Year 6

Friday 13th December 2024

Well done, everyone, for all your hard work this week in class. 

We are nearly there with our fractions unit and have been working on dividing fractions by whole numbers.  We have continued with our evacuee narratives in English and have made further progress with our garments and accessories in Make Do & Mend.  Once again, many thanks to all our helpers for your support.  The preparations for The Christmas Truce continue- please could everyone learn their lines off by heart this weekend as it really makes a difference.  I have attached the script so there are no excuses. 

Have a good weekend,

Ms Wright and Mrs Glover

Homework:

Maths 

Atom Learning - There are only six questions this week to round off our work on fractions. Add them, subtract them, multiply them and divide them. I look forward to everyone completing the work on time. 

Statutory spellings
definite, determined, especially, excellent, developed, familiar, frequently, immediate, necessary, sincerely, thorough, vegetable

English

Learn your lines for The Christmas Truce. Script can be found below.

Friday 6th December 2024

It's been a 'Wicked' week! On Wednesday, Y6 was treated to a trip to the West End to see the much-loved prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Children behaved beautifully on the journey and in the theatre. They were a credit to us all.

We've been multiplying fractions this week in maths and, in English, we read and discussed a 1998 newspaper report about Mrs Edwards' grandfather who, at the time, was the oldest living survivor of the Battle of the Somme. Mr Miles joined us this week for coding lessons in which children created an evacuee train moving from an urban landscape to a rural one. 

Our sewing projects are taking shape and we plan to have the items completed by next Thursday. If anyone has any unwanted wool, ribbon or cord, please send it in as soon as possible. Similarly, if you have any old tights or other hosiery in an outdated colour or with unsightly holes, please send them our way so that we can turn them into stuffing for a cushion!

A quick reminder that the children's Secret Santa presents need to be bought, wrapped, labelled and delivered to school by Monday 16th December at the latest. There is a sack beneath Mrs Pearson's desk - please sneak your gift into this.

Finally, and I'm sorry to dampen the mood, but yet again a certain group of pupils ignored their maths homework assignment. This not only means they have not consolidated this week's learning, but it also has a negative impact on next week's teaching. Please find a regular time in the week to tackle the twenty minutes or so that it takes. 

Homework

English: 

Atom Learning - punctuation focus.  Please take time to think carefully about the punctuation questions and see if you are able to apply any new ideas to your own writing next week.

Spellings:

Creating diminutives using prefixes micro- or mini-
minibus, miniskirt, minicam, minibeast, minicab, minimum, microscope, microchip, microphone, microwave

Maths: 

Atom Learning - multiplying pairs of proper fractions and written multiplication. 

Times Tables Rock Stars. Some of you need to know these important facts better. 

Friday 29th November 

Despite the challenges of illness in class this week, we’ve had another busy and productive time. We hope everyone feels better soon and that many of you will be able to join us at the Christmas fair on Saturday.

In History, we have been looking at the impact of rationing on families and its connection to the war effort. The children explored the topic and created propaganda posters featuring slogans to encourage rationing. We have also begun learning about evacuation, Britain’s largest migration in history, and discussed the reasons behind it. We will continue exploring evacuation next week. Our Make Do and Mend project has begun with great enthusiasm, as the children embrace the wartime spirit of creativity and resourcefulness. Many thanks to Mrs Brown and Mrs Cahill who gave up their Friday afternoon to thread endless needles. 

In Maths, we have continued working on fractions, focusing on adding and subtracting proper fractions and mixed numbers. The children are making good progress, and we will continue building on this next week.

On Wednesday, the children participated in prayer stations at St. Mary’s Church, working alongside their Reception class buddies. This special session provided an opportunity for spiritual reflection, as the children engaged with different stations. It was a meaningful way to explore our church school values and connect with their inner thoughts.

Well done to all the children for their hard work and resilience this week.

Have a good weekend.

Mrs Glover and Ms Wright
 

Homework

The Christmas Truce

As discussed in class, please could all children learn the following first verse to the poem off by heart:

Christmas Eve in the trenches of France, the guns were quiet.

The dead lay still in No Man's Land -

Freddie, Franz, Friedrich, Frank...

The moon, like a medal, hung in the clear, cold sky.

English

Atom - pronouns.  

Spellings

Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning.
suggest, digest, congestion, gesture, gestation, lightning, daylight, enlighten, twilight, limelight

Maths 

Atom - mixed numbers and word problems

Friday 22nd November 2024

This week's highlight was undoubtedly the Y6 trip to the Imperial War Museum where children were able to explore artefacts from and information about the two world wars. The sheer quantity of exhibits makes it impossible to view everything in one go and I am sure everyone will be keen to make a second visit sometime in the future. 

Our latest grammatical challenge was to be able to recognise the subjunctive mood (which we did by comparing the lyrics of Justin Beiber with those of Beyonce) and children also planned a suspense story in readiness for next week's writing task. Maths lessons were spent comparing and ordering fractions and mixed numbers.

In preparation for our imminent Make Do and Mend projects, we learned three different sewing techniques - running stitch, whip stitch and blanket stitch. While some children were already quite confident with a needle and thread, others were complete strangers to sewing. Within a couple of short hours, however, everyone was knotting and threading and stitching with aplomb.

Today, we learned the results of the half term portrait competition. All the pictures are fascinating and I find something new to enjoy in each one everyday. Mrs Clare's graphic designer daughter had the unenviable job of judging three winners in each class. In Y6, the top places went to James (3rd), Giselle (2nd) and Queenie (1st). Congratulations to all of you.

Finally, can we ask that everyone completes their homework on time this week please? Also that you consider each question carefully and do workings when they are needed. While many children diligently finish the work set, an increasingly sizeable group is regularly ignoring the assignments. Homework is an important tool in securing and challenging your learning. It also helps you practise your organisational skills ready for Y7. 

Thank you.

Miss Wright and Mrs Glover

Homework

Maths:

Atom Learning - Mixed numbers and improper fractions. Equivalent fractions.

This is due on Thursday 28th November (even if you are at a football tournament that day).

Spellings: 

Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning.
temperature, temper, temperament, tempered, variety, vary, variation, varied, variable, variance

Friday 15th November 2024

The children worked hard in preparation for our Remembrance Service on Monday, and they did an outstanding job presenting fascinating facts about World War II in Chiddingstone. Their dedication and enthusiasm were evident, and we are so proud of their contributions to this important event.

Year 6 continued to shine as they took on the role of tour guides for our Open Day, warmly welcoming prospective parents and showing them around the school. Their confidence, knowledge, and friendliness truly reflected the values of our school, and we received so many positive comments about how impressed everyone was with them. 
 

In Maths, we’ve started our new topic: fractions. The children have been working hard on understanding equivalent fractions and learning how to simplify fractions. As always, times tables make a big difference as they play a key role in mastering fractions. 

In history, we transformed our classroom into a World War II picture house, setting the scene for a surprise air raid evacuation. The children reenacted what it would have been like to evacuate a cinema in wartime London, heading for the safety of an underground station. This gave the children a real sense of the challenges faced during that time and they used this experience to write their own detailed instructions on what to do during an air raid. 

This week marks 'anti-bullying week' and we had a visit from Kent Police, who delivered a powerful talk about anti-bullying. They discussed the importance of kindness and the effects of bullying, encouraging the children to reflect on their own actions and interactions. It was a thought-provoking session, and we hope it left a lasting impact.

A special thank you to Mrs Brown, who visited us this week to share the story of her grandfather’s unique role in World War II. The children were captivated by his incredible story, which added a personal and meaningful dimension to their learning. We were also very fortunate to have Mrs Patel visit us to share the story of Diwali, explaining its significance and traditions. To make the celebration even more special, she treated Year 6 to some delicious homemade Indian sweets, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. 

We hope you all have a good weekend,

Mrs Glover and Ms Wright

Homework

English: Atom Learning - verbs

Maths: Atom Learning - equivalent fractions / ordering and comparing fractions.

Spellings:

Words ending in -able
adorable, valuable, advisable, believable, desirable, excitable, knowledgeable, likeable, changeable, noticeable

Friday 8th November 2024

Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll is our new class text. By popular demand, however, we will continue to read Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful  as well. From this term, we now have regular guided reading classes in small adult-led groups. The deep questioning and discussion this allows is a boon to children's comprehension skills. Y6 has learned to identify and use the present and past progressive tenses and, in other news, spelling test results this week were particularly strong. We're looking forward to seeing some hyphenated adjectives in future pieces of writing!

After just two weeks away, our maths has already become a little rusty, so we invested some time this week revising factors and multiples as well as learning about prime and composite numbers. Remember to visit your Times Tables Rock Stars account to keep that important knowledge current. It will help enormously with your homework and with the challenge of fractions which starts on Monday. 

In topic work, we started to learn about air raids in WWII and the reasons behind the government's 1943 'Make Do and Mend' campaign. Children have been asked to bring in an item or two of clean, unwanted clothing for next week in order to begin planning some exciting transformations. Please send your outgrown, damaged or worn-out garments our way. Any unused pieces will be delivered to a charity shop at a later date.

As ever, we are grateful for your help.

Ms Wright and Mrs Glover

Homework

English

Please plan your presentation for our family consultations which begin next Thursday. You will have time in school to create your PowerPoint, but you must jot down some ideas about areas of strength in English and maths and areas for improvement. You should also tell us about something else you enjoy about school life and why.

Maths

Atom Learning - prime numbers, factors and multiples. Let's see everyone tackling the work this week please. 

Spellings:

Words ending in -able
applicable, tolerable, operable, considerable, dependable, comfortable, reasonable, perishable, breakable, fashionable

Friday 18th October 2024

The end of the term has crept up and we can't believe it is already half term. 

This week we have reached the end of WWI and the children learnt how the war ended and the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.  The children have really enjoyed the topic and we have been extremely pleased with their learning, questioning and discussions.  In maths, the children have been exploring common multiples.  Atom homework for half term will be based on multiples and factors.  In English, we have been learning about Walter Tull and the children have written a biography about him using the passive voice.  Do ask your child to tell you about Walter as he has a very interesting story.

Next term, we will be organising a trip to The Imperial War Museum in London on 20th November.  More details to follow.  We are also very much looking forward to a visit from Mr Hogan on the first day of term.  He is going to give us an introduction to World War II through the eyes of Chiddingstone.  Please could all children bring trainers / wellies to school for the first day back.

We hope you all have a restful half term and look forward to seeing you in November.

Mrs Glover and Ms Wright

Homework: Atom Maths and English

Spellings:

Hyphen: To join compound adjectives to avoid ambiguity.
man-eating, little-used, rock-bottom, wide-eyed, pig-headed, tight-fisted, cold-hearted, stone-faced,  
green-eyed, short-tempered

Friday 11th October 2024

There have been one or two breaks from the usual time table this week which have enlivened proceedings.

On Tuesday, Mr Miles returned to the classroom to help Y6 use Microbits to act as a sensor for a purpose of their choosing. Many children decided to code the microcontrollers to indicate excessive volume. (I'm pretty sure most teachers can identify that without the aid of technology!)

Everyone looked resplendent in yellow for World Mental Health Day on Thursday and we were treated to a drama workshop based on the Hans Christian Anderson folktale, The Emperor's New Clothes. Today, there was a fire engine on the premises and three firefighters who gave children an overview of the valuable work that they do. 

Dividing by two-digit numbers has proved a little tricky, especially when it came to calculating remainders as fractions. We made good progress, however, and will persevere next week. Children eagerly listened to the next installment of Private Peaceful and wrote some powerfully contrasting descriptions of WWI soldiers' early optimism and their later disillusionment with the war. On a lighter note, they also composed a persuasive, if slightly daft, promotion for invisible clothing!

On the subject of clothing, one of our topics next term will be Make Do and Mend in which children will be challenged with repurposing a pre-loved garment or two. If you have any items you are planning to throw out or donate to charity, could you please reserve any that could be of use for us? Feel free to bring them into school at any time. 

Many thanks,

Ms Wright and Mrs Glover

Homework

Spellings:

Hyphens to join a prefix ending in a vowel to a root word beginning with a vowel.
co-operate, co-ordinate, co-own, co-author, re-enter, re-educate, re-examine, re-evaluate, re-energise, re-elect

Maths:

Atom Learning - mental multiplication and division and written division

Deadline - Thursday MORNING

English:

Atom Learning - adjectives and adverbs

Deadline - Friday MORNING

Friday 4th October

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us at our Harvest Festival on Tuesday.  We were very pleased with the spirit of the year 6 children and hope you agree that they danced their hearts out.

In maths this week, we have been investigating multiplication and the children have been working on perfecting their written calculations of multiplying a 3 digit number by a 2 digit number. In English, we have been planning a piece of descriptive writing and looking at techniques to make a writing more engaging and detailed. This week, you will see that the Atom English homework is focused on applying what the children have learned about subordinate clauses, conjunctions, and multi clause sentences.   

The children have been so engaged in learning about World War 1 this week. They have been exploring significant events, which have given them a deeper understanding of the war and its impact on both soldiers and civilians.  The Christmas Truce stirred many emotions and lots of interesting discussion.  They have also considered what life was like on the Homefront as well as studying some profound war poetry for National Poetry Day.

As we begin a new Science topic on electrical circuits and components, we were very lucky to have a computing lesson from Ed Miles. He is working with the class to code a microbit, which will programme an LED to turn on as sound in the room becomes louder. Year 6 will continue with this project on Tuesday.

Please note that there is an additional piece of homework this week. We would like everyone to listen to the next chapter of our class book at home as it is very difficult to find time to read the entire story in class. A link is supplied below.

Homework

English Reading: Please use the following link to listen to the next extract of Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. Click on Episode 4 and then on Part 4 which begins with the chapter Ten to Midnight. It should take about 15 minutes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01n4ny7

English GPS: Atom Learning - Subordinate clauses and conjunctions

Spellings:

Adjectives ending in -ent into nouns ending in -ence and -ency
innocent, innocence, decent, decency, excellent, excellence, confident, confidence, existent, existence

Tested on Thursday

Maths: Atom Learning - Written multiplication, mental multiplication and division

Please complete by Thursday

Friday 27th September 2024

Like everyone, we've been struggling with the bad weather, but perhaps it gave us a better feel for some of the hardship that soldiers in the WWI trenches had to endure! This week, children learned about the horrors of life on the battlefield including the living conditions and the powerful weaponry that had become available. This led to some excellent diary writing in our English lessons. The class was intrigued by it all and came up with many questions which it might be worth exploring further at home. 

In maths, we now understand what BIDMAS means, as well as how and when to use it and some became addicted to a journaling challenge in which four fours had to combined in various ways to result in a certain number. 

Thank you to those of you who joined us for a chat about the Y6 curriculum on Wednesday. For those of you who couldn't make it, the school website is a rich source of information about each of the subjects we teach. 

Our Harvest Festival is scheduled to take place first thing next Tuesday morning in the church. Y6 will be performing an uplifting dance and some of the children have readings to deliver. Your child should have brought a decorated envelope home in which we would like to invite you to place a donation to be brought to school for the service. If the pretty envelope. can't be found, any will do. We also ask that you contribute tinned or dry foodstuffs (in date) which will be donated to Edenbridge foodbank.

Looking forward to a slightly less rainy weekend.

Ms Wright and Mrs Glover

Homework

Spellings 

Adjectives ending in -ant into nouns ending in -ance and -ancy
observant, observance, expectant, expectancy, hesitant, hesitancy, tolerant, tolerance, relevant, relevance

Maths

Atom School (https://atomlearning.com/school)

Order of operations and written multiplication*

Deadline: Thursday 3rd October

*Please note that written multiplication will be the focus of our maths lesson on Monday, so you may prefer to wait until then before doing this homework. On Saturday and Sunday, you could brush up your times tables on Times Tables Rock Stars Garage and practise those spellings.

Friday 20th September

Another super week in Year 6.  Today, we were treated to a variety of excellent Head Student speeches.  Year 6, you should feel very proud of yourselves for delivering your speeches clearly and in a mature and articulate way. We will announce your new leadership roles in Act of Worship on Monday.

We spent a really interesting day in London on Tuesday.  The Brunel Museum was fascinating and 'Brunel' himself brought our trip to life.  As a result, I have a feeling we have quite a few budding engineers in class.  We shall watch this space.  The real excitement of the day was climbing the tower at Tower Bridge and walking across the glass walkway.  I was very proud of the children who were forced to overcome their fear of heights. 

It has also been assessment week in school so Year 6 has been completing maths and English papers.  We have had time for a little English where the children wrote a recount about our trip to London.  I am looking forward to reading these over the weekend.  In GPS, we have been focusing on adverbs and adverbials.  Is your child able to tell you about an adverbial over the weekend?

We have now finished our engineering topic and continue with World War 1.  The children have been looking at the recruitment campaign for WW1 and next week we will start to explore what life was like in the trenches.

Stars of the week: 

Well done to Sandy for being well mannered and attentive in everything she does and to William for working really hard and contributing to class discussions. 

We hope you have a restful weekend,

Mrs Glover and Ms Wright

Homework

Spellings - tested on Thursday 26th September

Homophones and near homophones. Nouns that end in -ce/-cy and verbs that end in -se/-sy
advice, advise, device, devise, licence, license, practice, practise, prophecy, prophesy

Remember Mrs Pearson's tip. Ice is a noun. Spellings that end in -ice are nouns.

Maths

Place value and rounding: https://atomlearning.com/school

This should be completed by Wednesday 25th September. You should arm yourself with some paper and a pencil for workings. Please work independently so that the system is able to offer you suitable challenges each week. Do use the online help tools when you need them. 

Friday 13th September 2024

Another week has raced by. We have completed our revision of place value to numbers up to ten million and will move on to add, subtract, multiply, divide and problem solve in the coming lessons. If your times tables recall has faded over the holidays, now is a good time to brush up on those very important facts. Your Times Tables Rock Stars accounts are ready and waiting for you!

In our Britain at War topic, children have deepened their understanding of how and why the Great War began. In English, we have continued to read and discuss One Boy's War and Private Peaceful. 

Next Tuesday, the class will be visiting London to learn about the engineering prowess of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Ahead of this, we have spent today immersed in bridges. Children explored some significant British bridges, where they are, why they were needed and who designed them. They also learned about different types of bridge structure - beam, arch, suspension, cantilever and truss - and can now identify each. Finally, we experimented with different thicknesses and shapes of paper bridges to find out which was capable of supporting the most weight. 

It was such a busy day that we ran out of time to announce our stars of the week, but they are Josh and Torin for being attentive and demonstrating good manners. 

I hear we are to be treated to some more sunshine this weekend. I hope you get the chance to enjoy it.

Ms Wright and Mrs Glover

Homework

Your Head Student speeches must be emailed or brought into school by MONDAY 16th September please.

Spellings

Due to the Kent Test, there was no spelling test this week.

Please continue to learn these useful adjectives and aim for a high score next week.

aggressive, hostile, awkward, obstinate, desperate, frantic, disastrous, calamitous, marvellous, spectacular

Maths

This will begin in week three.

Friday 6th September

A very warm welcome to Year 6.  It has been an absolute pleasure to welcome the children this week and they have all settled very quickly, getting used to the new routines.  

In maths this week, pupils have started working with seven digit numbers in place value.  They have been writing numbers in words, ordering, comparing and rounding numbers, as well as writing and explaining their findings in their maths journals. 

We have started our new topic 'Britain at War' which has already stirred many questions and conversations.  We can see that it is going to be a very exciting topic ahead.  

Dates for the diary:

Tuesday 17th September: Trip to The Brunel Museum & Tower Bridge 

Wednesday 25th September: Curriculum Meeting 1.30pm via Zoom where we will be able to talk to you about life in Year 6, the curriculum, homework, trips etc.

Tuesday 1st October - Harvest Festival

We look forward to seeing many of you over the next few weeks. 

Have a good weekend.

Ms Wright and Mrs Glover

Homework:

Spellings:- to be tested weekly on Thursdays

Ambitious synonyms - adjectives

aggressive, hostile, awkward, obstinate, desperate, frantic, disastrous, calamitous, marvellous, spectacular

Head Pupil Speeches

Head pupil elections will take place on Friday 20th September. For homework, we ask that you ALL compose a short speech to present to the school stating why you are a good candidate for the role.

We are setting the task now so that you have plenty of opportunity to think about it, discuss it with your family, plan it and then write it. The deadline is Monday 16^th September, but you may submit it earlier if you prefer. Work can either be typed or handwritten. It should NOT be a PowerPoint presentation or require any technology to deliver it. Please email it to the office if possible. We would like you each to speak for around one minute. When you have completed your piece, do practise reading it aloud several times to someone at home.

In the past, we have heard wild promises that can never be kept, so this year we would like you to think about the type of person you are and what qualities you have that would be desirable in a head pupil. Perhaps you are confident and able to communicate well or it could be that you are fun-loving and enthusiastic. Are you excellent at getting things organised? Maybe you are a deep thinker who has good ideas or someone who is sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others and makes everyone feel included.

A head pupil is required to speak to people of all ages, including those of us from the school and visitors. You will need to represent the school on special occasions, be respectful and set a good example for others to follow. You will have to demonstrate leadership skills and might need to help out with events.

You all have something to offer so don’t be shy – tell us how special you are!