Curriculum Newsletter

Welcome to Galaxy Class!

The class adults are Miss Bowles (Class Teacher) and Mrs Beck (LSA / Year 6 Intervention). 

To inspire the children at the start of this Learning Experience, they will have an Egyptian themed day where they will explore mummification, make their own papyrus paper (which they will later use to produce some Egyptian themed art) and make their own Canopic jars using clay.

English this term will link to our history work on Ancient Egypt. The children will use their knowledge of the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, focusing on diary extracts of Howard Carter; this will show the tension prior to the discovery and the determination of Carter to succeed. Following this they will then look at the story ‘Secrets of a Sun King’ to inspire their writing from different perspectives from characters in the book. 

At the start of the half term, the children will begin to explore what ratio and understanding how to use ratio language in their reasoning answers. The lessons will then progress onto exploring scale factors and shapes. Next, the children will begin to explore algebra and will learn how to use simple formulae and express missing numbers problems algebraically. Finally, the children will consolidate their understanding of what a decimal number is and then they will multiply them by 10, 100 and 1000 and apply this to real life situations, involving the conversion of units of measurement.

Outcome:

The children will be performing a historical play all about Tutankhamun. Afterwards, you are welcome to see the children’s Egyptian museum, which includes of all their different artefacts they recreated.

Date: Tuesday 11^th February 2025

Take home task:

Choose from one, or even more, of the following. Alternatively, choose something of your own – get creative!

• Create some art work based around Egyptian Gods/Goddesses
• Produce a PPT about an aspect of Egyptian life
• Create a poster about an Egyptian god
• Research an Ancient Egyptian achievement and present findings using method of your choice

Hand in date: Friday 7^Th February 2025

How you can support your child at home:

• Find out about Ancient Egyptian life.
• Learn tables facts up to 12 x 12 and associated division facts – quick recall is essential!
• Ensure that your child reads at least 5 times a week and has the opportunity to discuss their reading with you. Please could you ensure this is recorded in their reading record and it must be signed by an adult.
• Help them to learn their weekly spellings and ensure they understand their meaning.
• Encourage child to complete ten minutes of TT Rockstars or Numberbots each night.

Our PE days will be on a Monday and Thursday.  Please ensure children come to school in the correct kit on these days and that long hair is tied back. We do not allow the children to wear earrings for PE so please can they be removed on these days or taped over. 

Thank you for taking the time to read all the information. 

Miss Bowles 

Class rewards 

In order to promote positive behaviour, we reward the children with: raffle tickets, smiley faces, fishy points (house points) and a reading treat. If the class is able to achieve 100 reads, then the children who contributed significantly will be able to choose a reward. In addition, we have a traffic light system for behaviour and if the children are on the star at the end of the day, they will receive a raffle ticket. This allows us to encourage the students to engage in their learning and reward those who are participating and show a positive learning attitude.  

Greater Depth 

To support our Greater Depth children (those working above the expected level), we always try to challenge them within lessons with the work set and our level of questioning.

In Year 6, some of our Greater Depth (GD) children were involved in a Maths Challenge online, where they had to answer a range of difficult problems using their mathematical knowledge and understanding of many different concepts. They enjoyed this, as it made them think ‘out of the box’.

Under Threat Hook Day

We were so lucky to have a visit from the Rain Forest Roadshow this week, as part of our new learning experience 'Under Threat'. Dave brought in wonderful creatures, that you'd find in the Rainforest and told us all about his adventures. We learnt about indigenous people, the wildlife, the importance of conservation within these valuable ecosystems, as well as so much more! 

On Thursday 3rd October, Year 6 children went on a fantastic trip to Gillingham Comprehensive School for a Sparks Curiosity Cube event. The children took part in a range of Science activities based on the theme of ‘The lifecycle of a t-shirt.’ During the session, the children took part in the following activities:

1. Visiting the Curiosity Cube and learnt all about t-shirt production

2. A Curiosity Lab session exploring sustainable practices

3. and visiting the Explorer Dome

Literacy festival

Recently, year 6 attended a literacy festival at Cedar Hall in Wells. The children met the author Lindsay Galvin, who wrote the book Darwin's Dragons, which they read in year 5. During the day, the children listened and discussed what it means to be an author and understand the process of writing a book. In addition, Lindsay promoted her new book 'The Great Phoenix of London' and the children were allowed to ask questions and have their books signed by the author.

Hook day

On Tuesday 5th November 2024, year 6 took part in a Hook Day which involved them learning all about tornadoes and earthquakes. The activities included: producing a piece of tornado artwork, making tornadoes in a jar and completing an earthquake team challenge.

Earth Shattering outcome

This week, year 6 have been exploring what renewable energy sources and how they can have an impact on our planet. Each group had to design their own wind turbine and build an electrical circuit, which contained an electrical motor. All of the groups managed to make their designs successfully using recycled materials.

Nativity

Massive thank you to Alice and Grace from Galaxy Class for playing the narrators in the reception's nativity. 

_{Walk like an Egyptian Hook Day}

To start this experience off, the children took part in an Egyptian themed Hook Day. During the day, the children explored the process of mummification and were set the task of mummifying a tomato. In addition, they their made their own papyrus paper and created a canopic jar using clay.