'St. Joseph was just a man, a tireless worker, the upright guardian of those entrusted to his care. May he always guard, protect and enlighten families. - St. John Paul II

Pope Francis announced the beginning of the Year of St. Joseph on 8th December 2020, which will run until 8th December 2021 . Today is also the Feast of St. Joseph, and in our RE lesson this week, we made special prayer cards, with the prayer for the year of St. Joseph on the back. We said this prayer together, today, during our worship, and the class used their own prayer cards to recite this special prayer. We will says this special prayer together every week.

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Here’s what else we have been up to this week….

In Maths, we have been revisiting a few concepts that we found tricky from our home learning. We have looked at miles/kilometers, co-ordinates, rounding any number and finding the area of triangles. We have also continued with our daily arithmetic, and I can see huge improvements from everyone in class, with their Fluent in 5!

In English, we have been doing our guided write. We planned a new version of The Wizard of Oz together, using the original book as our planning template. We have been writing our story together and the children have then been innovating the shared write to create their own version. This is all in preparation for the independent write they will be doing in in a week or so.

In Science, we looked over the answers to our ‘Evolution and Inheritance’ topic test. This was a great way for up to plug any gaps-although there were surprisingly little gaps, as they did so well on this test!

In Tuesday’s PE lesson we did the Daily mile again. Before the lesson we looked at techniques for long distance running, and I noticed a huge difference in their running, compared to last week! In Thursday’s lesson, we continued with our gymnastic sequences. This week they had to include a turn, jump, roll and balance in their sequence, which they then performed to half of the group.

Three Good Things-PSHE

In PSHE, we started to fill in our ‘Three Good Things’ diary. This is a diary, where each day we write down three good things that have happened to us, and that we are grateful for. It is said that those who are grateful tend to be happier and healthier and being grateful can even help cope with stress! Every day this week, we have had our diaries out during our ‘Express yourself’ time to share our good things with others!

AWARD WINNERS

This week’s Golden Award went to Reuben for being such a kind and considerate member of the class.

This week’s Writing Award went to Grace B for her great choices of language in her innovated writing.

The Maths Award went to Ryan for his valued contributions during our Maths discussions.

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Claire, who earned her GOLD! medal in her flute. Not only did she pass, she scored a perfect 100 score! We are all so proud of her!

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray

Welcome Back!

Well, it has been so lovely to have the whole class back together this week! They have all been so wonderful and worked so hard, and I am so impressed with how well they have managed to pick up where they left off! Well done, Year 6, you have made me incredibly proud!

This week’s learning….

In Maths, we have had a huge arithmetic focus. After completing our ‘Fluent in 5’ each day, we have then been working our way through andy arithmetic questions we found tricky from our lockdown work. We would then do one together, do one with our partner and then have a go independently. This has really worked, and has boosted their confidence with those concepts they felt unsure about over the past few months. Next week, our focus will be on reasoning, and recapping any of those really tricky White Rose questions!

In English, we have been innovating sentences from The Wizard of Oz. We took the extract from the book where Dorothy meets Scarecrow and they have had to innovate each sentence, to re-write the sentence in their own words. They have done such an amazing job with this, which has prepared us for our scaffolded write next week. In preparation for our scaffolded write, we have also planned our new version of The Wizard of Oz together.

In Science, the class did a post ‘Topic Test’ on Evolution and Inheritance, the unit they covered during lockdown. I am so impressed with their scores and it reflects just how hard they worked during lockdown too! The test was more for me to see what gaps there may be in their learning, but it appears as though there are only a few gaps, overall!

In PSHE, we have introduced an ‘express yourself’ time at the end of each day. After our lesson on Monday, where we were reflecting on the roller-coaster of emotions we have experienced this past year, the class thought it would be a great idea to make this a regular thing. It was so heart-warming to hear the class being so open and honest about how they have felt, and sharing the highs and lows of this past year-this is why we are going to keep these conversations going!

AWARD WINNERS

This week’s Golden Award went to Hollie for working incredibly hard this first week back!

The Writing Award went to Abigail for her superb choices of language, when innovating sentences.

The Maths Award went to Reece for making great progress with his arithmetic this week. His hard work during lockdown is certainly paying off!

BOOKMARK COMPETITION WINNER!

The Year 6 winner for the bookmark competition was Grace K. All winners from each class were then passed on to Miss Haggerty, who decided an overall KS1 and KS2 winner. She struggled so much to decide that she passed the responsibility on to Fr Jim….and Grace won!!! Congratulations Grace, your bookmark will be printed and ALL of KS2 will be given one! Here’s Grace’s winning entry…

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Take care & Stay Safe,

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray x

'I find joy in every day. Not because life is always good, but because God is.'

Thank you!

Well, I have to begin by saying a huge THANK YOU to all parents/carers and children for your support and hard-work over these past couple of months! Coming into school on that Monday, all the way back in January, only to be told school would be closed the day after, was a huge shock for us all, and something we had to adjust to really quickly. And that you did! You all adjusted to the home learning process so well, with your living rooms becoming your classrooms, and your gardens your playgrounds, yet again! I am so incredibly proud of all of the work you have completed these past months, and I hope you are all as excited as I am to be returning to school on Monday. Some of you may be feeling a mixture of emotions about our return, including nervousness. Don’t worry, this is natural! When you have become so used to learning from home, returning to school, after two months, can be like experiencing your first day all over again. I will make sure you all feel back at home on our first day back, and will hopefully settle those nerves within minutes! I think after our first day, it will feel like you have never been away!

Return to School

ALL children will be welcomed back to school on Monday 8th March. Drop off and pick up times will be the same as before for all of Year 6. 8.40am drop off at Thornhill Close gates, and 3.15pm pick up from the same place. On Fridays, pickup will still be at 1.05pm for all of the class. Our PE days will still be Tuesdays and Thursdays. Miss Haggerty has put a detailed blog up on the News page, with more in-depth information about our return to school and the safety measures that will be in place-it is important that you read this before the children’s return. Click here to read this.

Bedrock Competition!

I have copied this information from the Bedrock website….

With the second half of the spring half term split across remote and classroom learning, it’s vital that students continue to learn consistently on Bedrock.

To reward students’ hard work learning important academic vocabulary on Bedrock, we’re giving two lucky students the chance to win a Chromebook laptop, and 50 students will win £10 Amazon vouchers!

Our 52 winners will be chosen at random from all students who earn 120 or more Bedrock Points this half term.

Students don’t need to take any action to be entered – we’ll automatically identify those who have earned 120 points in the time frame. Winners will be contacted via their teacher.

World Book Day

Here are some pictures of your amazing costumes from World Book Day, and some great pictures of you reading in unusual places! I hope you all enjoyed the activities from this day, and remember to send me your Bookmark competition entries by Monday!

Unusual reading spots…..

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and I look forward to seeing all of your faces again on Monday!

Take care and stay safe,

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray x

'Hope is the light at the end of the tunnel, guiding the way.'

Our Lenten Journey

With the long-awaited announcement on Monday, I felt the quote above summed up the feelings of many this week. There truly is light at the end of what has felt like, at times, an extremely long tunnel! When you pair this up with this week being the first full week of Lent, a special time of reflection and preparation, it really has given us time to reflect on this past year, and look forward to our bright future. By observing the 40 days of Lent, we replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. It is a time to refocus on Jesus as we look ahead to his death on the cross and rejoice over his miraculous return. It is a time for reflecting on what we could do differently or maybe what we could do more of or less of during this time. When we return to the classroom we can display our personal Lenten promises, in our worship area and think of a class Lenten challenge for all of us to share.

Hope….

HOPE! This is what has kept us all going-hope that we will all be together in the classroom again, hope that a vaccine is rolled out, hope that we will soon get to hug our loved ones again, hope that we will one day be able to resume to some form of ‘normality’ again. We have had to put so much trust, hope and faith in God this past year, and it now looks as though the end is in sight. Although we are by no means there yet, and we still have necessary restrictions in place, it certainly felt as through there was a shift this week, in the right direction. And of course, this all begins with schools reopening on 8th March. I cannot wait to have my class back together again, as I have missed you all dearly! It is also important, however, that we keep our school safe which is why all safety measures will still be strictly in place, on the children’s return. So rest assured, the school environment will continue to be a safe place, with rigorous hand washing, mask-wearing, bubbled year groups and staggered start/end times. I will put more information on next week’s blog about the children’s first day back. Miss Haggerty has put more information about our return to school on the News page too.

WORLD BOOK DAY!

Next Thursday, 4th March, is World Book Day! No lockdown is going to stop us from celebrating this special day! I have put all details of home learning activities for you to complete, next Thursday, on the Home Learning page. We have invited all children in school to come in dressed as their favourite book character, so please do join in the fun from home! I would love to see pictures of what you have dressed up as, to add to next week’s blog!

Work from this week….

Here’s some of the from our R & J lesson- ‘conscious thought bubbles’. You did so well at inferring how the different characters may have been feeling, knowing they may have played a role in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

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Thank you

Thank you once again for the great work you have been sending in this week. The standard of your work continues to impress me. With just one week on remote learning left, please do make sure you maintain this high standard next week!

Have a lovely weekend-take care and stay safe!

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray

'Whatever struggle you are facing, God has already equipped you to overcome it.'

Thank you!

Well, we have made it through our first half term of remote learning! Well done! I think it is fair to say we have all faced our challenges and set-backs, but what shines through it all is the strength and sheer determination from you all. I cannot thank my parents enough for the support you have given me over the past 6 weeks, sending me your child’s work and giving them the support and encouragement they have needed to make it through these past weeks. I am so proud of all that my class have achieved academically, emotionally and mentally over this half term-you are all super stars! I am not setting any work over this half term as you all (parents included!!) need a well-deserved break. I have, however, put a few optional activities below, linked with Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of our Lenten journey. I will put the home learning for the week we come back, on the Home Learning Page, next Friday, so you have everything ready for Monday 22nd.

Ash Wednesday 17th February 2021-The Beginning of our Lenten Journey

Next Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a very special time of reflection, leading up to the death and resurrection of Christ. As we are on half term next week, I have just attached a few activities that you may wish to do to mark the beginning of this special period of time. If we were in school, we would be writing our Lenten Promises on this day, so I have also attached the template for this and it would be lovely if you do manage to still write yours. Our promise is a time to reflect on what we could do differently or maybe more of/less of during this time. Perhaps we could be more compassionate towards others, or take more time out for peaceful prayer? Or maybe you feel you need to be more forgiving to others, just as Jesus was. Have a careful think about what your promise could be.

Why is Lent a time to change?- Activity Sheet

Why did Jesus spend 40 days in the Desert?- Activity Sheet

Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?-Activity Sheet

My Lenten Promise-Candle Template

Some work from this week……

Below are some of the amazing pieces of work from our Romeo & Juliet lesson, advertising your own special potion that could have been used on one of the characters from the play.

World Book Day 4th March-Date for the Diary

Thursday 4th March is World Book Day. Obviously this will be different than other years with school being closed to some children but we will be organising an activity for this day. There will hopefully be a story reading by class teachers as well as a competition. Whether at home or at school, it would also be lovely for the children to dress as a book character (however if in school, please limit to a simple costume with as few ‘loose’ items as possible).

Feedback for this week’s work

Please can I ask that any outstanding work from this week is sent to me by 1.30pm today, so I can ensure feedback is given before the end of the school day. From the end of the school day today, I will not be accessing my emails, as I hope you will appreciate that next week is also a time for teachers to have rest too ( I cannot wait to read the pile of books I have waiting for me! ) I will be accessing my emails again on Monday 22nd February. Thank you for your support and understanding with this.

I hope you all have a wonderful week off, and manage to make the most of your family-time, despite the restrictions in place.

Take care,

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray x

'A child's mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same quality of support.' - Kate Middleton

Children’s Mental Health Week

As we have marked Children’s Mental Health Week, this week, I found the quote above to perfectly sum up my sentiment on this matter. I think that now, more than ever, mental health is so important for us all. I know this is not an easy time for any of us, and our emotions are, for use of a better phrase, ‘all over the place’. Your children make me so proud with how resilient they have been over these past 6 weeks, but I know this cannot have been an easy time for them. The theme for Mental Health Week was express yourself, and I hope you managed to access some of the resources I posted on the blog last week or even just had a discussion about mental health with your child. Talking about your emotions and feelings with others can be a great way for children to express themselves, but I am also aware that, for some children, this is not the easiest thing to do. So being able to express themselves in other ways, whether it be through music, art, dance, writing etc, can be an alternative outlet for them to express their feelings and emotions!

Safer Internet Day

Next Tuesday marks Safer Internet Day-another very relevant and important topic at the moment. On Tuesday, there is an audio lesson and activities for the children to complete on this year’s theme, ‘An internet we can trust.’

Some work from this week…

Letters from Juliet to Romeo:

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One week to go….

With just one week to go of remote learning, before a well-earned break, I must commend my class once again for their sheer determination and perseverance over these weeks. As hard as it has been, trying to teach you and give you feedback remotely, I have sought so much comfort in the knowledge that you are all trying your hardest…what more can I ask for?! Thank you.

Please see the Home Learning page for details of our Google Meet ‘catch up’, next Friday 12th.

I hope you all have a restful weekend, and I look forward to seeing more of your work from our last week of remote learning, before we break up.

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray

'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.' John 8:12

Candlemas

On Tuesday, February 2nd, the Church marks the feast of Candlemas, or the Presentation of the Lord. This marks 40 days since Christmas and the end of the Christmas period in the Church. The Gospel of Luke says that Jesus was met in the temple by Anna and Simeon where Simeon held the baby Jesus and called him a Light to the World.

The festival is called Candlemas because this was the day that all the Church's candles for the year were blessed. On Candlemas night, people often placed lit candles in their windows at home - I thought this was something that we could all do this year to welcome the Light of the Lord into our homes. Let’s Shine Our Lights for Jesus! Below are some templates that the children can have a go, should they wish to. On the candle template they could write down the ways in which they will shine their light for Jesus.

Make a paper lantern Design a candle Candlemas word search Candlemas colouring

Children’s Mental Health Week

Next week marks the beginning of Children’s Mental Health Week and the theme is Express Yourself. There has never been a more important time to focus on supporting the mental wellness of our children. On this website are links to assemblies and resources which can be completed and looked at at home to support resilience and mental health discussions. Please take a look.

I have also attached the assembly and some resources, below:

Assembly Assembly Guide Suggested Primary Activities

Click here to view an ‘Our Healthy Year’ calendar for KS2. This is aimed to support healthier habits, which you may find useful to follow at home with your child.

Most recent school update

Please click here to access the general ‘News’ page for parents. Miss Haggerty has posted an update, which includes information on the Lateral Flow Covid testing that is now happening in school, as well as some really important (and extremely relevant!) information on Online Safety. Please do take time to read this post in detail.

This week’s work….

I have to say another huge thank you for all of the work I received last week. I am so impressed with the standard, which has remained so high since week 1. It is so pleasing to see that as the weeks go on, you are not letting those standards slip, and continue to work so hard! I did send an email out yesterday just with a short audio video of me talking you through the website and how to access all of the resources. Just in case you wanted to view it and haven’t yet got round to doing so, click here to watch this video.

Below I have chose to share some pictures of the ‘Wanted’ posters and poems that you did in your Romeo & Juliet lessons, this week…

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MISS BENSON’S MUSIC STARS OF THE WEEK!

Now Miss Benson has found it really difficult to pick her stars of the week, as she said Year 6 are so good at completing the tasks she has set and that you are all stars! She has, however, come up with a few names that stood out; Abigail, Gabriella, Hollie, Leo, Mya and Tia. Well done to you all!

Well done!

Year 6, I am so incredibly proud of you all. Mrs Murray and I miss you all so much and we are counting down the days until we are back together in the classroom again. I am hoping this will be in the not too far distant future, but until then keep up the amazing work and know that I am still here for you should you need any help or advice. You can always email me on year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will reply as soon as I can.

Be safe and look after yourselves!

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray x

'I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.' Philippians 4:13

Well as another week passes us by, you continue to impress me with the standard of the work you have been sending. You will have noticed that the quotes I have focused on this week are all about strength. It is during difficult times like these that our physical and spiritual strength is tested. I admire each and every one of my class, and parents, for showing such strength these past few weeks. I cannot thank you enough for your ongoing support and resilience-never have we needed to use our Growth Mindset more than now!

HOME LEARNING will be posted on the Home Learning section of the website by lunchtime on a Friday so that it is ready for the week ahead. It is now a government expectation that work is sent into teachers - please send any outstanding work to me by 1.30pm on a Friday. I will need to follow up on any children I do not hear from - so please do what you can to keep regular contact with me. Thank you so much for all the work you are sending, I know how difficult this is whilst also trying to do your own jobs too - it’s really appreciated!

As much as I would love to share ALL of the work you did last week, I have chosen to share some of the amazing diary entries from our Romeo & Juliet lessons and the ‘Online Safety’ posters you created. Never has this been more relevant than now, when we are all having to spend a lot more time online! (Click on the image to see it in full)

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To access this week’s home learning please click here.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Stay safe and be good!

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray

Thank you!

I must begin by expressing my gratitude to my class and parents, alike. Your support is truly appreciated, and I am so pleased to see that you have all established new routines, and have adjusted to your new ‘classrooms’. I have been so impressed with the work I have been sent this week and the work produced by those in school. I have shared some of the Romeo & Juliet work at the bottom of this page. I am hoping we have all now mastered angles on a straight line and around a point, as next week our focus is angles in triangles! I hope you have found the audio lessons useful as well, I will continue to provide these for all Romeo & Juliet lessons and most of the foundation subject lessons too.

From now on, Miss Benson will be providing music tasks for the class to complete, every Friday, on YUMU. I have sent login detail, via email, to all parents with each child’s login details.

As mentioned on the Home Learning page, it is a requirement that we have regular contact with parents/children with regards to work being completed at home. I can only begin to imagine how challenging it has been for so many (if not all!) of you parents trying establish your own routines, now you have your child(ren) learning from home. With this in mind, I am very flexible in terms of when their work is sent. It is, however, important that I have communication with you at least weekly. As always, thank you for your support with this.

Please click here to access the Home Learning page, which has been updated with next week’s learning.

Here are some pictures of the ‘S’ plans from R & J lesson 1 (click on the image to see in full)….

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Here are some of the Act 1 Scene 1 Pieces of Writing (Click on the image to see it in full!)..

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Year 6, you are making me incredibly proud. Every piece of work I receive or ‘catch up’ email I get from your parents/carers, brings a huge smile to my face. Hopefully it will not be too much longer before I have you all back in the classroom, but until then keep working hard and be good for your parents….help around the house!

Have a lovely weekend….take care and be safe!

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray x

Week 1 Blended Learning

Well, I must begin by saying how incredibly proud I am of each and every one of you. From checking your online activity as well as looking at the work that has been sent to me, I can see you have all been working so hard, under these familiar yet difficult circumstances. I cannot tell you how much I am missing not having you all in the classroom with me, but it really helps to know that you are working just as hard from home-keep up the great work Year 6! At the bottom of the ‘Home learning’ blog I have put some pictures of some the amazing ‘Magical Door’ poems I was sent. Thank you, as always, to all you parents for your support and for sending me all of their work-I know this cannot be an easy time for you either!

Please follow this link to view home learning for this week https://www.ourladyassumption-sch.co.uk/yr6-home-learning.

I hope you all have a lovely week and remember to email me if you ever have any questions/queries.

Take care and stay safe!

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray x

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Merry Christmas!

Well, I can hardly believe we have come to the end of our first term in Year 6, and what a great term it has been as well.

I want to say a huge well done to all of Year 6 for working so hard these past few months-they have achieved so much! I cannot wait to see what the new year brings!

I also want to say a big thank you to all of you parents for your continued support-we share the common goal of seeing your child continue to succeed and thrive in Year 6, so your support in achieving this is hugely appreciated.

Although we could not gather in church this year, for our Carol Service, this has not stopped us for putting one together any way. Below is Year 4, 5 & 6’s service, which has been cleverly pieced together by Fr Jim! He is very talented! We hope you enjoy.

Let me end by wishing you all a Happy and Holy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

God Bless,

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray x

Another busy week!

With just one week to go before we break up, we have certainly not yet put our foot on the break! This week we have managed to cover so much and the class have been so focused (which I know can be hard with Christmas in sight!). We also had Christmas jumper day today (see pic above!) and they all looked great. Thank you for your kind donations to charity.

In Maths this week we have been learning some of the basics with algebra. I am so pleased with their response to this….they love algebra! We started by finding just one missing value, which was replaced with a letter, and then went on to finding two missing values.

In English, we have been creating some vital tool kits. We will be using these tool kits when we do our guided class write and our independent writes (after Christmas). One of the toolkits was for classic fiction openings and one was for the introduction of new characters. These toolkits are our ready made success criteria!

In Science, we have continued with our classification keys and we have now got our heads around how to create a successful one. We tested them out on each other to check we had done them correctly. We have also continued with our observations for our mould investigation. Next week we will be writing up our findings.

In RE, we continued our work on Jesus, The Bread of Life. We have reflected on ways that our relationship with Jesus can help to nourish our souls, and help us is His mission to spread the Good News.

AWARD WINNERS:

This week the Golden Award went to Tom for having such beautiful manners-he is such a polite young man!

The Writing Award went to Theo for trying so hard with his written work, and helping those around him.

The Maths Award went to Naomi for her great work on algebra.

I hope you all have a lovely week. I look forward to our last week together before we break for Christmas. We have so much to fit in next week!

Take care,

Miss Slater

'May this season remind you of the hope, joy, love and peace found in Christ.' - Romans 15:13

And as another week passes us by, we are a week close to Christmas! I can hardly believe that in two weeks time, we will have finished our first full term in school. The class have been working incredibly hard, and I have been so impressed with the outcomes of this! Considering they had 6 months of home learning prior to entering Year 6, I am extra proud of all they have achieved!

We have continued to reflect on each day of Advent this week. It has been lovely to end each day with our shared worship, where we have watched a short reflection from Fr. Jim, and then opened our Advent calendar and read a short passage from scripture. Each day I have picked two children to lead the worship and they have then picked a treat from our Christmas tree…I have assured the class that they will all get a turn to lead! This Sunday marks the 2nd Sunday of Advent, and I am so pleased that under new restrictions, churches are now open for us to go and worship, with our household.

Let’s have a look at this week’s learning….

In Maths, we have been looking at the area and perimeter of squares and rectangles. We have learning some formulas to work out area (length x width) and we know to find the perimeter of a square we just times one length by four! For rectangles, we can add together one shorter and longer side and just double this. Once we were confident with this, we then began to find area and perimeter of compound shapes…I was very impressed with their work on this! We also had a practice arithmetic paper this week, and I was so impressed with how hard everyone tried on this!

In English, we have been writing formal letters to the Wizard of Oz, in the role of Scarecrow. We have had to make sure we maintained a formal tone throughout the letter, paying careful attention to our language choices. In GPS, we have been looking at expanded noun phrases. We will continue to work on these as I know they can be quite tricky to master…we have had to remind ourselves of determiners, adjectives, nouns and prepositions!

In RE, we have been discussing and reflecting on Jesus, ‘The Bread of Life’. We have discussed how our bodies need physically nourishing, through food and water, and in the exact same way, our souls need spiritually nourishing, though ‘The Bread of Life’-Jesus. Jesus nourishes our souls to help our inners selves to grow stronger and more full of love, compassion, humility, peace and mercy. It is with this spiritual nourishment that we are then more prepared and equipped to fulfill Christ’s mission to spread the Good News.

In Science, we have been using classification keys to sort animals into their groups. They are not the easiest things to get your head around, and we will continue with our work on these next week. We have also continued to observe our mould investigation. Some of the pieces of bread have a considerable amount of mould on them, while others still had none! Next week. we will be writing a scientific explanation of why this is.

In PE, we have been playing team games of handball. We have put all of the rules and skills, that we have been learning and developing over the past few weeks, into practice. They were great at this and George was very impressed as well!

In History/Art, we have painted our Spitfires, and they look great!! We are hoping to display them at the front of school, so other classes can see them when they pass. Here are some pictures….

AWARD WINNERS:

The Golden Award went to Claire for working so incredibly hard!

The Writing Award went to Joseph for her superb choices of formal language, in his letter.

The Maths award went to Analiese for really shining in her Maths….she went on to score an impressive 40/40 on her arithmetic test too!

REMINDER: Next Friday (11th December) is Christmas Jumper Day. The children can come into school wearing a Chirstmassy jumper, in place of their school jumper. They should be wearing their usual school uniform, other than the jumper.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray

'We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.' - Alan Turing

I am very fond of my quotes at the moment (as you may be able to tell!), and I love to find ones that are relevant to what/who we have been learning about, as well as seeking meaning and relevance in them. The past few weeks, we have been looking at Bletchley Park, linking with the Computing and History curriculum. This week, the class have been finishing off their presentations, and a few pairs have had the chance to present theirs to the class (see pictures below). One of the key figures in helping to crack the Enigma Machine, at Bletchley park, was, of course, Alan Turning. His quote above really struck a chord with me this week, as it made me think about how much we have to fit in before Christmas, in school. But, as well as this, it made me think about our current situation, in these unprecedented circumstances. At the moment, we can only see a short distance ahead, and have to take things one day at a time, until we can eventually reach some form of normality again-things are certainly starting to look much more hopeful and I think we are all beginning to see that light at the end of the tunnel. And on that note I have to say I am so incredibly proud of your amazing children and how resilient that have been during these unusual times.

Here’s what else we’ve been up to….

In Maths, we have been multiplying and dividing fractions by integers. I have been so pleased with how quickly the class has mastered these concepts!

In English, we have finished our cyclone poems from last week. I was SO impressed with the quality of their descriptive poems, and the class were so impressed with their own work that they wanted to photocopy them to share them with you at home-I hope you were just as impressed as I was! We have now moved on to looking at the scene where Dorothy first meets the scarecrow. Next week, we will be doing another piece of writing-a formal letter from the Scarecrow to Oz.

In RE, we have been focusing of what Advent it, and how we can prepare during this special time. As Advent start next week, we have already written our Advent Promises, which we are going to do our utmost to fulfill!

In Science, we have been observing any changes from our mould investigation. We checked on the bread on Monday and again today-we can confirm that mould has started to grow on some of the pieces of bread!

In History, we have been reading up on historic landmarks in Blackpool. This week, we have identified several pillboxes, that are still standing in Blackpool, and marked them on a map. We have also spent this morning using clay to create models of the Spitfire. They look great! Next week, we will be painting them!

AWARD WINNERS:

This week’s Golden Award went to Analiese for being such a polite and caring member of the class.

The Writing Award went to the whole of Year 6. The standard of their poems this week, made it too difficult for me to choose just one winner!

The Maths Award went to Charlie for trying really hard with his fraction work!

Notices:

• Christmas Jumper Day is on the 11th December.

• Thank you for supporting Silly Sock Day, the children looked great!

• Please do not send your child in with individual Christmas cards this year for their friends due to the current situation with Covid. Instead, why not send your child in with one card for the whole class?

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I can hardly believe that next week marks the beginning of Advent…Christmas will be upon us before we know it!

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray

'It is not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts.'- Mother Teresa

The quote above is really poignant and it was quoted by a lady we have been studying in our RE lessons-Mother Teresa. We have been looking at her life in detail, and discussing the ways that she fulfilled the words of the scripture through her actions and because of her beliefs. Not only was Mother Teresa eloquent and truthful (our Jesuit profile values for this half term), she was extremely humble. We have been discussing ways that we can learn from Mother Teresa’s humility, and this quote sums it up. It is not about measuring how much we do, but putting love into those things we do do, no matter how small these deeds may be.

Here is what we have been up to in our other subjects this week….

In Maths, we have been finding fractions and percentages of amounts. This class LOVE percentages! They cheered when I announced our objective was on percentages, and I know why they love them so much-they are really good at them! Once they knew how to find 1%, 10%, 25%, 50% and 25%, the rest came naturally!

In English, we have continued with our Classic Fiction unit. This week we have been discussing cinematic choices for sounds, from the opening clip of The Wizard of Oz, and then we have used this video of the cyclone to start collecting appropriate vocabulary to describe the cyclone. With the help of our Discriptosaurus (my favourite book ever!!) , we have collect our favourite words, phrases and sentences. We are now writing a descriptive poem about the Cyclone, in free verse. For added effect, we are writing in first person-personifying the cyclone! I have been blown away with the drafts of their poems so far!!

In Science, we have explored and categorised different microorganisms, and yesterday we planned and set up an investigation on mould (which is a type of fungus). We have 4 slices of bread in school, kept in different temperatures-one in the fridge, one in the freezer, one in the boiler room and one in the class room. We are going to observe changes over the next couple of week, to see how temperature affects the rate of mould growth.

In History, we have been looking at what primary and secondary sources of information are. We then had a think about which sources of information are more reliable.

AWARD WINNERS:

This weeks Golden Award went to Liliana for her hard work and superb focus this week.

The Maths award went to Samuel for his fantastic work on percentages!

The Writing Award went to Audrey for powerful use of vocabulary in her poetry.

Notice:

In line with the Covid-19 health and safety guidance in school, we are required to keep windows open in the classroom, to ensure the room is ventilated. As the weather is getting colder, this does result in the classroom being colder than usual. With this in mind, I have mentioned to the class, on Miss Haggerty’s authority, that they may wear an extra layer of clothing (like a T shirt) under their white polo shirts, as extra insulation. Can I also advise that boys wear full length trousers and girls wear tights, when possible. Thank you.

Coming up…

• Next Friday (27th November) is Silly Sock day. Children will need to bring £1 donation for the PTFA

• Christmas jumper day 11 the December. More details to follow.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray

'At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them.'- Laurence Binyon

This Wednesday was Remembrance Day, a day when we mark the end of World War 1, and remember all of those who have fought it wars, past and present. We had a beautiful reflection and 2 minutes silence in class, and then made our own poppies, one for display and one to wear….

Here’s what else we have been up to this week…

In Maths, our focus has been division. We have looked at mental methods for division, short division and long division. We have also been solving division word problems!

In English, we have started to look at our focus text for our Classic Fiction unit: The Wizard of Oz. We have explored some new and archaic language, from the opening paragraph of the text, and we have also completed a close-read of this paragraph. The class have done a great job at exploring what the text tells us and what it shows us. In GPS, we have been looking at different word classes.

In Science, we have started our new topic ‘Classifying Living Things’. This week. we have been making links between key scientific vocabulary, related to this topic, to see what we already know.

In History, we have continued with our work on The Blitz. We have use evidence for and against the idea that there was a ‘Blitz Spirit’, and explained our points in more depth.

In PE, we have continued to develop our teamwork and communications skills by playing mini games of hand ball. We have had to follow certain rules and use new skills.

AWARD WINNERS:

This week’s Golden Award went to Abigail for working so hard this week, and remaining so focused.

The Writing Award went to Gabriella for her well-balanced discussion text.

The Maths award went to Reuben for his great work on division.

NOTICES:

• Friday Finishing Time

  A text was sent in error, with regards to school finishing at 1:15pm on a Friday. For Year 6, school finishes at the usual time of 1.05pm on a Friday.

• Online Safety

  It has come to my attention that there are more and more children in the class that are using online apps, messaging services and gaming. Through our computing lessons on E-Safety, we discuss how important it is to be safe when we are online and to be respectful to others. I would really appreciate it, if you could reinforce this message at home. I know many of you parents will be monitoring your child’s online activity and any messages they are sending, but I will just put a link to a useful website for parents/carers, with handy tips and ways that you can set up parental controls:

  https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers

  Thank you for your support with this.

• Home Learning for those isolating

  You may have noticed that there is a new tab on the drop-down options of the Year 6 area, on the website, called ‘Year 6 Home Learning’. From now on, I will be putting any timetables/resources, for those who are having to isolate, on this area of the website. I will only update this if I have children in the class who are having to isolate, and not necessarily on a weekly basis.

You are doing so well Year 6-thank you for all your hard work. Have a lovely weekend and take care.

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray

Welcome back.....Autumn 2

I hope you all managed to have a good break- it was much deserved! Year 6 have come back this week eager to learn, and we have manage to cover so much!

In Maths, we have been adding and subtracting fractions, including mixed numbers. Although this has not been the easiest concept, especially when the denominators are different, the class have worked so hard on it and I know many of the class are on the road to mastering fractions! We will not be defeated by them! I have attached links to a couple of videos, on adding and subtracting fractions, on the homework page, as this is the focus of the IXL units this week. The videos are great revision for them!

In English, we have been mastering the active and passive voice. Again, this is not the easiest of things, but I think we have just about got our head around it. Remember, if the subject is doing the verb to the object, and in that order, the sentence is in the ACTIVE voice. If the object is having the verb done to it, by the subject, it is in the PASSIVE voice. The English homework, on Education City, will help to revise this.

In English, we have also had an introductory lesson on our new unit, Classic Fiction. We have discussed what we think classic fiction is, and we have had an open debate, and written a discussion text, based on the question ‘Can modern literature be classified as Classic Fiction?’

In RE, as we celebrated the feast of All Saints this week, we thought it would be fitting to look at the life of one particular saint: Mother Teresa. We have been highlighting verses from scripture, and explaining what we think Jesus’ message was from these words, and next week we will be looking in more detail at Mother Teresa’s life, and how she fulfilled the words from the scripture.

In History, we are focusing on The Blitz. We have learnt about what the Blitz was, and now we are using evidence to support ideas for/against the idea that there was a ‘Blitz Spirit’.

In PE, we had our first lesson with one of the coaches from Blackpool Community trust. Our focus this half term is team games and communication skills. Our coach was very impressed with our first lesson, developing our passing and moving skills, with a view to put them into practice with a game of handball, next week.

AWARD WINNERS:

This week’s Golden Award went to Gabriella for the wonderful attitude she has towards her school life.

This week’s Writing Award went to Caitlyn for her well-written letter, in History, which effectively used many of the key vocabualry.

This week’s Maths award went to Claire because I am so impressed with her work on fractions!

Below, I am copying a guide, that Miss Haggerty has put on the news page of the website. It is a very useful guide, which details any situations where your child would need to isolate, and when they are safe to return to school:

Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox Appeal:

Our Lady’s PTA would like to support the Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox appeal again after it was such a success when our Key Stage 2 children took part last year. We would be grateful if you would read this letter which has all the details you will need to help with this event.

Even though we are even more restricted with what we can/cannot do, under the new National Lockdown, I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and manage to spend some quality time with your household.

Stay safe,

Miss Slater and Mrs Murray

Time flies when you're having fun.....

Well, I can hardly believe we are at the end of our first half term already. In the words of Theo, ‘Time does fly when you’re having fun!’ I am so proud of my Year 6 class, and how much they have achieved already. They adjusted to the new routine and systems around school so quickly, and have shown just how resilient they all are. They are such a hard-working class, who really care about their learning, and more importantly, they care so much about each other! It is a joy to watch them interact so positively with each other, during playtimes. They work so well as a team, and give each other so much encouragement-you should be very proud parents! We have really missed those who have been isolating this week, and we cannot wait to be reunited again, as a whole class!

Let’s see what we have been up to this week…..

In Maths, we have had a big focus on fractions. We have compared them, ordered them and even gone on to adding fractions together. Fractions are a tricky concept to get your head around, but everyone will have their ‘click’ moment with them at some point…some of you already have! We will continue with fractions when we return.

In English, we have been completing our Biographies. Many of us have even copied them up, and they will be going on our writing display. For those who have been isolating, you will have time to finish yours when you return-I know you have all made a great start!

In Science, we finished our work on Healthy Lifestyles, and we have been returning to our concept map, from week 1, to add on any new learning.

In History, we have been writing our letters, in the role of an RAF pilot, describing what everyday life was like for them. I am please with the letters produced in class, as well as the letters I have read from those who have been learning from home.

It was our last Sports4Champions lesson yesterday, and here are some pictures of what we did in our last lesson….

AWARD WIINNERS:

We did not do Golden Awards this week, but I did do Writing and Maths awards.

The Writing Award went to Tom for his great editing and copying up his work so neatly.

The Maths Award went to Grace B, for having her ‘click’ moment with fractions! Remember, fractions are our friend!!

NOTICES:

• Our PE days after half term will remain the same-TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS.

• Thank you to all of those who have sent me work, from the home learning their child has done. If you have not sent me any work yet or an overview of what they have done, from this week, please can you email me an update on year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk

• Yesterday, the PTFA arranged an end of half term quiz for KS1 & KS2. The class loved it, but it was such a shame that those who were isolating did not have a chance to do it themselves. I will attach the quiz, along with the answers, below, so they can have a go if they like:

  KS2 Quiz PowerPoint

  Quiz Answers

• I have not set any homework over half term-they have definitely earned a break! I would however, encourage them to keep on top of the of their reading, and of course if they would like to go on TT Rockstars or do a Bedrock lesson, they are more than welcome to!

I hope you all have a lovely week off, and manage to spend some quality time together.

Take care,

Miss Slater

Home Learning 19/10/20-22/10/20

Below I am attaching the link to this week’s home learning timetable for all of those who are having to isolate. There are links on this timetable to all websites and other resources that I would like you to use. I have attached separate links to any extra resources you will need, below:

Home Learning Timetable

White Rose Maths Worksheets (Lessons 1-4)

White Rose Maths Mark Schemes (lessons 1-4)

White Rose Maths Video Links

Spellings

History-Key Vocabulary

Lined Paper for Letter

A ‘Home Learning’ tab is being developed for each year group page on the website, but until then I will put any home learning resources on this ‘Year 6 News’ area.

Please email me on year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk with any questions and pictures of your completed work.

Take care,

Miss Slater

'In times of darkness, holding the rosary beads is like holding your Blessed Mother's hand.'

This week, during our shared worship, we have continued to pray a decade of the Rosary. The theme for this week’s Rosary was ‘Glorious Mysteries’, including The Resurrection, The Assumption and The Ascension. I find it so beautiful how reflective this class are. Each day, they are welcomed to dedicate their decade of the Rosary to their own intentions as well as praying, as a whole class, for our environment. The class really embrace their worship time, and show such respect during this time.

This week has been a jam-packed week in terms of learning as well. We have managed to get through so much, as their work ethos has been superb. I can hardly believe we are nearing the end of our first Half Term-time flies when you’re having fun! Let’s take a look at what we have been up to….

In Maths, we have had two major focuses this week: negative numbers and comparing fractions. I am so impressed at how quick the class got their head around negative numbers, particularly in the context of temperature. They know how to add and subtract a positive and negative number, and they can confidently find the difference between two temperatures. Later on in the week, we started comparing fractions, using a fraction wall and by also writing both fractions with the same denominator-we will continue this work next week.

In English, the class have now planned and have started to write their independent biography. I am so impressed with the start they have made and cannot wait to see the finished product!

In Science, we have been looking at the different aspects of our lives that can affect the way our bodies function. These include; diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle choices. They have started to make an information leaflet on how to live a healthy lifestyle-most of which is to do with balance!

In History, we have been watching video clips and taking notes, on the Battle of Britain. This is in preparation for next week’s History lesson, when we will be writing a letter, from the point of view of an RAF pilot (making sure we use historical facts and language!) The class are very excited about this.

In RE, we have been looking at different parables of Jesus’ that support the religious belief the Kingdom of God is for EVERYONE! We have also discussed our beliefs about this, drawing in on the fact that God loves us all equally and does not discriminate-all are welcome in His Kingdom!

In Sports4Champions we completed a series of athletic events, and recorded our best results. This was to replace what would usually have been the indoor Athletics event, that usually takes place at The Sports Centre-we all got to take part this year, rather than just a group of us! We will have our last Sports4Champions lesson next week (although NO after school sports club), and James will be taking in our Sports4Champions books to add up our points!

AWARD WINNERS:

This week’s Golden Award went to Mya for being such a selfless member of our class. She is a very caring and considerate young lady, whose light is always shining!

This week’s Writing Award went to Lily for her accurate and varied use of punctuation.

The Maths Award went to Grace K for the amazing progress she has made in Maths so far, in Year 6-I can only begin to imagine how far she will have come by the end of the year!

Other Notices:

• EMAIL ADDRESSES: I know I have the majority of your email addresses already, either through messages you have sent this year, or from the transition work you sent me last academic year. For those of you who have not emailed me at all, please can you send me a courtesy email, so I have an email contact for you. You child’s half term report will be sent via email, next Friday, so it is important that I have an email contact for all of you. Thank you.

• Information about High Schools:

  Applications for a high school place should be made to the Local Authority online at:

  www.blackpool.gov/schooladmissions ~ Blackpool residents

  Paper application forms and information booklets are available from schoolaccess@blackpool.gov.uk

  www.lancashire.gov.uk ~ on the home page follow the link 'Apply for a school place' ~ Lancashire residents.

  The national closing date for applications is 31 October 2020.

  St Mary's Catholic Academy Open Evening will be an online event this year. and can be viewed on their website www.st-mary.blackpool.sch.uk.

  They are also arranging private tours of the Academy ~ please call 01253 396286 to book your place.

  St Bede's Catholic High School website www.stbedeslytham.lancs.sch.uk has an important notice for parents ~ a digital welcome & introduction to St Bede's ~ and a link to Admissions 2021, that pops up when you access their website. Their downloadable Admission Form  should be completed and returned direct to St Bede's if named as one of your preferences. This is In addition to your high school online application form.

Have a lovely week and stay safe,

Miss Slater & Mrs Murray