who told us his own unique take and beliefs about the Christmas Story.
• That was followed by a Panto – this year it was Jack and the Beanstalk.  Many thanks to the PTFA for arranging this for the children.  The PTFA were also responsible for organising the D.I.S.C.O. on Wednesday, an enjoyable event as always.
• Some of the class went to UEA earlier on Wednesday to watch a ‘Chemistry With Cabbage’ show, take a tour of campus to find out about student life and consider why people choose to continue their studies when they are older.  The chemistry show has given us lots of great ideas for experiments we can use in the classroom next term.
• Those who stayed behind were graphing temperatures from around the world and considering why they differ according to where in the world you are.
• We have continued to test our computer programming skills using Scratch and blocks of code.
• We have also found some time to relax and enjoy the last couple of days with a movie or two and a games and toys afternoon.
• And all that is left is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year and we look forward to seeing you all in 2016!

Ho-Ho-Home Learning

• No formal homework this week, it is the holidays after all.
• Reading is still the most valuable thing you can do at home along with times tables – hopefully you will find a times table cd or a new book in your Christmas stocking…

Highlights of the week beginning 7^th December 2015:                    

• Another busy week – the final one before Christmas madness sets in for real!
• In literacy, we have been writing explanations for how the eye works following from our recent homework.  A complicated process which the children seem to have grasped.
• We have also been writing a set of instructions for how to make a Christmas cake in a tin.  We will be decorating the cakes next week during our Christmas gathering, as well as making boxes and packages for them.
• In computing, we have been using a free online coding programme called Scratch.  This week we programmed an Etch-a-Sketch, as well as the old fashioned game of ‘Pong’ – I think some of the children were surprised to find that this game was once state of the art!
• On Wednesday we had a visit from the local road safety team, to recap how to stay safe when near roads.  The children were surprised to find that 11-16 year olds are involved in the most road accidents as pedestrian or cyclists so it proved a timely reminder.
• We have been learning how and when to use semi-colons, colons and dashes in our writing – a new expectation for the end of Year 6, and one many of the children have already started using in their independent writing.
• In maths groups, we have been working on percentages and  calculations in Mrs Harts group and fractions (with a catchy song!) and problem solving with me.
• In Spanish the children have been continuing to learn the names of each of the months of the year, completing a domino type puzzle along the way.

Home Learning

• Spellings as usual.
• Maths from groups is enclosed.
• Reading – an activity is enclosed for the children to complete

Highlights of the week beginning 30th  November 2015:

• This week we have continued writing up our hot tasks, focussed on our spellings and carried out some reading tasks and activities.
• In maths both groups have been working with fractions – an important part of the new curriculum.  We have started to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers, compared fractions and answered some word problems and puzzles based around them.  Next week we will be moving on to multiplying and dividing with fractions.
• We have been finding out more about democracy in the UK, researching the Houses of Commons and Lords, who works in them and how they get their positions.
• On Tuesday morning we had a visit from some of Year 12s from the High School, who performed some short plays that they had written as a part of their courses.
• We have carried on working on our skills in programming, using the Hour of Code website to create and control an Angry Birds game.  Some of the children even got to teach Mrs Worsdale what to do!
• We spent a part of a morning sharing our Social Changers homework research – the children had chosen some really interesting figures from the past and present which was great.
• Mrs Diggle, one of our governors, came into class to start the process of our Christmas cakes in a tin.  The children got to mix the ingredients together (surprisingly tricky in parts!) before sending them off for baking.  We will be decorating the cakes during our Christmas event later in the term.

Home Learning

• Spellings as usual.  A big improvement this week but still scope for it to be better still next week.
•  Maths from groups is enclosed.

Highlights of the week beginning 23^rd  November 2015:

• This week we have been busy talking about, drafting and editing our ‘hot writing task’ based around the book Bug Muldoon.  We have been trying to apply all of the work we have done so far this term into the piece, and the results so far are looking great.
• In maths groups we have continued to focus on calculation strategies, as well as applying these to solve various problems and puzzles.
• We have been watching a video based around the book ‘If The World Were A Village’, which condenses the world’s population to just 100 people.  It has made us think about just how lucky we are to live where we do.
• We have, following on from our visit from Chloe Smith MP, been looking into the works of parliament and it’s history and how laws are made.  We have also found out about the House of Commons and the House of Lords and the role that each plays in our democratic society.
• We spent an hour on Tuesday completing an ‘Hour of Code’, a programming activity using the computers and pre-written blocks of script that we could put together to control activity on screen.  The children really enjoyed it and there are many more activities which you could try at home.
• We had our penultimate visit from Paddy, who this week was talking about how there are no obstacles which we cannot overcome.
• It was great to see some of you at our Family Learning session this week.  We hope that you enjoyed the Smarties based activities – if you have any suggestions for what the focus of future sessions could be then please let us know.

Thank you for the Social Changers homework – we are keeping hold of the Learning Journey books this week so that we can share them throughout next week.

Home Learning

• Spellings and maths group homework are coming home as usual.
• This week, can you use find out about sight – how does the eye ‘see’ things?  Please make some notes and maybe draw some diagrams to explain the process – we will use the notes next Friday to write an explanation text all about the eye.

Highlights of the week beginning 16^th November 2015:

• Monday started unusually, with the class being dressed as animals to raise money for the RSPCA!  The children looked great (if a bit hot by the end of the day!)  In our assembly we had a visit from 2 local RSPCA workers to inform us about their roles in the organisation and the school has been able to make a healthy donation to them.
• This week we started our new in-class  Read Write Inc spelling scheme.  This will help the children revise and learn common spelling patterns as well as identify those words that do not follow the patterns!  At home, please keep focusing on the weekly spelling words, which come from the new National Curriculum.
• We went to the cinema!  The movie we watched, ‘Believe’, was a great story with the moral that we can all do whatever we want just so long as we have belief that it is possible – an important message for the children to try and remember.
• In PE the children were playing and improving their skills in badminton and in Spanish the children have been learning the months of the year.
• We carried out a science investigation into how shadows change when a light source is moved nearer or further away from an object.
• We made some silhouette based artworks based around the Blitz and Battle of Britain.  Some examples are on the paper copy of this Learning Blog.

Home Learning

• Maths from groups and spellings are enclosed as usual.
• One more week to go on the research homework.  Also, now you have a log-on for both Espresso and Interactive Resources you can direct your energies into areas that you know you need to focus on!

Highlights of the week beginning 9^th November 2015:

• This week started with a visit from Mr Taylor, who spent Monday working with the children on a drama project.  This was initially based around the theme of Fair Trade, but followed the children’s interests into thinking about when and why people feel the need to step in and stick up for others.  The children talked very enthusiastically about it later on!
• In literacy, we watched a short music video and wrote a narrative to go alongside it.  We focused on how, if we described the way in which characters act, it can tell the reader how they are feeling, without having resort to something more obvious.
• We have also spent some time thinking about Remembrance Day.
• After listening to and watching some first hand accounts of the Blitz, we collected words and phrases from them, which we then put together as Found Poems.  The finished work has been amazing – the children managed to create some truly moving and thoughtful pieces of work.  They will be on the wall in time for our Family Learning sessions!
• In response to this, we created some abstract art images to try and represent Fear, thinking carefully about shape and colour.
• Finally, on Friday, we had a visit from your local MP Chloe Smith.  She came to tell us about both her job and how democracy works in our country.  This will lead us on to some further work next week all about democracy, government and voting.

Home Learning

• Maths from groups and spellings are enclosed as usual.
• This week the children are bringing home an e-mail address and password that will enable them to use a website called Espresso, which we use regularly in school.  For your literacy homework, please log on (the children have been shown how to) and find the Punctuation and Grammar section.  Watch one of the videos and try the quiz, then place Espresso in your favourites and use it regularly!
• Reading.  You should, as you know, be doing 20 minutes of reading every day at home (your writing will improve if you do)  Can you get someone at home to tick the boxes below to show that you have done this.

Highlights of the week beginning 2^nd November 2015:

• This week we have been having an ‘Inspirational Week of Maths’.  This has involved looking at a number of problems and investigations, together with some video clips designed to show the children that anyone can be good at maths, and the only real barrier to success is our attitude towards it.
• In literacy we have been looking at character descriptions, designing and writing some missing person posters for a book character.  This has led us to consider how to create a vivid and interesting picture through our vocabulary choices.
• We have also been thinking about the ‘Show not Tell’ technique to character and setting, writing some descriptions that do not rely on the obvious.
• Our Dream Job letters have been worked on to prepare them for sending off to the Royal Mail – fingers crossed!
• We have started a block of work based around the Battle of Britain, which will give us some time next week to consider Remembrance Day.  First of all we created a 20^th century timeline, to try and put the war into some historical context, and then carried out some map and atlas work to work out how Europe looked around this time in history.  We also touched on the causes of the World War 2, and found out that it may not have been as straightforward as we first thought.

Home Learning

• This week, as a part of maths, we tried a problem called Four 4’s.  This involved making all of the numbers from 1-20 using just four 4’s and addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.  (For example, the number 1 can be made by carrying out the following calculation – (4+4) divided by (4+4)).  For homework, can you see how many of the numbers between 20 and 30 you can make following the same rules – hopefully as a class we should be able to find them all.  Please spend about 30 minutes on this over the week.
• For literacy, can you focus on reading.  You should, as you know, be doing 20 minutes of reading every day at home (your writing will improve if you do)  Can you get someone at home to tick the boxes below to show that you have done this.

Highlights of the week (and a half!) beginning 12^th October 2015:

• It was lovely to see you all at last week’s parent consultations – I hope you found them useful, and as ever if any questions or worries come to mind please don’t wait until the next one to bring them up!
• In literacy we have been focusing on our reading comprehension skills, in particular quoting from the texts we have read to support our thoughts and ideas.  This is an important skill we continue to focus on – the ‘prove it’ questions.
• We have also returned to the rules for presenting dialogue and how a little of it can really enhance a story, whereas too much can ruin it.  We will be thinking lots over the coming weeks about striking the right balance.
• In my maths group we have been working on division, and have this week learnt the algorithm (the way most parents will remember from school!)  We will return to it after half term – hopefully it will have stuck.
• We have carried out a series of half term assessments to help focus our teaching after the holidays.  As ever, the children approached these just as we would have wanted – calmly and confidently.
• We had our trip to Carrow Road, thinking about fair-trade and having a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the stadium.  It was a great day out and we all found out lots about how the club is run and organised.  It was just a pity our visit did not bring any luck to the club at the weekend…
• Paddy has been in for two sessions – the first focused on what each of is us really good at and the second on how to give advice to each other in the right way.  The children are really enjoying these sessions and seem to be taking a lot away from them.
• We have been finding out about Edith Cavell, why she is remembered and her link to Norwich.  We used the computers to present what we found out, and had a think about what we can all learn from her life story.

Home Learning

• Spellings are enclosed – an improvement on the whole from the first week.  Keep practicing and you will get there.
• A maths activity is enclosed from each of the maths groups.
• A grammar activity is also enclosed.

Highlights of the week beginning 5^th October 2015:

• In our maths groups this week we have been working out the perimeter and area of different shapes, and calculating with decimal numbers.
• We also carried out a task involving the nets of different shapes, testing our knowledge and understanding of the properties of 3-d shapes.
• In connection with our literacy work around the book Bug Muldoon, this week we have been thinking about what we might find inside a ‘Garden of Fear.’  We read some descriptive settings from well known authors that helped us to pinpoint what makes effective descriptive passages and what grammatical features we could use in our own writing.
• We painted scenes from the imaginary garden and have at the end of the week written about a journey through it.  The children’s vocabulary choices have been really impressive!
• We looked at idioms – some of which we already knew and some of which were less familiar – in order to complete a puzzle.
• In PE we have carried on with netball – this week in glorious sunshine!  Fingers crossed that will continue for a little while longer.
• Friday was Harvest Festival time – the Year 1 children hosted our annual assembly and did a fantastic job.  Thank you to all of those who donated this year – it was all collected at the end of the day to go to the Salvation Army who will pass it on to some in our society less fortunate than us.
• Next Wednesday is our trip to Norwich City Football Club – Drake class went this week and had a great time so we are really looking forward to it.  They were lucky enough to meet two of the clubs directors (Michael Wynn-Jones and David McNally) – I wonder if we will be as lucky?

Home Learning

• Spellings have resumed.  The first test is in the children’s books.  We appreciate that the words from the statutory KS2 word list are quite a challenge for some.  Please don’t be downhearted if this week was not as good as you hoped – practice will make perfect.
• Maths from each maths group has been handed out and should be enclosed.
• A word based activity is also enclosed – it has been explained to the children in class.

Highlights of the week beginning 28^th September 2015:

• This week in literacy we have been thinking a lot about grammar and spelling.
• We have been thinking about contractions, and used our knowledge to help us to solve a puzzle, and correct a poem.  Also, we have revised regular verb tenses and have been editing other peoples writing.
• A reading assessment has been carried out – to very pleasing results.  All of that reading at home and in school must be paying off so make sure it keeps up.
• In maths we have been calculating in our groups and thinking about decimal numbers.
• We have written a set of instructions about how to make wire portraits – just like to ones we made earlier in the term.  Again, it is god to see how much the children retained from their learning from last year.  Next week we will be making something fun and writing some more to see if we can improve on them.
• In RE we are continuing to think about why Jesus is so important to Christians.
• In response to the blood moon on Sunday, we learnt about the science behind the set of events that meant the moon appeared so red and so large.  It was complicated in places but we got there!
• In Spanish we have been learning and revising numbers, and in PE we have continued our work on netball.
• And Finally…the completed homework so far this year has been, on the whole, fabulous – thank you for taking the time to complete it properly and to a standard that is your best.  It is appreciated!

Home Learning

• Spellings have resumed.  A list of highlighted words has been sent home – the children will be tested on them next Wednesday.  The words are taken from the statutory word list for children in Years 5 and 6.
• Maths from each maths group has been handed out and should be enclosed.
• A grammar activity is also enclosed.

Highlights of the week beginning 21^st September 2015:

• Another busy week.
• We have carried out some guided reading this week, completing a short activity where the children had to provide written responses to questions.  This is an area we will need to focus on this year as the quality of our written  responses are not yet as good as the written ones.
• We have also carried out a writing ‘cold task’ based on a book called ‘Bug Muldoon and the Garden of Fear.’  From this piece of writing I will be setting the children’s writing targets – ask them next week if they can remember them.
• In literacy we have also looked at improving our sentences – we have started thinking about varied sentence openers, how to add relative clauses and creating complex sentences that will start getting more comma’s into our writing.
• We have been investigating the amount of sugar that is in a can of Coke, and linking that to a picture showing a can of coke sinking, while a can of diet coke floats.  That led on to some science writing, following a structure that will before long become second nature to the children!
• In PE the children have been passing and shooting in netball – next week they will start some H-5 netball games.
• We carried out some research into e-safety, and have started to create some related posters that we could display around the school.
• And finally, Paddy visited us on Tuesday.  He is running a course for all of the children up until Christmas designed to build the children’s confidence and self-esteem; this week he was talking about how to deal with problems in a constructive way.

Home Learning

• Thank you for last week’s application letters – I am looking forward to reading them over the weekend and giving the children their feedback on Monday.  I have photocopied them if they were written into books – and will stick a sticker in with them when the books return next week.
• There is a maths activity from each child’s maths group to complete this week.
• Reading – at least 20 minutes a day.  This week, write a book review of what you are reading at home.  Include the title and author, a brief summary of what the book is about, your own personal opinion about it and who you would recommend the book to.
• Spellings will start for our class next week.

Highlights of the week beginning 14^th September 2015:

• What an eventful week it has been.
• In maths we have been putting our calculation skills to good use to solve a number of different puzzles and problems.  We have also had to have a think about how to work in an ordered way to be able to identify patterns and generate formulas and rules in a series of numbers.  On top of that we have been practicing the 6 times table – keep going at home too.
• In literacy we have been looking at a poem called Ozymandias  by the poet Shelley.  It is a challenging poem for 10 year olds, but has led us to discovering some new vocabulary, considering the images words can create in a readers mind and creating our own poems from the same set of words.
• Linked to the poem, we have been thinking about statues and what it might suggest about someone if there is a statue of them.  We decided that our opinion may differ if a person orders the creation of their own statue, and that it might suggest some negative aspects of their character.
• We researched a local hero, Admiral Nelson, whose statue stands proud in Trafalgar Square.  We then presented what we found out as a poster.
• We started to think about sugar at that start of the week, mind mapping what we thought we already knew.  This will be followed up next week in class.
• In RE we have started a block of work around what it means to belong to the Christian faith.

Home Learning

• This week was National Letter Writing Week.  Royal Mail is running a competition to celebrate this – so the children’s homework this week is to write a letter to an employer applying for their dream job.  They will need to explain why it is their dream job and explain why they would be the right person for the job.  The best letters will be submitted to the competition – with a top prize of £1,000!
• Maths – we will be starting our maths groups next week so homework will follow after our first weeks teaching.  Please don’t forget this week about http://www.interactive-resources.co.uk/ - the children should know the log-on and password to access the site.  There is a folder called ‘Mental Maths’ which contains lots of times table games – our main focus for this term.
• See if you can find out how much sugar is contained in different foods at home – just a quick note of the product and the quantity of sugar will be fine.  This data will be used in maths next week.

Highlights of the week beginning 7^th September 2015:

• Welcome back!  It was great to see so many of you at our ‘Meet the Teacher’ session on Wednesday.  For those unable to come along we have sent home a letter today covering the main points and a blog that explains the new assessment system.
• We have a busy few days getting back into routines.  Book covers have been designed and spelling, writing and maths assessments have already taken place.  We have also spent time setting down some ground rules and getting to know each other ahead of what will prove to be a very busy year.
• In maths we have been looking at calculations, carrying out lots of counting, learning and playing some dice games based around place value and revising the months of the year and how many days each month has.
• In literacy we have focussed in on handwriting and presentation, a focus which will continue into next week and beyond.  We have also started looking at how we use commas in our work accurately.
• We have created a number of portraits using different media and inspired by different artists.  We looked at Julian Opie’s work and then used the computer program Paint for our first work.  Then Modigliani using oil pastels and finally Alexander Calder, who uses wire to create his.  Some of our finished works are on the Frobisher class page of the school website.
• In singing the children are already thinking about Harvest.

Home Learning

• We will be creating a joint Year 6 science timeline over the next few weeks.  Research a key date – perhaps around an important scientist or important date – which can then be added to the timeline.  Record this in your Learning Journey.  It needs to be a small poster style, and no bigger than A5.
• Reading – at Year 6 you need to be reading, ideally every day, for at least 30 minutes.  Make sure you read a wide range of books by different authors, and different genres too.
• Maths – times tables and the linked division facts are the key to success this year.  10 minutes a day practice would make a huge difference.