6K

WB 13th June 2022

We have stepped back into time this week and slipped into the shoes of an evacuee this week. Learning that the range of experiences for evacuees was vast, ranging from experience apple-picking for the first time, to being locked away in a cupboard for most of the duration, the children “met” 30 evacuees and learnt about their experiences during evacuation. Referring to their knowledge of diaries following the Anne Frank unit, the children then made their own diaries about their experiences.

WB 6th June 2022

On Thursday, 6K had a final Road Safety Awareness Walk to prepare them for the independence they will have when they begin secondary school. The children were given a lot of information, which they were able to put into practice as they took a walk around the local area. They learnt about: recent changes in the Highway Code, and how this impacts them as pedestrians; best places to cross a road (either where there is a big open space, or in between two parked cars); how to cross a road safely; dangers of paths and driveways and how to read the signs on lights in moving cars. Having discussed the importance of being vigilant on roads, we hope that today is a step closer to the children being more independent citizens.

WB 16th May 2022

In 6K this week, we have been learning about The Blitz. The children learnt that “Blitz” is the German word for 'lightning' and learnt about how the scale of the attack escalated so quickly. Using a variety of sources, they learnt about the sheer devastation that the attacks caused as 5,300 tonnes of high explosives plummeted down onto the capital in just 24 nights. Looking at maps showing the bombing, the children learnt about a bomb that landed very close to our school. The children have begun writing newspaper articles, pretending to be journalists reporting on the destruction caused over many landmarks that they are familiar with today:

WB 9th May 2022

As you all know, Year 6 have had to knuckle down and show off what they have learnt in their entire time in primary education and over the past months in Year 6 in their national tests - SATs. They have made us all at Dilkes Academy proud with their performance. It’s fair to say that apprehension and excitement have gone hand in hand this week. Let’s not forget how much Year 6 have enjoyed their start to the day in SATs Breakfast Club organized especially for them where pupils and staff have had fun and kept the positive vibe going.

WB 3rd May 2022

In science this week, the children in 6K have been learning about where invisible bacteria hides! Having chosen spots to test around the classroom (tables, door handles, floors, hands etc) the children set up a controlled experiment - ensuring it was a fair test all along - and rubbed bread on the test surfaces. Over the coming weeks, the children will be observing the bread to see which surface contained the most bacteria. They will even find that each surface has a different type of bacteria! It may be a great experiment to set up at home too:

WB 25th April 2022

This week, we were delighted with the DHL workshop where the children learnt about how to be more aware of the dangers of these giant automobiles! Having learnt that they can carry the weight of up to 11 elephants (that’s 44 tonnes!), the children found out that it would take a truck of this size 10 football pitches to be able to stop when travelling at a speed of 52 mph! The children were quizzed on their understanding of blind-spots, and their theories were taken to the test with a game of hide and seek around the truck - children were certainly surprised with how many blind-spots there need to be aware of in order to stay safe on the road! Then it came to the sound test: one child was lucky enough to seat himself comfortably in the cab, whilst the 29 remaining children SCREAMED the word ‘STOP!’ To everyone’s amazement, due to the interior insulation, the child in the cab DID NOT HEAR A SOUND! Now there’s food for thought when walking or cycling alongside a truck as a pedestrian!

WB 19th April 2022

6K have been learning about classification: the process of grouping together plants, animals, organisms (or indeed any object) to help to identify its name by its characteristics and features. What better way to learn how to make a key than using sweets! The children were enticed with a platter of sweets, which they looked at, to observe the similarities and differences by categorising into a key. Using a series of “yes” and “no” questions, the children whittled down the similarities to put each sweet into its own sub-category. Next week, we will take this learning forward to help us classify plants and animals (unfortunately, this time, there will not be real animals to classify!)

In PSHE this week, the children have been learning about the importance of managing money and the risks associated with it. Having already learnt about where money comes from, the importance of saving and budgeting and achieving value for money in previous lessons, the children looked more closely into the role of clever advertisement, spending more than saving and what can go wrong when it comes to being in charge of their own money! Hopefully, this unit will create young adults who are aware of how to manage their money well!

The children in 6K became hugely competitive this week as they practiced their grammar skills on Kahoot in the ICT Suite. Eager to get onto “the podium,” the children recalled grammatical terminology, sentence structure and word forms as they competed with one another to be the most accurate and quick! Next week, we will be having another Kahoot! Quiz; this time, rehearsing arithmetic. This is definitely a recommended interactive quiz to try and test at home too! 

In History, the children in Year 6 have been learning about the stark differences in ways of life across the Victorian society. Depending on whether they were fortunate enough to born into a wealthy family, or, indeed raised in poverty, the children learnt that life was very different for rich and poor children in the Victorian Era.

Using a range of sources, children researched jobs and labour that poor children were forced to endure, and learnt about the day in the life of a fortunate, richer Victorian child too. The children then shared their new learning by role-playing and getting into character as a rich and poor Victorian child. Having considered dialect, accent, times of the day and their life aspirations, the children truly did sound very convincing! We definitely have some budding actors in the making! To consolidate their understanding, the children then stayed in role and went on to write a diary entry as a poor Victorian chimney-sweeper; there were some very compelling entries!