Broadford Year 5/6

Thursday, 16 April 2026

Finding Our Voice: Bringing Oracy from the Assembly to the Dinner Table

If your child came home today talking about PERFECT PARTNER POSITION don't worry, it’s not a new yoga move! Simply put, Oracy is the skill of learning to talk and learning through talk. Following our recent school assembly, we are excited to launch our first Oracy mission.

It’s about more than just chatting; it’s about giving our children the tools to express their ideas clearly and listen to others with empathy.

🤝 The 'Perfect Partner' Position

In school, we’ve been practising the "Perfect Partner Position." It sounds fancy, but it’s all about being physically and mentally present when we speak to someone.

As you can see on the postcard above, we encourage the children to be:

Knee-to-knee: Facing each other directly.
Listening with their eyes: Showing the speaker they have their full attention.
Ready to listen: Staying quiet and focused on the conversation.

Try this at home: Next time you’re discussing what to have for a snack, see if you can 'copy the talking position' together!

🚀 Your First Home Talk Mission!

To help bridge the gap between school and home, we’ve created a Home Mission for you. This week, we are focusing on Shared Decision Making.

Oracy helps us understand different views, even when we don't agree. We challenge you to choose something small to decide together:

What to watch on TV.
What to eat for a weekend treat.
What to play for family game night.

Use these 'Sentence Stems'

If the debate gets a little heated (we know how important pizza topping choices can be!), try using these sentence stems to keep the conversation productive:

"I agree with you because..."
"Can you tell me more?"
"I think something different..."

💡 Why Does This Matter?

Teaching children to listen first and include everyone doesn't just make for a quieter house; it builds confidence. When a child feels heard, they are more likely to share their brilliant ideas and open their minds to new ones.

We can’t wait to hear how your home missions go! Feel free to share your "shared decision" success stories.

Let’s get talking!

Spring is Blooming at Broadford!

Spring has officially arrived, and our outdoor space is bursting with life! Here is a quick update on the new growth and arrivals in our garden.

🐸 New Life & Habitats

A huge thank you to a kind parent for their generous donations! Our pond is now thriving with new plants and wiggly tadpoles, and our new wood pile habitat is already becoming a five-star hotel for local mini-beasts.

🌷 Flowers & Trees

The garden is looking brighter than ever thanks to:

Flowers: Vibrant tulips and miniature "tête-à-tête" daffodils.
Trees: Newly planted Walnut, Oak, Scots Pine, and Willow trees.

🛑 Look, Don't Pick!

We are teaching the children to be guardians of our environment. We’ve asked everyone to enjoy the plants and trees without picking or pulling at them. These plants provide vital food and shelter for our wildlife, and we want them to stay healthy for everyone to enjoy.

Thank you for helping us keep Broadford green and wild!

Monday, 13 April 2026

Year 6 Spellings WB 13.4.26

	A	B	C
1	suitable	suitable	suitable
2	reasonable	reasonable	reasonable
3	visible	visible	visible
4	considerable	considerable	considerable
5	understandable	understandable	understandable
6	terrible	response	knight
7	responsible	terrible	through
8	resistable	resist	rewarded
9	comfortable	comfort	adventure
10	adorable	adore	developed
11	reliable
12	possibility
13	visibly
14	adorably
15	considerably

Tuesday, 31 March 2026

Year 6 Pump it Up: Modelling the Human Heart! 🫀

This half-term, our budding scientists are diving deep into the circulatory system! We kicked things off this week by getting hands-on with the body's most tireless engine: the heart.
To understand how this incredible organ functions, our pupils didn't just look at diagrams — they became engineers.

Using modelling dough we sculpted hearts, carefully layering the chambers and rolling out dough "tubes" to represent the vital entrance and exit points for blood flow.
To see the mechanics in action, we transformed everyday items into a working cardiovascular model:
The Jar: Our "Heart" filled with red-tinted water (blood). The Balloon: Acting as the strong "Muscle Walls." The Straws: The "Blood Vessels" that transport life-giving fluid. By sealing one "valve" and pushing down on the balloon, pupils witnessed exactly how pressure forces blood out of the heart and through the body. It was a messy, marvellous way to see biology in motion!

Sunday, 29 March 2026

Year 5's Local Market Trip and Out in The Wild!

What an eventful term it has been! With much more to come, we mark this term so far with some reflections from our History unit and our time of Wild Passport.

In History, we have been looking at what Romford used to look like and the reasons behind different monuments and buildings that are in Romford. We have also looked at historical events that occurred in Romford and how it has impacted modern day Romford.

The children enjoyed seeing familiar places and sharing their attachment to their local community.

We looked at images if some buildings and streets in Romford from the 1910's, 1950's and the 1960's. The children then compared them to what the buildings look like and their uses in present day.

This week was Wild Passport Week where the focus skill was using tools. The children learned to safely use manual rotary drill and hammer. The children were part of a safety talk regarding using a hammer and they made a nail and loom band design on a wood cookie.

Some chose to use a shape to create a pattern and others designed theirs to be their first initial of their name,

Once the nails were hammered into the wood cookie, a piece of felt was glued to the back of the disc to prevent danger from the hammered nails.

Birch class loved creating their colourful designs and initials on their wood cookie.

'It was tricky to get the loom bands on the nails' - Eliza, Birch

The second activity included a safety talk for the use of the manual rotary drill and the children went on to make a spinning disc toy by drilling two holes in the centre of the wood cookie, a small distance apart and thread a length of string through the holes. Once beaded and tied, the spinning disc toy was ready to go! For Larch class it became the favourite activity during break and lunch! Birch had a competition of who could keep it spinning the longest and the spinners are still making an appearance at break time!

'I enjoyed using the hand drill!' - Henry, Larch.

'It was so much fun learner how to use the hand drill, we had to make sure the wood was secure before we started so we drilled in the correct place.' - Nyasa, Birch

'I worked with my partner to hammer the nails into the wood cookie. We had to watch and follow carefully so that we were safe.' - Isaiah, Larch.

There were also free time options and as we were blessed with good weather this week, the children were able to explore using binoculars, shovels and magnifying glasses.

In Larch, the majority of the class worked together in their child-led project to create a water bottle slide!

See the joy of their success below: