Year 6 - Geography - Tectonic Plates

In line with their topic of 'Dangerous Places', Year 6 are learning about how natural disasters can be caused. 

During our Immersion Day (at the start of this term), the children understood that natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis can make some places quite dangerous for people and animals to live in, especially if these disasters occur frequently. Recently, the children had a lesson that delved more into the science behind these natural disasters, by looking at tectonic plates and tectonic plate boundaries.

The children learnt about the three tectonic plate boundaries: convergent (where the plates move together), divergent (where the plates move apart) and transform (where the plates laterally slide against each other). They understood that these movements of tectonic plates can impact the world by either causing natural disasters such as earthquakes, or it can result in changes in the natural world such as rifts and the formation of mountains and volcanoes.

To ensure the children understood the process behind this geologic and geographic phenomenon more clearly, they made their own models of plate boundaries by using sand, soil and red lentils. The sand and soil was used to show different layers of sediment within the lithosphere and the red lentils represented the magma from the asthenosphere.

These materials were placed inside clear plastic containers and the children were given cardboard to move the materials around the containers, in line with how the plate boundaries would move. In doing this physical activity, the children were able to understand how the layers of the Earth are impacted by plate boundaries and how new crust can be formed by certain movements like divergent plate boundaries.

See below for some photos from our active tectonic plate boundary lesson!

    

Billy The Kid - Year 6 music

Year 6 have been linking their music learning to their topic of Right and Wrong.

They have used the music from Billy The Kid, a ballet by Aaron Copland, to look at how composers manipulate musical elements to convey character in music.

They have learned the basic melody which describes Billy, and created their own pentatonic improvisations to create music to sound like a cowboy riding into town on a horse!

Mini Chef in Elm - Year 6 Food Technology and Design Technology

This week, Elm Tree took part in their annual Mini Chef day. 

The children in Elm learnt about seasonality and the benefits of eating seasonally before creating their very own seasonal recipe. Based on what they had learnt, the children designed their own 'curry casserole' using a range of vegetables that are currently in season. 

They then chopped all the vegetables needed for the curry casserole and cooked it, first boiling the potatoes and carrots and frying the onions and garlic. 

Pupils also looked at food miles, calculating how far each food item in the recipe had to travel to make it to Bannockburn. 

The children had a great day and said their curry casserole tasted 'amazing'! It was also super healthy - with 2 servings of vegetable in each portion!

Maya Immersion Day in Year 6 - Humanities and History

Year 6 are learning all about the Ancient Maya this term. 

To start our learning, they took part in a fun-filled Ancient Maya immersion day!

Children started the day by recapping what they already know about other Ancient Civilisations they've studied throughout school. They then looked at a timeline of ancient civilisations and thought about where the Maya would be placed. They were surprised to find out that the Ancient Maya lasted for so long!

Then, children learnt about how the Ancient Maya communicated and compared their communication system to other communication systems they are aware of. Lots of children identified that the Maya used glyphs in a similar way to the Ancient Egyptians. 

Then, children learnt about the Ancient Maya number system and how they used numbers to help them make astronomical predictions. From this, children were introduced to Mayan beliefs, gods and goddesses to prepare them for their future learning! They then took part in some interpretive dance where they were able to role play as a range of different gods and goddesses in the sky. 

Year 6 were also introduced to societal roles - this is something they will explore further in our learning sequence. They created a range of different headdresses suitable for a range of different people in Mayan society and discussed the choices they had made. 

Finally, children learnt about Ancient Mayan architecture. In order to truly understand the magnificence of Ancient Mayan buildings, we looked at where the Maya settled compared to the settlements of other ancient civilisations. This led us to learn about the complexity of their buildings. Did you know that they had irrigation systems and ventilation systems in their building? 

All in all, we had a fantastic day and we are ready to delve deeper into the world of the Ancient Maya!

Author Visit - Year 6

 During reading sessions this term, Year 6 enjoyed an online visit from one of their favourite authors, Katherine Rundell. Within the session, the children listened to her read some of her books; they also enjoyed hearing about what inspired her to write novels, as well as asking her questions.

Year 6 - Democracy - PD

In our Personal Development (PD) lessons, Year 6 have been learning about all about democracy.

These lessons enabled the children to think about our school values of respect, equality, cooperation and fairness; particularly how it is a identifiable through the process of voting.

Year 6 were able to recall how our school reflects our democratic society through the recent voting process for our House Captains and our tireless Pupil Leadership Groups who listen to and represent their fellow pupils for school community matters.

To signify why democracy is important to the children, the Year 6s were introduced to a fictional scenario that involved the damaging of a school due to the actions of some (fictional) pupils. The children were assorted roles following this scenario (a Headteacher, a Police Officer, a Firefighter, the parents of the pupils) to discuss the next steps going forward.

The Year 6s were incredibly diplomatic in this task - they listening to each others points carefully, articulated their views on the situation and ultimately held a vote on what consequence the pupils should face for their actions.

A ballot box was made for the voting process; making the process as realistic as possible for the children. They enjoyed casting their vote and eagerly awaited the results!

The Year 6s, as always, displayed maturity and grace with the end result. Some children were disappointed that their vote was not the winning outcome, while some were elated that it was. Ultimately, the children collectively agreed that the democratic voting was a fair process and they recognised the importance of everyone having an opportunity to express their ideas and to partake in decision makings.

Year 6 Elder Class Mini Chef - 20 November 2023

Elder Class recently spent the day preparing and cooking some delicious dishes as part of our Food Technology learning. We prepared a chicken and a vegetarian tikka masala as well as some scrumptious yoghurt flatbreads to accompany them. At the end of the day, Elder sold every portion which they had made. Well done everyone!

Year 6 Maths - Problem Solving Strategies

Year 6 have continued to work on their problem solving strategies on the final day of term. Today's problem involved finding the dimensions of a rectangle which was composed from a number of smaller squares. Lots of trial and improvement as well as visualising strategies were required to complete this tricky shape problem. Well done to all of our brilliant mathematicians.

Year 6 - PE

In PE this term, Year 6 have been honing their football skills in preparation for an inter-class tournament later in the term. We have practised passing, marking, shooting and tackling. Which class will triumph and lift the trophy?

Music in Year 6

In Music, Year 6 have been leaning about John Williams’ film music. They compared Superman, Jaws, and Harry Potter and talked about how he used the elements of music in different ways to create different atmospheres for each films theme tune.

They then looked at the theme from Indiana Jones. We created our own March and played part of John Williams’ tune. We talked about the character of the tune and started to change different elements to alter its mood. What happens when you make a tune slower and quieter? Is scary music mainly loud or quiet?

Addition and Subtraction in Year 6

 Addition and Subtraction in Year 6

This term we have been exploring numbers up to ten million and looking closely at the value of the digits to help up with our calculations.

We used the place value counters to help us know when to carrying into the next column when adding and when to exchange from the next column in subtraction.

We then moved onto using either mental strategies, showing our thinking on a blank number line or formal written strategies such as the column method to solve calculations.  

SHOWTIME

The hottest ticket in town this week was the Year 6 leavers show.  They worked SO HARD learning all the words and dance moves.  We could not be prouder of their performance.