Friday 4th April
What an amazing week we have had for "Stemrichment week", and I can safely say we are all finishing
feeling inspired and enthused by all things Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths! Throughout the week, we have completed a wide range of activities, including team challenges where we had to create a structure to protect an egg being dropped from a height, exploring 3D printers with the STEM teacher, Mr Runciman, from Thorp Academy, chatted live with scientists online about all things climate change, visited a planetarium from Kielder observatory (in our school hall!) and had a visit from Mercedes with some incredibly cool cars. It has been great to see the enthusiasm and joy shown by the children, and also interesting to hear many talk about the possibilities of STEM based career, and apprenticeships, which they may not have considered, or even known about before. Enjoy looking over the photos of a fantastic week.
Friday 28th March
Over the past half term, some of the Year 6 children have been working incredibly hard in PE, and a series of after school dance sessions to prepare for this year's dance festival at The Glasshouse, organised by the Gateshead School Sports Partnership. This year's theme was "Respect", and our wonderful dancers, along with guidance from the wonderful Miss Rochester and Mrs Ward, created an amazing routine based on music from The Lion King. At Emmaville we understand the importance of respecting our planet and all living things, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. We decided to create a dance based on the Lion King and the idea that all living things are connected in the circle of life, and we as humans should understand and respect this. At Emmaville, we learn about and respect cultures and religions that are different from our own. The Lion King is set in Africa and we have enjoyed exploring music and dance indigenous to this continent.
The children absolutely wowed everyone in attendance at the festival, from their perfectly rehearsed routine, to their striking costumes, and their amazing face paint. We were all so incredibly proud, and it was clear to see how much each one of them loved the whole experience. Well done Year 6!
Friday 14th March
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been studying "The Highwayman" by Alfred Lord Tennyson in our English lessons. The children have done such a great job, exploring the poem in terms of poetic devices used, but mainly analysing character, using inference skills and considering motives which have impacted behaviour. We have had some heated debates on where we feel the "blame" lies, respectfully but confidently building on and challenging each other's ideas. The children have also learnt the first section of the poem off by heart. Why not ask to see if they can recite this to you? Have a great weekend!
Friday 8th March
On Thursday 7th March, it was one of our favourite annual events, World Book Day! This year, we had the option of either coming dressed as a book character, or dressed in our pyjamas, ready for bedtime reading. Throughout the day, we did a range of activities, including engaging with a BBC live lesson, paired reading with our Year One friends and also some amazing art work based on Oliver Jeffers' story, "A Child of Books". We thought about which books have helped to shape who we are as readers, and memories we have of reading from being very young children. A lovely day had by all :)
Friday 21st February
On Thursday, I had the pleasure of taking a group of Year 6 children to the Gateshead Primary Schools Swimming Gala at Dunston Leisure Centre. The children competed in a range of individual and team events, and showcased their skills in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. As well as their excellent swimming skills, I was particularly impressed with their positive attitude and the way in which they supported each other during the gala. A great afternoon was had by all; well done Year 6!
Friday 14th February
On Tuesday, it was Safer Internet Day, and this year's them was "Too good to be true?" where we learnt all about protecting ourselves, and others, from online scams. We had a great class debate about all of the things that the internet helps us to do, and how it has helped the world advance; however, with this, we also recognise that there are risks and we need to learn how to keep ourselves safe.
We looked at a range of different messages, pop ups and emails, and decided whether we felt they were ok, or whether there was something about them which would suggest that they were a scam. Those that we thought were scams were because it was either too good to be true, unexpected contact or someone asking for money. A great learning opportunity for us all.
Friday 7th February
The theme for this year's Children's Mental Health Week is 'know Yourself, Grow Yourself', so this week we have been thinking about our own positive characteristics. This is easier said than done, and sometimes we need a little help to realise just how amazing we really are. We've always been a pretty supportive class, and have enjoyed each others' successes over the years, so when we were given the name of someone else in the class, it was great to be able to draw and write lots of positive things about them. This was done anonymously on 'Cups of Positivity', and when we had filled them with great stuff and positive messages, we were able to give them to our classmates. There were so many smiles as we read about ourselves. As someone once said, "Always fill your own cup first, and allow the World to benefit from the overflow".
Friday 31st January
On Wednesday, we had a visit from local author Sarah Millington who came into school to talk to us about her book Demelza Rice is not Very Nice, which draws attention to the pressures on young people's mental health in a social media obsessed climate. She explored with us about what we were apprehensive about in regards to starting secondary school, as well as things we are looking forward to. We also explored the positives and negatives of social media, which led to some really interesting and eye opening discussions. A great session and we want to send a big thank you to Sarah for giving up her time to spend with us.
We also had a visit from Mr Lancashire, who talked to us about his varied career experiences, including some amazing years working for Disney World in Florida. It was great to hear that you don't have to have one job for ever, or even know exactly what you want to do in life when you're younger, and that as long as you work hard and do your best, anything is possible.
We've been working on some rhythmic dances in our Friday PE sessions. We worked in groups to combine claps, stamps and slides in four separate 'phrases', which we then choreographed to create the dances. It was great fun, and we really enjoyed performing to the rest of the class.
Friday 24th January
In our Guided Reading sessions, we have been studying the Lady of Shallot by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
As this poem was written in 1832, we were aware that it may present us a number of challenges as we read, and picked out the meaning. Mrs Sanderson and I have been so impressed with how the children approached this, exploring the language, making links and using illustrations to help along the way. It has resulted in some amazing whole class discussions as we explored themes and dilemmas throughout the poem. Our final lesson resulted in some really interesting debate as we explored the following key ideas...
Friday 17th January
What an exciting week we have had in North America this week. On Wednesday, we had the pleasure of a music workshop from the Gateshead Music team. and this term's focus was on all things Pop! We talked about what pop music actually meant, and took a journey through the decades, looking at news and fashion from each era, as well as dancing and singing along to some classics!
Then, on Thursday, Year 6 went on a visit to the Great North Museum. We took part in a workshop linked to our science unit, exploring adaptation and evolution. We had the opportunity to look at, and touch, some of the museum's exhibits and then played a game to show how the survival of the fittest theory worked in different species. After a very competitive game involving using sporks as bird's beaks (!) we saw how inheritance and variations could be both advantageous and disadvantageous. It was a great way to launch our new topic.
After our workshop, we then visited the Ancient Greek gallery and used the gallery explorer kit, and carried out a scavenger hunt to learn about the exhibits and artefacts in the museum. We also had time to explore other areas of the museum, and also visited the planetarium. An incredibly busy day, and after 10,000 steps around the museum, we were tired but felt enriched with knowledge!