St John the Baptist CE VA Primary School Year Six

In PSHE, we have been discussing the use of medicines, other drugs, alcohol and smoking and learning about what the law says.  Some of the children were surprised to find out that it is illegal to try and buy alcohol or vapes if you are under 18.  We looked at various scenarios and thought about whether the law was being broken or not.

We have started a new unit of work in English based on the fantastic book, Blackberry Blue and Other Fairy Tales by Jamilla Gavin.  The children used the text to find evidence about a character’s personality and we discussed what we actually know for sure and what can be inferred from the book.

Maths has covered finding the area of squares, rectangles, parallelograms and triangles and then using this knowledge to solve some tricky problems.  The children have shown resilience and determination.  Well done Year 6!

This week in basketball the children focused on their shooting skills and everyone improved during the session.  It was particularly lovely to hear the children encouraging and supporting each other.  At the end of the session, they had a chance to put their skills into action in mini-games.

We have completed our non-chronological reports about the fictional planet Pandora.  The finished pieces of work look fantastic and will be on display in Year 6.

This half-term, we have been designing, making and evaluating savoury pastry snacks made from seasonal vegetables.

We began by learning about the importance of seasonal produce during the rationing in World War 2 and went on to discover which vegetables are in season in the UK in December.

We had a chance to taste vegetables including swede, parsnip, carrot, turnip and cabbage.  Many Year 6 children tried new things and enjoyed them.  The savoy cabbage was a particular hit!

After that, we worked in groups to choose the vegetables we would use, decide on seasonings and design what the pastry snack would look like.

Yesterday, we learnt how to peel, cut and grate vegetables safely before preparing our own and cooking them.  Then came the pastry work and the cooking.

The resulting snacks were delicious and some said that they will make them again at home!

Wow, what a day!  This morning, we worked really hard to prepare 170 Christingles for all the children in the school.  It was hard work and took some organising, but everyone played their part and smiled (and sang!) their way through it.  We had a special Collective Worship to remind ourselves of the meaning of the elements of the Christingles and to explain the work of the Children’s Society.

Christmas lunch was delicious and then the day got even better when we had a surprise visit from Father Christmas who brought gifts for our classroom.