Cold Cold Week!

19.1.2024

The children were extremely excited to wake up to snow! Fortunately we managed to frolic in the snow before it melted!

This weeks Gospel and our learning in RE

In this week’s Gospel we start to learn how Jesus began to gather the first Christian community. We reflect that our school and our parish were founded to be places of love, friendship, security and inclusion- we try to live this in our daily lives.

Year 6 have been looking at the New Covenant that God made with us and how Jesus is the Bread of Life. In order to contribute to the school community and share their faith Year 6 are creating an explanation of Mass to support the younger children on their spiritual journey.


Learning:

Maths: We have been continuing deepening our knowledge of Algebra and have started to master writng algebraic equations as well as applying formula to mathematical problems.

English: We have continued our exploration of- Darwin An Exceptional Voyage. This week we have analysed the text and considered why the author has chosen particular word and phrases. We had fun acting the meaning of our new vocabulary to ensure we understood!

Science: Linking to Darwin’s explorations in science we are studying Evolution and Inheritance. This week we looked at how species can adapt over time, we also considered how a random mutation can be beneficial to a species survival. We continued to debate how living things adapt to their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution. We enjoyed singing along to the camel song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpGg-m8wyY4

Homework :

Please see the homework page for this weeks homework tasks. They are due to be completed by Thursday 25th.

Notices:

PE will continue to be on a Wednesday

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

Golden Award (learn) - Jacob Chandler

Writing Award - Hallie

Maths Award - Lexie -Rose

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters.

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

Smartphone Safety Tips for Young People This information guide has tips to help young smartphone owners stay safe while enjoying using their device.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all.

Posted
Authorfiona ormerod

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

May I wish you all a happy new year and welcome back to a new school term. It has been wonderful working with Year 6 this week and they have been very welcoming as Mrs Murphy has now left for her maternity leave. I will keep you updated with any news!

January is traditionally the month of beginnings – a time for making a NEW START.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, we hear about the two disciples of John the Baptist making a new start. They may not have known what John meant when he said ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God,’ but they knew what he wanted them to do: they had to start afresh and get close to Jesus.

In class we have been reflecting on how each day is a new beginning, a fresh start, where we can thrive to do and be our ‘best self’. We may not always succeed but we can listen to the advice of Pope Francis:

“Let us allow God’s constant help to make us new people’”

Learning:

Maths: We have been deepening our knowledge of Algebra and have started to master simplifying equations as well as applying formula to mathematical problems.

English: We have started our literacy unit using the book- Darwin An Exceptional Voyage. We have already written a perceptive prediction about the text and have begun to explore the vocabulary alongside bringing the book to life through our oracy.

Science: Linking to darwin’s explorations in science we are studying Evolution and Inheritance. We had a great time playing the ‘Evolution game’ to discovering how natural selection worked, how offspring vary and are not identical to their parents. we also considered how animals and plants adapt to their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution.

Homework :

Please see the homework page for this weeks homework tasks. They are due to be completed by Thursday 18th.

Notices:

PE will continue to be on a Wednesday

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

Golden Award (CARE) - Amelia

Writing Award - Emma

Maths Award - Ola

Posted
Authorfiona ormerod

Have a Happy and Holy Christmas!

As this term comes to an end, we mark the fourth Sunday of Advent this weekend. The fourth candle, also known as the ‘Angel Candle’, symbolises Love. During this final week of Advent, we rejoice in the endless love that God has for us, which is made apparent in the birth of his Son. We reflect on the good news of God’s love brought to us from the angel Gabriel.

This week Oscar Op and Frankie led the class in a beautiful worship on the theme of Friendship. This was a lovely theme to end the year, reflecting on what it means to be a friend and how we can show friendship to those around us, particularly at Christmas time.

Our (busy) week!

As promised, we certainly have not taken our foot off the pedal this week. The class have been: finishing off SATs papers, completing independent writes, touching upon algebra, writing about The Incarnation, making Christmas cards and calendars, practicing carols and taking part in the Advent service!!! Now it is finally time to take a ‘break’ and fully embrace the festivities of Christmas!

Thank you

I would like to thank my class and parents so much for the support I have had this term. I know it came as quite a surprise to the children and parents alike that my journey with this class was going to be shorter than expected, but I really could not have asked for a better way to end 2023. My class should be incredibly proud of all they have achieved in Year 6 since September! This year has certainly not been without its challenges but I have watched each and every one of them grow in so many different ways, and I have no doubt they will continue to develop and flourish with Mrs Ormerod in the new year. Mrs Ormerod has been spending a lot of time in our class this week, getting used to our routines and I know she has been so impressed with the work and focus the class have shown. Even when I finish, to begin my maternity leave, I will certainly continue to follow the journeys of each child in this class-they hold a special place in my heart.

I would also like to say a HUGE thank you for the kindness and generosity you have shown with your gifts, cards and words today!

🌟 AWARD WINNER! 🌟

This week I presented just one award, which was the Golden Award. I awarded this to ALL of the class! I wanted to acknowledge each and every child in the class for the hard work they have shown this year. I really do appreciate the effort you have given to Year 6 so far. Please keep this up!

📌NOTICES 📌:

  • PE day- this will still be on Wednesdays after Christmas.

  • Homework- I have not set any homework over the break

  • Contact information- if you need to contact Mrs Ormerod for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

Online Safety at Our Lady’s

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

Top Tips for Setting up Parental Controls on New Devices - This guide provides some valuable advice on setting up new devices so that children can use them safely.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all.

And finally the Year 6 team would like to say Merry Christmas to all of you! We hope you have the most magical Christmas and New Year! We shall see you in 2024!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen, Miss Evans & Mrs Ormerod x

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

Third Sunday of Advent....rejoice in hope!

This Sunday marks the third week of advent, when the Hope candle will be lit. During the third week of Advent we are filled with joy for the near arrival of Jesus on Christmas day. This Sunday is often called ‘Gaudete Sunday’ as we reflect on the joy the shepherd’s felt at the birth of Jesus.

On Wednesday, Isabelle and Ayson led a beautiful worship all about trust. They also used this as a lovely opportunity to continue opening our class advent calendar, which has been taking us on a journey to the birth of Christ. In our RE lesson we were reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas and Jesus as the Incarnation: God made man. God sent Jesus, who is truly God and truly human, as the fulfillment of His promise to send us a Saviour.

We also had the privilege of watch Reception’s and KS1’s nativities this week, when they showed us the story of Jesus’ birth through song, dance and acting!

Here’s what else we have been up to this week…

In Maths we have had another go at an arithmetic and reasoning paper. This will give me a good insight as to where each child’s strengths/areas of development are. We have also started a new unit on algebra this week. This has been like Marmtie!! Some love it, others not so much! We spent our first lesson finding rules, using algebraic expressions and the next lesson we looked at solving some algebraic calculations.

In English we have (finally!!!) finished our shared write and the class have started to plan their independent write. Next week, we will be using every English lesson to complete this extended piece of write….I am determined to read all of their completed stories before my last day! We also had another go at a reading and GPS SATs paper.

In Science we have been looking at what microorganisms are and how we can classify them into different groups.

In Geography our focus was on the seas and coasts of the UK. We recapped the seas of the UK and then looked at different places on the coast in the UK. We had a list of geographical vocab that we then had the task of researching the meaning of.

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Charlotte for being an active learner. She has really impressed me with her learning in our shared write, in particular, this week.

The Writing Award went to Amy for working incredibly hard on her independent writing.

The Maths award went to Elsie for trying so hard with her maths, even when she finds it challenging. Her hard work is paying off!

📌NOTICES 📌:

  • Dates for your diary:

    🗓 Wednesday 20th December - Christmas meal & Christmas jumper day.

    Children are invited to wear their own clothes for the day, and this can include Christmas jumpers, dresses or accessories if they would like - but please don't buy anything especially. We would like to support Save The Children with the Christmas jumper day, and will add a voluntary contribution of £1 to Parentpay for donations to this charity nearer the time. Please note that this is a PE day for Year 6, so please ensure suitable footwear is worn.

    🗓 Thursday 21st December @ 2.15pm - KS2 Advent Service in Church.

    Parents are invited to celebrate the KS2 Advent Service over at Our Lady’s Church in the afternoon of the 21st December. We will be singing some Christmas carols as we tell the story of the Nativity. We do hope you can make it.

    🗓 Thursday 21st December - we break up for Christmas at usual finishing time, 3.15pm.

  • PE day- Wednesdays.

  • Homework- I have not set any homework this week.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

Almost there….

As this term nears the end, so does my journey with my Year 6 class. I can hardly believe how fast these past four months have gone. In spite of this, we are still not ready to take our foot off the accelerator….we have plenty to fit into our last four days! I am so impressed with what each and every child has personally achieved so far and I will certainly be making the most of our last week together. I have already promised the class that I will give them ALL of me, and they need to give me ALL of them, before we break up for Christmas. Thank you to all of my Year 6 parents for your continued support this year.

Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

'And on earth, peace to those on whom his favour rests.' Luke 2:14

This Sunday marks the second Sunday of Advent. On this day the Peace Candle, also known as the ‘Bethlehem Candle’, will be lit. The Bethlehem Candle is purple, signifying repentance and royalty. It recalls the preparations Mary and Joseph made for Jesus’ birth. As we’re getting ready for Christmas, let’s make our plans and carry them out. But, it is important not get so wrapped up in our own preparations that we’re too busy to appreciate what God is doing in our lives and that Advent is preparing us for the birth of Christ, our Saviour. Today, Fr. Frank led Year 6 in a lovely Advent reflection all about prayer.

Here’s what else we have been up to this week…

In Maths we started the week completing another reasoning paper, as a class. In the same way we did last week, the class had a go at a few questions at a time and then we looked over the questions and marked them as a class. The children find this really helpful as it is a good way for them to experience the types of questions they will get on a reasoning paper, but without the pressure of test conditions. The second part of the week we focused on percentage, fraction and decimal equivalents.

In English we began our shared write. We have changed some of the original storylines/characters/details from the Wizard of Oz and innovated other aspects. Together, we have drafter the first few paragraphs, ensuring we include certain features and language choices in our text. This shared write will be very useful when the children come to writing their independent write!

In RE we looked at the meaning and symbolism of the different parts of the Advent Wreath. We focused on the significance of each candle and their colour as well as the circular shape of the wreath. The class had a go at drawing the advent wreath in their own books and labelling each part.

In Science we looked at the Linnaean classification system. This is a system that Carl Linnaus developed in the 1700s so that scientists all over the world would be naming and classifying living things in the same way. This was quite a complex system for us all to get our heads around but the class did such a good job at using this system to classify different species of reptiles into all of the other groups that they belong.

In Geography we found out more about the hills and mountains in the UK. We focused on a selection of mountain and hills and researched their country, mountain range and elevation. We then put this data into a bar chart.

In Computing the class (finally!) had the chance to present their Bletchley Park PowerPoints that they have designed over the past couple of lessons. I was so impressed with how each group/individual did. They got up in front of the rest of the class and shared their information with everyone…..

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Oscar Op for always be willing to lend a helping hand.

The Writing Award went to Oscar O’C for his great contributions to our shared write.

The Maths award went to Emma for using different strategies to solve problems.

📌NOTICES 📌:

  • Dates for your diary:

    🗓 Wednesday 20th December - Christmas meal & Christmas jumper day.

    Children are invited to wear their own clothes for the day, and this can include Christmas jumpers, dresses or accessories if they would like - but please don't buy anything especially. We would like to support Save The Children with the Christmas jumper day, and will add a voluntary contribution of £1 to Parentpay for donations to this charity nearer the time.

    🗓 Thursday 21st December @ 2.15pm - KS2 Advent Service in Church.

    Parents are invited to celebrate the KS2 Advent Service over at Our Lady’s Church in the afternoon of the 21st December. We will be singing some Christmas carols as we tell the story of the Nativity. We do hope you can make it.

  • PE day- Wednesdays.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

Online Safety

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters.

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

Disney+ This guide examines the hugely popular streaming service Disney+ for potential risks, giving advice on how to avoid them.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans


Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

"Advent is a time of waiting for our Lord, who will visit us all in our own hearts." Pope Francis

This Sunday 3rd December marks the first Sunday of Advent and the start to the Church’s new liturgical year. On this day, the Hope candle will be lit. Advent comes from the Latin word meaning "coming." Jesus is coming, and Advent is intended to be a season of preparation for His arrival. While we typically regard Advent as a joyous season, it is also intended to be a period of preparation and penance. In Year 6 this week we made our Advent Promises. As we were writing these, we were mindful of the ways in which we can use our promise to help spread the Kingdom of God.

Here is what else we have been up to this week…

In Maths we have had a big focus on percentages: finding percentages of amounts, finding missing values involving percentages and looking at percentage and decimal equivalents. We also had a look at past SATs reasoning paper. Rather than giving this to the class in test conditions, we looked at it together. Everyone had a go at each question independently first and then we went over the answer to each question straight away, as a class. This was a good way to ease each of them into the reasoning papers and give them an idea of the styles of questions they are asked.

In English we look looked at the introduction of the first main character that Dorothy meets in The Wizard of Oz: Scarecrow. We used this to identify some key features and then created an ‘Introducing new characters’ toolkit. We also watched the whole film this week as we needed to plan our shared write but had only managed to get part way through the novel. Next week we will begin our shared write, using the story line of the Wizard of Oz but innovating it with new characters and settings etc.

In Science looked at further classifying animals within their groups. This helped us to understand that there are so many different ways of classifying living things, based on their shred/differing characteristics. We had a go at classifying birds and mammals into different groups.

In Geography we looked at the cities and towns in the UK. To begin with, we had to look at what cities and towns are and the class named as many as they could. After this, we then labelled many cities and towns of the UK on a map, using our atlases to help us.

In HRSE our focus was on difficult emotions. We looked at different strategies to help us cope with these types of emotions, that will help us not to act irrationally in times of emotional turmoil.

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Amelia for her efforts to remain focused in class.

The Writing Award went to Avie for her valued contributuons towards our class write.

The Maths award went to Lexi-Rose for her work on percentages and fractions.

📌NOTICES 📌:

  • Dates for your diary:

    🗓 Friday 8th December 2.00pm-3.15pm - SEND Coffee Afternoon in the Church Hall.

    This is a follow up from the successful SEND afternoon and will focus on deciding what professional parents would like to hear from and areas that they need support in. Mrs Ormerod will speak to you about how to navigate the FYI directory and how APDR/ graduated response works in school. There will also be members of the Blackpool parent forum in attendance. There will also be people there to discuss support around the cost of living. 

    🗓 Wednesday 20th December - Christmas meal & Christmas jumper day.

    Children are invited to wear their own clothes for the day, and this can include Christmas jumpers, dresses or accessories if they would like - but please don't buy anything especially. We would like to support Save The Children with the Christmas jumper day, and will add a voluntary contribution of £1 to Parentpay for donations to this charity nearer the time.

  • Homework concerns

    I have started to notice that more and more children each week are failing to complete either the Bedrock lesson or the IXL units, and in some cases both! I really do not want the standard of homework completion to slip. Please can I politely ask parents to remind their child at home that all online homework has to be completed by Wednesday evening. I will reiterate this in school too.

  • PE day- Wednesdays.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

"If we choose the Kingdom of God, God will always welcome us!" - Fr. Frank

On Tuesday we had the privilege of welcoming Fr. Frank into the Year 6 classroom for an ‘Ask Fr. Frank’ session. As a class we had pre-prepared some questions, some of which were linked to our RE topic and some that were more broadly about religion in general. This was such a great session and an opportunity for the class to deepen their understanding of the bible teachings and their own faith. One of the children from the class actually said, “Wow, I feel like I understand so much more about my faith.” This was so lovely to hear! Thank you to Fr. Frank for taking the time out of his day to answer all of our questions. He said he would be more than happy to come back again next term and do the same!

This week Amelia, Amy and Hallie also led their first worship, which they had planned and resourced themselves. This was such a lovely, reflective worship all about Peace.

Here is what else we have been up to this week…

In Maths we moved on from decimals and moved onto percentages. We have been finding percentages of amounts, using the most efficient methods. For example, we now know that to find 25% of an amount we can just divide by 4 as it is the same as one quarter, and to find 20% we can divide by 5 as it is the same as one fifth.

In English we planned and wrote another formal letter. We read about the character of the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz and that he was in pursuit of a brain. We read the relevant chapters from the book to gain a better insight into the reasons he wanted a brain, and used this to pen a letter to the Wizard of Oz asking him to help him with his request. We then went on to look at a range of openings to different classic fiction books, identifying common features. This will helped us to create a ‘classic fiction opening’ toolkit.

In Science we started our new topic on Living Things and Their Habitats. we started by recapping what classification is and looking at the shared features of several different groups of animals, such as: mammals, amphibians, bird, molluscs, annelids… The class then described the features of different animals and gave examples of animals that belonged in each group.

In Geography we looked at the counties in the UK. To begin with, we had to look at what a county actually is. After this, we then labelled many counties of the UK on a map, using our atlases to help us.

In Computing we finished our Bletchley Park PowerPoints, ready to present in our next lesson.

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to William for aiming high in his Maths and English learning.

The Writing Award went to Chase for his great choices of vocabulary in his formal letter.

The Maths award went to Amelia for the progress she is making-I love watching her grow in confidence by the day!

NOTICES:

  • Dates for your diary:

    Wednesday 29th November, 9am-10am - school nurse visit in the school hall. This drop in is for any parent(s) who might have an issue they wish to discuss. No appointment is necessary.

    Friday 8th December, 2.00pm-3.15pm - coffee afternoon in the church hall. This is a follow up from the successful SEND afternoon and will focus on deciding what professional parents would like to hear from and areas that they need support in. Mrs Ormerod will speak to you about how to navigate the FYI directory and how APDR/ graduated response works in school. There will also be members of the Blackpool parent forum in attendance. There will also be people there to discuss support around the cost of living. 

  • Homework concerns

    I have started to notice that more and more children each week are failing to complete either the Bedrock lesson or the IXL units, and in some cases both! I really do not want the standard of homework completion to slip. Please can I politely ask parents to remind their child at home that all online homework has to be completed by Wednesday evening. I will reiterate this in school too.

  • PE day- Wednesdays.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

E-Safety at Our Lady’s

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters.

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

Smart TVs As these internet-enabled entertainment systems rapidly become standard, find out how to guide children in using such devices safely.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

“One of the things I like about ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ is that it celebrates imperfection. It’s okay to be flawed.” Jeff Kinney

📚Jeff Kinney visit to Our Lady’s!!!📚

I can hardly believe I am typing this, but yesterday we welcomed THE world-renowned author and cartoonist, Jeff Kinney, into our school!! We were so fortunate to be selected for this visit and the whole of the school were unbelievably excited to meet the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ writer. We gathered together, as a whole school, while Jeff delivered an fun, interactive assembly and then he spent some time with our Year 6 librarians! I had 7 extremely giddy librarians in my class yesterday! This was such an amazing opportunity to raise the profile of reading within our school and further inspire our budding writers and illustrators.

Jeff Kinney visit….

Here is what else we have been up to….

In Maths we continued to looked at converting between fractions and decimals and then moved on to multiplying by decimals.

In English we finished and copied up our descriptive cyclone poems. I was so impressed with the standard of these poems and so were the class. So much so that we made three copies-one to display in the classroom, one for our books and one to take home! We then moved on to looking at the introduction of one of the main characters in The Wizard of Oz : Scarecrow. We compared the introduction of Scarecrow in the novel with the film version, noting any similarities and differences. We then looked in more depth at the description of Scarecrow and innovated Frank L Baum’s description from the book.

In RE we look at an example of injustice that happened back in 2000 when a wealthy gold mining company set up work in Honduras, which hugely affected the local residents in the area. Not only did they have to move from their homes and life in (very poorly made) houses, they also had no land to plant their crops, were inflicted with air and noise pollution and had no clean water to drink so had to resort to drinking unsafe, contaminated water from the gold mine company. We linked this injustice to Pope Francis and Jesus teachings and discussed how this company were not playing their part ot be stewards of God’s creation-this also link in nicely with Pope Francis’ words from Laudato Si.

In Science the class complete an end of topic quiz on our topic from last half term. Any questions they did not know the answer to, they researched and filled in with their purple pens.

In Computing we started to make a PowerPoint presentation all about Bletchley Park. Each group will be presenting these to the class, when they have been completed.


🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Oscar for giving up his own time to make and sell items to raise money for charity.

The Writing Award went to Bobby for the huge improvement to the standard of his written work.

The Maths award went to Joshua for his quick mental maths when dividing numbers by 10 and 100.

NOTICES:

  • Children in Need-I would like to say a huge thank you for the effort and donations from today. It was a huge success, and as a school we raised a lot of money towards Children in Need charities. A special mention to Oscar Op and Jacob for helping to make and sell items to raise extra money for this charity too!

  • Homework concerns- I have started to notice that more and more children each week are failing to complete either the Bedrock lesson or the IXL units, and in some cases both! I really do not want the standard of homework completion to slip. Please can I politely ask parents to remind their child at home that all online homework has to be completed by Wednesday evening. I will reiterate this in school too.

  • PE day- Wednesdays.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.” Laurence Binyon

Tomorrow marks Armistice Day: November 11th. On Sunday 12th, it is Remembrance Sunday. Today, Year 6 led a special remembrance assembly. Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed since the end of the First World War in 1919 to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. We wanted to gather as a school as a mark of respect to remember and pray for all those fallen soldiers, who have bravely fought for our country in past wars, and also for those who are still fighting for our country now. Year 6 led this assembly so beautifully-many members of staff commented on how well they led this reflection and how respectful they were. Our Head Boy and Girl-Joseph & Charlotte- have also been selling poppies around school this week, with all proceeds going towards the Poppy Appeal.

Remembrance Assembly

Here’s what else we have been up to this week…

In Maths we have been using our knowledge of coordinates to translate and reflect shapes on a grid. We then moved onto our new unit on decimals. Firstly, we focused on dividing numbers by multiples of 10,100 and 1000. We looked at how dividing by an amount such as 300, we could divide by 3 and then divide by 100 or if we were dividing by 40, we could first divide by 4 and then 10. We also looked at decimal and fraction equivalents.

In English we have continued with our Classic Fiction unti. We have been: close reading the introductory paragraph from The Wizard of Oz to deepen our comprehension; answering questions on cinematic choices of sound, based on the opening ‘cyclone’ film clip from the Wizard of Oz; choosing powerful words/phrases and vocabulary to describe the cyclone from the Wizard of Oz. We have used this descriptive language to start drafting a free verse poem all about the Cyclone.

In RE we started a new unit on ‘Justice’. We looked at what Justice actually means and what God teaches us about justice. We also looked at examples of injustice happening in our world today but also examples in our everyday life. Year 6 then created posters/leaflets all about Justice.

In Science we looked at how diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle choices can have a positive/negative impact of our bodies and health. The class then created information texts all about what we should do to maintain a healthy and well balanced life, which will keep our bodies in good physical condition.

In HRSE our next session was on ‘Peculiar Feelings’. The aim was for the class to deepen their understanding of the range and intensity of their feelings; that ‘feelings’ are not good guides for actions and to learn that some behaviour is wrong, unacceptable, unhealthy or risky.

In Geography we started a new topic on The UK. To begin with we labelled (on a blank map) the 4 countries, capital cities, seas and islands that surround the UK. We then researched the answers to questions all about the UK using different sources of information: the internet, atlases, our Geography books and knowledge organisers.

In Art painted poppy pictures in honour of Remembrance day. They are beautiful….

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Joseph for taking on so much responsibility within school and undertaking any task with such respect. He is really helping to look after this school!

The Writing Award went to Frankie for his effective use of language in his descriptive poem.

The Maths award went to Isabella for her great work converting between decimals and fractions.

NOTICES:

  • Friday 17th November is Children in Need Day. To mark this day in school we would like to invite children to come to school in their own clothes that day, Pudsey ears and all, for a donation of £1 to Children in Need charities.

  • PE is on Wednesdays.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

Online Safety at Our Lady’s

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters.

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guide gives helpful advice about…

microtransactions – those in-app or in-game purchases which can tempt young users into regular online spending.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all.


Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evan

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

"All Saints Day serves as a reminder that we too are called to be saints." Pope Francis

We welcomed in this new half term with a whole school mass to celebrate the feast of All Saints. This was also a joint celebration to mark Our Lady’s School’s 70th birthday! It was a lovely start to the week and a time to reflect on what it is to be saint. Fr. Frank talked about how the word ‘Saint’ means holy and to be a saint is to treat others as we would treat Jesus. I think Our Lady’s is full of Saints in the making! After mass, the parishioners from Our Lady’s were invited over to the school hall for tea, coffee, biscuits and a chance to reminisce on the history of Our Lady’s school. We had also delved into the archives and managed to get pictures of Our Lady’s school along with past pupils and teachers, from years passed.

Here’s what else we have been up to this week…

In Maths we have been finding fractions of amounts and writing and plotting co-ordinates in the four quadrants on a graph.

In English we have started our new unit on ‘Classic Fiction’. In our first lesson we wrote a discussion text based on the question ‘Can modern literature be classed as Classic Fiction?’ We explored some arguments for and against this idea and then the children put their own view across too. We have also been exploring new vocab, including archaic language, from the opening on ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ This will be our main focus text for this unit but we will also be exploring extracts from many classic fiction books.

In RE we were asking and responding to questions about the Kingdom of God. We thought of two questions we found difficult to answer ourselves and went around the class to ask our friends to respond to them. Once we had our friend’s response we then wrote a reflection on what we thought.

In History we have come to the end of our Battle of Britain topic, so we responded to the question ‘How was the Battle of Britain a significant turning point in British history.’ We then filled in a critical thinking grid with our different responses to the topic as a whole.

In Computing we did some research on Bletchley Park.

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Elsie for being one of those children who is always getting on with her work!

The Writing Award went to Hallie for her cohesive piece of writing in History.

The Maths award went to William for his brilliant work on co-ordinates.

NOTICES:

  • PE is on Wednesdays.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

Online Safety at Our Lady’s

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guides give helpful advice about…

The social media site X, highlighting the major changes since its rebrand from Twitter and the related online safety risks.

Five Nights at Freddy’s: a suspense-filled horror game which has nevertheless attracted a relatively young fan-base.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all.

Thank you for a great first week back, Year 6!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evan

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

Happy Half Term!

And just like that, we come to the end of our first half term! I am so pleased with how well all of my Year 6’s have settled into the Year 6 routine and expectations, and because of this, we have managed to cover so much in 7 weeks. From fractions and percentages to biographies and letter writing, we’ve covered a range of topics. The class have been so engrossed in their History topic, ‘The Battle of Britain’, and we have looked in-depth at 'The Kingdom of God, linking this with our beliefs and making links with scripture. On top of all that, we have established our roles and responsibilities, lead whole school assemblies and made a start on some practice SATs papers….a week off to relax is definitely deserved!

Today we had our Harvest festival and we came together as a whole school to celebrate this. Thank you for your generous contributions to our Harvest collection, it’s' very much appreciated. The tins of food (over 500 tins!!) will be going to a local food bank for people within the community, which I’m sure you’ll agree is a worthy cause. Thank you for your generous support!

This afternoon the children were very excited to have a visit from a therapy dog. The dog came in to visit all the children in a special assembly and after half term, he’ll be working with children in Year 2.

Here is what else we have been up to this week….

In Maths we have continued to look at fractions. We have been multiplying them, dividing them and finding fractions of amounts. We also had a go at an arithmetic paper this week. I was so impressed with how well the class did with this, especially considering it was the first paper they had done. We also used a lesson this week to go over some of the questions they found most difficult in the test.

In English we finished off our biographies and had a go at two papers: the GPS (grammar) paper and the reading paper. Again, I was so proud of how everyone did in these papers. I did have to remind the class that it is only October and we still have plenty of time before our actual SATS, which also means plenty of time to see those initial scores go up!

In RE we looked at some of the miracles Jesus performed, linking them to His compassion and how it showed signs of the Kingdom of God. We also discussed the times in which we have shown compassion to others and ways in which we can follow Christ’s example by showing compassion through our future actions.

In History we looked at historic landmarks, from WW2, in our local area. We used a map of our local area to locate pillboxes, RAF training grounds and even an experimental radar station! Did you know there is a pillbox, from WW2 on Common Edge Road?? Just up the road from school!

This week we also had a special workshop delivered by ladies from the NSPCC. This workshop emphasised the importance for our children to speak out when they are worried about anything. We talked about the different kinds of abuse that children may suffer and that there will always be someone to talk to about this, whether it be a trusted adult they know or Childline. ‘We all have the right to speak out and stay safe!!’

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Emma for being a considerate member of the class/

The Writing Award went to Ayson for the huge improvement in his written work, since September.

The Maths award went to Hallie for all of her efforts this half term-they have certainly paid off.

NOTICES:

  • We return to school on Tuesday 31st October.

  • PE will remain on Wednesdays when we return after half term.

  • Homework-I have not set homework over the half term. I do ask, however, that the children keep up with their home reading.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Wednesday Word and TenTen Newsletter

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

Online Safety

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters.

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guides give helpful advice about…

EA Sports FC 24 This is the spiritual successor to FIFA which is likely to be a similarly spectacular hit among young football fans.

We hope you find these guides informative and helpful in promoting the positive use of technology to make the online world a better and safer place for us all.

I hope you all have a lovey half term!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them." Genesis 1:27

Show Racism the Red Card Conference-Tuesday 10th October 2023

On Tuesday we had the privilege of attending the Show Racism the Red card conference, at Blackpool Football Club. This day had a huge impact on all of us and we took so much away from it. We had three workshops: one was about hate crime, another on discrimination and prejudice and the other was a tour around the football grounds, where we also designed anti-racism posters. The day ended with the children, in groups, creating a presentation on a chosen topic, and some groups were chosen to present their ideas to none other than Trevor Sinclair and Alan Irvine!! 😮 Two out of three of our groups were chosen to present their ideas! If things couldn’t get any better, one of our posters was chosen as runner up-each child from the group received a goodie bag and we won a signed t shirt for our school. Well done to Mickey, Frankie, Isabella and Lexi-Rose who were our winning team!!

The day was a huge success on such a relevant and important topic. I was so impressed with how Year 6 conducted themselves and how well they participated in the discussions that took place.

We felt is was very fitting, in light of our day at the Anti-Racism conference, to reflect on this in our RE and Worship. We looked at what scripture teaches us about equality and justice and found that the words from the book of Genesis ‘God created mankind in His image’, were poignant when discussing anti-racism. We wrote down a reflection on anti-racism and how this links in with the words from the scripture, and these refection sit proudly on our worship display.

Here’s what else we have been up to this week….

In Maths we have been doing some tricky work on fractions! We have been adding and subtracting mixed numbers and looking at the different methods we can use. Some of us have mastered it and some of us are getting there! We will continue to revisit this regularly through our Fluent in 5! We also did our first practice arithmetic test….more for me to see the children’s strengths and areas for development (as well as gaps in our learning). I was so impressed with the class’s attitude towards this test and I am proud of them all.

In English the children have been writing their independent biography. I look forward to reading all of these completed pieces of writing and can use this to help feedback on each child’s writing during our brief parent meeting on Monday 16th October.

In Science we finally recorded our results of our investigation. Each child had chosen three other activities to undertake, and they recorded their heart rates immediately after. On Monday, they will write their conclusions.

In History we finished our pilot letters and started to look at the events of ‘The Blitz’. In our next lesson, we will be responding to the question ‘Was their a Blitz Spirit?’ using evidence to support ideas for and against this idea.

In Art we painted our model Spitfires. They look great…..

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Lexi-Rose for her impeccable manners!

The Writing Award went to Oscar Op for using a range of punctuation in his writing.

The Maths award went to Amy for her superb times tables work this week!

Notices:

  • PE days- Wednesdays this half term.

  • We are collecting tins of for Harvest. Any contributions are more than welcome!

  • Reading books - the class now have their ZPDs and will be coming home with books to read, within their range. Please can someone from home sign their records any time they complete home reading. In Year 6, I would expect them to be reading at least between 3 and 4 times a week.

  • Parent meeting on Monday 16th October. I can see all parents have booked a meeting with me-I look forward to meeting will you all then! My slot with each of you will be just 5 minutes long so I will let you know how your child has settled in and how they are doing so far in their learning.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Please have a look at this Parent Newsletter linked with our weekly whole school and class worships…

TenTen Parent Newsletter

WEDNESDAY WORD Please follow this link below to access the Gospel Readings for the forthcoming week, there are also some fun activities to complete, this is a fantastic family resource to share and celebrate with your child at home.

Wednesday Word

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

'The time is always right to do what is right.' Martin Luther King

This month of October marks Black History Month and next week we have been given the opportunity to attend the ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ conference at Blackpool Football Club (please click here to view letter sent home about this). This is an educational event aimed at encouraging students to help address race, equality and stereotyping. In preparation for this conference, this week we looked at a comprehension centered around the life of Rosa Park, whose courageous actions had a huge impact on the lives of millions of African Americans. We also discussed the importance of equality and how God made us all in His image and loves us all equally!

Here’s what else we have been up to this week….

In Maths we started the week simplifying factions then went on to comparing and ordering fractions with different denominators. After our first lesson on this I quickly realised that this was a concept that many found tricky so we continued this for a couple of lessons. I was so pleased to see so many have their ‘click’ moment with ordering fractions-it all started to make sense!

In English we finished our class write-a biography all about Usain Bolt. The children innovated the ideas we shared as a class and I then had the chance to read and mark their work, giving thorough feedback and targets on their written work. They are now ready to write an independent biography-the planning process has already begun!

In RE we continued to look at the life and actions of Maximilian Kolbe and responded to questions about what values of God’s Kingdom he showed and where we think he got his strength and courage from.

In Science we finished planning our heart rate investigation and started to record our results. Unfortunately we did not get a chance to complete the investigation (as so many of us took a while to find our pulses! 🙊) but we will finish this next week and write our conclusion based on our results.

In HRSE our focus was on body image and recognising that images in the media do not always reflect reality and can affect how people feel about themselves. we also reflected on the fact that thankfulness builds resilience against feelings of envy, inadequacy etc, and against pressure from peers or the media.

In History (and DT) we made model Spitfires!! We used clay to mold our Spitfires and they are now drying ready to be painted next week. Here are some pictures of our Spitfires in the making…

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Ola for her hard work and focus in class, ALL the time.

The Writing Award went to Charlotte for her great work innovating our class write.

The Maths award went to Oscar O’C for his amazing mental maths!

Notices:

  • PE days- Wednesdays this half term.

  • We are collecting tins of for Harvest. Any contributions are more than welcome!

  • On Tuesday, all children will need to bring a packed lunch to the conference day. If you want the school to provide this, please let the school office know.

  • Reading books - the class now have their ZPDs and will be coming home with books to read, within their range. Please can someone from home sign their records any time they complete home reading. In Year 6, I would expect them to be reading at least between 3 and 4 times a week.

  • All of Year 6 now have their appointed roles within school. Many of them had their first official duties this week and I have been so impressed with how they have undertaken these roles with such maturity.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.


Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans


Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

Show Racism the Red Card Conference 2023

‘SHOW RACISM THE RED CARD’ Conference 2023. Next Tuesday 10th October the whole of Year 6 will be going to Blackpool Football Club to attend the Show Racism the Red Card conference. This is a wonderful opportunity for us and a great way to acknowledge and celebrate Black History month. Below is the letter that was set home to parents with more detail about this event:

Show Racism the Red Card Parent Letter

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

'See how much the Father loves us. He has made us children of God.' 1 John 3:1

In our class worship this week we have been reflecting on God’s love for us. His love is unconditional and the greatest love of all. Well someone who showed God’s love through his actions was Saint Maximilian Kolbe. We looked at the life and actions of Maximilian Kolbe in our RE lesson this week, and how he helped to spread the Kingdom of God. We were all so humbled by his courageous actions and his dedication to Mary and God from a young age. He was such an inspirational man, who put others before himself, something that lead to his own death. He sacrificed his own life for that of a stranger!

We also had our first class mass on Thursday. We went over to church and shared in worship with Fr. Frank and parishoners from Our Lady’s parish. I was so pleased with how respectful the class was.

Here’s what else we have been up to this week….

In Maths we have covered prime numbers, square and cube numbers and order of operations!! It’s been a busy week. The class have done so well, and there have been some challenging questions we have looked at together as a class. We used the cubes to make bigger cubes, and help deepen our understanding of cube numbers….

In English we are planning and starting to write our class Biography. We are planning each paragraph together and then drafting each paragraph as a class, before the children then innovate our class write into their books. Our focus person for our Biography is Usain Bolt. Next week, the children will then plan and write a biography independently. They will be able to use our class write to help them to structure and organise their own piece of writing.

In Science we finished describing the different functions of the parts of the circulatory system and we have planned an investigation, which we will undertake in our next lesson. We are investigating the questions How does different physical activity affect our heart rate?

In History we watched some news reels from the Battle of Britain and made notes on what daily life was like for an RAF pilot. We then used these notes to pen a letter to a loved one, as though we were an RAF pilot. We also had the chance to read a genuine letter from a real pilot during the Battle of Britain-its was quite emotional to read!

In HRSE we discussed how children can respect their bodies as gifts from God by looking after them appropriately. We are learning that good choices regarding rest, sleep, exercise, personal hygiene and diet will have a positive impact on our health.

At Our Lady's we like to support our parents/carers in Online Safety matters. 

Keeping children and young people safe online is one of the biggest challenges facing society today and it is all of our responsibility to ensure that children are educated to make positive, informed choices when they are online.

This month’s online safety guides give helpful advice about…

  • Live streaming - This free online safety guide profiles live streaming – a hugely popular activity among young people that’s certainly not without hazards.

  • Setting boundaries around gaming - This looks at the benefits of setting boundaries around video gaming to help young people learn healthy online habits.

  • WhatsApp - This is an updated examination of WhatsApp – the globally popular messaging platform which contains both old and new hazards for young users.

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Bobby for being a kind member of the class.

The Writing Award went to Amelia for the huge improvement in her hand writing.

The Maths award went to Ayson for his superb work using BODMAS to solve calculations.

Notices:

  • PE days- Wednesdays this half term.

  • Reading books - the class have now (finally!) complete their STAR Reading tests and been given their new ZPDs. I have said that they can finish reading the book they were in the middle of, even if it is not within their range. However, once they have finished that book they must then pick books within their range. Please can someone from home sign their records any time they complete home reading. In Year 6, I would expect them to be reading at least between 3 and 4 times a week.

  • All of Year 6 now have their appointed roles within school. Many of them had their first official duties this week and I have been so impressed with how they have undertaken these roles with such maturity.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans




Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:25

Our RE topic and our Worship and Gospel theme this week have aligned perfectly. It has been all about forgiveness. We know from Sunday’s Gospel reading that Jesus told his disciples to forgive ‘not seven times, but seventy-seven times’ . He was teaching his followers that we should not limit the amount of times we forgive others, we should always try to forgive when someone has wronged us and seeks our mercy. Well this linked in perfectly with our RE topic about The Kingdom of God. This week, we were showing an in depth understanding that God’s Kingdom is for everyone! We looked at some parables that emphasised how God’s forgiveness is limitless. Even the repentant sinner is welcome in God’s Kingdom-in fact, God will go out of his way to seek those who have sinned and strayed from Him and welcome them, with open arms, into his Kingdom! This week we also celebrated our first whole school mass together. This was a special time to gather together for collective worship and a lovely welcome to the new school year.

Here is what else we have been up to this week….

In Maths our focus has been on written methods for long multiplication and long division. We also started to look at common factors.

In English we have completed another piece of writing- a formal letter of application. We have been pretending to be Walt Disney applying for a job as chief animator, working for Pixar. We used his biography to gather evidence for each statement from the person specification and used this to form our letter. We recapped the formalities of letter writing and the do’s and don’t’s of formal pieces of writing. The class did write a formal letter to me on Day 1 of Year 6 so this most recent piece of writing will be very useful for me to compare and see progress/targets in writing for each child in the class.

In Science we completed the labeling of different parts of the heart and described the functions of the heart, blood vessels (veins, arteries and capillaries) and blood.

In History we placed and described some of the key events of the Battle of Britain on a time line.

In Computing we have been codebreaking! We looked at some different types of codes and what they might be used for. We then had a go at cracking and creating our own codes!

🧑Head Boy & Girl 👩

I must begin by saying how incredibly proud I am of all of those who applied for the role of Head Girl & Boy. Every single applicant delivered their speech so well, which made it a very difficult decision for the rest of the pupils and teachers when it came to placing their votes. I can, however, announce that after counting up all the votes, our new Head Girl is Charlotte and our Head Boy is Joseph. Receiving the second most votes, our Deputy Head Girl is Lexi-Rose and our Deputy Head Boy is Bobby. Well done to you all!

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Avie for being just a thoughtful and respectful member of the class. Avie is a wonderful friend to all.

The Writing Award went to Emma for a great choice of vocabulary in her formal letter of application

The Maths award went to Frankie for his brilliant mental maths. He always does so well in our Fluent in 5!

Notices:

  • PE days- Wednesdays this half term.

  • Water bottles-these need to be filled and brought in each day and taken home to be cleaned at the end of each day. Each child in the class was provided with a school water bottle-please can you ensure these are the bottles that are brought in daily and not their own water bottle from home.

  • Reading books - we have not yet completed a STAR Reading test, so the children do not have their new ZPDs yet. There is a problem getting the new classes set up but they will take this test as soon as possible. I have allowed the class to bring books home this week, just based on books they like the sound of. Hopefully the books they take home will match their ZPD, from next week.

  • All of Year 6 now have their appointed roles within school.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

"The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

This week in RE we have been continuing our work on ‘The Kingdom of God’. After looking at some of the values of the Kingdom of God, we then responded to the question Is the Kingdom of God in heaven? If not, where can I find it? We quickly realised that the Kingdom of God is not just in heaven, it is here on earth and it starts within us and grows the more we do good deeds. We focused on some of Jesus’ parables that he used to explain God’s Kingdom and referenced these to support our responses. We also looked at what Pope Francis had to say, highlighting the importance that the Kingdom of God is hidden within us like a seed in the ground, which grows and becomes great by the power of the Holy Spirit. I was really inspired by what the class had to share when we talked about how we could help the Kingdom of God to grow through the things we do every day.

Here is what else we have been up to this week….

In Maths we have focused on negatives numbers and written and mental methods for addition/subtraction and multiplication. I have loved hearing the different methods the class have used to work out calculations! This is why I love maths so much - there are so many different ways to get to the same answer!

In English we have continued with our ‘Biography’ unit focusing on new vocabulary, scanning texts for key information, identifying cohesive devices and using evidence from a text to support ideas. We have covered all of this using a range of different biographies! In these first few weeks of a new unit it is so important to immerse the class in the genre of biographies and what better way to do that then to read a range of them?!

In Science we started a new unit on ‘The Circulatory System’. To begin with everyone in the class had a go at drawing what they thought the human heart looked like. We then looked at a diagram of the heart to see how similar or dissimilar our depiction was. We then drew a more accurate diagram of the heart and started to identify and label some of the main parts of the heart.

In History we did some research on The Battle of Britain on our laptops and them presented this information in a leaflet. I am very impressed with the standard of these information leaflets!

In PE we had our first lesson with the BFC coaches and this term our focus is on hockey. We will be learning some of the skills involved with hockey and transferring these to play matches, in teams, against each other.

🌟 AWARD WINNERS! 🌟

The Golden Award went to Chase for his focus in class-I am very impressed.

The Writing Award went to Elsie for her well-written information text all about the Battle of Britain.

The Maths award went to Jacob for his ability to explain the mental methods he uses.

Notices:

  • PE days- Wednesdays this half term.

  • Water bottles-these need to be filled and brought in each day and taken home to be cleaned at the end of each day. Each child in the class was provided with a school water bottle-please can you ensure these are the bottles that are brought in daily and not their own water bottle from home.

  • Reading books - we have not yet completed a STAR Reading test, so the children do not have their new ZPDs yet. There is a problem getting the new classes set up but they will take this test as soon as possible. I have allowed the class to bring books home this week, just based on books they like the sound of. Hopefully the books they take home will match their ZPD, from next week.

  • Homework- I have set homework this week, details of which can be found on the Year 6 Homework Page.

  • Head Boy/Girl speeches will be delivered in assemble to the whole of the school on Wednesday (20th) morning.

  • Contact information- if you need to contact me for any reason, please email using year6@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk. I do apologise as I have not got access to this email address yet, but this is being sorted. I will hopefully have full access by early next week.

Thank you, Year 6, for your continued efforts this week. I have had a delightful first couple of weeks back!

Mrs Murphy, Mrs Owen & Miss Evans

Posted
AuthorCatherine Slater

Head Boy/Girl Speeches

This week, I have spoken to the class about preparing their speeches for Head Boy/Girl, should they wish to apply for the role.

As soon as they have written/drafted their speech, I have said they can bring it into school for myself or Mrs Owen to proof read, if they wish. Some have done this already. The date that they will be delivering their speeches is yet to be confirmed but I will let the class know, as soon at this is arranged.

I am so pleased at the number of children in Year 6 that are applying for the Head Boy/Girl role….reading publicly, in front of an audience, is a huge skill and confidence boost in itself. In Year 6 ALL pupils will be given a role of responsibility, so even those who are not selected for the role of head girl/boy or deputy head girl/boy, and those who did not apply, will have a duty within the school. We find that it is really important, and valuable, for the Year 6’s to be given roles of responsibility as part of the preparation for High School.

Here are some top tips for when you are writing your speech….

  • Introduce yourself-not all children in school will know you by name!

  • Talk about your time at Our lady’s so far-What responsibilities have you had? What have you achieved? What good qualities will you bring to the role?

  • Talk about why you want the position.

  • What suggestions do you have to make Our Lady’s an even better place?

  • How has the ethos at Our Lady’s help to shape you into the person you are? How will you inspire others in the school?

  • Engage with the audience. Do not look down or put your speech in front of your face.

  • Project your voice (without shouting). The people at the back of the hall need to hear your speech as clearly as those at the front.

  • Smile!

Good luck to all applicants…remember to speak eloquently and confidently!

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AuthorCatherine Slater