Year 6 (classes 16 & 17) - 2020/21

Wonder-ful Art

Amongst the hard work that we have put into our assessments this week, we have allowed ourselves to be inspired by the work of a wonder-ful artist: Tad Carpenter. Tad is the illustrator of our class Novel, Wonder by RJ Pallacio, and we have really enjoyed studying his style.

Tad Carpenter was originally a designer for advertising companies but found a love of illustrating childrens’ books. We discovered that his simple but effective style is striking to the eye and it inspired us to have a go ourselves.

After studying the artist and commenting on his style, it was time for us to try it for ourselves. We copied some of his character designs as practise and then designed a self-portrait using his distinctive theme.

World Ocean Day

Did you know that this week was World Ocean Day?  We celebrated this day to deepen our connection to the blue spaces on our planet.

Plastic pollution, rising water temperatures, overfishing, sewage dumps and many other factors are impacting the ocean’s ability to thrive as it should. Life below the water is in crisis mode and it’s up to everyone to take action in protecting this extraordinary life-source.  After watching a live assembly, we were all inspired to show the beauty of our blue spaces through artwork, which contains a hidden message.  By displaying our artwork for all to see, we hope to remind everyone that we must do everything we can to protect our blue spaces.

Gardening club

One of our dedicated and ‘budding’ gardeners in Year 6 (Lewis) has taken some beautiful photographs of the beginnings of spring in our courtyard garden.  Spring is in the air and many plants are beginning to grow and show their beautiful blooms and flowers.  We even have some potato plants growing and Lewis cannot wait to taste his first freshly picked potato.

#Buy It Now!

Are you fed up of dealing with laundry disasters after eating yet another jam doughnut? Do you find it a bore when you have to write your thoughts down on paper? Or do you feel you need something extra to help with sanitization?  Well Year 6 have just the products for you.  We have been designing some new inventions to make all of our lives and little easier and writing some very persuasive adverts to go with them.  Have a read of just a few of our adverts and decide for yourself!

How do you support your mental well-being?

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme is Nature. Year 6 used the Highfield Garden to promote the positive impact that nature has on our mental health. While we were out there, the children meditated, sketched their surroundings, took a minute to listen and used the various parts of nature, which was scattered around to make live art to describe what they could hear. The afternoon was wonderful and brought a lot of peace and joy!

'There is something to be wondered at in all of Nature’ - Aristotle

Class 16 and Class 17 have been learning how to use the new playground markings this week.  The games are great fun to play in pairs or small teams and they have brought out the competitive spirit in all of us – even the staff!

Our favourite games so far are…

* target throw (but you must be accurate as well as fast to win)

* rock, paper, scissor hopscotch

* Dance mat, dance off

Strategy!

Class 16 and 17 were introduced to a new ball-game in P.E: Strategy. Everyone’s competitive sides came out, along with a display of great sportsmanship and team-work! Times like this make us even prouder of our Year Sixes and just shows how amazing they are.

The big reveal is here... What do you think of the finished product?

The first official pieces of ‘merch’ have been completed. Our first new skill included designing and making tie-dye t-shirts.  We had to decide on which colours would match our logos and then create a pattern effect for our t-shirts by twisting the fabric with rubber bands. Finally, we decided upon the position of our unique, custom logo which was ironed on to the t-shirt.

Our merch-making skills just kept on getting better and better! We have all mastered the skills coil pot building and hydro-dipping to make and decorate our very own mugs. We really enjoyed dipping our custom cups into the water, which was sprayed with spray paint, before lifting it out. The spray-paint created a film over the water, which clings to the object, covering the dipped area in a marbelled pattern.

We could not stop laughing in PE this week when we practised using different balls and developed our throwing and catching skills. Try and throw and catch a ball with one hand.  Its not as easy as you think!  Once we were warmed up, we played witches, quick pass and crab football. The crab football was enjoyed by all, but we did have some complaints about aching arms after.

Class 16 and Class 17 are very excited this term because we are finally getting the opportunity to cook with everyone’s favourite Chef – Jeff.  This week, Jeff made a few of us cry… but only because he taught us how to chop an onion! We made a Cajun pasta dish and it was delicious! Who knows, Year 6 could be making a new dish for you this weekend!

Bon appetit!

Antarctic explorer, Al Sylvester, joined us via Zoom to tell us all about his attempted expedition to the South Pole in 2006. We have heard all about the devastating mistake that one of his team mates made on the ice that cost them the trip...and Al's thumbs and toes!! We're hooked!

Watch this space for some emotional diary entries written from the perspective of Al Sylvester!

This week we revealed our new school project - Merch Me!

The children will be exploring the world of merchandise, not forgetting designing and creating their very own merch!

Our first mission, for the Merch Me project, was to create a logo collage using famous brands and logos. We looked at the importance of a brand logo and decided which ones stood out to each of us the most.

Our second mission was to use the inspiration from the previous tasks and work on four logo designs that represent our individual brands. After a walking gallery, a favourite design was voted for. We then enlarged our final logo design. The whole year group showed lots of artistic flare!

Just wait until you see all of the cool merch activities that we have planned. Keep your eyes peeled!

Happy World Book Day 2021! How did you celebrate at home?

Some members of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry magically appeared in Year 6 this week and luckily caught Gangster Granny in the act! 

Year 6 spent the day reading for pleasure and enjoying lots of WBD activities.  The children in school and at home gave our masked reader quiz a go too!

Beyond the lines….

We couldn’t stop Year 6 writing for this unit of work!  They have thoroughly enjoyed using all of their writing skills to create wonderfully atmospheric stories set on an action-packed battlefield in France during WW2.  We hope our stories make you feel like you are there with the characters.  Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Year 6 remember

Usually at this time of year we would be excitedly buying poppies, proudly wearing poppy merchandise or maybe even preparing to participate or attend a Remembrance Day parade or service. Unfortunately things are a little bit different this year.  Year 6 did not want this day to go unmarked or for the lives of the brave soldiers who have fought for our country to go unremembered, so we decided to create two very large window displays as a way to mark our respect.  We spent a whole afternoon designing and making poppies in all shapes and sizes: the red poppies are in memory of the courageous soldiers, the purple poppies are in memory of the animals that have assisted us in war and the white poppy is to symbolise peace.

Please take a minute to have a look and enjoy our tribute to those that bravely fought and lost their lives for our nation.

The future leaders of our country…

We started our new topic by listening to a serious speech, which was broadcast on the radio in 1939, by the Prime Minister at the time, Neville Chamberlain.  We thought he did a very good job as we knew what was going on, understood the seriousness of the situation and felt inspired to support our brave nation.  Chamberlain’s strong and solemn words inspired us to write our own speech announcing the start of World War 2 (and we think we have done a better job!)

Once

A historical story called ‘Once’ by Morris Gleitzman.  They spent every day on the edge of their seats waiting for the next adventure of Felix and Zelda. 

For the last two weeks, we have been on an emotional journey following the highs and the lows of an optimistic young Jewish boy during World War 2.   He finds a whole carrot in his soup then begins a journey in search for his mum and dad.   We won’t tell you anymore because we highly recommend you read it.

We loved it so much that we had to read then second book in the series of 6.

This is Year 6!

We have had a brilliant start to the year in year 6! Our ‘This is Me’ PSHE project is really helping us to understand how we are feeling at this strange time. From germ hotspot hunting to ‘Emotions Charades’ to learning to control overwhelming feelings on a gaming controller, we have learned how to support one another.  Well done team year 6!

Year 6 - 2019/20

Explorers

Have you ever wondered what is would be like to explore Antarctica?  Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live in a land of ice?  Well today, Year 6 from Highfield and Valley Road found out the highs and the lows of an Arctic expedition from Al Sylvester: adventurer, explorer and an inspiration to us all.   We now know how to survive, what training we need to do, how to go to the toilet and how to remain very, very patient.

We are off on an exploration!

Our topic for the Spring Term will take us on an adventure round the frozen kingdoms as we explore the polar regions of the world.

We started our adventure by getting changed into the correct kit to make sure that we survive the harsh and very cold climate.  As you can see, we needed to wear a lot of layers to trap in the warm air.  We discovered very quickly that the kit and equipment was very heavy and difficult to walk in.  We can’t wait to see what exciting adventures and interesting sights we will find as we continue to explore these frozen kingdoms.

Culinary exploration

Food is vital for survival when exploring the Polar regions of the world. High–calorie and food high in protein means that we will have enough energy to maintain our body temperature and ski across the icy, frozen landscape. 

The chefs have been introducing us to some and weird and wonderful foods that are often eaten in these cold climates including pickled eggs, chocolate brownies and steak.  We are being taught the vital skills of using a knife safely (you do not want to be injured in the Arctic) and how to preserve and cook our food so that it also tastes delicious.  We can’t wait to see what we will be eating next week!

Celebrating World Children’s Day

On Wednesday 20^th November  we  enjoyed celebrating World Children’s day by making bunting of the articles we think are very important.  Two of our Year 6 Rights Respecting Champions even led a whole year group assembly – well done Toby and Emily!

WW2 in computing

Over the past few weeks we have been researching information about different areas of WW2 and putting it all together in power-points.  We have learned a lot about how to present information, how to include slide transitions, animations and using hyper-links.  Then we have used them to teach the rest of our class what we have found out.  It has been great to ‘be the teacher.’

Brilliant biographies

In English we have been researching and finding out about Anne Frank’s tragic story.  We have really enjoyed learning new facts and finding out how hard life was for Jewish people during WW2.  Some fantastic biographies have been produced…

Class 17 Remembers

Class 17 were the final group to visit two local war memorials this week and we got a lovely day for it! First, we travelled to Seaham to pay our respects at the decorated ‘Tommy’ statue. As we stood there, a few of us decided it felt right to hold our own moment of silence. The whole class joined in, making Mrs Anderson and Mrs Beaton extremely proud of our respect. Following that, we took the time to look at all of the metal poppies lining the fence overlooking the sea. It brought it home to us why it’s so important to remember the fallen heroes of the various wars: each name was a real person, some sharing our surnames.

After another short minibus journey (thanks to Mr Hibbert!) we arrived at the cenotaph in Mowbray Park. The wall surrounding it has the details of all of the wars where people have Sunderland have given their lives to protect and serve. It was both sad and interesting to read.

Toby commented, “I can’t believe that I have never properly understood the symbol of the poppy and why we celebrate Remembrance Day.”

It has been a special week, so closely linked with our topic. Well done class 17!

Step Back in Time - Beamish

We had a great day as we travelled back in time to the 1940s and experienced life as an evacuee.  At Home Farm, we were kindly taken in by George and Stephanie, who showed us the many tasks we would have to complete if we were evacuees (including cleaning up after the animals!)  We all enjoyed sitting inside a real Anderson shelter, blacking out the windows and making carrot cookies.  We even managed to squeeze in a trip to the sweet shop to see if sweets have changed over time!

World War 2

Year 6 have made a fantastic start to their new World War 2 topic.  We have been enjoying finding out when and why it all began. We have been ordering the main events in the lead up to WW2, listening to the moment war was announced by Neville Chamberlain and doing pencil sketches of the leaders. 

Watch this space for our very own version of Neville Chamberlain’s announcement speech (because we know we could have done a better job)…

We have also been taking inspiration from the artist Clarice Cliff to design postcards that evacuees would have sent home to their parents.

‘Once’

We have been on the edge of our seats in Year 6 reading the page-turner ‘Once’ by Morris Gleitzman.  Chapter after chapter, we have been left on cliff-hangers awaiting the fate of Felix and Zelda in war-torn Poland during World War 2.  This book has been published all over the world and each time with a new and exciting front cover.  In our art lessons, we designed our own version of the front cover for one of our favourite books.  We can’t wait for the next instalment!