Class novel
In the 5/6 phase, we have begun our new class novel – Secrets of the Sun King by Emma Carroll. This is a historical text that links well with our topic learning about Ancient Egypt. Emma Carroll is an author who the children will meet again later in the year when they learn about World War II and they read Letters from the Lighthouse.
This current book is set in 1922 when the world was waiting for news about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt. Lil (the main character) finds a mysterious package on her grandad’s doorstep, just as he becomes very ill.
The parcel was sent by a famous Egytologist who has just been found dead. Ask your child about this part of the book! Lil decides, with the help of her new friends, that the only way to help her grandad is to return the package to its rightful resting place in Egypt. The children are already enjoying the twists and turns of this exciting adventure.
Maths: Year 6 arithmetic checks
Children in year 6 have gone home today with their first arithmetic check. These checks will happen most weeks throughout the year. Each week, in class, we focus on two or three specfic questions. This should result in their checks being two or three marks higher each week. This is a marathon rather than a sprint. Don’t expect 40/40 in the first few weeks.
This week we’re focusing on three areas for development:
- lining up the digits
- multiplying by 10, 100 and 1000
- dividing by 10, 100 and 1000
Support your child at home by practising similar questions to the ones in the arithmetic booklet.
Line up the digits e.g. 3.521 + 2.1 = 5.621 rather than 3.541. Top tip: the decimal place stays in the same place (because he’s rather lazy).
Multiply by 10, 100, 1000 – Ask your chidren to show you how to “move all the digits to the left to the left.” What does it mean by “Show the jumps?”
As with all learning, little and often is the key to success.
Reading: Book Club
Year 6 children in Mr Lindsay’s reading group have been showing off their drawing skills in this week’s reading activity. Children recreated scences from their reading book with fantastic results.
Thank you for supporting your child at home. All children had signed reading records and talked with enthusiasm about their chosen books. Reading for 15 minutes each night with your child has a dramatic impact on on their learning across the curriculum.
This week’s reading activity is a comic strip. In addition to this, children should find out a bit about the author of their book:
- How many books have they written?
- What inspires them to write?
- Do they have any common themes in their books?
The week that was
It’s been a very busy week in Class 5/6A. Let’s look back on what the pupils have been getting up to …
This week has really seen our pupils demonstrate their 8Rs of Learning across all subjects. Monday saw our pupils ready to tackle our new Maths topic of Place Value for numbers up to 1 million. They demonstrated their resourcefulness and resilience through use of Place Value charts and counters to complete their work this week. In Writing, we were risk takers in scripting a short dialogue to perform in front of our classmates to show the moral dilemma Lil would face in opening her grandfather’s package, from our class novel Secrets of a Sun King. The pupils were fantastic and showcased some very thought-provoking dilemmas.
Our Topic work focused on the innovations seen within the Stone Age, and the pupils then took responsibility for their own learning in creating posters and presentations to show facts which they had found themselves about the Bronze Age. Our Living and Learning session allowed us to remember our school and class rules, reflect on the good choices we make and create our own Classroom Charter for learning.
Finally, our certificate winners for this week are…
For great learning…
Sam Webb– consistently working hard in all lessons and demonstrating a real positive attitude. I was particularly impressed by your recognition of different sentence starters.
For sport and physical activity…
Freya– A real team player. You took part enthusiastically in our P.E lessons this week; showing real determination and respect to your teammates.
For living and learning…
Arthur– You contributed fantastically to our discussion on the 8Rs of Learning and helped create some great rules for our Classroom Charter.
Have a great weekend!
PE: volleyball
5,6B have been warming up their volleyball skills. They worked in pairs to learn and develop some basic serves and passes. They enjoyed being able to ‘bump’ the ball to their partner and then progressed further to an overhand serve. They had to think about the position of their feet, hands and the ball in order to project the ball accurately. The end of the sessions saw us trying our hand at some actual games of volleyball. The children set up a small court and created a point system to see who won. We will keep working on these skills over the next few weeks.
Peace Flame in Scholes
Scholes will be celebrating The United Nations International Day of Peace on Saturday 17th September in the Peace Flame Garden at 11am. The children in year 5/6 were asked to create a banner to celebrate this special occasion. The theme needed to incorporate the end of racism. The children used an outline of their hands and added positive messages and images about the importance of ending racism. The banner will be displayed in the garden this week – go along and see if you can spot your child’s hand. The banner looks amazing and will look great in Scholes, showing the school’s commitment to our local community.
The week that was
What an amazing first week class 5/6A have had! I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all of the pupils in class this week; in turn we have shared some amazing stories from our summer holidays.
We’ve begun reading our new class text, “Secrets of the Sun King“; gone back in time to explore how the Stone Age civilisation made tools and provided for themselves; investigated how we can classify living organisms using Carl Linnaeus’ system; and scored goals in handball! Pupils have been issued with new reading records this week and brought home a new book. Help your child to get the term off to a flying start by encouraging reading for at least 15 minutes per day and recording this in their diary. Our times table focus for homework is our 2s, 5s and 10s. Remember your PE kit for Monday and Wednesday afternoons!
Finally, our certificate winners for this week are…
For great learning…
Luella – really demonstrating our school rule of respect to others when working in class, and producing some excellent handwriting and grammar work. Well done.
For sport and physical activity…
Millie – for showing skill and enthusiasm during our handball sessions. You showed superb defensive skills and teamwork. Well done.
For living and learning…
Alex – You had a really mature attitude when discussing the importance of rules, and respecting the opinions of others. Well done!
Science: classifying living things
This week, we have been learning about Carl Linnaeus – a Swedish naturalist and explorer who was the first to create a system to define species of organisms by name. We worked together to create our own classification keys that would allow us to sort, classify and identify objects from around the classroom. This was based on the physical characteristics of the objects. We found it quite hard to think of questions that would allow us to sort the objects effectively, but we got there eventually. We also applied some great scientific vocabulary.
Welcome to Class 5/6A
A very warm welcome back to all pupils in Class 5/6A. We have had a fantastic day getting to know our new classmates, as well as catching up on everyone’s holiday stories. It seems Class 5/6A were very well travelled over the summer! There has been lots of information passed onto the children today, reinforcing our school rules and values, uniform policy, homework and reading records. Please note that P.E. lessons will take place on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.
All pupils have today chosen a new reading book from the library and brought this home with them. Really get this new school year off to a great start by reading daily at home with your child, and recording this in their reading record. Children are to bring their reading records in to school every Friday.
I look forward to getting to know the pupils more over the coming days and weeks, as well as the parents. Please do stop by and say hello, or ask me any questions you may have.
Mr.Robson
Is the school day always this short?
Today has flown by. It was fantastic to see the children back in school looking refereshed and ready for a new school year. 5/6C had plenty of stories to tell about their holidays including a best day ever: Putt Stars and Maccys! Whether it was a sleepover or a trip under Niagara Falls, children beamed with joy about their summer holidays.
All children in year 5/6 have visited the library today and received their reading journal. It’s really important that both of these books are kept in your child’s book bag so that they bring them to school each day and read every evening. Share the reading with your child: take turns to read a page each; read to each other on alternate days; take a day off reading and just discuss the book over a cuppa.
It was wonderful to see all the children in the correct uniform. Please help us to maintain these standards throughout the year so that the children look and feel part of a happy and healthy place to learn.