PUBLISHED 15 January 2021
by Mr Avis
We’ve been so impressed with the resilience shown by all the Year 6 children this week. The speed in which they’ve adapted to online learning again has surpassed all our expectations. Watching the children independently broadcast live from their homes to present their project work this week was truly amazing! Well done to Amelie, Johnnie and Sam for their inspiring presentations.
In Science this week the children have been incredibly excited to start their new Viking Science topic. We began with looking at Viking food production methods and how different they are from today’s dairy industry. The children shared their thoughts and ideas on how modern products made from milk are produced and how technology and engineering have developed the production process. Next, the children rolled up their sleeves and churned double cream to make butter, infusing samples with garlic and herbs! Well done to everyone who had a go at home too… Camilla’s butter looked delicious! The children recorded how long the cream took to shape into butter at each significant stage in the process. They were then able to explain that butter goes through a chemical and physical change when it’s churned. The children noticed how the fat molecules clumped together whilst shaking the jars, causing the liquid to be squeezed out of the solid mass. The children were most impressed when I told them the Vikings would then blend the leftover buttermilk with yeast to make bread and mead… any guesses on what we’ll be making next week! May have to get Pappa John online for some tips and tricks!
Our History study of WW1 continued this week with the children exploring the Battle of the Somme and if the event was necessary or just a terrible loss of life for all sides. The children were shocked to learn the number of casualties resulting from such intense trench warfare and new military technologies at the time. During the lesson, the children were given a range of sources depicting different soldiers’ accounts of the battle’s first day. They then got busy discussing exactly what happened and if there was a victorious side. Mr Rice and I were so impressed with the children’s written essays, supporting their thoughts and opinions before drawing conclusions and judgements based on the evidence provided. Well done Penelope, Johnnie and Freddie for your excellent accounts.
Our Britain at War theme continued into Art this week by looking at the Blitz Air raids on London that began in September 1940. The children were horrified to learn about the bombing of all our industrial cities and ports such as Birmingham, Coventry, Southampton, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull and Glasgow. They then looked at silhouettes of the London skyline during the raids before taking pen to paper and drawing their own skyline depicting historical buildings to include Westminster, Big Ben, St Pauls and London Bridge. Well done Shelby for your stunning London silhouette. Over the next few weeks the children will apply a range of techniques using pastels and pencils to create drama, movement and action in their drawings.
Finally in Music the children have been using musical terms to describe their favourite songs, looking at the instruments used, the genre, tempo and dynamics!
Altogether, a very busy week for Year 6 and despite all the cold and rain, we managed to keep our spirits high. Same again next week folks!
#WeAreAKS #AcademicAmbition #AKSPrep #FullCurriculum