Sycamore Class [Year 6]
Welcome to Sycamore
class.
Topic
Webs:
Term 1 2018-2019 -
World War 2
Term 2 2018-2019 -
World War 2
Term 3 2017-2018 -
Victorians
Term 4 2017-2018 -
Victorians
Term 5 2017-2018 -
Dinosaurs
Term 6 2017-2018 -
Kaleidoscope
A very big welcome to
Sycamore’s web page.
We hope that you all
had a lovely and restful summer break. The
children have come back enthusiastic and
have hit the ground running by working hard
and demonstrating a mature and responsible
attitude.
Year 6 is a busy and exciting year. We
already have lots of fantastic trips and
activities planned to balance out all of the
hard work leading up to SATs.
We will update this
page regularly with photos and information
so please make sure you keep ‘checking-in’!
As you will already be
aware the teaching team in Sycamore is: Mrs
Bazeley, Miss Leyman and Mrs Clarke. If you
have any queries or questions, please do not
hesitate to come and speak to us.
Useful information:
Homework
Set on Fridays. Due in Tuesdays.
Reading Logs
The expectation is that your child will read
a minimum of 5 times a week, logging this in
their Reading Log with 3 more detailed
entries per week.
Forest School
Friday afternoons
PE
Wednesday afternoons
*Please note* Term 1 –
PE will now be taught on a Monday
morning with Mrs
Macdonald.
Trips
Friday 21st September 8:30-13:00 –
Lifeskills Bristol
Beer Residential
The children really
enjoyed their trip. Here are some of the
memories they are taking away with them:
“I liked it
when Thomas asked ‘When is pudding?’…
when we had already eaten it all!!”
- Elsie
“Beer was a wonderful experience. I
will treasure every moment of it.” -
Ethyn
“I found it funny when the cat kept
sneaking into the boys’ tent and
wouldn’t go away!” - Francci
“I loved our trip! It was especially
funny when Mrs Courtier got pooped on
twice by a seagull which then took her
sandwich!” - Maia
“I enjoyed choosing music for the car
journeys. We listened to Cotton Eye Joe
9 times!” - Corey
“Beer was really fun - I will never
forget it.” - Ben
“My favourite part…The YHA breakfast…
enough said!” - Maisey
“I found it really funny when
everyone thought a buoy out at sea was a
shark fin!” - Benji
Cross
Country
We are
very proud of our Year 6 children, who
recently came forth in the small school
cross country category. Running across
country in the blistering heat, they
impressed all with their brilliant
sportsmanship.
Sycamore class worked
really hard towards their SATs for many
weeks including after school SATs club and a
holiday revision session. In SATs week
itself, they enjoyed eating a cooked
breakfast together and they showed
determination and resilience throughout the
week.
On Thursday, they
returned to school for a sleepover under
canvas together with Dundry Primary School.
The children enjoyed a barbecue and a camp
fire and excitedly prepared their tents.
They were able to play in both the Forest
area and the Orchard as well as explore all
the activities on offer from the Play Pod.
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On Friday both schools travelled up
the road to a nearby farm with a
lake which a local farmer had kindly
allowed us use of. Here we built on
our existing canoeing skills from
previous camps in addition to rides
on an inflatable dinghy, a picnic
and cuddling lots of fluffy baby
ducklings!
Click on the
image to the left to see a slideshow
of pictures. |
Term 5 News: Dance
Umbrella 2018
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On Thursday March
15th, pupils from Y2, Y5 and Y6
participated again in Dance Umbrella
at The Forum in Bath This is now the
fifth consecutive year in which we
have taken part and it proved to be
as enjoyable as ever with the
children feeling a real sense of
achievement at having performed on a
huge stage in front of a large
audience. The Y2 performed without
any older pupils or teachers on the
stage to guide them, keeping to time
brilliantly. The Y5/6 children
performed a contemporary and very
moving piece entitled Trapped. A
huge thank you to all the children,
staff and parents who supported this
event. |
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Term 5 News: PTA
Easter Assembly
Term 5 News: Radstock
Museum visit
To further support
their topic of Victorians, Sycamore Class
visited Radstock Museum on Wednesday March
21st. It was good to add a little local
history to compare and contrast to that of
those living in and around Big Pit, which we
visited in Term 4.
The children visited
the Victorian school room where they were
shocked to learn that all children
were forced to write with their right hand
and that ‘fidgetters’ had their fingers
restricted in finger stocks! Additionally,
any ‘slouchers’ or children suffering from
rickets were made to sit with an
uncomfortable back brace. Poor recitation of
times tables resulted in the humiliation of
the Dunce’s hat! The children had difficulty
writing on their chalkboards in the
intricate, loopy Victorian script.
Next the children
split into two groups to apply their
investigative skills to deduce the function
of primary source artefacts before then
explaining their findings to the other
group.
They then compared a
Victorian shopping experience with that of
today and enjoyed spotting items that we
still buy nowadays whilst being horrified at
other aspects such as the multi-purpose bar
of soap.
Lastly, they learnt
about the various jobs performed by a
blacksmith including shodding horses and the
skill of a wheelwright. They again had to
apply their deduction and discussion skills
to work out the function of the various
tools.
Sycamore news for
website: Terms 3 and 4 2018
Although Term 3 was a
short term, Sycamore, in amongst regular
lessons and working hard towards their SATs,
managed to pack in a couple of school trips.
First, in January, the class visited Theatre
Royal, Bath for the pantomime Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs. This proved to be a very
lively performance with the pantomime Dame
clambering up from the Stalls and into the
Royal Circle, right among us, in pursuit of
her undergarment!
Then, in February, to
support their Topic work on Victorians, the
children travelled across the Severn Bridge
to Blaenavon in South Wales. In the morning,
they explored the Industrial History side of
the Blaenavon Ironworks in addition to the
Social History around the workers’ cottages
which were furnished in contemporary style
dating from the late 1700s right up to 1967.
The children were particularly interested in
a cottage from the 1940s which reminded them
of Mister Tom’s house from their WW2 Topic
in Terms 1 and 2. They were also horrified
to learn about working conditions and how
short related life expectancy was.
Next, Sycamore
travelled the short distance to Big Pit, a
former working coal mine which is now a
fascinating museum. After visiting the
simulator which recreated conditions inside
the mines, the children were kitted up with
protective helmets and miners’ lamps before
descending 90m into the ground in the cage.
Our guide was extremely informative and the
children were alarmed to learn how many
hours they might have worked at their age,
for little pay with horrendous conditions in
the pitch black without head torches.
The children had an
unexpected surprise during the afternoon
when it snowed heavily!
On their return to
school, the children not only wrote high
quality recounts but they have also now
started planning persuasive letters to
Victorian reformer Lord Shaftesbury about
working conditions for children in Victorian
times.
In Art, Sycamore
enjoyed learning about William Morris;
creating collagraph prints. In Term 4 they
will be producing Lowry-esque pictures of
Blaenavon Ironworks. Additionally, in
Science, the children used tights and mashed
bananas to create revolting but
scientifically informative digestive
systems! They then wrote up instructions for
the process.
Next up in March, in
addition to an activity-packed Book Week,
the class is looking forward to performing
in Dance Umbrella and experiencing a
Victorian schoolroom at Radstock Museum.
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