Year 6 News 2018-2019
History
As part of a topic on the History of Liverpool, pupils were asked to research and present findings on music or fashion of the 1960's. They created amazing PowerPoints, flipcharts and 3D models!
English
Year 6 have enjoyed learning about the importance of recycling through a Recycling Rap. Working in groups, the children decided how they could best perform the Rap, ensuring that they understood the message and that it was clear and entertaining to others. The Year 5 children enjoyed watching and listening to the Rap, giving very positive feedback.
Bible Exhibition
Year 6 had a fascinating morning, led by visitors from a local church, who shared their Bible Exhibition with the children. It was a very interactive morning, during which the children learned much about the origins and composition of the Bible, in a friendly atmosphere. After the concluding quiz, the children were able to share some of their own thoughts and ideas in a very open session. The feedback from the church leaders on the children's responses, participation and manners was, as expected, very positive.
Stick & Step
English Outdoors
Year 6 are enjoying reading Roald Dahl's Boy, a snapshot of different experiences he had as a boy, that he never forgot, even fifty or sixty years later. We have been analysing his writing style and the children have used some aspects of it in their own writing. The children particularly enjoyed making up role plays around the incident of the broken pen nib. Last week, we were looking at one chapter - First Days - and differentiating between the use of fact and opinion. Where better to do our work on a beautiful morning than in the Mindful Garden?
Maths
Year 6 have been using multilink cubes to make 3D shapes which they had firstly sketched and then enlarged by a scale factor of 2. They also worked out the volume of each shape using the equation l (length) x w (width) x d (depth).
Mindfulness
Mrs Hackett was invited into school to teach our Year 5 and 6 Mindfulness some meditation exercises. The type of meditation the children were shown is called TM (transcendental meditation), which involves repeating a specific silent mantra to oneself twice a day. The idea of meditation is to help us relax and learn how to cope with the daily stresses of everyday life. The children certainly felt very relaxed after their first meditation session (as did Mrs McGregor!)
Spanish
Year 6 have enjoyed a drama twist to their Spanish lessons recently with a fashion show where they designed and labelled their clothes in Spanish and showed off their creations on a 'red carpet' runway to a Spanish commentary. Today they created their own Spanish role plays buying everything from apples to Rolex watches! Well done Year 6, keep having fun!
Bikeability Level 3
Congratulations to the Year 6 children who recently gained their Level 3 Cycling Award which was no mean feat. Using the skills gained in their previous Level 2 cycle training course, the children gained more experience by riding further afield and on different types of roads and paths. Cycling to Hoylake, they navigated their way along the Wirral Way and the path which runs alongside the railway line before successfully tackling the roundabout. A great experience for the children and one in which they showed confidence and behaved very sensibly.
Stockport Air Raid Shelter
What a wonderful day in role as evacuees to conclude our unit on World War Two!
Biology
Year 6 led an inspiring and thoughtful assembly on Monday covering the areas of self esteem and strategies for maintaining a positive outlook on life. It was lovely to hear the Year 6 children talking about the particular traits they admired in each other, covering a wide range of points such as helpfulness, confident decision-making, making friends laugh, modesty and empathy. All the children and parents also had their turn. The children then spoke about the fact that we will all have sadness and misfortune in our lives and that we need to ensure that we don't get into a downward cycle because of it. One strategy that the children are practising is that of using the word However. An example of this is: "I was upset when I broke my favourite pencil case HOWEVER at least I can now use the back of it as a ruler." The assembly concluded with some information about Mindfulness, pointing out that it is a great way to relieve stress and help us to relax. Everyone then practised some Mindfulness exercises: Breath exercise, Shark Fin exercise and Squishy Face exercise. Remember to "Stop every once in a while to count all the blessings in your life."
PE
In P.E the children have been working indoors on finding strategies to solve a series of problems.
Dunkirk
Listen to the poem written by children in Year 6 about the experiences of soldiers who were evacuated from Dunkirk. The children had studied the topic in great detail with Miss Fletcher and wrote sections of a poem to recount the events of 1940. The children showed great empathy and discussed how people must have felt at that time. We recorded the poem and gave it a vintage style to suit.
https://soundcloud.com/avalon-avalon/dunkirk
P.E.
In P.E., Year 5 and 6 have been exploring Balance with fabulous results so far. After experimenting with balances on both large and small parts of the body, we then combined them, focusing on achieving different levels and shapes. The children worked with a partner, copying their balances before moving into group work. The challenge given was to perform a group balance routine, travelling imaginatively into the balance and with each child balancing on a different base. Each group had apparatus to assist them in showing different levels and body shapes. The routines were all well-planned, playing on the strengths of each group member and the feedback from the audience was both useful and positive.
French
Mindfulness Club
In the last Year 5 and 6 Mindfulness session of the term, the children made Rudolf, Santa or Snowmen 'Pom pom pals.' The children really enjoyed focusing their minds on the creative activity whilst also listening to some soothing Christmas music.
Year 5/6 Inter-House Netball
Recently, all the Year 5 and 6 children, girls and boys alike, took part in an Inter-House Netball Tournament. The standard of play was excellent and the games were very competitive, with many outstanding individual and team performances. The children organized themselves fairly so that they had equal playing time and there was a fair mix of girls and boys playing at all times. After six matches, the tournament was won by St. George's team.
Bikeability
In November, we arranged a Bikeability course for the children in Year 6. Cycle training is hugely beneficial for children. It introduces a healthy and environmentally friendly way to travel, and makes them much safer whilst riding their bikes. In fact, when asked by Ipsos MORI, 92% of parents said they saw a significant increase in their child’s safety cycling on the road after taking part in a Bikeability training course.
Bikeability is a cycle training programme that teaches children practical skills and gives them the understanding and expertise they need to ride their bikes on the road
The Level 1 programme is the most basic stage of Bikeability. It took place on the playground and children taught to control and master their bikes away from traffic. Children learnt to:
- Prepare themselves and their bike for cycling.
- Get on and off their bike without help.
- Start, pedal and stop with control.
- Use gears and avoid obstacles.
- Look all around and behind, staying in control of their bike.
- Share space with pedestrians and other cyclists.
‘Level 2 is designed to give children the skills and confidence they need to ride on local roads, of the type that are often found around schools. We were taught to deal with traffic on short journeys and
- Prepare for on-road cycling.
- Start and finish an on-road journey.
- Recognise typical hazards.
- Let others know what we are about to do, e.g. through hand signals.
- Know where to position ourselves on the road.
- Pass parked vehicles and side roads.
Football tournament
The Year 5 and 6 children have been enjoying football recently. Firstly, to finish off our P.E. topic on football skills, we had an inter-house football tournament in which all children took part. One group of matches were played on the playground whilst the other was played on the field. All the children were able to show how skills learned in lessons could be applied to a competitive match situation. The results of each group were then added up to get an overall winner: St. Patrick's.
Then, on Monday after school, two teams of players had a mini indoor tournament against Prenton Prep school at the Leasowe Leisure Centre. All the matches were fast, close and competitive but our two teams managed to gain first and second places. As well as demonstrating great skill and commitment, the children showed respect towards each other, their opponents and the referee.
Visit to Old Garden Residential Home
On Thursday, Year 6 had the wonderful experience of visiting The Old Garden residential home in Hoylake. We were transported from school in The Old Garden's minibus and, on arrival, were given a guided tour of the state-of-the-art nursing home. The first part of our visit was to share some songs and poems from our topic on World War Two, with the residents. Accompanied by Mrs. Keenan on her keyboard, the children sang The White Cliffs of Dover and We'll Meet Again; they sang beautifully and it was lovely for us all to see how moving and uplifting the singing was for our audience, many of whom joined in. Next, as a class, the children confidently and movingly recited a poem called The Evacuee by Arthur King, followed by group recitals of In Flanders Fields by John McCrae and Why Are They Selling Poppies Mummy.
After a much appreciated break of juice and a delicious selection of biscuits, the children paired up with residents to sat chat with them. It was a delight for all the Avalon and Old Garden staff present, to see the animation of all in the room and to witness the empathy of the children who adapted so comfortably and confidently to their new friendships. Year 6 learned much from the residents about the War and enjoyed sharing stories with them. We were immensely proud of the maturity, good manners and perfect behaviour of all our pupils. What an invaluable learning experience the morning was for all involved.
Netball Match
On Tuesday the Year 6 girls had a friendly netball match against Prenton Prep at Bidston Tennis centre. This was a great opportunity for the girls to play together as a team and to try out different positions within the team. They played against the 1st and 2nd team for Prenton and the score was 12-2 at the end. We hope to meet up again after Christmas for another game.
Mindfulness Club
In Mindfulness this week Year 5 and 6 have been learning some new breathing exercises including the 'Shark Fin' and 'Breathing Colours.' They also enjoyed the 'Mindful Eat' exercise which involved enjoying the taste of chocolate and discussing how it made them feel inside. Ava from year 6 brought in a photograph to show everyone of her enjoying a 'mindful' moment just sitting on a beach late at night listening to the sound of the gentle waves.
History - WW2 Evacuation
In History, pupils have been finding out about different experiences of evacuation. They were each given a role card and went around the classroom in role whilst also finding out about other people's experience. We will be analysing the data further next lesson. We also were lucky enough to have visiting speaker (ST's Grandad) come in. He talked about his experiences of being a small boy during World War Two to the class, the pupil's asked some questions respectfully.
Trip to West Kirby Library
Year 6 had a lovely, informative and relaxing afternoon on Tuesday. We chatted our way along the Wirral Way, surrounded by trees showing signs of autumn. On arrival at the West Kirby Library, we were met by the Strategic Librarian, who showed us replicas of items from World War 2; we were able to talk about and examine them. Those of us who had our library cards with us, were able to choose a book to take home and we all enjoyed looking around the library at the tremendous range of books available. Of course, we couldn't resist reading too.
Prefects for the Autumn Term
| Responsibility | Prefect |
|---|---|
| Library | Grace, Isabella, Sophie & Evie |
| Break Time Drinks Trolley | Sophie & Evie |
| PE Equipment | Lucy & Libby |
| Recycling | Oscar, Jason & Elias |
| Reception Class | Ava & Leela |
| Year 1 Class | Joseph & Sebastian |
| Year 2 Class | Pascal & Patrick |
| Junior Registers | Jessica |
| Games Box Equipment | Lucy & Libby |
House Captains for the Autumn Term
| House | Captains |
|---|---|
| St Andrew | Jason & Isabella |
| St David | Will & Grace |
| St George | Alex & Jessica |
| St Patrick | Leela & Pascal |
Mindfulness Club
Year 5 and 6 have enjoyed their first weeks of Mindfulness Club. They have been learning some relaxation techniques and how mindfulness can help us all to get rid of stress and tension. They have been involved in activities such as colouring, reading, making posies using lavender and eucalyptus, playing with scented play dough whilst listening to relaxing music in the background. Just what the doctor ordered after a busy week!
French - Daily Routine
In French we have been learning our daily routine. The children have enjoyed playing games and working on Linguascope to reinforce the vocabulary.
History - World War 2
In History, pupils have started to learn about World War Two and have been sharing experiences such as their relatives medals and experiences. It is lovely to see the children so engaged in their learning and relating it to their own family History!
