Maths Update
This week in Maths, we have been learning how to add multiples of 10 to a 2-digit number. We used our class shop to help us solve real-life money problems, such as adding £20 to an item costing £23.
To support our understanding, we represented numbers using tens and ones and recorded them on a tens and ones chart. We noticed that when we add a multiple of 10, the tens digit changes while the ones digit stays the same.
Try this at home: Ask your child questions such as:
- 34 + 20 = ?
- 52 + 30 = ?
- 17 + 40 = ?
Encourage them to explain what happens to the tens and ones in each number.
Forest School
Today marked the return of forest school for our class. We love being outdoors in Year 6 and enjoy connecting with nature.
We enjoyed some down time in the hammocks, making some huge bubbles, renovating the fire pit area and ensuring all the walk ways were clear.
During our session, children spotted loads of nature; it really is an amazing time to be outdoors and exploring safely. We saw slug eggs, cuckoo spit (https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/cuckoo-spit-spittlebugs), ladybird larvae and much more.
Our session ended with some goose grass juice. You may also know goose grass as ‘sticky buds’. We weren’t all convinced when sampling.
What a fantastic way to end the week!
Maths – Fractions – revising the core concepts
We’ve had a great week revisiting some core fractions concepts before we start our new Year 4 learning.
We’ve thought about wholes and parts in lots of different contexts.
See if your child can explain wholes and parts using the map of Europe:
We also considered how fractions are wholes split into equal parts and how those parts might look different but still be equal.
Finally, we thought about how if we are given a part and we know how many equal parts there are, we can work out the whole.
Help at home: challenge your child to explain parts and wholes to you using something they have at home (this could be a plant, a toy, a room.)
Some children had to think hard about how to fold a strip of paper into equal parts so this might be something you would like to explore at home. Can your child fold the paper into 2 equal parts? 4 equal parts? 6 equal parts? Is it easier to fold the paper into 4 or 6 equal parts? Why is that?
I would love to hear about how any of these investigations went.
DT
LO: I can work in 3 dimensions using tin foil and artstraws to make a sculpture.
We love getting hands on and creative in Year 6. During this session, we used the medium of straws and tin foil to create 3D models of humans. We had such a fun time creating different poses.
Help at home – can you create any 3D models at home? Maybe make a model for each person at home.
What is beautiful about the natural world?
Our new RE topic is all about how we understand and care for the world around us.
This week, we thought about what is beautiful about our natural world.
We went into our playground and used our senses to think about what we can see, hear, touch and smell.
We will be moving on to think about the creation story next week.
The bark is rough – Josh
The flowers are beautiful- Lailah
I can smell the grass -Wyatt
I can hear some birds – Blossom
Help at home: can your child use their senses to think about the nature where you live?
Robin Wood Day 3
A few additional pictures from a fantastic final morning at Robin Wood, spent on the lake canoeing and raft building. This was a particular highlight for me as we all laughed along with one another and enjoyed every moment before travelling home.
Robin Wood: complete.
Starting school: Tips to try at home
The Night Pirates
This week, we’ve started exploring The Night Pirates by Peter Harris.
Using our story map, we’ve enjoyed retelling the story with actions and expression. We’ve heard some fantastic pirate impressions and not forgetting our new pirate names.
Maths
This week, we introduced the children to Rekenreks. We continued to develop our subitising skills by using our “fast eyes” to quickly identify the number of beads shown. Rekenreks help children explore the structure of small numbers and build confidence in recognising quantities without counting.
We learnt that all of the beads should start on the right-hand side. This is known as the ‘ready position’. The children practised using the ‘pause (think), place (one finger), push (the beads)’ method. We always make sure we’re only using one finger when carefully pushing the beads.
Phonics
Now that we’ve reached the final half-term, we’ll be revisiting and consolidating all of our phonics learning in preparation for Year 1.
Have a happy and healthy weekend.
The Train Ride
We have really enjoyed reading our story this week. When we read it we noticed that the rhythm sounds like a train moving down the tracks.
In the paint we looked at the tracks on the wheels of our toy cars. Some of them had very different patterns on them some stripey, some zig zagged. We used them to create printings. This helped to develop our arm strength for writing.
We will be continuing with this book next week and will be looking at what happens when we send our trains down different types of ramps.
Have a happy and healthy weekend.
National Science and Media Museum (Bradford)
We had a fantastic trip to the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford this week. The museum is full of lots of activities that inspired the children to ask questions and investigate like scientists.
A particular favourite exhibit was Wonderlab which had lots of immersive, hands-on exhibits which dived into the physics and technology behind what we see and hear.
Highlights included a 15m long echo tube, a mirror maze, laser tunnel and the chance to make art using light.
We also had a workshop recapping and extending our learning about sound. We revisited our learning about how sound travels and learnt about how special effects sound engineers use sound to enhance films.
Thank you for the donation you made for the trip – the children had a wonderful day!