Year 6

Welcome back, Year 6! This is your last half term in Primary school, and it is going to be one you will never forget! But it is also the beginning of a period of change, and this can sometimes be difficult. Even if you know it is for the best, it can still be scary. You are used to the way things are done at St Saviour's, you know many of the children and most of the staff there... It is normal to wonder what things will be like in your new school, if you will like it there, if you will make new friends...

It's okay to have these worries, but you need to remember that God is always with you, each step of the way. This half term, we will be learning about St Ignatius of Loyola, a soldier who made an incredible change in his life in order to use his talents to teach and preach about Jesus all over the world. This year, we celebrate the Ignatian Year, beginning with the 500 anniversary of the war injury that marked the beginning of St Ignatius's change, and I am sure he will be an inspiration to you.

I cannot wait to share his adventure with you! In the meantime, remember what Ignatius always said: God is not confined to a space. He is in ALL THINGS, and everything in our lives can help us become aware of God's presence.

Mrs Bellas

Artist Molly Noem Fulton has created “St. Ignatius the Pilgrim,” a new work of art celebrating the Ignatian Year.

Homework

• Passport to the world - China
• Daily reading - at least 30 minutes per day
• Daily spelling and arithmetic (see weekly work attached below)
• Instrument practice

Homework Challenges

Maths

If the world were a village

A gallery based on the book 'If the World Were a Village', by David J Smith and Shelagh Armstrong, has opened and needs some exhibits. All of these must be based upon the data from within the book. It is important to be thoughtful about how the data are presented because sometimes key messages can be missed out because of the way the data are shown.

In the book, the world's population (6,660,000,000) is represented in the imaginary village of 100 residents so that each resident represents approximately 67 million people from the real world. Here's an example:

In the village, there are 100 people:
 

What do you think?
In your opinion, which shows us the 100 people in the best way?

Here's another example:

In the village, 61 people are from Asia; 13 are from Africa; 12 are from Europe; 8 are from South America, Central America and the Caribbean; 5 are from Canada and the United States; 1 is from Oceania. How shall we represent this?

This time 1 flag represents 1 person.

What do you think? All of them show exactly the same information. Which representation makes you realise that there are 100 people? Which one makes you realise that there are LOADS more people from Asia than anywhere else? Which was easiest to count? Did you notice how a flag had been used because that was linked to the topic?

Your challenge will be to decide how to represent some more of the data from the book.  Here are some suggestions but you could choose your own data if you have a copy of the book.

Electricity:

• 76 have electricity. 24 do not.
• In the village, the people with electricity have between them: 42 radios, 25 televisions, 61 telephones and 15 computers.

Air and Water:

• 82 have access to a source of safe water either in their homes or within a short distance. 18 do not and must spend a large part of each day simply getting safe water. Most of the work of collecting water is done by women and girls.
• 64 have access to adequate sanitation - they have public or household sewage disposal - while 36 do not.
• 68 breathe clean air, while 32 breathe air that is unhealthy because of pollution.

We are looking forward to seeing your different representations!
 

Literacy

This is your last half-term in Primary school, and this is a very significant moment for all of you. For this reason, your Literacy challenge is to write a letter to your future self. Maybe you could think about where you want to be in a years' time. Or maybe you could think about where you want to be by the end of Secondary school? 

When you write a letter to yourself, you think ahead to the future and the different things you'd like to achieve, whether that's in a years' time or a few years time. This will help you develop ambition and think about the path you'd like to take in your future, the new things you'd like to get involved in, new people you'd like to get to know and what you might like to change about yourself. 

You can then revisit this letter when you're at the point you've set out for themselves (next year, end of Secondary school…) This will help you see where you are against your goals and consider what went well and what didn't, what is the same and what you would like to change.
 

Top tips for starting to write a letter to your future self

Here are some ideas of things you might write in a letter to your future self:
1. Ways to improve yourself - how can you become a better person? How can you have a more rounded life?
2. What are your dreams? What is your dream job? What would be your biggest goal by the time you revisit this letter?
3. Who would you like to get to know? How could you help someone new at the school?

4. What scares you? What can you do to make the most of this time of change and how can you achieve your dreams without letting your fears get on the way?
 

Science

Micro-organisms, for example, fungi and bacteria play an important role in the production of many of the foods we eat and drink. Microbial activity is an essential feature of both traditional biotechnology, which uses conventional techniques such as fermentation through to modern biotechnology, which uses processes such as genetic modification to enhance some food production.

Did you know?
•    We consume the edible fruiting bodies of fungi when we eat mushrooms.
•    Yeasts are used in the fermentation of fruits to produce wine, cereals to make beer and in bread manufacture.
•    Lactic acid bacteria are used in the fermentation of milk to produce many dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese, vegetables to produce sauerkraut as well as fermented meat products such as salami.

Try the Microbiology Society members' favourite microbial recipes at home in order to investigate the role of different micro-organisms in food, using the recipes below.

Religious Education

In his letter to primary schools in the Shrewsbury Diocese, Bishop Mark challenges us to take care of our world through the choices we make in our homes, school, parish and local community. Below, you will find a link to this letter.  

The RE homework challenge for this half term is to take a photo of something you are doing as a family to look after our common home. Examples may include recycling materials correctly, reducing food waste, not wasting water, switching the lights off and thinking about the way you travel to school to name a few.  

Please could photos be emailed to the school office before the end of the school year - we look forward to seeing what you have been up to!

Reading together at home

Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. Sharing a book with your child allows you to share adventures and experiences in the safe world of the book. It allows you to ask questions, talk about what has happened and decide what you think together, as well as sharing quality time together. 

For these reasons I will be share here the books we will read in class every term, so that if you wish you can read them with your child at home. This term, our Literacy work will be based on these three books:
 

"Who let the Gods out?" by Maz Evans - Elliot's mum is ill and his home is under threat, but a shooting star crashes to earth and changes his life forever. The star is Virgo - a young Zodiac goddess on a mission. But the pair accidentally release Thanatos, a wicked death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, and must then turn to the old Olympian gods for help. After centuries of cushy retirement on earth, are Zeus and his crew up to the task of saving the world - and solving Elliot's problems too?

“The adventures of Odysseus” by Hugh Lupton - Set sail with Odysseus as he fights to find his way back home after the brutal Trojan War. On his ten year journey, he endures harrowing ordeals, battles monsters and learns what it means to be a hero. This gripping retelling breathes new life into Homer’s classic The Odyssey.

“Greek Myths” by Marcia Williams - The Greek myths are among the greatest, most exciting stories ever told and feature some of the world's best loved heroes and heroines. In this book, you'll find the stories of Theseus, conqueror of the dreaded Minotaur; the mighty Heracles and his twelve tasks; the tragic lovers Orpheus and Eurydice; Perseus, the Gorgon-slayer; the musician Arion and his rescue by the dolphins; Pandora and her little box of horrors; the feather-clad fliers Daedalus and Icarus; and the weaving contest between Arachne and the goddess Athene. Each of these tales has been retold with lively text and dramatic cartoon style, making them accessible and fun for children.

Times Tables Practice at home

It is essential for children to know their times tables fluently in order to access Maths confidently in Year 6, as well as to improve their pace. For this reason, they should practice their times tables at home daily. Not only they need to know their multiplication facts - they must be quick at recalling them in order to succeed. 

The website http://timestables.me.uk/ is a free site where you can set up automatically generated online times tables test, with an option to print them. You can select:

• The amount of questions you want them to do.
• The times tables that you want to test them on.
• Whether you want them to practice multiplication facts, division facts or both.

This is a fantastic resource for children to practice their times tables daily. At the end of the test, you will get a summary of your child's results, including how many questions they got right / wrong, the time they took to complete them and the answers to the questions they answered incorrectly. It is a great tool for children to improve not only their knowledge of the multiplication but the speed at which they recall them. Challenge them to beat their own score / time - they are always willing to improve their results!

The big question for the Summer term is...

Are we at the edge of reason?

Curriculum - Summer Term

This term, we will be learning about:

• History and Geography: Ancient Greece and Geography of the United Kingdom 
• Science: Living things
• Design and Technology: Mediterranean Diet
• Physical Education: Rounders 
• Art and Design: Digital photography (Summer 1) and Sculpture (Summer 2)
• Computing: Adventure gamers (Summer 1) and We are Publishers (Summer 2)
• Passport to the world: New Zealand (Summer 1) and China (Summer 2)

Arts Workshop Day!!

Year 6 have had the best of times today celebrating dance and music with the people from AmaSing and House Of Dance.

Waffle

If you would like to see some of the adventures Waffle has been going on, please go to our 'Waffle' page on the children section of the website where you will find a special message along with some pictures!

Sing Up at Home

If you enjoy singing and would like to learn a new song, follow the link below to visit the Sing Up at Home page. There will be a new song uploaded along with a performance track and backing track each week including pointers and tips on how to sing the song successfully.

Good luck and happy singing!

https://www.singup.org/singupathome/song-of-the-week

Numeracy

Throughout the year, Year 6 will be considering the question below...

We will be focusing on applying their numeracy skills to solve reasoning and real life problems. Children will deepen their understanding of the 4 operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and how they can be applied to the world around them.

Things to remember!

• Wider opps is on a Friday morning.
• Check Edmodo everyday.
• Spelling test is every Friday .
• Arithmetic test is every Friday.
• Read every day, and remember to get your reading diaries signed!

Don't forget to read every night and have your red books signed!

Try: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/