Thomas Willingale School and Nursery
Spring Term
Weeks of 18 and 25.03.2024
Our final week and a half of term have been as busy as ever. In Maths, we have finished off our Measure unit by looking at units of time as well as imperial and metric measures. We have learned that 5 miles = 8 kilometres. Work has continued with perimeter and area and after the Easter holidays, we will be looking at the volume of 3D shapes.
We have continued with more writing in English, this time a newspaper report about the opening of The Statue of Liberty in 1886. It has been fascinating learning about this iconic statue and being reporters of the event!
We are coming close to the end of this term's fascinating topic: North America and so we got to design and make our very own Dreamcatchers. They are amazing and the children showed much patience as they made them.
It's hard to believe that this is the end of Spring Term...we finished in style with a Teachers v Children Handball match today - it's great to see comeptition is alive and well, as much in the adults, as in the kids!!
Let's hope the weather gets warmer as the days get longer and we all wish you a wonderful Easter break.
Teachers v Kids in Handball
Making our Dreamcatchers
Week of 11.03.2024
This week was assessment week: tests in maths and English with an opportunity to try our best and improve on our previous scaled scores. We all did really well, had a growth mindset and tried our very best. Once the tests were over, we enjoyed improving our netball skills in PE.
Our girls football team had their first match, against Hereward, on Thursday. We were beaten 3-1 but the score doesn’t reflect the closeness of the game. The boys had a match against Waltham Holy Cross on Friday snd again, the score of 6-1 did not regret the guts and commitment shown.
Another great week in school, back for more next week!
Week of 4.03.2024
Maths this week saw us looking at measure and revising the different units for length, mass and volume. We have been busy converting from one unit to another and this will continue next week as we look at measures of time.
In English, we have been building up to and planning our stories: Native American myths. Well, we finally got to get writing this week and have really enjoyed this task. Our stories are quest stories and include lots of adventure.
No two weeks are the same in school, the excitement this week was of course, World Book Day!!!! With the theme of bedtime stories, we all dressed in pyjamas, got cosy, built dens, drank hot chocolate and made bookmarks. More than anything else, we celebrated books, our love of reading and we went to read with the nursery children…such fun!
Friday was International Women’s Day and Get Girls into Football Day so many of us girls were on the field at lunchtime, playing football and having lots of fun! A wonderful way to celebrate an important day.
Another fantastic week!
World Book Day
Reading with the Nursery Children
International Women’s Day Football!
Week of 26.02.24
So, here we are, our first week back and in Poplar Class, we welcomed Salwa, our new starter.
Maths this week saw us learning about ratio and proportion: we did lots of active maths, looking at the ratio for example of glasses wearers to non glasses wearers. Later in the week, we looked at this as a proportion.
In English, we have started to plan our Native American myths, building our characters and setting and deciding on our protagonists’ quests. We cannot wait to watch these stories unfold next week.
We began a new topic in science:light and we made real life models of how we see, enjoy the photos!
A busy week, as always. Enjoy the weekend everyone.
Ratio and Proportion
Here is the presentation we used for the SATs Information meeting.
Week of 12.02.24
Well, here we are, our final week of this half term! The business continues with, as always, a sprinkle of fun!
The Maths fun this week was an exciting Zoom on Valentine's Day with a Maths professor - Nira Chamberlain- and he gave us a fantastic insight into the problem solving skills he uses every day, all around the world. His biggest Maths challenge took 10 years to solve!! In class, we have continued working on algebra, looking at number sequences and finding the nth term - everyone rose to the challenge and worked so hard. We're looking forward to more new Year 6 learning after half-term: ratio and proportion.
The fun in English this week was the opportunity to present our poems - we wrote free verse poems about the Native Americans, using lots of figurative speech and then had the opportunity to recite our poems. Some of us gave Oscar winning performances!
As if that wasn't enough, we ended the week with a wonderful visit from a French Theatre company. Le show was interactive and great fun, just look at the photos!
So, that's it, another half done, have a great break everyone.
French Theatre Fun!
For the love of Maths
Week of 5.02.2024
The busy weeks just continue! The maths highlight this week was exciting new learning: algebra! We looked at the history of the subject (Arabic) and started to get to grips with simple formulae and many possibilities. More algebraic fun to look forward to next week.
We have continued our research into Native American history, focusing on Pocahontas. Not just a Disney character, we have learned about the girl from the Powhatan tribe, how she married an English settler and even came to England and met the King. Did you know that she’s buried in Gravesend, in Kent?
It’s been a busy week for visits too, MIND were here on Wednesday for Children’s Mental Health Week. It was an excellent session about expressing ourselves and we did a mindful body scan.
Then, on Thursday, British Transport Police paid us a visit with excellent information about how to keep ourselves safe on the transport network.
Our final week next week before half term and lots to look forward to, including a French Theatre Group visit!
MIND Session
British Transport Police
Week of 29.01.2024
What a busy week and a new month to boot! We have been testing in Year 6 and as always, the children have shown great resilience and determination - well done to all.
Music was fantastic this week because the children had instruments and had to create some music of their won with ostinato - this means a repeated rhythm. Some of what was created was truly brilliant - we were all very impressed.
Friday was THE BUSIEST DAY EVER! It was Number Day, Handball for some and an Obstacle Course on the field for all! The sun shone, children tried their best and we all had a super time.
Before the obstacle course, we joined forces with Year 1 and we all did the Number Day Do Its on the playground together - it was wonderful to see the Year 6s being so caring and the Year 1s loved it.
In class for Number Day, we played board games, made our own games, designed Maths t-shirts and played a really great Maths Bingo which promoted conversation.
Another great Number Day for the NSPCC and another great week in Year 6.
Sadly though, we had to say goodbye to Jia Yi. She’s moving to Chepstow and we wish her and her family well, we will miss her.
Number Day Fun
Obstacle Course
Week of 22.01.2024
Another week that seems to have flown by. A bust week in maths, focusing on coordinates and translating and reflecting shapes. Lots of new skills this week, as well as new learning with the mean: an average or norm of data.
Our learning of North America has shifted from geography to history and looking at the indigenous people:the Native Americans. It’s been a fascinating journey so far and we finished the week with some research about dreamcatchers. We look forward to writing and explanation text about them next week and then making our own dreamcatchers soon too!
Our poems, in the style of The Highwayman, are now on display in the year 6 corridor; they all look fabulous, interspersed with our artwork which was also inspired by the poem.
The Highwayman Displays
Week of 15.01.2024
Our Maths work has continued this week with percentages and knowing that a percentage is a part of a whole and links to fractions and decimals. We have been finding percentages of amounts and exploring different ways of working this out.
In English, we have begun our new topic: North America and this is much more geography based for now. We have been looking at the different countries that make up this continent - in fact, did you know that it is comprised of 23 countries? North America is the 3rd largest of our 7 continents and Canada is its largest country. We have looked in more detail at the USA, having fun listing its 50 states. Finally, we have looked at some of the similarities and differences between the USA and the UK.
In PE, we have been building on our gymnastics from Year 5, this week focusing on rolling: the log roll, egg roll, forward roll and teddy bear roll.
Enjoy some photos from our Science lessons - we were building electrical circuits and investigating the impact of adding more components (bulbs and buzzers).
Week of 8.01.2024
Our first full week back and what a busy week we have all had.
Maths has been challenging: learning our fraction, decimal and percentage equivalents. Lots of Loop Games to help with fluency and we will use this to help us calculate a fraction of an amount next week.
In English, we continued our work on The Highwayman and added some drama to the mix - we did some freeze frames of each verse. This allowed us to put ourselves in the different characters' shoes, ready to write our own poems back on this classic one.
Art tied in nicely, as we created some pencil and charcoal images of different scenes from the famous, illustrated version of the poem. They will make an amazing display with our finished poems.
We looked at circuits in Science, recapping Year 4 learning, creating a glossary of circuit symbols and drawing our own circuits. We look forward to getting the electricity circuit equipment out next week, planning our own circuit and then building it.
Have a great weekend everyone and see you next week.
Drama Freeze Frames
The Highwayman Art
Week of 1.01.2024
Happy New Year from all in Year 6!
