Year 6 - Swordfish

Welcome to Year 6!

Tim - from Wessex Water - came to visit us at Swanage Primary. First, Tim did a whole school assembly where we learnt about 'Sewage Soup' and the three 'flushable Ps' (pee, poo and paper!).

Tim also did an experiment with us to show how toilet paper is the only type of paper that will break up in the sewage system. Other papers (like paper towels, baby wipes - even 'flushable' ones - and facial tissues) stay in one piece and therefore can cause blockages. 

After our whole school assembly, Year 6 were lucky enough to have a workshop with Tim. We learnt how Wessex Water clean water so that we can drink it. First the water is sieved and sand-filtered before it is cleaned with Chlorine and sometimes UV light. Swordfish class then had a go at sieving and sand-filtering some dirty water. The results were pretty impressive!

Brazilian people are famous for their Samba music. Year 6 were lucky enough to have a visit from Dorset Music Service who taught us a bit more about Samba before helping us to learn a Samba Reggae Groove! Check out the photos and video of our playing. Mrs Samways can't believe how much we learnt in such a short period of time!

As part of our 'Amazing Amazon' topic, we visited Leeson House. In the morning, we recapped the water cycle and linked it to rivers. We also recapped important river features. This was then linked to the floods in Swanage in 1990. It was really interesting to see a video of our home town flooded, causing millions of pounds worth of damage. Ben taught us about flood defences and we had a go at creating our own simulations using sand trays and Monopoly houses! 

Then, during the afternoon, we completed a river study at Corfe. We measured depth, water flow and width and noticed river features like meanders, erosion and deposition. Next (after a spot of lunch to keep our energy levels up) we used nets to study the wildlife living in the river. The creatures we found, showed that there was very little pollution in the river and it was therefore very 'clean'. One group even caught a few small fish!

Finally, before returning to school, we completed field sketches of the river and labelled them with the correct geographical vocabulary. We had an amazing (if a little soggy!) day and learnt SO much!

This term, Mrs Dunesby and Mrs Samways decided to leave our 'Amazing Amazon' topic display for Year 6 to do. First, Year 6 researched and discovered the layers of the rainforest and the creatures that live there (so that the display is accurate and informative as well as fantastic to look at...).

Then, Swordfish class worked on different scales, independently, with partners and in small groups to draw and paint their own rainforest! Communication was key to make sure that there was a variety of trees and  other plants as well as big and small creatures. Year 6 are SO proud of what they have managed to achieve. What do you think of their incredible artwork?

Year 6 had a go at making some 'wartime bread' after learning about both food and clothes rationing during (and after) WW2. They enjoyed the process - and the taste - so much that lots of the class asked for the recipe so they could have another go at home! Bread was one of the foods that was never rationed during the Second World War. 

Nothing Fancy Wartime Loaf

* 600 ml (1 pint) of warm water
* 5 teaspoons of quick rise yeast
* Couple pinches of sugar
* 2 lb of wholewheat (wholemeal) flour
* 1.5 teaspoons salt
* 1 tablespoon rolled oats (for top)
* Drizzle of vegetable oil

Method

Place flour in large bowl
Mix in all dry ingredients *except the rolled oats)
Drizzle in vegetable oil
Pour in warm water
Mix thoroughly
When dough comes together knead for 10 minutes until dough is silky
Place back in bowl and cover
Let dough rise somewhere warm until doubled in size
Knead dough briefly again
Place dough into 4 x 1/2 lb tins (or 2 x 1 lb tins) that have been floured
Brush top with a little water and sprinkle on some rolled oats
Leave to rise for around 20 minutes
Place in oven at 180 0C for around 30-40 mins (depending on the size of the loaf)

Remove from oven
Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting

PS: Note that the original recipe called for old fashioned yeast but we replaced with quick rise (it simply is very hard to get hold of those little squares of yeast that would have been used),

In our Literacy lessons, we have been studying 'The Silver Donkey' by Sonya Hartnett which is set in WW1.The book contains lots of really fascinating ink paintings. We explored some of these images by looking at them carefully and then discussing specific questions related to them.

After this we were allowed time to explore the 'ink' technique. Mrs Samways said we could use any colour we liked to do our paintings... as long as it was black!

Once we had discovered how to make different tones by mixing the paint with varying amounts of water, we linked our artwork to our current topic. We did this by studying and discussing black and white photographs taken in WW2 and then using them as inspiration for our own 'ink' paintings. 

The results are FANTASTIC!

This explanation was displayed alongside our finished artwork at the exhibition which was held in the Emmanuel Baptist Church, Swanage: 

Year 6 have been learning about the importance of Remembrance. They had lots of ideas for how to create a display to celebrate the special 2018 ‘100 Year’ Anniversary. We combined these ideas and worked in a collaborative way. This is the meaning behind our artwork:

· There are 99 poppies to represent each of the 99 local soldiers who died in the Great War.

· Each poppy is unique – just like the soldier it belongs to.

· The soldier is a ‘silhouette’ so that he represents everybody and nobody at the same time.

· He stands on a bridge to signify his journey from the horrors of war to a better place.

· The three birds are indicative of the freedom being fought for.

· Within the words, ‘Lest we Forget’ are the initials of the 99 soldiers whom we remember.

During our first few days in Year 6 we worked together to develop our growth mindsets.

We began by watching a video about Austin's Butterfly. We thought really hard about what the video can teach us about continuing to develop our own growth mindsets.  We also compared fixed and growth mindsets. Which is the most useful to help us all be successful learners?

Maths Guides

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