Friday 19 December 2014

Thank you

Just a short note to say thank you for all of the cards and gifts that you and your children have brought into school this week.  We have been truly spoilt!  Thank you very much indeed.

We have all really enjoyed teaching the children this term and look forward to seeing them back in school in 2015. 

Merry Christmas.

The year 6 team.

Sunday 14 December 2014

Merry Christmas

As we begin the final week of the term we have to say how proud we were of year 6 last week.
With very limited rehearsal time the children performed magnificently on all occasions to share their version of 'Let's Do A Nativity'.



Despite illness, every character was word perfect and the singing was amazing- we always knew how talented our Crabtree children were, but last week they really got a chance to prove it. Big thanks go to Beth for stepping in to Tom's role in his absence; we're glad to say he is now back at school with us.





Moving into the final days there is still lots to do. Wednesday is not only the school Christmas dinner, but also the year 6 Christmas party. Children are encouraged to bring some suitable party clothes to change into on the day. Remember Christmas dinner day is also Christmas hat day- so plan your designs in advance!





Please ensure that your child brings home all their PE kit after their lesson on Thursday so it can have a good wash and airing over the holidays. When they return in the new term they will definitely need warm clothing for PE including hats and gloves.






In case we don't get the chance to say it in person we would like to take this opportunity, all be it a little prematurely, to wish you all a very happy holiday. Enjoy Christmas and we look forward to seeing everyone in the new year.
The Year 6 Team










Monday 1 December 2014

Christmas begins

As ever life in year 6 is busy.
This week we are carrying out the second week of assessments with the children. Already, with what we have marked, we are seeing progress. A really positive end to the term for many children. Results will be fed back to the children next week once all papers are levelled.


If that isn't enough to do we are also mid concert preparation- something which has had to take a bit of a back seat due to the year group assembly the other week.
Children received their scripts and words for songs last week and their homework over the long weekend was to learn their lines.


This week, due to the assessments, children will not be getting any additional homework. It will resume next week.


On the subject of concerts, a few ideas for costumes. Children were told last week what they would need, but here for adult eyes is the definitive version.


All children start in, and those who are school children stay in their uniform.
Teacher- own clothes suitable for climbing on and off the stage- nothing too short please.
Shepherds- checked shirts and jeans.
Star and angels- something white or silvery. (Wings are optional!)
Kings including Herod- a cloak to add over their uniform and a crown.
Servants- a cloak to wear over their uniform.
Innkeepers and citizens- everyday clothes.
Mary and Joseph- traditional nativity costumes. (Mary needs a baby Jesus please)


If there are any problems with the costumes please see your child's class teacher as soon as possible or drop them a note.


Thank you for your help in this.


The Year 6 Team.

Friday 21 November 2014

Another busy week in year 6!


We started the week with a visit from three representatives from Show Racism the Red Card.  The children took part in a range of activities designed to raise awareness of differences in our communities and racism within the UK.  The children had the following comments about their day:

ELDER

Firstly we went into the hall to watch a video about what racism is, how if affects people and why it happens.  (Oran)

Next, we had a PE session with former footballer Luther Blisset.  It was really exciting because he is a Watford legend and I am a Watford fan!  (Alfie M)

We designed people and we had to draw and label symbols of what a good friend would have.  (Lucy D)

Finally, we had a workshop on judging people.  Manisha asked us questions and we would hold up a face that we thought was the right answer.  We almost got all of them wrong because we judged by the colour of their skin. (Izzy)

We had a great day overall and I leant that you should not judge someone by the way they look or the colour of their skin.  (Charli P)

ELM:

First we watched a short video clip about 'Show Racism the Red Card'.  We were amazed at how many people had suffered from racism. (Charlie C)

We rushed into a session with Luther and we played some immensely fun games in teams and then a competition. (Lucas C)

We played a game about trying to work out what we could tell about someone by the colour of a person's skin.  As a result of getting 98% of the questions wrong we realised that the colour of a person's skin doesn't tell us a lot about the person's life.  (Georgia)

We learnt how to explain a person's colour of skin without offending them.  (Fay)

All in all the day was great and we learnt lots about racism.  (Harry)

On Wednesday year 6 had a visit from Springboard East.  The children enjoyed some drama activities and a workshop focusing on the history of democracy in Britain.  They produced some fantastic posters for the suffragette movement.

In literacy each group has been continuing with persuasive writing this week.  Most groups will finish this work next week and move onto writing some poetry involving powerful imagery.

In topic work the children have been working hard on their Anderson Shelters.  As a result of this we have had to send home the lovely 'make do and mend' items that the children made over half term.  We have very much enjoyed having these items in the classrooms and attach some photos of the wonderful displays below.
 

On Thursday a team of children attended the Year 6 Maths Challenge at Aldwickbury School and did very well indeed - watch this space for the full results!

In short, its been a busy but extremely enjoyable week in school.  We hope you have a lovely and restful weekend.

The Year 6 team.


 








 

Saturday 15 November 2014

What an amazing assembly!

We were so proud of the children this morning as they performed beautifully in our first assembly of the year.  It was wonderful to see the children working so well together as a team to celebrate all of the wonderful learning that they have completed so far this year.

Well done everyone.  We will let the pictures speak for themselves!









Looking forward into next week, we have another busy week.  Its anti-bullying week in the UK and at Crabtree we are kicking off the week with a whole school day focusing on the theme of 'Show Racism the Red Card' on Monday.  Year 6 will also spend Wednesday morning looking at the history of democracy in Britain - the children will take part in two extremely engaging workshops led by two actors who present their material in very interesting ways!  We hope to squeeze in some work too!

Have a lovely weekend.

The Year 6 team

Friday 7 November 2014

Another great week in year 6!

Our first rehearsal for our year group assembly went very well this morning - the children have made a great start.  Rehearsals will continue early next week and it would be great if the children could come into school on Monday knowing their part! 

This afternoon the children enjoyed a visit from Mr Kennedy (a STEM ambassador) and learnt a lot about the history of man's understanding of movement and the Bloodhound Project - a scientific quest to create a new World Land Speed Record of 1000mph.  If you are interested in reading more about this ambitious and exciting project go to:. http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/

We are looking forward to seeing lots of you at the Fireworks and Bonfire Night tomorrow.  The year 6 team will be working on the stalls - so do come and say hello.

The year 6 team.

Monday 3 November 2014

French Homework for the weekend. 

Due in on Monday ready for French on Tuesday:

Your homework this next weekend is to create a cover for your French book using the computer.
You can either print this out at home or save it to the learning platform and then print it out in school.
There are some words that you must include in your cover and they appear below.
You will need to search, using Google or such, Second World War posters in French, type in:

2ème Guerre Mondiale Posters en français

- some examples are on the sheet you were given in school.

In order to get the letters with the accents you need to insert symbol and select appropriately.

Make sure that you save your cover, either at home or to the learning platform so that if you need a new book you will be able to print out a new copy.

Wording for your front cover should include:

CM2
 
2014- 2015

Cours Moyen Deuxième Année 

Madame Baikie

Then add your name and any relevant picture from the above web site.
Welcome back to the new half term.

It was great to see so many wonderful examples of 'Make Do and Mend' today when the children brought their highly creative homework in to school. This afternoon we were able to spend some time sharing what each child had achieved and photographing their work so it can be added to their topic books. Photos of class displays will appear on the blog once Elm's display is completed so that you can also see the amazing ideas that the children came up with.

Throwing year 6 straight back into their work we began a unit on persuasive speeches in two of the English sets today, whilst others will be writing persuasive letters- we hope to be able to share some of these with you in our year group assembly next week.

Just to clarify on the subject of our assembly- the children will need the costumes that they wore to Hendon earlier this term and they will be sharing their assembly with the rest of the school on Thursday morning prior to delivering a polished performance (hopefully) to all the parents on Friday 14th November to start at about 9:05 a. m. we look forward to seeing many of you there.

Although we will be working hard on our assembly over the next week or so we will still be keeping on top of our other work. This week the children will be planning their Victory gardens and Anderson shelters so any useful 'junk' in the form of boxes, cardboard bases, corrugated card and materials to deck out the inside of the shelters or 'plant' the gardens will be welcome in school after Wednesday of this week once the children have thought about their ideas.

Finally, as we begin to encounter colder weather can we remind both parents and children that they should have suitable warm clothing for outdoor play times and PE sessions.

The year 6 team

Friday 10 October 2014

Roald Dahl Spectacular!


We have had another great week in year 6.

In English we have been looking at descriptive language and have been considering how to use our writer's tools to describe settings and characters.  The children have also been using their literacy skills in their topic work - writing diary entries describing a night in an air raid shelter.

In science, the children have been exploring forces - thinking about the difference between weight and mass and, in Elder, have begun to draw diagrams to represent different forces acting upon objects.

The week ended with a day of celebration today.  It was wonderful to see the children in such wonderful Roald Dahl inspired outfits - thank you for your support in this.  In Elm the children were pitted table against table in a Jumbo Roald Dahl quiz and then set about making aeroplanes from WW2 (some of which Mr Dahl himself may have flown).  Elder were in the ICT suite completing some computing work and then found time for their own Roald Dahl activities back in the classroom.

This weekend's homework is a little different.  The children have received a note asking them to take a photograph of a favourite place in Harpenden and to save it onto a memory stick to bring into school.  This is part of our work in computing where we are embarking upon our ambitious project of planning (and hopefully, designing and making) our own apps.  We have already looked at the functionality of smart phones and considered how GPS works!

Have a lovely weekend.

The year 6 team.

Monday 29 September 2014

Day of European languages

Mme Baikie would like to say:

Merci beaucoup à Madame Morris et à Madame McGaw pour avoir accompagné les enfants en Polynésie et Madagascar. Merci à Mme Wellham qui ont préparé le travail pour Elm et àMme McGaw pour préparé le travail pour Elder.


Madame Baikie

Friday 26 September 2014

Citizens in action

Yesterday was the long awaited polling day at Crabtree.

Mrs Clements had arranged for us to borrow the polling booths that are used for local and general elections so that we could get a real taste of what going to vote was like. Each booth had a list of candidates names and everyone had a voting slip to complete.

We folded our voting slips in half and posted them into a box for counting.

 
Which box should I tick?
Decisions, decisions!

Deep in thought.


Look out for this week's newsletter with the all important results.

Joella's Blog


So far I have loved the beginning of year six. One of my favourite activities we have done is probably going to the Royal Air Force Museum (R A F). It was fantastic getting a chance to look at all of the planes and go somewhere I have never been before.

Also we have had a chance to do even more art lessons which we did not get to do much of in year 5. Plus we have a chance to take on even bigger responsibilities such as Head girl, sports captains and peer mediators.

Beth's Blog


I must admit that Year 6 was much different to my head’s random ideas. It was pretty stressful but not as much as I thought it might be. I have most enjoyed the excitement of a new beginning. New homework diary, harder work, word book, your own folder everything is better (except more homework of course)! To begin our new topic; terrifically we visited RAF Hendon, the Royal Air Force museum. I have to say, I’m sure I’m not the one who enjoyed it the most as halfway through I had to be collected by my Dad after hurting my leg climbing out of a plane! After our trip, I’m sure we all knew a lot more about WW2 because of the many intruiging planes and the interesting timeline.
Obviously, one of our biggest events was choosing all of the sport captains and head boy and girl and also school councillers. All of Year 6 agree it feels great to have a big responsibility – especially voted for or chosen by Miss Thomas.

 I feel it is better having 3 or 4 groups for the main subjects because it gives everyone a chance and I like the way they have done a reading group as well. We all were missing PE in the holidays with Miss Thomas and now all the clubs are up and running again it feels like Crabtree once more. There have been a lot of changes encluding a new PE teacher Mrs Moxham for indoor PE. We are doing more art and music this year which some people are very happy about. All of the teachers are nice so I think we are happy about that.

 It’s hard to believe we're in year 6 and in one year we will be heading off to a new school, where ever we go? And it  doesn’t feel like we’ve been here for a month, but I am really looking forward to this year. Especially English and PE…

Monday 22 September 2014

Life continues a pace in year 6.

This week we are finishing off our work on biographies with children either writing about Roald Dahl or a sports personality of their choice.

Following our trip to Hendon the children are really beginning to get their teeth into their World War II topic. Some children have brought in the most amazing artifacts and we look forward to sharing all of those soon.

By the end of this week we should be able to announce the many positions of responsibility that the children in year 6 hold- children will find these out in the achievement assembly on Friday. Elections for various positions take place across the school on Thursday when we have been fortunate enough to secure the use of the polling booths many of you use on local election days- a real experience for our young voters. A big thank you to all who have put themselves forward for these.

Spellings this week are all linked to adding -ing to verbs. Children should have brought home their list  today. Tests will be on Friday.

On Wednesday we look forward to the follow up work shops by the NSPCC who delivered an assembly to years 5 and 6 a few weeks ago. Each of the year 6 classes will have a session in the afternoon.

Friday is the day when Crabtree will be celebrating the European Day of Languages. With support from Mme Baikie all the children in year 6 will be spending the afternoon researching facts about a French speaking country- it may not actually be in Europe, but will have French as the main spoken language. Remember to ask your children all about it on Friday when they come home.

Musical activities began in earnest this week with choir and orchestra restarting. We are always open to new members for both so if there are any budding musicians who thus far haven't felt confident enough to join our school orchestra please speak top Mrs Doran or Mr Bishop about giving it a go.

The Year 6 Team

Tuesday 9 September 2014

Spellings


Your children have worked on these spelling rules in class during the week. They will be tested on their spelling lists on Friday, in addition there will be some mystery words that follow the rules learnt, but that are not on the list of given words. This is to ensure that children have learnt and can apply the rules covered.

This week's spelling rules are all linked to plurals:

Rule 1
Add an 's' to the end of the word.
Examples: one book - lots of books
one car - lots of cars

Rule 2
Add 'es' to words that end with a hissing or buzzing sound.
Examples: bus - buses,  wish - wishes,
                        patch - patches, tax - taxes


Rule 3
Words ending in vowel + y, add an 's'
Examples: day - days, key - keys
                        boy - boys


Rule 4
Words ending in consonant + y, change y to i and add 'es'
Examples: lady - ladies, puppy - puppies
                        spy - spies

The year 6 team

Head Boy and Head Girl Presentations


Head Boy and Head Girl Specification


The Head Boy and Head Girl will work with the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher in the following ways:

·         to show Visitors around the school

·         to take part in or organise and lead whole school assemblies – twice termly

·         to help with the timetabling of the activity trail and the use of playground equipment

·         to ‘man’ the school telephone during lunch break – twice weekly

·         to co-ordinate the writing of ‘match’ requests for the weekly newsletter – when appropriate

·         to award points for lining up after lunch break – twice weekly

·         to prepare the agenda and help ‘chair’ school council meetings – once every ½ term

·         to provide a summary of school council achievements in the school magazine – termly

·         to organise and update the pupil information board – when necessary



Person Specification


The types of qualities we expect of our Head boy and girl include that they should be:                 


·         responsible
·         organised
·         motivated
·         good time management
·         reliable
·         caring
·         offers to help
·         sees solutions not problems

 
Relationships:

·         able to work as part of a team
·         can work with both pupils and adults
·         can motivate other

 
Remember that you will be expected to be a role model for the rest of the school.  To apply you should let your class teacher know that you are interested in the position and have your 3 minute presentations ready for Monday.  You will then show these to your class and the successful pupils will show their presentations to the rest of the school.
On Thursday 25th September we will be having a polling station in the hall for the whole school to vote.  The successful candidates will find out in achievement assembly on Friday 26th September.

Good luck!

Saturday 6 September 2014

Welcome to year 6!

We have had a fantastic first three days in Elm and Elder.  The children have made an excellent start to year 6 - their positive attitude and enthusiasm has really shone through already.

We have been working in our class groups this week and have completed some story writing work - reviewing all that the children have learnt during their time at Crabtree about writing engaging and imaginative stories.

Thank you to you all for assisting the children with their holiday homework.  We have very much enjoyed reading the interviews and reports that the children have produced about WW2.  The range of people that the children have interviewed is extremely impressive and as a result the knowledge with which the children start our topic is extensive - we will certainly be kept on our toes during topic lessons this term!

Next week we begin our first literacy unit which focuses on autobiographical writing.  We will start the week looking at a selection of autobiographies and then the children will begin to compile a plan for writing their own autobiography.  The children's homework this weekend is to collect some items in a box (shoebox size is fine) which will help them to compile their autobiography.  Each child should have brought details of this task home with them this evening.

We are very much looking forward to our first year group trip to Hendon on Thursday next week.  The children should arrive in school at normal time dressed as an evacuee.  We will travel to Hendon by coach and return by 3.30pm (you will be updated by text message as to our likely return time by the office).  The children will need a packed lunch - no fizzy drinks, sweets or chocolate please.

We will be holding our 'Meet the Teacher' presentation after school on Friday.  Please come along and hopefully we will be able to answer any questions that you have about the year ahead.

Have a lovely weekend

The year 6 team. 

Wednesday 23 July 2014

And finally...

A huge thank you to all the very generous parents and children for the amazing array of gifts that we have received over the last few days.

We wish all our children and their families a brilliant summer wherever you may be and all the very best to our year 6 as they become year 7 in September.

Just to end with the fantastic cakes baked this morning for our classes- thanks Mr. Jones!




Good luck in the future.

From All The Year 6 Team:

Mrs Doran, Mrs Wellham, Mrs Carter, Mrs Morris, Mrs Buckman, Mrs Turnball, Mrs Granger, Mme Baikie, Miss Thomas and Mrs McGaw

Saturday 19 July 2014

The Final Curtain

As we draw close to the end of year 6 there is still lots to do- the leavers' party may have come and gone- the hoodies and leavers' books have been handed out, a few children have already flown the Crabtree nest, but there is one last event in the calendar.

Monday afternoon and evening sees the last opportunity for all of your children to share their talents in the form of the Leaver's Concert.

Children should be in school by 6:45 p.m., no earlier than 6:30 p.m please.
The concert will start at 7:00 p. m. as stated in the letter brought home on the 11th July. No tickets are required. Two seats per family will be available- no siblings please- junior aged children will have watched the dress rehearsal in the afternoon.
The hall will be arranged with tables for you to group yourselves around and we hope that a  relaxed atmosphere will make this last event at Crabtree an enjoyable one for both you and the children.
School will be providing nibbles, but please feel free to bring along something to sip whilst your offspring amaze you with just how much their confidence has grown during their time in school.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

The year 6 team.

Friday 4 July 2014

Our gallery and theatre trip details

What a wonderful gallery!

Thank you to everyone who attended our gallery show in year 6 this evening.  It was lovely to see the children sharing their artwork with each other and you.

Next week promises to be another busy one for year 6.  We have our theatre trip on Tuesday, followed by sports day on Wednesday and the children will visit their new secondary schools on Thursday.

We thought it might be useful to let you have some details about the theatre trip today. 

Timings:

The children should all arrive at school at normal time on Tuesday and register with their class in the normal way.  We will then leave school during the morning and travel to London's Regent's Park by coach.  Our plan is to spend the morning playing games in the park, followed by a picnic lunch and the theatre (Twelfth Night) in the afternoon.  The coach will pick us up from Regent's Park at about 3.30pm and we will aim to be back at school for 5pm.  Please note that we are very dependent upon traffic conditions on the roads coming out of London and therefore our return time at school could change.  If this is likely to be the case, we will contact the school and you will be alerted by text in the normal way.

What to bring:

All of the children should bring a backpack containing their lunch (in a plastic bag - which can be thrown away after lunch), plenty to drink (no fizzy drinks please) and a lightweight waterproof coat.  If the weather is looking fine then a small tube of sun cream and a sun hat may also be advisable.

Have a lovely weekend!

The Year 6 team

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Nearly there...

A few days work and our year 6 masterpiece is nearly complete...


Isn't it brilliant?

Make sure you pop in to see the completed version on open evening!

Monday 30 June 2014

More...


So much to share I ran out of page!

Once our busy morning was done we started on our next project- the creation, with a lot of help from Liz Sergeant, of a new mural to decorate the corridor outside Elder's classroom.

A real legacy- each child in year 6 will have the opportunity to paint some part of the journey in topic form through Crabtree Junior School. Please do make sure you come and see the finished masterpiece on open evening. Meanwhile, here's a taster of what they have been up to...





Well ,this week just like all the others in year 6 has started at quite a pace.

This morning we were visited by the Spring Board East Workshop Company who took us on a whirlwind tour through British history. By the end of our 900 year journey we had learnt all about the development of our country's democracy and government. An fascinating and highly educational experience.
Children then participated in two separate workshops- a drama session to get an insight into life as a poor victorian child working in the coal mines and a craft session to create a poster for campaigning for equal voting rights for women- very enlightening for some!
Below are some of the posters we created:


 

Thursday 19 June 2014

Multicultural Week

Having spent a quiet weekend recovering from their Isle of Wight adventures the children were thrown in to a week of discovering what life in Brazil is like this week. Yes, there is more to Brazil than football!

We began the week by considering some of the geography connected with Brazil, including which continent it is found within and, linking very smoothly with the new topic in year 6 of rainforests and deserts, all about the Amazonian rainforest.
Throughout the week we have made masks and head dresses for our Crabtree Carnival on Friday afternoon. We have been lucky enough to have music and dance workshops where the children have experienced samba dancing and drumming alongside other traditional Brazilian instruments.

Liz Sargent and her colleague came in to work with both classes on some pieces of art, based on the theme of Matisse. The children used cut outs to create their own carnival linked pictures where they endeavoured to capture the essence of carnival through shape and colour. These will be available for you to view later in the term.

We will end our week with what has become the traditional Crabtree picnic on the field, weather allowing, and what we hope will be a spectacular Crabtree Carnival in the sunshine.
We look forward to seeing many of you there on Friday afternoon.

The Year 6 Team

Thursday 12 June 2014

Very jealous!

Just spoken to Mr Pattrick and they are just coming out of the aquarium and the sun is shining.  I'm not sure who is having more fun - the adults or the children!  It will be nice to see them come back tomorrow!

Will keep everyone posted on arrival times etc.  So keep an eye on the blog tomorrow :)

Enjoy your last evening of peace and quiet!

Mrs Clements

A Quiet night at last!

An update from Mrs Doran....

A very quiet night last night - a trip to the model village always a great place to discover the more quirky side of life in the Isle of Wight. Then off to the park for lunch and a play. This was followed by the Dinosaur Isle. From the outside it has the appearance of a pteradactyl - one we have spent all week gazing at from our beach. Inside the children thought they were in a regular museum until round a corner they suddenly came across a computer controlled velociraptor - much fun and growling - from the dinosaur not the children!
This was followed by a fossil hunt on the beach - 125 million year old wood and bits of dinosaur bone were discovered and everyone, adults included went home for tea happy
As if that wasn't enough in a day we then piled onto the coach for the short trip to the Waltzing Waters. An amazing display of what can really only be described as water fireworks ensued keeping children and adults alike totally enthralled.
No wonder they all slept well!
Awoke this morning to another glorious day- walking along the sea front this morning and then over to Fort Victoria for the aquarium and Sunken Treasure Centre.
See you all tomorrow afternoon!


It sounds like Charlie S must have had a great birthday yesterday!  We look forward to welcoming Year 6 home tomorrow.

Enjoy ANOTHER sunny day.

Mrs Clements

Wednesday 11 June 2014

The sun is shining!

An update from Mrs Doran....

Good morning.
A much quieter night and later morning today after the miles walked yesterday.
A very pleasant day spent at Osborne House. A tour of the house when our children made us very proud of both Thais behaviour and the questions they asked as they went round. Some time spent in the education room shopping in the Victorian shop and dressing up as princes and princesses.
The newly opened and updated Swiss Cottage had all the children wishing they could have a play house of similar proportions - be warned Dads!
A final walk down to Queen Victoria's private beach and ice cream overlooking a very sunny Solent ended our day at Osborne.
The evening was pur sand castle competition and there were some amazing creations as sharks, seals, horses and rowing boats took over the beach at Shanklin.
Today we celebrate Charlie's birthday and head off to explore the model village and hunt for dinosaurs!


Sounds like they are having a wonderful time!  When I spoke to Mr Pattrick this morning he mentioned that they were all asleep by 10 last night as they have been so busy.  The photo I was sent last night made me very jealous....



Hope you're not missing your cherubs too much.
Mrs Clements

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Hello from the Isle of Wight

Just a quick note from Mrs Doran and Mr Pattrick...

Morning All! A relatively quiet last night (by 11:30 all were asleep) with a rather early start at Mrs Doran's end of the hotel.  Bright and sunny this morning this morning with clear blue  skies - when I spoke to Mr Pattrick they were already down on the beach.  Off to Osbourne house for the day today, leaving in around 15 minutes.  Last night children "swam" in the sea and ran off energies playing football and rugby.  Amazing how immune children are to cold water!

Sounds like the children and the adults(!) are all enjoying themselves!

Hope you all have a good day!  Enjoy the weather.

Mrs Clements

Sunday 8 June 2014

Quick reminders

What a glorious day this has turned into!

On that note- having watched the long range weather forecast this lunchtime it does, at the moment, look warm, dry and settled for the week ahead. Now whilst this is England and we all know that it could change at any time I felt this would be a good time to remind for you all for the last time about the importance of sun hats, sun cream and water bottles.

Although the days look set to be warm we will be down on the beach into the evening so please make sure old, warmer clothing is also packed for playing in  the sand and possibly the smaller waves- nothing above knee height, that's as deep as I am prepared to go in the cold waters of the Channel!

On the topic of pocket money- please pack some of your child's money in their suitcase, if they only have the daily amount for tomorrow in their rucksack then there is no chance of them losing their spending money for the whole week in one go. Named purses and wallets please.

If your child is desperate to sport their leavers hoodie whilst away do make sure it is clearly named- they are all identical and mainly one size!
It will be great to see year 6 in their newly designed and decorated t-shirts for the journey.

We look forward to seeing you all from 8 a.m. tomorrow with a departure time of 8:30 a.m. so early to bed and see you bright and early in the morning- that's not just for the adults accompanying us!

Mrs Doran

Thursday 5 June 2014

First week back

Another busy week is drawing to a close.

Yesterday saw Elm's first aid training, tomorrow it is Elder's turn to learn how to apply basic first aid in an emergency situation, a really interesting session which leaves the children with skills they will have for life.

Today a very enjoyable afternoon was spent out on the field whilst virtually the whole of crabtree Juniors was involved in our very own Football World Cup competition. It really is a fantastic side of Crabtree- teams of players, organised by their year 6 captains, refereed by year 6 and the majority of the school playing at some point during the afternoon for their 'home country'. We await the results tomorrow with anticipation.

Looking ahead to next week we are getting very excited about our departure to the sunny shores (we hope) of the Isle of Wight.
Below is a copy of the kit list sent out earlier in case it has gone astray.

Children in Elder have today brought home a luggage label, Elm will get theirs tomorrow. This needs to be attached either to their suitcase or rucksack.
Please remember to ensure that your child has a strong water bottle, a sun hat, a packed lunch for the first day and a snack for the afternoon on that first day to eat on the ferry crossing.

I have been in touch with the coach company and unfortunately there will not be a DVD player on this coach so the children have been told to bring something, non electrical, to entertain themselves with on the journey.
It just remains for me to wish you all a happy weekend and a quiet week, next week. See you all bright and early for our 8:30 departure on Monday morning.

Mrs Doran

KIT LIST – Isle of Wight 2014

 ¨            A holdall or a small suitcase which you child will be able to carry from the coach to the hotel (there are some steps!)
¨            A backpack or rucksack to hold packed lunch; sketch pad; drink bottle etc on day visits.
¨            2 pairs trousers (beware new jeans can chafe when walking)
¨            Tracksuit or joggers and sweatshirt
¨            Shorts
¨            Sufficient T-shirts; socks and underwear for five days
¨            Sturdy coat preferably waterproof (with hood if possible)
¨            Sun hat/baseball cap
¨            Swimming costume/trunks and towel (for paddling!)
¨            A warm sweater
¨            Good, supporting trainers or shoes for walks - not plimsolls or canvas shoes or heeled shoes.  (We have found that it is inadequate socks and canvas shoes that lead to blisters.)
¨            Additional footwear and indoor wear
¨            Pyjamas
¨            Cuddly toy
¨            Large and small towel; toiletries; sun cream
¨            Shower cap – for children with long hair
¨            A plastic bin bag or similar to isolate dirty laundry!
¨            Book; magazine; travel games (no personal CD players/DS etc/MP3/iPod)
¨            A camera if you wish (a disposable camera may be more suitable)
¨            A purse or money belt
¨            A 500ml drink bottle named with waterproof pen; preferably more robust than a small soft drink or   mineral water bottle.
¨            A stamped (1st class) and addressed postcard for your child to write home
¨            Pencil case, pens etc as usually used in school
¨            A5 sketch pad (this is used for sketching and note-taking through week - card backing saves having to take clipboards and this size fits well into backpacks).

Friday 23 May 2014

A quick note

Just a short final blog of the half term.

Just to let any parents who were unable to make the meeting on Monday 19th May about school journey know that all the information was included in the e mail sent out to you earlier this week. I was going to put it on the blog, but it proved too long for one publication!

On the subject of homework- enjoy a free week! Having worked so hard towards and during the SATs week we decided it was only fair for year 6 to have bit of time off from homework- it will restart  after half term.

Have a happy half term.
The year 6 team

Friday 16 May 2014

And finished!

What a week!

Tired, but elated year 6 relaxed in the hall to some very calming music and then descended on the front garden for their long awaited picnic.
Thankfully, the sun shone and everyone enjoyed eating al fresco with the added bonus of a slice of pizza courtesy of Crabtree, Mr Pattrick and Pizza Express!

Alongside the picnic, there was a game of charades in our outdoor theatre and a very purposeful group of parents took photos for the year book. A huge thanks to them for all their work in organising the end of year events and momentoes.

See below for some pictures of the day...





 


 

 

 

Thursday 15 May 2014

One day to go...

Well it's the end of another day packed full of hard working year 6 children. Today saw the end of the maths papers- very fair papers across the board and the children, over the last two days, have really set to and given it their all.
Everyone was very relieved to get to lunch time today when those children who had sat the additional two level 6 papers after break this morning gave themselves a round of applause and had a level 6 treat!

Tomorrow brings the final round when science is the subject of the day. These last two papers are marked internally, but the children, I am sure will continue to give it their full attention.

After the science papers have been completed tomorrow we shall be having a short relaxation time when Mrs Wheeler, one of our amazing team of teaching assistants within the school, will be leading the session to help the children unwind- hopefully providing them with some techniques they can use in the future. The children have been told today to bring in a small cushion for this activity.
Following the relaxation everyone will be going out into the garden for what promises to be a sunny year 6 picnic- a calm and enjoyable end to a very busy week.

W are all immensely proud of how the children have risen to the challenge of this week and whatever the outcome, we are certain that the children have done their best.

Looking ahead to the weekend. Let's hope that the sunshine remains and that everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable time.

A very proud year 6 team!

Tuesday 13 May 2014

The second day is done!

Another day completed! 

Today the children completed the grammar, punctuation and spelling tests.  Once again, the children impressed everyone in the school with their conscientious approach to the tests and we are sure that they all performed to the very best of their ability.  

As you know we are completing some light-hearted activities in the afternoons this week.  We hope that this is helping the children to relax and that they are enjoying spending time with each other (and us).  We are certainly enjoying it!  This afternoon the children had PE and French.  Tomorrow afternoon we will begin designing our T-shirts for the Isle of Wight trip.

Take care

The year 6 team





Monday 12 May 2014

One down!

Well, the first day of SATs is over and the children worked really hard. We felt that the reading test was a fair paper but, in its new format, quite challenging to complete to time.
We hope that the children all feel that they did their best .

We know that this week can be stressful, more so for some than others. Some ways in which you can help your child is by ensuring that they do not get over tired as the week progresses- early nights, a good breakfast before they come to school, a snack for break time even if they do not normally do so and a bottle of water in case they want a drink during any test.

We know that the children have all worked extremely hard throughout the year and they are all well and truly ready for whatever the rest of week's papers brings. It's now up to the children to do themselves proud and show off what they can do.
Good luck for the rest of the week!

Lastly, a reminder that Friday is our picnic lunch day. To celebrate the end of all their hard work the children will be having a picnic lunch in the front garden- weather permitting, and the forecast is set fair at the moment.

The Year 6 Team

Sunday 11 May 2014

SATs week is now upon us

Good evening

We hope that you have all had a happy and restful weekend. 

You will have seen the timetable for the SATs tests in last week's blog.  In order to ensure that all tests can take place before lunch (and therefore enable all children to relax in the afternoons) we will need to start our first test at 9.10am each morning.  This means that we will be particularly keen for the children to arrive in class promptly at 8.50am each day!  This will allow us sufficient time to ensure that everyone is settled and ready to begin on time.

We have been asked to remind parents that the children will be having their photograph taken for the yearbook on Friday afternoon.

Finally, don't forget to send in a white/pale t-shirt for your child to decorate this week.  If at all possible t-shirts should be in school tomorrow.

We look forward to seeing the children tomorrow morning.

The year 6 team.    

Friday 2 May 2014

Latest update

Another busy week with everyone working extremely hard.

As we move closer to the annual SATs week we would like to update you on the format for the weeks ahead.
Today the children should have brought home a letter detailing the time table for the week beginning the 12th May. We have tried to arrange the timetable so that all the children have completed their tests by lunch time each day in order for the afternoons to be more relaxed with some fun activities. As you can see from the time table there will be more PE sessions that week so children need to make sure that they have their kit in school every day.


Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Registration
Silent reading
Registration
Silent reading
Registration
Silent reading
Registration
Silent reading
Registration
Silent reading
Level 3-5 Reading Paper
Level 3-5 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Test
Level 3-5 Maths Paper A
Level 3-5 Maths Paper B
Science
Paper A
Break
Break
Break
Break
Break
Level 6 reading Paper
Level 6 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Test
Mental Maths
Level 6 Maths Papers 1 and 2
Science Paper B
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Picnic
PE
Music
French/ PE
Art
PE
Art
Art
Reward Time

One of the art activities is creating their own T-shirt to wear on school journey and possibly in their leaving assembly at the end of the year.
These can be white or coloured, but do need to be pale in colour or the pens and fabric crayons won't show up. We would prefer them to have a short sleeve rather than a vest top so that if it is hot and sunny on our trip to the Isle Of Wight then shoulders are covered while we are ouside all day.
If there is a problem with providing a T-shirt then please speak to your child's class teacher. Children should bring the shirt they are going to use into school on Monday 12th May.

Along with the other letters that came home today is one about cycling proficiency. We do have to let the people who run this activity know definite numbers before half term so please ensure that replies are brought into school as soon as possible.

Children also brought home a letter about the trip to the Isle of Wight today. We will be talking to them about everything during school days, but please do come along to the talk on Monday 19th May, in Elder, when Mrs Doran will be talking all about the exciting activities planned.

Let's hope that the long weekend is a sunny one. See you all on Tuesday.

The year 6 team