Year 6 | West Boldon Primary School

Learning Challenge -Were the Vikings always Victorious and Vicious?’

7th January 2020R Smith

As historians we studied the Vikings, answering the question – ‘Were the Vikings always Victorious and Vicious?’ First of all, we looked at where the Vikings fit in a historical timeline, thinking about areas we have previously studied and significant periods in history. Then we used maps to locate where the Vikings were from and their pathways of invasion. We studied the longships and designed, created and evaluated our own during our DT sessions. Following this, we looked at the lives of the Vikings, studying closely their lifestyles, jobs and homes. We then wrote a diary entry imagining we were an 11-year-old Viking child. Finally we ended our topic looking at the food the Vikings ate and designed a menu. To celebrate this topic we asked the children to create their own Viking projects which we then presented to our loved ones, families and carers.

Year 6 Spring Term Focus Text

6th January 2020R Smith

For Literacy this term, Year 6 are enjoying ‘I was there…TITANIC’ by Margi McAllister.

This vivid first person novel is read through the eyes of Daisy, a steerage passenger on her way to a new life in America. On the fateful journey she befriends Jimmy, an adventurous American boy who is travelling First Class. We look forward to seeing how this unlikely friendship develops and how the fateful journey affects their lives. When disaster strikes, can Daisy, Jimmy and their families stay together and survive?

“This is the Titanic!” said Gus. “The unsinkable! Why would you want lifeboats on an unsinkable shop?”

We will be writing a range of genres around the text, including:

Descriptive setting
Character comparison
Non-chronological report
Narrative

We will also be keeping a reading journal throughout the story, furthering our questioning and inference skills.

For more information on the most famous disaster at sea, visit:

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zng8jty

For an animation about Eva Hart, Titanic: A child survivor’s story, visit:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p029z97h

Visit to St Nicholas’ Church

6th January 2020R Smith

Thursday 5th December KS2 visited St Nicholas Church in Boldon. The children were told about the history of the church; the architecture of the church, showing us how we knew it had been extended, the meaning of the stained glass windows and about the history of St Nicholas himself. The priest then used two of our pupils to explain the meaning of Christingle – Jesus the light of the world. He explained how the christingle is made up and what each part represents;

An orange, representing the world
A candle pushed into the centre of the orange, then lit, representing Jesus Christ as the light of the world
A red ribbon wrapped around the orange representing the blood of christ
Dried fruits and/or sweets skewered on cocktail sticks pushed into the orange, representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons.

To finish the children sang Christmas songs!

Learning challenge: Why is the heart the most important pump we own?

21st November 2019R Smith

For our Science topic this term, Year 6 have been answering the question ‘Why is the heart the most important pump we own?’ During this topic, we have identified and named the parts of the circulatory system and explained how the heart pumps blood around the body. In groups, we planned and carried out an investigation into the effects exercise has on heart rate and used scientific explanations to show what is happening physiologically within our bodies during exercise and reasoned the changes that lifestyle can cause to our bodies. We recognised the impact drugs and lifestyle had to our bodies. Finally, we described the ways nutrients are transported within our bodies and conducted an experiment to show the importance of saliva to begin the digestive process. Could you eat 3 large, dry crackers in 1 minute?

Our favourite aspect of this topic was using the Virtuali-tee t-shirt to digitally show the functions within the human body!

Year Six- Autumn Term (2) Focus Text

17th November 2019R Smith

Our class novel for this half term is Viking Boy! The book is packed with action; this exciting story is a fascinating insight into the world of the Vikings. Gunnar is the son of a Viking chieftain, living peacefully on his family steading with his mother, father and their people, until they are raided by Skuli and his Wolf Men, who raze his home to the ground and take his father’s life. Gunnar swears an oath to avenge his father’s death and save his mother from Skuli, but first he must run to save himself. We are excited to see if Gunner will get his revenge.

As a class we are going to have the opportunity to write a range of genres including a recount, letter, and a newspaper report.

Will we ever see the water we drink again?

15th November 2019R Smith

This term our geography enquiry question was ‘Will we ever see the water we drink again?’

As Geographers, we discovered where water sources are in our local environment by using ordnance surveys. We learnt about the relevance and importance of the water cycle and how all the water in our world in continuously recycled. We investigated climates around the world and used maps and atlases to identify key features. Finally, we explained how human activity has caused our environment to change by looking at the preferable use of renewable energy, such as hydro power.

Within this topic, we set the children a homework task to complete a water project. The children created all sorts of wonderful creations to express some of the aspects they had learned. We had power points, posters, books and creative models. We invited our parents and carers into school where the children shared their fantastic masterpieces.

Bring It On!

15th November 2019R Smith

In October, 15 keen scientists from Year 6 returned to the fabulous Bring It On Engineering and STEM event at the Beacon of Light. The children were engaged all day and took part in numerous experiments and tasks from the many different companies that were there. West Boldon children were often the leaders of the mini competitions set by the organisations present. Hopefully, this event has inspired these young scientists and made them think of a career in STEM related vocations.

Be Safe Project

15th November 2019R Smith

On Thursday 7th November Dave Burn from the Be Safe project spoke to year 6 about Keeping Safe – stranger danger, staying safe on the streets and making choices.

We talked about making the right choices, such as privacy, knowing who we should and shouldn’t talk to and the information we should or shouldn’t share, keeping safe on the internet and what we should do if we find ourselves in a difficult situation.