Things to look forward to this term:

Anti-bullying week & Children In Need

Christmas Craft Day

Christmas festivities

Trooper W.E.Heeley

Today we became historians and our classroom was turned into a research centre. We were tasked with finding out information about Trooper Walter Edward Heeley, a member of the 4th London Yeomanry. We had lots of primary sources to look at, including, photographs, telegrams, letters and first hand recounts.

We were able to find out lots of information including the fact that Trooper Heeley was tank gunner, he fought in Germany, France, Italy and Africa and was captured as a prisoner of war in France. We found it particularly interesting when we learnt that he lost sight in one eye after the tank he was in was shot at and some shrapnel became lodged in his eye. We even had the chance to look at the piece of shrapnel. 

It wasn't until the end of our lesson that we learnt that Trooper Heeley was Mrs Bagshaw's grandad and this was why we had access to these artefacts. We found that through use of primary sources we can unpick lots of information about the stories of a person who was key to the war efforts. 

In A stew!

Year 6 had a busy morning chopping, dicing, grating and churning as we made our very own war time stew recipe and churned our own butter.  We looked at the sorts of vegetables that would be available at this time of year and discussed where people would have purchased their food supplies, lots of us where amazed that we would have had to visit many different shops instead of one big supermarket. 

We spent the afternoon taste testing our delicious vegetable stew, in which we dipped bread and butter (that we had churned from cream with our own hands). 

 

Operation Wildbat

Year 6 took part in an epic game of Battleplanes across their class rooms as a way to understand the roles in a WW2 control room. 

Each room had to answer to the Operations Officers who made the overall decisions at the front desk. Air traffic controllers worked strategically and made the suggestions as to where to send the fleet of aircraft. Plotters maintained the locations of the planes on the map, helped plot where we had sent planes previously and took note of any direct hits or near misses. And the Operation Room Clerks helped take minutes of all discussions in the room, kept track of the coordinates and delivered messages to the enemy classroom. 

The Battle was long and Bats took a direct hit to their plane over Dover Castle but their heavy shelling did not cease. Eventually Wildcat class had to appease the Bats by releasing 10 of their prisoners. 

It's Electrifying!

In Science this term we have been looking at Electricity. We know the symbols for all of the components and have been challenging each other to create circuits from our own scientific circuit diagrams. 

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Topic: World at War!

Term highlights…

Art Week

Trip to Dover Castle and Secret Wartime Tunnels

We began the year by getting stuck into our class reader for the term, ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ by Emma Carroll. A few chapters in, we’ve learnt that Olive and her brother Cliff are to be evacuated to the Devonshire coast and that the children’s older sister Sukie may not be telling the whole truth. To understand what Olive was going through, we staged an air raid; and whilst the children were sat ready to watch a film, the sirens went off, the lights faded to black, and we were escorted to the safety of an ‘air raid shelter’. We then used this experience to help write a diary entry from the viewpoint of Olive.

Dover Castle Trip

We had a fabulous trip to Dover Castle, full of insightful facts and new information about Dover's important role during WWII including finding out more about Operation Dynamo in which over 340,000 troops were rescued from Dunkirk. A plan that was made possible because of the work carried out within the tunnels at Dover Castle.

Here's what the children had to say:

Charlie- I enjoyed the trip, the tunnels were interesting.

Bethany- I liked that I got to learn more about WWII and learnt about how they communicated during the War.

Kaydie- I really liked listening to the phones, where we could listen to different people telling the stories of what happened to them.

Zachariah- I enjoyed the castle and exploring the keep, but the height really got to me!

Poppy- I liked exploring the kitchens, it made me feel like a real life maid.

Finley- I really liked going in the tunnels because I learnt about what it was like to live the life of a WWII soldier and I also liked dressing up.

Kaylon- The tunnels were very echoey. 

Jason- I enjoyed listening to the videos, finding out more about how WWII began.

Multicultural Art Week

During Multicultural Art Week, we focused on the culture, customs and traditions of Polynesia.

We learnt about the history of Polynesian tattoos, including where Maui from Moana got his tattoos from, and that each tattoo had a different symbolic meaning. We then looked at the importance of the Siapo cloth, a ceremonial cloth that is rich in tradition, and is used from birth, when Polynesians wrap their babies up, through all of the significant moments in life right through to death when Polynesians bury their loved ones wrapped in the cloth.

We loved visiting the art show at the end of the week to see what all of the other classes had been up to.

 

Enjoying the New Library

Year 6 have been making the most of the new library facilities, obviously choosing books, but also enjoying the clam space with a quiet jigsaw or quick card game with friends. We are looking forward to spending time in the library this year, especially for our Book Banter sessions.

 

 

Welcome to Year 6

We are the Bat Class and the Wildcat Class. On this page you will find information about what we are our learning.