Junior Citizenship Day

Year 6 spent this morning at the Romford Army Reserve Centre taking part in the Havering Junior Citizenship Event. The children were greeted by PC Wayne Hopkyns as they arrived for their introductory talk about today's activities. The children were put into groups and told that  they would be taking part in a variety of workshops. 

First activity the children were discussing travel safety, how to travel on buses safely and rules and regulations when travelling. 

Afterwards we went to the abandoned shelter experience - we walked through an 'abandoned' building and discussed the dangers which could be found. There were empty cans, litter, food packages and animal faeces. We were convinced that a dangerous animal lived in the building but it was actually a person. This experience was truly terrifying as the 'person' jumped out at us as if to attack. It really made the children think about why they should never enter any abonanded buildings.

Next the children entered the Youth Bus and were given a tea, challenge. Working together, they completed the task through discussion and teamwork!

In addition, the children took part in a Road Saftey workshop which focused on making sure that they always wore their helmets when riding their bikes. We were given a demonstration to show what would happen if we were on a bike and had an accident with and without a bike helmet! 

After that we watched a peer pressure show and had to discuss everything that was wrong with the scenario and what you should do if your 'friends' try to make you do something you feel uncomfortable about.

Next, we were met my two police officers who spoke to us about knife crime. We had to follow the rules and regulations and sort a selection of knives and sharp objects into those which are illegal and legal.

After a while , we went to the Fire Brigade session and learnt about the speed at which a fire burns. It was interesting to know, that the imagine of smoke in movies , white smoke and a few coughs, is extremely deceptive! In real-life if an adult was to breathe in the dark black smoke they would become unconscious within two breaths and  die if they still continued to inhale the smoke.

Then we discussed our local environment and how to recycle and reduce waste.

Lastly, we had a London Ambulance session, did you know that on average there are 6,000 phone calls requesting an ambulance in the London area alone! We learnt about DR ABC which stands for DANGER - RESPOSNE - AIRWAYS - BREATHING - CALL 999! This should be done before any CPR takes place.

Year 6 Stubbers Meeting Reminder

A reminder that the final year 6 Stubbers Meeting will be next Tuesday 23rd June 2015 at 2pm. Please ensure one adult representative per child attends in order for us to distribute the relevant information. 

Math Challenges in Palm - Day 2

Year 6 have been completing more math challenges. The children have been working together showing great reciprocity and determination to complete the Katamino and Tangram challenges. 

Math Challenges in Palm

This morning, Year 6 are completing team math challenge tasks. The tasks started with a multiplication and division learning grid. The children had to create their own number sentences, answer word problems and examine each other's work.

Afterwards, the children had to complete a Mega Block challenge. They were given a 2D picture of a building structure which that had to complete in their teams. However, only 1 person could look at the photo at a time. 

Don Giovanni - Royal Opera House

Year 6 have set off for the Royal Opera House and are excited to be going to watch the production of 'Don Giovanni'.

Eagerly awaiting the start of the production...

Healthy Eating Week

This afternoon, Year 6 have been making healthy Berry Pots. This week we are part of a record breaking number of schools who have registered to be involved in the BNF Healthy Eating Week 1-5th June 2015. As a school we are promoting the 5 challenges which are having a healthy breakfast, have 5 a day, drink plenty of water, get active and try something new. 

Drapers' Academy Transition Meeting Year 6

Miss Brooks from Drapers' Academy came to visit Year 6 today. The children had a question and answers session about what to expect, the daily routine, after school clubs, rules, how to find your way around the building, school trips and many more questions were answered too. The children are definitely feeling excited about starting at their new school.

Coconut star writer

Well done to Lenny Marshall this week for attaing star writer with an exciting and descriptive narrative story.

Slaves for Sale!

Coconut class have experienced the conditions of the Africans in the slave trade, both on the ship and a mock auction.

Before 1788, slaves were packed onto the trade ships. In 1788 the Slaves Reform Act was introduced to reduce deaths on the slave ships. Slaves were generously allocated a set amount of space: men had 6 ft by 1 ft 4", women had 5 ft 10" by 1 ft 4" and children had 5ft by 1 ft 2" of space. Here's how that (roughly) looks:

Men were shackled together, as they were considered a threat, women had a bit more freedom and were not chained together.

Food and water was plentiful on the ships as the loss of a slave would be loss of earnings. However, the slaves were expected to all drink and eat from one bucket, which caused lots of arguments and quickly spread diseases (as they were all sharing from one bucket.)

Once all the slaves had arrived (two/three months of travel - that's longer than you spend at school without a holiday!) on ship they were sold off at auctions, sometimes alongside animals. This was another way to degrade and dehumanise the slaves.

The slaves were inspected - like animals - by prospective owners to check their physical condition.