6K's inspirational maths learning

In Year 6, we have been focused on open-ended maths problem solving, where children work as a group with different roles and solve challenging problems. Below are some images of this learning.

Trench Tales

In 6E we read the diary of a soldier in WW1.  We then used his ideas to write our own WW1 diaries.  Here is Milana's.

October 29^th 1915

I have just arrived in France. There are not many soldiers here. Everyone tells me that the German soldiers keep killing ours; I feel kind of scared now.

On the boat, on the way here, I met a kind guy named Charman. We were both terrified and excited. Our sergeant is Sergeant Lightning, who is a bit more terrifying than death.

I hope we will have a good place to sleep in. Sometimes I think it will never be like I think it’s going to be. I hope I will go home soon. It is terrifying here.

-Squirt

November 1^st 1915

The sky has been a dark shadow for as long as I can remember; I don’t even think I can remember when it started. At night, crouching in a ball, I remember the great times I had in the British summers. Last summer I ate ice cream with my family; I really wish they were with me right now. Now I can only taste my disgusting breath in my mouth.

Charman is developing trench foot. Each day it is getting worse and worse. When he takes off his shoe you can see his slimy rotten foot falling apart. I don’t think he will survive much longer.

-Squirt 

6K's WW1 Narratives

This week in Year 6, we have been drafting our second versions of our WW1 narratives. Below are excerpts from various children's work:

Mya: 

Hector proudly admired his well earned medals. Compare to his fellow soldiers ,he looked amazingly dressed. His eyes glowed and glimmered ,as he lead the trop with bravery.

Hunched with the relief of his near death ,he could hear the disturbing yelling and the ricocheting gun shots. He could also hear the screeches of innocent soles fading away. Squinting at the hope of survivors ,he rammed his food down his hollow tube. On the battlefield ,clouds of gun power cloud through the air and forgotten lungs were swamped around and had already become a death for some.

‘’Can you help me please ? I cant work this bomb ’’ Quivering with a ecoey voice a soldier appeared infront of me . As he peered at the boy infront of Hector took in a quivering form. Although he towered over the boy , he thought he could be as brave as he said he promised himself.

Meekly, the boy blinked through his sleep-instructed eyelashes, as he caught Hectors attention . Marching in the trench the trop gulped a breathe of intoxicating gas and were in too much pandemonium.

Katie:

Cowering in a puddle, Scott heard echoing booms, he could hear the screeches of innocent soldiers and the firing of frightening gun shots. He shivers as he squinted at the hope of team mates. Constant booms struck and destroyed what ever they could see. On the battle field the sky was blood shot red and the left out pieces of shrapnel lingered all around.

“Please, sir, I need to no how to work my gun. ”A intimidating voice caught Scott`s eye .As he marched towards a soles human, he saw that it was poring with blood .Despite the fact that in his opinion he is brave his shoulder’s were quivering with fear.

Connor: 

Pacing impatiently, BANG Dom heard booming bombs dropping from the sky. Dom was worried. Hearing the scraping of metal, Dom said to himself “I believe in us toms. We will beat the Germans!” Approaching a new recruit, he went to exchange tips.  He could see flashing light as soldiers practised sword fighting. Bullets and bombs descended from the sky as the horrible German’s throw them at the British.

“Please private can you assist me?” A timid voice caught Dom’s ears. He glanced at the new recruits uniform, which was squalid,. Although he was the newest recruit, his uniform was impure and he was in pandemonium in addition this told the nameless boy his trench life wouldn’t be easy.

After a while, the recruit’s eyelashes blinked with sleep in them as he bowed his head, catching Dom’s attention. The nameless soldier asked Dom to help him with his large gun because the trigger of his gun was as stiff as concrete.

After moving into place, the new recruit was gone; he didn’t take his stuff. Private Dom barked “right men “as he pivoted around the room and the men listened carefully. He also growled” we are the Toms and we are the best!”

Chanel:

“Let’s go get some jeries ! righted the sergeant , pivoting to his heel.

“we’ll show them war!” bellowed the men.

However, one person was trembling. To the thought of war  . After the ranting, they travelled to battle . Suddenly, a blur of words were thrown at the scared soldier . But who. He thought could be saying these things.

Then what seemed to be an ominous shadow, grabbed him by the arm Viciously . His arm was throbbing with so much tribulation that at some point he wouldn’t be able to bear the pain.

Olivia:

Frantically, Will pulled at his leg, yet every time he did it was reminiscent of hell ripping at his flesh. It was then that he could see two men walking towards him. Hopeless. Will realised his arm was stuck in some barbed wire he could not run from this.Tears of fear trickled down his face. The blood was flowing out of Wills leg in a deadly show of horror. Due to Wills weak body a blanket of heat covered his skin.

Tabitha:

Pacing perpetually to and fro in the trench, Jack collected the sounds of the early morning tumultuous battles; groans and grunts. He could hear the scuttling feet of the lice along the trench walls beside him. He peered over the blood-soaked trench parapet, desperately trying to find the ‘kind German’ like a Where’s Wally page. Intermittent fractals of light shined through the trench off a newly polished gun reflecting on a mud puddle. On the battlefield, broken bullet shells, flecks of bloodstained grass and strips of threadbare uniform flew through the air.

            “Halt!” it had been that exact voice that had come from ‘the kind German’. When he took the first glance at the man before him, his shoulders barely contained in his uniform. Despite his stereo-typical sinewy soldier form his eyes to a wanting for peace and a hatred of war. 

War Woes

In 6E we have been writing narratives about WW1. Here are some excerpts:

Deprived of life-saving food, Charles glared down at his undead body. His tattered, scruffy uniform brought previous battles to life. Tears of fear meandered down his crusty, swollen cheeks.- Caleb

Sean entered the soggy trench. He trembled with fear. For the first time he felt his young, tender age of 17 years. He wished he hadn’t lied about his age as he heard gun shots and bombs booming.
- Ellie H

Overwhelmed at his surroundings, Indiana Jones looked into a knife and saw his family.  His uniform, which was made one year ago, had started to get scruffy. He felt abandoned.
 
Crashing down too close for comfort, Indiana heard cannons firing. He whined. Death followed Indiana as he stumbled up and down the trench.
- Liam

Lockers Galore

In 6E we are using our growth mindsets to solve maths problems. Here is one we investigated this week and some of our discoveries.

A college has 1000 students and just off the entrance hall there’s a bay with 1000 lockers, one for each student. On the first day of term, the lockers are all closed but student no 1 arrives early in the morning and straightaway opens the doors of all 1000 lockers. Student no 2 arrives and closes the doors of all the even-numbered lockers (ie 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on). Later, student no 3 turns up and he focuses on all the lockers numbered with a multiple of 3 (ie 3, 6, 9 and so on), opening those which are closed and closing those which are open. Student no 4 arrives and goes along lockers 4, 8, 12, 16 and so on (multiples of 4), again opening those which are closed and closing those which are open.  During the morning all the student arrive in turn and they each change the state of hose lockers numbered with multiples of their id number.

The problem is : How many lockers will remain open when all 1000 students have visited them?

Dulce et decorum est

In year 6 we have been learning about The First World War.  We have read a range of war poetry and then we wrote our own.  Here is Josie's from 6E.

Dulce Et decorum Est

Standing stiff and wearing camouflaged coats

We soldiers fear haunting bullets the most

While we plod through the mist

As thick as oozing mud

Searching but not finding

Our distant rest

Trudging to the unknown

Trudging to death

Flickering flames of hope dance

Waiting for my presence.

Enemies! Enemies! Quick hide!

A flurry of fear

Stumbling to hide

However someone was still in range

Still out there. BANG!!!

Through the hazy mist we spot him

Floundering like a man in fire or lime

Guttering and spluttering

We load our fallen comrade

If your dreams

Were as horrifying as this

His face withering wildly

Scares of mystery covering his body

The way his blood-spewing back is almost

As though his life is being sucked out of him

My friend if you could see this

 You wouldn’t tell your children

Wanting glory

The old lie:

Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori

Patrick's WW1 poetry

This week, we took inspiration from Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est poem. After studying the poem, we wrote our own versions.

Here is Patrick's from 6D:

One more war

Crossed over uncomfortably

Howling like wolves

In pain and sorrowfully,

The soldiers try to

Convince the leader

To be let go but no

The menacing men march

Through the sludge as  

 The sun passes by.

Only darkness only shadows.

The soulless soldiers suffered

With sacks strapped to their

Pain full backs.

Toxic gas! Toxic air! Toxic everywhere

Reload! Reload! Quick…

And fast.

All crumbling and

Dropping like flies!

Soon they start to question themselves.

“Why oh why do we do these

Things?”

They ran to the trench to try

And avoid the swarm of gas.

Screaming like kids

Playing in a field

Full of death.

No way! No way!

How can this be.

The trenches are full of

!RED!

A sorrow, dead body.

Dead human flesh decays

Before your very eyes.

Hear the scream inside your head!

!The destruction is true!

Ashiq's diary entry

This week we wrote diary entries exploring different viewpoints of endangered animals. Below is Ashiq's diary entry from the perspective of an endangered tiger.

Dear diary ,

                  I am in a gloomy, dark cave with my cute cubs. I am scared  but my cubs are with filling me with hope .Will we live? Let me explain what has happened. There I was, taking care of my adorable cubs in a diminutive way  in the hulking forest.

I was axiomatic  when I saw that figure. Beyond the beautiful skies I was sensing danger. I can sniff danger. Boom! I scuttle away. The hunter is after me.

I am sprinting faster then  a soldier in a war galloping  from the tank. I help my baby cub up.  Screaming  bullets remarkably  miss me. I misguide the hunter and perish  away from the unmissable man. My baby cubs are as malnourished as a car fuming out petrol. 

From,

Tiger

PS (I hope the hunter must have a legitimate  reason for killing me).

Workshops in Year 6

Year 6 had some slightly different lessons last week as we learnt about kettle drums and Caribbean music before the Watford Schools Trust came in to offer advice about transitioning to secondary school. The photo below shows children in 6F learning that working together to overcome a challenge is the best route forward.

5G Take One Picture week

As part of 'Take One Picture' week, we looked at the painting 'Mr and Mrs Andrews' by Thomas Gainsborough. In Literacy, we imagined walking through the picture and described what we would be able to see, hear and feel. Below is Alex's description of walking through the painting. We hope you enjoy it!

As you slowly start to slowly stroll down the forest,you will see the birds tweeting and singing whilst they soar lazily through the sky.

Green grass lies limply on the floor as you step on it. Screaming with anguish, it becomes a flattened carpet of life. Protecting bugs, ants, beatles and many more, the long, lush, emerald fronds sway side to side gracefully as the warm breeze rustles through it. Emerald green trees and bushes surround you as you take another step closer to the end. Leaves fall off trees as the wind blows. The smell of nature brings you delight and joy in the moments you are there.

The sky, azure blue like the ocean, lovingly watches every movement of yours as clouds try to block it's view. A princess stands here. A prince stands here. Both leaning against a tree to speak but as you pause beside them them they stop and look at you. As you start to stroll once more, you can hear her heart speed up as she gets more nervous. She is wearing a long beautiful blue dress with a pair of white shoes. Her cheeks blush as the prince talks. Her hair is long and lush.

5E's primary colour pointillism experimentation

Prior to visiting Whipsnade Zoo, 5E experimented with pointillism techniques in order to learn about what techniques worked most effectively. After the visit, the children used their knowledge to create pointillism art of their favourite animal at the zoo.

Below are stages in their learning. We began by creating secondary and tertiary colours using our colour wheel knowledge. We followed this by experimenting with cotton buts, cocktail sticks, pencils and paintbrushes in order to create different pointillism effects. We finished our experimentation by creating our animals in a collage of their natural habitat.

Below you can find Chanel and Yeganeh's colour wheels, Daneel and Malakai's pointillism tool experimentation and finally Leo and Daneel's animals.

5E's story retelling through dance

This week in 5E we retold the beginning of the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece using creative dance routines. The children worked in pairs, playing the parts of Jason and his wicked uncle, practising a movement routine in time to classical music to demonstrate the argument between the two characters. The whole class really endeavoured to move in time to the music and use their gestures to tell the story.

Animal Poetry by 5G

This week in Year 5 we have started our new theme, 'Endangered Animals'. We have been writing a range of different poems based on various species of endangered animals including riddles, haikus and shape poems. Below is our class poem from our acrostic session. We hope you enjoy it!

Enormous elephants plod wearily,
Like great, grey blundering boulders.
Extremely inept, they trample bushes and grass underfoot.
Peacefully, they halt and rest, finding a 
Home underneath the starry sky.
Arising sleepily, they prepare again to march,
Never pausing in their onwards journey,
Trying desperately to avoid deadly dangers.

5E's Interactive Timelines

To celebrate the end of our theme studying eras of human development, each table worked together to create interactive timelines. These timelines not only include key facts that we have studied but also incorporate 3D models, quizzes and puzzles to entertain viewers. The teams worked wonderfully together and all presented their findings at the end of the project. Please see the photos below.

Damavand table: Daneel, Chanel, Taylor, Katie, Sara and Callum.

Kilimanjaro table: Rachel, Tabitha, Mitchell, Malakai, Yeganeh and Samantha.

Fitz Roy table: Mya, Daniel, Myles and Connor.

Fuji table: Joshua, Olivia, Alfie, Aarthy, Leo and Michaela.

Matterhorn table: Ashiq, Samer, Emily, Juvan, Abdullah and Dan.

Year 6 Street Dancing

Year 6 got a post-SATs treat in the form of a Street Dance workshop with the 'Living the Dream School of Performing Arts' here is some of our routine below (featuring 6F and some of 6B):

5E's Political Scavenger Hunt

Today, 5E spent time doing outdoor learning for our PHSE lesson. We studied parliamentary booklets which explain the process of law making. Following this, pairs of children wrote correct and incorrect answers to questions. The pairs then hid these answers surreptitiously around the playground. All pairs tried to find correct answers for each question and had to use their knowledge of parliament in order to decipher which answers were correct. We really enjoy being outside on such a beautiful day. 

Fairytale writing - 6F

We revised the features of narrative writing this week in 6F, in the context of a fairytale. Here is the opening and build up of Laise's:

The Clock Tower

Once upon a time there lived a pretty ballerina (called Twinkletoe), who elegantly made time go around in the colourful, but boring, clock tower. She had a slender, elegant body wrapped in a flowing, purple dress with shimmering, metal cogs at the bottom. She had hair as red as roses, turned into a high bun with shining gold twirled around the bun. Her forlorn, gloomy eyes gazed around the clock tower as she twirled and swirled. Her tiny, graceful feet are like petals dancing in the autumn. Even though you may think her life is the best, she doesn’t think so herself; she thinks her life is the worst anyone could have.  The place below was the most colourful town you would ever see, that’s where Twinkle toe wanted to go! But something was stopping her…

          

Carefully, she looked out the glass window, down into the celebrating town. They were celebrating because of Clock Day. When she saw a balloon gently float around the sky, she wanted to leave the tower even more but she couldn’t. The town (Clock Town) was filled with the most beautiful fair in the world: balloons, music and generous guests. Do you know why she wanted to leave? Well... her brown shimmering eyes had spotted her true love! His name was Hans – a blacksmith that delivered cogs up to the tower. Whenever he came up she didn’t know what to say.

Persuasive writing by 5G

In Year 5 this week we have been looking at persuasive writing. We wrote letters to the CEO of a fast food chain, encouraging him to make the food at his restaurant healthier. Below is an extract from Jessica's letter. We hope you enjoy it!

Dear Mr Hover,

                         I am writing to you to encourage you to increase the amount of healthy food on your menu. At the moment, there is nothing healthy on it, you even add sugar to your salads and bread buns! People want to make healthier choices and you can help them to do that.

Excess sugar is very harmful to people's health and your food offerings contain far too much. Sugar can cause diabetes, tooth decay and obesity. Do you care at all about your customers? Your food must change for their benefit. Surely you can see how necessary it is to change your menu and offer your customers a healthy choice?

5E's mock election speeches

On Thursday, we celebrated the election by choosing candidates who (complete with leaders' masks) gave speeches and answered questions from an audience. Below are Rachel and Daniel's speeches:

Rachel's:
Today I will tell you about what changes I would make if I became Prime Minister. Firstly I would help school children who live far away from their schools with free transport. Another thing I would do if reduce speeding throughout our country, reducing car crashes and increase child benefits so parents could buy more for their children. I would increase the age to go to school to 7 so children would be ready. I would abolish SATs and league tables. I would lower the age to vote to 16, so younger peoples' opinions will be heard. I love the UK and would love it if you could vote for us.

Daniel's:
I think I should become Prime Minister because I will guarantee 100% free child care for 3 and 4 year olds so when you're at work, we'll be there to take care of your children for you. Also, we will keep giving schools the same money so that they can buy resources for pupils to help them learn. We will make children resit SATs until they can reach their goal so that we know that they understand the work that they have done. We will also give as many places as you want for university so we can ensure your child can get in.

Can you guess which party they are each standing for?

'Rock' character description - 6F

After watching a short animation that explored the idea of Rock, Paper and Scissors being creatures that met and interacted with each other, we wrote character descriptions about the 'Rock' character. We tried to utilise the technique of showing as well as telling what our character was like.

Rock. That was his name. No-one ever knew him and they probably won’t. But why should they? Shyness covered most of his personality, so there is actually no point in meeting him! However, there is more to him then you think. Obviously he is a rock but can’t Rock have a life?

Rock was an altruistic creature, he cared for everyone. His face however, you cannot describe very well… His eyebrows were stone caterpillars never moving; ever. The hands of this monster were always dry and rough. Nobody cared for him. If they did, they couldn't - it’s quite hard caring for a muscular creature, whose weight was more than 7 tonnes! Rock’s nose was a giant potato, a fossilized one. The smile of this living thing was broken. Whenever you see him smile, you see cracked tombstones, struggling to stay still.

Even though… (let’s say) Rock has ugly features, you cannot say that about his personality. Despite Rock’s heart being made out of stone, it is full of pure kindness. He is lonely though. Living - all alone - without anyone. He has wonderful thoughts and dreams but they never come true until the next day…