Design & Technology: Egg Cart Testing
This week, chidren in 5/6 have been testing their egg carts. After testing in the class room on a shorter ramp, all the eggs survived. We needed a bigger ramp! The slide provided the perfect vessel for our sudden impact test into a wall (a table) Unfortuantely, while the egg carts ran smoothly, There were some eggstreme crashes leading to some eggsplosions!
LS-TEN Skateboarding
On Monday, all six Key Stage 2 classes enjoyed the skateboarding workshop. The children had great fun learning how to jump onto a skateboard and how to move! They demonstrated excellent balancing skills.
Thanks to LS-TEN! We all had so much fun!
Over the summer, why not not visit the LS-TEN skate park and practise your new skills?
Water safety
As part of Healthy Week, Year 5 and 6 had a water safety workshop. The children were taught about the dangers of water and how to stay safe when swimming. The children recognised that there are safe places to swim, such as public pools but that others such as reservoirs can be very dangerous. We learnt some quite shocking facts about how quickly cold water can cause your body to go into shock and the fact that there are approximately 400 drownings per year.
The children were taught about life saving devices they could use such as life buoys. They also learnt that if you get into difficulty in open water, you should float on your back like a starfish. This keeps your head above the water and allows you to breathe.
We watched a useful video which you can access here.
Design and Technology
We are currently in the process of creating our own moving vehicles in design technology to keep Eggy the egg safe. The design criteria for our product was that the cars needed to be durable, safe and movable. The children had great fun drawing annotated diagrams of their designs and then calculating the dimensions. The children are using wooden dowel, axles and wooden wheels to build their cars. The children have used hack saws and G-clamps to cut the dowel to the appropriate lengths. They have built the bases of their cars so far and are now building the frames. The children are constantly thinking about safety features to ensure that Eggy survives if he/she had a collision.
Junior Warrior
Year 6 had an exciting afternoon on Friday as they took part in Junior Warrior. It was a scorching hot day which made the challenge even trickier. Junior Warrior is a huge 3km obstacle course where you scale walls, carry logs and crawl through tunnels. This is made even harder by the fact that everything is covered in mud! You could hear screams and giggles as the children made their way around this slippery course! As the children made their way to the finish line, they faced a huge water slide. This did however clean them up a bit! Thanks to all the parents that came along to support the children. I hope you managed to get the children and their clothes clean again!
A lovely day for a game of cricket!
The sun was shining down on our PE lesson today as we got to work improving our cricket skills. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working on our batting skills – accurately holding the bat and hitting with accuracy. Today, we were improving our bowling skills using the hit and point technique. The children worked in small groups and created a game with a scoring system depending on whether they managed to hit the wicket or some cones when bowling. The children then developed this further to include batting. All the children ended the session with a game of Kwik cricket.
Help at home: Can your child explain some of the bowling and batting techniques they’ve been working on over this half term?
What a Knight!
This week, children in Year 6 have started rehearsals for this year’s production – What a Knight! Thank you parents for helping your child learn their lines. It makes a big difference.
Our chorus, Year 5, have started rehearsals for the songs. Mr Welch assures me that they sound great!
Help at home: Continue to support your child in learning their lines.
Reading
This week in reading, the children have been exploring a non-fiction text linked to our current Design and Technology topic, with a focus on Women in Design. The text introduced them to several pioneering female designers, including Charlotte Perriand, Ray Eames, and Nanna Ditzel, who helped shape the world of modern design despite facing many challenges and barriers. The children really enjoyed learning about their achievements and the impact they’ve had on everyday objects we often take for granted!
Alongside developing their understanding of the content, we focused on key reading skills such as retrieving information, inference and thinking about the author’s language choices. The children were also encouraged to consider why the writer included particular details and how they should be critical users of online material. It was fantastic to see such thoughtful discussions and engaged reading throughout the week – well done, everyone!
Wetherby taster day
The Year 5’s had the opportunity to visit Wetherby High School and experience what it is like to be a high school pupil. They were thrown in at the deep end and completed a whole day of lessons just like a Year 7! The day began with PE. The children were able to use their basket ball skills that they had learnt earlier in the year. They had a go at different skills and even did some races!
Art was a great lesson in which the children learnt about a New York graffiti artist called Jean-Michel Basquiat. They looked at some of his artwork and discussed colour, shape, line and form. They then had a go of creating some art in the same style. They used pastels to add colour and shape to their own images.
The last lesson of the day was cooking. The children all made their own pizza rolls. They did a great job of following instructions and the recipe, although some of them looked like a ghost by the end of the lesson due to excessive use of flour! They also did a great job of tidying and washing up. It was spotless!
The children had a great day and behaved so well, remembering to use their manners at all times.
s! 
Day 2 in the residential house!
After a good nights sleep, we all woke up feeling refreshed and ready for a fun packed day. We began by eating a delicious cooked breakfast to get us ready for the day ahead.
Today, the children had a go at canoeing. This involved learning how to use an oar and then learning how to soak each other with it! Mr Goodwin manage to drench most of his group. They were not happy!
The zip-line featured again today with lots of children conquering their fear of heights. We all looked very fashionable in our harnesses as we flew through the air. Mrs Hogarth’s team competed against the Year 6’s from St James’ at a zip-line race. We won’t let you know the result but just know that we were very annoyed!
At lunchtime, the children filled their tummies with fruit, chicken burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches. There was also a cheeky do-nut for everyone.
As we dodged the rain showers in the afternoon, some groups managed to make it through the piranha pool challenge without being gobbled up by these vicious creatures! It was pretty close though and their panicked screams could be heard for miles around.
The children are exhausted now and ready for a good night’s sleep. We are looking forward to our final morning of activities before heading home tomorrow.
