Spring term

Algebra 
In maths we have been solving algebraic calculations. We identified that the number represents a missing number. Mrs Gould was really impressed with how quickly we understood it.
Shackleton's Journey 
 
In August 1914, Ernest Shackleton and his brave crew set out to cross the frozen waters of Antarctica, in what was to be the last expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Ahead of them lay unimaginable danger - ferocious seas, uncharted mountains, ice and snow. This is the true story of how Shackleton and his companions endured the hardships they faced, and ultimately managed to survive their perilous adventure.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the expedition Year 6 read the book of Shackleton's Journey and produced a range of fantastic work based of Shackleton's adventures. We produced, narratives, diaries, maps, poetry and art work. Year 6 have displayed the work outside the classrooms. 

Increasing and Decreasing by Percentages.
 
In our maths lessons, we have been working on how to find a percentage of a number. Today, we moved on to increasing and decreasing amounts by different percentages. Have a look at our working out. 
Problem of the day
 
Every morning the children in 6G are given a maths problem of the day. These problems are real head scratchers and make the children apply all of their mathematical knowledge. At first the children really struggled with these problems and didn't know where to start. Now the children are much more confident and although they still find them tricky, they are getting much more confident.
Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
 
In maths we have been working on fractions, decimals and percentages. We have looked at how to concert between fractions, decimals and percentage. The children have worked really hard and have managed to solve some very tricky problem.
A lot of the children were very proud of themselves for  the progress they made in their understanding of fractions, decimals and percentages.
 
 
Spring Term Disco
 
Tonight we danced, sang and had lots of laughs with our friends. It was the PTFA disco and lots of 6G turned up show off their best dance moves. It was a great opportunity to get dressed up and meet our friends. Even the teachers had a little dance too. We can't wait to the next one.
Vikings 
 
In our topic work we have been learning about the Vikings. We have used cross curricular skills to record our work. The children have found out what it was like to be a viking, the roles that they, had, how they traveled, what they ate and even how their writing was different to ours.
World Book Day
 
Today is World Book Day and the children in 6G have arrived in some fantastic costumes. The children have come as their favourite characters. Take a look at the great costumes.
PE
 
In PE we have been working on our fitness. We set our own challenges by picking a card which told us what activity to do e.g. burpees, step ups, star jumps. Each activity had an instruction with a number of repetitions. We did the activity once and then did it again to see if we could beat the last score. In the next few weeks we will be adding more tasks to improve and develop our fitness and we will be learning about the importance of a healthy life style. 
Readers
 
These hard working children have been reading regularly at home. They have all moved up a level on the reading charts. Well done and keep it up!
Winner 
 
Shannon was the lucky winner in the weekly prize draw for 100% attendance last week. The rest of the class are now hoping to be the next lucky winners.
# e safety
To explain the importance of a balanced life style with respect to technology use.
To explain the importance of a positive digital footprint.
 
In our English lessons, we are looking at the book # Goldilocks. The story is similar to the traditional story of Goldilocks but in this one, she uses her mobile phone to take videos and selfies and posts them on social media. In her hunt to get lots of likes, her digital footprint catches up on her.
We used charts and graphs to show the different uses devises and media.
 
 
Chinese New Year
SMSC
 
Today in class we found out about the story of Chinese New Year. We looked at the different animals and the qualities that they bring to the Chinese calendar. 
At lunch time, the hall was decorated  with Chinese decorations and the cooks had prepared a fantastic Chinese meal. The children enjoyed Chinese chicken, sweet and sour, spring rolls and fried rice. What a treat!
 
 
Internet Safety Day
 
Today the children had a safer internet use assembly.  Children found out how dangerous it is to put their information on the internet. Sometimes, we don't realise that we are giving away our information. If we tick to consent to terms and conditions to use games on the internet, we may be consenting to give our details or privacy settings away. We must read the terms and conditions on line. 
E Safety
To understand the dangers of using social media.
 
PC Luke Carson came to talk to the children about their use of social media. Every child in class told us they have access to their own mobile phone, laptop or tablet. The children spoke about using snap chat, whatsapp and many more social sites and apps.
Some children even admitted that they have many online friends who they have never met.  PC Carson explained the dangers of using these sites and not knowing the people that you are sharing information. PC Carson explained that often sites own the rights to anything that you post even if you have privacy setting it.
So remember, if you don't want something to be public knowledge, don't post it on a social media site.
Don't post pictures of anybody without their permission!
 
British Values 
Discrimination - Lack of Individual Liberty - Racism
 
 
We read about Ruby Bridges and how Black and White children were segregated into different schools.  By taking that first step into an all-white school at such a young age, Ruby Bridges made a lasting impact on the world's society.  She paved a path for future generations of black students and was an inspiration to people of all ages.  Towards the end of her first year of elementary school, everything was normal.  There were no angry protesters outside the school and she no longer had to be escorted by marshals.  She even got to talk to some of the other white children at the school. The reason that schools are integrated nowadays is because of the brave steps these black leaders took when given the chance.   
Today, schools are fully integrated, restaurants serve all races, drinking fountains are for both blacks and whites use, and both whites and blacks can use the same bathroom. These are just a few of the differences between the 1950s American society and today’s society. 
Today, Segregation is illegal in England and no longer happens.  A large amount of racism has left our society, however, not all of it has been eliminated.
  Class 6G hope that one day, racism will be a subject only spoken about in history textbooks.
 

Physical Education

To explore, improvise and combine movement ideas fluently and effectively.

To explore dance from a range of cultures.

This half term in PE the children are learning tradition dances from different cultures.

British Values 
Rule of Individual Liberty 
 
This week in our British Values session we have been learning about Individual Liberty. Individual Liberty means being free from oppression or restrictions by the government or power. 

Everyone has individual liberty but this does not mean people can do what they want. There are rules to follow to keep everyone safe that we must respect and it is important to follow advice from certain people for example: doctors, police, teachers and parents.

Mrs Gould showed the children her new classroom rules. We discussed why these rule would oppress our right to Individual Liberty. 

The children then did brain storm posters to show how and when they exercise their right to Individual Liberty.  

 

 

British Values 

Rule of Democracy 

In our British Values lesson we looked at how rules and decisions are made. We found out that votes are used to make agreements and find out the most popular plan.

In democracy every citizen should listen to the views of the different parties and candidates, and then make his or her own decision on whom to support. People must be 18 or over in order to take part in an election. We agreed that this is a good age as children would not always make an informed decision.

When voting, each person  votes for the candidate of his or her choice. S/he does this by putting a cross beside the person’s name on the ballot paper. People cast their ballots in a booth so that no one can see who they are voting for. This is called ‘secret ballot’.

At the end of the election day the votes are added up and the candidate with the highest number of votes (the majority) is declared the winner.

We are too young to vote in elections but we have been exercising our right for democracy. In our class we listened to people's ideas for what they would do if they became the teacher for a day. We listed to all of the candidates and then voted for the best one.

Music 
To play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression.
 
In guitar sessions, the children have been learning to accurately place their fingers to make the correct chords. The children have focused on making the D,C and G chords.
 
Prefects
 
We selected new prefects to represent our class for this term. The children who were selected were picked because of their mature attitudes and their ability to work as good role models to the other children in school. Good Luck prefect but I am sure you will do us proud.
Achievement and Success
SMSC- Celebrating achievements
 
In the whole school assembly this morning, 6G had lots to celebrate. Several children in the class received awards and certificates for their hard work, manners and determination. 
Jacob received the star of the week for such a great start to Blakehill. He joined us earlier this year but has settled in so well.
Honey  and Isabelle got top table awards. The lunch time staff had recognised their good manners at lunch times.
Jack received the PE award for his determination and hard work in the PE sessions.
Jing had completed his second reading chart and has now moved on to level 3.
Lily, Libby and Pheobe were awarded house points awards.
Well done 6G. Keep up the hard work!
Martin Luther King
British Values 
 
In the assembly we found out about Martin Luther King. We listened to his famous speech and how we really wanted all people to be treated equally. We looked at how Martin Luther King's views were similar to the recognised British Values that we have today. 
British Values 
 
In our British Values session, we looked at factors which help to make up our identity. We found that some of these factors were personal to ourselves whilst others we shared with our friends. We made a coat of arms to show who we are.
We then looked at rules and values that are shared by Britain and identified that these are known as British Values.
We found that the British Values are:
•democracy
•the rule of law
•individual liberty
•mutual respect
•tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs.
We discussed the meanings of these words:
•Liberty =  the state of being free within society from restrictions imposed by authority on one's behaviour or political views. 
•Respect = regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others or a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something
 •Tolerance =  the ability or willingness to accept the existence of opinions or behaviour that one dislikes or disagrees with.
We discussed examples of times when we had demonstrated these values.
 
 
English - note taking from non fiction 
computing - researching and understanding which are reliable websites
 
In our English unit we are looking at the book Shackleton's Journey. We have found out that the book is about a real life adventure lead by Ernest Shackleton. Ernest Shackleton selected a very skilled crew to help him guide the ship to 'the great and mysterious South'. We have looked at the names of the other crew members and the roles that they took on the journey. In today's lesson, we worked in the ICT suite researching a chosen crew member. We used a range of websites to find out about the crew members and the skills and person characteristics that they brought to the expedition. 
We made brief notes and bullets points about the information that we found.
 
 
Times Table Champion
 
Well done to Libby who has started the new year as a times table champion. She knows all of her times tables up to 12 x 12. 
Pantomime
 
To start the New Year, we went to Bradford Alhambra to watch the pantomime Aladdin which was paid for by the very generous PTFA. We all had a fantastic time and some of the jokes were very funny. Although it was fun, it also had a serious moral to the story.