It has been a busy start to the Summer term. The students are hard at work with final SATs preparations and excitement for the residential trip is brewing… We have also been lucky to host two major authors and a virtual reality session over the past two weeks!

Last week began with an author visit from Dermot O’Leary. Dermot entertained us all as he described his new action adventure novel: Spy Fox and Agent Feathers. The story follows a crafty fox and his chicken companion on an epic rescue mission during World War 2.

We then had the pleasure of the Mayan virtual reality workshop. We got to fly high above some ancient temple ruins in South America, discussed how Mayans spent their free time (including an intriguing discussion about pok-ta-pok – their version of football!). Following the workshop, we discussed how virtual reality may be used in the future in schools and debated whether this would be beneficial or harmful to education (or both!).

Sam and Rowan presented their interactive clay sculpture of the three different types of volcanoes.

Ella and Nicoleta showcased ‘Ooblek’ – a fascinating substance made out of cornflour and water which can change between a solid and liquid!

Ellie and Murewa presented a fantastic interactive sculpture of the human digestive system.

Sameer and his brother produced a fantastic piece of work all about circuits!

Benji and Henry produced a fantastic, explosive series of experiments!

Well done 6D for all your fantastic creations! We certainly didn’t want to leave!

What a busy week! SATs mocks, a science trip to Allerton High School and a Science Fair to finish the week!

At Allerton High School, we made rockets using Vitamin C tablets and film canisters. As the Vitamin C tablet reacted with the water, it released Carbon Dioxide, causing the canister to eventually shoot into the air after the pressure became too great.

We also had the opportunity to see what happened when iron wool is burned (this was our first time seeing a bunsen burner in use)! What a treat!

Science Fair pictures and videos will be uploaded next week…

I hope that you all have a fantastic weekend and a massive well done to 6D for all their hard work this week!
Miss Davies

and the mystery reader is… Ms Luty!

A massive thank you to Sameer’s grandmother for joining us today to read an extract from ‘Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror’! What a treat.

She read the story of a haunting Elm tree and a devilish creature which lives nearby…

If you are interested in coming in as a mystery reader, please do contact reception and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

This week, our trip to Allerton High School was all about convection! We learned that hot air rises and cool air falls and that this can create wind outside and also be used by gliders and birds to ease flight.

We then put this to the test! We emptied out large herbal tea bags, then positioned them on a heat-proof mat. After this, we used safety matches to light the top of the teabag. When successful, the tea bag glided into the air!

On Tuesday, 6D thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Allerton High School. We worked with a high school science teacher Mr Alcock and learned all about lab safety. We studied an image (similar to the one below) and found multiple lab safety issues! Our biggest learning point was that we always tuck our chairs in during experiments to ensure that we can move quickly in case of emergency. How many can you spot below…?

We then recalled the meaning of ‘hypothesis’ – ‘proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation’. We enjoyed testing our own hypothesis, using popping toys and measuring the time taken for the toy to pop up. We varied the amount time which we pressed down onto the popping toy.

Mr Clayton delighted to announce that this year we will be running a Science Fair in school!

This will take place on the afternoon of Friday 28th March in the school hall and will be open to children in Key Stage 2.

Please see Google Classroom for more information.

Sign up form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16B5JqGLKXLvBlRmhJ_wSJpBUsSMBKjEzSwfbC00zkIM/edit 

I cannot wait to see your entries!

Miss Davies

This week has certainly been a busy one. World Book Day was such fun – we enjoyed seeing the range of outfits come through the door and were excited to join the ‘Footy and Booky’ National Literacy Quiz.

We also felt inspired to enter the story-writing competition in which students adapts an original fairy tale… 6D came up with all sorts of fantastic twists – Jack’s mother going up the beanstalk, a land where the gingerbread gets revenge and a world where three little wolves are hunted by the big, bad pig. The competition closes on Monday morning so students have the weekend to complete their stories and illustrations.

We have enjoyed producing prints using our mixed media creations and a linoleum roller. The results were layered over an oil-pastel impression of one of Kandinsky’s art works.

We found the mixed medium challenging to print with, given the varied thicknesses of the different mediums. However, we enjoyed experimenting with the new technique.

Today, we began our new Art unit on Synesthesia. We looked at works by the artist Kandinsky and learned how he could experience one sense through another. We looked briefly at some of his most well-known works – in which he generated shape and colour based on sounds.

We then had a go at creating some fantastic tunes on our chromebooks. Have a go by following the links below!

Music lab: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Kandinsky/ 
Play a Kandinsky: https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/play-a-kandinsky/sgF5ivv105ukhA 

Next, we listened to a range of music and used the different pitch and rhythms to inspire us. We drew a range of our own shapes and textures in our Art books.