Hello and welcome to year six, Oak class. Our teacher is Miss Amey and our teaching assistant is Mrs Phillips.

Year six is a very challenging year academically but also socially; with SATs and secondary school getting closer the children will feel the pressure. However, my aim is to make the year fun and memorable and ensure the children leave Newtown as well prepared for their next journey as possible, with many happy memories to take with them. The children will have many fun opportunities this year with an end of term production, other topic related excursions as well as organising and leading events within the school. Yes, it will be hard work, but it most definitely will be rewarding. All we ask is that everyone tries their best. I cannot wait to embark on this exciting new journey with the children and I look forward to the many enjoyable moments that I know year 6 will bring.

Key things to remember:

· PE kit needs to be in school every day.

· Children are expected to read daily and record this in the back of their learning destination book. Parents please listen to them read out loud as often as possible. A letter will be in the front of their destination book outlining reading expectations. Children will be rewarded for reading at home and I hope to see many children in the One Hundred club by the end of the year.

· Before reading in the evening, children must practise their weekly spellings (these are tested on a Friday). It is a good idea to practise these in a random order to ensure the children really know their spellings.

· Maths homework will be set weekly and is linked to what the children are learning about in class. Sometimes this will be a worksheet, other times it will be an electronic game on Abacus.

· The learning destination book can be used for any additional home learning that your child wishes to do, please encourage them to do so.

Performing

Year six have really enjoyed performing so far this term. We have been working hard on our production, thinking about actions for each of the songs. We have also had the Wiltshire Music Centre in this week, for a workshop, ready for our visit there on Friday. The children have enjoyed learning about different instruments as well as showing off their singing skills. We have been creating different rhythms and learning different actions, ready to bring this all together with other schools on Friday.

Kensuke's Kingdom

In Year six, our focus text has been Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. The children have really enjoyed writing different genres linked to our text. Below, you will see our survival guides which detail different aspects of surviving on a desert island - just like Michael in Kensuke’s Kingdom. The children also had the opportunity to build their own shelters, as can be seen in the pictures. This gave them a first-hand experience of how difficult it can be to make a shelter and the many different skills required- from planning their designs, to working as a team to build a successful shelter.

Year six have come back this term extremely focused and ready for the term ahead. Our artist for this term is Hokusai; a Japanese artist most famously known for his woodblock printing. The children have spent time researching our artist and have now moved on to replicating some of his work. I was impressed with how much care the children took over their work and how hard they worked to mirror the detail of Hokusai’s work. Chloe, Alexandra and Nicole’s work is pictured below.

During the holidays Zak, Milena and Leon produced some fantastic homework (model boats) which can be seen below.

Kensuke's Kingdom

Linking to our text Kensuke’s Kingdom, Year six have been looking at different types of boats. Today they had a go at making their designs out of leaves and twigs. The brief stated that the boat must float for twenty seconds and must have two sails if possible. The pictures above show James and Jack collecting their resources and Milena, Nicole and Natalia using their resources to make their final product. Lastly, Faye and Ella’s boat is pictured successfully floating on the water.

Bath University

Oak class have made a brilliant start to term two. They particularly enjoyed their visit today (13.11.18) from Bath University’s Physics department. They learnt all about Photons and the different tricks that light can play on them. They had the opportunity to play a silent light up piano; they constructed this themselves. They had a look at the different light beams created by lasers; they explored the different patterns shells created and how this would redirect the light. Most excitingly, they listened to Photon the robot, who even told them a story.

‘I thought the workshop was very exciting and enjoyable, as a result I would like to study physics at Bath University.’ Jacob.

‘I would now like to study science at university.’ Caitlin

This week in Year 6...

This week year six have worked hard to finish their topic book covers, don’t they look colourful? We used the technique termed ‘Pop art’ which incorporates bright colours and dots. The children really enjoyed thinking about which colours would stand out and took their time drawing the initial portrait.

In science, we have been revisiting electricity. The children had to test their knowledge of circuits when asked to make a circuit in their first science lesson! They had remembered lots from prior learning and as a result we had lots of successful circuits.

Who are we?

Oak class have settled into year six with fantastic attitudes to learning. We have started the term by focusing on the question ‘Who are we?’ We looked at some example ID cards from the characters in our text-‘The boy in the striped pyjamas.’ We then had a go at creating our own ID cards, even adding our own mini portraits. Ask a member of year 6 if they can tell you one of the uses for mini portraits in the 16^th century. Can you guess who is who?