Welcome to Oak Class!

Hello and a very big warm welcome to year six, Oak class. Our teachers are Miss Fisher and Mrs Freiman and our teaching assistants are Mrs King and Mr Clayton. Miss Fisher will teach us on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Mrs Freiman will teach us on a Thursday afternoon and all day on Friday.

Year six is a very challenging year academically but also socially; with SATs and secondary school getting increasing 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. The children will have many fun opportunities this year with a residential trip to Braeside and they will also be given opportunities to organise and lead events within the school. Yes it will be hard work, but it most definitely will be rewarding and my only rules are that everyone tries their best and are tolerant of one another. We are a team in Oak class and I cannot wait to embark on this journey with the children.

Key things to remember:

• PE kit needs to be in school every day. PE will be on a Thursday afternoon and taught by Mrs Freiman.
• Swimming will start in term one on Friday afternoons. Please ensure children have a swimsuit and a towel in school in the morning.
• Children are expected to read daily and record this in the back of their learning destination book. Parents please listen to them as often as possible.
• Before reading in the evening, children must practise their weekly spellings (these are tested on a Friday)
• 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 like last year. Please ensure this is completed by Friday.
• The learning destination book can be used for any additional home learning that your child wishes to do.

Shell Painting

Year six have been shell painting today like in Kensuke’s Kingdom. In chapter seven, Kensuke spends time teaching Michael how to paint cherry blossom onto a shell surface. This was a very delicate process!

Henry Moore Inspired Art

Year six have been learning about the artist Henry Moore. We have been learning how to use line and texture to make our drawings 3D and add dimension. Here you can see some of our colour alternative designs by Dan, Phoebe L and Harry. We will be working towards printing our designs using Lino tiles.

Easter Experience

Today, we were fortunate enough to visit St James Church for the Easter Experience. We found out the true meaning of Easter through a range of activities hosted by Tom and his team. The children enjoyed eating hot cross buns and chocolate eggs at the end of the session and understanding how these food items link to the Christian story. Thank you for having us!

Oh what a sticky afternoon we have had in Oak class today!

Can you guess what we are making?

Westonbirt Arboretum

Wow! How lucky were we to be blessed with such phenomenal weather for our trip to Westonbirt Arboretum. 

Oak class spent the day learning about classification of trees and minibeasts; measurement and circumference of tree trunks and even used their artistic skills to create a palette of natural colours and textures on their card strips. 

We really enjoyed the tree top walk. At one point, we were amongst the birds in the tops of the trees and the sound was beautiful. Thankyou Westonbirt for a fantastic display of species of tree and the magnolias in bloom we're just breathtaking.

Homework Club

At homework club, we spend half the time doing our home learning with support if needed, and the other half of the session playing games as a reward (and eating biscuits!). Here you can see Fabian, Nahid, Oli and MIkowaj learning how to play Miss Fisher’s favourite game Blokus. Blokus is a fantastic game of strategy and the boys were gripped with tension! What is your favourite board game?

Syrian Music Workshop

Today, oak class were treated to a Syrian music workshop. Wow! It was mesmerising. This impressive instrument is known as a kanun and also has other names in many other countries. Mia and Elizabeth, from Wiltshire’s music centre, wee truly incredible and talented. They taught us how to sing a traditional Arabic song known in Syria. We learnt so much about pulse, rhythm and technique during our session. It was truly impressive how many sounds the kanun could make whilst it’s 78 strings were being plucked by Mia. Thanks to Wiltshire music centre for sharing their cultural knowledge and inspiring the Newtown children.

Poster Design

Year 6 were tasked with designing and creating a poster suitable for areas around Trowbridge to help remind people in the community how to be respectful. This was part of the Trowbridge Youth Parliament actions and now the winning design will be sent off to them. At the next meeting, the members of parliament will decide and vote for their favourite and then printing will begin – how exciting! Our winning design (which was decided by a fair vote) was Daisy – well done Daisy. It was a very tough decision as there were some incredible designs as you can see below:

Y6 Foodies Session

Oak class have been cooking again this week! We have been learning about a man called Kuda Chumbudzi, who is a kitchen gardener for Tottenham Hotspur football team.

Earlier in Kuda’s life, he found himself in a tricky situation where he became a refugee here in Britain. After six long years, he finally was granted citizenship and started attending college to learn more about horticulture and farming in Great Britain. Originally from Zimbabwe, Kuda knew a lot about farming and utilising the land around him for food and also to make money: His father was very influential. Kuda brought with him to Britain, a fantastic knowledge of farming and now works alongside the head chef for TFC to ensure that the football team (men and women) are only fed foods with a high nutritional value from his garden. Kuda loves growing kale and also Borlotti beans. In these photos, you will see the children creating a borlotti bean dip influenced by Kuda Chimbudzi. The children planned and evaluated their recipes which included healthy produce such as herbs, spices and garlic. Oak class are keen to teach their families this recipe and adapt it further.

The Big Build

This week was the big build; what a fantastic day we had! We have been putting our pneumatic knowledge to the test this week by building pneumatic scissor lifts. The children showed tremendous resilience and patience when creating these very intricate models. You will see the detail and precision that was involved when looking through these photographs. It was great to test their strength; durability and movement at the end by placing Miss Fisher’s Christmas elf on the platform! What a memorable learning experience year six, you are incredible.

Take a look at our video on the media page.

Monster Mouths

Year six have been putting their pneumatic skills to the test by creating an opening and closing monster mouth. It involved many challenging steps and careful instructions but they persevered and created some fantastic monsters. 

Creating pneumatic systems

Year six have been learning about pneumatics and hydraulics this week. We have created simple systems to show both mechanisms in action. Do you know the difference between pneumatics and hydraulics?

Gardening

Year six spent this afternoon gardening with Mrs Disney and planting bulbs ready for the Spring. They really enjoyed themselves and learnt some brilliant skills for their own gardens at home.

Lest We Forget

We wanted to share with you our beautiful, tissue paper layered poppies. The black and white background represents the dull, barren battlefields. 

Remembrance Day

Year six have been learning about Remembrance Day this week and what it means to them and others. We have been thinking about how soldiers, in past and present wars, have sacrificed their lives to be able to give us the freedom we enjoy today. Below, you will see our clay poppies that are drying out; the children showed great resilience when creating these as it was tricky to get the petals to stick together! You will also see Harry and Poppy who have produced some free writing about remembrance.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Year six have been working hard to create diary entries from the points of view of Bruno and Shmuel from the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. You will read awesome emotion and description (expanded noun phrases) within these pieces of work. They also did a fantastic job of drawing a fence down the middle of their page to separate the two diary entries to emphasise the separation of the characters in the story.

Holiday Home Learning

Year six have created some awesome pieces of home learning over the holidays! Have a look at our projects and see if you can guess what they are.

Pebble Reward

As our pebble reward treat, the children voted to spend some time creating PowerPoint presentations in our ICT suite. They all worked so hard to plan their presentations and create slides linked to their subject focus. When we return after the half term break, the children will be presenting to the rest of the class. Well done Oak class and what a super term one you have had!

Home Learning

Year six have been so inspired by their topic this term that they have been producing extra home learning! It has made me exceptionally proud to be their teacher and to see their enthusiasm grow. Take a look at the awesome homework that has been produced in term one.

Year 6 Portraits

Can you guess who is who?

Portraits

Oak class have been using their portrait skills to recreate a photo of Jesse Owens, who we are studying in our history and writing lessons. They have worked really hard to improve their shading and attention to detail.

Foodies

Oak class have seen the return of Foodies supersize this week! Mrs Disney taught us about Harmony day in Australia and how it is a celebration of diversity. It is amazing how many different skills migrants bring to a country.  Linked to this, we looked at the Filipino nationals who live within Australia and the cuisine skills that they bring. The Filipino traditional food that we learnt about was Lumpia. The children had a great time creating their recipes; voting for the contents of the healthy vegetarian filling and then making them. Lots of the children are now inspired to create this dish at home. Well done Oak class.