Year 6 Learning Challenge Autumn 2

We are delighted to provide you with the Year 6 Learning Challenge for the second half of the Autumn Term.You will notice that the activities are split into Basic, Advanced and Deep Learning. This is a way for us to look at learning at Broadford, and is designed to ensure that children not only acquire factual knowledge but also gain a further understanding about how their new skills or knowledge can be applied to their own lives or be used to further their cognitive and social development.

The theme of the Learning Challenge for this half of the Autumn term is 'What is Italian Culture?' It is entirely up to the child whether they select the poem, significant person, music or painting, or a combination of all 4. They can also select the activities that they want to attempt, though we would encourage them to deepen their learning as much as possible. 

We cannot wait to see as many learning challenges from the children as possible. All pupils in Year 6 will be awarded a special certificate and will also get the chance to present their work to their class if they wish. 

Willow class swimming

To all members of Willow class,

Just a quick reminder about swimming. Willow will be having their swimming lesson tomorrow at Central Park Leisure centre. Children will be returning to school at 3.30 and can be picked up from Willow class as usual, along with any siblings. 

Please make sure your child comes to school with:

Swimming costume/trunks

A towel

Named bag to store items

Swimming hat 

Goggles (if preferred)

I hope you have had a fabulous half term and look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Miss Taylor 

Transported to South Africa

Our language of the term is currently Afrikaans. This morning, Willow focused on learning some key facts about this language and how to speak it. We practised common words like hello, goodbye, good morning and one of my personal favourites (as Willow know very well) please and thank you. After, we learnt how to say numbers and held some simple conversations, asking our partners how they were, how old they were and if they understood what we were saying. 

After, we looked at some of the artwork from South African tribes. We looked at how the women designed and painted their houses. We were particularly amazed that they did not use rulers and that they painted their houses using chicken feathers. Unfortunately, we did not have chicken feathers to replicate this, but the children did have a go at designing their our houses using geometric patterns. 

Willow class challenge: 

For fifteen dojos, in the comments can you tell me how to say:

Hello

Good morning

Good afternoon

Yes

No

Thank you

Welcome

Please

Come here 

Well done

Willow class star writer

Our star writer in Willow class this week is the lovely Callie-Rose Barnett and it is no wonder given the fantastic set of instructions she produced on how to make sherbet. Successfully, Callie used a range of adverbials of time and manner to show her audience when and how to perform an action, selected appropriate imperative verbs to ensure her writing was precise and used brackets to embed extra information. A great piece of writing Callie, a pleasure to read. Keep it up!

Maple Star Writer - 20.10.17

This week in Maple class, our star writer is the awesome Javy Needroo!

Javy created a fabulous set of instructions for how to make sherbet, beginning with an enticing introduction full of rhetorical questions to hook his reader in. Using numbered steps and clear bullet points, he ensured his instructions were easy for his reader to follow and also included a range of adverbs of time and manner.

He even managed to include some rhyme in his conclusion!
'There you have it - a scrumptious treat that your family can eat!'

Well done Javy - you should be very proud of your fantastic work!

Year 6 JTA trip

Yesterday the Year 6 Junior Travel Ambassadors visited the London Transport Musuem. The children took part in a workshop where they made a TFL poster advertising an attraction in their local area. The children also had the opportunity to look at historic methods of transport which of course gave the opportunity for some awesome selfies...

Maple Star Writer - 13.10.17

This week in Maple class, our star writer is the incredible Daniel Kalusha!

Daniel used superb reflectiveness skills when editing his work this week, focusing on improving the quality of his sentence openers and adding a variety of vocabulary to avoid repetition. Using the marking rubric, he identified aspects that he had missed out of his first draft and made sure to include them in his final piece.

Well done Daniel - you have created a piece of writing to be proud of!

Pentomino Puzzles and Tangram Teasers!

Resilience was at the fore in Maple class on Monday, as the children tackled some tricky maths puzzles!

Some of the class worked on tangram problems, making a range of pictures such as boats, arrows, swans and candles using the seven tangram pieces. This required a great level of cooperative talk and spatial reasoning.

"Working together to solve the arrow tangram was difficult because we wanted to try different things! By talking about our ideas we managed to find a solution together." - Henry

The rest of the class worked on pentomino challenges, such as making rectangles of a specified size or the notoriously difficult 'double T' problem. This required the children to make a larger version of the T shaped piece contained within the pentomino set; nobody managed to crack it today but everyone gave it their best go!

Who will be the first to beat the defeat the double T? The race is on Maple class!

Year 5 Spellings 16th - 20th October

Below are the Year 5 Spellings for this week. The weekly test will be on a Friday and children should hand their books in on this day too. 

Pupils are expected to practice their spellings for 15 minutes per day as well as practice their times tables and read at home. Children are encouraged to search for the definitions of the words and use them in sentences in order to gain merits for their trackers.

Redwood Star Writer

Last week, our star writer was William Ilott who wrote a magnificent narrative piece through the eyes of Guy of Gisborne. William brought to life the story of the archery contest and the rivalry between Robin Hood and Gisborne by using exciting vocabulary, interesting openers and well-thought of sentence structure. Well done William!

Year 6 Spellings 16th- 20th October

Below are the Year 6 Spellings for this week. The weekly test will be on a Friday and children should hand their books in on this day too.   Pupils are expected to practice their spellings for 15 minutes per day as well as practice their times tables and read at home. Children are encouraged to search for the definitions of the words and use them in sentences in order to gain merits for their tracker. 

Super Samira!

Samira has been a superstar at home, continuing her learning further. This week, she has been practicing using column method to add and subtract 5 digit numbers, with regrouping and exchanging. Samira was also a superstar at using the bar model to show the relationship between 3 numbers! Keep up the great work Samira :) 

Willow class cupcake party

Today in Willow, we have had the luxury of a cupcake party. Sat where they wanted, the children each received a cupcake and listened to some good songs. They certainly deserved this celebration as they worked hard to achieve their 100% attendance. I can not wait for the next party!

Willow class star writer

Our star writer in Willow Class this week is the very lovely Timi. It is no surprise given the absolutely awesome retell of Achilles' first battle that he produced. Timi used his senses to consider the sight of the battle, the smells, what could be heard and how Achilles would be feeling as he approached Hector! He successfully used a range of openers to vary his writer, embedded similes to build description and used different sentence lengths to create suspense. Keep up the great writing Timi!

'I enjoyed this piece of writing because the story was intense' -Timi

Willow Swimming

To all parents/carers of those in Willow,

Just a quick reminder that there is no swimming tomorrow. However, after half term, we will continue again with our lessons.

As this is the case, children can be collected from their classes at the usual time of 3.00.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of your weekend :) 

Maple Star Writer - 06.10.17

This week in Maple class, our star writer is the amazing Ashlee Wright!

Ashlee's writing used a wide range of openers to add interest and her use of show not tell allowed the reader to really understand how Pandora must have felt with the temptation of her wondrous box in front of her. Ashlee's use of rhetorical questions kept the reader engaged and made for a thoroughly enjoyable piece of writing. Well done Ashlee!

Sherbet sorcerers

In Willow class, our focus for non-fiction writing this term is instructions. On Monday, we were introduced to this genre's conventions, instructing on how to make a jam sandwich. Miss Taylor stood at the front of the class with her equipment, whilst the children of Willow gave (not so clear) commands. At one point, Miss Taylor ended up with a scoop of jam in her hands, rather than on the spoon - blame the kids!

Today, we focused on 'how to make sherbet' which will form part of our final piece of writing. In order to clearly understand the process, the children individually made their own sherbet before they tasted their concoctions. 

The children were clearly warned not to use too much bicarbonate of soda, otherwise their sherbet would not taste like such a sweet treat. However, below are the faces of Willow...

Following our experimenting, we devised a checklist for things we would expect to see in a set of instructions. I can not wait to read the children's very clear and concise writing tomorrow! 

Maple take to the air!

This week in Literacy, Maple class are continuing their work on instructional writing. After successfully creating instructions for how to make sherbet, they are now moving on to writing instructions for constructing a first-class paper aeroplane.

Today the children followed basic instructions and step-by-step images to create 'The Dart', a slimline aerodynamic design. They had the opportunity to customise their creations before taking them out on their first test flight.

The aim of the test flight was to see if the basic instructions had allowed them to create a successful aeroplane, and whether they needed editing to include additional details.

After testing their paper aeroplanes, the budding engineers used their reflectiveness skills to suggest changes that might make their creations more successful, such as folding the wingtips up, bending the nose and using different paper.

Using their new ideas, the children then created a plan for their own instructions, taking care to include the new information in the correct section.

"I think the plane would fly better if it was made out of thicker paper or card, so I am going to change the equipment list and include options of card and sugar paper for my reader." - Adebare

Willow get resourceful!

This week in Willow, we have been using formal written methods to add and subtract. To begin, we discussed the base ten system, which allowed us to understand the idea of regrouping. To reinforce this conceptual understanding, we used place value counters to regroup in a game of 'what number am I? before moving on to using column method.

Yesterday, we focused solely on subtracting; using our place value counters, representing the equation pictorially and showing this using column method. We also examined a few of Gertrude's silly mistakes and, drawing upon our mathematical reasoning, explained where she had gone wrong, particularly with exchanging and regrouping. 

The lovely Ronnie Gayle deserves a special shout out. Originally, he fell into Gertrude's trap of silly mistakes. Today he was particularly resilient and resourceful and is now a master of column method!

Great work Kirk

This week in maths, we have been looking at converting Roman numerals.The children have been absolutely incredible at this, especially Miss Chloe Kirk. At the beginning of the lesson, Chloe will not be afraid to admit that she was slightly baffled at all of the Roman numeral rules. However, her super sponge like brain was not to be fooled, as she quickly picked up the concept and whizzed through her maths work (and got ALL of her answers correct.)

However, she would not just stop in class. No, no, no... Miss Kirk went home and ensured she pushed her learning that extra bit further, conducting even more Roman numeral work. Now I'm pretty sure she would give me a run for my money in converting Roman numerals.

Keep it up Chloe, you have had a fantastic week in school and I am always pleased to see children setting high expectations for themselves!

Willow class swimming

To all members of Willow class,

Just a quick reminder about swimming. Willow will be having their swimming lesson  tomorrow at Central Park Leisure centre. Children will be returning to school at 3.30 and can be picked up from Willow class as usual, along with any siblings. 

Please make sure your child comes to school with:

Swimming costume/trunks

A towel

Named bag to store items

Swimming hat 

Goggles (if preferred)

I look forward to tomorrow, make sure you are all well rested tonight!

Miss Taylor 

Willow class star writer

In Willow this week, our super star writer is the lovely Leo Whiten. Following our stories of Pandora's Box, we conducted a progress test based still on this story, but from the perspective of Epimetheus to see how well the children could write independently. Leo Whiten certainly held great capabilities in this department.

Leo had me smiling like a chesire cat the whole way through his writing. Successfully, he was able to portray the role of Epimetheus, showing how he would be feeling as he watched his disobedient wife open the box. Not only that, but Leo ensured he used a range of openers to avoid repetition, he built powerful imagery through his careful selection of verbs, adverbs and adjectives and he was able to use a range of sentence lengths to build suspense.

Congratulations Leo, a superb write. I can not wait to read many more pieces of your writing in the future! 

Maple Star Writer - 29.09.17

This week in Maple class, our star writer is the fantastic Eriya Byamugisha!

Eriya has used an astounding range of openers and vocabulary throughout his work, avoiding repetition and hooking his reader in.  He has also varied his sentence lengths to add suspense, which made his writing as irresistible as Pandora's box itself!

Maple Star Writer - 22.09.17

This week in Maple, our star writer is the imaginative Libby Northwood!

In class, we are writing the story of Pandora's box from the perspective of Pandora. We have considered the senses of Pandora to construct our story: what she could see when she looked at the box, how the box felt, how she felt before opening the box, the voices she could hear, the sight of the spirits and how she felt after opening the box.

We used a carousel approach to develop a whole array of ideas, working collaboratively with our peers. The children were then able to create an extensive word bank, which helped them to build their own sentences about Pandora's senses.

Libby's spectacular sentences used a wide range of vocabulary to hook her reader in and show not tell to give her reader a vivid image of how Pandora felt and acted. Great work Libby!

Elm Star Writer

This week in Elm class, our star writer is Ellis. Throughout his story of 'Pandora's Box', Ellis has used a wide range of sentence openers to draw his reader in and avoiding repetition. His use of imagery and vivid vocabulary has resulted in Ellis writing a piece of narrative full of imagination and wonder.

Ellis' favorite extract.
'I gingerly and gently unlocked the wonderful latch. Hesitantly, I picked up the weighty top when suddenly evil spirits glided out of the box. Once this room was full of joy and happiness but now it was transformed to the deepest depths of darkness.'

Netball champions

Yesterday afternoon, Broadford encountered their first netball match of the year. Obtaining the cluster winner title last year, the bar was set high for this years team, who similarly want to bring home gold. Thanks to our captain, Sienna, and vice, Levan, the children were thoroughly warmed up and motivated before taking the court.

Maintaining their reputation, Broadford managed to beat Harold Court 10-0. An absolutely fantastic result. Let's hope it continues throughout the season, and possibly take our score even further, maybe 20-0 next time? 

Well done to our superstars: Tia, Levan, Sienna, Oliwier, Jessica S, Caydon, Ja'Shayla, Adebare and Martin. A very special well done goes to our lovely Tia, who managed to earn the title of player of the match!

Bring on round 2! 

Go wild in Kidzania

This week Year 5 hit the city of Kidzania! To begin, the children followed footsteps which eventually lead  them to a departure lounge, where they were greeted with wristbands, money and hair nets (required for health and safety).

The children were then set free to explore the city, where they could take on new jobs and earn even more money. They then had the option to spend their money, open a bank account or continue to save.

We had children becoming fire fighters, vets, doctors and some children even attended university! For their hard work, the children earned numerous rewards, from pet food to chocolate tokens!

Whilst on the trip, the children were incredibly sensible and showed everyone what a lovely year group they are! 

I wonder if the children have any ideas on what they want to become when they are older now...

Year 5 Mersea Residential Meeting

We are delighted to inform you that a residential trip has been booked  to Mersea Centre for Outdoor Learning at Mersea Island for Year 5 pupils. Children will leave on Wednesday 13th June 2018 and return on Friday 15th June 2018.

During their stay at the Mersea Centre, children will be able to experience several different fun and exciting activities. The opportunity to develop independence and leadership is second to none.

There will be an information meeting on Tuesday 10th October 2.30pm

It is very important that you attend this meeting as we will be providing you with all of the information about the residential and payment options.