Author: Mrs Hogarth

We’ve continued to investigate the idea of density this week in Science. The children were asked to design a boat that would hold the most weight without sinking. They were only given plasticine and tin foil. They got their creative hats on and built some great boat designs. They had to think about the weight of their boat – they knew their boat had to be less dense than water density. Some groups increased the surface area of their boats too as they realised this helped with buoyancy. First we tested which boats floated – some boats were eliminated straight away as they promptly sank. I won’t be booking a cruise on any of those boats!

The successful boats went onto the next round where we added cubes to test how much weight they held before sinking. The majority of boats held between 3 and 9 cubes. The winner held 110 before sinking! This was amazing. I think there is a career in boat building on the cards for the winning group!

As part of our living and learning this week, we have been discussing body image and body confidence. We began by looking at the definition of body image – our idea of how our body looks and how we think it looks to others. This can include feelings and thoughts. Body confidence is about how we feel about the way we look. Our society tells us that there is an ideal way to look. This is called an ‘appearance ideal.’ With that in mind, we need to remember that these ideals are:

• impossible to achieve
• always changing
• unrealistic

We talked about how the media leads to detrimental ways in which we look at our bodies – we make comparisons  We need to remember that the majority of images we see through the media have been ‘touched up’ and edited in some way.

The children had to think about how they personally feel about body image and what their confidence levels are like. The task in the lesson was each person had to think about positive things about themselves and which body parts they liked and why?

Where can you go for help?

Talk to your teacher or another trusted adult, in or out of school.

Put your worry in the class worry box.

Talk to your friends.

Contact ChildLine – 0800 1111

To kick off this last half term, Y5/6 are beginning a design and technology journey!

We had an urgent message from someone asking for our help…

We took a look at our new vocabulary and decided how confident we felt as a class.

• red = I’ve never heard this term before and have no clue what it means!
• amber = I’ve heard of it but wouldn’t be able to fully explain.
• green = I’m super confident about this word in a DT context!

Here are the definitions! Get practising!

This week, Year 5/6 have been investigating objects that float and sink. They were building on their existing knowledge from previous years. They began by predicting if an orange would float or sink. Once they’d tested this, they found that it floated. However, when they peeled the orange, it sank – this is to do with density of the object. They then created other comparative investigations to explore the idea of density using tin foil, candles and plasticine. Ask your child about the investigation and what they found out.

 

Our Science learning this half term is all about scientific enquiry. The children will use their science and link it to an historical event in context;the sinking of the Titanic. This topic is based around applying working scientifically skills that they have learned so far in their Science lessons, to explore some of the scientific concepts behind the Titanic, e.g. floating and sinking. They will apply skills, such as asking questions, making observations and predicting. Below is a list of vocabulary the children will be learning over the next few weeks. Can you help your child learn these words? Could you play some games to help your child memorise the definitions? Maybe a game of Pictionary!

This weeks certificate winners are…

For great learning…

Gaia – you put so much effort into writing your recipe this week. You even remembered to include some expanded noun phrases. Well done.

For sport and physical activity…

Paige – for demonstrating skill and enthusiasm with the new skipping ropes. You also worked well with others in PE this week. Well done.

For living and learning…

Jenson – You had a really mature attitude when discussing how harmful drugs can be. Well done!

 

Well done everyone!

Year 5/6 began the week by exploring how the correct use of medicines can support health and well-being. They discussed the safe way to use medicines and how vaccinations and immunisations can protect us from diseases. We then moved onto legal and illegal drugs. As a class, they identified the risks and effects of drug use and also the laws that relate to different drugs. Throughout this learning, the children have been guided towards places of support and places they can report any concerns.

This half term in Science, we have been thinking about how we change as we grow older. In the lesson this week, we thought about how old age can affect mobility, completing tasks and how this can impact on our lives. We discussed how diseases can affect us as we get older and discussed arthritis. The children were given the opportunity to research this and found out that this can affect adults and children and impacts on everyday life. There are different types of arthritis and there is no cure. The children were incredibly engaged in the lesson and were able to relate it to their own lives; they could identify family members that have arthritis.

This weeks certificate winners are…

For great learning…

Sophie – you are participating more in lessons and challenging yourself with your learning. Well done and keep it up!

For sport and physical activity…

Jenson – for demonstrating more enthusiasm during PE. You have engaged more and and enjoyed recent games of basketball and rounders. Well done!

For living and learning…

Lleyton – you participated well in discussions about personal hygiene and you recalled your science knowledge about bacteria really well. Brilliant!

Well done everyone!