Art in year 6

In Art this term the year 6 pupils are focussing on South America. The artist Henry Rousseau was captivated with rain forests and the many different shades of green. He completed beautiful paintings of rain forests even though he had never actually visited South America itself. The children started by collecting a variety of leaves and grass from our school field and then back in class looked closely at the many different shades of green, even in one leaf there was as many as three different shades. They then went on to experiment with shading, by mixing watercolours.

Mulberry Class healthy eating week

Last week was healthy eating week and Mulberry class were learning about 5 a day and trying new fruits, salad and vegetables that they may not have had before. We made a selection of dips: Salsa, hummus and guacamole. We used fresh ingredients which the children could feel and smell before they were chopped or mashed to make the dips.

After all of the dishes were made the children used breadsticks to taste and the majority of the children tasted all three. Most, tried something that they have not tasted before and came back for seconds!

Coconut music lesson

Over the past few weeks Coconut class have been learning about 'Gamelan' music and instruments. Gamelan is a group of instruments, usually tuned percussion, that are handmade. The Gamelan originated in Java and Bali and has been around for hundreds of years. 

We have been looking at cyclic patterns which are rhythmic patterns repeated over and over again. The group improvise using different instruments and also, this week, we have been looking at the way the group 'decorate' the cyclic pattern.

The piece of music that we have been working on this week is called 'Bendrong' it is said that it's intention is to lift a spell under which a river crab 'Yuyu KangKang' is held working in a swamp!

Royal Courts of Justice - Coconut

After weeks of preparing their trail, Coconut class finally went to Royal Courts of Justice to perform their mock trial.

With around 90 courtrooms, the Royal Courts of Justice deals mainly in appeal cases and constructed 120 years ago.

After arriving in our courtroom, the children were able dress up as the characters from the courtroom.

We had a judge...

 A clerk and an usher...

We had barristers and witnesses.

Not forgetting those important people who decide the fate of the defendant, the jury.

After performing their impressive trial, the class got to speak to a Judge's clerk and ask her questions about the careers in the courts, as well as her sharing with the class stories about some of the trials she's been involved with, including Apple vs Samsung.

The trip was topped off with a visit to the costume department, with some if the outfits worn by the members of the courts on display! Can you spot the outfit embroidered with 24 carat gold?!

We then saw this unusual sculpture of Cheif Lord Justice (2000-2005) Harry Woolf, can you tell which everyday household item it is made from?

What if not...?

We have been reading a fictional story called "Gone Away" in Literacy. The story is told from the viewpoint a boy who has started hanging around wih a new friend as his best friend has "Gone Away". The story is explored through flashbacks with comparisons of time spent with the old and new friend and their differences in nature; the first being selfish and manipulative and the latter open and fun. We were surprised, at the end of the story, to discover that the old friend had not moved away but died in an accident.

We then explored, through role play, the alternative ending to the story, thinking about: What if not dead? What if the best friend had moved away? The children considered how the narrator would react when meeting up with his best friend after a period of time. Would he fall back in line with his manipulation? Or would he finally stand up to him? All the pieces were different but in keeping with the characters in the story.

Well done Coconut Class.

Theatre of Law Project

Year 6 were excited to welcome Evie from the Theatre of Law project this morning. The Theatre of Law project has been designed for primary aged school children to understand how the justice system works, as well as increase understanding of jobs within the law and raise aspirations to pursue a career in the law.

Year 6 have been challenged to write a mock-trial script. From the development of the story to the final script, we will be exploring crime, taking interviews, investigating the different jobs within the law which will ensure we complete our script and set a court scene.

Afterwards, we will be visiting the Royal Courts of Justice where we will play out the trial in a real courtroom, taking the roles of the people in the trial. Working with a legal professional and having the opportunity to ask questions about the jobs within the law.

The children were astonished to learn that all of the above were crimes: criminal damage and vandalism, assault and joint enterprise.

We examined a teenager named Johnny, who had committed a robbery. We discussed the roles of the people involved in a court case.

Y6 visit from PC Hopkins

PC Hopkins paid a visit to Y6 this week to talk to them about burglary. The children were surprised that out of 240,000 residents in Havering, the largest London Borough, an average of 4 burglaries happen each day. The children predicted a much larger number. Even though this is obviously 4 too many, it helped to put the act of burglary into perspective. The children discussed what they thought were items of interest for burglars and the children were shown how to label these items with their postcode and door number using an invisible pen which can only be seen with an UV light. Each child was given a pen along with an information pack to take home.